SGS Operation Hawaii

Feels more like a DLC than a game. Afrika korps/Tunesia both have full campaign options that last for 40+ turns, then side campaigns of 10-20 turns that are the phases of the main campaign. I would describe Hawaii as one of those phases of a larger game (because it only has the one campaign of 18 turns) except that it throws out some core mechanics that the other games revolve around, specifically supply. They make sense of this by, instead of the campaign being months long or sometimes the better part of a year, the game only encompasses a handful of days. That's all fine and good, except now there are supply markers on regions that only serve the purpose of possibly confusing new players and messing with old ones from the other games. (my first run, i made sure to keep my lines open because i didn't know it didn't matter; inadvertently ruining the run (you need every soldier as japan)) The difficulty: Playing as japan is understandably very difficult. However, it is made even more difficult by the low moral of your opponent. Although it makes advancing incredibly easy, it also makes it very hard to actually eliminate US forces. It *Seems* to be an attempt to resolve this by making all Japanese troops act as if they are mechanized (i.e. can move after winning a fight) however, it does doesn't help either because the US troops immediately retreat before you can do any damage. Coupled with being out of supply not doing damage to units, it is nearly impossible to pin and eliminate US troops, ultimately leading to several overwhelming stacks that your battered troops have no hope of defeating. In essence, the only reason i was capable of winning my second game (as japan by a single VP 24-23) revolved solely on the fact that the US troops aren't very aggressive. They had three stacks perfectly capable of wiping me off the island, but they just sat the the cities and did not attack. As Japan, you do get a lot of aircraft though; that is a plus. Although, they are pretty useless. Very quickly you will annihilate the American aircraft and battleship row, then you have a bunch of air that seems very useful, but in reality will do very little. You might think that you can use them to eliminate those stragglers i was talking about, but you'd be wrong because you can retreat from aircraft. (that's less of a criticism of Hawaii and all the games to be fair, it really does hurt the effectiveness of air in all the titles) Ultimately, i don't recommend it for $9.99. I beat it once in two hours and feel no drive to play it again (i probably still will eventually). If it goes on sale, maybe. I would recommend either of the Afrika titles long before this, for 14 more buckaroos you get 12+ more hours of gameplay if you're quick about it.

Looks like it had promise, but how combat works is obtuse even with the tutorials. Does combat strength even matter if it's just trying to get low numbers? How does attack and defense factor into rolling? Second, the game becomes unplayable around turn 4-ish when you AI has to place its own troops. You have to do a bit of clicking on the AI's turns but either the AI wouldn't place its own troops and keep the turn moving or where the player has to click is unclear.

I had to refund this game before the 2 hour playtime was up. It was a shame as the setting and game looks good, but the key reason was that the games UI is not intuitive to me and the enemy turn got 'stuck' in an Air phase, which I heard had happened to other games too. Either it was genuinely stuck (a bug) or it wasn't clear to me at all how to pass through to the next phase. For the little game I did get in before then I didn't feel massively engaged in the combat, scenario or cards presented and felt I was pushing counters around, in a very limited fashion, without purpose and being forced to select and play cards. This is my first go at this series of games, I might try some of the better developed and reviewed ones, but this one just didn't hit me as having solid gameplay or tested design, so regretfully, it's a pass. I also note the positive reviews have 4.5 hrs max playtime as of today, so this doesn't feel like a game people have been massively immersed in yet. It needs more play testing, a better in game tutorial for players new to the series like me and a more intuitive interface/AI turn sequence.

