As we continue to look at some of the major battles of World War Two, keep in mind that only a student of warfare and World War Two in general could be responsible for making a combat simulator like Aces High.
Today’s battle that we will look at is the Battle of Iwo Jima, fought between the United States and Japan between February 19 and March 26, 1945. Otherwise known as Operation Detachment, this was a major conflict that involved the United States capturing the island of Iwo Jima and retaining control of the three airfields on that island. This battle has gone done in history as having some of the fiercest fighting in the entire Pacific Campaign.
It was noteworthy for several reasons, one of which is that it was the only battle where American casualties outnumbered Japanese casualties, 33,000 to 21,000, but the loss of life was crippling for the Japanese. Over 21,000 Japanese were killed in this battle and only 6,812 Americans lost their lives.
The outcome of the battle was never really in doubt as the American forces and weaponry far outnumbered the Japanese and the Japanese had no means of escape. This was simply a battle of attrition where the only thing in question was how long it would take to eliminate the Japanese forces and take control of the island.
The battle was also immortalized by the famous Joe Rosenthal photograph of the Americans raising the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi.
WW 2 games need to simulate as closely as possible the actual events, arenas, weaponry, and vehicles and that is where Aces High holds the upper hand in flight simulation games over its competition. Technical knowledge is held by any computer technician; the playing field is pretty level when talking about the computer programmers involved in the creation of a World War 2 flight simulator. What sets Aces High apart from the competition is that it was created by history buffs employed by HiTech Creations and it is constantly being updated with new versions that keep it the most realistic combat simulator on the market.
A special shout out to the team of volunteers who spend countless hours working behind the scenes so that Aces High continues to lead the way. This is truly an ongoing process but attention to detail is our thing at HiTech Creations, where our only goal from the start was to make one game and one game only and make that game the best World War 2 flight simulator on the market. Our game plan seems to be working.
HiTech Creations is not staffed by a bunch of computer geeks but rather by a team of history buffs who are incredibly knowledgeable about World War II. How else could they have produced a combat flight simulator that so closely simulates World War Two?
Knowledge of individual battles, strategies, and war machinery was crucial in the development of Aces High. One such battle was the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, the longest battle on German ground during World War 2. It was a series of battles fought from September 14, 1944 to February 10, 1945 within a fifty-square mile area east of the Belgian-German border. The Allied forces were intent on pinning down and trapping the German forces and preventing them from reinforcing along the front lines further north.
This was an incredibly costly battle and is generally considered a defeat for the American dominated Allied forces. Going into battle the Americans had approximately 120,000 troops in the First U.S. Army, the V Corps, and the VII Corps. The Germans defended with 80,000 troops. When the battle had ended the United States had suffered close to 33,000 casualties and the Germans 28,000 casualties.
This battle, or series of battles, preceded the eventual Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, the last major German offensive on the Western Front. It could be argued that in the defeat the American forces accomplished very little or it could be argued that they managed to further cripple a German army that could not afford such losses at that stage in World War Two.
Combat simulators are only as good as the knowledge had by the creators. Attention to detail is crucial in order to hold the interest of a gamer seeking realistic flight simulation games. It is this kind of attention to detail that has kept Aces High the leader of World War 2 flight simulations since its inception.
Ask yourself what you are looking for in a combat simulator? Are you looking for incredibly accurate depictions of World War 2 aircraft? Are you looking for accurate depictions of ground vehicles and ships? Are you looking for seemingly life-like arenas in which to do combat? Are you looking for a support staff that knows World War II almost as well as it knows how to produce a simulation? Well if your answer to all of those questions is YES then look no further because Aces High is the flight simulation game for you.
There are those who will never understand the fascination with World War II games. They will say “why in the world do people spend so much time trying to blow each other up online?” In truth that’s not the reason for the steadfast loyalty of combat simulator players. If one were to interview most of these “hard core” simulation game players you would find out that they are first and foremost avid students of World War II, that they in fact find military strategy and the cause and effect of battles and wars to be fascinating and not the actually killing and destruction.
The creators of Aces High, HiTech Creations, were and are avid students of World War II and it shows in the game they created. Ask them about any of the major battles and they will be able to discuss in length about that battle. One such battle was the Battle of Stalingrad, fought from August 23, 1942 until February 2, 1943, probably the largest and most costly battle along the Eastern Front.
Germany and its allies were feeling invincible as they began their summer offensive against Stalingrad in southern Russia, hoping to cripple Russia before the full might of the United States entered the war. In the end the resolve of the Russian people, the German inability to re-supply by air, and the brutal Russian winter conspired to defeat Germany and push them back to Western Europe.
The losses were staggering and even today, almost seventy years later, the sheer numbers of losses are hard to believe. During the Battle of Stalingrad over a million troops were killed, wounded, or declared missing in battle. 91,000 Germans were captured during the battle and most historians agree that the Battle of Stalingrad was a crippling defeat for Germany, Romania, and Italy, one they never fully recovered from.
Through the knowledge of history and the determination to simulate World War II as closely as possible, the creators of Aces High have produced an outstanding World War 2 Flight Simulation game, one that will appeal to any gamer and/or student of warfare. If you don’t believe us try the free two-week download and then be prepared to admit that Aces High is the leader in flight simulation games.
Special Events to jot down and be ready for are:
Because of the dedication and hard work of our loyal band of volunteers, these and other special events for Aces High are constantly being staged to test your abilities and give you new challenges each and every month. We invite you to go to our Community page and sign up for the next special event on the calendar and each month print out the calendar, put it somewhere you are sure to look, and be ready for upcoming challenges on our combat simulator.
Combat simulators should, well, simulate combat. That may seem like a very obvious statement but in truth it is the main difference between the truly excellent simulation games and the mediocre ones.
The creators of Aces High, the World War 2 flight simulator, are not only high tech gurus but also students of World War Two. Only a true student and admirer of that war could design a flight simulation game so life-like, so detailed, so devoted to every aspect of combat in that war.
Studying major battles in World War II was a part of their preparation in designing Aces High. Battles like the Battle of Dunkirk, fought from May 26-June4, 1940. The battle involved some 800,000 German troops and 400,000 Allied troops and was one of the major confrontations early in the war.
The Battle of Dunkirk in effect was the defense and evacuation of British and other Allied Forces on the Western Front as the seemingly unstoppable German forces advanced. It led to the surrender of Belgium and the eventual surrender of France, but some 338,000 British and Allied troops were able to evacuate and in doing so were able to fight another day when the outcome would be much different.
Because of the evacuation, huge numbers of vehicles were left behind. Some 50,000 Allied vehicles, including tanks, 9 destroyers, 200 marine vessels and 177 aircraft were left as the evacuation happened, leaving a very rich bounty for the German high command. It was only because of a decision made by the German high command to re-group, the so called “Halt Order”, that the evacuation was as successful as it was. If not for this German decision the loss of life might have been considerably higher and the outcome of World War II may have been much different.
We invite you to give Aces High a try, and if you are a World War 2 student you will instantly see the attention to detail that was taken when Aces High was created back in 2000. Without that attention to detail, and the dedication to detail by the WWII students who created it, Aces High would just be another one of the average combat simulators. However, once you try it you will realize that Aces High is simply the best flight sim game on the market.