Avalanche Press makes up for their mediocre game systems by putting them on utterly unplayably-ugly maps. Even with some decent topic ideas, I can't stand them.
Hopefully they’re not too terrible. I just ordered the new edition of SWWAS Coral Sea. Still looking for a good WWII tactical game focussed on carrier ops that’ll be playable in 3-4 hours and not so complex that it scares away the regulars at the FLGS. They’re mainly Euro/Ameritrash & skirmish minis players but they’ll play wargames that aren’t too groggy.
Fires of Midway is a hit with them and surprisingly fun but it’s a card driven game at heart and a lot of stuff like air searches is heavily abstracted. Battle of Midway from TPS just isn’t very good imo. Not enough depth and too reliant on dice rolling. I tried to get them to try Flat Top but the combo of an ugly map, long play times, and a fair amount of bookkeeping stopped it from ever getting to the table.