GameTalk - Naval Warfare and the Details

Started by bayonetbrant, October 20, 2014, 11:39:47 AM

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bayonetbrant

The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Cyrano

Tomorrow being what it is, this is something very much on my port-addled mind at the moment.

I have played, I believe, every PC age of sail game ever created...dating back to one I had for the TRS-80.

I've also played many of the board and miniature games simulating the era.

My choices:

PC:  Tiller's Age of Sail I (available cheaply in the Matrix Battleground Napoleonic set).  Aesthetically speaking, I will always have a fond memory of Man of War II (the first one I recall that ever let me stride the deck), but the gameplay was crap.  I have hope for "Naval Action", now just past Greenlight on Steam, but it's just hope at the moment.

Board:  "Flying Colors" by GMT.  Great fleet level game that lets one play even Trafalgar in a reasonable amount of time.

Miniature:  "Close Action" by Clash of Arms...provided you're playing a single ship with a big group of other fellahs and Mark is GM'ing.  His games at Historicon and elsewhere are deservedly legendary and the system shines.

I'd also like to throw out an honorary, non-age-of-sail mention to Tiller's "Midway" which has a fabulous MP component.  The eight people we tried to play with one Thanksgiving weekend were too many, but, man, it was awesome when the IJN players (we) heard giggles from the guys in the other room (they) as the better part of the U.S. fleet snuck up behind us, smashing us to kindling.

To the Immortal Memory!

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)
Sergeant at Arms of La Fraternite des Boutons Carres

One mustachioed, cigar-chomping, bespectacled deity, entirely at your service.

You didn't know? My Corps has already sailed to Berlin. We got there 3 days ago and we've been in the Tiergarten on the piss ever since. -- Marshal Soult, October 1806

Bletchley_Geek

#2
I'd like to point out people here towards Naval Action

http://www.navalaction.com/#ageofsail

probably the most exciting Age of Sail "tactical simulator" since, well, ages. Last week I spent a whole evening watching videos posted on Youtube by the beta testers...

EDIT: Whoops: I see that Cyrano was already on the ball with Naval Action.

mirth

Fletcher Pratt is great fun if you can find a room large enough to play. Estimating ranges can be a challenge and once torpedoes are in the water all hell breaks loose.
"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Jack Nastyface

I must admit that this is one genre that I often prefer to play on the PC rather than on the table top (gasp!).
To explain...I very much love all the gritty details of ship management.  When this plays out on the table, it inevitably means using lots of charts, ships logs, tick-boxes, even calculators.  One of my favorite set of rules for age of sail gaming was the highly detailed "Beat to Quarters" by Command Perspectives (1982).  I still have my copy of the rules, and every now and then I look over them just to be amazed at the level of detail.  Things like calculating broadside weight for each gun type, individual gun losses, sail loss that affects ship speed as a percentage...so the list goes.  The challenge, of course, is that keeping track of all this detail makes gameplay very onerous.  I think a total of 7 mathematical variables are needed to calculate if hits and damage...and that's only for one gun weight (ie:  all port-side 24lb-ers).  Obviously, porting this information into PC game (if done properly) would be my holy grail of age-of-sail naval warfare.


On the table side, I do have some favorites.  As mentioned by Cyrano (and perhaps Meng would agree if he pokes his head down here), Flying Colors and Close Action are probably the two best going concerns these days.  I do recall having a great time with the old "Hearts of Oak" rules that accompanied the RPG "Privateers and Gentlemen", but it has been too long and the details are unclear.  Some of the newer offerings (Trafalgar by Warhammer historicals) doesn't bear mentioning, but perhaps Sails of Glory may be fun for some Beer and Pretzels gaming.


Back to computers...I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Task Force 1942 and Great Naval Battles of the North Atlantic.  The first, because I recall being blown away I tell you by the awesome graphics that made you feel like you were almost there.  Almost.  For it's part, GNB provided no end of pleasure in what I would consider the most unromantic aspects of ship combat...the repair stations.  I recall spending much time in any bottle looking at the little fire / flood icons and dispatching crews.


Like Cyrano, I also liked Man of War II: The chains of Command, if only because you could walk the deck of a ship.


Why is this genre so rare to game?
Now, the problem is, how to divide five Afghans from three mules and have two Englishmen left over.

bayonetbrant

Quote from: Jack Nastyface on October 22, 2014, 01:24:12 AMI think a total of 7 mathematical variables are needed to calculate if hits and damage...and that's only for one gun weight (ie:  all port-side 24lb-ers). 




Quote from: Jack Nastyface on October 22, 2014, 01:24:12 AMWhy is this genre so rare to game?

I love when people answer their own questions  8)
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

bostonmyk

Quote from: Bletchley_Geek on October 20, 2014, 09:52:36 PM
I'd like to point out people here towards Naval Action

http://www.navalaction.com/#ageofsail

probably the most exciting Age of Sail "tactical simulator" since, well, ages. Last week I spent a whole evening watching videos posted on Youtube by the beta testers...

EDIT: Whoops: I see that Cyrano was already on the ball with Naval Action.

That is a beautiful looking game.

Mike
Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations
http://www.warfaresims.com/Command

Cyrano

Well, since it's on-topic, it'll be interesting to see how naval action deals with two issues that have never quite been solved on the PC side:

1:  Re-load times.  The Tiller game actually allows you to play with historical re-load times.  It's the only one I'm aware of that does.  It does NOT make for exciting gaming except for the profoundly patient.

2:  Fleet actions.  Striking the difficult balance between absolute obediance to lock-step formation and the incredible actual chaos of a sea battle.  I remain hopeful that MP can manage such a thing.

Heaven knows I wish them well!

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)
Sergeant at Arms of La Fraternite des Boutons Carres

One mustachioed, cigar-chomping, bespectacled deity, entirely at your service.

You didn't know? My Corps has already sailed to Berlin. We got there 3 days ago and we've been in the Tiergarten on the piss ever since. -- Marshal Soult, October 1806