HPS Jutland Game - Thumbs Up!

[von Nev]

This may be a little off topic but HPS publishes Jutland so I thought I would post it here.

I pulled out "Jutland" and installed it a couple of days ago. It was one of the several games that I won in the raffle at Tiller Con I last year (which reminds me - please remember to check out Tiller Con II).

Just wanted to say that the game really is well done and a welcomed break from the land battles including the recent playtest of M44. As you may know, Jutland was the great WWI naval battle between the Brits and the Germans fought in the North Sea west of the area of Danish Jutland.

I picked up the interface very quickly after doing the starter scenario a couple of times. The AI gives a very good account of itself. The game is in real time (that you can pause or speed up) that shows individual ships, gunfire, torpedoes, smoke screen effects. You can give individual orders to ships determining speed, direction, smoke screens. As you can imagine, you win or lose by getting the fleets well positioned to do the most damage (and take the least) but there is an opportunity for individual ships like torpedo boats or destroyers to make a difference. Last night I had a torpedo boat rush a lumbering British battleship squadron and it sank one and forced the other battleships to turn away. The torpedo boat was sunk too but it allowed the slower German Grand fleet to escape into the night. Overall, the real time aspect and FOW makes for very tense naval battles as the two fleets collide and sling lead at eachother in the fading hours of the day. I really enjoyed the game.

For those that like the land games think of the battleships as big, BIG tanks. ;)

Fully recommend Jutland as a break or to try something different.

Two thumbs up!

Marty

[Gasbag]

Don't know if you're already aware of it but you can pick up extra scenarios & mods for Jutland at the Naval Camapaigns Club. The address is: http://www.navalcampaigns.org/

[Adam Parker]

The Naval Campaigns series is indeed very playable and nail biting. I've posted this belief so many times in so many places and I dearly wish John would continue with it.

I was very much anticipating actions in the Phillipines and South America in the early 19th Centuy.

The only thing the game needs imo to cope with the WW2 era is a focus on air. This however may need a mass of extra programming and hence the reason why the series stopped with Guadalcanal.

However nothing should stop the series looking at more early era battles or even the Warplan Orange scenario as marketed by Matrix Games in its overly complex War in the Pacific design.

Thanks for the great heads up Gasbag - I'll check it out for sure.

Adam.

[von Nev]

Ditto on the heads up Gasbag on the new maps and scenarios. Much appreciated. -- Marty

[Lowlander]

Can recommend a book on the battle which seems to be pretty cheap at this time, which is "JUTLAND The German Perspective by V.E.Tarrant".

Illustrated with detailed action charts representing ship movements and dispositions hour-by-hour throught the battle, and with accurate scale drawings of all capital ships and silhouettes of minor warships from both sides.

Again I highly recommend this book, detailed readable account.