From Moves#11 CA Adding Realism by Steven List This is a good game on the surface, a reasonable first generation system that is neither as cumbersome as Bismarck or advanced Jutland, and not so simple-minded as basic Jutland or the Midway surface combat rules. This is both its greatest strength and biggest weakness. Once again, the game in the magazine has some significant discrepancies with the article supposedly supplementing it. The article goes to some pains to explain the tactical advantage accruing from "Crossing the T," but this is ignored totally in the game rules. I suggest that fire straight down the row of hexes directly ahead or astern of a ship be done at half gunnery strength, and that such fire not be allowed through the adjacent bow/stern hex if occupied by another ship. I also have my doubts about allowing torpedo fire to pass through occupied hexes to a target hex, but not beyond, but this can get into some pretty hairy Line of Fire determinations a la PanzerBlitz. The basic problem with the game is its combat resolution system. It works well with destroyers and cruisers, but the addition of capital ships, especially the super-dreadnoughts, badly distorts things. As an example, I'll recap the Battle of Scenario 10, as it occurred in my living room. To start, the US DD in range of Yamato was quickly dead. As the capital ships came within range of each other, Iowa fired on Nagato rather than Yamato, because the odds here were 2-1 rather than 1-1. Similarly, Yamato concentrated on the Alaska. By chance, soon Nagato and both BC's had taken "W" hits, so that they could no longer get 1-1 odds on any enemy battle wagon. So they gleefully began to chew up the light ships, while the Iowa and Yamato continued to make their 2-1 attacks on the weaker capital ships, rather than molest each other. Due to fortuitous Japanese die rolls, after several more turns the BC's were sunk or weaponless and the US DD's reduced to impotence. When the Nagato was also weaponless, Iowa could finally turn her guns on Yamato. By another coincidence, these BB's had soon rendered each other powerless, and they were dead in the water a few hexes from each other. The Japanese DD's, most with "PW" hits, slowly drew towards Iowa (the US DD's left afloat were out of the action, totalling 6 gunnery and 10 torpedo Points). Thus Iowa and Yamato kept 1-1ing each other, hoping for the coup de grace, while Iowa had the choice of shooting at Yamato, or making a 23-1 attack against a single Japanese DD before they could get into position for a massed torpedo attack. It ended when a 2-1 torpedo attack put Iowa out of her misery. Thus we see a battleship with a "W"hit unable to do any damage to another BB, and BB with no secondary armament to defend itself from destroyers and yet unable to use its overwhelming main battery on more than one DD at a time. And finally, no matter how overwhelming the firepower, it is impossible in the game to sink a ship with a single attack, no matter how often that has happened in fact. To summarize, there is no increase in firepower at close range, there is no provision for firing at more than one target (i.e., secondary batteries), and no way to overwhelm a target (say, allow a 23-1 be resolved as two 9-1 and a 5-1); no provision for odds less that 1-1 (could have 1-2 by rolling a 1, and then rolling again to get an even number, etc.). While there is no way of sinking a ship in one attack, I think 3 hits are too few in any event. I suggest 3 "P" hits or a total of 4 of any kind. When more than one ship fires at a target, rather than halving their firepower, add one to the die roll for each additional ship up to 3. By the same token, when firing at reduced ranges (either a set fraction of the printed range, or an absolute limit), subtract one from the die roll. Finally, as a "HIT" is 1/3 of damage to sink a ship, a hit on a BB is much greater than a hit on a DD. THE FOLLOWING ARE TO BE USED AS ADDITIONAL RULES AND MODIFICATIONS TO RECTIFY SOME OF THE PROBLEMS OF "CA": Effect of Facing on Combat: A ship's gunnery strength is halved when firing at a target lying in the row of hexes directly ahead or astern of the ship counter. A ship's line of fire to such a target is considered blocked if there is another ship in the adjacent bow (or stern) hex. This will to some extent reflect the tactical disadvantage of having your "T" crossed. Firing at more than one target: All ships except destroyers and the Japanese light cruisers had a fire control system allowing them to engage multiple targets with central control. To