Naval Action Update:
As Jim noted Naval Action is now indeed available on Steam Early Access ($39). This is essentially open Beta testing so the development including new features are continuing. The developers have said that there will be no more "hard wipes" meaning that your in game rank and experience will remain even if they reset the game progression. Pay attention to the PC graphics requirements because you do need a newer graphics card (DX11, shader model 5), but you don't need a high end card either.
Currently there are 23 different ships in the game from the starter cutter to the
Santisima Trinidad and more are being added. The game is set in the Caribbean of the late 18th century. The map is huge stretching from the Carolinas to Venezuela and from the Gulf coast of Mexico to the Windward islands. I think it takes something like 2+ hours RT to sail from Charlestown to Trinidad. You start out in a basic 12 gun cutter armed with 4 lb guns after selecting a nationality (Danish, Dutch, Spanish, British, French, Swedish, US or Pirate). You can board and capture larger ships but you need experience points to be able to command more crew to properly sail them. Once you have the rank and gold you can also buy larger ships, square riggers like brigs, post ships and frigates. They have implemented economic features including crafting and trading so you can build ships as well. You can sail on the open sea looking for other players to battle or traders to capture, or you can accept a mission in port which will set up a battle with AI near your port. There are also Events or Battles, which are essentially teams of players fighting in an area setting (at sea with a boundary so no running!). These are good for getting experience fighting and for ranking up. There is also a conquest feature where a group of players and attack and capture ports of other nations.
There is also a clan feature. I am in the premier US clan, "The Decatur Armada". Northern Wolves (Mike) on this forum is an officer in the clan. This can be similar to playing a large multiplayer SoG game with a long running campaign feature! You can also play the game solo, but I would say that this is a way for someone who does not have opponents for FtF miniatures gaming to have opponents and teammates.
During the development they are going to add captain and crew management features, upgrade port conquest with different types of forts, shoals and land and continue to develop the economy and trading feature. Ships slated to enter the game soon include
USS Essex, USS Niagara, Bucentaure, Ingermanland and an East Indiaman (modeled after the replica in Amsterdam).
One of the problems IMO at the moment is the treatment of Pirates as just another nation with character creation at the outset vs. having to "turn" pirate. This is not just another "Pirate" game by far. I think they are working on creating a difference experience for all the wanna be Jack Sparrows (fingers crossed). Overall a very fun game and the combat system is very well modeled. The only real downside is that like all computer games it is a time sink - and the reason why I havn't been painting/rigging ship models or around here discussing SoG miniatures (where is the 3rd Wave anyway!). :dazed:
Links:
http://decaturarmada.enjin.com/
http://www.navalaction.com/#ageofsail
http://forum.game-labs.net/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/311310/