The Wargamer

A New Perspective on World War II

In the world of wargames far too often the games seem obligatory; strategic World War Two games, multi-scenario, platoon based tactical gaming, and of course all the titles on the Battle of the Bulge. Often if one wants to find a wargame on a more esoteric theme (or simply a game that is not the millionth version of some Eastern Front battle) it is up to the desktop publishers to step up to the plate. Or, in the case of Compass Games, form a company with a desktop publishing eye on subjects but with the production values of the mainstream publishing outfits.

Compass Games first title, Silent War: The United States' Submarine Campaign Against Imperial Japan, 1941-1945, is such a title. Designed by Brien Miller and developed by Stephen Jackson, it is a solitaire game pitting the player as the commander of the American Pacific submarine fleet versus the game system of the Japanese navy and merchant marine fleet. This is a game that was in development for years, with an amazing amount of research, and the labor of love that went into this title is evident from the very moment the box is opened.

For what is essentially a start-up company in the world of wargaming, Compass Games' has torpedoed the long standing publishers with the production qualities of Silent War. While GMT Games and Avalanche Press are probably the best known wargame publishers for superb art design and components, Silent War stands tall over both companies. Featuring hundreds of gorgeous counters (three hundred of which are 1.25 inch submarine counters!), full color play aids, and a beautiful map Silent War is a game that won't make a purchaser wonder what exactly their hard-earned cash went to. Besides all the nice bits and pieces the game comes with a rules manual and a scenario book, although there seems to be little reason to have included them as two entities.

Game Components

Of course while good looking components are always welcome, it is far more important for them to be both attractive and functional, a distinction many publishers neglect. Happily Silent War's components will not only impress onlookers, but are done with an eye towards helping playability.

The playing pieces for submarines are, as mentioned previously, huge by counter standards. Each counter has a full color illustration of the submarine class depicted, along with the pertinent game information such as the range (how far a submarine can operate from base), endurance (how long the submarine can stay out at sea), attack (offensive rating), defense (which measures-surprise-defensive capabilities), tactical (how well it performs in a combat environment), and speed (how quickly it can move in a turn). The ratings are a mixture of various abilities, so the defense rating is more than just how maneuverable a sub is, but also diving depth, size, diving speed, et cetera. The counters are double-sided, with one side showcasing a submarine's "patrol" side and her combat prowess, while the other side is the "transit" side used for moving the sub from location to location. Finally, it should be noted that each sub is named and includes the complete order of battle for the Pacific Fleet, and then some, such as the never built supersub, Leviathan (a sub sorta like the French Surcouf). Just for fun a modern day Seawolf nuclear attack sub is included, so you can create your very own time-traveling scenarios.

The surface vessels are for the most part generic, though a few named ships do creep into the mix. Either Imperial Japanese Navy or merchant vessels, the counters show a silhouette of the vessel type, the type of ship, the tonnage, the defense factor, and the anti-submarine factor. The flipside of the surface vessel counters show either a rising sun emblem or a meatball flag. These counters are always blindly placed by the player by being drawn from a set of cups before combat.

Additional counters include Japanese flying boats, combat event markers, Allied sub tenders, and a vast number of markers to facilitate play, such as TDC counters (used to modify the combat odds), Super Skippers (exceptional sub captains can rise up from their baptisms of fire), and lots and lots of other markers (damaged markers, tonnage sunk markers, and so forth). Like the submarine and surface counters, all of these markers are lookers, but also allow easy recognition of what they represent.

If there is any complaint towards the counters included in Silent War it would be that that the shareholders of Ziploc will get quite rich off the sale of the game. With so many counters, and of so many different types, players should prepare to invest quite heavily in bags. Even after months of ownership it will be tempting to most players to continually rearrange the counter storage to try and find that perfect solution to make setting the game up that much easier.