The video game 5th Fleet gives the user the opportunity to lead the American Navy into battle against Russian and Indian forces (the user can also choose to control the opposing forces). It is a board game conversion by Stanley and Associates that was released by Avalon Hill in the middle nineties.
The theatre for 5th Fleet includes the Gulf of Suez, Horn of Africa, Malaysia, and the Indian Ocean. It also includes some of the larger Middle Eastern waterways that formed checkpoints and supply routes.
The video game 5th Fleet gives the user the opportunity to lead the American Navy into battle against Russian and Indian forces (the user can also choose to control the opposing forces). It is a board game conversion by Stanley and Associates that was released by Avalon Hill in the middle nineties.
The theatre for 5th Fleet includes the Gulf of Suez, Horn of Africa, Malaysia, and the Indian Ocean. It also includes some of the larger Middle Eastern waterways that formed checkpoints and supply routes. The game includes seven different scenarios, most of which center on the former Soviet Union and its allies becoming engaged with various bordering or threatening factions. The game will feature Russian, Pakistani, Indian and Indonesian units. Each of the scenarios
is given a complexity rating, which drastically changes the amount of time necessary to complete the games. The low rated games can last as little as a half an hour (which is not the norm) and a higher rated game can last upwards of three hours. There is a monster campaign that lasts over thirty turns and can go for hours upon hours.
The battles are fought from a strategic map that greatly resembles a board game. The actual hexagonal look of the grid can be toggled off, leaving a richly detailed map. The map, according to the game’s parameters, is generated based on satellite reconnaissance. When all information is processed and a ship is detected by the ship’s sensors, all known information about it will also be displayed. From there, the battle ensues.
Most battles are fought using drop and drag manoeuvres. One hexagonal tile on the map is representative of a fifty mile radius in the sea. Units are positioned via the drag and drop procedure, and clicking the units will toggle through the attack options. This menu includes the various ordinances that are capable of hitting a target, and which targets are within range of each different weapon. Battles are mostly realistic and percentages of hits and damage reduce with variables such as visibility and distance.
As a whole, the 5th Fleet is a pretty good war game, and is most admirable for being a faithful board game conversion…a very difficult feat to accomplish. It features a fair amount of strategic planning, as well as knowledge of the different units, enemy and allied alike. It is recommended for download to fans of the genre, and should provide hours of satisfying game play.
