Fire At Sea Rule Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2024
- This week, the guys at Little Wars TV review "Fire at Sea," a 2021 set of rules written by Mark Fastoso for beer & pretzels introductory World War 2 naval actions. We score rules based on five categories, then offer a final total score at the end.
To learn more about the game and download a free PDF of "The Battle of the Denmark Strait" scenario, visit the official homepage of "Fire at Sea" at www.fireballforward.com/fire-a...
As always, we encourage you to leave any thoughts or feedback about the game in the comments below. Have you played the free Hood vs. Bismarck scenario and what did you think of this beer & pretzels-style game? Be sure to visit us at www.LittleWarsTV.com for more wargaming rule reviews! - เกม
![เจ้าผู้เดียว - ดิด คิตตี้ [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q0NLCYKBOTo/mqdefault.jpg)
Seems to me that it could easily be a board game with 2" squares and counters the size of AH's Jutland.
I think the full set of rules addresses some of the concerns expressed by the reviewers. It is definitely a very simple game, but looks like it captures a reasonable amount of flavour of the period in a very playable system.
Really enjoy these relaxed Rule Reviews!
Nice video, could you review a space battle ruleset ? Maybe full thrust
Another great vid keep up the good work
When I saw the game on the other video I thought it would be a good idea to get a piece of cardboard or foamboard, paint one side blue and then draw the grid on it. Then you only have to set the board up once not every game. Since the cardboard or foamboard is flat storage would be pretty easy. One reason I'd lean to a naval game, also piece count is fairly low to keep cost down.
Great review! I think I know what my next gaming project is (well, after I've done my current two, ha ha)
A great free set of rules and even includes counters!
How do you make your splash markers please?
The more I think about this game, the more I really admire several aspects of it. The movement system really took me a while to get my head around (the reasoning behind it) but then it made sense to implement it this way. It's focusing on the movement that matters; the movement of the combatants relative to each other, not to the map. I mean, we could stage a game of the Run To The South at Jutland, for example, where the ships are covering dozens of miles in the course of the fight, but don't really change their position relative to each other. So why bother modeling that movement? This system totally started to make sense to me then. The only thing that I'm scratching my head over is how you tackle a situation where the opposing admirals will change their position to each other without the necessity of issuing orders or changing course. If the opposing fleets begin the action on reciprocal courses, steaming straight at each other, then it really shouldn't require executing a move for the range to decrease, should it? I think I'm going to have to buy the full rules pack to get a better mental picture of it all. 🙂
I'd like to hear your thoughts about how long you could play this game before you become bored with it and it's played out. I think you've alluded to this in this review and a few others, but I like to explicitly hear your thoughts.
It's great for a new player, but as veteran players for a one-off game, I'd play something more detailed like GQ3. Fire at Sea is not going to keep a veteran player entertained for long...HOWEVER, and this is a big caveat...Fire at Sea is excellent for veteran players if you're doing one of the mini campaigns with linked scenarios. We've played several of Mark's campaigns in the club and they are extremely engaging because you have decisions and consequences to deal with between each encounter. Because the rules are so lite, you can get through 3 actions of a full campaign in one evening. For veteran players, that's cool. But as a single action with just one encounter, experienced players will find this too simple.
Sounds like you could use blue poster board for a quick surface to game on.
Blue tablecloth works too
Greg !!! Let’s go !
Would like to know your preference for an ultra modern rule set for navel wargames. Have played Harpoon back 30 years ago. Must be something new out that would suffice
Can you play other battles? What about the game you played - Guadalcanal?
I am just asking I am really bad at painting but want to do war gaming and to get painted figures is expensive. So what do I do I am not sure
Lots of players have this exact issue, Ashton. So you are not alone. A few ideas for you...firstly, you should practice painting some old miniatures or cheap figures you don't care about. Use them to practice and try new techniques. In our Alfred the Great series earlier this year we have a video designed for NEW painters that will show you some techniques for beginners. But if you just don't enjoy painting or want to work on it, eBay and wargaming convention flea markets are great places to find affordable painted minis that people are getting rid of. On eBay, trying searching for "lots" or "bulk" or "used" figures in the scale and period you want to play.
Looking like a fun game.
If it's on a grid, couldn't you play with two separate pieces of graph paper and a 3rd GM to introduce all of the fog of war?
Absolutely! And that would be a great way to play, especially for some of the Arctic convoy blizzard actions
@@LittleWarsTV Or submarines! :)
But how much does it cost?
they mention it at the beginning
Hah, I assumed this was a joke since we mention the free price quite a few times in the video!
