Return to Rules

World War 1 and 2 Naval rules

Steve Burt (shubniggurath@blackgoat.freeserve.co.uk) 

The table is marked in dots in a hex pattern. The table should be at least 40 hexes across its smallest dimension. 1:3000 scale models are best to allow a reasonable size of table. Each move represents 10 minutes of real time, and each hex represents 1 nautical mile, so ships move 1 dot per 6 knots, rounded to the nearest half dot.

Players move & fire one ship at a time. Determine order using a pack of cards - red for one side, black for the other. When your colour comes up, you can move & fire any one ship which has not yet moved. Mark ships which have moved.

1. Remove any smoke generated by this ship from last move

2. Announce torpedo fire. Fire guns if desired.

3. Move and lay smoke if required

4. Fire guns if not yet fired and work out effects

5. Work out torpedo effects

6. Fight fires, work out fire damage. Other damage control

Fractional moves are done by moving alternate ‘Long’ and ‘Short’ moves e.g. a 32 knot vessel moving at max speed (5.5) does 6 hexes in a long move, 5 in a short

Turns-move Battleship 1, cruiser 2, destroyer 3, smaller 4

Cruisers and larger MUST always move 1 hex forward before making a turn. Smaller vessels may turn on the spot. All turns after the first must be preceded by a hex forward.

Gun / torpedo ranges / damage

Calibre	Point Blank	Short	Medium	Long	Extreme	Damage
18	3	6	9	12	16	60
16	3	6	9	12	16	50
15	3	6	9	12	15	40
14	3	6	9	12	15	30
13	2	5	8	11	14	25
12	2	5	8	10	13	20
11	2	4	7	9	12	17
10	2	4	6	8	11	15
9	2	4	6	8	11	13
8-7.5	2	4	6	8	10	12
7-6.5	2	4	6	7	9	10
6-5.5	1	3	5	6	8	8
5	1	2	4	5	7	7
4.5	1	2	4	5	6	6
4	1	2	3	4	5	5
3.5	1	2	3	4		4
3	1	2	3	4		2
Smaller	1	2	3			1
24" Torp	1	2	4	6	8	120
21" Torp	1	2	3	4	5	100
19.7" Torp		1	2	3	4	80

Basic roll to hit per gun:

7 at extreme, 6 at long, 5 at medium, 4 at short, 3 at point blank

-1 to roll if torpedoes fired at end on target

-1 to roll if firing into or out of smoke (cannot fire through smoke)

To roll numbers over 6, you must roll a 6, then re-roll every 6

7 is 6, followed by 4,5,6

8 is 6, followed by 5,6

9 is 6, followed by 6

 Firing AA armament at close range. Divide AA factor by 1d6 at 1 hex, 2d6 at 2 hexes to get points damage.

 Roll on critical hit table whenever ship loses 10% of its points value.

Roll 1d6

1 Small gun turret (if none, torpedo tubes)

2,3 Main turret

4,5 Engines. Lose 1 point of speed.

6 Special roll 2d6 on table below

Turret hits can be ‘saved’ on a 4,5,6 by a battleship, a 5,6 by a battlecruiser or heavy cruiser and a 6 by a light cruiser to reflect the heavy armour in this area

Special Hits

2	Large fire
3	Large fire
4	Torpedo tubes or depth charges
5	Medium fire
6	AA gun nest
7	Small fire
8	Bridge No firing or turns next move
9	Rudder - jammed till 5,6 thrown
10	Firing control -1 to firing for rest of game
11	Catapult or ASDIC
12	Magazine - ship explodes and sinks

Fires roll each move.

1,2,3 fire drops one class

4 fire stays same

5 fire goes up one class

6 fire goes up two classes

Fires may also do Points damage small fire does so on 1, medium on 1,2, large on 1,2,3 10x die roll

If a large fire goes up, roll on the critical hit table for each class it goes up.

(British Battle-Cruisers will explode if this happens)

Rudder hit 1,2 jammed left, 3,4, straight ahead, 5,6 jammed right. 5,6 to cure

Movement

Speed (knots)	Move (hexes)	Speed (knots)	Move (hexes)
1..4	0.5	23..25	4
5..7	1	26..28	4.5
8..10	1.5	29..31	5
11..13	2	32..34	5.5
14..16	2.5	35..37	6
17..19	3	38..40	6.5
20..22	3.5	41..42	7

Points value of ships is 2 per 100 tons for warships, 1 per 100 tons for merchant ships.

