Silent Victory: U.S. Submarines in the Pacific, 1941–45, is the upcoming release from Consim Press, and is currently available for preorder (approaching the 1,100 preorder mark — thank you!). This game marks the continuation of The Hunters, which has been well received and is now available in its Second Printing. In this blog post, we share what changes are in store for Silent Victory, for those already familiar with The Hunters.
The designer, Gregory M. Smith, is committed to ensure fans of The Hunters feel like they are putting on a comfortable pair of slippers when playing Silent Victory, but with appropriate changes for the Pacific. The core of the game engine is identical. A sign of laziness from the designer? No, because the game system is solid and it works well as a chassis for modeling the Pacific.
Now let’s see what changes are in store for Silent Victory.
Balao class submarine display
(updated draft version)
Your Submarine
All major fleet boats from World War II are modeled in the game. Additionally, unlike The Hunters, you can upgrade your deck gun as the war progresses (as was done historically) and add radars as well. Beginning in 1945, submarines may come equipped with Cutie defensive torpedoes and NAC defensive barrage jammers to help get out of those tough situations.
Attacking Escorts and Other Warships
Probably the single biggest change is that players MAY attack escorts now if they wish. Additionally, there are one hundred warships to attack (non-capital ships — CA, CL, DD, DE, FF, SS, etc). This change was needed because in the Pacific, the US Navy considered Japanese warships to be just as important to sink as merchant shipping, and happened with some regularity.
Submarine vs. Submarine Attack
Sub vs. Sub attack can be dangerous, as they MIGHT attack you first! (one US sub was sunk by a Japanese sub during the war). Fortunately, this is low probability, as you are assisted by SJ radar.
SJ Radar
Speaking of which, let’s talk about radar, another new element to the game. You receive an extra attempt for an encounter if you roll a “5†which is normally “no encounter†in all patrol zones, that is, assuming you have SJ radar and it’s operational, of course. SJ radar comes into play when attempting to follow convoys and ships as well. SD radar (air search) is modeled as well, although it’s not much better than having well-trained lookouts.
Rewards vs. Promotions
sample Awards and Medals
Your submarine captain’s “benefits†are more tied into awards in Silent Victory, rather than promotions. There’s Bronze Star, Silver Star, Navy Cross, etc. And the boat itself can earn a Navy Unit Commendation, the Presidential Unit Citation, and Battle Stars, which garner small benefits for future patrols.
Capital Ships and Sneak Attack
The 20 Capital ships all earn you a “Navy Cross†if sunk…but half of them are “Fast†which means they are harder to hit. This adds a new wrinkle to combat. In addition, the Damage Points for Capital ships is more greatly varied than with The Hunters, and in general, the larger capital ships, the tougher they are to sink. Against the Japanese convoys, if you decide to sneak into close range, and do so successfully, you may roll for one additional large target.
Home Sweet Home
As you take your submarine out on patrol, your main home base will be Pearl Harbor or Australia. For each, there are completely different Patrol Assignments appropriate to the locale.
Random Thrills Await!
Perhaps one of the most exhilarating aspects of game play is the various and historical random events that may occur when out on assignment. Silent Victory promises not to disappoint here with many events that all have a historical basis from the Pacific War.
A Kindler, Gentler Attack from Above
Perhaps the biggest reason for rejoicing in Silent Victory will be the fact the aircraft attacks are a bit toned down, as is appropriate. No Bay of Biscay concerns in the Pacific! There is still a threat, however, as it is believed at least eight US subs were sunk from aircraft.
INSIDE THE BOX
Now that we’ve touched upon some of the key changes in the game, let’s look at some of the changes in terms of the presentation of the game in terms of the game components. What’s changed?
Game Counters
First, we’ve increased the size of all target ship counters. They are now wider at .75†vs. .5†width. This will help with readability.
Patrol Maps
Furthermore, many have commented favorably to the concept of having the patrol zone areas superimposed on a geographic/nautical display to give the spatial sense of location (as witnessed in some fan-created supplements for The Hunters). Towards this end, we are delivering Patrol Maps for both Pearl Harbor and Australia.
Player Aid Card Enhancements
We’ve incorporated more content on the Player Aid Cards. For example, in The Hunters, Assignment to New Boat, Crew Advancement, Promotions, etc. were only covered in the body of the rules. Now all this info is listed on the Player Aid Cards for easy reference! Â
A Final Bonus Awaits….
We have a small surprise in store that will introduce a new element to the game…something we came upon during the development process, so you won’t see any hint of it from our current game description. But…sssh…we are keeping this hush-hush for now and will announce it when Silent Victory goes to press. And speaking of going to press, work continues to get all materials ready for printing with the goal of releasing the game this year, so stay tuned for future updates!
We hope you enjoyed this inside look into Silent Victory and how it distinguishes itself from The Hunters. We hope it will entice you to preorder this game with confidence!
— John Kranz, Consim Press
Author: John Kranz
Would be very nice to open this new game and find inside a refit kit for some of us that bought and played The Hunters 1st printing and didn’t manage to get the update stuff otherwise, please, don’t make us to buy things twice!
Working with Tony @ GMT Games now to set-up a preorder program to properly gauge interest for anyone wishing to secure the updated components at cost + postage (similar to how GMT offers limited print run kits for games). These updated components are not needed for owner’s of the original print run, but we understand some may nonetheless be interested in receiving the updated rules booklet, etc. for a small fee.
