Team-based PBEM?

Jarhead0331 · December 20, 2021, 08:23:46 PM

The thread about the upcoming update to WitPAE and a little exchange I had with Toonces got me thinking...wouldn't it be a neat exercise to have a team-based pbem game and write about it as an AAR?

I had mentioned in the Cold Waters thread that the finer points of successful submarine operations escaped me and in response, Toonces noted that he couldn't fight his way out of a cardboard box when it comes to ground warfare. So, what if we teamed up in a pbem? Toonces would be the naval commander and I could be the general in charge of ground operations. Each team would collaborate as real world counterparts must and would need to agree on the overall strategy in order to succeed. Then, each commander could write about the operation and each turn from their perspective.

The game wouldn't necessarily have to be WitP, but it should be something that has robust naval, aviation and ground components.

Anybody think this would make for fun play and good reading?

JasonPratt · December 20, 2021, 08:37:57 PM

Not sure I'd be up for being a commander at this time, but I'd love to see it done and read about it!

ArizonaTank · December 21, 2021, 12:05:41 AM

I would be up for WitPAE

Tripoli · December 21, 2021, 08:05:01 AM

I would be willing to give it a go, but I don't know what game to use. WitPAE doesn't have any real significant ground combat maneuver component, although it would have a real good role for a J4 (logistics) commander. We may have to string games together, but that would require some expertise in scenario design

Jarhead0331 · December 21, 2021, 09:02:58 AM

Quote from: Tripoli on December 21, 2021, 08:05:01 AM
I would be willing to give it a go, but I don't know what game to use. WitPAE doesn't have any real significant ground combat maneuver component, although it would have a real good role for a J4 (logistics) commander. We may have to string games together, but that would require some expertise in scenario design

OK. That's a good point. I'm not sure how ground combat works in WitP. Based on the fact that it seems to track small arms ammo to the bullet, I assumed it would be fairly detailed and fleshed out.

ArizonaTank · December 21, 2021, 10:14:39 AM

There is a long standing group of dedicated War in the East players on Discord. I started to play a game with them briefly several years back. They had about four or five players per side, and also a moderator. Each side had one overall commander setting strategy and distributing units, assets and adjudicating any issues between their commanders. The other commands were geography based. I think something similar might work for WitPAE. But you would need at least 3 players per side to make it work. Natural geographic splits might be: CBI (China, Burma, India), South Pacific, and Central Pacific. Just a thought.

The WitE group uses Discord to manage comms and pass files. So there is a common "channel" for all players, a "Russian" channel and a "German" channel.

W8taminute · December 21, 2021, 11:02:13 AM

I'd be interested but I don't have WitP or WitE.

Toonces · December 21, 2021, 01:32:13 PM

Something like that would work for Witp:AE. The ground component would be more about managing readiness and aggragating units for operations. But really where AE needs more than one player is for managing logistics like Tripoli said.

Maybe an overall commander to lay out overall strategy, and players for carriers/warships, logistics, sub ops, and ground management. Call it 5 players total. But coordinating that in a game as long as WitP would be an extraordinary feat. Might have to either do a smaller scenario (which really negates the need for multiple players) or play 1-week turns. There's no feasible way to otherwise finish a campaign in a normal player's lifetime IMO.