Poll: Naval Strategy Games

[evilomega13]

Right. This is a wierd one.

For some reason, recently, I've been getting the itch to play a naval strategy, or an equivilant. Now, the thing is, I really can't think of any dedicated naval strategy games, apart from...a Disney one. Treasure Planet- Battle at Procyon. (I remember it being actually quite good. If I can get it running, I'll post again on whether I remember correctly)

So, the topic of this thread, or rather, topics.

1. Can you name any decent naval strategy games? Or any at all?
2. Do you think that there should be more in this sort of direction? (I certainly do; we get enough army and air force simulators; gimme my battleships!).

Edit: Just as a pointer, I'm thinking more in the RTS catergory. Turn Based ones never seem too different to me, no matter where they're set.

 

[hazabaza1]

Silent Hunter is a submarine simulator series. Other than that, I dunno, sorry.

 

[direkiller]

Navyfield

its a bit buggy and old but its a FTP game

 

[lepinkainen]

War in the Pacific
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/294/details/War.In.The.Pacific

 

[Psymon138]

I remember having a great time with an old old game called Age of Sail. We could definitely use more.

And would the naval combat portions of Empire/Napoleon/Shogun 2: Total War count?

 

[RuralGamer]

I could see a problem if someone made a modern-day one; you'd never actually see the enemy. I can't really think of any; the closest I can think of are the naval battles in Empire: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2.

 

[okyriosy]

If you are looking for a detailed sim, there's Fleet Command:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Command

 

[Lukeje]

As I remember, Hostile Waters was largely based around naval battles (I could be wrong though).

Also, though not really an RTS, Sid Meier's Pirates is another that includes naval battles.

 

[Phishfood]

+1 for silent hunter, although either I never got my head round the mechanics properly or it was buggy.

Hiding under a thermal layer was supposed to make you harder to hit (distorting sonar) but it never seemed to make a difference.

 

[evilomega13]

I could see a problem if someone made a modern-day one; you'd never actually see the enemy. I can't really think of any; the closest I can think of are the naval battles in Empire: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2.

Heh, that's a good point on the modern ones. And I've only played the Medival and Rome Total War games- Empire sounds like the right sort of things for sea battles. I'll give it a look, if I can.



Thanks for the various responses, people. I'll trawl through the list later

 

[RuralGamer]

I could see a problem if someone made a modern-day one; you'd never actually see the enemy. I can't really think of any; the closest I can think of are the naval battles in Empire: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2.

Heh, that's a good point on the modern ones. And I've only played the Medival and Rome Total War games- Empire sounds like the right sort of things for sea battles. I'll give it a look, if I can.



Thanks for the various responses, people. I'll trawl through the list later

Just to warn you man; Empire's sea combat is a bit... meh. Its a fun addition to Total War, but it really always boils down to who has the biggest, baddest ships; beating a larger ship in a 1-on-1 is nigh-on impossible and boarding isn't a mechanic I found useful. Shogun 2 on the other hand, is much better; ships all have weaknesses and small ships are often the best counter to large ships; you swamp them with smaller craft who stay out of range of boarding. Conversely, medium sized ships will often destroy smaller ships, yet are somewhat vulnerable to larger ships who can board them quite easily; its all a kinda rock-paper-scissors affair.

 

[IndianaJonny]

My advice would be to take a step back and enjoy some of the old tabletop naval wargames - detail of strategy and game mechanics combined with the simplicity of the resources involved (flat space & figurines/cut-outs) and the satisfaction that comes with painting, modelling, immersion and playing mano-a-mano against friends.

If you're interested I'll russle up some details on some systems you might enjoy playing. Tabletop gamers are a loyal, knowledgable bunch so if you hit up a few forums/groups you might find help on this closer to home.

 

[Enrathi]

My advice would be to take a step back and enjoy some of the old tabletop naval wargames - detail of strategy and game mechanics combined with the simplicity of the resources involved (flat space & figurines/cut-outs) and the satisfaction that comes with painting, modelling, immersion and playing mano-a-mano against friends.

If you're interested I'll russle up some details on some systems you might enjoy.

I'm interested, I love wargames.

I used to play Deep Thrust (space battles), they were thinking make a Wet Thrust (I kid you not) for naval battles...ah the good old days where even your tabletop games were full of sexual innuendo.

I also played Man o' War (Warhammer Fantasy naval battles) and that was a lot of fun. If I could easily find models, I'd still play Battlefleet Gothic (Warhammer 40K space battles).

 

[Ike Jager]

Theres the Battlestations: Midway/Pacific. A World War II fleet strategy game that let you personally take control of a specific unit and distroy targets yourself. For instance, you can manually aim a ship's guns, navagation and manually flying a fighter aircraft or bomber and manually bomb a target. It's a pretty decent game just there is not much content in it.

Btw, a little hint, if you do take control of a ships navagation and let the NPC take control of the guns, each gun functions independently which is good when youre surrounded.

<youtube=cXjR1SvGuTM>

 

[evilomega13]

My advice would be to take a step back and enjoy some of the old tabletop naval wargames - detail of strategy and game mechanics combined with the simplicity of the resources involved (flat space & figurines/cut-outs) and the satisfaction that comes with painting, modelling, immersion and playing mano-a-mano against friends.

If you're interested I'll russle up some details on some systems you might enjoy playing. Tabletop gamers are a loyal, knowledgable bunch so if you hit up a few forums/groups you might find help on this closer to home.

Ah, yes, tabletop games. I've been thinking about playing Battle Fleet Gothic- the only thing I could find- but truth be told I've got enough models in need of painting right now. Still, worth a try I suppose. The problem would be trying to find an opponent

I also played Man o' War (Warhammer Fantasy naval battles) and that was a lot of fun. If I could easily find models, I'd still play Battlefleet Gothic (Warhammer 40K space battles).

I didn't realise there was a Warhammer Fantasy thing of this type; I don't suppose you could point me in the direction of where to get the rules?

 

[Hader]

Right. This is a wierd one.

For some reason, recently, I've been getting the itch to play a naval strategy, or an equivilant. Now, the thing is, I really can't think of any dedicated naval strategy games, apart from...a Disney one. Treasure Planet- Battle at Procyon. (I remember it being actually quite good. If I can get it running, I'll post again on whether I remember correctly)

So, the topic of this thread, or rather, topics.

1. Can you name any decent naval strategy games? Or any at all?
2. Do you think that there should be more in this sort of direction? (I certainly do; we get enough army and air force simulators; gimme my battleships!).

Edit: Just as a pointer, I'm thinking more in the RTS catergory. Turn Based ones never seem too different to me, no matter where they're set.

Battlestations Midway was a great naval strategy game, I loved that one and wish only more people wold have played it online. Naval Ops Warship Gunner was another one, though much more arcade style than strategy oriented, but still fairly fun.

 

[Bostur]

Ah naval games, a genre that has been buried long ago.

Real time modern naval games are usually variations of watching dots on a computer screen. They are hard to present in a pretty way and I guess thats why nobody makes them anymore. My own personal favorite was Red Storm Rising
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Storm_Rising_%28video_game%29

Harpoon and Jane's Fleet Command were worthy titles as well.



Historical naval games add a bit more room for graphics, I personally remember one called "Age of Sail II" which looked quite nice for a strategy game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Sail_II

There is of course also Pirates!, both the original one and the remake are fun games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Pirates!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Pirates!_%282004_video_game%29


Most realtime naval games tend to focus on simulation and lack some of the gameplay finish that we are used to in other games. In part probably due to a small audience.