Australian Department of Defence Licenses Uncommon Valor!

[David Heath]

Australian Department of Defence Licenses Uncommon Valor!

Award-Winning World War II South Pacific Wargame Intended for Historical Education

Woodbridge, NJ, July 14th, 2004 - Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) and 2 by 3 Games (www.2by3games.com) are pleased to announce that the Australian Defence Simulation Office (ADSO) has decided to purchase Uncommon Valor: Campaign for the South Pacific (www.uncommonvalor.net) as an aid to help Australian officers in the area of historical education.

Uncommon Valor: Campaign for the South Pacific covers the Australia – New Guinea – Solomons theater during World War II from May, 1942 through December, 1943. Designed by the legendary 2 by 3 Games team of Gary Grigsby, Keith Brors and Joel Billings, Uncommon Valor includes virtually every ship, air squadron and battalion sized or larger troop formation that took part in the historical campaign. Highly acclaimed by wargamers worldwide, Uncommon Valor was given the Silver Awards for both Game of the Year and Wargame of the Year (Reader’s Choice) by Wargamer.com as well as being declared a Top Pick by Combatsim.com.

The Australian Defence Simulation Office will be receiving the latest 2.30 version of Uncommon Valor: Campaign for the South Pacific, which will be available for issue to all members of the Australian Department of Defence (contact Robert Carpenter at the ADSO). The latest commercial version of Uncommon Valor is available for sale directly through the Matrix Games online store at www.matrixgames.com .

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “We’re proud that one of our titles has been chosen to help with historical education for the Australian Department of Defence. Our thanks go to the Defence Simulation Office for their consideration and to the Uncommon Valor team at 2 by 3 Games and Matrix Games for their hard work and commitment.”

Game Features

Historical wargaming from the legendary team of Grigsby, Brors and Billings Campaigns and scenarios in the South Pacific from May, 1942 through December, 1943 Intelligent AI for solo play and Secure PBEM mode for battles against human opponents Detail and accuracy without micro-management Editor included for scenarios and units

For more information, check the Uncommon Valor page at http://www.uncommonvalor.net and the main Matrix Games page at http://www.matrixgames.com for future press releases and discussions.

ABOUT MATRIX GAMES

Matrix Games produces, markets and publishes historical wargames as well as other computer gaming products. Since 2002, Matrix Games has published several award-winning games, including Highway to the Reich, Starships Unlimited, Uncommon Valor and Korsun Pocket. Matrix Games is based in Woodbridge, New Jersey. For more information, visit the Matrix Games website at http://www.matrixgames.com.

ABOUT 2 BY 3 GAMES

2 by 3 is about World War 2 games done by 3 guys – Gary Grigsby, Keith Brors and Joel Billings. Veteran designers and developers with multiple Hall of Fame titles under their belts, they are in the midst of a scheduled three game series which started with the highly acclaimed Uncommon Valor. War in the Pacific is their second design in this series for Matrix Games, which will be followed by the highly anticipated grand strategy title World at War later this year. For more information, visit their website at http://www.2by3games.com/.

ABOUT ADSO

The ADSO is a branch of the Capability Development Group located in Canberra, Australia. It is responsible for policy direction and coordination of simulation throughout the Australian Department of Defence.

[Muzrub]

Good stuff![:)]

[Slick91]

Boy! This should be a nice help for the coffers.

Congratulations Matrix!

Australian Military must be a gaming paradise. First it was Harpoon3. Now Uncommon Valor!

[brent_2]

good news - congratulations!

[Belisarius]

Hah, très cool.

Congrats to MG and 2by3. [:)]

[jrcar]

It will probably take about a month until we have the CD's ready.

The CD will include a multimedia presentation on the history of the war in the region, as well as UV itself.

Cheers

Rob Carpenter Australian Defence Simulation Office

[Raverdave]

Rob so does that mean that the ADSO thought that WiTP was too large? I would have thought that it would have been better bang for the taxpayers buck.

[donkuchi19]

I remember when I was in college and in ROTC and my class used a copy of Crusade in Europe on my old C 64. (1986)

That was high tech then.

[Greyshaft]

ORIGINAL: jrcar It will probably take about a month until we have the CD's ready. The CD will include a multimedia presentation on the history of the war in the region, as well as UV itself.

Cheers

Rob Carpenter Australian Defence Simulation Office

Aha... so thats why you've been so quiet in the FPG forums lately... you've been wheeling and dealing with Rob Hill and John Howard. Hmmm... I was a boy scout in Sydney some thirty years ago and I still wake up every Anzac Day and am grateful for the Public Holiday... does that qualify me for a copy ???[:D][:D]

[jrcar]

Dave, yes WITP was too large, especially as a first computer wargame for people who have never played one before in their life. Plus UV concentrates better on an area of interest and the extra detail also helps. We want people to become immeresed in the area and start to get a feel for the military geography (whcih essentially hsn't changed)

Greyshaft just one of several things keeping me from doing much on FPG unfortuneately. i still drop inthough, still owe CATGH an email turn...

Cheers

Rob

[wodin]

Well done 2by3 and Matrix.

Give them a more detailed manual though[;)]

[Mr.Frag]

Give them a more detailed manual though

No need, jr's had lots of training from the school of hard knocks [:D]

[Arnir]

I assume that you will use the Aussie flag mod available for UV? [:D]

[Raverdave]

Actually this is quite a feather in Matrix's cap as the Defence boys (not just the Aussies but all the Western defence forces) have access to all sorts of really cool computer simulators (as most recent military members of this board will agree) so that the Aussie DoD sees some value in UV really goes to show how bloody good the game is.

[jrcar]

Games like UV are very different to the military sims, and are designed for two totally different purposes. UV is being used for historical education, an area not generally covered by the military sims. its biggest advantage is its ease of play, affordability to give out to lots of people and a support base that doesn't require us to set up our own cell to run the support.

In no way will games like UV replace military sims, but what the do do is fill requirements that until now have been ignored.

Cheers

Rob

[MadDawg]

They seem to be spending a lot of cash on such things as I beleive I read that they recently purchased Combat Mission III from Battlefront too, didnt they? Im surpsied that they dont also use something similar to Americas Army, or whatever that Army FPS is called.

Dawg

[jrcar]

Yes we are also using Combat Mission Afrika Korps for a related program.

Cheers

Rob

[Shadow of the Condor]

Congratulations to the staff of Matrix and 2 by 3 Games! A great simulation. Personally, the game was only half the fun after I started digging through the net for information on all aspects of the time period and location. I keep learning about the history, men and equipment in that time/place everyday, and that makes the game doubly impressive as well as enjoyable.

[WhoCares]

ORIGINAL: MadDawg

They seem to be spending a lot of cash on such things as I beleive I read that they recently purchased Combat Mission III from Battlefront too, didnt they? Im surpsied that they dont also use something similar to Americas Army, or whatever that Army FPS is called.

Dawg

They actually use something far better then Americas Army for that purpose: Link: VBS1 It is based on the game Link: Operation Flashpoint, was first adapted for the US Marine Corps and a bit later for the Aussies as well. While previously restricted to military and law enforcement, VBS1 is now also available for the public (with some restrictions in the USA). (but you should check OFP first before you look at VBS1, considering the lower price (~15EUR) and the free extensions available [;)] )

PS: I also posted in the Fori over there about WitP, so I might just as well post about OFP/VBS1 here, considering that they do not compete in the same market [:)]

[Ron Saueracker]

You guys should develop a game covering Canadian ops, considering our military is now predominantly camouflaged civil servants with no sense of history. Canada's 1944 invasion of Norway would be interesting.[:D][8|]