STATIONS MANNED AND READY! PART 2 WORLD WAR TWO SURFACE ACTION

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1 1 STATIONS MANNED AND READY! PART 2 WORLD WAR TWO SURFACE ACTION RULES FOR NAVAL WARGAMES 1920 TO 1945 BY ANDREW FINCH AND ALAN BUTLER EDITION 1.0 First published by A&AGE 2007 All rules and text in this publication are Copyright 2007 A&AGE All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record or otherwise whatsoever, without the prior permission of the publisher and author. Permission is granted to copy the Squadron Record sheet for personal use only. Not to be copied, resold or otherwise distributed (see Terms and Conditions)

2 2 INDEX Preparation for a game 1. INTRODUCTION THE BASICS Scales Equipment required Bases Definitions Measuring Distances Sequence of Events COMMAND AND CREW Commanders Crew Commanding Squadrons Taking Command Combat effects on Command and Crew Command and Crew Tests GAME SET-UP AND VICTORY CONDITIONS Selection of Forces Scouting Forces Weather Tactical Visibility Terrain Laying out the Game Environment Calculation of Scouting Values Tactical Advantage Randomised Deployment of Forces Reserve Forces and Flank Marches End of Game... 9 Fighting the battle 5. ORDER OF PLAY MOVEMENT Movement Forward and Astern Turning Leaving and Joining Squadrons Leaving the table Smoke Screens Collisions and Ramming Transferring Commanders Grounding ARCS OF FIRE GUN COMBAT Weapon ranges Lines of Sight and Arcs of Fire Effect of Night Basic Gun Combat Procedure Gunnery On Target rolls Damage Table Effect of Gunnery damage if Structure or Flotation is reduced to zero Structural Critical Hits STRUCTURAL CRITICAL HIT TABLE TORPEDO COMBAT Field of Fire Lines of Sight and Arcs of Fire Night Time Attacks Attack Types Basic Torpedo Attack Procedure Torpedo To Hit rolls Damage Table Effect of Torpedo damage if Flotation is reduced to zero Underwater Critical Hits Japanese Torpedoes in World War UNDERWATER CRITICAL HIT TABLE REPAIR, MORALE, LOST COMMANDERS, SINKING SHIPS Repairs Morale Replacing Lost Commanders Sinking Ships RADAR Introduction Interpretation of Radar data and effects Costs...24 NOTE CONCERNING ADDITIONAL GAME DATA...24 Scenarios and Game Data 12. WORLD WAR TWO SCENARIOS Correction Factor Repair Rules in linked scenarios The Battles of Narvik Fjord The Battle of Cape Spartivento Action off Syria The Battle of the Java Sea The Second Battle of Syrte The Battle of Savo Island WARSHIP DATA Abbreviations Filling in the Squadron Record Sheet France Germany Great Britain Italy Japan Netherlands United States Generic...43 SQUADRON RECORD SHEET...44 An A and A Game Engineering Download Product

3 3 1 INTRODUCTION Background to the Rules A & A Game Engineering has a running theme in its products, namely development of rules for playing Naval and Air Wargames. Our particular aim has been to provide a set of rules which are easy to play, without extensive book keeping being required, and in particular requiring no umpires or referees (such beings appear to proliferate particularly in games for the era from 1914 onwards). The Stations Manned and Ready series provides rules operating at squadron level, allowing relatively large battles to be fought, on a normal wargames table in 2 to 4 hours. Large battles can be managed by splitting them into episodes from the original battle. The series of rules will be supported by ready calculated ship data tables and scenarios. The underlying rules for command, movement, gunnery and damage, as well as ship construction are standardised. The first volume covered World War One, where we dealt with the basics. Moving on now to World War Two the intricacies of radar and air power are incorporated into the basic rules structure, though the intricacies of air power, carrier and air base operations will be covered in the third part of the series. Part Two remains essentially a set of rules covering ship to ship combat. We decided, however, that in some parts of the rules text it was better to leave the expanded text with references to the use of aircraft in place. It is also important to remember that some ships present in the First World War are also present in the Second World War, though game data will often be different as they were subject to extensive refits between the wars. All data for vessels and guns is defined using the same parameters, so you could use an obsolete Pre-Dreadnought from 1890 in a battle with a modern 1943 vintage ship. In the Second World War the concept of Quick Firers is no longer appropriate as the threat has moved away from small craft to aircraft, and the role of small calibre guns alters to counter the air threat. Reliable gun data for the Second World War is available in a number of standard works which we used to correlate the information and check for consistency. The range of vessels covered in the rules ranges from the smallest at a displacement of 250 tons to the biggest battleships of