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Other comments left for this publisher: |
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Action Stations! 4.2 is a redesign by Andrew Finch and Alan Butler of an older edition by David Manley.
I was looking for rules and data for amphibious landings during World War 1, the Ukrainian Civil Wars, and the Russian Civil Wars: Tanga, Gallipoli, Trabzond, Moon Sound, Taganrog, and others.
Action Stations! includes rules for light naval combat during World Wars 1 and 2. It includes data for a wide range of World War 2 craft, a few World War 1 craft, and some light coastal ordnance. It does not yet include rules for amphibious landings, or the X-lighter, Bolinder, or Elpidifor-class landing craft.
Action Stations! does not include any scenarios, either.
I don't feel I can judge the game as the designers intended it, so I'm giving it a default 3 stars. But I hope this can help other people considering the game.
Ships are rated for:
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Class, 2 values, indicating size and manueverability.
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Hull Boxes, indicating sturdiness. This value appears to use a construction quality value x the square root of the full displacement. This value also appears compatible with the Steamer Wars trilogy, also by David Manley.
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Speed, 4 values, in knots.
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Weapons, including info on firing arcs and armor for each weapon.
- Notes.
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The most noticable problem is the absence of an index. This makes it hard to find something unless you are looking for something that you know the name or class.
The product is incomplete.
I am not an expert in the great Patriotic war against facism period, but even I know that River class Frigates were essential to winning the Battle of the Atlantic. (Does no one read Monserrat's Cruel Seas anymore?). It is a bit like me as an expert on the Revolutionary and Napoleonic world wars writing a book and leaving out the Leda class Frigate (which I would not do).
Anywat I searched the pdf seperately under "River" and "Wear" and was unbable to find these fine ships.
As I say, I'm not an expert other important ships and classes could be missing as well.
In conclusion a very suspect product and a waste of money.
Kind Regards
David
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Creator Reply: |
We are sorry that you were disappointed by the product and feel that we should provide a response.
In the case of the lack of an index, what we did do is provide a Catalogue which is included in the Zip files as part of the Rules Support Package.
As regards the question of the absence of the frigates, it should be mentioned that the rules are not intended for use representing anti submarine warfare, which would cover the Battle of the Atlantic. There are other sets of rules more suitable for that aspect of the Second World War.
The rules are not intended for convoy actions but rather for actions between surface warships, which is why we created very few battle scenarios set in the Atlantic, the majority being in the Mediterranean or the Pacific.
The vast library of ships that are included in the various ship data sets covers every nation from the 1880's through to 1945, with all classes of ship down to the size of a destroyer escort. There are over 3800 different datasets for "classes", which include variants as ships were modified over the years, and the majority of these datasets then have individual listings for many ships in that class.
Regards
A&A Game Engineering
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As a postscript to our reply to the review, we would also like to add that our policy with all our rules is that we will add new data if we are asked for it. This depends on the availability of the technical data required, which in the case of the River Class Frigates we do have (HMS Wear is one of the ships in this class). |
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These are the Napoleonic naval rules that in my opinion can work brilliantly with the miniatures produced by Sails of Glory. The combination of Sails of Glory ships (minus the irritating bases) and GFAAOS is a real winner. Fast play, yet more than enough complexity to make a major naval action engrossing to play. A thumbs-up from me.
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I am enjoying these rules! I have been looking for a set of rules that will allow me to play without having a geohex game mat, and now I have just that. The rules are fun and are quick to learn and fun to play. I highly recommend these rules!
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Iron and Fire is exactly what I have been looking to find for some time: rules that govern the full range of ironclad combat not jut the American Civil War. The rules are detailed, but not not overly complex. The combat is straight-forward. I want to play the battle of Lissa, and I was pleasantly surprised to find every ship of both fleets! I haven't checked ship-by-ship, but I think that ever ship of that era is covered!
The rules are well laid out and easy to follow.
I would recommend Iron and Fire, particularly to someone interested in battles beond the American Civil War
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it is great. it has what I need to play the game. If I had more money I would buy the coplete set. Let me know when it goes on sale. I really love all the products I bought on this website and look forward to buying more. Thank You
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Excellent well researched and highly detailed set of rules.
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A good set of rules for a beginner getting into the period or for a more experienced player who wants a quick gam but. If counting rivets lost is your thing then you won't like them.
We played our first game last week and after a couple of turns we rarely had to consult the rule book.
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I am really enjoying this game right now. Very comprehensive and not an ounce more complex than it needs to be to deliver. Games play relatively fast. SMR2 has both a pre-game "strategic initiative" and ship "morale" rules. Both are new to me in a Naval game but I quite like them and they are both quick to resolve.
This game has rules for ships, subs and aircraft - which can all be on the board at the same time. It also has point values for all. Quality of crew and commanders is a significant factor in the game and these further alter the "point value" of a ship. Perfect for playing pick up games.
My miniature collection currently only covers WWII, but SMR2 has me shopping around for WWI miniatures!
The base game comes with no ship stats or scenarios. However there are 9 scenarios that can be downloaded free from their website, and these come with the stats for the ships in the scenarios.
