Lawrence Hung  - Dec 7, 2006 12:30 pm (#16295 Total: 16538)  
Now playing Silent War,7 Days of 1809,RAF,Here I Stand,Carthage,Rise of
the Roman Republic,6 Days of Glory,Twilight Struggle,Band of Heroes,ATS
1a Screaming Eagle,Rommel at Bay,Triumph of Chaos,Blue vs. Gray,Sword of
Rome,Empire of the Sun,ASLSK1 

AAR - Silent War 

Played this solo during my last long vacation this year. The gaming
experiences well worth the time and money spent on this, despite I
didn't manage to make a hit successfully with my poor S38 patrol onto
the Solomons Island. However, it makes me even wanting more and an urge
to play the entire campaign soon! 

The game covers 1941-45 so the entire Pacific submarine campaign is
available, if you have the time to do it. The map is nicely done, if not
spectacular, covers Australia in the south to Japan homeland in the
north. To the east, Pearl Harbour is a submarine base where you can
start the submarines for patrol or attack missions. The South China Sea
to the west would be the strategic location for the fight over the
Japanese supply line. 

Submarine dispatched from the base could move as further as its range. A
smaller sub of course could travel less far than a bigger one because of
its lower endurance capability. There is a scale chart of all classes of
submarines so you could get a sense of the size of them very easily. I
played a patrol game to Solomans using a tiny S38 S-1 Class sub for a
period of 3 weeks. It is a historical patrol as captain Munson's 7th.
The OOB for the U.S. is perfect for anyone claiming himself a
completist. On the Japanese side, however, only major battleships and
carriers are included with names. After all, you won't read their names
when you are seeing through the horoscope, right? 

The rules are not complex and organization is very clear. I played the
game smoothly simply following the rules one by one systematically
through the sequence of play. My experience with naval games in the past
is that they might have a thick rulebook, with a lot of the unfamiliar
jargons. After going through some gaming concepts, this one would just
make you feel at home. 

Some of the gaming concepts are to facilitate a submarine gameplay. For
example, "Combat Display" in columns is used to determine the relative
position of the submarine underneath the sea and the ships on the
surface. The Submarine tender it the dock that hold the damaged returned
submarine for a while before it can go out patrol again. Sub's tactical
rating decides how many targets may be revealed upon contact with them.
The transit event table determines when your submarine would be spotted,
damaged or forced to return to base after encounter with the enemy
convoy. Don't mix it up with War Event table though, as it determines
some historical events but it won't be used in a patrol scenario. 

The War Mix table is used to determine the general force mix of the
convoy you can encounter generally in a war period. There are 4 war
periods and an early 1932 campaign period. Each period would divide
enemy forces into 4 groups, counters of which would be placed in a cup
separately for random drawing called by a contact. 

The core game rests in the operations segment, conducted individually
for each submarine. Contact is made a roll on the Area Activity Table in
the sea zone or special mission zone according to the war period.
Clearly, the Japanese activity level would dwindle gradually and as war
progresses, more dwindling in further south than closer at home. 

You draw the no. of counters from the cup according to the enemy force
size you made contact with. It could be small, large convoys or a task
force. They could be merchant ships (you surely want a tiny sub contact
with these), battleship, carriers, planes (yes, plane!), destroyers or
submarines. Each is rated with tonnage that if sank, counted toward your
victory condition. I need to sink 1 ship of 5.6 tonnage in 3 weeks. But
guess what, although I made contacts in each week, from Brisbane to
Carol Sea, to Solomon islands (patrol destination), and to Carolines
(actually I could not go beyond the patrol destination per the scenario)
I could not even sink one! 

To sink a ship, you have to place a random TDC (Target Data Computer)
marker on the target you have chosen. As a fresh seaman myself, I spread
the sub's attack factor to 2 targets (which I shouldn't do). The result
was that the attack was unsuccessful with a negative attack factor after
adding the -1 torpedo value (i.e. poor technology), the ASW value (it
was huge when you chose huge target like CV), the random TDC value
(which could be positive or negative at times), target defense value etc
to the sub's attack factor. My poor ship has an attack factor of 3. You
know, it is hard to turn the attack into a positive one. 

On turn 2, I found several merchant ships (2x 3t and 1x 5t) and had high
hope to sink them. However, there was a destroyer with high ASW nearby.
A counterattack spotted my sub and sent it home. On turn 3, when I
finally managed a positive attack factor (with a positive 1), the chance
to hit a target was less than 20% (a dieroll of 0 or 1). Tough luck. The
submarine missed 2 times (with a re-attack) and its loadout depleted
(and it's fast with a D-class, the poorest, endurance). It had to return
to base... 

So I haven't had a chance to roll on the combat table. If you can make a
hit, it is rather easy to sink a small merchant ship. Just make sure you
can get that one more attack point to render a final positive attack
value! 

While I admit there is quite a luck factor in this game, this is really
a game of simulation in the historical context. Once you started a sub,
it seems that it becomes live in your hand! You would be concerned
naturally with its course, endurance, speed, torpedo type, ASW defense
and tactical rating instantly once it is out of the base. The campaign
game should be a totally different experience, in which you man several
subs instead of only just one. There are 6 campaign games to choose
from. The full campaign game lasts for 178 turns. Sure they test your
patience and would offer you countless hours of enjoyment of search and
destroy in the deep Pacific Sea. 

I am not much of a naval enthusiast per se originally. But this game
caught me because of its production and subject, one that on the war of
the Pacific, dominated by naval actions and the strategic decision
making process on a grand tactical campaign thing... This game really
rocks and pushes me to find out more books about this submarine
campaign. Next time, the full campaign...!