I played the SimCan game Line of Battle this weekend. It's available (now) through Clash of Arms. I chose a simple scenario, two French BB with CL and DD escorts vs. two German BB, with a CL and DD escort also. The game's notes say it is based on the "immunity zone" concept. This means there is a "sweet spot" where you can damage you enemy, and he can't hurt you. This playing showed that all too painfully. Fire combat has two stages. First is "ranging". You have a CRT with Fire control as the columns, and die as the rows. Better fire control makes it easier to get the range, and start hitting your opponent. You must roll for range, before any damage is done. You have a "range" marker, that you flip to "straddle", when you can hit. I used counter sleds while playing, and it was a BIG help. The ship fits on the sled, and any markers can sit below the sled, on the hex. This allows you to easily see both sides of the ship counter, while not disturbing any damage markers below the sled. For any game with markers that come on and off, or are checked often, sleds are incredibly helpful. The immune zone concept came to life at the middle range. From 12 hexes to 6 hexes, the Germans could pound the French, with no danger at all of taking damage. With both sides of equal speed, the French must pen, or close the range, but will be exposed to severe danger while so doing. LoB handles broadside vs. end on firing in an interesting manner. Ships firing broadsides get to roll TWICE for damage, ships firing end on only once. The French were able to maul both German escorts, but one of the French escorts was badly shot up while so doing. The remaining one took a long shot torpedo launch, and while it scored a hit, no damage was done. This left one French BB with no fire control, and trying to roll a "six" to get the range. The other French BB was being pounded apart, while unable to do any damage, despite having the range. While I found the damage to be very incremental (but some people really like that), it was easy to see who was winning without having to fight it out to the bitter end. I'm not sure I would want to fight Jutland using this system, but with a quicker way of dealing out the damage, it would be doable, I think. Certainly for smaller battles, its an excellent choice. Regards, Pat tippecanoe@netzero.net http://tippecanoe.tripod.com/ Last Played: Lesnika (SGBoH), This Sceptered Isle, Line of Battle