Armada - ARC/Dr Peter Turcan RRP œ29.95
                   (Wargame/simulation)

                  Reviewed by Clive Swain
     
Armada  is  second in the ARC BATTLESCAPES  series,  first  being 
Borodino.  The full story of the Spanish Armada is a  fascinating 
piece  of history.  Starting as a great adventure it ended  as  a 
human  tragedy on a massive scale.  This simulation  attempts  to 
capture five days of the Armada's journey,  the five days it took 
for the huge fleet to make its way from south of Plymouth to  the 
Isle of Wight.

So reads the introduction to the game  manual which  also gives a
nine-page detailed description of the defeat of the Armada before
the usual instructions. This is  compulsive reading for  those of
us  not  old  enough  to  remember  the  real  thing.  The manual
instructions are  many  and involved  as this is a very  detailed 
simulation   not  to  be  attempted  by  anyone   with   a  short
concentration span.
Once loaded, the graphics appear. They are good but,  by  today's 
standards,  not really exceptional as is, unfortunately, the lack 
of sound.  It is all very well to see the cannon firing but there 
would be much more realism with a good bang or two. 

Still I digress; back to the start. You are now given ten choices
of  how you  would  like the  game to play including  from  trial
(small) fleets to the full thing,  a two-day-only duration option
- battle  time not  your time  (I think!).  To see  or not to sea
(sorry Sue, I couldn't  resist that  one) all the English/Spanish
signals  and also to  be able  to view  things from any position,
that  is, any ship  or any  land point. You can play as leader of
the  English or  the  Spanish  or  let the computer sail down the
English Channel against itself. You may even change the  historic
(original)  orders that  each side  has - a lengthy process this,
not for  the light-hearted.  But worth  it if you  are intent  on
changing  the course of history.
     
So here we are at Plymouth Hoe. It is 8am on July 31st, 1588 with 
the English just put to sea and a fair wind blowing.   We come to 
the  "giving orders" part, again difficult,  but  practice  makes 
Admirals  so persevere and watch your fleet  follow  instructions 
(or not, if the individual captains are feeling liverish).

A point  here.  If you  are reading  the fleet signals,  incoming
orders are greeted with the message "Mail - Captain,  etc.  etc."
I pondered this  Americanism to sixteenth century English sailors
and  then lost it  in hilarious visions  of umpteen-dozen  homing
pigeons zooming  across  the  skies from  ship  to ship with  the
commanding  documents  strapped  to their  legs or,  even better,
hardy sailors thrusting  through  the murky waters  in their best
racing crawl to carry  the  message from craft to craft. Whatever
happened  to Signal  Flags?  But again  I have digressed, perhaps
because  it all  seems to  take so long.  Sailing  ships are slow
beasts  and  the program does a complete and lengthy update every
thirty minutes of simulated  time. Really boring after the  first
few times.  

It  must be said that once the English catch up  with the  Armada 
and  battle  commences,  one  does  become  enthralled  with  the 

fighting  styles  necessary  to combat the  different  sizes  and 
speeds  of  the ships and their various armaments.  Some  of  the 
views  of  battle  are quite spectacular,  with  only  the  aural 
limitation previously mentioned.  However, and I again quote from 
the  manual,  the   simulation does not take  into  account  some 
aspects of sea warfare notably tides,  towing, fireships, sailing 
up  rivers  and  lightening ships to sail them  after  they  have 
grounded.  Nor  does  the simulation include the  possibility  of 
capturing an enemy ship and manning it with your own  crew.

Each  ship  has  a  certain  points  value  based  on  its  size,
armaments,  crew  and  similar information.  Forts,  castles  and
infantry  also have their own points value. If the invasion fails
the winner is decided by a comparison of the total points lost by
each  side. The  Spanish win if they capture a main town and some
docks and also keep a seaway clear for at least three miles. They
also  win if  they  significantly  defeat  the  English  at  sea.
The English win if they stop the Spanish winning.      
     
For  those  of  you  who are able to afford  the  price  and  are 
serious,   very  serious,   about  wargame  simulations  and   in 
particular  sea  battle simulations, I would recommend this title
to add to your collection. For those of you who might  be tempted
as first-time buyers,  myself included,  I can  only  think  that
somewhere  on  the  shop  shelves   there  must  be   a   Wargame
Simulation  that  is  easier to get to grips with  than  I  found 
Armada to be.