Hi fellas. Sorry I haven't posted for ages but like Paul and Rich and a few others, life and health issues get in the way of hobbies and so things have to go on the back burner whilst more important priorities get addressed. Anyway, just to show I haven't given up the bug/itch just yet, I've been raking through me Speccy software and hadn't realised just how many war sim titles I have for this little machine. A couple of pics then of games I want to have a dive into and possibly review my experiences of classic wargaming software on our beloved 8bits. There's software here from some old familiar names (PSS, Durell, Lothlorien to name but 3) and maybe some that are new to you too - CCS perhaps - do let me know if there is any interest at all out there in this kind of gaming. I do believe that Dave/Daz aka Alex Drito also enjoys the odd game of strategy, esp chess, so anyone else also with some memories of playing this kind of simulation (perhaps Microprose titles on the ST or Atari classic?) do drop me a line... Apologies in advance if the sheer number hurts your eyes - I know - I'm a very sad collector of cassettes!! Stacks of software covering all periods of history but it's WWII I'm particularly interested in and I sometimes like to read up on a particular battle and then look at how the 80s software sims tried to cover it. First one to be covered in the next week, BISMARCK by Personal Software Services (PSS) - the classic 1941 sea battle engagement between HMS Hood in the blue corner from the Royal Navy versus the new huge German Kriegsmarine challenger, in the red corner, Bismarck. How did it all unfold and how good is the sim? We are soon to find out... Very soon.
You have some nice pieces there Andy. Some are fairly rare too in that condition. I picked up Desert Rats a couple of weeks ago myself. I already had Combat Lynx and Stonkers as well but Desert Rats is my first real wargame. Last time I owned one was Johnny Reb by Lothlorien.
Thanks, Richie. Ah, I'd forgotten about Stonkers! Stonk used to be my nickname about 40yrs ago when I 1st started work at a local newspaper - don't ask!! Yeah, some of these I've picked up for pennies over the years and others have cost £10-15 each etc (rarely pay more unless it's ultra meaningful to me). I've not tried Desert Rats yet, did you get the CPC version? Please let me know how you get on with it and I loved Johnny Reb on both the Oric and Beeb - never played it on the Speccy so I'll see how it compares. Hope to speak/see you on Sunday on the link-up, mate. AL - what time's kick off, pal - we won't be back til at least mid afternoon - and please invite Paul via Whatsapp if you aint already - you probably have - we need to stay in touch.
Johhny Reb on the Speccy is the same as the Oric version mainly. It uses UDG graphics and is a bit slow. I do love Stonkers it's a simplified wargame, but it can be quite entertaining. Desert Rats is for the Speccy, I had thought it had picked up the enhanced 128K version on side B but it turned out to be the plain 48K version. It does have the manual so that makes using the 128K version on Spectaculator a lot easier. I am trying to find a copy of Stalingrad by CCS as I am fascinated by that battle and it's implications for World War 2.
Didn't realise there was such a wide range of Speccy war sims. Only ones I played back on the A8 were Eastern Front(?) and a couple of the war flight sims, which I was hopeless at. Nice to see some love for the old stuff though. And that's a mighty impressive bulge you have there Andy!!
Shame about no 128K version for Desert Rats but funny you should mention that one as well as Stalingrad, mate. As you'll know, once the Nazis had been defeated at both El Alamein and Stalingrad, then it was the beginning of the end of them in 1942. There's some famous quote about never having won a battle before these two and then never really losing one afterwards so definitely a turning-point and as you say the implications were massive both for the Axis & Allies in World War 2. See you soon, fellas.
Bev disagrees with you on both points, Al. She sez you need to bring a skip and a microscope in order to take out any so-called bulges here... See you later, mate.
