To get to know each game better and to decide which one is the most suitable for me, I will compare the basic features (which I have already partially done in the previous post), but I will give some missing details; and with the help of the game rules, I will examine how the setup, movement, etc. are done. I try to help better clarity with tables. In addition, I will also perform a completely subjective evaluation, in the rows of the mentioned tables (where it is relevant to me) there will be whole numbers in brackets from 0 to 3 (0 – least like, 3 – the opposite of this). Elsewhere, an X will indicate whether the given game has the criterion. (This will soon become clear, but I learned that the tables must be created in such a way that they can be interpreted even if taken out of the text – well, no one should expect that here, but I didn’t do scientific examination either.)
Basic attributions
| Oak & Iron | Black Seas | Sails of Glory | |
| Scale | 1:600 | 1:700 | 1:1000 |
| Complexity according to boardgamegeek.com | Moderate (1) | Moderate (1) | Moderate with more complexity (2) |
| Number of players | 2-4 | 2 | 2-4 |
| Number of ships in the core box (note: all of the 3 games have a lot of expansion) | 6 (2) | 9 (3) | 4 (1) |
| How detailed the models are? | Least of all (1) | You can assemble, detail and paint as you wish (3) | Pre-painted and assembled models (2) |
| Free rulebook | Officially downloadable (1) | Part of the core box or can be bought separately (0) | Officially downloadable (1) |
| Battlemat in the core box? | Yes (1) | Yes (1) | No (0) |
| Islands, shoals etc. in the core box? | A lot (3) | A few (2) | Missing (0) |
| Period | 1650-1750 | Mostly Napoleonic | Mostly Napoleonic |
| Game length in min | 60-120 (1) | 60-120 (1) | 45-90 (2) |
| Preparation time (from opening the box first time until starting the game) | Short (2) | You have to assemble the models and don’t mention painting (1) | Immediately (3) |
| Price | (2) | (2) | (1) |
| SUM | 14 | 14 | 10 |
I managed to drop a game with my scoring method – unfortunately without trying it at all. I’ll try to summarize what I don’t like about Sails of Glory:
- Looking over the rule, it didn’t seem as simple as the other two. This can be due to I haven’t played any naval game before, especially since I haven’t tried the one in question and actually the other two as well (one of which, moreover, doesn’t have the game rules publicly available). But I find it a bit complicated to manage the ships, and I don’t like the movement at all (directions are printed on cards, you have to place them in front of the ships – I can’t imagine how this works when the models are very close to each other).
- This game comes with the fewest models in the basic box. (But here I have to emphasize that the models look pretty good, they are painted, so they can be played after opening the bix. Especially since the game rules can be downloaded from the website.)
- No battlemat, no landmarks (I mean the islands, shoals, rocks). The latter is maybe ok, but at least a meter by meter blue poster could be added to the box.
- This game is the most expensive of the three. (Obviously, this is the most subjective feature, but it is still worth to note. The other two games cost for about two-thirds to three-quarters the price, and are available in many more places.)
Now comes the hard part: which of the other two do I like better? Perhaps I will make again a table, in which I will only take into account those attributions where there is a difference (for example, the difficulty and price of the games are omitted, but I don’t make a difference in the amount of landmarks either).
| Oak & Iron | Black Seas | |
| Officially downloadable rules | X | |
| Number of models | X | |
| Detailed models | X | |
| Preparation time | X | |
| Number of gamers | X |
In this case, I like Oak & Iron (a little, maybe not at all) better. But I would like to mention what I really like about Black Seas:
- The models are amazingly detailed. I mean you get not only a hull with some details apart from the masts and sails, but we can paint the batteries separately (imagine this on a ship that is a few centimeters long!), we can choose which figurehead to put on, how many lifeboats we put on board. In addition, the ratlines printed on plastic sheet are very creative, which can also be glued to make the ship even more lifelike. The rigging serves a similar purpose – like a spool of thread.
- The 9 ship models (5 French and 4 British) allow enough tactical depth, compared to, e.g. a 2 vs 2 case.
- The box also contains some colorful cotton balls, which can be used to indicate if a ship has caught fire, or to symbolize the smoke of a battery fire.
- I also like the decision about the order of the players (= ship models): that ship starts which is “closer” to the wind, that is, from which direction the wind blows. And the other models follow this method
- Movement seems quite simple
It is fitting that at the end I also summarize what I like and what I don’t like about the “winning” game Oak & Iron.
What I like:
- It can be played with minimal preparation (the few parts need to be snapped together).
- The amount of models (6) allows some tactics.
- The ships are paintable, but they don’t look bad without paint either.
- Very nice Caribbean battlemat with lots of detailed terrain.
- Downloadable game rules (and many other things, e.g. aids).
- We can decide the order of the players with cards – I like it better than the IGO-UGO solution, and it seemed to me that this also gives an opportunity for tactics.
- Moving ships is very easy.
And what I don’t like:
- I don’t know how well the ships can withstand frequent assembly and disassembly.
- Each model belongs to a different ship type – I don’t like it so much, it could have been a bit more uniform (with 3-4 ship types, let’s say 2 ships of 1 type).
- We can decide the order of the players with cards – in addition to the advantage, the disadvantage for me is that the luck factor comes into play, and it is not possible to take advantage of the wind to get an initiative, as in Black Seas.
So I managed to find which naval wargame I would like the most, and that is Oak & Iron. I just have to buy it… (Of course, if you give me a set of Black Seas, I won’t be angry.)