THE GREAT WAR AT SEA PBEM RULES VERSION 1.0 Created by Joseph A. Keller INTRODUCTION The Great War at Sea (GWAS) is a very enjoyable game to share with your friends and a good game for introducing non-wargamers to the hobby. It is a favorite of mine and called for the immediate creation of a "Play-By-E-Mail" (PBEM) procedure to increase my opportunities for playing this great series. The following article has three purposes: 1) to provide a PBEM procedure for GWAS. The intent is not to change the rules, but to lay them out in chronological order in order to enable players to handle the system by mail. 2) to systematize the rules, including the rules references, in order to aid players in their play of the games, and 3) to clarify difficult rules and explain the flow of play in order to aid new players to learn the game. I certainly don't expect this to be the most exciting article on The Great War at Sea series that you will ever read, but I hope that you will find it helpful. These PBEM rules have been used in PBEM games, but not extensively, so any suggestions that you have for improving them would be welcomed. Please send your experiences and comments to JKeller@Freewwweb.com. Thank you. Joe (jkeller@freewwweb.com>) NOTES Basic Rules to Use: The standard for playing all the GWAS games is the latest Basic Rules set that has been issued. All rules references in this document refer to the Basic Rules set found in Volumes 2 and 3, unless there is a Roman Numeral "I" in front of the rule reference, which indicates that the reference refers to a rule in Volume 1. Special Rules: Vol. 1 MEDITERRANEAN Special Rules: Players should note that rules 9.5, 9.8 and 9.9 in the Vol. 1 Basic Rules set are really Special Rules that always apply when playing Vol. 1 scenarios, regardless which Basic Rules set is being used. Vol. 2 NORTHERN WATERS Special Rules: These are located on page 1 of the Vol. 2 Scenario Book. Vol. 3 NPO Special Rules: This document does not yet include PBEM rules for the Vol. 3 Special Rules, but they should not be needed for Admiral of the Fleet. Honor System: This PBEM system is based on the honor system. A level of honesty and trust is necessary to use it. Shortcuts have been placed in the rules to speed up the game; these assume that players respect themselves and the other players enough to be honest. Consider that winning by cheating says more about your character than it does about your gaming skills. And it might exalt you before men, but it will embarrass you before God. Dice Rollers: Players can make use of a server to roll the dice. This will slow the game, as it will take three posts to send combat (targets announced, die roll request sent to server, interpretation of results) rather than one, but it will help to eliminate cheating. For information on servers check http://grognard.com/pbem.html. If your opponent asks for the use of dice rollers, show your maturity by accepting it. Umpires: In addition, players can make use of an umpire to play the game. This will require a large commitment on the part of a third person, who doesn't get to play. But it will further help to make it difficult to cheat. Umpires can function at different levels of involvement: 1) Receive copies of all posts from all players, including hidden information that opponents do not receive (See Operational Procedure Step D (PS D) "Actions recorded but not mentioned in the E-mail") and check them for accuracy and honesty. 2) Handle much of the die rolling to prevent cheating and to speed up play: resolving die rolls for weather, contact and initiative, and perhaps also all the rolls for mine damage, submarine and anti-submarine contact and attacks, and MTB and anti-MTB contact and attacks. 3) The highest level of involvement would be for players to only send their posts to the umpire, who only forwards the appropriate information to the other player. This level would enable the introduction of greater levels of "fog of war" into the game, but would require a major commitment on the part of the umpire. This would slow the game for all involved, but it would also greatly enhance it. The rules that follow assume that you don't have an umpire and that you don't use servers to roll the dice. They are written with the focus on creating a streamlined, fast system for the enjoyment of the game. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE STEPS (PS A-L) PRELIMINARY: There are several questions that players must answer in agreement before they can begin play: 1) Will the Basic (6.0) or Advanced (7.0) Combat Rules be used? 2) Will the Advanced Rules (12.0-18.0) be used, notably Fuel and Endurance (12.0)? 