Man o War Vs. Uncharted Seas: The Gauntlet Thrown
Gamers looking to get into fantasy naval games don’t have much of a choice these days being limited to the highly praised, but long out of print Man o War (MoW) from Games Workshop (GW) and the new kid on the block Uncharted Seas (US) from Spartan Games (SG). US recently launched and feedback has been greater than anticipated from the publishers for many a good reason and much to be expected US is being judged by the bar which MoW set. The question is though: Does US raise the bar, or fall below it.
I will admit that I am an avid MoW player and for those of you who follow my postings I recently ranked it as my top GW game. Today I’m going to try to put that bias aside and look at various mechanics and mechanisms comparing the two games because with such limited selection in fantasy naval gaming, it was bound to happen.
PRICE:
US wins this one hands down for obvious reasons. Being out of print for more than ten years, MOW is very pricey to get into. Base sets of just rules, counters and templates needed to play go on eBay (just about the only source for the game) in the range of $60-100 and this doesn’t include a full fleet (just some ’sample’ ships). Compared to the $30 rulebook needed to obtain all the materials needed to play US there isn’t much of a comparison. Obtaining a fully functioning fleet in MoW will run between $60-200 depending on the fleet and how much flexibility you want. And then let’s not forget to mention the two expansion sets for MoW which will add another $50-90. US will set you back $30 for the rule book and a starter fleet which is enough to get you going will run between $30-60 where just getting into MoW will run a few hundred dollars to get what you need for two fleets and game pieces.
POINT - US
COMPONENT QUALITY:
This one is a tough one to call but again I have to give the point to Uncharted Seas. MoW was released with paper rulebooks which are black and white thru-and-thru, well outside of the hand oils which have accumulated over the years along the spine giving the cover a brown tint. It is also a matter of time before the first pages will break free from the staples holding the book together which was typical of GW releases back during this period. The US book is full glossy color front to back and has a glued spine. The ship quality also goes to US. The ships for US are just stunning. Being about twice the size of the typical MoW ship they look beautiful on the table with detail able to be picked out from a distance. The metal sails also do wonders for the game compared to the paper sales that MoW was published with. MoW does offer a wide range of variety with their ships with many of the fleets posessing their own characteristics, but judged by today’s standard they do look a little archaic.
POINT - US
VARIETY:
Here we finally have a point which goes to my beloved MoW, though at this point it is a little unfair since the only things available at this time form the foundation and backbone to US. As it currently stands, MoW averages about four or five choices per fleet and ten fleets to choose from. US only offers three ships to choose from with four fleets currently available. Seeing what SG has planned though the various fleets for US will soon have more choices than any fleet in MoW. So at this point the point is awarded to MoW, but with US being a supported game with many fleets still in the production stage this point will swing to US given time.
POINT: MoW (for the time being)
GAMEPLAY:
So up until this point there really isn’t much to dislike with US, is there? US is cheaper, it has better looking ships and will quickly surpass MoW in variety. But it really doesn’t amount to a hill of beans until you look at game play. Since there isn’t much in the way of variety when it comes to Age of Sail naval games (move, shoot, magic and boarding) it really wasn’t a surprise that both games are structured very similar. So I will break game play down to those components and compare the games on those merits.
MOVEMENT:
Both games utilize a turning template which represents a ships inability to turn on a dime and the lumbering nature of large ships on the water. MoW uses one template for every ship and basically the rules break down to, if a ship wants to turn, it is able to do so but for every turn it must move two inches and can turn up to 45 degrees. US does something that I really enjoy though and utilizes different turning templates for different size ships so the smaller frigates are able to turn much tighter radius compared to a larger battleship. These look like a half circle with the sides cut flat to one inch increments. Smaller ships use the smallest “circle” and larger ships use the largest “circle” to perform turning maneuvers. This allows frigates to dart around the sea and are more agile than their MoW counterparts. One major difference between the two games though is the other movement options available for MoW ships. With many fleets in MoW utilizing paddle wheels or oars as ways of propulsion, ships in MoW are able to turn in place, back up or sit still. On one hand I really like the different turning radiuses that US uses but the movement modes in MoW add other tactical layers and options to players.
