Order of Battle: Pacific has now an official release date

[Gusington]

Which campaign are you playing?

[Richie61]

If you are asking me, then it's the Allied side. 

[Steelgrave]

I'm playing as the Japanese. Very happy with this release so far!

[Gusington]

Having a difficult time deciding which to play first...

[BanzaiCat]

Having a difficult time deciding which to play first...

My instinct was to start with the Japanese, but I decided to do the Allies first instead. It's quite fun, the defensive battles in the Philippines. I haven't gotten that far and already put five or six hours into it.

[Gusington]

^I want to start as the Japanese also - other than in TW games I haven't ever played as the Japanese.

[Steelgrave]

I'm enjoying the hell out of it. They have taken the Panzer Corp model and refined it very well to reflect battles in the Pacific, a sadly under-represented gaming arena. Ground combat, while still utilizing the abstract model that defines Panzer Corp, moves and flows in a realistic manner for a campaign. Little touches, such as watching your artillery arc over your units to land on enemy positions, adds a nice feel. Your opponent will sometimes launch a seemingly hopeless attack in order to try and cut your supply lines, but just as often will retreat to a better location when overrun appears imminent.

The naval aspect I'm not as sure of yet. Naval warfare is very difficult to model on any game which is not naval specific. Ship vs. ship felt kind of generic to me, yet the results were realistic in the end while being far from inevitable. Shore bombardment can be an important aspect of your strategy. Watching the Yamato open up on a defensive position sends thrills down your leg that Chris Matthews can relate to. For a non-WitP level naval game, I think they have done a good job while maintaining play-ability.

OB Pacific is from the Panzer Corp family of games, so if you're not a fan of PC you won't enjoy this. However, if you are a fan, this game will likely burn up hours of your free time actually playing it rather than learning the rules. My bottom line is am I enjoying myself and did I get my money's worth? To both of these questions I can only say "yes" with an emphasis.

[BanzaiCat]

Just played the Coral Sea scenario in my Allies campaign. Had to cut it short as I have to get ready for tonight, but all in all it was a slugfest. I gutted the Japanese fleet including all three of their carriers, but they sank a few of my DDs and damaged the hell out of most of the rest of my fleet. I just managed to keep their Port Moresby invasion force at bay; I purchased and deployed a second CA to help cover that area, and I'm glad I did, otherwise they probably would have just barely eked a victory out there and cleared the way for their transports.

I just sank their third carrier and have two CAs and three DDs left to deal with. They're going to do some damage but all in all, I've pretty much slapped them down.

I really enjoy the pop-ups in-game that announce events, such as the 'devastating blow' I've dealt the IJN by sinking all their carriers.  ;D

[Gusington]

^Steelie and BC have settled it for me...I'll be firing this up imminently (if that's a word)...in a couple of days. Looking forward to it!!

[Steelgrave]

^Steelie and BC have settled it for me...I'll be firing this up imminently (if that's a word)...in a couple of days. Looking forward to it!!

Glad to be of service, Gus  O0

[jomni]

OB Pacific is from the Panzer Corp family of games,

It's techincally not Panzer Corps.  I think the engine is different.  But the basic rules and feel are the same.  It is what the next gen Panzer Corps should be.

[panzerde]

Not a bad little beer & pretzels game. Given how little there is covering the Pacific Theatre (short of WitP:AE) it's worth playing. I wish there were some good choice that weren't either on the light end like this or "give up your career & family to play"
like WiTP:AE, but this is fun.

Cyrano - looks like the same engine more or less as Commander: The Great War. Smaller scale though, more Grand Tactical/Operational than Strategic.

Wait...I just realized I have Tiller's Campaign Series: Rising Sun and have never played it...well, there's tomorrow's gaming sewn up!

[jomni]

Wait...I just realized I have Tiller's Campaign Series: Rising Sun and have never played it...well, there's tomorrow's gaming sewn up!

That has all the PTO scenarios you can dream of.

[Cyrano]

I will only hijack briefly to say that this is a series that REALLY, REALLY, REALLY deserves an update.

On this prompting, I went back and pounded through a few scenarios...I had forgotten that it let you GENERATE scenarios.  A different time for Dr. T., I suppose.

The graphics are in desperate need of a fix -- I can't bear the 3D stuff anymore and the 2D is too small -- but my goodness the range of scenarios, and the mechanics hold up reasonably well.

Oh, and this was also a time when Talonsoft apparently had money to license soundtracks...

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[panzerde]

I will only hijack briefly to say that this is a series that REALLY, REALLY, REALLY deserves an update.

On this prompting, I went back and pounded through a few scenarios...I had forgotten that it let you GENERATE scenarios.  A different time for Dr. T., I suppose.

The graphics are in desperate need of a fix -- I can't bear the 3D stuff anymore and the 2D is too small -- but my goodness the range of scenarios, and the mechanics hold up reasonably well.

Did you grab the recent updates from the Matrix forum? There's a team actively doing updates. They're supposed to be releasing an Arab-Israeli Wars game (not just a re-tread of the old Talonsoft game) soon.