In my previous post I set out four key areas that I look for in my 'perfect' set of WWII coastal actions rules:
Fast Play
Night fighting & illumination
Confusion
Doctrine & Morale
In the next two posts I'm going to look at five sets of coastal warfare rules from my collection and see how each of them measures up to these four key areas.
FAST ATTACK by M.O.D Games (1985)
This was my introduction to WWII coastal warfare and I remember playing several games with an old school friend who had bought the rules and a selection of Skytrex 1/600 ships. It was a lot of fun at the time but over 30 years later the rules are a bit dated, both in their presentation and mechanics.
There is a certain retro charm to this A5 stapled booklet with text that was originally produced on a typewriter and tables drawn with a pen and ruler. This was your standard rules format back in the day and it screams nostalgia for a wargamer of my generation. Happy days!
So much for the rose-tinted glasses. How do these rules fare against my four key requirements?
1. Fast Play
Movement is determined by a system of written orders. Hardly conducive to speed of play. And these rules love tables. I counted 29 of them over the 39 pages of the main rules. There is no QRS, but if one was provided it would be almost as long as the rules themselves. Firing has a list of 14 modifiers to consider and the damage tables go into great detail about the various locations hit. These must surely be the only WWII coastal warfare rules where it is possible to score a hit on your opponent's cable winch! Oh dear. So much for Fast Play.
2. Night fighting & illumination
The Introduction to the rules recognises that this is a representation of actions involving small vessels at night. There are rules for the effects of illumination (searchlights, flares and starshell) which give modifiers to spot and to hit targets. Strangely for a game set at night, the base for spotting and hitting assumes daylight conditions with negative modifiers being applied for unilluminated targets at night. The effect of fires on illumination seems to be completely ignored. There are no rules for target priority to allow for illuminated targets attracting enemy fire.
3. Confusion
FAST ATTACK has no rules for misidentification, friendly fire, or 'phantom' targets. I suppose that written orders may replicate the effects of confusion as players cannot instantly react to events as they occur. However, rules for accidental collisions are absent, which is strange as with all the pre-written orders they are bound to occur.
4. Doctrine & Morale
There are no rules for these aspects at all.
Overall then:
Fast Play 0/5 ✩✩✩✩✩
Night fighting & illumination 2/5 ✮✮✩✩✩
Confusion 1/5 ✮✩✩✩✩
Doctrine & Morale 0/5 ✩✩✩✩✩
ACTION STATIONS! Edition 3.1 by David Manley (A&A Games, 2003)
These rules had their genesis back in 1993 under the title Schnellboot, published by SDD and have gone through several revisions and expansions since then, first appearing as Action Stations! in 1995 published by Felix Enterprises. My copy is version 3.1 published by A&A Games in 2003.
David Manley, naval architect, long-time wargamer and naval wargames rules author will be familiar to anyone with more than a passing interest in naval wargaming. It's fair to say that when it comes to naval wargames, David knows his subject - so how do these rules stack up against my four key requirements?
1. Fast Play
The order of movement is determined by a dice roll for initiative for each vessel. All quite straightforward and quick to accomplish. There are three pages of Quick Reference Tables (the rules are fairly table-heavy), though some of these cover aspects that won't occur in every game, such as Grounding, Aircraft, Submarines and Q Ships. Firing is quite straightforward, but there are 17 possible firing modifiers and a Matrix of Damage effects. It is possible to memorise the sequence of play, but you will probably find that frequent reference to the tables on the QRT is needed for such basic game functions as firing and damage - so not really Fast Play.
2. Night fighting & illumination
There is a comprehensive section on Visibility and Detection which covers the effects of night-time combat, though the author points out that this really needs the assistance of an umpire unless dummy markers are used. Vessels on fire are considered to be illuminated and therefore easier to hit, but there are no rules for target priority or attracting enemy fire. There are rules for Starshells, Flares, Searchlights, plus optional rules for the effects of Superior Camouflage, Darkened Shores and Illuminated Areas, so the effects night fighting and illumination are well covered.