I think that as many, if not all of us players of The Hunters (TH) will buy Silent Victory (SV), maybe the SV box should contain at least the few new counters and updated combat mat added to the TH 2nd printing. Just to dissipate that feeling of punishment to compulsive buyers.
Hi, Carlos. Yes, affirmative on the counters. Those who receive SILENT VICTORY will also be receiving two counters for THE HUNTERS that are being printed on the SV counter sheet. Once is the new surface/submerged marker, the other is the corrected CV Eagle marker which now displays the pennant to indicate sinking it earns the Knight’s Cross. But to be honest, the combat mat isn’t really necessary — that simply adds a holding spot for the new Surface/Submerged marker…the marker can be freely placed anywhere (for those who decide to use it — some may not bother with it).
Coincidental that you featured Musashi here…
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/03/04/390684719/japanese-world-war-ii-battleship-musashis-wreck-found
Volko, no kidding! What a crazy coincidence.
No Medal of Honor? Granted, it should not be easy to earn, I recall only three skippers awarded the MoH (one posthumously). But it would be nice to be included as a reward.
Also, if receiving the Navy Commendation Medal as a result of combat, it should have the “V” for Valor device on the ribbon. Otherwise, it’s only a personal award for a job well done (have two myself).
Hi, David. The Medal of Honor is indeed included in SILENT VICTORY. I didn’t show all the Awards and Medals markers included in the game. I’ll pass on your comment about the “V” for Valor appearing on the ribbon. Thanks for the info, and thank you for your service to our country!
Hey David,
Technically you CAN get a Commendation Medal during combat without the “V” device. I know from personal experience 🙂 However, for game purposes, you are correct, we should put the “V” device on it. And we shall. Thanks for pointing it out.
Greg
RE: “V” Device.
Hey David,
Decided to relook the awards situation – I spent over 28 years total in the US Military, and put the awards in the game based on personal knowledge. However….those years were not during WW2 🙂
The “V” device first came into use in 1944 with the Army…..but the Navy did not have it until 1946. Accordingly, for historical accuracy, we will be removing them as they didn’t exist yet in the timeframe of the game.
Even more embarrassing (for me) was finding out the Navy Commendation Medal didn’t exist until 1950. The Navy Commendation -Ribbon- was what was around starting in Nov. 1943. So we’ll be fixing that as well.
However, add those fixes to our removing the “Congressional” from the Medal of Honor, and we have the awards fixed up and historically accurate now, at least for WW2. I might have to add an historical note to the rules to that effect, as I’m sure we’ll get questions.
Still, I do pride myself on trying to make my games historically correct, and I am very thankful we caught this before publication. So we owe you and Ian Wedge a big thanks for bringing up the subject and causing us to not take my preconceptions for granted.
Mea Culpa,
Greg
This looks amazing. Can’t wait to get my hands on it… how long am I waiting by the way?
Love the radar idea. I am so sick of taking on partols in the The Hunters, only to find out that there is not a ship in sight, come home to base, and lose possible crew enhancement because there was nothing to shoot at. This would make so mad.
Finally, less death from above. Thank you, I was sunk once by a repetitive airplane attack. Not fun.
RE: “V” Device.
Hey David,
Decided to relook the awards situation – I spent over 28 years total in the US Military, and put the awards in the game based on personal knowledge. However….those years were not during WW2 🙂
The “V” device first came into use in 1944 with the Army…..but the Navy did not have it until 1946. Accordingly, for historical accuracy, we will be removing them as they didn’t exist yet in the timeframe of the game.
Even more embarrassing (for me) was finding out the Navy Commendation Medal didn’t exist until 1950. The Navy Commendation -Ribbon- was what was around starting in Nov. 1943. So we’ll be fixing that as well.
However, add those fixes to our removing the “Congressional” from the Medal of Honor, and we have the awards fixed up and historically accurate now, at least for WW2. I might have to add an historical note to the rules to that effect, as I’m sure we’ll get questions.
Still, I do pride myself on trying to make my games historically correct, and I am very thankful we caught this before publication. So we owe you and Ian Wedge a big thanks for bringing up the subject and causing us to not take my preconceptions for granted.
Mea Culpa,
Greg
Re: “V” Device
Mea culpa from me as well. Good history of the award. I believe it should be a comment in the designer’s notes, as many gamers are history buffs.
Love the kanji on the ship chit!
I only got The Hunters a week ago, but it quickly took over my evenings, and with all the fan-made additional “mods” on BGG, I can see this obsession lasting a while!
Fantastic game and I’m looking forward to SV (pre-ordered) which I’m sure will be just as engaging.
Hey Graham,
thanks for the kind words! Trust me, if you’re enjoying “The Hunters” at all, you’ll love “Silent Victory.” We’re progressing very nicely, the art is gorgeous (OK< in my biased opinion 🙂 and I'm just really, really happy with it right now. Just need to finish up a few counters, do some sub charts etc. Rules are pretty much locked in (since the core of the game engine is The Hunters system, we benefited from knowing what needed clarification.) So anyway…..we're working hard on it. I'm sure it will be released this year.
-Greg
Game Designer
Thank you for sharing History.
Will this come with a sonar ping soundtrack on CD, or will we have to supply our own?
Looking forward to this coming out.