Newbie question regarding the game

[martok]

I've been eying getting War in the Pacific -- and subsequently the Admirals Edition -- for some time now. I've been thinking/hoping to purchase it towards the end of the year here, time (and money) permitting.

However, I do have a minor (or perhaps not so minor?) concern: Going by comments some WITP players have made, I've gotten the impression -- maybe erroneously, I'm not sure -- that I won't be any good at the game unless I have a firm grasp of the military tactics & strategy involved back then. While WW2 has pretty much always been a topic of interest to me, I can't really claim to be a student of the military doctrine back then....and my knowledge is especially weak on the naval side. I have a *very* rough idea of which fleet did what, when, & where (along with the occasional single ship being noted for particularly herculean/heroic efforts), but that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge.

So is this going to be a huge problem for me if I pick up the game? Or will I be okay so long as I at least follow Sun Tzu's general principles on war (with which I have a reasonable familiarity)?


Any feedback and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Roger Neilson II]

Don't take on one of the real 'experts' who eats lives and breathes the stuff of data and can name who sat where kn a particular day on a particular ship....... well actually do, cos they are probably so wrapped up in the detail they miss the big picture.

No seriously, its a massive and enjoyable learning curve - I know tons more about the period than I did when I started and its playing the game that has taught me it all.

Roger

[moonraker65]

Personally I would say no not a huge problem. I bought the original WiTP when it was released in 2004 and am still learning new tricks. There are plenty of books available for an insight into Naval Tactics employed in the PTO and also many hints and tips from other players on these forums. My advice - Get WiTP and AE. The most immersive WW II game you can buy anywhere. You'll spend hours trying out different strategies and tactics. You learn by your mistakes as you get in to it.

[devoncop]

I am in the same boat as you Martok.

I feel a little overawed by the depth of knowlege on these forums as I have been very much more into European affairs and games up to now but lets face it, our screw ups will only between us and the PC at the beginning so why worry?[:)]

I will be purchasing AE tomorrow and tackling the hard copy manual as soon as it gets to Cornwall !!

[ChickenOfTheSea]

ORIGINAL: martok

I've been eying getting War in the Pacific -- and subsequently the Admirals Edition -- for some time now. I've been thinking/hoping to purchase it towards the end of the year here, time (and money) permitting.

However, I do have a minor (or perhaps not so minor?) concern: Going by comments some WITP players have made, I've gotten the impression -- maybe erroneously, I'm not sure -- that I won't be any good at the game unless I have a firm grasp of the military tactics & strategy involved back then. While WW2 has pretty much always been a topic of interest to me, I can't really claim to be a student of the military doctrine back then....and my knowledge is especially weak on the naval side. I have a *very* rough idea of which fleet did what, when, & where (along with the occasional single ship being noted for particularly herculean/heroic efforts), but that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge.

So is this going to be a huge problem for me if I pick up the game? Or will I be okay so long as I at least follow Sun Tzu's general principles on war (with which I have a reasonable familiarity)?


Any feedback and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Most of what you need to know you can pick up from the forum. I certainly try out my own ideas as well, but when I get burned I can say to myself. "Now I understand why that is important." This is a very knowledgeable, creative, and helpful community and I started getting a lot more out of the game once I got involved in reading the forum regularly.

[rtrapasso]

Actually, i think if you try to play thinking the game will recreate what would have happened historically, you will be shocked, so perhaps it is better NOT to have any preconceived notions... this is based on WITP stock, though... i am not sure yet what AE will do to this notion.

[Reedster]

I consider myself a (European campaign) land rat and my knowledge of the Pacific war in general is pretty sparse in comparison, but I've enjoyed Witp immensely and am going to go for broke with AE [:)]

[byron13]

First of all, it is a game, so you are supposed to have fun. If you feel a slave to history, you're not going to have fun. The fun is trying to do something different. The fun is doing it your way.

Second, if you've read about WWII, which you obviously have, then you know enough to play the game and have fun. You know what the basic objectives are. You know what the various weapons systems do. You know what mines do, what aircraft carriers do, what artillery does, and what B17s do. You know that to invade an island you will need to transport some infantry there with some supplies and supported by surface ships and having some air support. The trick, as with any game, is to translate your strategy for winning and your intended way of implementing that strategy into game terms. Having tons of book knowledge doesn't help you figure out how to assemble this armada in the game and get it to its destination; that's just a matter of reading the rules and learning by making mistakes like the rest of us (and the actual participants in the war). Besides, much of the doctrine you seem to be concerned about is either abstracted in the game or beyond its scope. If you know that you should invade a beach with Marines loaded onto amphibious assault craft and not with a bunch of aviation mechanics loaded on the Queen Mary or a battleship, you'll be fine.

You think these guys are all experts and able to do better than you? Possibly, but the point is to have fun. But just watch as all of the experts start venting their frustrations with AE over how hard it is to unload cargo in a small port, how hard it is to build an impregnable island bases, or how hard it is to maintain a front line that the enemy infantry can't run around. They are experts in the nuances of how War in the Pacific allowed them to implement their strategies - not necessarily experts in military strategy or history. As such, we're all going to be learning a new game together with AE. I would also point out that the best "gamers" win because they have figured out what the game allows them to do and how to use that to their best advantage - whether remotely realistic historically or not. (Not flaming anyone here or their tactics. Just pointing out that we are trying to win the game based on the the "rules" of the game, and there are no points for winning in a historically realistic fashion)

If you think it would be fun to change the course of history and command the millions of men involved to execute your will, then either of these games could be a lot of fun even for a casual historian. If you've played other computer or board wargames, then you will know this to be true. Especially if you haven't played many or any, you may want to start out with War in the Pacific as your introduction. It, alone, can be daunting in its size and scope. Jumping from something like the Close Combat series of computer game or more basic boardgame straight into AE could be quite a shock. But if your experience is that no game is ever detailed enough and you wish you had more control over more things, then you may feel right at home with AE.

Regardless, I see little correlation between your knowledge of military minutiae and having fun playing one of these games - which is the real point, right?

[martok]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone; it really is appreciated!

Going by what's been said so far, it sounds as if as long as I exercise some common sense, I should probably do okay. Yes?

[TOMLABEL]

ORIGINAL: martok

Thanks for all the replies, everyone; it really is appreciated!

Going by what's been said so far, it sounds as if as long as I exercise some common sense, I should probably do okay. Yes?

Yes! You'll do much more than OK - Definitely!! I was sceptical at first too, but took the leap anyway. I'm still trying to learn the many, many intricatices WITP stock - and now we have AE![:D]

Well, at least you can know this....several other folks I know started this game in almost the exact same circumstances that you are in , but are now kicking others arses!

[88l71]

What Byron said, pretty much. A lot of it is common sense.

If you don't know much about naval warfare it's good to look through the ship database so you can see things like which destroyers have more torpedoes vs better AA weapons, for example.

Keep in mind that tactics were important but the war was won by attrition and economic factors above all else.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: TOMLABEL

ORIGINAL: martok

Thanks for all the replies, everyone; it really is appreciated!

Going by what's been said so far, it sounds as if as long as I exercise some common sense, I should probably do okay. Yes?

Yes! You'll do much more than OK - Definitely!! I was sceptical at first too, but took the leap anyway. I'm still trying to learn the many, many intricatices WITP stock - and now we have AE![:D]

Well, at least you can know this....several other folks I know started this game in almost the exact same circumstances that you are in , but are now kicking others arses!

....and then there are the rest of us..... [;)]