You are on the beta version of My Abandonware. The live site is still myabandonware.com. Your favorites and ratings here are copied to the live site. Comments and other changes are not — we delete them every morning at 08:00 Paris time, when this site goes down for about an hour. Leave feedback through this link to Pastel (email required).

Search more than 30000 retro games
/ Genres / Strategy / Action Stations!

Action Stations!

DOS - 1990
Also available on: Amiga

Some insights from Mark C. Jeffery:

The game is mostly math. It will appear to lock up on large complicated scenarios, but if you leave the game alone it will finish the math by the next day ( to get around this just speed up dosbox - see dosbox.com instructions)...

Clarification: There are two times the game locks up against AI opponent.

  1. At the end of a turn when displaying the battle plot / just before the detailed report would display if required.
  2. When calculating turn(s) before the battle plot starts displaying. (not really locked up and speeding up fixes / improves playability)

To mitigate # 1 - The second time I play the scenario, I will save the game each turn so I can restart scenario on that turn. (okay, sometimes I am lazy and only do it every 5 - 10 turns until combat starts...)

The main reasons for me playing 3.2 is the torpedoes (overall accuracy is also minimally improved). A naval academy cadet does not need the 3.2 auto-launch option and is trained on the calculations; the rest of us are not. Torpedoes where a major factor in ww2 naval surface combat. This makes game play much easier and realistic for the rest of us.

Fyi, if you modify a ship file and leave an extra character or line, scenarios with that ship will crash. If you add ships types, you need to add them to the ddf file you use. The file layouts are simple and easy to figure out. I have a number of ships I added to play against that were seriously proposed but never seriously considered for production (and a few scifi fantasy ship variants to add spice to this game I have been playing for 28+ years).

Comments and reviews

Chris R. 02 Apr. 2020

I've been playing this great game (off and on) since 1990! I even called Alan Zimm and talked to him about the game, the ship models, etc. I expressed admiration for the Italian heavy cruisers (Zara, Fiume, etc.) and he told me that the nearness of the main battery muzzles was such that firing them in salvo generated "muzzle whip" and great dispersion of shot, so he built that into his gunnery model for that class. That's detail! Love this game!

I had a question: in the DOS downloads there is an unnamed 827kb file- what is it? Does it go with ver 3.2? Thanks!

3
Bert 04 Nov. 2019

So is there anywhere I can get the latest version of this game please?

-1
750suzuki 09 Mar. 2019

Ordered this game when first released, most realistic naval game ever!!! If you are a fan of WWII history, this is the game for you!!!

0
Tamscomcj@yahoo.com 27 Nov. 2018

I have two copies of ver 3.2 of this game, yet more accurate.... I was a tester om this game back in the day. Physics Professor Alan Douglas Zimm .... former curriculum manager for the naval surface warfare center achieved +- 5% accuracy to actual combat results in all test scenarios where historical detail was available. I have played this game since 1990.

0
mark 04 Nov. 2018

This game is my favorite, but is is missing the files that allows use of the gun type 70 and above. This version also uses the wrong main gun (german version used) for the 16 inch iowa class and wrong secondary gun version for the montana class which was and upgrade from the Iowa 5inch 1938 m12, tamscomcj@yahoo.com

0
TTan 13 Mar. 2018

Played this often decades ago. Very good and realistic game.
Game tracks every single shell fired during a 3 minute game turn.
Night actions require use of star shells or planes to drop flares hear enemy ships.

Suggestion - start small with scenario like the Graf Spee against 3 British cruisers

0
jamie 12 Jan. 2017

This game will play on any MS OS.
Although the graphics are primitive, they are also realistic per the aspect of a commander located inside the ship in the Combat-Information-Center.

The ship damage models are very realistic and are the real strength of this game.

You definitely need the game manual.
The sub-routines provided make it possible to change the ships in the provided scenarios, or to create your own.

With the security codes, keep trying until one comes up that is on the list provided.

-2
Waseem 31 Aug. 2016

Can't even understand a thing, very, VERYYYYYY complicated (but realistic)

-1
admin 03 May. 2012
Admin

Hey major, it's definitely the right codes. Warning it's case sensitive !

-1
majorboob 03 May. 2012

Hi guys I might be being dumb here but the "SECURITY ENTRY CODES" provided don't match up match up to the codes required at the start of the game. Any Ideas?.

0

No comment nor review for this game at the moment.

Comments posted on the beta are not kept. We delete them at 08:00 Paris time and they never reach the live site. Post on myabandonware.com if you want your comment to stay.

Downloads

DOS version
Game file
United Kingdom English
827 KB
Install Disks
United Kingdom English
556 KB
Version 3.2 with Ships, Scenarios & Utilities Disk
United Kingdom English
741 KB
Amiga version
Game file
United Kingdom English
1 MB

Extras

Manual Manual 1
Extra file
DOS 31 MB English English
Misc Misc 2
Addendum
DOS 700 KB English English
Gunnery Data Editing Help
DOS 5 KB English English

Similar games

Air Warrior
4.1/5 - 22 votes
Air Warrior
DOS, Mac, Amiga, Atari ST, CDTV, FM Towns
1992
Advanced Destroyer Simulator
4.5/5 - 30 votes
Advanced Destroyer Simulator
DOS, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST
1990
5th Fleet
4.5/5 - 41 votes
5th Fleet
DOS
1994
Birds of Prey
4.5/5 - 29 votes
Birds of Prey
DOS, Amiga
1992
'Nam 1965-1975
4.0/5 - 147 votes
'Nam 1965-1975
DOS, Amiga, Atari ST
1991
688 Attack Sub
4.8/5 - 207 votes
688 Attack Sub
DOS, Genesis, Amiga
1989