Simulation

Sir John Jellicoe, admiral of the British Grand Fleet, had two specters at his elbow on May 31, 1916. One was the responsibility that he was “the only man who could lose the war in a single afternoon” as Winston Churchill said in an unusual mix of rhetoric and fact. The other was the ghost of Horatio Nelson, personified by the British public’s desire for a decisive battle won by rapid fire at close range. His counterpart, Franz von Hipper of the German High Seas fleet, had similar pressure. He was to use his expensive fleet, beloved by the Kaiser, to weaken the Royal Navy enough to break the blockade. How each man handled their challenges is the subject of Storm Eagle Studio’s Jutland. How well does this product handle both tactical and strategic aspects of the problem and still be a playable game?

A Sea of Pixels

by: James Cobb

Ever since computer wargaming became serious, many gamers have cried out for a computer version of Yaquinto/Excalibre’s Ironclads board game. Oddly enough, no American developer took up the challenge, leaving the field open for Russia’s Totem Games to do Ironclads: American Civil War. Can both the accuracy and excitement of the board game be captured on the PC?

Half-Armored

The manual for the turn-based Ironclads is only five pages and no tutorial is present. Not to worry; the mechanics are so simple that the information given and the help screen are more than adequate. However, the manual is a bit misleading as it speaks to the differences between shell and solid shot while mentioning targeting specific areas on an enemy ship. Players have no control over ammunition or precision aiming.

It's certainly not a far-fetched idea to make the claim that World War II has become the video game battleground of modern gaming. Seriously, how many games out there have fixated themselves on the famous Battle of Normandy? The Ardennes Offensive? The Battle of Britain? Many of these games love to focus on the detail: the grit, the gunpowder, the guts and the gore.

“I got to know Larry Bond…when I purchased his war game, “Harpoon.” It turned out to be amazingly useful, and served as a primary source for The Hunt for Red October.”
-Tom Clancy

The Japan-Russo…The Russian-Japo…The Russo-Japanese War---that’s it! Okay, okay, I admit that I do not pretend to profess any expertise in this somewhat forgotten war of the Far East. However, one team that does profess such expertise is the team from StormEagle Studios. The developers have decided to apply their talents to bring this historic era of naval warfare to life via their new naval warfare title, Distant Guns. Why this war, you might ask? As Mr. Koger explains in his introduction, the Russo-Japanese War is a perfect venue as it demonstrates “the evolution of naval combat as ship systems advance in capability from the theoretical expectations of the late 19th century to the real world effectiveness of 1945.” Or, more prosaically, the Russo-Japanese War provided plenty of opportunities for large, heavily armed and armored warships to bang away at each other. Interesting topic for exploration, but how does it work as a game? Let’s take a look.

The history of wargames that cover modern conflicts is a long and twisted tale, full of titles that were "almost good" and others that never should have seen the light of day. For whatever reason, wargames covering this particular time period just don't enjoy the popularity of those set during WWII, the Civil War, or the Napoleonic era. Perhaps it's because combat in earlier periods was generally simpler and more straight-forward. During the Napoleonic wars, for example, battles were fought with the use of cavalry, infantry, and artillery in their traditional roles.