POINT: MoW
COMBAT:
Here is where the games greatly differ. US utilizes a system where a handful of dice are rolled and successes tallied then the number of successes are compared to the armor and critial ratings on the target ship. This amounts to a one roll system. Damage affects the ship as a whole and is very clean overall with minimal book keeping. The effects on the ship are very simple and the amount of damage, in game terms, equates to a number of dice modification on attacking or ramming/collisions. My one complaint about the system is how smaller ships have little to no chance of damaging larger and more heavily armored ships. MoW utilizes a two roll system as well as ship templates which damage specific portions of the ship causing variable results (loss of speed, loss of weapons…etc.). The first roll combines the success of the shot (if it hits the target or not) and if it hits the location that the ship is hit. The target ship is then allowed a saving throw to see if the shot does damage. The result of the MoW system is a lot of book keeping which does bog the game down. What it does add though is a more detailed narrative. Different parts of the ship can be damaged which can impact the ship in many different ways and towards the end of the game, individual ships in a squadron could have damage causing them to act very differently from one another. So on one hand there is a very clean and simplified system and on the other there is more book keeping and more narrative. I personally prefer the narrative aspect, but this topic really does boil down to personal preference therefore:
POINT - MoW
BOARDING ACTIONS:
Again here US uses mechanics which creates a very clean system. Boarding actions are worked out very much like combat with successes and failures working out in the same method as combat and the number of dice rolled determined by how much crew the ship has. MoW uses a system where one d6 is rolled and modified by the number of crew as well as grapeshot from the ship being boarded. The main difference between the two is US is a fight to the death with neither side able to pull away until one crew is dead and could also result in both crews being eliminated (that outcome is possible in MoW but unlikely). Here I am again in favor of the more narrative feature of MoW. I like that one side, if winning, has the chance to go back to their ship, cut the lines and push off. I do not like US and the fight to the death mechanic.
POINT - MoW
MAGIC/ADD-ONS:
This aspect is my largest gripe with MoW. There is such a discrepancy with how magic is handled between the fleets, with the original fleets having a system which detracts from much of the character of the game. All the fleets from the base MoW box (exception Dwarves who have no magic) use the same magic deck and work in the same way. This creates a very bland system. More character is added with the Plague Fleet MoW expansion by offering different magic mechanics for the fleets introduced in that expansion but it makes the original system seem even blander. US has the upper hand here because it was created all at once. With the way the fleet decks work (yes granted technically not everything is considered “magic” but it sure feels that way) there is much more variability and character added to US, in fact this is what adds a large portion to the character to the fleets. The US system is clean, very fun and well balanced between the races.
POINT: US
As I was driving home from work last night I realized that while putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard if you will) I forgot one of the categories that I thought while driving to work, so here it is:
BALANCE
MoW has balance issues. Some fleets have little chance against others: I.e. Norse vs. Slaanesh. There are also a slight power creep, as mentioned above with the magic introduced in Plague Fleet, as well as the fleets in Plague Fleet containing lots of special and “fun” rules added whereas the fleets from the base game are pretty clean and minimal when it comes to special rules. Not to mention the flyer rules introduced in Sea of Blood are often a waste of points when compared to adding another squadron to the fleet. Overall, with MoW it feels like the parts of the whole MoW game, Plague Fleet, Sea of Blood and the base game, have a disconnected feel. When all three parts are added together they end bringing the whole package down. With US I’m having a very difficult time deciding exactly which fleet I want to play on a regular basis. It seems like every time I turn around one of the other fleets appeals to me from what I thought was “locked down”. Perhaps I won’t be happy until I own them all, but truth be told I’m the same way with MoW. Now I’ll admit that haven’t played all the fleets in either game, but from what I’ve seen I am confident in saying:
POINT: US
So for those of you keeping score, it comes to a 4 to 4 tie. But with me holding the tiebreaker, writing the article and all, I maintain MoW as the better game but only by the smallest of margins. And with it being so close, if you were to say US is better, I really couldn’t argue with you.
Overall the games really do offer two different experiences. US is a very clean and streamlined game but when boiled down it really lacks the character which I’ve come to love in MoW and other games. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference. I personally can deal with more book keeping (and 1/3rd of the table covered in record sheets) and more fiddly rules for the addition of character and narrative, so MoW is still the top fantasy naval game in my book, but I will admit that US does come in a very close second (and much closer than I anticipated) because the cleaner rules and more streamlined nature of the game which creates a tighter tactical experience. That said though with MoW being as difficult as it is to get into, US does offer a very satisfying fantasy naval gaming experience and it looks like it only can go up from here. So US hasn’t reached the bar that MoW had set, for me at least, but everything points to that bar being raised by US. In due time there will be two fantasy naval games which at worst will be able to stand side by side on their own merits.
FINAL SCORE:
PRICE (US) - No questions or debate on this
COMPONENT QUALITY (US) - This one is a little more subjective, but with the early product from SG looking as good as it does, they already are looking better than any MoW ship
VARIETY (MoW) - At the time US has a lot of catching up to do in terms of variety, but with everything that has been mentioned on the boards it is only a matter of time.
MOVEMENT (MoW) - Though the turning template adds a lot to US, it doesn’t add enough to outweigh all the different methods of movement in MoW
COMBAT (MoW) - This really is the swing vote and is really the point which people should consider when deciding what game is for them (assuming price is of little concern), for me the narrative feel is something that I love in games and that is why my point went here
BOARDING ACTIONS (MoW) - Grapeshot and being able to end combat (not a fight to the death) gives MoW the point
MAGIC/ADD-ONS (US) - US is nice, clean and balanced where MoW is boring and a mess at times
BALANCE (US) - GW was never a company that put balance high on the list and yes, historically most battles were not balanced, but in a game setting there needs to be balance so the players are confident that the better player won and currently US is balanced and looks to be balanced in the future
MoW: 4 / US: 4
‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT
