“Distant Guns” is a strategy game dealing with a rather obscure chapter in the history of armed conflict, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05

Short historical background:

Because of severe differences concerning Manchuria and Korea Japan started a war against Russia. War was officially declared on February 9 and 10. After a series of battles, including the decisive Battle of Tsushima in which the Russian fleet had been destroyed and over 5000 Russian sailors had perished, the Czar accepted an offer of mediation by US president Theodore Roosevelt. On September 5 1905 the Portsmouth Treaty, which gave the naval base Port Arthur and the southern half of Sachalin Island to Japan, was signed.

The test version:

The tested version (build 905 to 911) of Distant Guns is not the final edition, but already quite close to it, or so the developer/producer claims. All missions were available in the registered version, but the campaign module was not yet implemented. This mode could thus not yet be tested, although it would certainly have been among the most interesting features - at least in singleplayer mode. According to the manufacturer you will be able to decide things like mounting better guns to your ships or buy more supplies for your struggling ground troops instead.

The game:

A warning ahead: people who tend to think a game is only good when it has astonishing graphics should deter from it. Distant Guns has adequate graphics, but it is not up to scratch with high-end titles (see the following screenshots).

(Main menu of Distant Guns)

In the main menu you can make changes to sound and graphics settings.
Before starting a new battle, it pays to remember a few aspects. These are old-fashioned ships and not comparable to more recent models. If you expect to be able to open fire at a distance of 20 kilometers and still hit your target you will get a nasty surprise. Avarage battle distance is about six or seven kilometers, where you have a fair chance of actually scoring some hits. Torpedoes are even worse, they only have ranges of one to two thousand meters and thus have to be fired at point blank range. Everything else is a waste of precious ammunition and may lead to the situation that you have to break off the battle because you ran out of shells before even reaching optimal firing range.