"Recommendations for WWI 1/2400 Naval Rules?" Topic

Hi there,

I used to play General Quarters 2 for 1/2400 WW1 Naval games before I wound up moving and trading away my High Seas and Grand Fleets from GHQ. However, my local hobby store is starting to carry GHQ and can special order the WWI micronaunt line at a discount. I tried finding GQ 2, but it's now out of print. Does anyone have recommendations for a 1/2400 WWI naval rule set to do a couple squadrons of Battleship and some armored cruisers aside? I'd rather stay away from computer assisted games. Is "Fear God and Dreadnought" worth the $89.95 USD price from Warweb.com or is it another WWI version of "Harpoon?"

Just curious before I go sinking lots of money into 1/2400 scale WWI dreadnoughts again.

Thanks,
Blake

Did you not like the GQ WWI rules? They should not be that hard to find if you need another copy. The GHQ ships are very nice but you have to assemble them, and they are kind of fragile and can end up damaged due to ham-fisted handling during play. I prefer the Panzerschiffe line of one piece epoxy casting ships myself.

I have copies of both the old and new versions of General Quarters in stock:

link

GQII is the folio from 1970 something priced at $14. USD The newly designed for the ground up Fleet Action Imminent comes in a bound version as well as a 3-hole punch version.

Mark "Extra Crispy" Severin
Owner, Scale Creep Miniatures
ScaleCreep.com
DeepFriedHappyMice.com

Last I heard, GQ2 is still in print (just tougher than heck to find, sometimes). Fleet 'Action Imminent' (the WWI variant of GQ3) is my personal favorite. As for 'Fear God and Dreadnought, its basically the WWI variant of 'Command at Sea' (and both are from the same tree as 'Harpoon'), so beware. For a rivet counter type game, I'd go with 'SeeKrieg V'; I find it a lot cleaner and easier to play than 'Fear God and Dreadnought'.

I'm partial to Fear God and Dread Naught(FGDN) myself, But GQ 2 is a great set if you don't want too much complexity. FGDN, Command at Sea and Harpoon are currently in the process of being fully harmonized rules wise. So you can use WWI ships with WWII or modern ships all the data works together. Even if you don't play FGDN, the ammount of data, scenerios, and exquisite ship counters are IMHO well worth the price.

We've switched from GQ 2 to FAI for our games in Austin. We like it and the GQ 3 WW II rules very much. They are in nice large print and have great ship logs that simplify playing greatly. They are pricier, around $40, but very nice. Highly recommended.

I liked GQ II. I just don't have a copy of the rules currently. A friend of mine emailed me and recommended Fleet Action Immiment that he played at Little Wars in Chicago. I'm under the impression you have to have a copy of GQ 3 to play the new WWI FAI. I'd just rather have the older GQ 2 and use it for WWI naval games.

Actually, no, you don't need GQ3 to play FAI. Both are stand alone.

I'm partial to the GQ3/FAI version but there are enough GQ1&2 books in print that you could find plenty of copies and players. I also agree that if you want higher complexity, Seekreig V is a very elegant system.

Coastal2 is correct. Fleet Action Imminent (WWI) and General Quarters III are both stand alone games. They share a lot of mechanisms etc. but each book is complete on its own.

I'd recommend giving Naval Thunder: Clash of Dreadnoughts a try. Its at a similar level of complexity to GQ, so I expect you will enjoy it. I have heard from quite a few players of GQ and other systems who have adopted Naval Thunder as their primary rule set.

In addition to being a big seller with plenty of ongoing support on the horizon, its also very affordable compared to some of the other systems out there. You can buy the core rules for $12.95 USD here:

link

There is a detailed overview of the system here:

link

The home page is here:

navalthunder.com

Give it a try. I am confident you will be very happy with what you find.

We use Victory at Sea, Age of Dreadnoughts (Mongoose publishing) Simple, fun and fast.

I'd second the vote for Age of Dreadnoughts.
The changes made from the WW2 version make it significantly more realistic, without compromising speed of play.

We've had 2 games of VaS:AoD so far and both been fun. We'll certainly keep using it. Simple and quick.

Steve P

Seapower works well for WW1 (I think it works better for WW1 than WW2). I'm not sure where you'd find a copy of the rules these days, however.

I found out that you can still get the Seapower rules from Alnavco, and I can email you an expanded damage chart (if you want to throw down on WW2 what-ifs)

The most entertaining rules out right now are VictoryAtSea AGE OF DREADNOUGHTS. I just played the VON SPEE German east asia squadron CAMPAIGN (CORONEL, falklands parts 1 and 2) and the game play is fast, fun, and very realistic. To be specific, last night's Coronel went was 1 hit away from being 100% historically accurate.

historically the british lost good hope and monmouth and the germans only sustained 2 hits on the scharnhorst. last night as the german player, i sank good hope and monmouth and sustained 3 hits on scharhorst.

I use that as an example to point out how realistic and believable the results of each game are. with how fast and fun the game is played combined with the realism.. this is without a doubt the best great war naval game out right now.

I just bought Naval Thunder: Clash of the Dreadnoughts. My brother and I are just beginning to use them, but so far I like them. We used to play GQ2, but got away from miniatures for a while. They play pretty quickly and contain enough detail to satisfy me, especially using the optional rules. Can't wait to see the promised updates, which will contain the rest of the world's navies. A good set. I recommend them.

Heck

Don't forget Grand Fleets from Majestic Twelve Games.

mj12games.com