Flying Colors ★★★★★

On the 21st of October 1805, in a light wind off the coast of Cape Trafalgar, Admiral Horation Nelson turned his fleet to engage a combined Franco-Spanish force on its way to Naples to deposit 4,000 troops in support of Napoleon's forces in Italy. The British fleet, organized into two columns, drove forward under threatening skies toward the enemy and just before noon, Nelson raised the famous signal:

"England expects that every man will do his duty."

Less than an hour later the two colossal fleets engaged in one of the most famous naval battles in history. It would become Nelson's greatest victory and would ensure British naval supremacy for decades, but he would never again see an English port.

Flying Colors recreates naval actions during the height of the Age of Sail, from small engagements to full battles involving dozens of ships in each fleet. Play is fast, furious, and does not require the pre-plotted movement found in many other naval games. Instead, a simple initiative and command system allows players to activate and maneuver their fleets in a realistic manner, indicating how older commanders adhered to rules of engagement where more forward thinking commanders, like Nelson, could retain control of their fleets after the first broadsides began to be exchanged.