Gameplay

[Watts]

I ordered my copy of Victoy at Sea today, but my gaming group has a few questions I hope some of you might be able to shed some light on.

What is the gameplay like in VaS? With the lack of terrain it may seem like it's just a matter of closing into range and throwing some dice. A couple questions:

- If you know exactly where the enemy is, and you both have ships that use the same tactics and general design, then what do you do? Is there any hidden movement?

- In most games, different armies (or races, or countries, or whatever) have different characteristics that make them unique. In VaS what makes the different fleets different from each other?

- What is the long term playability like? Will this game have lasting appeal or will it just be fun to pull out once in a while when you want to shoot your friends?

Thanks for your help!

 

[DM]

To answer the last question - I've een playing naval wargames for over 30 years. I've never got bored with it. There are always new scenarios, new campaigns to try. The fun I think is to go beyond the simple "line 'em up and shoot it out" style of play.

 

[Mr Evil]

if naval combat was so simple as line up and shoot, im sure wed all be naval commanders...


or are you thinking of naval combat as in belly button V belly button ? think id loose since my diet worked

 

[The Greek]

There are definitely a large selection of differing tactics that can be used in the game and there are differences in the way the fleets play. Some ships (notably the Nelson/Rodney and French battleships) have designs that seriously affect the way they get used compared to more 'normal' ship designs.

The fleets do have differing features - US aircraft are tough, the long lance torpedo of the Japanese is deadly, the long range gunnery of the Kriegsmarine is superior, etc, etc.

Yes, there are 'standard' ships that play more or less the same for the different navies but there are plenty of different ways to use them.

Long term playability looks good. Of course not many people have had the game for long so I can not honestly say it is going to be the number one game you play for the next 20 years.......but I have played it quite a bit myself now and I am still learning how to use my ships properly. (Of course it helps that my games are against Old Bear most the time and although he loves naval games he has been somewhat naff in tactics......so far. I suspect he will give me a real hiding one of these days, though.

A couple of years from now I can still see myself playing this game frequently........

Hope this helps

Nick

 

[Watts]

That was very helpful, thanks!

 

[E Nicely]

Another consideration is what fleets are strong at what PLs. The Germans and Japanese are best at Raid level, Americans are good at Skirmish and have lots of battleships, ect, ect. Adds an element to fleet building that I really like. That might change once more ship designs are published but for right now there's cool ins and outs of the PL system.