OK, I've finally taken a look at the PSS Bismarck Speccy sim and the bits I've seen don't grab me which is a shame as it probably needs more time to explore all the variants (eg you don't just get a chance to play Bismarck and Prinz Eugen vs Hood and Prince of Wales - you can take on/play the side of the other British battleships (KGV, Rodney etc), the other British cruisers (Sheffield Norfolk, Dorsetshire etc), have air attacks from Brit Swordfish biplanes and even attack a convoy). The major problem for me was in any surface battle you cannot withdraw if the action is taking place within 41K yards - ie. if yer massively outgunned you can't RUN AWAY! Try as you might, whichever way you turn, the enemy seems to cling on always within this range so if you've a weak force up against a superior force... you get pummelled whereas in the real battle the weaker Brit cruisers kept shadowing Bismarck and weaving/zig zagging to and fro to keep her in radar range. I also found the encounters to be confusing so you didn't always know who you were up against. If you're the British then it's obviously going to be the 2 German raiders you meet but if you play the German side you could run into any of about 5-6 diff Royal Naval units and the binoculars icon at the bottom just seemed to scroll through every unit in the game... it just didn't fill me with a lot of positive vibes this one, guys, but if you want a 2nd opinion then of course you can look up game mechanics here: Bismarck (ZX Spectrum) and there are other reviews out there such as... and... and finally... I was going to review another PSS Wargamers title next on the Speccy, namely Theatre Europe. Unfortunately the only joystick option is for Kempston which I'm not getting my Speccy Plus 2 to cooperate with and I'm damned if I fancy the using the keyboard options to move the cursor around the European map battlefield so I'll bypass that one and see what next PSS title takes my fancy... it's likely to be a more up to date, historically speaking, option - Falklands 82. Join me on a yomp soon, fellas!
Are you gonna try some of the CCS games like Arnhem? I think they are a lot better than the PSS games like Bismark
Good suggestion, Richie. There's Easter coming up, mate, and we're not shooting off anywhere so I'll have some time at home to try out both PSS's Falklands 82 and a couple of CCS titles such as Arnhem - great call, fella! Let us know how you get on with some of the sims you have too. ...and I MUST remember to PLAY ATARI over the hols too - good call, Graham!
WE SHOULD NOT FORGET THE FALKLANDS 'We should not forget those who served in the Falklands' - BBC News Hi fellas. Hope you're all well and enjoying a relaxing Easter holiday break with your families and loved ones. After the past 36hrs in bed with terrible, aching, rotten guts, I've just emerged to try a little gardening, a short walk round the block and found I was still weak as a kitten (eaten nowt but a bowl of cornflakes and half a crumpet since Fri tea), and those darned April showers keep hitting us the moment I step out the house, so what the hell, let's do a bit of 8bit Speccy wargame reviewing. Yep, I've just looked at the local BBC news and spotted the above memorial news piece for those who are remembering the Falklands war, 44years ago...can you recall it and what you were doing back then? I was 15 and still at school about to take me O Levels (remember them?!) and we used to get morning assembly bulletins as to what had happened and I still recall the horror of the loss of HMS Sheffield hit by an Exocet and the terrible fires onboard and the loss of life. There were our other ships hit (some with unexploded / delayed action bombs) such as HMS Ardent and Antelope and it sent a shiver through my soul when there was a naval rating called Andrew Barr listed as killed. Then there was the sinking of the Argie cruiser Belgrano and the large numbers of ships crew lost there too, not forgetting the sacrifices made by the islanders and the brave soldiers (Brits and Argentinian - many young conscripts only a few years older than we were) who fought at battles such as Tumbledown, Longdon, Mount Kent, Port Stanley and Goose Green. These were all strange named places back then (some of me mates back then thought the Falklands were off Scotland and wondered how the Argies managed to get there and were so close to invading the mainland!). They have since entered into the halls of legend when discussing military campaigns and battles etc. OK, enough of the preamble and let's see how this PSS title - FALKLANDS 82 - from the WARGAMERS SERIES weighs up and I will then move on to 1-2 of Richie's CCS requests. The game's