Naval combat

[Nelson]

Anyone remember an old Microprose title called Task Force: 1942? It is my favorite surface naval sim ever. This game has a great campaign that allows you to control DE to BB as USN or IJN as you try to influence the outcome ashore on Guadalcanal.

I would love to see a new big gun naval sim that gets you into the gun directors seat, the torpedo mounts and the AAA. The destroyer sims of late haven’t done much for me. SH3 is outstanding but sub games are way different from hammering surface shootouts. There’s nothing quite so satisfying as observing shot fall until you straddle your target and see the hits.

[English assassin]

I bet this would never have happened to Nelson

Blimey. No sooner do I speak than his Lordship appears... ;-)

[Puzz3D]

Anyone remember an old Microprose title called Task Force: 1942? It is my favorite surface naval sim ever. This game has a great campaign that allows you to control DE to BB as USN or IJN as you try to influence the outcome ashore on Guadalcanal.

I went with the Great Naval Battles series. It had its problems in the surface combat model and poor tactical AI. Even so, I found GNB II Guadalcanal quite interesting mostly for the carrier ops, and played it a lot.

There’s nothing quite so satisfying as observing shot fall until you straddle your target and see the hits.

That's the main attraction of Fighting Steel. The FSP has brought the realism of the combat model to a high level, and the AI is good. However, there is no land, aircraft or submarines in the tactical game. The Thunder at Sea wrapper provides those aspects at the strategic level. Damage to ships and other stats such as remaining ammo are passed between the strategic and tactical games. In a recent Bismark breakout scenario I played, the Bismark was hit by a torpedo during an attack by swordfish planes on the strategic map which slowed it to 10 knots (a very lucky hit). Later a British task force of 2 BB's, 10 DD's and 1 CA intercepted the two German ships, and Fighting Steel was invoked to play out the battle. The Bismark didn't stand a chance against such a force, and the 10 knot max speed prevented it from disengaging. At the end of the scenario, the Bismark was heavily damaged and dead in the water. The DD's which were left to finish her off failed because they needed one more torpedo hit than they got. However, the Bismark wasn't going to escape back on the strategic map because she was dead in the water. The British Task Force re-engaged, and when Fighting Steel was invoked again, the BB's quickly sank the Bismark.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

So it's like RTW, with this "Thunder at Sea" program for the strategy map, but "Fighting Steel" for graphical tactical battles?

And has Fighting Steel been improved since Gamespot gave it a 5.6?

[Puzz3D]

Well Thunder at Sea is continuous play with a pause option, and yes Fighting Steel has been greatly enhanced over the past 5 years. SSI gave the source code to the people working on the Fighting Steel Project with the stipulation that any improvements to the game would be made available free of charge.

[GoreBag]

I had Jane's Naval Command, but I never really took well to it. Beyond that, I used to play Silent Service for the NES with my father as a child, so I recently picked that up for nostalgic value. You can only be a sub, but it's pretty intense.

[Degtyarev14.5]

I've been eyeing this little bugger off since someone posted this link here a couple of years ago:

The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 (Development Title)

Still waiting...

A.

Edit: Alternatively, click here .

Aaaaaargh!

[Kraxis]

Actually you can get some pretty nice surface battles out of SH3. The downside is just that you have to create them and that they are resolved without your intervention. But they are indeed very nice to look at (I still play my Bismarck-Tirpitz-Prinz Eugen vs Rodney-Nelson-Dido-Fiji).

[Puzz3D]

Russo-Japanese war? Doesn't sound so fun. It was awfully one-sided. Even if you deviate from history, the disparity between forces is pretty pathetic.

The game is developed by Norm Koger. He's legendary in wargame development. According to a post on usenet, Norm responded to a recent email that the game is finished and ready for release, and he's working on the legal contracts to get it released. In the past, he's been prevented from patching his games by publishers, and it would be nice if he could find a way around that problem even if it meant self-publishing and charging more for the game. This is where Fighting Steel Project excels because it has gotten 10 major revisions and many minor revisions over the last 4 years because SSI relinquished some of their legal control and allowed the source code to be modified.


Kraxis,

The Bismark breakout scenario in Fighting Steel Project with the Thunder at Sea wrapper is very good. I've played it over 50 times, and haven't tired of it. Navies at War due for release Q2 2006 will replace Fighting Steel Project, and will have land masses included in the tactical engine.