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Age of Sail II

The Specs

It's a wargame covering naval battles between 1775 and 1820, with self-contained scenarios and two branching campaigns. It's real time, but in battles between sailing ships real time is probably plenty slow, which is why you can use time compressions up to 32x. The game is being developed by Russian newcomers Akella, who are also making Sea Dogs with the same engine. A fully moveable 3D camera will give you a variety of perspectives on the detailed ship models, which features colored dots for your crew, animated canvas sails, and damage effects.

The Speculation

Mark's Comments: The feature list for this game is impressive: You can control sail configuration, speed, course, ammo (pick between round, chain, and grape shot), and weapon aiming. You also manage repair parties, grappling, depth sounding, and can even send crew over to man a ship you have just captured. Age of Sail II is real-time as well, so the interface and controls really need to be sharp for players to manage a fleet of ships. I think the real-time management issues and the AI will be the reefs this game needs to navigate through. Most real-time games present a challenge to the player through efficient building that fields a superior force rather than through superior tactics. Age of Sail II's AI will have to out-admiral the player instead.

Tom's Comments: This will doubtless be the year's best wargame about sailing ships. You guys at Talonsoft can even put that on a sticker with my name under it and slap it on the box. Crochety old wargamers like me will appreciate it for its rarefied subject matter, but the rest of you might dig on it as a version of Star Fleet Command without the Star Trek.