Atlantic Fleet Battle of the Atlantic Campaign

Over the last couple of months I've been chipping away at the Atlantic Fleet Battle of the Atlantic campaign, playing the Kriegsmarine rather than the Royal Navy. I had tried the latter but came to a sticky end after about twenty turns, so switched sides in an attempt to work out what I  had done wrong. At the moment, I'm about half way through 1941 and things are going well for the U Boats, with an impressive tonnage of merchant ships sunk and the allies reduced to a fleet of destroyers. I'm very wary of the occasional capital ship that pops up out of nowhere and of the odd setback due to allied air power, having lost a light cruiser only a couple of turns ago to a Liberator with depth charges.

It's a good campaign mode, although by it's very nature there are repetitive bits with U Boat attacks on convoys or destroyers being pretty frequent. I've found that organising the submarines into Wolf Packs really works well, especially when combined with surface battle groups of battleships, battlecruisers and light cruisers. My biggest headache is that I've run out of these and can't build any more, so have to rely on destroyers and submarines to replace any losses, even though the German destroyers are pretty powerful as they are. It's a great little game and has an element of historical accuracy that is missing from most other naval themed titles, so well worth playing and definitely good value for money. I just wish there was a WW1 version!

Atlantic Fleet Campaign

I've almost finished playing through the campaign system in Atlantic Fleet, with the Royal Navy pretty much hammering the Kriegsmarine in every game, with one or two exceptions. The British definitely have an advantage in the range and strength of the units they can deploy, although the Germans also have some powerful options.

After a while and particularly toward the end of the fifty scenarios, the gameplay tends to repeat itself a bit, so I've not enjoyed the latter stages of the campaign as much as the first thirty scenarios in the sequence. I think I'll swap sides next time or just embark on the Battle of the Atlantic campaign, which looks a bit more challenging.

It's about time I did some proper board gaming too, with the half term holidays in a couple of weeks being a perfect opportunity to dig out some classics and some new games I haven't got round to playing yet.

Atlantic Fleet: Christmas Convoy

Now, this was a bit more like it, with the Admiral Hipper pounded into wreckage by accurate long range gunfire from HMS Berwick and HMS Bonaventure. I lost only one merchant and saved the rest of the convoy by turning hard to starboard and away from the enemy. Next time I'll switch sides and see if the Kriegsmarine can do any better.

Atlantic Fleet: Convoy SC7

This is a really tough scenario for the British, with a convoy of merchants to protect from a whole wolf pack of U Boats, using only two escort destroyers. The U Boats use a crossfire of torpedoes to make it difficult for the merchants to turn into one track without intersecting another. The escorts also have a difficult job, not only avoiding the torpedoes but also chasing down the submarines without approaching head on. I've played this twice and both times have been hammered. It makes you think.

Atlantic Fleet: Battle of the River Plate

I've played several of the historical scenarios from Atlantic Fleet menu but this one is my favourite so far. I've only managed to sink the Graf Spee on one out of three attempts, as in the other two I lost HMS Exeter to plunging gunfire, leaving HMS Ajax and Achilles popping away against the pocket battleship to little effect.

The key to taking out this monster is to narrow the range at full speed ad straight ahead, with the occasional zig zag to confuse the enemy, until the 8'' guns on Exeter can really do some damage. If you are lucky, you can hit the steering, the propulsion or a gun turret, which allows you to scoot about in a blind spot with the light cruisers and split the Graf Spee's fire with your superior numbers.

I haven't yet managed to get close enough to launch torpedoes but I suspect that would be a real game changer for the British. A great little scenario and worth a few replays. I've also been playing around with the Sinking Courageous scenario, which is great fun and pretty difficult for the Royal Navy, especially if U-29 gets right up close to the carrier before launching her torpedoes.

Atlantic Fleet: Battle of the Denmark Strait

I splashed out on the full version of Atlantic Fleet this evening and have just re-fought the Battle of the Denmark Strait. This time the Royal Navy scored a total victory over the Kriegsmarine, with the Prinz Eugen battered into a burning wreck by HMS Hood, which managed to repair some heavy damage inflicted by the combined guns of German warships. 

The Bismarck then received the full broadside firepower of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Hood, losing her A and B Turrets, propulsion and steering. This meant she was pretty much dead in the water and a sitting duck for the British.  I enjoyed this scenario a lot and will be playing some more over the next few days. Great game!

Atlantic Fleet Lite

I've been playing this over the holidays. I'm not a big fan of digital games but this one is great and an improvement on Pacific Fleet. Good gameplay, great graphics and some decent historical scenarios in the Lite version to wet your whistle. I think I might even splash out on the full version.