Order of Battle: US Marines

[Grim.Reaper]

Don't think I saw this mentioned, but Matrix just recently announced another expansion for this game that adds the Marines.  Looks like they are calling on beta testers if interested.

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4023274&mpage=1&key=&#4023274




"The fruits of victory are tumbling into our mouths too quickly" – Japanese Emperor Hirohito, 1942

6 months after Pearl Harbour, the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere has reached its peak of expansion. Australia and New Zealand are under direct threat, weakening more and more the American ability to intervene in the Pacific.

Only decisive actions to take the initiative could allow the Allies to re-establish a naval and air superiority over the Imperial Army.

And that tiny island named Guadalcanal seems like the best place to start...

The Artistocrats - developers of the Order of Battle series - aren't resting on their laurels not even after the success of Order of Battle: Morning Sun, the second expansion of the innovative turn based wargame Order of Battle: Pacific!

Today we are announcing a new chapter in the series, adding a new challenging set of scenarios and a new faction: the US Marines Corps!

From the product page:

"As the fighting progresses across small, isolated jungle islands, the Japanese adapt their strategy from ruthless assaults to deep, well-prepared defensive systems - determined to hold on and fight to the last man."

This expansion has opened its gates to Beta testers and we are inviting all the players to enlist and to concur in defining this great milestone!

[Gusington]

Uh oh...

[IronX]

Is this the game with the Easter Island head units in it or am I thinking of something else?

[Staggerwing]

Is this the game with the Easter Island head units in it or am I thinking of something else?

You mean this one?




It's Unity of Command.

[Gusington]

Unity of Command is a great game!

[Jarhead0331]

good. Nice that a pacific war game will finally be a pacific war game.

[Philippe]

I actually like the Easter Island heads. 

They remind me of chess pieces, and game play in Unity of Command is very chess-like.

I also like Unity of Command a lot because, among other things, it has very good AI.

Make a stupid mistake in one of the non-easy scenarios and you will be punished.

I can still remember my astonishment when an AI counter-attack put half of my army out of supply.

Getting back a little closer to topic, how do people feel about the ubiquitous use of the Marine Corps flag?

I haven't checked to see how authentic it is (apart from noting that the flag went from a blue to a red background just before the war started), but I don't think I like it for a couple of reasons.

Understand that as a Napoleonic modder my own personal holy grail is to to have unit-specific regimental flags down to the regimental level.

But having reddish symbols for the Japanese and reddish symbols for the Americans isn't a great idea.

I also don't like the idea of having segment-specific flags for only one part of the forces of one side. 

Leaving aside the S.N.L.F. vs. regular Army issue, at least on the American side I would like to see a clearer distinction between Army and Navy symbols. (I'm talking about the roundel symbols, not the flags).

I had three uncles in the Marine Corps, one in the regular Army, and one in the Army Air Corps.

At least two of the Marines were at Guadacanal (and I'm told it turned one of them into a pacifist).

But there were also Army troops there later in the campaign.

And the guys at the Marine Corps memorial in Arlington aren't raising a branch of service flag over Iwo Jima, it's the stars and stripes with 48 stars.

What I'd like to see in a game like this is a U.S. flag flying over any victory location controled by U.S. forces, but distinctive symbols (i.e. roundels) for Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.

(For the Japanese it's trickier:  there are three Japanes flags, and the Army's rising sun with rays is almost identical to the Navy's).



[And I'm still on the fence about buying any of the Order of Battle:Pacific games, but starting to weaken].