[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6142328/][b] With 1,200+ reviews, make sure to follow The Cpt Froggy Club Curator Page for plenty more![/b][/url][/quote] SGS Operation Hawaii: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The United States of America entered the Second World War after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour on the 7th of December 1941. It was feared that the Japanese force might be invading the Oahu Island straight after the Pearl Harbour attack, but the attack didn't occur. It is said that Japan didn't invade Hawaii because of the logistics of waging war in the Pacific. Nonetheless, the attack on Pearl Harbour crippled the US armada, but as the Japanese Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto, wrote in his diary, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." Here is a hypothetical scenario to explore what might have happened if the Japanese had tried to invade Hawaii, in SGS Operation Hawaii. SGS Operation Hawaii is a turn-based Strategy game developed by The Strategy Game Studio and published by Avalon Digital on the 8th of December 2021 on the Steam platform. As I have previously played several of the SGS games, which are based on historical facts, I loved the idea of a game based on a hypothetical, which this game offers. However, if you have already played other games from the series, you might be disappointed, as there is only one scenario, and it will take you around two to three hours to finish on the single-player mode. You can play either the Japanese or the Americans, and you do have the possibility to play against a friend in a hot seat type of setting (play against each other on the same computer) or via email, which is the main feature of the series. In this game, the developers introduced a fun feature where you can choose one of the three locations (beaches) where your forces will land if you play the Japanese. Or where you think the American forces should be posted in order to respond as fast as possible against the Japanese invader. Each of the sites will have their pros and cons for both armies. After selecting the landing site, the game works in a similar way to the other games in the series. You have several phases per turn. The total number of turns to complete a playthrough is 16, which is not many. Even though you can choose where to land if you play the Japanese, or where to place your forces playing the Americans, I don't feel the game has good replayability. Based on my experience playing their previous games, this game is a little bit of a letdown. If this is the first game you’ve played from the series, you might find it awkward, but the developers are really good at providing excellent tutorial videos, which you can access from the game's main menu. They are not too long, and it’s really worth understanding how to play the game (even I needed to re-accommodate myself with the commands!). The graphics are good, as is the soundtrack. Even though it might be a good entry game for the people who are not familiar with the series, it is very short with not much replayability for those who have enjoyed the previous games. Positives: ~~~~~~~ + Nice graphics + A hypothetical scenario of WWII + Great video tutorials + It can be played single-player, hotseat, via email or through Steam remote play Negatives: ~~~~~~~~ - Short game with minimal of replayability - No achievements or trading cards SGS Operation Hawaii provides you with a hypothetical scenario of WWII in the Pacific. It falls short for the fans of the series. 5/10 Key provided by the developer/publisher for review purposes. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own! [quote][url= https://www.zeepond.com/zeepond-reviews][b]READ EPIC REVIEWS FROM “THE CPT FROGGY” AND MATES, UP NOW ON ZEEPOND, THE HOME OF THE ALMIGHTY FROG![/b][/url] [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thecptfroggyclub#curation][b]FOLLOW THE CPT FROGGY CURATOR PAGE HERE[/b][/url] [url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZchpsMdA2hDYJKZgOPdo_w?view_as=subscriber][b]SUBSCRIBE TO THE CPT FROGGY YOUTUBE CHANNEL[/b][/url][/quote]

[h1]Overview[/h1] While the concept of the game is good, the mechanics are not intuitive. [h1]Positive Aspects[/h1] The choice of cards affects options. There is a penalty in Victory Points (VP) for playing cards. You can make the game harder or easier if you are willing to pay the VP penalty. [h1]Negative Aspects[/h1] The game mechanics are not intuitive. I keep having refer to the video tutorials.

A really unique subject for a wargame. A really great looking map makes this game a joy to play on. This covers the land battle as the main feature. Some really interesting events affecting both sides adds depth to the game. The limitations imposed on the US forces seems a little overdone in my opinion as I play the US in my first game against my good friend Tiopepe2. So if you are looking for a WWII Pacific wargame with a twist...then OP Hawaii is for you!

I found the gameplay to be pretty good. My first play through was as the Japanese and at first I thought the US AI was fairly passive, but as the turns went I found my units halted while the US AI slowly gave ground until it had overwhelming force and thoroughly thrashed my units about turn 13. Mechanically I thought the way that air units are moved was clunky, but beyond that I found the flow of the game to work well.

As a strategy player, I like new topics and original ideas and gameplay. This Operation Hawai brought me something I have seldomly seen... something genuinely fun, innovative and intelligent.

Oui, toujours bien! Une chouette alternative sur un chapitre historique (Pearl Harbor) peu souvent traité directement. C'est joliment fait, un peu dur pour les Japonais. J'espère une adaptation de la guerre civile américaine! Des campagnes longues en tout cas!

TL; DR: Very efficient and enjoyable modeling of a cool "what if" scenario from WWII. Highly recommended, especially if you are familiar with prior SGS games. This is a smaller game but it continues to build the excellent list of war titles from SGS. The game worked flawlessly. I think that some of the negative reviews may have resulted from not being familiar with SGS's system. This system is unique and there's a bit of a steep learning curve, but after you understand it it is an elegant and efficient way to model war themes. SGS has also shown willingness to create games based on lesser known historical battles and situations (eg, Spanish Civil War), which is refreshing. If you like this, there are a number of new SGS games ready to hit Steam over the next few months.