World War Two. We debated whether to include vessels used by coastal forces as well, but in the end decided against this because the aim of the rules is for big ship action, where small craft would not usually be present. There are very few cases where battleships and MTBs were involved in the same action, and the effectiveness of the latter is open to doubt in such a battle. The combat system in the rules makes use of a system of Range Bands, each of which is 5,000 yards. This simplifies several aspects of the rules. The actual range of the weapons concerned has been converted into range bands. Part of this process includes some rounding, and purists may question this. Bear in mind that the game turn lasts for 6 minutes, and during this period, the engaged ships have been moving (at different speeds), courses will be altering and the actual ranges will have fluctuated. This does not even start to address the effects of using different propellants, super-charges, shell types or shell shapes. In addition, it must be remembered that the actual model is considerably larger than it should be in the scale being used, and could also be deemed to be anywhere within area of its base. It therefore seemed reasonable to move away from measuring an actual range in centimetres every time, with all the painstaking time wasting involved. Using the range band system is much quicker, and you are either in range or not. In real life the gun range may have been greater or less than the range bands would indicate, but we feel that a pragmatic approach here is appropriate. The engagement ranges adopted in the rules have also been capped at 25,000 yards. We have found no reliable evidence that any effective engagement took place at longer ranges, either under radar control or using a spotter. We discovered reference to the longest direct fire hit, being that by the Scharnhorst while shooting at HMS Glorious in 1940 off Norway (at ca 25,000 yards Scharnhorst s guns are capable of firing in excess of 40,000 yards, but how could you ever see such a target?). Armour protection on a ship is derived by applying a relative strength modifier for the armour type, based on nationality and construction date, converting it to an equivalent thickness of Krupp Cemented armour. This is then converted to an armour class, which regulates shell penetration (converted using the same formula). Armoured vessels also gain a structural bonus depending on the protection on significant parts of the ship. This adds to their survivability, especially given that the combat system we have adopted does not automatically reduce the combat equipment as you damage a ship. Damage is caused to structure and flotation from weapons hits. It is assumed that once the vessels engage, gunfire is continuous with small amounts of damage being incurred. The damage caused during gunnery and torpedo combat represents significant hits that cause serious damage to the vessel. This damage may also be due to fires and flooding, for which we have deliberately avoided separate rules. The damage repair rules allow a ship s structure and flotation to be repaired during the game, which may represent fire fighting or pumping out flooded areas. You need to inflict critical hits on the ship to knock out its equipment. In some cases you will have to penetrate the armour, in others you will not. It is perfectly reasonable for a ship to be sunk while all its main guns may still be operational, and similarly (though less likely) to have lost your armament but the hull is relatively unscathed. This is the luck of the draw. Acknowledgements Some underlying concepts in these rules came from a natural progression of work done by David Manley, developed further when we were preparing an updated edition of one of his rule sets. Both he and Simon Stokes helped to round off the first edition of Part I of the rules, with useful ideas and suggestions. We would like to thank the Imperial War Museum for the help in providing access to their library, which was valuable when researching weapons for the period before World War Two. The internet also provided us with a good data from the website The workings for the armour values are based on work done by Nathan Okun on Finally, thanks are also given to the eager gamers from Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society, who are always pleased to assist with play testing, and who come up with plenty of helpful criticism of game mechanisms. Changes from Part 1 Some of the rules have been altered from those that appeared in the first printing of Part 1 (edition 1.0). The main changes are to the game set-up routine and to the rules for grounding. These changes are available as a download from our website. Not to be copied, resold or otherwise distributed (see Terms and Conditions)