3) Will the Short-Range Gunnery Optional Rule (found on page 1 of the Vol. 2 Scenario Book) be used? 4) Will the Optional Placement Rule (at the end of Rule 7.22) be used? 5) Will players roll their own dice or make use of a server to do so? 6) Will an umpire be used? What actions will he perform? 7) For PBEM, I recommend that whichever player sends the next post, rolls for weather, contact and/or initiative, regardless of which side he is playing. And I recommend that whichever player sends the next post, resolves his fire first. These are discussed below in more detail. For speed and enjoyment, I recommend that the Advanced Combat Rules (7.0) and all the Optional Rules be used, that players roll their own dice and play without an umpire, and that players use the recommendation in point 5 when playing by E-mail. [I suggest Brien establish a uniform policy on the above for all to use when playing Admiral of the Fleet.] Each of the following Procedure Steps (PS) require players to send a post to the other player, even if it is only to announce "No Action." Steps E, the first half of F, and all of G, H and I can be ignored if there are no mines, aircraft, submarines, airships and/or MTBs in play. If there are merely no MTBs in play, Steps H and I can be ignored. At times players will realize that there can't be any activity in the next step, so they can comment at the end of a post that there is no activity in the next one or more Steps. Their next post can then deal with the next Step where activity can take place. A. SETUP: Players choose a scenario and sides (3.0). You may want to have the player with the better record choose the scenario and the contender choose the side. When choosing a scenario, players should note that the presence of mines, aircraft, subs and/or MTBs would add many additional steps to the play procedure. I recommend that beginning players avoid these items. Some scenarios allow one player to pick the turn on which play begins. (For example, a player may pick Turn 5, so that the scenario begins at night. The scenario still lasts the stated length; a 12-turn game would now use turns 5 through 16.) Players place their ships on the Fleet Composition card, place the appropriate fleet counters on the Operational Map (3.1), randomly draw airships (17.0) and record on their Player Log Sheet the Operational Map sea zones and/or borders where their mines (13.0 submarines (15.1) and MAS/MTB units (18.1) are located. When both players announce that they are ready, they then send each other only the location of their fleet counters on the Operational Map (3.1). B. MISSIONS: Players record the number and mission of each of their fleets on their Player Log Sheet. They record all the movement for all fleets that they assigned Transport, Bombardment, Minelaying or Minesweeping missions. They record the first two turns of movement for all fleets that they assigned Intercept or Raid missions (3.3, 5.2). They state when they are ready to begin play. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C. WEATHER: Each turn, the Central Powers (CP) player rolls for weather (4.1, 11.7) and reports the results. For PBEM, I recommend that the person who is sending the next post make the weather roll, regardless of which side he is playing. D. ORDERS AND MOVEMENT: Players record movement orders 2 turns ahead for all fleets with Intercept or Raid missions (4.2, 5.1), move their Fleet counters on their Operational Map (4.3), and then report to their opponent the movement and actions of their Fleet counters for that turn Players should label the subject line of their E-mail with the Turn number (e.g. "Turn 1 Move," etc.) to alert their opponent not to open it until he has recorded his movement orders and sent his post for that turn. All other E-mails to be opened immediately should be labeled GWAS or something other than a turn number. A rhythm develops in play. One player gets his Turn 1 post to the other player before the second player has had a chance to post his move. So the second player decides on and posts his "T urn 1 Move," then immediately reads his opponent's "Turn 1 Move" post, and (if there are no potential ship contacts, and no mines, aircraft, subs and/or MTBs in play) then rolls the die and posts "Turn 2 Weather" and then decides on and posts his "Turn 2 Move." The first player will then respond