3. Confusion
There are rather over-complicated rules covering the effect of collisions, but nothing specific about the causes, accidental or otherwise. There are no rules for friendly fire or 'phantom' targets. However, optional rules for Lines of Fire covers the risk of accidentally hitting an intervening vessel when shooting at targets beyond.
4. Doctrine & Morale
There are optional rules for rescuing survivors from the water and for transferring personnel from one boat to another, for example if one boat is crippled or sinking. Whilst these rules cover the mechanics of rescue, they offer no incentive or reason to attempt it. As there are no rules governing crew behaviours or morale, it is possible for play to continue to the bitter end unless the players apply common sense or agree scenario objectives.
ACTION STATIONS! therefore measures up as follows:
Fast Play 2/5 ✮✮✰✰✰
Night fighting & illumination 4/5 ✭✭✭✭✰
Confusion 1/5 ✮✰✰✰✰
Doctrine & Morale 1/5 ✮✰✰✰✰
COASTAL PATROL by James Schmidt (2011)
2. Night fighting & illumination
There is a comprehensive section on Visibility and Detection which covers the effects of night-time combat, though the author points out that this really needs the assistance of an umpire unless dummy markers are used. Vessels on fire are considered to be illuminated and therefore easier to hit, but there are no rules for target priority or attracting enemy fire. There are rules for Starshells, Flares, Searchlights, plus optional rules for the effects of Superior Camouflage, Darkened Shores and Illuminated Areas, so the effects night fighting and illumination are well covered.
3. Confusion
There are rather over-complicated rules covering the effect of collisions, but nothing specific about the causes, accidental or otherwise. There are no rules for friendly fire or 'phantom' targets. However, optional rules for Lines of Fire covers the risk of accidentally hitting an intervening vessel when shooting at targets beyond.
4. Doctrine & Morale
There are optional rules for rescuing survivors from the water and for transferring personnel from one boat to another, for example if one boat is crippled or sinking. Whilst these rules cover the mechanics of rescue, they offer no incentive or reason to attempt it. As there are no rules governing crew behaviours or morale, it is possible for play to continue to the bitter end unless the players apply common sense or agree scenario objectives.
ACTION STATIONS! therefore measures up as follows:
Fast Play 2/5 ✮✮✰✰✰
Night fighting & illumination 4/5 ✭✭✭✭✰
Confusion 1/5 ✮✰✰✰✰
Doctrine & Morale 1/5 ✮✰✰✰✰
COASTAL PATROL by James Schmidt (2011)
These rules were presented in the Too Fat Lardies 2011 Summer Special and billed as "A complete set of rules for small ships in WWII". The author himself concludes the rules with the comment that they provide "a framework to fight the coastal warfare battles of WWII" to which players are encouraged to do their own research. All the usual sections covering detection, movement, firing, torpedoes and damage are present - but do they cater to my four key requirements? Let's take a look:
1. Fast Play
TooFatLardies (TFL) games are well known for their use of card activation to determine the order of play and Coastal Patrol is no exception. This is about as Fast Play as you can get. Draw a card and activate a vessel. Simple. Where things slow down a bit is that each time a card is drawn, the owning player has to make a dice roll and consult a table to determine how many Actions the vessel's commander can issue that turn. Yes, this is another set of rules that loves tables. There's at least one table on every single page of the rules. Let's take the process of firing automatic weapons as an example. First add up the total Firepower factors for all the weapons firing and consult the Damage Dice Table to determine how many d6 are rolled. Next consult the Auto Fire To Hit Table to determine what you need to roll on each d6 to hit. Now consult the Speed & Size Modifier Table, cross-referencing the vessel's speed and size to find out if any modifiers apply to the dice rolls. Finally, apply modifiers if either firing vessel or target are evading. And now, at last, roll those dice! Are you still reading this?
