FSNA

Released for Windows in 1999, Fighting Steel: World War II Surface Combat 1939–1942 was developed by Divide By Zero Software and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. The game recreated surface engagements in the North Atlantic and South Pacific with the German, British, American and Japanese fleets.

Players commanded individual ships or complete divisions in a real-time 3D environment, setting courses and speeds, selecting targets and employing guns and torpedoes. Historical scenarios were accompanied by randomly generated battles and a scenario editor. Damage control was handled by the computer, while individual weapons, machinery and flotation could be impaired during an engagement.

Fighting Steel's campaign linked a sequence of generated missions, but it did not provide a strategic map on which fleets could be directed. That missing operational layer suggested a larger idea: a continuous North Atlantic campaign in the tradition of Great Naval Battles in the North Atlantic.

FSNA was written in Java as a strategic add-on for Fighting Steel. Inspired by the campaign of Great Naval Battles in the North Atlantic, it allowed Kriegsmarine task forces to be formed, supplied and directed across the North Atlantic in real time. Convoys, reconnaissance, contacts and changing weather turned isolated battles into one continuing operation.

When opposing forces met, FSNA generated a suitable Fighting Steel scenario and launched the tactical game. The battle itself was fought in Fighting Steel; afterwards, losses, damage and other results had to be entered into FSNA so that the strategic campaign could continue with the altered fleets.

The original project reached beta version 0.40 but was never completed. Only the Kriegsmarine campaign became playable, and the intended Allied campaign remained unfinished. Even so, it established the central concept that survives today: player-controlled task forces operating in a persistent, continuously evolving North Atlantic campaign.

FSNA: Reforged is a new JavaScript implementation based on the original FSNA concept. It runs directly in a modern browser, works offline and requires neither Java nor an installation of Fighting Steel. The strategic systems of the original return in a modern, self-contained form, expanded with persistent saves, detailed logistics and a clearer operational interface.

Both sides are now playable. Kriegsmarine commanders hunt Allied shipping while preserving a small surface fleet; Royal Navy commanders escort convoys, organize patrols and intercept German raiders. Three campaigns begin in 1939, 1940 or 1941 and continue until April 1945, with the 1940 scenario also bringing Japanese ships into the North Atlantic.

The former connection to Fighting Steel is no longer required. Campaign encounters are currently resolved by the game's automatic combat system using battle orders, ship capabilities, weather, crew condition and seeded chance. A new tactical surface-combat simulation is in active development and is intended to replace this abstract resolution once it has been integrated into the campaign.