A2 + B2 = Complexity2

The second game of the day, which lies at the opposite end of the complexity spectrum from Flames of War was Saganami Island Tactical Simulator by Ad Astra Games. The fact that this “game” uses the word simulation in the title says a lot. This space combat game uses Newtonian physics, vector movement and all 3 dimensions. It sounds daunting but the designers have done a great job putting the most complicated bits into a handful of charts to ease play. That said, if you have a hard time thinking spatially then you probably won’t like this game given that you will likely never be in the correct orientation to fire.

In the background for the game, ships behave a lot like Napoleonic sailing ships in that your broadside (of missiles typically) is the most powerful and crossing the T is the most deadly. The game is also reminds me a bit of Harpoon in that the target of your missile salvo attempts to shoot down the incoming missiles: first with anti-missiles, then point defense, and so on. Ships have defensive layers much like an onion. The ships are cylindrical and it is quite common to blow completely through a section of the ship thereby wasting a portion of the damage…and remember cylinders are thinnest “side on” so to speak.

In terms of complexity, this game ranks up there with Starfleet Battles with fewer rules. While I find Starfleet Battles mind numbingly dull (20 minutes just to do energy allocation? Get real!) this game seems to have plenty of action to keep you busy during the turn. As the ships start flipping and spinning, you really need to think about where you will be a move or two from now and what the orientation of the enemy will be from your ship. As a normal fan of 2 to 3 hours games, our first game went 4 hours to conclusion and I didn’t mind that one bit.

The only part of the game that seems to drag is damage allocation. The game also cries out for some kind of computer assistance program that could make record keeping even easier. In these days of automation, this is certainly a possibility.

So, if you’re a member of Mensa or just want to lament skipping Geometry class, give this a game try. I heartily recommend it and give it two (my only two) thumbs up!