From: Christopher Salander Subject: Game review #1 Frigates! by Chatham Hill Games Game review by Chris Salander Frigates! is a simple DTP game of the ship to ship sea battles that took place between the US and France in 1799 and the US and Britain in the War of 1812. Chatham makes many of these $7 - $12 games, all focused on American history. They are ideal for introducing children to wargaming while teaching them national history, and some of the games have enough complexity and chrome to interest experienced wargamers. With wargames now selling at around $40, it is unlikely that you will find a game for just two ships. You can usually play it in about 1 hour. Materials: Except for the plastic spinner, the game is all card stock, printed in 3 colors. The map is 11" x 17", while the ships are vertical "stand up" counters that you must cut out and fold. Most of the charts are on the map. The hit table for the ships is in the 8 half-pages rulebook, and should be photocopied. The Ships: The game focuses mainly on two battles fought by the USS Constellation against French frigates, and several battles fought by the Constitution against various British ships. Movement: Movement alternates between players, and is a random spin of 1 to 3, plus a wind modifier. The ships move from point to point on a grid. The grid is made by three sets of parallel lines that cross the map 120 degrees apart. This creates the point to point equivalent of hexes. There is a -1, 0, or +1 movement modifier for wind direction, and turning only (no forward movement) when "in irons." Shooting: Ranges are 1, 2, and 3 grid points. Each ship has a number out of 1 through 16 that it must stay below to hit. This number represents both the size and number of guns carried by each ship. There is a standard firing table for a 38 gun frigate. All other types of ships use the same table, but with modifiers that reflect their size. You can inflict two types of hits on a ship: hull and sail. Hull hits also count for guns and crew. Whether a hit is hull or sail is determined randomly, with more sail hits at greater range. Sail hits reduce speed, hull hits reduce shooting and boarding ability. Boarding: You can try to grapple an adjacent ship and board it. A board combat table uses the difference between the hull factors of the two ships and a spinner result to determine the winner. There is a table to determine if the captain of a ship has been killed, and one to determine if a ship will strike before it loses all its hull or sail boxes. The Bad News Unfortunately, the game does not function very well. The movement system allows ships that are broadside to broadside to immediately move into a raking position each turn. Unless it is crippled or heading into the wind, the raked ship can then move into a raking position in its turn! So the elaborate approach manuevers devolve down to a simple dance of half circles. Ship A moves to rake ship B. Ship B moves to rake ship A. This can go on for many turns and is no fun. Wargamers with any experience will be put off by some of the oversimplifications, such as "every ship is a 38 gun frigate plus or minus modifiers" and hull hits represent hull, guns, and crew. This may be a good game for kids who are unfamiliar with naval wargaming. Finally, the scenarios are printed on the back of the map! You have to copy them down before setting up a battle. This game was disappointing. "Don't Give up the Ship" and the "The Monitor and The Merrimack" are better. Clearly, a Chatham Hill game needs multiple components and special events to make it interesting.