Sixth Fleet

Game Review

Review by Bob Bodine


Victory Games
Released: March 1985
Catalog: 30012
Price: $30
Complexity: Medium
Solitaire: Good
****

Do not confuse this game with the old Strategy & Tactics issue game, Sixth Fleet. Victory Games Inc.'s Sixth Fleet is a game of modern naval combat in the Mediterranean, and it shares the name, Sixth Fleet, but there is no more similarity than between Napoleon at Waterloo and Wellington's Victory.

Victory Games Inc.'s Sixth Fleet is an operational level game that very accurately represents the concerns of Commander, Sixth Fleet (COMSIXTH FLT) and his Soviet counterpart in the Mediterranean today. The scale is 8 hour turns, 50 nautical miles, hexes, and a single ship or air squadron per counter.

The box cover features a lurid paintin g of Task Group 60.1, carrier under nuclear power (CUN-68), Nimitz and supporting vessels receiving a surface-to-sufface missile (SSM) attack under cloudy skies. Inside, we find two 22 X 34 inch map sections showing all of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as all of the charts and tables necessary for play. The counters represent naval and air units for 16 nations as well as markers for various conditions, such as Detected, Out of Ammo/Fuel, Cap present, etc. Land forces are abstracted as markers, too. The idea seems to be that admirals worry about delivering the troops to the scene of the battle not about the conduct of the battle.

The rule booklet is 64 pages long. Two pads of logistic roster forms and three Order of Battle (OB) cards (advanced rules only) are included. The rules are divided into Basic, Advanced, and Optional sections with scenarios appropriate to each. In effect, this gives you programmed instruction. The four basic scenarios focus very tightly on specific subjects, but are very polished and provide excellent, balanced scenarios, enjoyable to play long after the lesson has been learned.

The intermediate scenarios seem to be the best trade-off between playability and realism. Large enough in scope to cover all weapon systems and types, the units participating are few enough to be manageable. The advanced scenario proved to be a monster game in the sense of requiring multiple 3- or 4-hour sessions to complete and of being more suited to team rather than individual play. Overall, the game earns plus marks for rules and scenarios.

The game system itself has sorne abstractions to it that feel strange at first, but they work so well in practice that this does not become a problem. In the course of one day, the players will see if any allies become neutrals or vice-versa, check to see if peace breaks out, check the weather, see if their allies cooperate, find between zero and three enemy units by satellite reconnaissance, place reinforcements, allocate strategic air assets, detect enemy units, conduct invasions and paradrops, and organize/re-organize task forces. All this occurs in the strategic cycle which only happens in the morning game- turns.

Each game-turn consists of three action phases, during which players move and fight. In each phase, players will move and conduct combat with all of their assets of one type (subs, surface ships, or aircraft).

At the beginning of each phase, a die is rolled. Odd, Soviets go first; even, U.S. goes first. For example, 1st phase, die roll = 4, U.S. goes first. U.S. player chooses subs and moves and fights all his subs for this turn. Soviet player also chooses subs, although he could have chosen ships or planes instead, and attacks a carrier group with torpedoes.

Second phase, die roll = 3, Soviets go first and choose air units to follow up sub attacks. This means you can do a one-two punch with Soviet subs hitting the Nimitz's escorts at the end of one phase, and then in the next phase, the Soviet air comes out and pounds the reduced task force before the U.S. can react. This makes every turn a war of nerves, and encourages you to never waste an opportunity. At the end of the night game- turn, both players have more housekeeping to do and detections are removed.

The combat in this game is lethal. The levels of losses sustained in combat are appalling, and this seems to be an accurate assessment of modern capabilities. Only the largest or strongest units will survive being targeted for attack more than three times. All units are always visible, but a unit must be detected before it may be attacked. This means your best defense is never to be detected-, however, there is no defense against detection by satellite reconnaissance. This puts a lot of weight on a die roll which occurs once in three turns. Satellite reconnaissance can give a player detections he couldn't hope to earn within the other mechanics of the game. For this reason, rule 16.3, Satellite Reconnaissance, is the most questionable system in an otherwise sterling design.

Victory Games Inc. rates this game high in sole playability, ahead of Hell's Highway and Vietnam, equal to NATO and Civil War, but behind Ambush!. The composition of your strategic air allocation is always important, sometimes absolutely vital to victory, and is to be conducted secretly. This works against solo play.

Victory Games Inc. rates this game below Civil War or Hell's Highway in complexity, equal to NATO or Panzer Command, and I feel this is somewhat misleading. The various systems that make up the game can be readily learned by any but novice wargamers. The complex interrelationships of these systems, how to use your units well and in concert, will be much more difficult to master. Therein lies the long term challenge and appeal of this game.

Overall, this is an excellent treatment of its subject and is recommended for all modern naval buffs as well as those who want a naval game that does not require intimate knowledge of naval systems and tactics.

More War Game Reviews

Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #6
To Game News List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com