"Modern Naval Combat" Topic

Has anyone played these rules? Can you share something about them? link

Haven't played that one. I had purchased Surface Battle Group 3 (SBG3) from Wargame Vault and it satisfied the need for me.

BGG has some reviews see link

SBG3 is good, but there are some interesting modules for MSC on the Wargame Vault.

I tried SBG3. While it has some interesting ideas, it has some serious faults. I keep coming back to Shipwreck and find it the best compromise between unplayable detail (Harpoon) and over-reaching abstraction (SBG3).

What do you consider SBG3's faults? I think it hits the sweet spot between too much detail and too much abstraction.

1. Missiles hitting ships cause criticals based on the size of the missile instead of the size of the ship. 1 crit per 10 points of damage no matter if it is a Frigate or a Carrier that is hit.
2. Combining different type inbound missiles and having them knocked down based on how many AAM are fired at them and not on any percentage to hit.
3. The rather big (comparatively) chance of not detecting a ship which is within radar horizon range. Just won't happen with modern radars and sensors.
4. The scaling of weapons can lead to some unusual situations especially when attacked by multiple small ships.
5. Only able to make 1 turn in movement given the time scale.
6. Helos are not scaled in numbers available.
7. On the data sheets for ships and subs, all the ranges are given in inches or feet rather than in actual nautical miles making scaling the game very awkward.
Lack of any support whatsoever from the author.
8. Ships may fire AAM even though their radars are off.

What I do like:
1. Morale rules and crew quality.

I find Shipwreck too abstract -- I prefer Mal Wright's Command Information Centre.

Sure, though the critical hit function is easily fixed. The method of using #2 is optional and designed to speed play when there are massive missile volleys. I agree with its basic premise, sacrificing a bit for speed of play. Note that complexity that makes a game unplayable is by definition unrealistic. Since real world warfare is "playable" if a game is unplayable, then it is unrealistic. I had had too much of Harpoon's hour long turns before I sold all my minis and all my rules. It was too much of everything.

Agree with gregoryk about Harpoon. I really wanted to like modern naval combat. Our group bought Harpoon, painted up some ships, and gave it a try. About ten minutes in it became very clear that we were never going to have any fun playing Harpoon.