War at Sea
Allied Nations
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- France
- Greece
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Soviet Union
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Allies stat table
Axis Nations
Neutral Nations/Installations
Sets
- War At Sea
- Task Force
- Flank Speed
- New Starter
- Condition Zebra
- Set V (Fleet Command)
- Surface action
- First Strike (Forumini Expansion Deck A)
- Infamy (Forumini Expansion Deck B)
- Battle Line (Forumini Expansion Deck C)
- All Hands on Deck (Forumini D)
- Action Stations (Forumini E)
- Dead Reckoning (Forumini F)
Unit Card:
Set - Rarity - Number
First Strike - N/A - 43/72
History:
Reviews:
Vergilius Powergaming Evaluation:
We’ve not seen anything like this before, and many will look at the 3/6/1 defensive line and decide it is not worth bringing very often. This may in fact not only be wrong but extremely wrong. As with other cheap and weak support units, you’d better have a plan to protect and defend your valuable assets. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, that simply means you have to use your brain. Germany does not bring Kondors without some plan to protect them through placement first and foremost, or through escort secondarily. The US brings Catalina in air fleets where placement can hopefully keep it safe.
The Sea Dragon’s key SA is Vector Submarine, and its function in a fleet is much like the Kondor’s after the first turn, or the Catalina at all times. You’ll mostly want to place it last in a square where it won’t make an attack. Why in the world would you do that? Well, let’s stop and ask ourselves if we’ve ever played a game where some of our sub fleet was across the map and out of position? Yes, of course, we’ve had that happen lots of times. Have we ever played games where the uncertainty of the opponent’s plan forced us to deploy our submarines across most of the map? Certainly. A submarine that is out of position throws 0 torpedoes. A Submarine that just barely makes it into position throws at least 2 torpedoes, and perhaps more for Kondor spotting and Wolfpack SAs.
So how much is Vector Submarine worth? A few torpedoes per game. How many will depend upon the size of your game and the archetype you are facing. If you take a Sea Dragon, place it last consistently, and it does nothing except move submarines closer to the action, you’ve more than repaid the cost of the unit. The attacking abilities also seem uniquely suited to submarine fleets. If you do get caught against a destroyer swarm, then you probably aren’t going to want to vector submarines. On the other hand, 4 dice is all the dice you need to be able to cripple or sink destroyers. The lower 3/6 defensive ability will be less of a liability there. If you do get caught facing a submarine fleet, 2 ASW won’t sink enemy submarines or hit very often, but it is perfect for setting up your own submerged shots. The Sea Dragon should become a staple in most German submarine fleets, and slots in nicely alongside the Kondor, and the new Dornier 217E. Overall Grade: A
