The ProSim line of wargames is one of those series that I love to play for a month or two before I move on to something less intense. These are serious wargames for people who like serious real time action, assuming you define action as icons moving on a satellite map.
So it’s great news for me that there is a new one. Battle Group Commander: Episode One takes two modern armies and sticks them on Salisbury Plain. Why there? Who knows.
The game is designed by Gary Bezant, the man behind the earlier ProSim game, The Falklands War: 1982. (The Shrapnel press release calls the Falklands game “controversial” and I have no idea why that would be true.) It also goes for the very low price of fifteen dollars.
The publisher promises a more “noob friendly” game than the previous titles in the ATF/AATF line, and here’s hoping that’s the case. I think this is a developer that could use more exposure and a wider wargaming audience than it has had to this point.
Did reviews of a couple of ProSim titles:
http://jaguarusf.blogspot.com/2007/04/air-assault-task-force-review.html
and
http://jaguarusf.blogspot.com/2006/05/star-and-crescent-review.html
so we will see if this iteration is friendlier to new players.
Part of the controversy for TFW:82:
http://www.wargamer.com/article/1640/Fifth-Column-Editorial-Ukraine-is-Weak??page=2
Not mentioned in the piece because it came later was the fact that a veterans group wanted the game banned. They made quite a stink in a number of mainstream British papers (sorry, can’t easily find a link to the articles at the moment).
“Not mentioned in the piece because it came later was the fact that a veterans group wanted the game banned. They made quite a stink in a number of mainstream British papers”
Ahhh, you can’t buy advertising like that :)
Ah, found one article again: http://tinyurl.com/dheyr4
Please note that the marketing materials never once said it was “to make the conflict fun”.
Not sure what type of overall impact any of that had. I have a feeling most people who checked out the game due to the noise being made out of it quickly realized it wasn’t exactly Super Mario Brothers. ;)