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Rob Zacny

Episode 361: Pacific War Strategic Games

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Three Moves Ahead 361:

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Pacific War Strategic Games
Bruce welcomes back game designer Mark Herman to talk about games covering the Pacific War in World War II. Mark's expertise comes in the form of his two Pacific games, Pacific War (1985) and Empire of the Sun (2005). Bruce and Mark cover a wide variety of board games, diving into what makes or breaks a strategic game in this theater.

Pearl Harbor (GDW), War in the Pacific (SPI), Victory in the Pacific (Avalon Hill), Pacific War (Victory Games), Empire of the Rising Sun (Avalon Hill), East Wind, Rain (Task Force Games), Fire in the Sky (Multi-Man Publishing), Empire of the Sun (GMT Games), War of the Suns (Multi-Man Publishing), Axis Empires: Dai Senso! (Decision Games)

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Ooo fascinating talk on what makes for strategic game, role of carriers and what to do with China~  Learned a useful term-'telescoping'-to describe a game that shifts focus from strategic to tactical :)

 

Also surprisingly easy conversation to follow despite me not having any board wargaming experience.

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Your Pacific War link above points to Empire of the Rising Sun - the correct link to Mark's (1985) game is https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5622/pacific-war

 

I actually have War of the Suns sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read Rana Mitter's 'Forgotten Ally', Peter Harmsen's 'Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yantze' and Jonathan Fenby's 'Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China he lost' (and probably a host of others). It is certainly a conflict where you need to wrap your head around a lot of the internal politics to get a good grasp on how that all translated onto the battlefield. Leonard To, the designer has put an incredible amount of research into this over the last few decades (he would be an interesting choice for an interview!)

 

As you point out, the War in China was a colossal conflict that has almost sunk without a trace outside of China, but to be honest it is not much better inside China with the hagiographic treatment the CCP gets for its involvement. Interestingly though Chiang Kai-shek (or Cash My Cheque as FDR called him) has undergone, if not a rehabilitation, at least a re-evaluation on the mainland as a patriot (if misguided one) for his efforts against the Japanese. I was in Nanjing last year and Chiang's headquarters there from pre-1937 are still preserved (including some disturbing life sized mannequins of Chiang). 

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Great discussion.   I think Bruce is wrong --  I could have listened for another hour, easily.

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Good discussion, and I do agree with the decision to keep it to an hour, especially if it means a part 2 in the future focusing on, hopefully, the obscured European equivalents of China's forgotten role in the Pacific.

 

One of my first board game design attempts as a child was an ocean carrier battle game with some simple rock-paper-scissors (carrier beats fighter beats bomber beats carrier.) The fluidity was definitely an issue, as was the fact that the board was dense enough that players essentially alternated kills until one had a carrier and the other a fighter, neither of which could end the game due to mobility and hard counter differences. It wasn't very good.

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