From: Michael P Nagel <mpnagel@PLUTO.NJCC.COM>
Subject:      Re: Fighting Sail (S&T 85) review?

George,

At 04:39 PM 10/16/96 -0700, you wrote:

>A while back, folks posted Balkoski as the designer of this one. Anyone
>played it and can give a mini-review before I look at the out of print
>market for it? Oh, if anyone has a copy for sale, let me know...

 This is a neat little beer-n-pretzels game for those who don't have the
time for WS&IM or CLOSE ACTION.

 As I recall, the game includes several scenarios (ie, no real DYO
potential) covering the early 1800s -- most specifically the War of 1812.
The Battle of Lake Erie is the largest of the scenarios.  Each ship unit is
marked with its own particular details for maneuver, combat, etc.

 The game is played on a square grid instead of hexes, which provides for
eight movement vectors instead of only six, and the costs of moving
diagonally are slightly more than moving straight to make up for the add'l
distance you get.  One of the things about movement in the game which I
always thought was rather cool is the use of movement point markers on the
ships themselves.  It's been a while since I last played this, but as I
recall each ship gets a particular movement chit depending on it's class.
The number of movement points available to the ship are printed on the sides
of this counter.  As a ship moves, the counter is rotated to show how many
points have been used.  This mechanic provides a paperless simul-move system
based on initiative that works quite well.

 Counters are also used to 'pre-plot' the type of movement a ship will take
(straight, turn, tack, etc).

 The only problem with the movement system is that a ship can often get into
a position where it may lose a movement point owing to the combination of
diagonal and straight movement.  This can lead to players making some
odd-ball maneuvers, but can be rectified with some simple house-rules.

 Combat is typical Balkoski.  Add up a bunch of numbers, toss in a bunch of
modifiers, roll the die and BOOM!  Really very simple once you get used to it.

 I think that FIGHTING SAIL is a fun little game which probably deserves a
little third-party expansion, and maybe a little extra developement.  Given
the talk about brining in new blood to the hobby with simple, quick-playing
games; FS fits this particular niche nicely!

 -- Mike