Steel Wolves Thoughts?

[ArizonaTank]

I am looking at Steel Wolves....but it is a considerable investment.  Does anyone have thoughts on the game?  Re-playability?

[Nefaro]

I have it's predecessor.

Looks like it would take a lot of time to play any sizable campaign.  I did like how convoy setup & attack decisions are made but the time investment running a whole sub fleet looks like it would be massive.  There are some smaller scenarios and single boat patrols in Silent War.  I did a few of the latter to get used to the rules but haven't played even one of the smaller campaigns yet - would have to keep it on the table for awhile.  IIRC, the intermediate scenarios generally covered a certain period, such as a whole year.

At least one person here has Steel Wolves.  It looks to be quite a lot more boats to run in that one, so the time investment could be even larger.  Perhaps there are small wolfpack patrol scenarios & such in addition to the yearly and full war stuff.. I dunno.

[Rekim]

I thought I felt my grognads tingling  ;D

I was busy setting up my first campaign game when this thread was posted. I'm starting off with one of the smaller campaigns 'the first happy time' which covers the second half of 1940, before I take on the big enchilada. A cool feature of the period campaigns is that the player can continue playing into the following period, or even to the end of the war if desired. To date I have played around with some single boat patrols and a small campaign, which I terminated early due to gross losses during the first couple of weeks.

First off I must say that the game is gorgeous. High quality components, pretty map, tons & tons of subs, and the most charts I have seen since ASL. Will post a picture of my setup when I get home.

Being a noob with the game I can't really comment too much on the replayability factor. I've read session reports that suggest that multiple plays result is very different outcomes. I've found this to be the case with Silent War, so am not expecting otherwise with its big brother. The fact it takes SO long to complete a campaign also reduces the risk of this being a problem. I've read reports of player wearing out some of the game components during a single play of the campaign  :P

As Nefaro mentioned, there are some small campaigns included. The single patrol games are too limited and are only useful for learning the ropes. In order to really enjoy Steel Wolves a player must have a space to dedicate to the game for the long term (same as for Silent War), unless playing it on Vassal. The game system allows a player to walk away at any point during play and resume it at some later time without issue. This is one of the real strengths of the system IMHO.

I should mention that I didn't enjoy either game until I started using a laptop to assist with chit pulls and seeding of the many cups used with the game (up to 14 seperate cups needed for chit pulls with Steel Wolves). I found it too labor intensive and slow to do it manually. I now use the Vassal module to manage this aspect of the game. In this way I am able to play the game MUCH quicker, say x4 improvement, and never have an issue with accidentally returning a chit to the wrong cup (a regular occurance in manual mode). This approach also eliminates the need to keep several of the big 11''x17'' charts handy and wear and tear on the most vulnerable parts of the game, the counters used for the chit pulls.

[ArizonaTank]

Thanks guys, this helps.  Actually, I am looking for something in-depth...so I decided to take the plunge based on what you guys have said.  I'll let you know how it goes.

[Nefaro]

Hey Rekim.. are there any parts not included in the Vassal module for Silent War?  Or is it just the rules and maybe some charts it doesn't have? 

I may run much of it in Vassal sometime since I'd like to player a longer game but don't want it cluttering up my gaming table for weeks.  If the Vassal module has the map and all the counter stuff, at the least, then I may go that route.

[Rekim]

The Vassal modules for Steel Wolves and Silent War come complete with all of the pieces and charts. The rulebooks for both games are available from the Compass Games website. The one ingredient you will lacking without a hard copy is the all important scenario guides.

Judging by comments on BGG, Vassal seems to be the preferred method for playing Steel Wolves. I can't imagine missing out on playing with all those sub counters and pretty map though.

Congrats on taking the plunge Arizona. It doesn't come cheap but feel I got my moneys in components and will cost pennies by the hour to play by the time I finish my first GC. My only regret is the knowledge it will be a very long time before I get Silent War to the table again. I thought about selling my copy but figured it merits another visit before I make that decision. BTW, be prepared for an exceptionally tedious job of organizing all those chits. I'm OCD enough that I didn't mind it, which is good as it took a couple of passes to get it right.

