Article Type: Preview
Article Date: February 18, 2003
Do historical war games have to be full of chrome, eye-candy and complicated commands to be accurate and satisfying. A small but articulate group of gamers say “No!” For them, the key to a successful simulation is focus. Key elements of the crucial events must be done right. Other elements are prologue or chrome that aren’t absolutely necessary and may just clutter play.
A test case for this is Warship Combat - WW2 developed by Christopher Dean and William Miller for Naval Warfare Simulations. Although available for purchase at $24 USD since version 1.01 and now patched to version 1.08, version 1.1 will be the definitive product of years of effort and should be the subject of critical scrutiny. However, the flavor of the game can be ascertained from version 1.08.
The stage for Warship Combat - WW2 is set with a variety of factors such as weather (daylight, dawn, dusk, night and storm) and four levels of visibility, dependent on player choice or the weather. Visibility is affected by weather, starshells, smoke scseens or searchlights. Each variable can be set by the players or players can take potluck and go for random settings. Fleets can be of any size up to ten ships or, again, the size can be random. Ships can be selected from 167 ship classes. Classes are further subdivided into years as upgrades became available. The “name” ships of a class will be shown as each ship selected from that class, i.e., two Achilles class cruisers will be both shown as Achilles. Again, ships can be randomly selected or manually picked for historical battles and hypothetical scenarios. Ships’ crew qualities can be set at crack, good, average, fair and poor.
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The choices of a battle’s environment are clear and numerous.  |
Ships can be selected from the navies of the United States, Great Britain, France Germany, Italy and Japan. Engagements can take place from 1939 through 1946. Such a system allows clashes at all levels from destroyers to battle ships with the entire range of new technology and upgraded equipment. Thus, a 1939 class cruiser will, if it was still in service, have radar by 1943. Some nice historical alternatives are also present such as choosing the possibilities of dud torpedoes and variable damage levels. Either random selections or player choices can create unbalanced battles. In these instances, the computer assigns victory multipliers to the weaker sided so that a side can win on points even if its fleet is sunk. A fog-of-war variable allows the exact state of the enemy vessels to be hidden.
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| Likewise, selecting a fleet is simple. |
A final variable is the choice to play the MIDI background music. The tunes provided are both martial and tasteful with selections from Richard Rodger’s “Victory at Sea”, Wagner and others.
Whether playing solitaire against the computer or hot seat against another player, the game can be modified to taste in virtually all aspects.
The battle view reflects the weather states with a moon and dark ships for night, gray skies for storms and bright, blue seas for clear weather. The five range states—close, short, medium, long, and extreme—are displayed along the top as well as the fleet’s aspects for opening or closing range.
In the beginning, each fleet is arranged in a single row of impressive 3D silhouettes. Designating destroyers and cruisers as screening units can form a second line of vessels. The presence of battleships in the main battleline dictates which type of ships can form a screen. After screens are set, no further movements appear on the battle view.
Along with class name and crew quality, values for armor, speed, torpedo salvoes if available and radar values are shown beneath each ship’s silhouette. Damage lowers the armor and speed values and the color of those digits go from green to yellow to orange to red as damage goes from light to heavy. When the fog-of-war option is used, the exact values for enemy ships are not shown and only vague descriptions appear as damage is incurred.
The nut of Warship Combat - WW2's action begins when the opposing fleets have found each other, formed up and are about to open fire. The ten-minute turns represent two rounds of fire. Target designation is merely pressing the ID number of the desired target for each main battery when prompted by the computer. After all main batteries are handled, any secondary batteries in range are brought to bear the same way. Muzzle flashes and fine sound effects mark firing.
Misses are shown by waterspouts around the targets and a dull thud and a short-lived puff of smoke mark non-penetrating hits. Flashes of fire and a damage number indicate a penetrating hit while sustained flames and smoke go along with a critical hit. With each shot, chances of hits are shown as a PK value.
Sixteen factors such as target size and speed, visibility, firing unit status and target acquisition determine the hit probability. Illumination can be used during night battles. Damage compares shell size with armor on either the horizontal or vertical plane. At the moment, the type of damage is determined randomly (Developer Note). When a vessel takes over 25 percent damage, its speed and firepower values drop. When the armor value is zero, the ship sinks (Developer Note).
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| Likewise, selecting a fleet is simple. |
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| A French cruiser opens up. |
When torpedo-carrying ships are in range, they can launch torpedoes in the second fire round as long as they have torpedoes. Target designation is almost exactly like gunfire with nine factors used for the PK calculation.
After the first fleet has fired, the second gets its knocks in. Damage is then applied to stricken ships. Before the next round, the possibility of abstract movement comes about. Each side can attempt to disengage damaged ships and choose to close, maintain or open range. Movement can also be performed while laying smoke, affecting both the ability to hit and to be hit. The computer rolls a die to see which side’s movement succeeds (Developer Note).
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| Maneuvering is as simple as hitting a key. |
Battle continues this way until one side is sunk or contact is lost due to distance or worsening visibility. Victory is determined by comparative points so that a small, out-gunned fleet that is completely sunk can win if it inflicts enough damage on its opponent.
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| A Japanese and American fleet fight at night by the light of starshell. |
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| The night battle becomes deadly. Note how the fog of war hides the Japanese ships’ values |
Warship Combat - WW2 is still very much a work in progress. Version 1.09 may be out within hours of this writing (Editor's Note). Features to be added include precise damage locations, evasion maneuvers, spotting planes and land. More ships and graphics will be added. If simplicity and accuracy are an attractive combination, this game is worth watching.
