Genre: World War II ExhibitTitle Comments Year Thumb 1942: The Pacific Air War PAW was a World War II air and sea combat simulation from MicroProse... you could regard it as the spiritual predecessor to the wonderful European Air War by Microprose. 1994 A Citizen Soldier in the Air Charles H. Cook flew a B-24D named "Cookie" with the 90th Bombardment Group in the southwest Pacific in 1942-1943. At that time, Allied forces were greatly outnumbered, and Japanese invasion of New Guinea and Australia was a very real threat. Bruce Irving has interviewed Charlie Cook and composed this valuable record of his aviation career. The entire article is also available for free download here - Charles H. Cook. Charles H. Cook passed away on on Saturday January 20th, 2007. He is missed by his friends and family.   Achtung Spitfire!   1995   Allied General   1995   Arc of Fire   2002   Assault Gun   2006   Axis & Allies Miniatures   2004   B-24 Liberator     Battle for Midway Adds aircraft and missions to Microsoft Combat Flight Sim and Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 2. It also adds 10 new aircraft designed by Terry Hill. 2000 Battle For Midway & Pacific Theatre Combo Battle For Midway & Pacific Theatre Combo is developed by Abacus for Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 2 and due for release January 2002. 2002   Battle of Britain Play by email is fully supported and well suits the chess-like nature of the game. It is turn -based with events unfolding in real time once both sides have entered their decisions. You can zoom in and out on the action. You can set up for a 1 day event or elect to play out the whole 6 week campaign. 1999 Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory was published by GMX Media in August 2005. It features an enhanced graphics engine based on the classic Battle of Britain by Rowan. 2005 Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory was published by GMX Media in August 2005. It features an enhanced graphics engine based on the classic Battle of Britain by Rowan. 2005 Battle of Britain Memorial Flight The product is presented as a tribute to the BOBMF and a high standard of production is apparent throughout, from the full colour manual to the recreation of RAF Coningsby and the individual aircraft of the BOBMF.   Battle Over Europe Dynamic campaign add-on for IL-2 Forgotten Battles. 2000 Battlehawks 1942 "It was the precursor to Battle of Britain - Their Finest Hour and was one of the first games produced by Lawrence Holland. The game was based on WW2 carrier battles in the pacific. It featured a series of fixed scenarios and did not have a campaign. Over all it was a very good game." 1988 Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII   2006 Blazing Angels Secret Missions Sequel to Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII 2007   Blitzkrieg Commander   2006   Boeing Stearman Chino reported - "... even a hammerhead... it gets awwwfully quiet when the wind stops just before the pilot kicked right rudder to drop the nose straight down..." Steven Coonts book "Cannibal Queen" describes his flight around the USA in a restored Stearman.   Books: Non-Fiction: World War 2       Charlie Company   1986   Close Combat 1: Invasion Normandy Close Combat set a new standard in Real Time Strategy games. It was based on the long running Squad Leader series of table-top simulations, and not only did it model weapons and terrain - but also the psychology of each individual soldier. This was revolutionary because it meant that those little guys would no longer necessarily obey your every mouse click. The little soldiers react to events around them and interpret your orders according to their fatigue and morale. To players like myself who whetted their Real time Strategy teeth on Command and Conquer and Dark Reign, this added great subtlety to the gaming experience, or should I say it required much more subtlety in command to get results. On the plus side, and this is pure joy.... the little fellows make intelligent use of any available cover, using trees, undergrowth, walls, buildings, trenches... any available cover. They'll also go to ground when under fire... crawling if necessary to limit their exposure to fire. Now this was a definite bonus! 1997 Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far Close Combat 2 - A Bridge Too Far starts on December 17th, 1944 and takes you through Operation Market Garden. 1998 Close Combat 3: The Russian Front Cycling through these steps in battle will help you keep on top of things. The fluid nature of Close Combat precludes winning with any rigid set of tactics. Close Combat 3 was the most enjoyable and challenging real time strategy game I'd ever played at that time. Exhibit includes MiGMan's 6 Steps to Victory. 1999 Close Combat 4: Battle of the Bulge "My medium infantry are taking the brunt of the German attack, sitting about 15 metres away from them is a StuG III and needless to say my boys don't really want to take it on all by themselves. More out of good luck than good planning I have a Bazooka team only 2 buildings away. Taking the safest route possible I order the Bazooka team into action." 2000 Close Combat 5: Invasion Normandy   2001   Close Combat Trilogy This was the first game to really factor in morale for your troops which added a lot of uncertainty to the gameplay. The whole series is undemanding on hardware and an ideal choice for whiling away time on a laptop. 2001 Close Combat: Cross Of Iron   2005   Close Combat: First to Fight   2005   Dam Busters "Dam Busters consisted of just >>> one mission <<< !!! The Dam Busters sim was the first one to involve multi-tasking. You could be pilot, engineer, gunner or bomb aimer - in fact you had to do all at some point in the mission." 1984 Dauntless   1977   Eric Young's Squad Assault: West Front   2003   Fighter Ace 3.5 An attractive WW2 sim geared to online playing, with well organised arenas, training and special events. 2002 Flight Sim Toolkit - World War 2 Flight Sim Toolkit was a unique concept, putting creative power in the hands of the consumer for almost the first time in computer sims. 1994 GI Combat   2002   Hellcat Aces "It can be difficult to determine the enemy's intentions at long range due to the lack of color and definition of the enemy aircraft." 1983   Heroes of the 357th "The game never got much credit, but the experience wasn't futile, since you'll recognize some of the elements present on this one on Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. The Mustang was well-modelled and had a real 3D quality. And that was a start..." 