with his "Turn 2 Move," "Turn 3 Weather" and "Turn 3 Move" posts in quick succession. If there are "special events" (i.e. mines, aircraft, subs, airships and/or MTBs) in play, players must continue through PS E and F, and sometimes G, H and I before they can return to PS C and D. Actions to be mentioned in the E-mail include: placing and removing fleets from the map that have a Raid mission (5.2 Raid, 10.24), combining fleets (5.22), pursuit (5.24), creating new fleets (5.25), merchant raids (10.2), bombardment (11.1), entering or exiting a port (11.3-33), attempting to detect mines (13.7-13.72), sweeping mines (13.73), launching aircraft (14.1-14.14), recovering aircraft (14.5-14.53) and airship movement (17.1-17.3) Actions recorded, but not mentioned in the E-mail, include: change to abort mission (5.2 Abort), new mission (5.23), towing (11.2-11.26), emergency repairs (11.27), loading or unloading cargo (11.5), fuel consumption (12.1), refueling (12.3), re-arming (12.7) and laying mines (13.3-13.4). Example: Flt 1 J39 to J40/J41. Flt 2 removed from map. Flt 3 appears in O29. Flt 4 (2 ships) shells Sevastopol. Flt 5 search 2 on MLT (3 ships destroyed in GG55). (See below for Abbreviations). E. SPECIAL EVENTS PART ONE: Aircraft flight (14.2) is announced. Mine Contact: Players announce the number of mines and the sea area sides containing them through which their opponent moved (13.3). Submarine Contact Attempt: During daylight turns, if submarines are present in the area, the owner may roll for contact, gaining it on a 5 or 6; 4-6 if an ace commander (15.2, 15.6). MAS/MTB Contact Attempt: During daylight or night each MTB may roll for contact, gaining it on a 3-6 (18.2). This post might be concisely stated as PS E: No SEs. F. SPECIAL EVENTS PART TWO, AND FLEET CONTACT (4.3; 5.4) SPECIAL EVENTS: Mine Damage: Affected player rolls 2 dice for each ship on the Minefield Table (only found on the Vol. 2 Operational Map) (13.2) and one die for each hit on the Mine Damage Table (found on the Vol. 1 and 2 Op maps) (13.21-13.23), and may re-plot his movement after one-fourth of his ships have checked for damage (13.24). Note that if he re-plots and moves into a different area, it cancels any contact attempt in the mined area. Optional: If both players are agreed, he need not report the mine damage to his opponent unless the opponent has a ship, sub, MTB, aircraft, or land in the hex, or an airship in the hex or adjacent to it. This adds additional fog of war to the game, with the requirement of additional honesty. Aircraft Recon: Players reveal the number and 2 types of ships in the same hex as an aircraft (14.3). Submarine Contact: Players reveal the number and 3 types of ships in the same hex as a submarine (15.2) Anti-submarine Attacks: Roll 1 die for every three DDs, TBs or MSs present to attack a submarine, destroying it on a 5 or 6 (15.4) Airship Recon: Players reveal the number and 2 types of ships in the same hex or hex adjacent to an airship (17.3). MTB Contact: Players reveal the identity of all ships present in the same hex as an MTB (18.2). FLEET CONTACT: CP player announces all possible ship-to-ship contacts and gives the modifiers each of his fleets will use for each (5.4-5.47). Allied Player gives the modifiers each of his fleets will use for each. CP player consults the Search Table (found on the Vol. 1 and 2 Operational Maps, but missing from Vol. 3) and rolls the die for each possible contact, then reports the results. For PBEM, I recommend that the person who is sending the next post make the contact rolls, regardless of which side he is playing. Play would proceed as follows: Player one sends his movement. Player two sends his movement, then reads player one's movement and (if there are no Special Events) sends another post announcing his modifiers for possible contacts. Player one reads player two's movement, sends his modifiers for possible contacts, reads player two's modifiers, rolls for the contacts, sends the r esults, and also proceeds to carry out whatever the next step is. If there is no contact and no special events, the next step is to roll for weather (PS C), and then record movement orders, move their fleets for the next turn and send the next turn's move (PS D). If contact was made, but there are no special events, proceed to Tactical Combat (PS J) and roll for initiative (PS 1). If there are special events, proceed to them (PS F through I). If necessary, players must proceed through Procedure Steps E, F, G, H and I until