Review: Pacific Command- Osprey Games

[Easy E]

Mike Hutchinson returns to the Osprey Wargaming Series with something a bit different.  Previously, Mr. Hutchinson wrote Gaslands (which got an Osprey Hardback re-release which means it sold well) and the less well-received A Billion Suns.  His other big Non-Osprey book is Hobgoblin which is a fantasy Mass Battle Game.   Therefore, turning his hand to a historical, WWII, Naval combat game is a bit of a different look for him.  I am interested to see what he comes up with. 

I have always been interested in Naval combat.  However, my interest is more Jutland than it was Midway.  The Pacific Theatre of WWII seems especially.... popular?  I mean, the Victory at Sea starter set focuses heavily on the Pacific Theatre, even if it is strangely missing the carrier elements.  Therefore, this is an area of the war that has gotten a lot of attention in wargaming circles over the years, and much of it has been very dogmatic and rivet-counting focused.  I am therefore interested in how Mr. Hutchinson takes a crack at the period and genre, as he often brings novel and simplified approaches to complex genres.

With that said let's fuel up our dive-bombers, clear the decks, and scramble all aircraft! You can read all the details on my Blood and Spectacles blog:
 
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2025/06/review-pacific-command-osprey-games.html

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Thanks for sharing that, I don't normally play naval games but had seen the book and was curious about it.

[fred]

Good review, thanks for sharing.

It does make me wonder if this is a miniature game - or would actually work better as a counter based game. Table top wargamers to do like figures on the table, and seem to make a lot of compromises in game play to accommodate this.

Games like Rommel get labelled as 'board games' and are a lot less abstract. But it does feel the higher the level you go, the more abstract a game needs to be.

I am quite intrigued by the description of naval gunfire as melee!

[Rick]

Good review, thanks for sharing.

It does make me wonder if this is a miniature game - or would actually work better as a counter based game. Table top wargamers to do like figures on the table, and seem to make a lot of compromises in game play to accommodate this.

Games like Rommel get labelled as 'board games' and are a lot less abstract. But it does feel the higher the level you go, the more abstract a game needs to be.

I am quite intrigued by the description of naval gunfire as melee!

The impression I get is that it just needs a hex marked playing surface and some counters to fit right in as a board game. It seems to be a bit too abstract for my tastes so I may pass.

[Iain R]

I must admit my feelings on this were also tempered when I looked into it and discovered it's not really a "miniatures" game. I'd got quite excited about it too, despite really not being a naval gamer in any way.

While I get it, it's trying to convey the vastness of the Pacific, and very much a strategic overview, rather than tactical, I do like an aesthetic to my games and a single ship pretending to be an entire carrier group (and flinging bucket loads of dice to represent the combined abilities of said group as one ship) just ain't it for me. Yes, I know, it's just a counter, you could make up a little base with a few ships on it to look a bit better, but that's not the point! 

I'd even gone so far as to pick up a couple of GHQ 1/2400 ships... oh well, back to the drawing board.

[carlos marighela]

If you are looking to do tactical games and even a wider campaign then the old General Quarters gives a fairly painless gaming experience. Enough detail to make it feel like an actual naval battle, without being an endless grind of stats and paperwork. We did a number of campaigns and battles large and small with these back in the late '80s.

Of course if you enjoy wielding a slide rule or scientific calculator, there's always the Command at Sea series. They actually are quite a good rules set but I wouldn't say they are for the dilettante. Best suited for smaller engagements but the air rules are really quite good IIRC.

Personally I think that most naval games are usually better played via a computer.

[SteveBurt]

The campaign system in Nimitz is superb, and allows you to refight carrier battles. The rules themselves are simple but not simplistic, and allow you to refight large surface battles

[ithoriel]

I love Nimitz/ Halsey. They are my sort of rule set, easy to learn, simple to play and giving all the right results for all  the wrong reasons! The latter being infinitely preferable, IMHO, to the reverse which so many rivet counting rule sets seem to achieve.