Here is my review of PV: I don't like it! What?
First there are historical problems with PV. The IJN had 4 Battlecruisers, in the game the block only goes to a 3 Combat Value for Kongo type Battlecruisers. The IJN had 2 16 inch Battleships (Mutsu and Nagato) yet the 1941 start scenario list a Combat Value of 3 units (sure one can be built but it was not an at start force level). The US had probably more escort carrier planes than the IJN had carrier planes in total. Yet no Escort Carrier blocks are included for the US but pitiful carriers like the Hosho and Zuiho are on IJN blocks. Where are the several Hawaii class Battlecruisers? In my opinion there needs to be a little more accuracy is needed in a primary naval game.
Second: Production, Let's get serious you can't produce a Carrier, Battleship or Cruiser in 3 months yet in the game I could do just that, need more Carriers, just slap them on the board…NOT. Japan launched and commissioned a single Battleship (Musashi) and no CAs during the entire war. No way they could arbitrarily produce the ships of various types that they can in PV. This production aspect also suffers from scale. Either Japan controlled Indonesia and had a supply route back home or NO rubber or oil for Japan and thus minimal war production.
In PV the Japanese player can easily go for production points and NEVER control Indonesia. This aspect of the game is like 3R where the more area you control the more boys and toys you have. WRONG. The more area Japan controls the less boys they could have and if they don't control Indonesia they should get NO toys at all (maybe some boys).
Third: Land war. Let's get serious here. Japan has NO hope of fighting a land war in Australia or India and winning. Does Japan have any equipment to fight a mechanised Australian Division? I'm talking open terrain continental warfare against a western power. Lets see humm: 50 Matildas come over the hill, I got NOTHING to stop them except a lucky side shot at point blank ranges from a towed AT gun. Yeah right! The Japan army in this type of fighting is even more hopeless than the Italian army. At least the Italians had Rommel and some good Pz IIIs with the long 50. Japan has NOTHING. All this is in 1941, skip to 1942 or 1943 where the US could put 5,000 Shermans into India or Australia and now you can see that Japan really has no hope of a conducting this type of warfare. Especially if it is Japan that has to do the logistical end of it. The Japanese army would be slaughtered wholesale in this type of open land combat end of story.
Fourth: Speed aspect of ships. The Battlecruisers were heavily used by the IJN, the lions share of WWI Battleships were under utilised by both sides. Only where FULL control of the air and sea were assured were WWI snail slow Battleships used at all by the US. Looking at the game there is NO advantage given to the Iowa, BCs or CA class ships. Even though these classes were the only ships used with Carriers because of their speed. So it does not matter if I'm stacked with 8 WWI Battleships or 8 WWII heavy cruisers, I have the same movement, about the same attack and retreat options. This is HOPLESSLY and COMPLETELY false. How can 8 WWI class Battleships shoot at 8 WWII Cruisers/ Battleships /Carriers? Not possible and never happened in real life (OK a few WWI IJN Battleships got a few salvos off before being sunk by more modern and faster ships!) At no point in the war were slow WWI Battleships able to bring battle to a faster battle group on favourable terms.
All of the above points are much better handled (or ignored) in ViTP. I expect PV, being a newer, more expensive, more complicated game to do all of the above MUCH better. As it stands PV is a failure in all areas and makes poor use of the block system.
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© Copyright 2000 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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