4 4 2 THE BASICS 2.1 Scales These rules have been written with 1/2400 or smaller scale models in mind. Larger models can be used such as 1/1200th scale by changing the units of measurement, though we would urge players to limit their actions to destroyer actions in such cases, unless you have access to a very large playing space. The basic scales are as follows: 1 knot = 1 centimetre 1,000 yards = 5 centimetres 1 nautical mile = 10 centimetres 1 Game Turn = 6 minutes 1 Range Band = 5,000 yards = 25 centimetres If you wish to make use of larger scale models then you can make use of inches instead of centimetres as your unit of measurement. The speed of a ship in knots is the distance moved in one game turn. 2.2 Equipment required Dice - at least two each of d6, d10, d20. It is recommended to have a large number of tiny d6 to mark initiative numbers on the models. Measuring Tapes, rulers etc. Pens, pencils Warship Data Sheets Firing Markers (Shell splashes) to mark salvos on target. These can be made by gluing cotton wool onto small washers. You will need quite a few of these. Turning templates with a 45 degree angle. These are also used to define arcs of fire. We also recommend two types of explosion marker with black smoke for a vessel at 1/3rd Structural value and white smoke for a vessel at 1/3rd Flotation value, so you can see which vessels require morale tests. 2.3 Bases We realise that many customers will already have based their models, and do not suggest that you rebase your fleet. However, the rules use the bases to regulate the interaction between ships in the game. There should be no problem as long as the bases are oblong and not of unreasonable size. The rule of thumb is to make the base the length of the model plus 2 cm, usually rounded to the nearest centimetre. This length allows the model to fit on the base with space for a name label at one end as well. Base width is important because wider bases may cause unwelcome interaction between ships during movement (i.e. collisions). We recommend the following widths for 1/2400th scale models, based on the size class of the vessel, which can be found in the Ship Data section that follows. Size Modifier Scale 3 and 2 1 and to + 3 1/ cm 4 cm 5 cm 1/ cm 3 cm 4 cm 1/3000 (optional) 2 cm 2.5 cm 3 cm 1/ cm 2 cm 3 cm 2.4 Definitions It is necessary to define certain terms in use in these rules. This is particularly true in the case of weapon mounts, so that the effects of the Critical Hit table as interpreted correctly. Please note that some of the definitions shown below refer to terms that we use in Part 3 of the series dealing with air power. Turrets are fully enclosed weapon mounts, which may or may not be armoured. These will be the main armament of cruisers and larger vessels. Most secondary batteries on battleships in World War Two are in turrets. They may also be the main armament of WW2 destroyers. Casemates are the classic side batteries for the secondary armament on large warships from the Pre-Dreadnought Era onwards. They had mostly vanished by World War 2, though some are still present. Shielded Guns are deck mounted weapons with a gun shield, which may be armoured, but is open at the rear, making the crew vulnerable to shrapnel. Open Guns are guns with no shields where the crew are very vulnerable to the effects of both blast and shrapnel. Short Range AA (SRAA) weapons are anti aircraft weapons of calibres of at least 20mm and less than 100mm (3.9 ). These weapons replace the Quick Firers of the First World War. Air Group is the aerial equivalent of a squadron of ships and describes a formation of one or more Stands of aircraft. Dual Purpose guns are AA guns between 3.9 and 5.3 calibre which can be fired at both a surface and an air target. IP (Impact Power) is a value reflecting damage caused by a weapon, taking account of rate of fire and other factors. Squadron is the term we have chosen to use throughout the rules to describe a tactical formation of one or more ships, led by a Commander. Stand is a 30mm square counter or base with a model aircraft on it, representing a tactical unit of airplanes, containing a maximum of 24 aircraft. 2.5 Measuring Distances Distances between ships are measured between the nearest front corners of the bases. Using Un-based models If you are using un-based models, then distances are measured from between the bows of the vessels. 2.6 Sequence of Events These rules operate on the basis that everything happens when it happens, which means that results must be applied sequentially. This is particularly true when applying Critical Hits, because the effects of one result might cause a knock-on effect on the next. This means that if you should have to roll a more than one Critical Hit dice, then roll each separately and apply the results before rolling the next. An A and A Game Engineering Download Product

