Atlantic Fleet on Steam - an almost perfect little game

[smithcorp]

This is a great little wargame - easy to get into and play, but with lots of depth and complexity.

WW2 Naval battles in the Atlantic. It has a huge number of German and Allied ships, subs and aircraft modelled, lots of single missions, campaigns and a massive Battle of the Atlantic campaign.



There are two phases to the battles. You and the enemy each get a movement phase, where you choose the speed and direction of your ship/s, then an action phase where you can fire weapons, launch aircraft etc. For the action phase you select your weapons (say 15 inch guns, high explosive), you get an aiming line which you put on your target, then your targeting sytem (radar, or director tower) gives you an estimated elevation, which you can set, or vary. You fire, watch the fall of shot and then make adjustments next turn. At each turn, the targeting info you can get improves but you need to look at previous fall of shot and aim to straddle, so it might take two or three salvoes before you start hitting, then as the enemy manoeuvres, you need to keep updating.

It is extremely good fun and doesn't take long to master or play. you have to use tactics like unmasking batteries (ie steering to bring all your guns to bear on the target) and manoeuvring to put off the enemy's aim.

I ran through the tutorials tonight, which were fun in themselves, then I played an HMAS Sydney vs Kormoran single mission. Nice to see Aussie ships there and I'm pleased to say the cruiser gave Kormoran a smashing.

Highly recommended!

smith