The Hunted - Twilight of the U-Boats 1943-45 "No option but to fight on." — Grossadmiral Karl
Doenitz the time is: 0800 hours, 3 July 1943
The Hunted is a solitaire tactical level game placing you in
command of a German U-Boat during WWII. This is the long-anticipated sequel to
the award-winning, multiple-print edition release The Hunters, and picks up the
action where The Hunters left off. You command one of many U-Boat models
available starting in 1943 and look to successfully complete U-Boat operations
until the end of the war. Not only is this a standalone game, but fans of The
Hunters will enjoy having the capability to easily combine both games to span
all of WWII and experience the career of a U-Boat commander from 1939 until
1945.
While your mission is to destroy as much Allied shipping and
as many Capital ships as possible, players will find it extremely challenging
to "go the distance" and survive the entire war. The second half of
the war has not been sugar coated; the brutal aspects facing U-boat commanders
in the final phases of the war make surviving your attack difficult at best.
True to history, your challenge is to accomplish what only a few could achieve
— to make it to the conclusion, as happened historically.
The Hunted is purposely designed to deliver a brisk yet
intensive gaming experience that forces many decisions upon you as you take
command among the major German U-Boat models in service during WWII, and try to
survive until the end of the war. All major U-Boat models are accounted for,
with every level of detail, including period of service, armaments, crew
make-up, damage capacity, and more. Fans of The Hunters will enjoy the same
nail-biting game system, but fraught with many more challenges to withstand the
advances the Allies have made in anti-submarine warfare. If you ultimately
survive until 1945, you will surrender at port, having done your part on the
front lines.
As U-Boat commander, you will be confronting many decisions
during your patrol. To begin with, eleven German U-Boat models are profiled and
available for you to choose from. Patrol zones reflect the period during the
war at sea and will shift as the war progresses. All stages of the U-Boat
campaign are represented; missions become increasingly more difficult as your
adversary makes advances in anti-submarine warfare.
Conducting patrols are the heart of the system as you will
be resolving encounters against individual ships, convoys, enemy submarines,
and aircraft. Situations you face and decisions you make suddenly come in quick
succession:
Will you travel by Schnorkel with reduced visibility, or on
the surface to spot more targets?
How will you engage a convoy once spotted?
Can you survive after attacking, and will your BOLD decoys
work?
How many torpedoes will you fire, and at what targets?
Will you try to follow a convoy or ship to engage in
additional rounds of combat?
How will you slip away from escorts to avoid or minimize
damage?
What evasive maneuvers do you undertake?
The major German U-Boat models are represented and
accurately profiled for the patrols you will undertake during the latter stages
of the war:
Type VIIC
Type VIIC/41
Type VIIC-Flak
Type VIID
Type IXC
Type IXC/40
Type IXD-2
Type IXD/42
Type XB
Type XII (hypothetical)
Type XIV
Type XXI
Patrol Assignments include:
Arctic
Atlantic
Australia
Brazilian Coast
British Isles
Caribbean
Indian Ocean
Invasion (Atlantic)
Mediterranean
North America
Norway
West African Coast
The game delivers an historical narrative as 300+ ship
targets are uniquely identified (including tonnage) with their historical
counterparts that were sunk during the war, including freighters, tankers, and
American ships.
Game System Highlights:
12 German U-Boat types represented
12 Patrol Assignments including anti-invasion patrol
300 named shipping targets, including 20 Capital ships
Special Missions for Abwehr Agent Delivery, Supply Delivery,
Replenish, and Minelaying
Combat encounters with individual ships, ships with escort,
convoys, enemy submarines, and aircraft
Daytime and Night Engagement including Wolfpack patrols
U-Boat Damage includes flooding, hull, torpedo doors,
periscope, fuel tanks, crew injury (by crew type), engines, hydrophones, flak
gun(s), deck gun, batteries, radio
Crew Advancement, Commander Promotion including decorations
up to the Knight's Cross and new awards including the Wound Badge, U-Boat Front
Clasp, German Cross in Gold, and U-Boat War Badge
Multi-player and Tournament Rule options (including Wolfpack
Tournament)
Evasive Maneuvers, Patrol Abort, Variable Escort Quality,
Resupply at Sea, Gibraltar Passage, Reassignment to Newer U-Boat, Torpedo Duds,
BOLD decoys, "Alberich" Anti-sonar coating, Schnorkel, NAXOS radar
detector, Random Historical Events, and much, much more!
German technological advances abound in the second half of
the war. Decoys, Schnorkels, homing torpedoes, FaT ladder search pattern
torpedoes, and the Type XXI "Electroboot" have all given hope to the
U-Boat crews. But balanced against these are Allied ASW advances — Hedgehog,
Squid, Fido, and an ever-increasing air presence.
You were The Hunter, but now you are The Hunted. Can you
bring your boat home in a tension-packed situation where every decision may be
your last?
Game Components:
One ½” full-color counter sheet
One ¾” wide full-color counter sheet
Rules booklet with designer's notes
Five player aid cards, 2-sided
Six U-Boat Display Mats, 2-sided
Two U-Boat Patrol Maps, 2-sided
U-Boat Combat Mat
Eight U-Boat Kommandant Cards
U-Boat patrol logsheet
Three 6-sided, two 10-sided dice, and one 20-sided die
Boxed
Complexity: Low to Moderate
Average Playing Time: Two-Three Hours
Players: One (with options for more players)
Solitaire Suitability: Very High
Replayability: Very High
Returns Accepted for this item if it's within 30 Days