2. Night fighting & illumination
The rules assume that the action takes place at night and the effects of illumination are represented by modifiers to detection attempts. It feels odd that there are no similar illumination modifiers for firing. There are rules to determine whether a vessel catches fire and the ensuing damage, but nothing covering the effect of this on target priority.
3. Confusion
Coastal Patrol makes use of 'blinds' (another TFL staple) to represent hidden movement and the 'fog of war'. Coupled with the randomisation provided by card activation, this neatly replicates some of the confusion and unpredictability of fast naval actions conducted at night. Add to this the requirement for a vessel's speed and direction to remain constant from turn to turn unless ordered to change and you have a ready-made recipe for accidental collisions and confusion. The only thing missing from the mix is the risk of misidentification and friendly fire.
4. Doctrine & Morale
Crews in Coastal Patrol never have to consider acceptable levels of damage or losses. They never have to test morale or worry about rescuing friendly crews from stricken vessels. In short, the effects of doctrine and morale are not covered at all.
So, to sum up Coastal Patrol:
Fast Play 1/5 ✮✩✩✩✩
Night fighting & illumination 1/5 ✮✩✩✩✩
Confusion 3/5 ✮✮✮✩✩
Doctrine & Morale 0/5 ✩✩✩✩✩
In my next post, I'll conclude my assessment by looking at another pair of WWII coastal warfare rules from my collection - and attempt to draw some conclusions about the general approach to rules writing for these conflicts.
1. Fast Play
TooFatLardies (TFL) games are well known for their use of card activation to determine the order of play and Coastal Patrol is no exception. This is about as Fast Play as you can get. Draw a card and activate a vessel. Simple. Where things slow down a bit is that each time a card is drawn, the owning player has to make a dice roll and consult a table to determine how many Actions the vessel's commander can issue that turn. Yes, this is another set of rules that loves tables. There's at least one table on every single page of the rules. Let's take the process of firing automatic weapons as an example. First add up the total Firepower factors for all the weapons firing and consult the Damage Dice Table to determine how many d6 are rolled. Next consult the Auto Fire To Hit Table to determine what you need to roll on each d6 to hit. Now consult the Speed & Size Modifier Table, cross-referencing the vessel's speed and size to find out if any modifiers apply to the dice rolls. Finally, apply modifiers if either firing vessel or target are evading. And now, at last, roll those dice! Are you still reading this?
2. Night fighting & illumination
The rules assume that the action takes place at night and the effects of illumination are represented by modifiers to detection attempts. It feels odd that there are no similar illumination modifiers for firing. There are rules to determine whether a vessel catches fire and the ensuing damage, but nothing covering the effect of this on target priority.
3. Confusion
Coastal Patrol makes use of 'blinds' (another TFL staple) to represent hidden movement and the 'fog of war'. Coupled with the randomisation provided by card activation, this neatly replicates some of the confusion and unpredictability of fast naval actions conducted at night. Add to this the requirement for a vessel's speed and direction to remain constant from turn to turn unless ordered to change and you have a ready-made recipe for accidental collisions and confusion. The only thing missing from the mix is the risk of misidentification and friendly fire.
4. Doctrine & Morale
Crews in Coastal Patrol never have to consider acceptable levels of damage or losses. They never have to test morale or worry about rescuing friendly crews from stricken vessels. In short, the effects of doctrine and morale are not covered at all.
So, to sum up Coastal Patrol:
Fast Play 1/5 ✮✩✩✩✩
Night fighting & illumination 1/5 ✮✩✩✩✩
Confusion 3/5 ✮✮✮✩✩
Doctrine & Morale 0/5 ✩✩✩✩✩
In my next post, I'll conclude my assessment by looking at another pair of WWII coastal warfare rules from my collection - and attempt to draw some conclusions about the general approach to rules writing for these conflicts.
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