Victory at Sea Rules Review

Victory at Sea is a World War 2 Naval Combat Game Produced by Warlord Games.  Warlord Miniatures products and started sets are high value in models and production.  Some Warlord Games are good but will this one stand above the others?  This is the first time I am reviewing a game in a period of history I have already played.  Fire at Sea is the other Naval WW2 game.  I wonder how they will compare?

My Reviews are going to be graded like classes in College; A,B,C,D,E.  At the end we will get a GPA which will determine if this game makes distinguished honor roll, honor roll, passes or fails.  A good game should at least pass with a C average. 

The categories I will be grading are 1) Presentation/Product/Package, 2) Game Rules/Mechanics, 3) Historical/fantasy Cannon Accuracy, 4) Cost/time, 5) Good Time and Memories

1) Presentation/Product/Package. Warlord Games Victory at sea does wonderful in this category.  The Resin models are detailed and they are easy to paint.  The Rule book is amazing with lots of historical scenarios to play.  In fact it is one of my favorite warlord games rule books.  Other than the cost may be on the premium end.  If you wanted to play the Denmark Straits with Warlord Games Victory at sea, it will cost less than $100.  And that is a game you can play over and over again.

A

2) Game Rules/Mechanics.  Unlike "Fire at Sea."  Victory at sea is much crunchier in its mechanics.  Every ship comes with a ship card and each Turret and weapon system has its own values and can fire at different targets.  This is probably not the crunchiest of Naval games but for me it is very mechanical and I liked it.  It feels like naval warfare at the end of the Battleship era.  I can't wait to try other Naval scenarios with this ruleset

A-

3) Historical Accuracy.  This rule set does very well for the Atlantic Ocean theatre of war were most of the naval engagements occurred within sight of other ships.  However, the fire mechanics for the Pacific may not be as helpful.  WW2 naval games are so hard to accurately portray.  How could one ruleset cover the Kriegsmarine and Midway in the same set?  I think Victory at sea does a good job but it is not perfect.

B

4). Cost/time.  This is a more expensive game.  Warlord Resin ships are not Cheap.  If you wanted to play any large naval battle, like Midway, which they do have a scenario for.  It will cost a lot of money to use their miniatures.  Plus the larger the fleets, the crunchy ruleset will slow you down.  The small battles of the Atlantic can be played in less than an hour but a pacific battle will take much longer.

C

5).  Good Times and Memories.  The Crunchier game plus the memories I have with Playing with my nephews.  This game is worth the cost to play in my book.

A

GPA is a 3.34

This is slightly better that Mark's Game Room "Fire at Sea."  I would highly encourage you to try out this game if you are curious about Naval World War 2 games.