I probably should mention at this point that Warship Commander is not all-encompassing when it comes to the various domains of naval warfare. Players need a deck of playing cards, decimal dice (d10) and d6 to resolve the various sub-routines. Indeed, in the 68-page core book the introduction and background takes up the first eight pages, the rules to page 42, and the rest is tables and charts (~26 pages worth). I don’t recall a calculator being called for but having some way to track all the modifiers when resolving a situation is essential. “…thoroughly playable, highly detailed, and exceptionally realistic….”
BATTLE FLEET COMMANDER 2 CLASSIC NAVAL COMBAT SERIES
In order to play Warship Commander well, a player will need to throughly understand modern naval warfare, not just memorize a series of rules. We recommend that all players read this section before reading the rules, as it will provide the information needed to thoroughly understand the rules. Indeed, looking at the introduction the designer makes the point that this to play the game well, an understanding of modern naval warfare is a prerequisite: Maybe not an outright copy, but heavily influenced at least? It certainly appears the legacy of the rules come from the simulations of the Naval War College. Looking at Warship Commander in this light, it is no stretch-of-the-imagination to see this game as a commercial version of the rules used by the Naval War College. So…the designer (or folks helping the designer – none are credited) were familiar with tactical naval games from the Naval War College. An Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Game, Croyle (Naval War College).
Seatag: A Sea Control Tactical Analysis Game (Naval War College).What strikes me the most about the sources listed are these two (cited as they appear): Luckily, the designer gives us a bit of insight into his sources used. Most of the game’s mechanics will be unfamiliar to the veteran naval wargamer as they are to the novice. It is a highly detailed and unique game, and is unlike any other naval game ever produced. Warship Commander is the culmination of three years of research into the weapons, tactics, and battle damage of World War II as well as in depth research into present day naval weapons and tactics. Well, I’m going to give him the ‘highly detailed’ and ‘exceptionally realistic’ but I will argue about playable. Regardless of the number of players, Warship Commander is a thoroughly playable, highly detailed, and exceptionally realistic game. The game is designed to be played by two players or teams. The rules can be used with military miniatures of any scale, although we recommend the new 1:3000 scale models. Warship Commander is a set of rules for recreating present day naval actions using military miniatures or cardboard counters. Here is how designer Ken Smigelski describes Warship Commander in the Introduction: Complicated because the game is a product of its time – caught at the start of a digital revolution in publishing, a revolution in digital weaponry, and a revolution in ‘open source’ public awareness of military weaponry.Complicated because the rules are dense and complex.Complicated because the product is more simulation than game.The real question for me is not, ‘Does it satisfy the model,’ as much as it is, ‘HOW does it satisfy the model?” Warship Commander certainly has all the 12 elements of the model. Is it a Range Dependent Model?įar below is the summary of what Captain Hughes’ A Range Dependent Model of Modern Naval Combat is. However, if you are looking for a streamlined, playable wargame that plays briskly then this is NOT the game you want.
But is Warship Commander a good set of rules for ‘modern’ naval combat? My answer is variable if you are looking for a ‘realistic’ depiction of tactical naval combat – at least as it was understood in the unclassified world – then Warship Commander is a very good game. More properly, this is a set of minatures rules (1:3000 scale recommended) than a boardgame. (Second installment in my series of “What is a ‘good’ modern naval wargame?”)Įverybody loves a good fight, and in the late 1970s if you wanted to game out a ‘modern’ tactical fight at sea one set of rules available was Warship Commander: 1967-1987 Present Day Tactical Naval Combat (Enola Games, 1979).
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