Gaming at Craig's

I had enjoyed playing in a naval game at the May Trumpeter. I was happy that they invited me to join them in their regular gaming every Friday. So off I went the following weekend to yet another naval game. This time, it was WW2 with a semi-home brew set of rules call (I believe) Steel Fleets.

Once again, I took the van but being a little smarter, I choose to try to keep the distance open a bit since we were outgunning our opponents. (Unfortunately, our second division seemed to have missed the briefing on when to turn.)

This shot was reasonably early in the game. Eventually, I was able to cross the T (although it's really not a huge advantage to do so in these rules). Some of our ships were pounded but opposing fleet got hammered.

These rules are interesting but the gunnery seems pretty fiddly and the torpedo rules especially so. If I were to compare them (and I haven't played that much naval gaming), I'd say that the rules strongly resemble Avalon Hill's Bismark, especially the special damage chart.

I enjoy them but I think there's an over-emphasis on the number of guns. I'm not so sure that a ship with 4x3 guns should be more than twice as effective than one with 3x2 and it is in these rules. The advantage really comes into play at the longer ranges where there's a reward for having hit your opponent in the previous turn. The 12 tubes have a much greater chance of picking up that advantage and that's why the number of tubes rules.