I really enjoyed Warspite’s suggestions on missions and it got me thinking about things I like in naval wargames. One thing that's improved the naval theme of even very simple games for me has been the inclusion of a mechanism which forces players to split their forces from a fixed pool to achieve a number of different objectives. This has the side effect of making some units useful which might not be very valuable in the standard scenario offered in a game.
I’ve been working therefore on some rules that could be used for a “standard” campaign scenario, that is something that can be played quickly and without preparation. It’s scheduled for it’s first play test by our group this week but given how difficult it is to balance a scenario like this I thought I’d try and summarise the rules here and would be grateful for any feedback that’s on offer.
The basic idea is very simple. Take a an area of operations and split it into three sectors, northern, southern and central. A scenario/mission will be chosen by each player for each sector with units committed from a pool agreed before the game. These missions will be chosen from a small pool and will interact with each other to produce varied engagements. Victory points will be based on an abstract assessment of mission difficulty and the level of risk involved. The central sector always scores an additional victory point acting therefore as a tie break and likely to be the centre of operations. The idea is that players must plan to accumulate more victory points in total than their opponent whilst knowing that to be strong in one area will make them weak in another.
In addition there were four major themes I wanted to work in.
1. Aircraft could be committed to any sector but with penalties on the frequency of activation.
2. An abstraction of detection and fog of war to be driven by the sequence in which the missions are played. (So if you are playing the northern mission first and discover an enemy auxiliary carrier do you launch a strike from your carrier in the central section, or do you play safe in case you are also opposed by a fleet carrier in the central section with your aircraft already committed!)
3. The possibility for players to choose night actions to protect them from aircraft and opposing Capitol ships, forcing balanced fleet builds.
4. Loss or damage to Capitol ships, which are very powerful in the game, to be punished when determining victory.
The hope of all this being to force some interesting and difficult decision making whilst creating some scenarios/missions which have both a historical and naval feel.
I don’t doubt that there are currently major holes in play balance and scenario design so I’d be grateful for any observations.
Axis & Allies War at Sea
Campaign Scenario
(Sector Diagram attached.)
Forces are committed to scenario’s in each of the three sectors from a total pool agreed before the game but usually 200 points.
The scenario fought in the central sector is always worth one more point than face value.
Land based aircraft can operate in any sector but only activate once every four turns. Players need to keep a note of commitments that have already been made and when the aircraft are destroyed.
Carrier based aircraft can operate in their own sector as normal, or in an adjacent sector every other turn. Players need to keep a note of commitments that have already been made, including turns spent in transit, and when the aircraft are destroyed.
Each player commits forces to fight a scenario of their choice at the time of their choice, day or night. The victory points gained from these scenarios are added to determine the overall winner.
In addition to the basic victory points per scenario an additional victory point per scenario goes to whichever side scores the most prestige points.
Per Destroyer sunk 1
Per Submarine Sunk 2
Per hit on a Cruiser 1
Per crippled/sunk Cruiser (Or Aux Carrier) 1/2
Per hit on a Capital Ship 2
Per crippled/sunk Capital Ship 2/4
(Capital ship being a fleet carrier or battleship/battle cruiser)
Before force deployments are revealed campaign initiative needs to be determined. Count all flags as per game initiative but add one per Catalina and other long range land based bomber, (Condor, Betty etc.) and one per carrier. (Remember fleet carriers will also contribute their flag value.) Campaign initiative should be rolled with an upside-down cup being placed on the playing surface. Players should announce the total without showing the dice so that the opponent cannot guess fleet make-up from the initiative bonus. At the end of the game the cup can be lifted to reveal the dice roll. Whoever wins chooses the first sector to be played and the looser chooses the second.
Note that this is intended to mirror the vagaries of detection. You might place a carrier task force in the central section but find that you have to play the northern section first. Do you commit aircraft from your carrier in support of the northern action or wait to find out what faces you in the centre. (It should be noted that the same aircraft can be committed to more than one sector but can’t fly in the period before they have been committed in a previous scenario, in case they get shot down! So if you fly on turn four in support of the northern sector in the example above you will be able to fly surviving aircraft on turn 6 in the central sector. You won’t be able to fly in turn one to three in the central sector because if the aircraft are destroyed they couldn’t fulfil their commitment in the North.)
Missions/Scenarios( Choices to be written down and revealed simultaneously)
Force composition - Generally only one submarine per sector is allowed and no further air attacks are allowed if all naval forces have left the playing area.
1. Naval Superiority
Victory Pts 2 Win -1 Loss
Must maintain superiority day and night in the face of enemy action.
Must drive all enemy ships from the playing area whilst retaining an uncrippled cruiser, auxiliary carrier or Capital Ship.
If the opposition only commit submarines and aircraft the game will be limited to eight turns.
Capital ships can be withdrawn in any night time engagement.
2. Raid
Victory Points 0 Win 0 Lose
Can attack day or night, players choice, but decision must be revealed when announcing mission.
Must include ships and/or submarines. Can break contact and leave by own table edge at any time. Scenario ends when their is not surface element remaining on table.(The idea is to “steal” a victory point by obtaining superior prestige points then breaking contact.)
3. Convoy
Victory points 4 Win -1 Loss
Must defend against attack day or night.
Player gets two free merchant men and must move them from one side of their deployment zone to the other. Safely getting one over is a win. Losing both is a loss. If playing at night convoy player can deploy in their back three hexes. If both players choose convoy it is played during the day.
4. Landing 5 Win 0 Loss
Player may declare night or day.
Place an island two thirds of the way up the playing area. The player gets two merchant men one of which must be successfully moved into the shallows on the island and survive to the end of the turn to succeed. One ship can provide supporting antiaircraft fire from an adjacent square when the merchant man is in the shallows.
(Note you need to agree on a line of site rule for PT boats on islands or it becomes suicidal for merchant men. I’d suggest that they are placed on one side of the island and that units in an adjacent square on the same side of the island have line of sight to them.)
If a daytime landing is opposed by a night time raid the landing is assumed a success and the merchant men removed. The island is then placed in the back third of the landing player’s end of the map. The landing player loses one of the 5 victory points for every two hits inflicted on the island by bombardment to a maximum of three. He loses an additional one if he withdraws any ship from his base edge after the start of play. Prior to play he may remove any capital ships of his choice.
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