all actions involving mines, aircraft, submari nes, airships and MTBs have been resolved. Then they can proceed to the Tactical Phase or back to Weather and then Orders and Movement. G. SPECIAL EVENTS PART THREE: MTB Surprise Attempt: Select a target for each MTB and roll 1 die for each MTB for surprise (18.4). Submarine Target: A target is randomly determined for each submarine (15.4). Submarine Attack: One die is rolled for each firing submarine, and then hits are resolved on the Torpedo Damage Table (15.4-15.6). H. SPECIAL EVENTS PART FOUR: Attack on MTBs: On an MTB surprise roll of 1-3, the enemy gets to fire at the MTB (18.4). I. SPECIAL EVENTS PART FIVE: MTB Attack: Make a torpedo attack for each MTB, rolling on the Torpedo Damage Table (18.4-18.5, 7.8-7.85). J. TACTICAL PHASE (4.4, 6.0 or 7.0): Proceed to Tactical Procedure Step 1 to resolve each combat. K. AFTER COMBAT: Missions may be changed to Abort with all movement plotted (7.37). Roll for Emergency Repairs for each ship that is Dead-in-the-water and has an Abort mission (11.27). Each player revises plots for ships that were in combat more than one round (7.38). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - L. END OF GAME: Players count up the points, including points for damage to the hulls of ships that were not sunk. Players should note that the rules do not appear to penalize a player for having ships that have insufficient fuel to make it to a port, at sea at the end of a game. Nor do they penalize them for having a ship that may founder and go down before it can get to a port, at sea at the end of the game. When the game ends, it is over. TACTICAL MAPSHEET LABELING GWAS 2&3: Orient the GWAS 2&3 Tactical Mapsheet in front of you, so that as you look at it, the center hex has 1 hex directly above it, 1 hex directly below it, 2 hexes to the right of it and 2 hexes to the left of it. Consider the right edge of the mapsheet to be East, the left edge of the mapsheet West, the top North and the bottom (closest to you) South. Now, label the tactical map North/South columns as A through Q. (A runs along the left edge. Q runs along the right edge. Column I runs down the center of the map.) Beginning at the top (North) of the leftmost (West) column and working down/toward yourself (south), label the hexes as A6 through A10. Label the next column's hexes B4 through B11, the next C3-C13, then D2-D13, E2-E14, F1-F14, G1-G15, H1-H14, I1-I15, J1-J14, K1-K15, L1-L14, M2-M14, N2-N13, O3-O13, P4-P11 and Q6-Q10. (The center hex is I8.) Then, write Northeast in M2, East in hex Q8, Southeast in M14, Southwest in E14, West in A8, and Northwest in E2. Also, set the Vol. 2 NORTHERN WATERS Operational Map in front of you so that you can read it (sitting on the South side and looking North). Then on the "Operational to Tactical Map" insert, starting at the lower left-hand corner where Southwest is printed, and moving in a clockwise direction, write SW, W, NW, NE, E and SE at the appropriate entry places. Note that the Vol. 1 MEDITERRANEAN Operational Map is oriented in the same manner as the Vol. 2 OpMap. Then set the Vol. 3 NPO Operational Map in front of you so that you can read it. Note that the compass has been turned approximately 60 degrees clockwise, with the result that the top of the map is roughly NW, not N. Then on the "Operational to Tactical Map" insert, starting at the lower left-hand corner where Southeast (not Southwest) is printed, and moving in a clockwise direction, write SE, SW, W, NW, NE and E at the appropriate entry places. When you play the game, set up your Tactical Map beside your Operational Map and orient the TacMap to correspond with the OpMap to make it easy to place ships on the correct side of the large dark blue ring ("megahex") of the TacMap. For Vol. 3 NPO, this means that you will have to turn the TacMap catty-cornered (with a point of the map facing you) in order to correspond to the compass on the Operational map, The following paragraph is included for individuals who only have Vol. 1: The Mediterranean: Orient the GWAS 1 Tactical Mapsheet so you sit on the west side, east is at the top, north is on your left and south is on your right. Label the Tactical Mapsheet East/West columns as A through H (A runs along the left edge. H runs along the right edge.), and label the mapsheet North/South staggered rows as 1 through 9. (1 runs across the top edge. 9 runs across the bottom edge.) (The short columns have no row 9. The 3 center shaded squares are D4, D5 and E5. The compass is in E3 .) TACTICAL COMBAT PROCEDURE STEPS (PS 1-7) 1. INITIATIVE: Allied player rolls for initiative, and announces die roll (7.1, A). He should mention the die roll modifiers for clarity. For PBEM, I recommend that whichever player is sending the next post make the weather roll, regardless of which side he is playing. Example for an Allied Fleet with 2 nationalities vs. a Central Powers Fleet with 1 leader: Init--AL need 4, roll 5-1(MN)-1(L)=3. CP player has Init. (See below for Abbreviations.) 