I think getting these rules have been on my "To-Do" Goal list for the last 3, maybe 4 years or so. I like Naval wargames but I am more Jutland than Midway. Therefore, I was hesitant to pull the trigger. Plus, I was not a huge fan of the Starter Set focusing on the Pacific Theatre, i.e. US vs Japan. However, I heard good things about the rules and it seemed to have a pretty comprehensive list of ships from all the major nations in it.
With the tariffs impacting Warlord imports into the US, I decided I better get a copy of the rules before "Tariff-Pricing" went into effect. I pulled the trigger and picked up a copy from The Miniature Market out of St. Louis. I opted to just stick with the rules for now for a couple of reasons:
1. I wanted to see if anyone else at the True Crit Gaming Guild was interested before I dove in with two fleets.
2. I like GHQ as they were a "local" manufacturer of Naval miniatures and I might want to build my fleets with their range instead. Also, no "Tariff-pricing" on them either.
3. You don't need miniatures for Naval wargaming. You can start off with top-side looking paper templates easily enough. That is what I used to play-test Castles in the Sky and it worked great!
4. I was not 100% sold on the scale or the basing of the Warlord range.
With all that being said I figured that a copy of the rules would be a good place to start on my journey before I dropped too much money, time, and effort into the game. I had done a Black Seas demo back in the day and ultimately decided not to follow up on it. I was unsure if that would be the same with this game.
Now, let's get the Diesel's powered up, site in the guns, and raise the battle flag! Off we go, diving into Victory at Sea.....
You can read all my thoughts on the blog here:
https://www.bloodandspectaclespublishing.com/
