Admiral of the Fleet

Smoothest rule set for large actions and they don't sacrifice historicity at all.

AOTF is the latest advancement from the team who brought you Seekrieg V! It combines the ability to handle, maneuver and fight larger formations, with the realistic results you'd expect from The Admiralty. This game has detail, and yet great mechanics for using fleets in the way they were used historically. The Flag Signaling System, the heart of AoTF, simulates command and control changes and problems as a fleet engages and the battle rages on. If you have wanted to game Tsushima, Jutland, or any engagement of more than a few ships, and especially with destroyers and torpedo boats operating as squadrons in fleet formations, this is the system you need! We have played several WW1 and WW2 scenarios using AoTF at several HMGS conventions, in 2021 and 2022, with Historicon 2022 scheduled. In every case, the participants grasped the mechanics early and easily, and the reviews for the battles and the AoTF system were all very positive!

Perfect set of miniatures rules for playing large fleet actions with realistic results, especially when using the companion title 'FLAG OFFICER'S HANDBOOK' and the signal card decks. Nothing else like it out there...

Fast playing? You’ve got to be kidding! Played in a 3 player game moderated by a 4th person experienced with the game. It was supposed to be a battlecruisers at Jutland game, which was a reasonably-sized scenario, yet it took us about 3 hours to play 12 minutes of game time (3 turns)! And we didn’t even use those cool looking flag orders cards.

Add to that the decidedly inelegant mechanic of “roll on this chart to find what number you roll on that chart”. Really? Just too much wristage throughout the game. And while a few interesting damage details came up, there really wasn’t a way to economically keep track of the various effects on multiple ships.

Finally, the course of the action (as far as we got) raised eyebrows among those of us who knew something about WWI naval stuff. Some rather ahistorical implausible shenanigans cropped up in the few turns we got to play.

TL; DR: No thank you.

AOTF is the newest system from the designers of Seekrieg V, focusing on fleet actions. It includes a flag signaling system, if used by the players, that really enhances the duties (and problems potentially faced) by the admirals.

The mechanics are straightforward, easy to learn and follow. They don't bog a game down, which you might expect from one with this much detail. The designers really did their homework and produced a game that is approachable, fun to play and yields realistic results that closely follow history.

Another winner from the dynamic duo of Rich Sartore and Jack Joyner!