mechanics can be seen in this You Tube clip: I'll start by saying that playing any game on my Speccy +2 (grey) with an RGB scart connector means I get no sound - which even with the legendary poor bleep "power" of the dear ol Spectrum - is a bit of a nil-atmosphere experience. For example, the shrill siren sound effects, when nukes and chemical warhead attacks are launched, and the brain-rattling assault breaker sounds on PSS's THEATRE EUROPE wargame on the Atari and C64 are excellent and definitely greatly increase the ambience and drama - don't believe me? Try this clip and jump to 13mins in! So the player's heightened enjoyment of the simulation and experience of this title, for example. Never mind. Hang on... I've just checked the back of the thing and sure enough there's this output - ALL IS GOOD! I;M NOW WIRED FOR SOUND. OK, the gameplay and experience... it's good. Keyboard controlled - minimum options - the usual Move Recce Attack etc (just select the initial) and if you choose Move then it's the usual North East South and West and certain units use up their movement points phase more rapidly then others if you are going through rough terrain or mountainous regions - realistic then. Response is pretty quick though sometimes, when I was selecting which ships would provide shore bombardment or Task Force picket duties then selection was slow - so you'd hold the key down - and lo and behold it would then assign the next 3-4 selections the same value and there didnt seem to be a way of undoing this so input at times can be frustrating and you almost wonder if it's in BASIC. When I played a 2nd time, and btw you can't play as Argentina, it would not accept input for any ship bombardment so the input here is very hit&miss. In gameplay, I also didn't see an option to Resupply - in other wargames the amount of ammo/supplies a formation has decreases turn by turn and so you usually spend a turn re-supplying... I'm not sure if the game handles this crucial aspect automatically - am I one for reading all the destructions? I'll let you answer that dear reader! Seriously though, I will have a skeg through the instructions as there may well be more detail to this game than meets the reviewers' eye on 1st gameplay experience. Another thing I noticed, and OK this will be historically accurate, is that the Argie strike missions from their airforce usually miss (those Pucaras were pretty feeble). I complain about this but am glad my Para, Commando and Marine land forces are still in one piece and by grouping them for multiple attacks on single/dual Argentine formations, I am able to beat them by weight of superior quality, firepower and numbers. Also I think the naval gunfire and RAF/Sea Harrier raids are very effective/influential at suppressing the enemy. I just noted too that we've lost HMS Antrim to Argentinian attack, so that's one more big unit gone no longer providing support, so clearly their Skyhawks and Mirages were better when it came to striking our ships and this sim gets it right. OK, by day 16/17 I finally beat the Argentinians but looking at the odds in terms of the strengths of the British units versus the strengths if the occupiers, it always looked at a British victory so long as the landings were successful, ie the British task force wasn't heavily damaged delivering the superior Brit units ashore. In this sim, you already have the bulk safely ashore and then strong reinforcements arrive after about 10 days - the Ghurkas, Scots and Welsh brigades plus Royal Artillery, which bring overwhelming odds against the Argentinians. I guess the way to offset this, and to provide more of a Brit player challenge, is to play the game at the harder levels, ie 3-5 (the last being MASOCHISTIC!). Some points I noted - some bring a little humour to proceedings, ie, move an armoured force and it CLANKS, move a Para unit and it TABS, move a Marine/Commando or a SAS/SBS unit and it YOMPS, meanwhile Ghurhas on the move TRAMP and move an artillery unite and it TROMPS! Note also that HARRIERS often BEAT OFF ARGENTINE RAIDERS - thank god for our Sea Harriers - they provided incredibly effective Combat Air Patrols and vital interceptions and the weather also places an important factor when delivering "force multiplier" attacks - ie your unit, plus air strike plus naval bombardment adds up to a TRIPLE WHAMMY (which the Argentinians are never able to match as their fleet turned home & their air force was never that influential) but if it's ROUGH SEAS or FOG then your supplementary attacks are nullified / cancelled. OK, my final stats (on moderate level) are as follows: The actual final stats bear sober reading and remind us that WAR... is