Jim Cobb has a review of Norm Koger’s new naval battle game at Wargamer. Distant Guns, from Storm Eagle Studios, was developed by Koger and Jim Rose. It focuses on fleet engagements in the Russo-Japanese War, a conflict that was probably the last time large scale fleet engagements settled the course of a conflict.

Jim liked it a lot, which was a further incentive for me to break out the credit card and give it a whirl. So I scooted over to Storm Eagle’s website to buy the game.

Then I saw the price.

I accept that wargames are not cheap. Matrix Games has recently charged new game prices for retrofits of Operational Art of War and Harpoon 3. Shrapnel asks 45 dollars for a colorfully ugly, but pleasant, wargame based on Frederick the Great’s battles. If we want people to make wargames, we should buy the good ones at standard retail prices. (Don’t buy the bad ones.)

But Distant Guns is $64.95. That’s fifteen dollars more than I expected. Thank God for the demo.

I wish Koger and Rose great success, but that price is going to turn a lot of people off.

I’ll have comments on the demo soon.