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Forty four years ago, I read Martin Caidin's "The Ragged, Rugged Warriors",an account of the early air war against Japan, especially the adventures of the International Squadron in China. "Angels 15", in conjunction with the rule book "Scramble", also by A&A Games, fianlly allows me to refight the epic actions of this fascinating air campaign.
Such obscure aircraft as the Curtiss Hawk biplanes, the Boeing P-26, Curtiss Hawk 75, and the Martin 139 are all rated for the game, as are literally hundreds of planes for all theatres of the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, the Nomonhan Incident, the Chaco Wars of South America, and the Russo Finish War.
Players of the "Scramble" game will be familiar with the format of the entries, and should find ALMOST every plane they are looking for (I was hoping for the Grumman F3F and Curtiss SOC-4, since they flew Neutrality patrols before the US entered the War).
I found a small mistake in the US listings, both here and in the Scramble book: the Brewster Buffalo F2A is placed in the US Air force list, rather than the Navy one. ( The army did have ONE in Australia, used for mechanic's training)
All in all, an invaluable add-on for owners of "Scramble", highly recommended!
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I have played several sets of WW2 air rules, and this one got off to a great start last night. I played the small intro scenario, to get a feel for the mechanics, and found myself thoroughly enjoying the experience. Bookkeeping is minimal, Flight and gunnery, with the "skill tests" involved, seems very intuitive, and the results of an eleven plane 'bounce" were quick, and not overly bloody. (One plane was shot down from behind, and another badly damaged when it in turn was jumped). The concepts used in formation flying worked very nicely to my way of thinking.
I also purchased "Angels 15" and am going to run a campaign set in the Russian-Japanese war over Nomonhan.
My only complaint is the rule book does not include more illustrations by the very talented cover artist!
Highly recommended for air gamers with a 4x6 foot game table or larger!
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Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail is a very playable, easily understood set of Naval rules for the sailing age. Having been a Naval Wargamer for 50 years or more I like to be able to 'get on with the game' rather than being buried knee deep in trivia and unnecessary rules, especially when fighting large actions. These rules meet that requirement extremely well, yet they have an excellent feel to them when playing, and in pre game discussion players seem to be impressed, even if they lost.
By simplifying many issues the authors have made it easy for even a bunch of land lubbers, to pick up how to play and take part in a game. For the more experienced naval gamer they still have a good feel. I confess that one of the first things I tend to do is check the maths, and having sat down with a calculator I was quickly satisfied that there were only minor issues of concern. In general the sums added up and I believe that is one of the reasons the rules work so well.
I would recommend these for anyone who seeks to play out a fleet action, large or small, and get it over within a reasonable time frame, but at the end, still feel satisfaction at the result.
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This set of rules is quite comprehensive and can cover a wide range of ancient nautical battles. I have not played the game yet, but the rules are reasonably well set out and written in plain english so I feel confident that when I do play I will understand what is needed.
The card-based turn sequence seems like a great game mechanic, simulating the relatively unpredictable command and control of the period. Giving each admiral a limited number of Tactical Initiative Cards restores some active control to each player, but also forces the players to think carefully about when to take the additional movement turns. The basic game mechanics for movement and various forms of combat seem relatively straightforward and should play quickly. One feature the rules lack, which I would appreciate, is a comprehensive QRS that places all of the combat tables on a single page - as it stands they are spread through several sections and I can see myself flipping through searching for the right ones during a game (although the table of contents is detailed enough that finding them should be reasonably quick as is....).
Other strengths of the rules include fleet lists for particular navies, with short descriptions of the state of naval warfare in the periods, as well as short descriptions of the ship types and their distinguishing features. I learned quite a lot reading that section. The rules also contain a set of campaign rules and maps for Mediterranean operations. The campaign rules seem simple enough to actually play, yet have enough period detail that they would be interesting and would enourage players to consider how to use supply and scouting assets, as well as main-line battle formations. The rules for generating terrain for tactical battles is also a nice touch.
Overall, I haven't found anything glaring that makes me unhappy, and there are many excellent features in these rules that could be used as-is, or easily adapted for use with other rule sets.
I believe Salamis ad Actium gives excellent value.
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A set of Ancient Naval rules that give a good battle, especially with ships from the classical period. They are not dificult to learn but generate a good game. Start small though.
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NICE set of rules. The mechanics are really very simple once you get a couple of games under your belt, and I especially like the C&C mechanics, spotting/visibility rules (RADAR and spotter aircraft are well done). Combat is handled very well. Just once dice roll per turn per ship to determine if you've hurt the other side, but there is enough muscle and thought put behind that single roll that the results feel right. One minor tweak we're using for our games -- plunging fire for long distance BB salvos. Right now, if the gun doesn't compare well to the target's armor, it's impossible to get a critical hit with a "10." But how do you explain what happened to the Hood, then? So we simply state that BB shells at long range that roll a "10" against their targets STILL get a critical hit, even when the modifier is applied.
Other than that, it's a darn near perfect set of rules for larger actions. We played Calabria (Two battleships, eight cruisers and ten destroyers on the Italian side alone -- facing two British battleships, four cruisers, destroyers and an aircraft carrier) in a few hours and had a blast. Well done. It's good enough that it's motivated me to expand on my 1/6000 Figurehead minis collection.
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