WWJPlay? (The "J" is for "Jack")

June 15, 2006 3:41 PM

I have been reading Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, and I like it a lot. Now I want to play video games set in the era (or thereabouts). Are there any good ones that simulate the Napoleonic Wars or other European and Colonial wars of the general period? Or that have better sailing ship naval battles than the new Pirates!? I liked that a lot at first, but it's too simple and repetitive for me. I have modern computers running windows, OSX, and Linux and a PS2.

My favorite game (for reference) is Medieval: Total War. But I will consider anything concerned with the era or anything with good naval battles featuring wooden ships, even if the setting is earlier.

posted by Mayor Curley to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

Europa Universalis (2)? All strategy, no real battles (if I understand what you mean), but 100% awesome.
posted by loquax at 4:29 PM on June 15, 2006

I don't know if it's still in print, but the classic Napoleonic naval board game is "Wooden Ships and Iron Men".

"Waterloo: Napoleon's last battle" is supposed to be very good, though I haven't played it.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 4:37 PM on June 15, 2006

Age Of Sail. Look for something from a good wargaming company like Talonsoft that doesn't necessarily have big mall/CompUSA presence.
posted by Kirklander at 4:50 PM on June 15, 2006

Did they ever fix Age Of Sail II? I bought it when it came out several years ago and the thing was utterly unplayable with very little support forthcoming from the developers.

Unless you can ascertain that the game has been patched to a playable consistency, skip AOS2 as a "good idea, bad execution" title.
posted by briank at 6:37 PM on June 15, 2006

It's about the land campaigns rather than naval battles, but Fields of Glory is the original and best. And it's now abandonware (well, according to that site anyway - others disagree, caveat downloader, etc), although you might need to run DosBox or similar to make it work.

*flashback to being 12 years old and staying up until 4am playing this
posted by greycap at 10:31 PM on June 15, 2006

It's still in beta, but someone is making a free online multiplayer Wooden Ships and Iron Men. I play their Blue Max game (WWI airplane combat) which is loads of fun.
posted by fleacircus at 1:41 AM on June 16, 2006