@@LittleWarsTV you caught me, already ordered my models excited to try this system out
10:50 kriegsmarine is misspelled on the captain card.
Its Kriegsmarine, not Kreigsmarine ... greetings from Germany
Seems to me also that this would be a good 'con game, because people could learn it in minutes and get playing.
Really dislike grids but the game looks fun.
It looks like a nice game but lack realism. For example, you are going along at 20 knots then for no reason apart from a dice roll you are basically becalmed the next move?
It's a "beer and pretzels" style game, so "realism" is definitely not at a premium here. If you want that, I'd suggest checking out our review for General Quarters 3, a much more detailed system.
The handwave reply is the captain is engaging in evasive maneuvers--your speed hasn't changed, just the distance you effectively traveled that turn. It's more supportable if your captains are in the game as NPCs, which they are here. The movement die roll can represent command control issues also.
It's not clear exactly when Captain's Points are applied. My guess is the design intention is CP commitment before dice rolls, but the point isn't clear in the rules. The only nod to "realism" your case needs would be to let the 3-point CP movement adjustment be spent after the movement roll if the player is unhappy with the rolled result.
@@jonpickens3965 Captain's Points must be committed BEFORE any die roll, yes.
Thanks for the review. Looks nice for a free rule set. Could be revised for some spelling mistakes. It is Kriegsmarine not Kreigsmarine and the Admirals name is Lütjens not Lütgens. Greetings from the Vaterland…
Many, many things about naval actions are random, and rolling dice are a sensible mechanic. But movement being random? Sorry, thats just being silly.
Nice video as always, but the guy on the left looks like he'd rather be mopping a McDonald's bathroom floor than talk about the game!!!
I hate giving negative reviews, but this review deserves one. Review of the review: 3 of 10.
First, you are not reviewing game rules here, you are reviewing a very limited scenario.
That's like reviewing a movie trailer. It's an interesting exercise, but not much of a guide for someone looking for a movie.
My question is how good are the naval _rules_. That interest would have been much better served if you had reviewed the $15 campaign package. Does THAT even have general WWII naval rules or is it just another "scenario" at a different scale?
There are three huge sticking points in WWII naval game design, and the selection of a scenario without any of them that purports to review a set of WWII naval rules is straight-out unfair to the audience.
* "Where are the torpedoes?" [the Bismark was torpedoed],
* "Where are the aircraft?" [an air attack wrecked the Bismark's day],
* "Where are the submarines?" [eight of them were in the hunt--are they in the campaign game? (see www.kbismarck.com/buquepari.html].
Doesn't help when one of your principal reviewers on channel has, over multiple years, demonstrated a range of review scores that runs overwhelmingly 7.0-7.5. Review of the reviewer: 5.5.
* High marks for personality and just getting the job done time after time (kudos for that, by the way, huge weighting for me as a reviewer).
* Low marks for lack of range, some intellectual sloppiness, and lack of consistency in subcategories between verbal review and assigned numerical ratings (the last has been improving, btw).
Need to up your game, here. (It would make my day to give you an 8.0 in future.)
It is NOT good review practice to excuse flaws or defend a higher review score by saying "what can you expect for free". Good work is good work--bad work is bad work, dead average work gets a 5.5 of 10 and it's the reviewer's function to call that out for the audience. Price is irrelevant in all your categories of review except Presentation.
[Side Note on Reviewing Price: Technically, this fits best under Presentation, since price often trades off against production value. But Price is a much more significant factor in a purchase decision than inclusion as one factor in a 10% fractional score.
So a suggestion: Adjust the overall review score for "Price" as a last step: Free=+2, Bargain=+1, Fair Deal=0, Pricey=-1, Obvious Overcharge=-2--this would improve giving pricing its proper weight in the review].
All this said, it's unfair to taint the game scenario with a criticism of the _reviewer's_ work.
My call, the scenario is a solid _9.0_ as a one-off convention event. It's probably at least an 8.0 as an introduction to the full rules, though that's an iffy call until the full rules are available. That's all, have a nice day.
OFF TOPIC: On _Ruthless_ for scenario design, see "A Dynasty of Western Outlaws" by Paul Wellman. It traces western gangs from Quantrill to Alvin Karpis. Great read.
Review of the review reviewing our reviewer: 10 out of 10. Greg's "lack of range" and "intellectual sloppiness" are well known in our club and your 5.5 score is most generous.
This comment deserves an award of some sort ;-)
You're all welcome. I'm a fan of your work. Onward and upward!