[Nefaro]

The Vassal modules for Steel Wolves and Silent War come complete with all of the pieces and charts. The rulebooks for both games are available from the Compass Games website. The one ingredient you will lacking without a hard copy is the all important scenario guides.

Thanks.

I have a copy of Silent War - just didn't want to play a campaign and have to leave it out on the table for a weeks and months.  Using the vassal version is a solution to that, of course.  Only having to refer back to my paper manual and such keeps the extra clutter to a minimum if I do.

[ArizonaTank]

Steel Wolves just landed on doorstep.  You guys weren't kidding...what a beautiful monster.  The kind of game that separates the grogs from the pikers.  Gonna take me a while to get into this, but really excited.

[Rekim]

Glad you are pleased with your purchase AZ.

Here are a couple of shots of my setup using the boardgame + Vassal



There can be 50 - 60 chit pulls for a single convoy encounter. A single click of the mouse draws and places each counter in Vassal. A single click on the End Combat button when done and all of the counters are cleared and placed in the appropriate draw cup. There are four different combat mats with Steel Wolves, so spared from lots of shuffling as well this way



This is a shot from turn 1 of 176 in my current campaign, so still plenty of subs to be deployed at this point. Way too much fun pushing those counters around. Vassal is great, but together with the board game goodies is perfection

[PanzersEast]

Glad you are pleased with your purchase AZ.

Here are a couple of shots of my setup using the boardgame + Vassal



There can be 50 - 60 chit pulls for a single convoy encounter. A single click of the mouse draws and places each counter in Vassal. A single click on the End Combat button when done and all of the counters are cleared and placed in the appropriate draw cup. There are four different combat mats with Steel Wolves, so spared from lots of shuffling as well this way



This is a shot from turn 1 of 176 in my current campaign, so still plenty of subs to be deployed at this point. Way too much fun pushing those counters around. Vassal is great, but together with the board game goodies is perfection

Dayum..... that is a serious setup.  Man envy!


Right on with the MB...

PE

[Nefaro]

Using the Vassal Convoy setup display sounds like a good idea.  That did seem to take up a lot of time pulling counters and such.  I may have to get familiar with the vassal pack for Silent War before starting my first campaign game with it.

[ArizonaTank]

Glad you are pleased with your purchase AZ.

Here are a couple of shots of my setup using the boardgame + Vassal

There can be 50 - 60 chit pulls for a single convoy encounter. A single click of the mouse draws and places each counter in Vassal. A single click on the End Combat button when done and all of the counters are cleared and placed in the appropriate draw cup. There are four different combat mats with Steel Wolves, so spared from lots of shuffling as well this way

This is a shot from turn 1 of 176 in my current campaign, so still plenty of subs to be deployed at this point. Way too much fun pushing those counters around. Vassal is great, but together with the board game goodies is perfection

Very nice setup, great idea for vassal+ board. 

BTW, I read a review of silent war that said the game plays well in coop mode with another player.  Any experience with that?

[Rekim]

BTW, I read a review of silent war that said the game plays well in coop mode with another player.  Any experience with that?

I'm sure coop would be fun. Just a matter of divving up the subs between players. The competition between players to see who could produce the best results would add another dimension to the game.

Because of the massive time commitment involved with SW I think one of the DVG Leader games would be better suited for this style of play.

[Nefaro]

Because of the massive time commitment involved with SW I think one of the DVG Leader games would be better suited for this style of play.

I'm pretty sure the latest Thunderbolt Apache Leader release has some mention of competitive team play like this in the rulebook.  It may be a bit of a pain in some cases unless you each have a copy, for those missions where only one aircraft is committed.  However, I think you're supposed to do missions separately since VPs are awarded per mission results and not individual targets destroyed.

[Kushan]

Congrats AZ.

There can be 50 - 60 chit pulls for a single convoy encounter. A single click of the mouse draws and places each counter in Vassal. A single click on the End Combat button when done and all of the counters are cleared and placed in the appropriate draw cup. There are four different combat mats with Steel Wolves, so spared from lots of shuffling as well this way

Very nice setup. I'll have to give Vassal a shot. I've tried done a few single boat patrols, and intentionally limited myself to a few ship convoys because laying out all of the chits became tedious after awhile.