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Just wondering how many have played the "Big Blue Monster"? If you have what do you think about the differnces between this game and the board game? I personally miss the ability to control the surface and air battles but don't miss having to do all the logistics by hand. There is so much more that a computer can handle (pilot exp, damged vs destroyed a/c, etc.). Just ondering who out there has even seen the monster of all monster games (with the possible exception of Nato Division Commander)

SSI published boardgames?

Actually, i think i had a magazine that SSI published that used to have a "free" game in it... one of them was a Pacific wargame, although i forget the title... i spent many hours with that game... [:)]

I have, you had to have a large room for the 9 or 10 map sheet it took. Plus all of the production sheets. Wheee - lots of fun.

I think that they're talking about SPI. Wasn't their monster named USN?

I think it actually was by SPI and no, it was called War in the Pacific. The new revamped version by Decision Games is only $420.00USD. If you want to order a copy, here is the linky

Right SPI, not SSI.

BTW, the magazine i mentioned was "Strategy and Tactics".

I have SPI's War in the Pacific. I bought it in 1979. I still have it. It was 7 maps and about 3200 counters. We only had the game set up twice. We never got past turn 1. [X(]

Didn't think SSI had released boardgames, but for some reason I couldn't remember SPI...[:D]

If I had a place to set it up and leave it up I would have. Keeping track of all those counters was going to be ugly. China looked like it would have taken a lot of time. There were partisan units.

$420 for that? Hopefully we won;t hear anyone complain about the $69 our WitP costs....[8D]

The thing has over 4000 counters in it.[X(] I think it would be great to play but I don't have the time. It would probably take 4 to 6 hours just to move your units for a turn. I can generally move my units in WITP in an hour. I also probably take 1 to 2 hours thinking about my move in a PBEM. In a game against the AI I try to take no more than 20 thinking about the move and 20 to 30 executing it.

I still have my copy of it.  I got the map taped together and then laminated.  It hangs from a wall in my office and is magnificent when I play THIS game!
 

At one time I had two copies. Sadly, I now have none after some hurried moves and some water leakage problems years ago. I and my friend George played about 18 months into the war before I moved away. We had played about 90 full and about 120 partial games of War in Europe also by SPI. That was a long time ago. I think I was a lot younger then.

I had the original until last year.  I sold it on ebay for about $300 and bought the Decision Games remake for $340.  Much prettier.  My goal's to play it when I retire. [:D]

USN was a S&T magazine game. David and I played that game for a couple of years wearing out 3 different maps. Got me on my way to all things War in the Pacific.

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

I think that they're talking about SPI. Wasn't their monster named USN?

I played USN in college. I had a double room to myself. A friend and I set up the map on the spare desk. We played that game for 3 months doing about 2 turns a week. We had a lot of fun with it.

late in 1971 or early in 1972 Jim Dunnigan's S&T (Strategy & Tactics) magazine publsihed a single map game of WWII in the Pacific titled USN. It had counters for single ships and squadrons of aircraft, with 2 week turns and a very strict set of supply rules (forget to get your ships back to port or refuel them and they sink!)

I don't recall the production rules.

It was a great game to play - simple to learn, easy to set up, and you got a fairly good idea of the strategic problems that both sides faced.

ORIGINAL: vettim89
Just wondering how many have played the "Big Blue Monster"? If you have what do you think about the differnces between this game and the board game? I personally miss the ability to control the surface and air battles but don't miss having to do all the logistics by hand. There is so much more that a computer can handle (pilot exp, damged vs destroyed a/c, etc.). Just ondering who out there has even seen the monster of all monster games (with the possible exception of Nato Division Commander)

I own both the SPI version and Decision Games remake version, though I’ve only ever played the original SPI game. I enjoyed the original even though all the games we started ended within a year or so due to problems with the rules as written.

I’ve heard there is a modified version of the original rules set out there that makes the game playable. If there is I’d recommend finding those and applying them to the new game as its rules set threw out all the logistics rules in favor of a command point system.

What this does is make battles like Guadalcanal pointless since there is no need to get supplies to a forward base. If you simply allocate command points to an HQ, the supplies are assumed to be on hand. To me this defeats the purpose of 80% of the naval aspect of the war.

I’d probably prefer to play the board game over the computer game due to the social aspect of face to face play. But nowadays it is pretty much impossible to find an opponent for a game like this within 500 miles. And finding someone who can play on a regular enough basis to satisfy your WitP addiction is probably impossible. So if it comes down to a choice, get the PC game.

Here’s an old thread I started when I bought the Decision Games version:

tm.asp?m=1248772&mpage

Jim

Coach Z and I tried it a few times way back, but we never got very far (mostly due to my sloppy interpretation of the rules, he will surely claim).

I remember my mother bought the game for me at the SPI HQ in NYC and they advised her that it was too complicated for me, a High School kid. They may have been right...