5 5 3 COMMAND AND CREW Please note that this section of the rules includes those aspects that concern aircraft, which appear in Part 3 of the series. In World War Two we introduce the added factor of air power. Command and Crew for air formations is handled in the same fashion as ships. As shows under the definitions, ships operate in Squadrons, while aircraft operate in Air Groups. The game mechanism requires that each such formation has a commander. In a small battle you could choose to place a commander on each vessel or stand of aircraft, though this will have implications in the points value for the forces, as you will see. There may be circumstances in which you might choose to have one or more extra commanders, to increase the flexibility in the game. The system below allows for the players to randomly generate command values based on a level or type of training, though you can also directly purchase the command level you want. We prefer the random generation system. Similarly, crews are also rated using the same random generation system, and again you could specifically select a type of crew if you wish. Normally we would say that you should apply the same crew quality to a whole squadron or air group, if only for ease of play. In a small game, you could determine the crew for each ship or stand. The generation system requires the player to make a decision on the relative level of training that applies to the country or fleet in question. This is classified between I (the worst) and V (the best). There are some suggested value ranges in the table on the right, which you could use, or you can make your own interpretation. Having selected your Training level, find this in the table below, roll a d10, and read the result from the bottom of the table, either for command or crew. There is no requirement that command and crew training should be of the same level. In the following rules, unless specifically stated otherwise, stands of aircraft are treated in the same way as individual ships. They must stay in the command radius of their Air Group Commander in order to function effectively. 3.1 Commanders Each squadron or air group must have a Commander, who is ranked for tactical skill and initiative, providing a Command Modifier used during initiative and morale tests. It is also used when testing to bring off table forces into the action. Command Cost, Radius and # of ships The training level of a commander determines how much he costs. If randomising the result of training, the final result may nor be what you wanted, you may be lucky and get a better commander, or unlucky and get a worse one... The cost remains the same. If you are directly selecting a commander, without random generation, then the rank selected can also be read from this table and the appropriate cost paid. The commander has a command radius from his vessel or stand, which is determined by his value. These rules do not go into the Training or... Command Ships (Cost/Radius/#) I Inept 400 / 20 cm / 4 II Poor 900 / 30 cm / 5 III Average 1600 / 40 cm / 6 IV Skilled 2500 / 50 cm / 7 V Brilliant 3600 / 60 cm / 8 Table of National Training Characteristics Nationality British WW2 France WW2 until 1940 Vichy Free French Germany WW2 until end 1942 WW2 from 1943 Holland (WW2) Italy WW2 very wide variety Japan WW2 until end 1942 WW WW WW Russia WW2 (very variable) Spain Spanish Civil War United States WW2 until end 1942 WW WW onwards Others Range III-V I-III IV-V II-III I-IV IV-V I II-III I-III intricacies of how command is exercised in the squadron. Signalling and communications are looked after by the Commander s team, and their efficiency is factored into the radius and the command cost. Finally, a commander is also limited in the number of vessels or stands which he can command effectively during a turn. His formation may be composed of more than this number of units, but only this number may actually carry out actions that require them to be In Command. This number is not reduced by combat effects. Training You choose to pay for an average ship commander at 1600 points and decide to risk randomising his training by rolling a d10: a score of 1!, meaning that you actually get an inept 2 commander. I-V I-III III-V Find D 10 score below and go to resulting value at bottom of table I 1 to 7 8 to 9 10 II 1 to 3 4 to 7 8 to 9 10 III 1 2 to 3 4 to 7 8 to 9 10 IV 1 2 to 3 4 to 7 8 to 10 V 1 2 to 3 4 to 10 Command Inept Poor Average Skilled Brilliant Crew Green Raw Average Veteran Elite Modifier Aircraft (Cost/Radius/#) 100 / 10 cm / / 15 cm / / 20 cm / / 25 cm / / 30 cm / 8 Not to be copied, resold or otherwise distributed (see Terms and Conditions)