2. NIP SETUP: Basic Combat (6.0): All ships are placed on the table and considered to be at long range. Players identify the ships that they have placed on the table. Advanced Combat (7.0): Non-Initiative Player notes from which side the Initiative Player's (IP's) ships will enter, sets up his ships starting in a shaded center hex closest to the side where the IP's ships will enter (7.21), and then announces the hex coordinates and number of capital ships, light ships and other ships (see 5.21) that he has placed face-down in each hex. In general, 8 ships in one or two shaded center areas, then 4 to 8 ships in hexes adjacent to hexes occupied by friendly ships (7.1, B; 7.2-7.29). Non-Initiative Player may not set up closer than the current sighting range (4 during daylight, adjusted for weather, and 2 at night) to the numbered hexes on sides where his opponent starts, but must place his ships as close as possible to where his opponent's ships will start (7.21). 3. IP SETUP: Basic Combat (6.0): All ships are placed on the table and considered to be at long range. Players identify the ships that they have placed on the table. Advanced Combat (7.0): Initiative Player notes from which side his ships will enter, sets up his ships starting in a numbered hex on the appropriate side of the large dark blue ring (7.22), and announces area coordinates and number of capital ships, light ships and other ships (see 5.21) that he has placed face-down in each hex. In general, 4 to 8 ships in a numbered hex, then 4 to 8 ships in hexes adjacent to hexes occupied by friendly ships (7.1, B; 7.2-7.29). Initiative Player may not set up closer than the current sighting range (4 during daylight, adjusted for weather, and 2 at night), unless there is a Surprise Sighting (7.28). Players need to decide if they will use the Optional Placement Rule (at the end of Rule 7.22), which allows the IP, if he desires, to always set up his ships at the current maximum sighting range. This would sometimes make it faster and easier for the Initiative Player's ships to engage the Non-Initiative Player's ships. 4. INITIAL SIGHTING: If some ships are at less than maximum sighting/spotting range, those ships are turned face up and both players announce the names of ships and coordinates for affected ships (7.27). 5. IP ACTIONS: Initiative Player continues announcing his actions, stepping through the Impulse Sequence Steps (see 7.31 for IS 1-20) until he comes to an impulse that calls for the other player to act. To speed play, he can announce his ships' movement and fire, mention that no-one has any ships moving on certain impulses due to speed, and that no-one has any ships firing on certain impulses due to range or other disqualifiers. Example: IS 2: NM; IS 3&4: NC; or IS 2-4: NA. 6. NIP ACTIONS: Non-Initiative Player announces his actions and mentions that certain impulses have no movement or fire, stepping through the impulses until he comes to an impulse that calls for the other player to act. Play alternates between players according to Procedure Steps 5 and 6. 7. END OF ROUND: At the end of the 20 step Impulse Sequence, both players record (but do not need to announce) any Emergency Repair attempts (11.27) with the die roll, any modifiers and the result. Players check to see if combat continues for another round (7.36). If it does, re-roll for Initiative, and then continue alternating between Procedure Steps 5 and 6. The following Procedure Steps occur at various times, interrupting the Procedure Steps and Impulse Sequence Steps: (1) ERRORS: When play passes to the second player, his first priority is to point out any errors in the first player's most recent post. The first player must re-do those parts of his post that are incorrect and re-send the post. If too many salvos were claimed, the last die-rolls are disregarded. Note that this may require alteration of some of the hit types caused by the subsequent shots, due to rule 8.6. When a player sends his post of his ships' actions, he