always a tragedy. Finally, I played FALKLANDS 82 a second time on HARD level and sure enough I couldn't destroy all the Argentinian units and lost many of my crack units including SBS, a Commando division, 3Para, 8th artillery battery, the Welsh and Scots Guards (hang my head in shame, Al - there's going to be an enquiry) BUT do remember that I had one hand tied with the game's initial input screen not allowing me to assign a single warship to shore bombardment so that was a big miss. However, the ships lost figures were better this time - just 1 warship and 1 landing ship on level 3 (hard) whereas my losses were 5 and 2 respectively when I won on the 2nd moderate level of difficulty. Here's the final stats from the 2nd and final run through this PSS wargame - I think Maggie would have had my head on the block and her government would have been heading out the door.... if only and just goes to show how fate and fine margins can decide conflicts. My final verdict is that this is a pretty simple standard level wargame perfect as an introduction to the genre. Probably one of the earlier titles in the WARGAMERS series from PSS as later titles such as THEATRE EUROPE have more depth and more complexity. I can recommend this game - it was released on the C64 too but not on the Atari or Amstrad as far as I know - but don't expect too much. One to re-explore this last foray from Britain along the lines of The Empire Strikes Back before the sun finally set on our once-fine naval tradition? YOU DECIDE and as ever, comments please!
I'm not near a computer but will post a proper reply in a couple of days. Hard to believe it's 44 years!
Hi Al - just checking on the Hearts (as well as the guts!) - they were one down to bottom club Livingston and see that Rangers have now gone top if only on goal diff... Jeez, it's 2-2 all now (98th min - Hearts down to 10 men as of the 97th min) and of course your boys are breathing down their necks and due to KO 4.30 at Dundee, yeah. Still all to play for in Scotland in this exciting 3 horse race for the title and yes to both those observations - amazing it's 44 long years - gone all too quickly in our minds' eye - and yes, Bev has had 36hrs of constant moans, groans and so perhaps the vindaloo she got me for Thurs tea was designed to set my guts alight 24hrs later... this cannot be ruled out, Al though I also visited mam in her care home and she and others have since gone down with bugs - poor mam rushed to Scarborough Hospital. Eeeh, it's bloody crap this getting auld and we can all empathise with others on the forum suffering with existing ailments and conditions. When you catch a bug/virus too then it can lead to serious health concerns. OK, guys - check yous out later and hope it aint pishing it down where you is.
My Dad was in the Scots Guards back then but in the 1st Battalion, his mate Sandy White went as he was in 2nd Battalion. He was killed assaulting an Argentinian trench. It could have easily been my Dad going up Tumbledown instead but like I say they sent the 2nd. I never played that game when it came out, I though it would upset my Dad if he found me playing it on my Speccy and I think I made the right call. Now he has gone I might give it a go. They are probably having a drink together in the Sergeants mess in the sky right now anyway.
Incredible, Rich. Talk about close call indeed. All the fellas who fought must have been extremely brave and to think it could so easily have been your dad being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice...you definitely made the right call by ditching the sim as it would have possibly appeared that a computer game was being used as entertainment at a most sensitive time for your dad. God bless all our courageous soldiers, sailors and airmen/women who have given their all to keep us safe. They've earned that farewell drink together and at the going down of the sun, they are forever in our hearts and minds. God bless your dad and Sandy, Rich. Thank you for your very touching feedback.
Just a couple of interesting clips to add to what we have already spoken about the Falklands - some of this you may already know the background story to...others parts may well surprise the hell out of you, as the 1st one did for the CIA! SBS - brilliant brave battle boys in boats - How the SBS Proved the CIA Wrong About the Falklands Before the War Even Started and GOOSE GREEN - Battle of - 500 Brits vs 1000 Argentines 2 PARA march into battle to help retake the Falklands. Love this quote lads: PARA: It's not fair, Sir, the enemy have twice as many troops as us! COL H JONES: I know, lad, but we cannot wait around for them to bring up any more to make it fairer!!
