[goodpoints]

Originally Posted by avers

I wonder why there is no Fleet boat interior mod, there are plenty of fleet boat museums in the U.S. So it is possible to see the full interior of a fleet boat.

I imagine it would be a huge amount of work, beyond just the modelling, getting the crew and player to be able to move around and interact seems like it would be quite a project.

When I was in cub scouts I got to sleep on board the Torsk in Baltimore harbor, and we got to have ice cream from the machine in the mess. (not sure if it's original or reproduction) I really ought to go back there soon, been a while since I've went. I'll also have to make a trip to Kiel some time to see the only surviving Type VII and really get some perspective on the size difference.

Originally Posted by ColonelSandersLite

Cool, a fellow boardgamer. Never played that one though, did you ever try Battle of the Atlantic? I wonder how they compare. Different designers, but they're both solitaire strategic level games. Well, unless the description I saw of Silent War was misleading.

I haven't heard of that one, is it this Battle of the Atlantic? (apparently up for reprint by OSS, who have been doing some good stuff)

Yep, Silent War is solitaire and on a strategic to operational scale and the intent is to take the role of COMSUBPAC by focusing on patrol organization and doctrine. Turns are weekly and individual subs are deployed to a choice of sea lane areas that evolve in density and type of traffic as the war progresses. Combat is by individual sub, but it's pretty abstract and is really just the place where you enact your target doctrine. It's definitely much more of a "study sim" (but quite addictive, "just one more patrol before bed") compared to Silent Hunter, you're required to meet/exceed historical tonnage levels at set deadlines or you get fired (game over) which can be extremely difficult. If the torpedo scandal as portrayed by SH4+mods makes you swear, Silent War will make you want to tear your hair out as you come up a few thousand tons short of a quota. I have had to set up spreadsheets to track stuff like weekly patrol/contact rate, contact/victory rate, tonnage/patrol rate, etc. It gives you a very appropriately cold and cerebral feeling of the nature of tonnage war, the designer (Brien Miller) describes it quite aptly as playing "the chief financial officer of the Grim Reaper". But if you want a well researched/tested simulation (the statistical model is designed so as to be able to output historic tonnage and sub loss levels when the historic patrols are inputted) of the US submarine campaign, I doubt you can find anything better.

As far as other sub board games, the same designer also has another game, Steel Wolves, that uses the same system as Silent War for the German WWII Atlantic campaign. (the system designed specifically to be able to simulate both campaigns) I haven't picked that one up yet though. He also has mentioned another entry in the series covering WWI U-Boats, but I haven't heard anything about that in a while. There's also a solo tactical WWII U-Boat game called The Hunters that I've heard really good things about. And of course, that designer is also working on a Pacific version of the system.

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Ahhh. The smell of die cut cardboard in the morning. It smells like Victory ...in the Pacific.

Thanks Avalon Hill. That's how I got my introduction to this theater.

If you want to really wake up to the smell of die cut cardboard, how about Decision Games' remake (only slightly changed/added on to) of SPI's old War in the Pacific? 32 sheets of 1/2" counters (~9000 total) and 7 22x34" map sheets. Note: I, nor I imagine anyone who actually owns it, have actually played it.

For something slightly less insane (and actually playable), the 80's classic Pacific War by Mark Herman/Victory Games is supposedly due for a reprint sometime in the future.