Fast Attack Boats

Fast Attack Boats is a board game simulating naval combat between Arab and Israeli missile boats during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. The game is an introductory level product with an emphasis on playability over historical accuracy.

Yaquinto Publications in 1980 issued Fast Attack Boats as one in their series of "Album Games", which used the same jacket as a double vinyl record album, with the mapboard printed inside the jacket and game components stored in the two pockets.

Fast Attack Boats may be played to represent a single engagement under the "Battle Game" rules, or a series of up to ten engagements under the "Strategic Game" rules. The mechanics of both are identical with the exception of fleet selection and deployment.

In the Battle Game, players agree upon a common total number of points for each fleet and select naval units of varying point values until each fleet has reached its limit. All units are immediately deployed, Arab units forming a line on one side of the mapboard and Israeli units on the other. The rectangular shape of the mapboard, long missile ranges, and the requirement for boats to use their full movement value often lead the two opposing sides into simple head-on charges. The range, large quantity and high degree of destructiveness of the cruise missiles also typically leaves the much shorter range guns and torpedoes to play a minimal role near the end of an engagement, and the confines of the mapboard limit boats trying to maneuver. Most battle games, therefore, are completed in 15–30 minutes or less and involve a significant degree of luck over skill. The winning player is the one with the last surviving boat on the mapboard.

The Strategic Game requires the use of all naval units, and divides the forces into three sides (Egyptian, Syrian and Israeli). The Arab player divides up the Egyptian and Syrian fleets for five rounds of combat each, while the Israeli player must fight all ten engagements (5 rounds against each Arab power). There is provision for players to shift forces from one round to the next, but the Egyptian and Syrian fleets operate independently and may not combine, a restriction the Israeli player does not face. The movement and combat sequence of play is identical to the Battle Game. The Strategic Game is slightly more complex than the Battle Game and may require three or more hours to resolve, but is still predominantly a game of chance. The winner is the first player to reach six victories, or in the event of an even number of victories, the side that lost the fewest total points in the values of the eliminated boats.

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