"Fleet Admiral Volume 1 - Initial Review" Topic

Evening all, I've just posted an initial review of Bill M's "Fleet Admiral" review on my blog. I must admit, from what I've seen so far I am quite impressed!

link

"The key principle of the damage system is that each damaging hit is, in effect, a "critical hit" (i.e. it will cause some discernable damage effect), so there is no gradual damage point loss, but rather a succession of well described damage effects"

I've always felt this is the way it should be with naval rules, but it can be a real pain in the rear. WTJ's "Battlefleet 1900" does something a little like this, and well I think, but having taken a look at the "learn to play in ten minutes" part of the Fleet Admiral website

PDF link

it seems that, other than armour penetration, there is no difference in being hit by a 6" shell and a 15" shell. Is that the case?

Ah, I've just taken a look at the "first three chapters" free download and notice there's a rule or two that might cover situations where a smaller ship is hit with a whopping great "portmanteau".

Hi fleabeard,

You are correct there are most certainly rules that cover that great big whopping "portmanteau"! If you have any specific questions I would be more than happy to answer them for you.

Cheers
Bill

Thanks Bill, I've a couple of questions:

On game scale it states "One inch or one centimeter =
1000 yards or 1kyds (2,000 yards = 1 nautical
mile)", but that there are more scale options listed in an appendix. Just out of interest, is that what you'd typically use in a Russo-Japanese engagement? It seems very tight, though that'd suit me fine!

I noticed on one of the scenarios (Otranto Strait IIRC) that a ship's armament included 8mm machine guns(!). Are there actually rules for using MGs against other ships, or does this relate to AA fire?

Actually, I've a third question: Are there/will there be any rules for engaging shore targets?

Thanks!

Hi Fleabeard,

Normally for RJW battles I use 2" to 1000 yards as that fits my 6x4 table at the ranges normally fought at and looks great with my 1:6000 ships. I almost always play WWI at 1" – 1000yds. The Ulsan battle featured in the AAR was played with 1:2400 ships with a 1:2400 scale, we had an 8x8' table. We even gamed the Battle of Tsushima at 1:2400 with 1:2400 fleets. I'll post some pictures, we played it on a stage! Be aware that the scale is not carved in stone and players may use whatever scale works best for them. Just so long as it all remains relative. There is a table of various scales (14 in all) and a ships speed in knots given in a table in ANNEX B so I'm sure there would be something there that would suit your available space with no problems. Also the three minute move always makes movement and scale easy as you just add two zeros to your speed and that is how many yards you move in a turn.

The ships armament including 8mm MGs was related to AA fire in that particular ship. In some cases they could be boat guns such as 2 3 or 12pdrs. used to drive off or engage vessels of a very small size class such as TBs.

No rules for engaging shore batteries as of yet but they are on the horizon. So bombarding Electric Hill or the Tigers Tail at Port Arthur will have to wait for now.

I do understand your questions as I am also quite interested in the RJW. I am also the author of Dawn of the Rising Sun (2005 Origins Award Winner for Best Historical Miniatures Game) so I appreciate where you are coming from.

Aside from my pride of authorship I can assure you that if you are considering getting FA in order to fight he actions of the RJW you can't go wrong.

Thank you for your interest and good questions. Feel free to fire at will.

Cheers
Bill

Sorry about my rambling response but I just got off from working 13 hours straight! Cheers my friend but I'm off to the rack!

Thanks Bill, that was far from rambling.

I think I'll pick up the digital version tonight, email it to work and print it out on Monday using their resources! Only joking about that last bit!! Oh no I'm not!!! Then dust off my predreadnoughts and have a game or two. To be honest these rules had me at "very straightforward system" and "each damaging hit is, in effect, a "critical hit"" in David's review. I'm a shameless rules junkie with a library of the things, but I'm genuinely looking forward to reading through these!

Thank you so much sir and I truly hope you enjoy them for a very long time to come!

And on another note:

The Battle of the Dogger Bank scenario with all 73 completed Ship Information Cards has been added to the scenarios page of the website. I'd call that darned near a supplement!

fleetadmirals.com/scenarios.html

Cheers Bill

Just got the rules! Outstanding! Very well written… and easy for a NEW player with limited experience to get into. Very intuitive.

Glad to see all the SIC's goin up to. Very useful indeed.

Kurt

Hi Kurt,

Thank you sir and welcome aboard!

Cheers
Bill

Just posted a new AAR to the website: Goeben Is Your Objective!

fleetadmirals.com/aar2.html

Cheers
Bill

How can I purchase the rules Bill? I can't see a "web store" at flletadmirals.com…

Looks like the Fleet Admirals site ist kaput.

I've been looking for rules to do actions between light forces in the North Sea. How do these rules treat destroyers and fleet torpedo boats? Are they represented individually with any granularity, or are small flotillas lumped together and treated as one entity as is done with many other rule sets?