Heart of Leviathan: The Play Test

By Mitch Reed

Photos by Author and Image Studios

Note: The author is reviewing an early beta-test of the game and works on the development team for Heart of Leviathan.

You have seen the teases on Facebook and have wondered what this new game is all about. I was lucky enough to have Image Studios send me a beta copy of the game to playtest for the next few weeks. Walter Vail who runs was gracious enough to let me spoil some of the game for you.

I have been working with Walter on the rules for a while now, I love playing with Dreadnoughts, I have a ton of ships in the 1/2400 scale and have worked on some homebrew rules to play with my massive fleets.

Heart of Leviathan (HoL) is a departure from some of the massive slow-moving naval games I played in the past. The game is played on a 3’ x 3’ playing area and focuses more on smaller engagements that feature only a few ships on each side. The beta comes with the battleship the HMS Iron Duke and two German Dresden class light cruisers.

I will first go over what is the heart of HoL, which is the ship command placard. This thick cardboard data card has 3 thumbwheels on it that lets you set your speed, commands, and track damage. The card also has how many dice and what type of dice you use at the different ranges you plan to engage your enemy.

My two initial play testers were really blown away by the placard.

With the command placard, a player can also select a specific captain card that represents a naval officer actually commanded the ship. Each captain adds special attributes to your ship. You can also use upgrade cards to add secondary weapons, increase hull strength and even upgrade your gun sizes. The beta has some really interesting captains and upgrades that can make your ship possess some great capabilities.

Once you pick and upgrade your ships you are ready to play. In a turn, the players alternate plotting the upcoming turn, move, execute commands and then fire on enemy ships.

Seems simple enough, however playtesting showed us how much is “under the hood” here. While easy to play, you really have to think during each phase of the game. I feel the game is easy to learn yet hard to master.

At first, I felt that the battleship against the two light cruisers would end up with two smoking German hulls. The mechanics of the game, however, really balances things out. We found out that torpedoes are very deadly, and the light cruisers can make life difficult for the big battleship. The battleship has the additional task to select what firing arc they will use for the current turn and the speedy cruisers can dodge a broadside which is how they can stay alive.

Getting hit with a ton of shots can knock your hull points down very quickly. While no cruiser was “one shot” during the game, we did come close. The bottom line here is that ships behave and fight as they should. The game is balanced and it is up to the tactics you select that will determine who wins.

The components of the beta version were very impressive and the ships, which are a unique scale are beautiful and very detailed. I know the final version will look even better with a lot of more upgrade options and additional ship combinations.

Folks reading this article and who look at the pictures will inevitably make comparisons to other games. Some of this may be justified. HoL has so many innovative twists, however, and replicates ship combat so well that HoL will really stand out. I have played other games and have said many times, I wish someone would make a game like this for battleships.

As a dedicated “Dread’ gamer I have to admit my ships see more time in dock than on a table. The community has so many rules with varying degrees of detail it’s hard for a gamer to pick a set of rules that they can play continuously. This drawback only serves to stymie new gamers from playing with “Dreads”.

Most of the time when I play, I end up being the game master because every gamer seems to play a different set of rules, so I am left to teach them and move the game along. This is only so much fun because I love to roll dice and yell I sank your battleship.

What HoL gives us is a quick to learn, quick to play (less than one hour) low model count game that allows us to have some fun. The Dreadnought community has needed this game, not only for us to play, but to also attract new gamers who are scared off by the size and scale of current games on the market today.

As a long time, naval Grognard I have to admit that the hobby has many different factions. Many of them would shy away from a game that allows you change the specifications of your ships or use a low model count vice the entire Grand Fleet. HoL will not replace you massive detailed games, but it will give even the most dedicated to history admiral the ability to play with their iron beasts more often and to learn or get a better appreciation of naval tactics. Most of all the game is a lot of fun, and it will bring new gamers into our hobby.

What I also like about HoL is how you can recreate a historical battle using a massive amount of ships on a large table or play the game in a tournament setting where players bring their forces based on a predetermined level of points. Few games can change its scale and scope like this. I am even getting my 12-year-old son excited about playing with ships and he will continue to play test until he cleans my clock in a demo game.

The reactions of the first playtest group was very positive and they wanted to keep play testing the game to make it even better. These guys are die-hard gamers who could not “break” the game because of the tight rules.

We will continue to play test Heart of Leviathan and I would love to hear your thoughts and questions on the forums.