You are very kind, Seagoon. I am but one voice amoung many that have been hoping for a richer naval game in AH. To give you an idea of the fun you can have with naval combat in AH, I ran a Snapshot about a year ago (when I was part of the Weekly Events CM team) called "Form Battleline." This was loosely based on the battlecruiser actions at Jutland, with CA's representing the Battlecruisers, DE's representing the light cruisers, and PT boats representing the destroyers (which were really just large torpedo boats in those days). The set up took me over an hour, and you'll see why.
I took Weazel's Phillipine map, which has 8+ cruiser fleets (3 CA's and 4 DE's), and used the .detonate command to pare each of them down to one CA and 2 DE's apeice. Than I made four of them Knight and the other four Rook, and used the .jump command to place these mini-TG's into two line-astern formations, with 30 miles separating these two new "battlecrusier" squadrons. The result was two opposing four-cruiser battlecruiser squadrons, each with 8 DE's escorting them. The final positions of each squadron was done just before the scenario started, with neither side knowing where the other was. The kicker was that each "battlecruiser" was commanded by a different person (being it's own TG), so killing a flagship didn't cause you to loose your entire fleet, just a single cruiser and two DE's. Battlecruiser captains had to maneuver their elemets together if they wanted to stay in formation.
I also gave each side the opportunity to lauch 4 unarmed scout planes (TBM's) from a nearby friendly CV, then jumped the CV a hundred miles away and disabled A/C. These planes were used to find the enemy BC squadron, and to act as gunnery spotters. Finally, to represent the greyhounds (the numerous independent destroyers that took part), I allowed each side a one-time launch of as many PT boats as they had people to man. Any a/c or PT pilots killed could jump to a gun position on any other unit.
The result was a classic ship-of-the-line battle that lasted over an hour. In the end, one side lost one BC, while the other side was completely wiped out. What a blast to watch, too. Cruisers nosing through a forest of tall shell splashes; the water alive with torpedoes; tall pillars of smoke marking the final resting place of a once-proud ship-of-the-line. I watched in facination as a lone PT boat courageously charged headlong at the onrushing enemy behemouths, be obliterated seconds after launching its torps, only to watch the targeted cruiser deftly turn and comb right between the torpedo wakes. My God, it was beautiful! If only we'd had fire and smoke and such to dress it up right! Oh, to see the scars of battle on those great vessels, and to watch them battle bravely on as the burn and list and eventually succomb to their wounds. I love the smell of cordite in the morning!
How about it, HTC? Can't we take Aces High to the next level? WWIIOL is still without serious naval combat. You could scoop them, if you put your mind to it.
