Sails of Glory: Starter Set Review

Naval warfare is such fertile territory for a gaming experience. But most titles in his genre tend to either go full simulation – losing many players in byzantine nautical terms and a dense rulebook – or so light as to be practically non-specific (“move three sea spaces”). Sails of Glory takes a firm stand between the extremes and comes away as an exciting, engaging combat game.

The starter set comes with two British and two French vessels. Each side gets a frigate and a ship of the line. The frigates are a little smaller and pack less of a punch, but are far more maneuverable. The ships of the line, on the other hand, can deal out some nice damage and take a beating, but they need to pay careful attention to the wind lest they lose their advantage.

The system is incredibly intuitive and comes in Basic, Standard, and Advanced varieties. In the Basic setup, players get the feel for the game. The wind comes steadily from one side of the board and never changes. You always fill your cannons with standard ball shot, and you don’t have to worry too terribly much about running into the wind.

Each ship has a deck of maneuver cards. You simply pick the maneuver you want and place it face down next to your ship. When all have chosen, they are revealed and all ships moved simultaneously. The cards actually show a little path on them. You just place the card at the front of the ship, pick the ship up, and place it at the end of the path on the card. Ships go farther when the wind is in the right spot. And if the wind is against them, they have to use special tacking cards to get back on track.

After all ships have moved, you can fire out of the sides of your ship. Simply measure the distance and, if the target is in range, damage is dealt by having the defender draw chits from a damage pool. Generally, this will result in hull damage, but could also kill off crew. If the ships are extremely close, crew can even fire muskets at one another. When a vessel takes enough damage, it sinks.

Progressing into the Standard game adds new types of shot (grape shot and chain shot) as well as the need to give orders a turn in advance. You lay a maneuver card down, but it won’t be resolved until the following turn. And, in the Advanced game, you get different damage types and a whole variety of variants where you can give special orders to your crew, change your sails, or even have variable wind.

Sails of Glory certainly isn’t the hobby’s first attempt at an Age of Sail miniatures game, but it is a fantastic one. For starters, it deals with the ocean – a two dimensional surface. So as the boats move around, you get a sense of realism absent from other space-combat miniature games. Also, if you have any interest in the Age of Sail, the game is delightful. You get to learn and use a wide array of nautical terms. And there’s something refreshing about a sea-centered game with an absence of pirates. Players command naval armies, not lawless bands.

Because of the different rule levels, you could easily play this game with any group. The Basic game is a great way to introduce it to new opponents or when you want to play something very light- it’s fantastic for non-gamer family members. The Standard game adds more considerations and requires thinking beyond a single round. It feels more strategic and you’ll find yourself completely engaged.

And I wager most players will find a home in the Standard game. It’s intuitive, strategic, and gives the feeling of lumbering ships which aren’t always immediately responsive to commands. But hardcore fans will fall in love with the myriad options and variants that the Advanced game provides. If you are looking to simulate nautical warfare, Sails of Glory has you covered.

While there are tournament rules and a point system for building relatively equally matched armadas, the core of the game is built around scenario play. The starter set comes with five multiplayer scenarios and more are available online or through fan content. This helps keep the game fresh as the goals from game to game tend to be about more than simply sinking the enemy. You might have to maneuver through shoals, deal with land-based battlements, or attempt to board an opponents’ ship rather than just sink her.

And the game looks great on the table. All of the miniatures come pre-painted. So it’s pretty right out of the box. Of course, some players may want to re-paint them with their own scheme and that’s doable. But if you happen to be apprehensive about painting, then this game is worry free.

If you like naval history (every ship is named after a real vessel), shouting nautical terms (and there are many), and want something that can scale to your comfort level in terms of depth, then Sails of Glory is the way to go.