1.5 per 100 tons for ships built before 1920

Merchant ships move at 2 (12 knots) and have a points value of 50. Every time a merchant ship takes 10 points of damage, roll 1d6:

1..5 Lose 1/2 point speed.

6 Explode and sink.

Tankers add 1. Ammo carriers add 2

Planes

Move at 20 hexes for fighters and recce aircraft, 16 for bombers and torpedo craft

They may stay up for a maximum of 12 moves.

Aircraft launched torpedoes require 5,6 to hit if launched beam on, 6 if end on.

Bombs require 6 to hit if target travelling at 6 hexes`, 5,6 if at 2..5 hexes, 4,5,6 if slower

Bombs do damage 500lb..30, 880lb..60, 1000lb..70

AA

May divide rating as required. divide by 1d6 vs torpedo aircraft, 2d6 against others. Round down to see how many are shot down.

Air to air roll per plane

Attacker	Defender
	Fighter	Bomber	Torpedo
Fighter	5,6	4,5,6	3,4,5,6
Bomber	6	5,6	5,6
Torpedo	6	5,6	5,6

Carriers will lose flight facilities until repaired (5,6) for every ‘turret’ lost. British carriers with armoured flight decks may ‘save’ such a hit from BOMBS only on a 5,6.

Mines

Consider there are 10 mines per hex. A ship passing through a mined hex takes 10x2d6 damage, but a 12 is a lucky escape. The minefield is cleared either when 10 ships have been hit, or by a minesweeper. A minesweeper takes 2 moves to clear a hex, but up to 4 may sweep a given hex in a turn, in which case they can sweep a complete channel between them.

Submarines.

Subs are represented on table by up to 3 numbered blanks, each numbered blank being in three colours for surfaced (Green), periscope (yellow) and deep (blue). Each blank should have an arrow on it to show facing. The sub player should have a list of which blanks represent subs. If blanks are in the same place at any time in the move, the sub may be ‘moved’ from one to the other.

May be at 3 depths:

Surfaced, Periscope depth (can still see and be seen ) and Deep (blind). It takes 1 move to switch depths. The sub may not move when changing depth.

Submerged subs move at only 1 per move.

A ship with ASDIC starting or ending or passing through their hex may detect them. Roll during that ship’s move. Needs a 3,4,5,6 at periscope depth, a 5,6 otherwise. If so, it may depth charge.

2,4,6 do that many points damage at periscope depth, half damage if the sub is deep. For every 2 points damage a sub takes, roll 1d6:

1	One set of torpedo tubes knocked out
2	Engine hit. Sub reduced to half speed or dead in water (if already half speed)
3,4,5	Forced to surface. May not dive again until it makes a repair roll (5,6)
6	Sunk

The depth charge and ASDIC rolls should be made by the referee, or the sub commander if there isn’t a ref.

U boats can fire torpedoes in pairs, rather than a whole salvo, if they wish, and may also reload tubes. They must keep track of how many torpedoes they have left.

Reloading requires a whole move during which torpedoes cannot be fired. Their torpedo arc is 120 degrees to bow (and stern if stern tubes are fitted)

Visibility

In the day, can be up to 20 miles (perfect) or a number of d6 (1..5) max 20. If variable, roll every move to see actual distance. Radar always goes out to 20 miles. Roll at the beginning of every long move to see if visibility changes:

1 gets worse 1 class, 6 gets better.

At night, all ranges are halved, rounding down.

If something is in visibility, large things like battleships are always seen. Smaller ones must be rolled for:

Cruiser-merchant ship	2..6
Destroyer	3..6
Small vessel	4..6
U boat	5..6

Modifiers

+1 if more than one ship

+1 per 2 miles less than max visibility

+1 spotting from a periscope

Periscopes can only be seen at all at half visibility, and then require a 9, modified as above.

So in good visibility daytime, a periscope needs a 9 at 9 or 10 miles, an 8 at 7 or 8, a 7 at 5 or 6, a 6 at 3 or 4, a 5 at 1 or 2 and a 4 if in the same hex. Of course, ASDIC equipped ships can use ASDIC.

Periscopes are only considered as spotting targets if the U boat has just fired.

Remember that EACH ship in visibility can roll.