I have been looking or an excellent set of naval wargame rules for a long time. Initially I thought the Warlord games, Cruel Sea, might be the answer but the mechanism were not to my liking.
I have been a fan of Sam Mustafa’s rule sets, including Lasalle, Blucher, Might and Reason and Maurice. Whilst my preference is for small scale coastal games with minor ships, this one appeals despite the fact that it is designed for large fleet battles.
Nimitz is a tabletop game of battles across the seas and oceans of the Second World War. Command squadrons and entire fleets as you zoom in for intense surface actions or zoom out to play entire campaigns across hundreds of miles of ocean and land. Choose one of five major navies: Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, or the United States.
Create sea battles or fictional scenarios based upon famous historical campaigns. Make decisions that move units on, below, and above the sea.
Nimitz is played with miniature ships. In addition to this rulebook, you will need ship models or counters in order to play. All other game information is provided free on the HONOUR
There you can find the Navy Lists, to create air and naval units for all major combatants, as well as other useful game resources.
The basic Nimitz game can be played by two or more players in 1-2 hours.
The Halsey campaign system can accommodate many players and can be as large in scale as your imagination permits. From the Author.
Sam A. Mustafa is Professor of History at Ramapo College of New Jersey. His scholarly work has dealt with modern Germany, US-German relations, and the Napoleonic Wars. He is also the author of the Daniel LeClerc series of mysteries, set in Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Dr. Mustafa divides his time between the United States and Germany.
On first reading of the rules I was quite impressed. They are not for the purest as they have been designed with playability and a two hour time frame to achieve a decisive result in mind.
This meant making some decisions. For example the Yamato could make a 180 degree turn in about a minute of real time. With a game turn representing about eight minutes this means that theoretically you could ignore turning of ships but this takes out a fundamental of the “game”. Similarly in about eight minutes any gunnery fire would be guaranteed to hit but this would take the fun out of rolling dice. The advantage of Sam’s writing is that wherever you would expect an explanation as to why he has done something there is always a side comment explaining his rationale. you may not agree but you can understand his thinking.
Ship types are very granular with broad categories. This however a detailed explanation on the points values of ships which again gives you an understanding as to why some ships are the same or higher or lower in points than a similar class.
There are some really “neat” mechanics. I really like the idea of formations. This is where ships are touching bow to stern. The advantage of larger formations is that you fire by formations. This means that with fewer but larger formations you get to fire all of yours before your opponent with more can. What? well this means you fire before your opponent with more guns with the chance that they may not get to return fire!
Torpedoes are simplified without the need to put matches or little models on the table. The more you fire the greater your chance of hitting with all torpedoes in a launcher needing to be fired at once. Once there gone there gone. No reloading during a game.
If naval gaming is your thing then this one is well worth having a look at.