So, now that I have had some time to get a little more familiar with the rules for Sails of Glory, I thought I would take a few moments to post my impressions of the game so far.

The Rules

First of all, I should mention Ares Games has made the rules available for free online, in case you want to follow along at home. I highly recomend you go and take a look at the rule book if you are at all interested in the game. I can honestly say that these rules are one of the best written and best illustrated rules I have seen in a long time; you can really get a good feel for how the game is played by even just a quick read-through. The rules are broken down to three different difficulty levels: Basic, Standard, and Advanced. Each level adds a few more layers of complexity and detail to the game.  Basic rules introduce  you to many of the basic movement and shooting mechanics of the game (more on that in a moment), while the Standard rules start to add a bit more crunch to the game by adding things like raking and different kinds of ammo. The Standard Rules also force the player to plan out their movement further in advance, which means more fore-thought will be required. The Advanced rules add the final layer, adding more detail to the damage caused to a ship; now, different parts of a ship can be damaged, such as the sails or the hull. So far, I’ve only messed around with the Basic rules, which feel fairly generic as there is not much to give the game an age of sail feel other than the movement. However, after reading the rule book I get the sense that by the time the Standard and Advanced rules are factored in, the game will provide  a reasonably accurate portrayal of Age of Sail warfare.

Ship Mats

Each ship in a game will need a separate mat. This mat serves as the “control console” for lack of a better term, and is where a player keeps track of a ship’s damage, crew, gunnery status (reloaded or not), and selected maneuvers. These mats have a cut-out window in them that accepts a 3-piece damage track that is unique to each ship. In this way, a single mat can be re-used for any ship in the game.

Game Mechanics: Movement

At its most basic level, Sails of Glory uses Plotted Movement. This means that a card with a movement track is laid on the table in front of the model, and the model is then moved along the track on the card. This system is commonly seen in flight combat games; I’ve personally encountered it in Axis & Allies Angles 20, X-Wing, and Aeronautica Imperialis. Presumably, it is also used in Wings of Glory, the WWI/WWII flight game that Sails of Glory is based on. Given that this is an Age of Sail game, movement naturally depends on wind. There is a dial that indicates wind direction, which is then transferred to the individual ships using a pointer that is aligned in the same direction as the wind. This pointer will tell the player the ship’s attitude, or position with respect to the wind. This in turn will determine what movement cards and which tracks on the movement cards can be used. The trick is, the movement card to be used by a ship has to be chosen a turn in advance (2 turns in advance for the Standard and Advanced rules), which places a premium on a player’s ability to evaluate how a ship’s attitude will change over the course of a maneuver (to say nothing of lining up shots on the enemy!).

Game Mechanics: Shooting

There are two basic shooting attacks a  model can perform. The first involves broadsides, which have firing arcs with different strengths associated with each arc. In general, the closer to the middle of the ship a target’s line of sight is, the stronger the attack will be. This simulates being able to get more cannons on the target out of the broadside. The other attack is musketry, which is conducted when models are close to each other (the width of the ruler, our about 1/2″). The way ships take damage is very simple; each attack has a strength associated with it. The player then checks range with the ruler, and then takes a number of the appropriate damage counters (at random)  equal to the strength of the attack out of a bag or cup and places them next to the ship’s mat. Musketry works in a similar fashion, except it only affects crew status and not hull status. Since shooting in the game is simultaneous, the results of the attacks are applied after all shooting is complete.

Observations

So far, I’m impressed with Sails of Glory. The game mechanics feel well-adapted to capture the feel of warfare in the golden age of sail. The plotted movement is a great way to force players into planning maneuvers in advance, which in turn requires them to take into consideration the wind and the enemy’s movement, things that a real sailing ship captain might have had to consider. The system is entirely dice-less, which is a bit of a departure.  That’s not to say that there is no chance involved; the primary method for introducing uncertainty into the game is the random damage tile draws in the shooting phase.

Concerns

Having said all that, I do have some concerns about the game, which I think will only be resolved with more playing time. The first concern is that the dice-less combat, along with the no pre-measuring rule and the pre-plotted movement, means that Sails of Glory is much more skill dependent than, say, Dystopian Wars. That is not strictly a bad thing, but I do think that Sails of Glory will reward experience players and require more mental effort to play.  Likewise, my solitaire play through the basic rules revealed that the game can be a bit “fiddly” when it comes to movement, especially. Trying to determine ship attitude to the wind can be tricky at times, especially when models are in close quarters. Likewise, it is easy to accidentally bump ships or the movement cards while executing maneuvers. This can be overcome with a little care, but can be a headache for guys like me with two left thumbs! Finally, the ship mats give me cause for concern. While they are a great and convenient way to track all the stats of your ships, they take up a lot of real estate; you will need a 12″x12″ area for each mat. To add to that, a player needs a separate mat for each ship in their fleet! That brings up a second issue; the box set includes only 4 mats. While this is enough for the models included in the box, buying expansion ships to have battles larger than 2 ships vs. 2 ships will require buying additional mats (which, to be fair, are available and aren’t all that expensive).

Conclusion

So, there you have it! Overall, I’m very pleased with my investment in Sails of Glory. The game is well made, both from a components and rules perspective. While I do have a few concerns, I think that overall the game is great and a great way for gamers like me to get into Age of Sail gaming.  I will put up another blog entry and maybe a full blown battle report once I’ve gotten more time to play. Until next time!