partly reflect this, allow those ships to fire at two separate targets in each gunnery phase, applying up to half their gunnery strength to each target. Used in conjunction with the facing rule above, no more than one target in the bow/stern rows could be engaged at the same time. Secondary Armament: There really ought to be some provision for the power of the secondary batteries, especially battleships. On the smaller types, they were hardly of negligible power as well. For instance, you have made the Brooklyn class CL 22% more powerful than the Cleveland class because they carried 15-6" to the latter's 12. But the Clevelands could fire 8-5" to either side, versus 4 for the Brooklyn's, Eight 5" against 4 is a difference of two gunnery strength points. One problem in incorporating such a rule is that generally only half the secondary can fire to either side (which is a problem you neatly ignored for torpedo tubes). The Effects of Range on Gunnery: Other than the halving of strength when firing at extended range, the distance to the target has no effect on gunnery (nor indeed do factors such as size and speed of target, smoke, illumination, etc.). To remedy this, and to give "small boys" a better chance against grown-ups, double the gunnery strength of ships firing at half-range or less, and triple strength for those firing at a range of 1 or 2 hexes. You could also consider subtracting from the die roll in such circumstances. Effect of Range on Torpedo Attacks: Similar advantages should accrue to close range torpedo attacks, so for UN ships attacking at a range of 1 or 2 hexes and USN ships at a range of one hex, double the torpedo strength. On the other side of the coin, it must be recognized that torpedos are not shells and travel nowhere near as fast. At 50 knots, the Long Lance would take two movement phases to reach its game-maximum range of 21 hexes, and nearly seven phases to reach its absolute limit of 43,000 yards at 32 knots. Similarly, for the US torpedo to reach its absolute range of 9 hexes it would have to travel at around 6 hexes per turn. To reflect this, add this rule to torpedo procedures: for IJN ships firing at a target more than ten hexes away, and for USN ships firing at a target over 5 hexes away, do not announce the torpedo attack. Instead, secretly write down the attack in terms of what ship is firing, and the hex in which you think the target ship will end its next movement phase in. If any ship ends up in that hex at the end of the enemy movement phase, announce the attack and resolve it; otherwise, only you and your note paper know the status of your torpedo tubes. It should be noted that the target hex need not be beyond the 5 (or 10) hex limit (it could be closer); it must be within the maximum range of the firing ship. Spotting and Night Effects: Let me state parenthetically that as the Japanese 5" did not significantly outrange the US 5", the difference in their ranges in the game is due to superior Japanese night optics and presumably in daylight the US destroyers would enjoy the same 12 hex range as the Atlanta class CL and the Japanese destroyers, The main feature of nighttime is that it is dark. This, as we all know, makes things hard to see, and hard to shoot at. I think, therefore, that gunnery at either extended range or beyond some arbitrary (like 20 hexes) limit be forbidden. Other effects: no player may inspect any enemy ships more than 8 hexes from any of his own until after he has allotted gun/torpedo factors firing at it. UN and British vessels may not be spotted simply from firing their guns by ships over 12 hexes away (their flashless power was flashless, unlike the US's); a ship dead in the water is spotted by any ship within 3 hexes; ships can catch on fire, and a burning target attracts shells. When a ship receives a "W" hit, roll die; 1 or 2 means it is on fire; place an "On Fire" marker on top of stack. After moving a burning ship, roll die, 1 means fire out; remove marker but replace with Spotted marker. Burning ships are spotted from anywhere on board, and all ships which fire in a given phase must fire at a burning enemy ship unless there is another target closer or they fire on the same target they shot at the previous turn. It would also be entertaining to require ships to fire on friendly burning ships so far away (say 8 hexes) that their identity is uncertain. NB submitted by John Kula (kula@telus.net) on behalf of the Strategy Gaming Society (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/~sgs), originally collected by Andrew Webber (gbm@wwwebbers.com)