War in Spain: engine choice makes sense — but I worry the theater choice may hurt the wrong conclusion

[jonhgalt28943]

Hi everyone,

I want to start by saying I do understand (and actually appreciate) the logic behind starting with a smaller-scale theater to prove out a new system.

From the official description, War in Spain 1936–39 is the first title in a new series, using a new Land–Sea–Air engine inspired by War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition. That idea is honestly a dream for many of us: take the depth we love, modernize/polish the model, and make it work smoothly across land, air, and naval systems. (If the new logistics + AI improvements land well, that’s huge.)

So purely from a design/testing perspective, the Spanish Civil War is a neat “laboratory”:
• Land operations are central and varied.
• Air warfare matters and evolves quickly.
• Naval aspects exist (even if not the main show), so the engine can be exercised on all fronts.
• The overall scale is more discrete than the full Eastern Front / Western Front / full Pacific.

All of that makes sense.

That said, I still want to voice a concern: I think the theater selection is a commercial risk, and I worry about the interpretation of sales results.

My concern

In my experience (and in my circle of history-loving friends), the Spanish Civil War just isn’t as broadly “must-buy” for the average grognard as many other WWII / pre-WWII theaters. I’m sure there are dedicated Spanish Civil War fans (they absolutely exist), but I don’t think they’re as common as fans of other campaigns.

So my fear is this: if the game underperforms, the team might (understandably) conclude:

“This Grigsby-style formula / this level of depth doesn’t sell anymore.”

…when the more accurate conclusion could be:

“The engine is great, but the theater pick capped the potential audience.”

And I say this as someone who loves this entire lineage of games — I’m genuinely not 100% sure I will buy War in Spain day one, and that surprises even me.

Alternative “small but iconic” theaters that still test land/air/sea

If the goal is: smaller scope but rich combined-arms, there are a lot of options that (in my opinion) have a much bigger built-in audience:

Europe / Mediterranean
• Greece & Balkans 1941 (with Crete as an extension): compact, dramatic, multiple forces involved.
• North Africa (any slice: Compass → Crusader → Gazala → El Alamein, etc.): classic, popular, and perfect for operational maneuver + air + supply.
• Italy 1943–45 (Sicily/Salerno/Anzio/Gothic Line): smaller than the Eastern Front, still iconic, strong combined-arms.
• Norway 1940: landings, air, naval, geography—very “engine-testing” friendly.

Pre-WWII / early-war
• Winter War (1939–40): excellent for modeling weather, terrain, logistics, asymmetric force structure (and it’s a very recognizable “what if / study” conflict).
• Poland 1939: short, focused, immediately recognizable.

Early Pacific (if you ever want a compact maritime-heavy testbed)
• Malaya/Singapore, Philippines 1941–42, Dutch East Indies, Rabaul / early Solomons: smaller than the full Pacific monster, but still naval + air + ground in a very “WitP-like” way.

What I’m hoping for

I’m not trying to dunk on the Spanish Civil War as a topic — it’s historically important and absolutely interesting. I’m just worried the theater choice may mask the true market appetite for the engine and design philosophy you’re building.

Because if this new Land–Sea–Air engine is genuinely strong, it deserves a setting that gives it the best chance to succeed commercially, so the series can continue.

Curious what others think — especially people who are excited for the Spanish Civil War specifically. Would you have preferred a different “first” theater for the new engine?

Cheers.

[Dodo98]

Personally, I'm very happy that we're getting to see a conflict other than World War II for a change. Most of the battles of World War II are already very well represented in countless games.

Of course, there are battles such as Norway or Crete that have not been covered very often, but I think the Spanish Civil War is one of the most underrepresented conflicts, so I am very happy that we are now getting such a detailed game that deals with this topic.

But I also understand your concern, and I hope that the team won't be discouraged by potentially poor sales figures. If the engine is as good as the first images suggest, then we have great potential here for many more games.

[Alessandro S.]

We will not be discouraged.
Many more games are in the works. Building the scenario and map data / artwork is the main factor to consume time.
I mean, and this is just one example, one really has to know / find / search the number of star shells on a given Italian ship for one of it's 90mm secondary guns at a specific time.
That is a huge challenge, not only to find the sources but also to find out who is right most likely ( sources tend to contradict each other more often than not )
The team of the Spanish Civil War did their research for data and OOB faster than the other teams.
So it is not the first game by choice, but simply because it had the most active team.

[jwilkerson]

the Spanish Civil War just isn’t as broadly “must-buy”

You're right - its not !
But, we wanted to get a first game out with the engine as soon as possible - and by accident this one had the most energy behind it, even though 2 others started sooner

And its a good platform for the new land game, which is dramatically different from the olde engine version.

So my fear is this: if the game underperforms, the team might (understandably) conclude:

“This Grigsby-style formula / this level of depth doesn’t sell anymore.”

…when the more accurate conclusion could be:

“The engine is great, but the theater pick capped the potential audience.”

