Shipbase III is computer assisted rules set that covers the period 1890 to 1945. This boxed set comes with a 48 page rulebook/instruction manual, a 112 page data book, 219 counters, and 2 disks (3.5" and 5.25"). The computer only assists the players by removing the calculation and bookkeeping from their hands.

First of all the computer part of the review. The version reviewed was 1.0, a version 1.1 has just been released. The program comes on 1 high density disk, low density disks are available on request. The disks are not copy protected. System requirements are an IBM PC or 100% compatible with 512K RAM. A hard drive is required to get the best out of the system, it can just barely run one of the preset scenarios from a floppy. It only uses advanced graphics to produce search maps, CGA will allow medium resolution and EGA, VGA, or SVGA will allow high resolution. The low resolution maps are acceptable. A mouse is not required but one will speed things up since it lets you skip around much quicker. The interface is functional not flashy and does a very good job of guiding even a novice around.

The game comes with six preset scenarios; Santiago 1898, Tsushima 1905, Jutland 1916, Denmark Straits 1941, Komandorski Islands 1943, and Coral Sea 1942. Other scenarios can be easily entered by picking ships from the database. The program also allows you to set weather conditions and to change the base To Hit level up or down. Any scale desired can be set and the program then translates everything into inches for you. It shows you the basic data on the ships in several different charts, you can also edit the data on any ship to create new ships or for refits.

Gunnery

The gunnery section is very simple to use. A firing ship and a target ship are chosen and the range entered. Check boxes allow you to account for target aspect, evasive maneuvers, smoke, and ammo type. The program then displays what hits (if any), where, how damaging, any critical hits, and ammo used. Damage is calculated in % of tonnage. Gunnery is simultaneous but can be altered by the player running the record keeping end of turn command after only some ships have fired rather than all. Critical hits are devastating when they happen but are very rare.

The game keeps track of the mounting of the primary guns only, and a ship can have up to three types of guns. One problem is that the database has some ships that don't have all their primaries assigned to a gun mount. The program also allows a ship to fire the same guns more than once a turn. It also allocates and fires guns that are out of range wasting the ammo when it can't hit unless you go through and change the number of guns firing to zero for each ship. It seems like the game gives each shot a small chance to hit so that the best results come from shooting as much as possible. The program makes no allowance for the problem this can cause in spotting the fall of shot, there is no penalty for firing multiple ships at the same target.

Torpedoes are done by entering speed and number fired and shown on their tabletop by two markers one to show the launch point and one for the present location. Any ship that crosses paths with the torpedoes may be attacked. Torpedoes are one area that having a referee, to judge when to check for hits helps. When checking for hits you enter the torpedo group and the target ship. The program then has check boxes for fusing, evasive action, and target aspect. Hits and per cent damage are then displayed. If the spread has range left any torpedoes that missed continue on.

Air Module

The program also has an air module. A large array of planes are available and any that are missing can be created using the edit feature. the air section is easy enough to use. Torpedo planes seem to be the deadliest, dive bombers don't seem to have much punch.

The program does not keep track of range or flight time, it also does not require a source for the planes to be listed in the scenario so planes can just be plunked down in the middle of then scenario. The year of the scenario does not have anything to do with the choice of planes so you can have planes even before the Wright brothers. The main problem is the time it takes to load and unload the air sub-program. In a straight air to sea action this is not a major problem but it makes having planes and ships attacking simultaneously very slow.

The Search section is very basic but it does what it has to do. It gives written intelligence, actually hints so you can't get both sides hopelessly lost. It has several options for maps of the locations. Maps are simply XY scales, just like high school algebra, that scale to fit the screen. The Translate to Tactical command gives the set up for any battle that may result. While going in and out of search is slow this is not a problem since there is no great need to make the transition very often.

The counters are for information and they also include ship counters for all of the ships in the preset scenarios. The booklets are illustrated with pictures of GHQ ships. The authors have stressed playability over total accuracy. Some of their decisions are not exactly what you might like but are understandable. Since the computer takes most of the drudge work out of naval gaming the players can concentrate on making decisions at the command level. Experienced gamers can easily run a group of several ships, novices can jump in and not worry about what chart they need. If you like Naval gaming in the Battleship era then these rules are well worth looking at. The rules are $39.95 plus $4 P&H and are available from ArmourSoft Inc., P.O. Box 323, Bloomsburg PA, 17815.

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