6 6 Placing Commanders The commanders that have been created are attached to squadrons or air groups after all Command ratings have been generated. The best rating ought to be applied to the best formation, and those that that were known historically to have been badly commanded ought to be given the worst. 3.2 Crew In real life the captain of every vessel or commander of an air unit would also have a command rating. In game terms this is dealt with by giving the crew of each ship or stand a rating, referred to as Crew Quality, reflecting their training and ability to work together. The modifiers are applied to various game tests including gunnery and damage control. These values are generated as described earlier, normally for the whole formation, though you could generate them individually in a small game. Effect of Crew Training on costs As the crew quality has a direct effect on the game, this is reflected in the costs of the units concerned. As in the case of commanders, the cost modifier is applied whether the crew is randomised from a training level or selected in advance. If you are directly selecting a crew, without random generation, then the quality selected can also be read from this table. The points values of ships or stands are modified using the figures shown below. Having generated the commander above, you now roll for the crew, again with a d10: 10, providing an elite +2 crew. Training or... I II III IV V Quality Green Raw Average Veteran Elite Cost 20% 10% + 0% + 10% + 20% Optional effect of command when generating crew Historically, a commander had an effect on the efficiency of his crews. For this reason you may if you wish apply the command modifier to the crew quality dice roll. The score cannot exceed 10 or go below 1. Obviously the commander must have been allocated to a formation before the roll is made. If you apply this optional rule, the above score would only have been 8, giving a veteran +1 crew. 3.3 Commanding Squadrons or Air Groups It is desirable that all ships in a squadron or stands in an air group should be within the command radius of their commander. This is measured between the nearest front corners of the bases. Ships and stands that are within the radius are described as being In Command and may carry out all listed actions after movement is completed. There is however a limit in the number of vessels or stands in a squadron that can be commanded in this way. The number, between 4 and 8, depends on the Command value of the Commander. There are a few actions can be carried out when the unit is not In Command, and these are indicated. These actions do not count against the number limit described above, so you could let damaged units fall back Out of Command where they could undertake repairs before returning to the fray. Effect of visibility on Command It is not necessary that ships have to be to be in sight of one another. The reality is that Morse, radio telegraphy and radio are not secure, so even in World War 2 the method of signalling most often used is by lamp. For game purposes, there are so many imponderables that could have an effect on the radius of command, both positive and negative, that we have adopted the pragmatic approach and say that... Lines of Sight Visibility Range Size of the vessels involved...have no effect on Command radius. Naturally, all these factors are relevant to combat and other interactions. 3.4 Taking Command It may become necessary to reorganise the forces during an action, either due to losses or other circumstances. A Commander may take command of another ship or stand by using an action of the unit where he is located. The subordinate unit must be within the new commander s Command Radius at the end of the movement phase. There are two possible circumstances that can occur: A ship or stand has gone Out of Command due to loss of its Commander or having passed out of his Command Radius for a number of reasons. You are transferring a ship or stand between two squadrons or air groups and it is in the command radii of its previous and new commander. When it comes to the Action Phase, in either case the ship or stand is treated as being Out of Command until the end of the current game turn, which will limit the actions it can undertake. Any actions it does carry out are carried out in the Action Phase of its new formation. From the next turn onwards the ship or stand is treated as being In Command in its new squadron or air group. Note the original composition of a formation is relevant when taking Morale tests, when it is reduced to half strength or below. Any vessels or stands that have joined it, for whatever reason, are not counted towards its strength, nor do they count if they are lost (though they obviously do count towards losses of their original formation). 3.5 Combat effects on Command and Crew Combat results may reduce Command values, Command Radius and Crew Quality. These may not be reduced below 2 or 10 cm. 3.6 Command and Crew Tests At various points during the game, squadrons, air groups, ships and stands will have to carry out Command or Crew Tests. These are done by rolling 1d10, and modifying the result as follows: Add or deduct the Command or Crew Quality modifier. Deduct 2 if the testing unit is under any Fire Markers (including AA Fire markers) If the final result is 6 or greater the test is successful. In some cases there may be additional modifiers. An A and A Game Engineering Download Product