1983 Game Man of War
Has anyone here ever played this 1983 board game Man of War from Simulations Canada? If so, was it any good? The Hero Factory has one for sale.
#2220 Man Of War, a game of fleet combat in the Age of Sail 1775-1815. Simulations Canada, 1983. VG(+), unpunched (except for 2 chits), $19.95.
That might be a good investment for you. There's one on ebay for $115.00.Originally Posted by Volunteer
Not much on BGG, but someone is selling a new copy there for $40, and Noble Knight has one for $115. Not sure if the game is worth it, but those are some current prices.
Here is a blurb from from Noble Knight:
Man of War is a tactical study of the height of the Age of Sail. The game system accurately depicts fleet level actions in a playable manner. Command, combat, maneuvers, sailing qualities, and crew training are covered in easy but realistic rules. Movement is sequential and impulsed, thus requiring no record keeping. The scenarios cover the highlight actions of the period: Ushant, The Glorius 1st of June, Cape St. Vincent, Camperdown, Trafalger, and more.
Here is a pic, Vol, from BGG. I am not sure about the game mechanism - having a hard time finding much info, but definitely early war-game production value. Nothing like those coming off the press of GMT and the like.
Vol
The game is not worth $115 but at $20 it is not a bad buy if good condition. Sim Can games had a style all their own which was minimalist in appearance but not content. Graphics were usually bland and counter fonts often quite small. The pictures on boardgamegeek apart from the one Eric has posted are not helpful as they show miniatures being used on a different map or the cyberboard/vassal PC conversion of the game.
I have the game and fortunately found it amongst the various debris of my house move packing. There are 400 counters of which 239 represent ships of Holland, Spain, France, US, England and merchants. The other counters are markers for damage, wind, flagships etc. There are 4 ship classes, A B C and D that represent movement ability, an A class ship is faster and more handy than a B or C, D.
Counters have numerical rating for Close, medium and long range gunnery, defence strength, melee strength and class. The reverse of a counter is its' struck side.
There is a page of tables governing combat, wind, melee, collision, striking and broadside diagram. there are 8 pages of small tightly spaced rules (A4 size pages), but the actual rules are 4.5 pages plus 2.5 pages of scenarios of which there are 11.
Scenarios are
Ushant 1778
Dogger Bank 1781
Chesapeake Bay 1781
Madras 1782
The Saints 1782
Glorious 1st June
Cape St vincent 1797
Camperdown 1797
Cabrita Point 1801
Trafalgar 1805
San Domingo 1806
Ships start in pre-set positions with initial wind set but variable.
Rules sections cover wind, speed , damage effects on speed, crew quality, momentum, tacking/wearing, in irons, drifting, leeway, collisions, land and anchoring, grounding, towing, combat (targeting, reloading, rake, crew quality, weather, anti-boarding fire). Boarding, melee, striking, prize crews, support, re-capture, command, close engagement, command distance, line ahead, rally, general pursuit.
Sounds complicated but not really.
Overall a nice attempt at naval Age of Sail, in 80's style.
Wonder if the rules could be adapted to the table?
Just about any hex game can be converted to inches with 60 degree turns on a tabletop.
From some of the pictures on BGG, it looks like that is exactly what others have done. Like Ed said, I think most games can be converted to minis with a little work.
Please let us know if you pick it up. I would like to hear your opinion, and if you find anything particularly useful.
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