I'll start off by saying mechanics wise, there is a decent game here. Unfortunatley the amount of typos and lack of proof reading detract from the final product to a point that I find unnaceptable for a 15 dollar PDF. Further more, this game advertises itself as a civil war/pre-dreadnought rule set but is clearly focusued on the former. If you want to game the Russo-Japanese war you will be alright but there are very few ship profiles for any other nation into the later pre-dreadnought era nor any explaination on how these profiles are created so you can't even do the leg work yourself. Lastly, the publisher has made zero attempt to adress his supporters or any of their concerns in the product discussions tab. Dissapointing to be sure.

For a game that aspires to balance playability and detail while providing an insightful take modern tactical naval warfare, Naval Command perfectly hits is target. If you want full details of every ship, plane, and weapon, systems like Harpoon and maybe others probably will be better for you. If, however, you're looking for a game that can provide a realistic-enough and educational window into the topic while allowing you to reasonably quickly play through different what-if scenarios, this is the modern naval wargame for you.

Quick to learn and clear rules system that can cover the broad time era of modern air combat. Of the 40 or so pages, only the first 20 pages contain the actual rules, the rest are very well balanced aircraft stats and even an easy to understand system to be able to map even aircraft in the game whose stats are not present in the given lists.

The rules are certainly not for screw counters who want to see every little aspect of modern jet combat mapped out. It is a streamlined system that, through the use of maneuver templates and a thoughtful use of speed or altitude loss, allows for much more tactics than it appears at first glance.

With easy-to-follow rules for pilot skills of different experience levels, plenty of cinematic moments on the battlefield are preprogrammed. Also included are various mission scenarios that go far beyond normal duels in the air. Reconnaissance missions, ground target attacks, all the essentials are there, but covered in such a catchy way and with continuous dice mechanisms that the system always remains clear.

'Target Locked On' is exactly the rules I've been looking for for a long time. Tactically exciting, but not so complex that you can't have lots of fun with it for two hours after a long day at work.

Pretty elegant and very fluid system of rules with clever interaction mechanism between players.

For those familiar with Bolt Action, the game play with the same easyness but is just better and more tactically oriented, and closer to a simulation without the crunch.

Plays fast, easy and well written, and you can use actual tactics.

I don't know why wargame vault has those hidden gems and they are not more widely known but well worth having in your library.

To be noted that the game, while it includes vehicles is more suitable for infantry combat.

A good buy.

Review of Naval Command. I was expecting an unbiased game with a basically realistic set of stats. Just after a brief review I found glaring problems with the stats of the ships. For example, I read how 4 harpoon missiles sunk the Admiral Kuznetsov- a Kuznetsov Class Carrier in one of the scenarios.

“In response Iron Duke and Kent both selected the Kuznetsov as a target and each fired a salvo of 4 Harpoon Missiles. With only the Slava class cruiser providing effective defence the Russian carrier was an easy target and was obliterated by the missiles and rapidly sank.”

The Admiral Kuznetsov carrier has one of the most effective anti-missile defences in the world. With 6 30mm Anti-Air cannons and 8 × CADS-N-1 Kashtan CIWS (each 2 × 30 mm Gatling AA plus 32 3K87 Kortik SAM). Not to mention it also has 24 × 8-cell 3K95 Kinzhal SAM VLS (192 missiles; 1 missile per 3 seconds) for long range anti-missile defence. This would obliterate 4 harpoon missiles long before they reached the Carrier. Here is a link on the effectiveness of the Kashtan system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kUdh3ofZBQ

Furthermore, the differences in ASM performances are also staggering. Here is a list of 4 missile systems in the game. Two US and two Russian.

Harpoon SSM Range 70? (Actual 124km) Damage rating 1 (actual 225kg HE) TLAM Range 200 (Actual 2500km) Damage rating 2 (actual 450kg HE) P700 Shipwreck Range 80 (True range 625km) Damage rating 2 (actual 750kg HE) Moskit SS-N-22 Sunburn Range 70 (True range 250km) Damage rating 1 (actual 300 kg HE) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLv0_GzTJUg

Then after reviewing the rules and game system I found that the harpoon was rated almost as effective as the Russian P700 Shipwreck. While the Shipwreck missile was terribly underpowered and shorted on range and damage. Not to mention no consideration for the weapons speed. (The Russian weapons are 4 times as fast as the NATO Harpoon missile. Meaning they could potentially fire back and destroy the attacking ship before the Harpoons reach their targets.) All in all, the game system has potential except for the biased stats which would make playing NATO’s opposition as basically targets. To get a decent game the ship and weapon stats need to be rebalanced and given at least a realistic and fair representation. I will have to rewrite most of the stat sheets by hand to make it playable.

This updated version of Fireteam:WWII has a lot of good things to improve your game. There are now a choice of scenarios, giving your armies a purpose. The lists of troops and equipment has been greatly expanded. And the change I find most appealing is the card driven activation, and the ability to 'interupt' your opponents activation. This gives a real sense of uncertainty to any move you make, as it should be in a small unit tactical game.

I played a solo game with about 300 points per side as a test. It was ameeting engagement. The British had three squads, a light mortar and an HQ, with a scout car attached. The Germans had elite paratroopers(two squads), with a medium machine gun, and a light anti-tank gun attached to their HQ.

