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Atlantic Chase simulates the naval campaigns fought in the North Atlantic between the surface fleets of the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine between 1939 and 1942. It utilizes a system of trajectories to model the fog of war that bedeviled the commands during this period. Just as the pins and strings adorning Churchill’s wall represented the course of the ships underway, players arrange trajectory lines across the shared game board, each line representing a task force’s path of travel. Without resorting to dummy blocks, hidden movement, or a double-blind system requiring a referee or computer, players experience the uncertainty endemic to this period of naval warfare.
COMPONENTS
22 x 34" mounted game board
Two 8.5"x11" Inset Maps (2 sides of one physical sheet)
Three 11"x17" player aid cards
Two 8.5"x11" player aid cards
Two Task Force Displays
Sheet and a half of counters
240 wood segments and cylinders
Rule book
Advanced Battle Rules
Tutorial booklet
Solitaire Scenario booklet
2-player Scenario booklet
Four 6-sided dice
- Innovative trajectory system that creates tense naval pursuit
- Deep, theme-faithful naval combat with multiple scenarios and fleet options
- High replay potential for experienced players
- Steep learning curve and heavy rulebook
- Long setup and component clutter
- Tiny components and production quality issues in places
- High potential for analysis paralysis due to expansive decision space
- Array
- Atlantic Ocean during World War II
- Analytical review with experiential narration
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice rolling — Weather effects and dice randomness shape action outcomes
- Dynamic fleet management and speeds — Different ships have different speeds and gun values affecting movement and combat
- Hidden deployment — Players operate with imperfect information about enemy positions
- Hidden/incomplete information — Players operate with imperfect information about enemy positions
- Initiative/seize initiative — Players can seize initiative via dice or symbols to take turns
- Invasion tokens — Tokens modify die rolls or end up affecting combat
- Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game — Nine scenarios, including solitaire variants with evolving objectives
- Solitaire/scenario play — Nine scenarios, including solitaire variants with evolving objectives
- Time-driven movement — Time passes to reveal changes in trajectories and positions
- Trajectory plotting — Plot ship courses by placing trajectory markers to form fleet paths
- Two-stage combat on a side board — Engagement happens on a dedicated paddle/battle board with ship stats
- Weather and dice randomness — Weather effects and dice randomness shape action outcomes
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- vi for initiative and seize initiative if they get the right role they just straight up take the turn from you
- fights never last more than three rounds
- Atlantic Chase absolutely delivers its promised chase in naval gameplay
- my personal score for atlantic chase is going to be a 4 out of 10
- the designer actually recommends that sometimes you just let your ships chill in the port and just wait to see what your opponent does first
- this innovative path system is the foundation of every single other action