Fleet Commander: Nimitz Set-Up Board

BanzaiCat · January 10, 2015, 08:37:40 PM

House rules/optional rules are bound to happen with this. The game's still young so its BGG page is relatively light but I check it out every so often. In fact I need to do that again here, soon.

I just played into Turn 2 of the 1942 scenario and had a second major battle for the Solomon Islands. Beat the snot out of the Japs again, in that I sank a couple of their carriers, but their damned BBs and CRUs were feisty and wouldn't go down. Stopped a huge Japanese invasion (3 battalions and two infantry divisions) of those islands with two Marine divisions (oorah!), one of which was damaged in the defense.

You might find you have plenty of ships to work with to fight the Japanese, but you can only move ships, infantry, and squadrons by spending Supply Points. One Supply Point will move one of the above anywhere you want on the map. So if you move a large force, it can easily suck you dry, and one massive movement will limit your other options. The stack I sent to the Solomons to fight off the Japanese cost me 11 SPs to move, but I'm glad I did - I thought I was overdoing it but the subsequent Japanese moves put those two IJN carriers plus troops into the Solomons. Sometimes you just gotta do it.

Scouting is essential to help you make those choices, but those cost SPs also.

One thing that is odd is at the end of a turn, the US ships have to 'Return to Port' - which is to say, Hawaii. They cannot stay on station, which the Japanese ships can do. In the 1942 scenario, returning to port means your ships that are on the Campaign Map have to spend one turn in transit back to Pearl Harbor. So you have to balance your sortieing that way, too.

I'm a bit exhausted from this game for the last couple of sessions, but that's ONLY because I'm writing down everything that's happening in view of doing that AAR I might have mentioned. I think I might just hit the high and low points from this point forward so I can get through the game much faster.

JudgeDredd · January 11, 2015, 09:26:54 AM

1.5 hours in and I've only punched and clipped half the sprues...and half of those had fallen off!

It's going to be a loooong day! :)

PanzersEast · January 11, 2015, 09:51:03 AM

So far I have completed the 42 and 43 scenarios and have received a Good evaluation on both. The 43 could have been a little different if the Move orders came out a little different for the Japanese.... but overall I had some good battles and the back and forth struggle for Wake was interesting.

PE

Nefaro · January 11, 2015, 10:29:42 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on January 11, 2015, 09:26:54 AM
1.5 hours in and I've only punched and clipped half the sprues...and half of those had fallen off!

It's going to be a loooong day! :)

I'd much rather have to sort out a bunch of mixed ones than punch resistant counters from sprues. I wish some other wargame companies would take this route. The Legion games counter sheets actually came shrink wrapped so they wouldn't fall off, which was a nice touch.

JudgeDredd · January 11, 2015, 03:56:41 PM

Question for you lot that have played the '42 scenario

I'm at the stage of setting it up - but I don't seem to have enough aircraft.

I've got

East Asia
1xCVL with 1xA6M and 1xD3A
Japan
6xCV with 6xA6M, 6xD3A, 6xB5N
3xCVL with 3xA6M and 3xD3A
1xCVE with 1xD3A

The trouble is, I don't have that number of aircraft to assign. I've only got (in total) 6xA6M, 6xD3A and 5xB5N....but I need 10xA6M, 11xD3A and 6xB5N

I'm certain I didn't "mix" my counters when I bagged them...did anyone else come up short with naval aircraft for '42?

BanzaiCat · January 11, 2015, 04:02:38 PM

JD, you don't use any of the carrier aircraft during set-up. They are only brought out when you go to the Battle Map.

Land-based aircraft (that is, aircraft without the blue band along the bottom of the counter) are the only ones placed on the map.

That said, I know any units that are eliminated during battle are lost for good - they are not put into the Reinforcement pile. That said, I'm not sure about aircraft carrier squadrons. My belief is that they are pretty much generic units that are replaced as needed so technically aircraft carriers on either side will never run out of counters. I could be mistaken though.

JudgeDredd · January 11, 2015, 04:34:02 PM

Quote from: Banzai_Cat on January 11, 2015, 04:02:38 PM
JD, you don't use any of the carrier aircraft during set-up. They are only brought out when you go to the Battle Map.

Land-based aircraft (that is, aircraft without the blue band along the bottom of the counter) are the only ones placed on the map.

That said, I know any units that are eliminated during battle are lost for good - they are not put into the Reinforcement pile. That said, I'm not sure about aircraft carrier squadrons. My belief is that they are pretty much generic units that are replaced as needed so technically aircraft carriers on either side will never run out of counters. I could be mistaken though.

Ah - cool. Thanks. I was having a wee panic there.

Thanks a lot. O0

JudgeDredd · January 11, 2015, 04:59:46 PM

That's a busy map - AND it's only the '42 scenario - the smallest

It took about an hour to setup too.

But I've always liked the unboxing and setting up. It's all part of the gaming experience. I can definitely see a benefit to having "Fleet" sheets...though that would mean new chits for the board

BanzaiCat · January 11, 2015, 05:07:51 PM

Just wait until you start adding the Scouting and Moved counters. :)

It's hard to tell where to start, so just dive in and try it and see where the game system takes you.

ArizonaTank · January 18, 2015, 08:14:00 AM

The game sounds great. But lack of Vassal support really holding me back. I just don't have table space. :(

Mad Russian · January 18, 2015, 10:28:23 PM

DVG sells their Vassal modules. Check the site to see if one is available for Nimitz.

Good Hunting.

MR

BanzaiCat · January 19, 2015, 09:23:21 AM

I only played through three turns so I'm somewhat reluctant to post an AAR. I was using the dining room table but that got old with the 'better' half really quick as I had it up for two weeks. I'm hoping to have a dedicated gaming table in my office in a week or so and would like to be able to leave this out so I can TYPE out my turns instead of writing them out longhand.

I can't wait to have time to write up the review.

JudgeDredd · January 19, 2015, 09:44:15 AM

I'm slowly playing as I'm reading the manual. It's not very difficult from what I'm gathering...though the battles look like they might be "strange"

The game looks great though. Good quality again. O0

bbmike · January 19, 2015, 09:52:52 AM

Quote from: ArizonaTank on January 18, 2015, 08:14:00 AM
The game sounds great. But lack of Vassal support really holding me back. I just don't have table space. :(

Same for me. I hope they add a Vassal module for it. I would love a physical copy with a Vassal module on the side. :)

Nefaro · January 19, 2015, 01:10:37 PM

Quote from: Banzai_Cat on January 19, 2015, 09:23:21 AM
I only played through three turns so I'm somewhat reluctant to post an AAR. I was using the dining room table but that got old with the 'better' half really quick as I had it up for two weeks.

Two weeks?! :o

Sweet baby raptor jesus, man! You're probably lucky to still be here!