After years of Brigs and Afilter talking about this (and being unsatisfied with other naval games out there) I took the plunge a couple months ago and bought Naval Thunder (the WW2 rules). Our group likes it alot. There's a few errors in the spreadsheets provided (at least the ones on WargameVault) but they are noticeable and easy to correct. The game plays well, with the right balance of crunch and speed, though warships with massed ranks of different secondaries can be more complicated that you'd expect.
Are there plans to release an expanded list of the current navies, of new navies and of "what if" designs?
I see a few (old) posts in Naval Thunder shipyard forums but there's no cost with peoples stat suggestions and the spreadsheet doesn't include the formula for working out unit costs. Has this been worked out?
I decided to buy Naval Thunder a little while ago and found it disappointing. The abstract aircraft and sub rules imply that they just place aircraft and subs in the too hard basket and couldn’t be bothered trying to represent them properly. That and the very old school movement and combat systems show a lack of imagination. Not saying it is a bad game but for this day and age where board games a breaking all the preconceived mechanics to produce initiative game mechanics Naval Thunder seams very outdated.
I decided to buy Naval Thunder a little while ago and found it disappointing. The abstract aircraft and sub rules imply that they just place aircraft and subs in the too hard basket and couldn’t be bothered trying to represent them properly. That and the very old school movement and combat systems show a lack of imagination. Not saying it is a bad game but for this day and age where board games a breaking all the preconceived mechanics to produce initiative game mechanics Naval Thunder seams very outdated.
Yeah, I've perused the rules for Subs and Aircraft/CV's. It is certainly more abstract and I too have my doubts. I'll have a few games with these rules and then make a call.
Naval Thunder optional rules list "initiative" rules, the core rules have simultaneous moving and firing per ship class. If you use the core rules, and every other rule except the optional "alternating movement/firing rules", then the only die-roll mechanic that influences turn order is the set up roll. I'm not sure what you're getting at here.
The combat system feels ok. It has that old school crunch but also there's a fair amount of modern streamlining done with the penetration, damage and armour values that reflect that modern aesthetic.
The movement system appears to make ships move a little oddly (sudden 90d turns) though I'm not sure of the time scale per turn. Also, there's a fair amount of "fudging" when writing your turn orders. A notation of "P", i.e. turn to port, could mean 5d or 90d and it's really only decided at the point of moving the ship. So there's a fair amount of reliance on an honour system to ensure no one is gaming it. The alternative movement turns do alleviate that somewhat but that delves into the initiative order mechanic that you dislike.
Honestly, gang, from experience, I found the sub/air rules more "realistic" than War at Sea, where dive bombers are turning around and launching strikes from a carrier deck as fast as a battleship can fire her guns. There's a link to a battle report I did a long time ago here, that might be of some interest:
Having actually PLAYED some "old school" naval games (not to mention Star Fleet Battles!), Naval Thunder is much streamlined by comparison. True, it came out before the "flight path" craze of X-Wing, Attack Wing or even Sails of Glory, but I enjoyed it.
I decided to buy Naval Thunder a little while ago and found it disappointing. The abstract aircraft and sub rules imply that they just place aircraft and subs in the too hard basket and couldn’t be bothered trying to represent them properly. That and the very old school movement and combat systems show a lack of imagination. Not saying it is a bad game but for this day and age where board games a breaking all the preconceived mechanics to produce initiative game mechanics Naval Thunder seams very outdated.
Naval Thunder optional rules list "initiative" rules,
Teen
I meant innovative not initiative. Damn auto correct.
If any are in the Chicago area at end of April I am running two sessions of Naval Thunder Battle of Tsushima using my 1/2400 collection at Little Wars.
1st Session is Friday afternoon/evening and second is Sunday Morning/afternoon.
his a great scenario to get the feel for all guns blazing.