Review Details

Sails of Glory: Starter Set

Product Review (submitted on September 4, 2015):

I've played this game about 5 or 6 times, most of them using the starter and one or two additional ships.

If you like ships, and want to play with toy ships, or you like history and movies like Master and Commander, you can't go wrong with this game. The models are great and the rules really make you feel like you are commanding a ship.

I will comment on the rules. For the most part, the rules are great and innovative. Maneuvers have to be planned a turn ahead and you have to take the wind into account... this is not an arcade style game. Nor does it require that you have actual knowledge of how these ships sailed! Maneuvers are done with cards that you place in front of the model... so no measuring or very complex operations involved. Smaller ships definitely feel more maneuverable, ships of the line feel plodding. Keep in mind that this game is really meant to function with something like six ships on the table for a normal game, so no recreation of large ship battles (there really are other historical systems that do that).

In some ways the rules feel unfinished, first there is no points or balancing system, so it's harder to play as a competitive thing but is more of a historical reenactment. In some places the rules feel awkward, like for example when ships bump into each other while maneuvering. There are many small tokens and bits that need keeping track of. There are three versions of the rules (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and additional optional rules after that. The moral of the story here is that you need to be playing with people that can keep track of that stuff easily and you might need to make a few calls about how to play the rules and what rules to use. Otherwise... it is a great game... the only one in it's class... and i'd recommend it!