1989 IL-2 Forgotten Battles Without a doubt the most outstanding World War 2 flight sim currently available. 2004 IL-2 Sturmovik This much anticipated sim recreated the efforts of the Soviet Airforce on the Eastern front in World War 2 from June 22nd, 1941. 2001 IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 2007 sequel in the acclaimed IL-2 Sturmovik series. 2007 Janes Attack Squadron In October 2001 Xicat Interactive signed an agreement with Jane's Information Group to continue the military games suspended by Electronic Arts. This included the much anticipated Jane's Attack Squadron by Mad Doc Software , which had been sidelined for a year. 2002 Microsoft Combat Flight Sim Microsoft's first foray into combat flight sims was hugely successful and highly entertaining. Microsoft Combat Flight Sim will run quite well on a Pentium 233 and a modest graphics card - I used a Banshee 2D/3D Graphics Accelerator Card the first time around. For a controller I used the inexpensive Top Gun Afterburner II. It doesn't have to cost the earth and you don't need a brand new computer with all the bells and whistles to enjoy Flight Sims. In 2001 I played 84 missions - NOT counting replays - in Microsoft Combat Flight Sim. I played the campaigns which come with the sim - that's 48 missions, and then downloaded Mike Eustace and Doug Attrell's fabulous Korean campaigns which gave me another 36 missions of fast jet action and carrier ops. 1998 Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 2 The sequel to Microsoft Combat Flight Sim, it was set in the Pacific Theatre of WW2 and presented a significant upgrade to the graphics and fidelity. 2000 Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 2 - Beta Version   2000 Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3 On September 18th 2002 I interviewed Scott Lee, a Microsoft product manager, and checked out the beta of Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3. 2002 Mustang vs Fw.190 An alternate name for the product was "Double Trouble - Mustang vs Butcherbird". 2002 Night Raider Night Raider was released by Acme Software in 1988 (Europe). The same year it was imported and released to the US by Epyx as Dive Bomber. "You had to fly the Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber as a member of the British Fleet Air Arm." 1988   Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was released in 1994 and was one of the very first flight sims to make use of the brand new S3 graphics chipset. This chipset enabled a doubling of the screen resolution from 300 x 200 pixels to an amazing 600 x 400 pixels. You could actually see the little fences around Radar sites! 1993 Over the Reich   1993   Pacific Fighters Pacific Fighters was developed by 1C:Maddox Games and published by Ubisoft in 2004. 2004 Pacific Warriors II: Dogfight "Pacific Warriors II: Dogfight! puts you in the seat of a classic fighter plane during the action-filled Pacific conflict between the Americans and the Japanese during World War II." 2003 Panzer General III: Scorched Earth   2000   Panzer Marsch!   1999   Panzer Miniatures   2004   Patrol: WWII   2006   Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor recreates the famous and devastating attack on the US fleet by Japanese aircraft in 1941. You can fly for either side and recreate historical as well as a few hypothetical missions. Overall I found this to be one of the better add-ons for a quick dog-fighting fix. It also boasts the best looking palm trees I've seen outside of Ghost Recon! 2001       Rapid Fire!   1994   Reach for the Skies One of the earliest SVGA sims. Reach for the Skies was a Battle of Britain sim developed by Rowan and published by Virgin in 1993. Flyable aircraft were the Spitfire, Hurricane, Messerschmidt Bf-109, Messerschmidt Bf -110, Heinkel He-111 and Dornier Do-117. 1993 Red Baron Developed by Keith Hunt and published by Lothlorien in 1983. 1983   Red Skies over Europe 'Red Skies over Europe' puts you in the seat of a fighter plane during the action packed Eastern Front conflict between the Axis Luftwaffe and the USSR Air Force during World War II." 2004 Rules of Engagement   2007   Schwere Kompanie   2001   Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe was a classic flight sim released by LucasArts in 1990. It featured experimental German aircraft from WW2 and was developed by Lawrence Holland. 1990 Silent Storm   2003   Spearhead   1995   Spitfire   1973   Spitfire 40 "The graphics were again almost non-existent, but the dynamics of the Spit' were great. It really was fully aerobatic and allowed you true barrels rolls and stall turns." 1984   Spitfire Ace   1984 Spitfire!   1996   Spitting Fire   2006   Steel Panthers   1995   Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles   1996   Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command 1939-1999   1997   Steel Tiger     Storm Over Arnhem   1981   SWOTL CD edition The CD-reissue of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. 1992 Tigers and Stalins -- Micro Armor Tank Rules       Tractics   1971   Tuskegee Fighters The primary task of the Tuskegee Fighters was to escort the B-17 Flying Fortress bombers on their way to German ground targets from Southern Europe. After initial training in Northern Africa, they moved. They operated from airfields in Italy. During the escort missions they encountered many enemy aircraft and took part in dozens of dogfights. 2000 Under Fire!   1985   Victory at Sea   2006   Warbirds 2 Geared towards the internet flyer, Warbirds II allows you to fly any of 55 fighters and bombers from the World War II era . Warbirds already has a large online following and this release can only swell the ranks. 1999 Warbirds III   2000   WW2 Air Force Commander WW2 Air Force Commander was developed by Impressions Software in 1993. 1993 WWII Fighters Like most Janes sims this one pushed the PC hardware available at the time of it's release (1998) to the limits. A year and a half down the track it will run very well on the average new machine - provided you have a 3D accelerator fitted of course! If you have good sound insulation, play World War 2 Fighters LOUD as the sound effects are stunning. Nearby explosions made me jump out of my seat several times! With the plethora of user created missions there is a lot of life left in World War 2 Fighters yet 1998 WWII: Battle over Europe   2006 Back to the December 2007 WIP indexes
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