is thereby accepting the other playe last post and has lost any opportunity to further contest erroneous actions. (2) SIGHTING: When ships move to less than maximum sighting range, in the midst of or after all his movement the moving player calls for both players to announce the nationality and names (or ID #s) of the affected ships and the hexes they occupy. Rules regarding Movement and Firing: MOVEMENT: All ship movement should mention moving ship names or ID #s (and nationalities if necessary to avoid confusion) (or, if at maximum sighting range or greater, how many ships of each classification (capital, light and other)) hex moved out of, hex moved into, and any towing taking place (or at least enough information to clearly define which ships are moving to which areas). Example: Br BC01 and BC03 from H5 to G5; or, if at maximum sighting range or greater, 2 Cap from H5 to G5. COMBAT: The Initiative Player announces the target for each of his ships (7.5) and then resolves his fire. For PBEM, I recommend that whichever player comes to a combat step send a post that lists the targets of each of his ships at the top of the post, then lists the damage caused by the die rolls. The second player should respond with his targets and fire, and then continue on to the next Impulse Sequence Step (IS). Players should note that rule 7.5, second paragraph, requires them to commit their ships to fire on specific targets before rolling the dice. It is illegal to view the effects of one ship's fire before deciding the target for the next firing ship. All fire should mention each firing ship's name or ID # (and nationality if necessary to avoid confusion), target, range, number and type of guns/torpedoes firing, the die rolls in the order they were rolled, die roll modifiers [all guns and torpedoes hit on a 6 or greater after die roll modifiers are added to the results], number of hits, dice rolls on the Gunnery, Torpedo and/or Critical Damage tables, actual hits recorded (8.6), special results (8.0-8.8) and when you believe a ship is sunk. (To speed up play, players may eliminate recording some of this information, e.g. individual die rolls, if they both agree to do so.) Examples: Gunnery-Goeben at Br BC01, Rg 1 6P: roll 3, 6, 2, 4, 1, 3, drms+1(Rg 1) +1(SB)= 2 hits: 7 (P) & 5 (H--roll for ED (8.3)= 4 for an additional H hit) 3S: roll 5, 2, 5, drms+2= 2 hits: 7 (P--NE) & 2 (CDT 4--Leader Killed) Gunnery-All 5 Ru Bs at Goeben, range 3 14P: roll 3, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 2, 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 1, 4= 1 hit: 5 (H) Torpedo-Breslau at Br BC03 [already has 4P & 3H hits], Rg 0, 1F: roll 5, drms +1(at BC) +1(Rg 0) -1(HMT) [rule 7.81] net drms+1= 1 hit: 2 (CDT 3--3P becomes 1P, 2H [8.6], speed drops to 1 [8.51]). ABBREVIATIONS that may be used: >-"Becomes" (Example: "P>S" means a Primary hit becomes a Secondary hit, because the ship never had any Primaries.) (I 6.96)-GWAS 1 Rules reference number (8.8)-GWAS 2&3 Basic Rules reference number (III 19.0)-GWAS 3 Scenario Book Special Rules reference number AC-Aircraft AL-Allies AS-Airship BatSc-Battle Scenario Cap-Capital ships (BB, B, BC, CC, BCV, CV, CD, CA, CVS, AMC) CDT-Critical Damage table CP-Central Powers DIW-Dead-in-the-Water ship drm(s)-die roll modifier(s) ED-Excess Damage (II 8.3) F-Torpedoes (Fish) GDT-Gunnery Damage Table H-Hull hit HMT-Hull Mounted Torpedoes ID#--Identification number for a ship, e.g. BC01 or DD25 Init-Initiative IP-Initiative Player IS-Tactical Combat Impulse Sequence Step L-Leader Lit-Light ships (CL, DL, DD, TB, GB, ML, MS) MDT-Mine Damage Table MN-Multiple Nationalities MSC-Multiple-ship Counter(s) MT-Motor Torpedo Boats N-Nationalities NA-No Action NC-No Combat NE-No Effect NM-No Movement NIP-Non-initiative Player Oth-Other ships (Colliers, Oilers, Aux. Minelayers, Transports) OpMp-Operational Map OpSc-Operational Scenario P-Primary guns firing or being hit PF-Plunging Fire (8.8) PS-PBEM Procedure Step Rd-Tactical Combat Round Rg-Range in hexes when firing S-Secondary guns firing or being hit SB-Ship Bonus +1 drm when firing SE-Special Event Sp-Speeds SchT-Search Table T-Tertiary guns firing or being hit TacMp-Tactical Map TB-Torpedo Boats TDT-Torpedo Damage Table Ship types (e.g. BB) may be abbreviated by using the list of designations found in the rules (5.21). Nationalities may be abbreviated by using the first 2 letters of the name (e.g. Br for British), as is done on the GWAS 2 Operational Map in the listing of ports.