No need to worry, we won't quit. We're all in on this new engine and plan to put out as many games as we can during our lifetimes !

We're AE players and some of the people from the original AE team - so we're nuts already. So, no reason to be concerned about us !!!

[RedwoodForest]

I understand where you're coming from. That being said, the announcement prompted me to read a couple books about the Spanish Civil War and I now could not be more excited for this game to come out. I am plenty set with the WWII games already available. Frankly, I hope this game isn't forgotten about in the wake of whatever is in the pipeline and maintains a healthy player base + support for many years to come.

If we are talking wars or theaters, my pie in the sky dream would be for this engine to be used for a Vietnam game.

[jwilkerson]

... snip ...
If we are talking wars or theaters, my pie in the sky dream would be for this engine to be used for a Vietnam game.

Are you volunteering over there in the back of the room !!??

(I'm in the "dreaming of using this engine for a VN game" also. We're not 100% sure the engine can handle the air combat in the jets and missiles age, but I hope we give it a try ! )

[jonhgalt28943]

Thanks everyone — really appreciate the replies.

It’s honestly reassuring to hear you’re all-in on the new engine and that a slower launch won’t discourage the team. And the “most active team / fastest research” explanation makes total sense.

Also, the level of detail you’re aiming for (the star shells example ) is exactly why people love these games.

You’ve won me over — count me in as a customer for War in Spain. And yeah… I guess I’m going to start reading more about the Spanish Civil War so I’m ready when it lands.

[theoracle44]

... snip ...
If we are talking wars or theaters, my pie in the sky dream would be for this engine to be used for a Vietnam game.

Are you volunteering over there in the back of the room !!??

(I'm in the "dreaming of using this engine for a VN game" also. We're not 100% sure the engine can handle the air combat in the jets and missiles age, but I hope we give it a try ! )

I hope it works out for more modern combat! I'd love a hypothetical modern WitP based on current tensions. But first, I think WW2 WitP 2 would be my priority for new games I want to see using the engine. I also would like to see the Russo-Japanese War!

[jwilkerson]

Be careful what you wish for !!

[Dali101]

Joe I would also like a game about the Russo-Japanese War...

Can you please do something about this?

[SuluSea]

Would like to see the group travel back down to the South Pacific something like an Uncommon Valor 2 using this engine. Much of the heavy lifting is done regarding historical forces. Whatever you all produce and any assistance I can provide. I'm interested.

[Alessandro S.]

We need artwork for units / ships /air and scenario data. OOB / devices in use / leaders / industrial and resource economy data, etc.
If you happen to be a pro in any area for any given theater you may very well end up in one of our teams

[theoracle44]

Be careful what you wish for !!

If my wishes are that powerful... then how about the Imjin War?

[jwilkerson]

If my wishes are that powerful... then how about the Imjin War?
[/quote]

I fear most (all?) wars before 1800ish have most of the land forces in a tiny few hexes on a giant map. Which might make turns too boring. For now, we think we need to stick with 1800-ish through 1950ish. Its possible these parameters could change, but that's the guideline right now. We could do tiny games.

[Nikel]

If my wishes are that powerful... then how about the Imjin War?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2948 ... Imjin_War/

[Q-Ball]

How about all of WW2, globally? 1 Day turns, company and battalion level land units, and every ship in the world over 500 tons. Of course, the entire globe in 5-mile hex increments

It should only take about 10 years to complete a Grand Campaign Game as a player, so why not?

[jonhgalt28943]

This is probably the main reason for me not tryng WITP. Daily turns is too daunting.

[RedwoodForest]

How about all of WW2, globally? 1 Day turns, company and battalion level land units, and every ship in the world over 500 tons. Of course, the entire globe in 5-mile hex increments

It should only take about 10 years to complete a Grand Campaign Game as a player, so why not?

At least we have games like World in Flames and A World at War.

[RangerJoe]

How about all of WW2, globally? 1 Day turns, company and battalion level land units, and every ship in the world over 500 tons. Of course, the entire globe in 5-mile hex increments

It should only take about 10 years to complete a Grand Campaign Game as a player, so why not?

Start doing your research, sorting through the data, so you can make the map and the units along with the production capacities of the industrial level that you want for the game.

[Alessandro S.]

How about all of WW2, globally? 1 Day turns, company and battalion level land units, and every ship in the world over 500 tons. Of course, the entire globe in 5-mile hex increments

It should only take about 10 years to complete a Grand Campaign Game as a player, so why not?

I built the game engine for that purpose initially. 40 NM per hex. Mercator projection so you can easily go off one side of the map and appear on the other end / have actions like air raids across the map edges.
The game still retains all that functionality, and you can see that when using certain non standard settings for scenarios. ( being able to scroll and move across map edges )
Also the "season" weather system with north and south polar lighting conditions is part of that original full global scenario.

That being said the global SCN was not worked on in the past years and is not an active project at this time.
We decided to build the global master database by finishing smaller projects.
Once the DB is complete enough, a global game should be within grasp.