Extremely dissappointed..

[John]

So.. I buy this boxed set, cause I was really excited for it.

I get it home, and THEN I notice there’s a teensy tiny little sticker on the box that says “Missing Wake to Follow.”

I get 1 slat of Wake markers in my box, so Im missing 3 slats, including the one for the tanker.. in a nutshell, the box cant be played to its fullest. Thankfully, I also bought the flotilla box of brits and germans, so Ive got some to actually USE in the meantime..

I call my local store, get told “they never sent anything else sorry.”

Then I log in here and see that not only is there over 10 PAGES of Errata right from the jump, but they are already printing a v2 of the rulebook, making the one I JUST bought at FULL retail price completely obsolete and worthless.

Then I actually start reading these rules.. and realize that despite the Vospers basically being torpedo boats, torpedos cant hit small or medium ships (despite medium ships listing a modifier of -1.. making ZERO sense at all.) so even the ships included are only half useful, and gives potential players NO experience with them. I cant even show them off to others during demo days..

Then I see that torpedo rules themselves are just .. AWFUL. Who actually sat down and ran this logic thru their minds???

“Ok, we’re gonna fire this torpedo. Place the marker on the table, it’s now independently moved in a straight line!” <– good.

“The torpedo moves until it makes contact with another vessel or runs out of gas!” <— still good!

“Oh the torpedo marker made contact with another ship! Now roll to hit.” <— wait.. WHAT?!?

“oh you actually managed to roll a 3 or less on a d10!” <–are you serious??

“Now roll AGAIN to see if it’s a dud!” <— Oh COME ON NOW!

Our entire gaming group almost immediately agreed that this ENTIRE section of the rulebook just got scrapped, and replaced with literally every other missle/torp system in gaming history. Namely, it hits if it makes contact with a legal target ship. Roll if it’s a dud. Apply damage. Torpedo markers are now properly scary affairs, causing the right amount of fear and panic amongst players as they scramble their ships to move out of the way, instead of people going “eh, it’ll only hit on 2 or less, I’ll be fine..”

Even the dud rolls are overcomplicated and difficult to track. We’ve noticed in several games people starting to argue over which ship shot which torpedo, causing several issues over the dud roll itself. In large games, this is going to be a flat out nightmare unless each individual torpedo marker is somehow completely unique to the ship that fired it, causing even more overcomplication and headaches.

Bottom line, this system needs work.. ALOT of work. Wont be purchasing anything else until 2nd edition at least.

[RichC]

Thank you John for your notes, great to hear you’re making the most of it in the club 🙂

Please contact our Customer service and inform them of which store you bought from – the wakes were most definitely sent to all stores affected. The chaps will sort you out asap.

The 10 pages of errata is a misnomer – it’s been done in this manner so that those affected can cut the info out and add them to their books.

This was a quick reaction from our studio once the issue was found.

Allied crews had a frustrating time with Torpedoes – the rules were written to reflect this reality. It’s a simple 3 step process – roll to hit (representing crews ability to look after and maintain this piece of weaponry), roll to see if it’s a dud (the majority were), roll for damage.
If you’re happy with your club alternative then we are too 🙂

The -1 for medium vessels (even though it states they can’t be hit by torps) is included on the torpedo chart to allow you as a group to decide on whether you want to allow this or not.
It’s all about playing and enjoying each other’s company after all.

Cheers

[John]

my only real question is how well this system was playtested, as the torpedo rules are just.. well.. poor. I havent found a single person in my area who thinks this was a well thought out system.

To duplicate our headache, play the large game we just played. 4 VosperII’s, 2 VosperI’s, vs Two S-38’s and 4 S100’s. The VosperII’s are regular, the S100’s are regular, the rest inexperienced.

Now turn 2.. have 3 ships on the allied side fire torpedoes. (In our case, it was 3 Vosper II’s.)

On Turn 3… 2 s-38’s fire torpedoes, and 2 S100’s fire as well, then the rest of the vospers launched as well.

End of turn 3.. guess how many Torpedoes were on the board and criss crossing (no rules if they touch each other btw.. we had it happen.. twice.)

Now try and realize how fast we lost track of who fired which and when?

Now realize that when a tournament comes along, that happens. How does a judge fairly rule who fired what and from where? He can’t. Unless he/she happened to be watching the whole game.
(It got REALLY fun when turn 4 a disagreement broke out over how FAR a particular torp had moved..)
======
For those who happen to want a MUCH less complicated system, use a modified Battlefleet Gothic system. Torpedoes are 100% independent after firing, and make contact/hit the first target they touch. To represent issues, simply dice off if it’s a dud. (our group quickly decided that on a 1 or 2, the torp was a dud. Simple. Easy. Effective.)
—

Ive watched ALOT of WW2 Documentaries, especially about the Navy Battles and whatnot, and one thing every sailor interviewed had in common… when someone said “Torpedo in the water.” EVERYONE reacted as quickly as possible with no small amount of fear. Death was coming, and they knew it.

In cruel seas, we frequently have games where players have ACTUALLY gone “meh, it’ll hit me on a 2 or less, Im fine.” and completely ignore them. You’ve successfully neutered them to the point they are darn near useless. You even lowered their hit threshold vs guns on TOP of every other disadvantage you heaped onto them. You should address this. It’s overkill to the extreme.

Just my 2 coppers.

[Dr Dave]

The likelihood of two torpedoes actually colliding is vanishingly small, if not zero. The models are larger than the real things in the water.

Try marking the torpedoes against each launcher so you know who fired what?

I have no solution to remembering how far a torp moved apart from better memory – that’s not me being “funny” by the way.

[Bill McGill]

Those saying “meh, it’ll hit me on a 2 or less, Im fine.” will soon change their mind when the torpedo they ignored sinks their precious cargo ship and loses them the game.

Real crews panicked because of the potential damage the torpedo could do. If it passed under them because it was set to the wrong depth or turned out to be a dud, they probably lit a candle or put something extra in the collection plate at the first church when they reached port.

[Author]

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