Sea Tac

Modern Naval Miniatures Rules

Reviewed by Clifford Sayre Jr.

SeaTac was published in 1980 by Q-Games. Since the rules are relatively new, it seemed appropriate to complement the review of NAVTAC (WWII) by commenting on the version for modern naval miniatures. Sea Tac was written by William Likens and is a range estimation rules system for contemporary naval warfare. The rule booklet is printed in a digest-sized (51/2 x 81/2 inch) format, 40 pages long.

The rules of play are only ten pages long which is a virtue in terms of brevity, but a disadvantage for the novice who may not be familiar with the procedures for gaming with naval miniatures. Good descriptions of how to implement the use of aircraft or submarines are lacking. The remainder of the booklet is devoted to ship data for most of the navies of the world (including minor countries) and ships as small as missile boats and minesweepers. There is also a nation-by-nation inventory of the numbers of various ships available. The ship, aircraft and missile data are given in a format which does not require additional calculations for developing ship cards. Unfortunately, no sample ship cards are given so that players must develop their own forms for recording ship characteristics and damage.

The game scale for these range estimation rules is one foot equals four miles (1:2400) and two minutes per turn. The use of a range estimation scheme for surface gunnery damage and a probabilistic system for missile damage is understandable because of the difference in the range of capabilities. but it makes for a kind of anomalous blend of different combat systems with the surface gunnery very likely to play a very minor role and hardly worth the emphasis of a distinctly different combat system.

The damage resolution system is essentially the same as that used in the NAVTAC rules. Hull damage is scored with every hit speed reduction and gunnery reduction are treated as 'special damage' when the ship has received one-half of the total point damage for sinking, Thus, there is considerable likelihood that a vessel will go down without any reduction in speed or reduction in firepower. although this is a rather course graduation, it is more realistic in the modern era when ships are more fragile and when individual 'hits may be much more damaging.

The game turn sequence is: 1. Detection, 2. Surface movement, 3. Submarine movement, 4. Helicopter movement, 5. Aircraft movement and 6. Weapons combat, Prospective target ships are given an ECM (electronic countermeasures) value which reduces the hit probability of a particular type of missile. Thus, the important aspect of modern electronic technology has been factored into the rules in a rather simple, effective manner. The rules have a table of contents which assists the player in digging out some of the special probabilities for procedures which are buried in the text, rather than summarized in tables. The rules are tersely written so that a user would have had to have some experience in order to be able to play. However, there are no complex procedures or complicated techniques associated with implementing the rules; thus, once understood, the rules will make for relatively fast play.

In summary, I would recommend SeaTac for experienced naval gamers who are looking for a relatively simple, fast-playing system. Novices will need a friend or other set of rules in order to be able to play. The rules are available for $6.95 from Q-Games, P.O. Box 54, Moffett Field, CA 94035.

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