There were four objective located just outside of the town near the center of the 4x6 foot table. The British drew the first few moves, with infantry approaching the town, and the scout car checking out the right flank. it opened up on a German element, hitting one man, only to have its fire returned by a panzerfaust, which caused a 'suppression' result.....On the second turn, soldiers from both sides rushed to get into the town and take cover. The Scout car failed to pass a morale check, and remained idle, while the German missed in their attempt to finish it off... The third turn saw a flurry of action as both side got into close enough range to use SMGs casualties began to pile up in the town square. ...As element began to take 50% casualties, some morale checks were failed, and units began to surrender or retreat....After eight turns, the British pulled back, having lost two squads, and the broken down scout car. German losses were less, but lost both squad leaders in the hot action.

The game took about an hour to play, and was very exciting, with a great deal of uncertainty as to the outcome for the first six turns.....I highly recommend it.

Very graceful and streamlined rules that have the perfect amount of depth. The recon rules are unique and fun, and the combat system is fantastic. Highly reccomend.

The Fireteam system plays a fast game using simple rules,that allows you to fight platoon to small company actions on a 6x4 foot table using miniatures. The straightforward rules allow you to concentrate on you tactics, not spend your time flipping through the book. . The first version was good enough for me, but now Rory Crabb has made it better.

There is now a method for using playing cards to randomize activation of your elements. This will cause a lot of tension and excitement during the game....But That not ALL!...you also have five cards in your hand that MAY allow you to override an opponents activation, causing even more excitement and chaos. A firefight will never be predictable again.

The Modern set now includes army lists and equipment ratings for Insurgencies of today, and the forces that oppose them, the Cold War of the 1980's, and the Vietnam War. This set is quite a value.

A game with about twenty to thirty figures per side takes from 45 minutes to an hour, depending on your use of cover, and the aggressiveness of the players. Players that like the 'close assault' will get results faster, whether they like them or not...tthose who use terrain wisely will also finish more games favorably....

The rules are very good as is, and the system is strong enough to allow for some 'tinkering' as are the army lists.

Buy it. Print it, and set up one of the scenarios included....you will catch the flow quickly, and be playing off the top of your head very quickly....and very often. Highly recommended!

Old School feel without Old School complexity

Rory Crabb has written a fine set of rules for naval actions between the American Civil War, and World War One. These rules are designed primarily for smaller actions, of up to ten ships per side, though more could be used. Any size models, or counters can be used. a table of 6x4 feet is recommended. you need several d6 and a pair of d10s., and a ruler.

The rules are laid out in a readable, logical manner. Each turn has a command phase, for morale checks and writing movement orders. Next is a movement phase, for both players. gunnery, torpedoes and damage is next, then a damage control phase. MORALE and DAMAGE CONTROL are two very important parts of this game, and serve to prevent players from 'fighting to the last shell" .

Movement is very easy to learn. Gunnery takes a little more study. Early ships do NOT have fire control, so the players must estimate range to their targets, and roll for 'overs and unders' until they have 'registered' the enemy range. differnt ship types have different armor. Larger guns can defeat more armor. This is covered on a very clear chart on page 12. Once you see if you you are 'on target', you roll to penetrate the enemy armor. Each penetrating shot is then rolled on a d100 to find location and damage, anything from a point or two of hull damage or fire, to a catastrophic explosion....and lots of variety in between.

Once damage starts to accumulate, you must repair hull breeches, fight fire, and pump out flooding...if you can Morale decides your ability to respond to these crisies.

For added detail there are rules for weather, shore batteries, running aground and fleet actions.

I fought a solo action with two protected cruisers attacking an armored cruiser. The heavier guns of the AC could strike while the PCs were out of range. The PCs closed rapidly, and soon were bringing many more guns against the heavier weapons of the AC. In five turns, One of the PCs blew up, but the AC was riddled with holes, drawing on water, and had out of control fires, forcing the crew to abandon ship. The game took about forty five minutes, while learning the new system.

I storngly recommend this ruleset to anyone with an interest in late 19th century naval warfare.

I have not yet played Fireteam 2.0, but have had a couple of small games using Version 1 and really like this game. Fireteam 2.0 retains the same simple rule mechanics as in the original, but adds additional rules, scenarios and unit information.

The rules are very easy to pick up with alterrnate team activations, consistent mechanics for all combat and using D6s. The core of the system is based around just a few statistics for each of the various units and with very few additional modifiers to work through. The rules are intended to cover platoon level games for the post-war period, but I don't see any problem adapting them for WW2 or near future as the mechanics are robust enough to stand a bit of tweaking.

If you are looking for a super detailed then Fireteam 2.0 is probably not for you, but if you are looking for a playable and (I think) engaging modern game then these are well worth a look.

This is a great little game with a well written set of rules. Totally worth $10, and if you want to play modern naval there aren't exactly any other non-harpoon non-fleet series choices out there.

Kudos to the author for including various ships and planes from before 1980, all the way back to the 50s and 60s in some cases.

There are also US, Russian, and British navy ship lists and more being worked on, all free for download on his site.

The falklands and red october (again free) addons are also top notch.

If you are on the fence, go hit up his site and download some of the freebies and get a feel for how it was written.

But for $10, totally worth it.

These rules are well written and very well organized. The mechanics are very straightforward doesn't require a lot of "bookeeping" or "rules-lawyering". The abstractions are just right which makes for a fast and exciting game.

I mentioned that the rules are well organized. How many times have you gotten what you think is a great set of rules only to find out they are not very organized which means you have to jump from section to section and piece it together like a puzzle. Trust me this is a huge distraction which is an immediate turnoff.