All undamaged German and Italian capital ships are fast. Japan and France have a handful of slow battleships, while most of the starting British and American capital ships are slow.
20.13 Fleets, carriers, submarines, ASW and transports are naval units. Submarines, ASW and transports are also SW units.
20.161 Each major power is provided with TF counters as follows: Germany: 4; Italy: 4; Japan: 12; Britain: 12; France: 4; U.S.: 12; Russia: 3; China: none. The number of TF counters may not be expanded by production.The effect of 20.162F is that no more than half (rounded down) of the naval factors in a TF may be fast carriers, and a TF may never contain more than 12 fast carrier factors (as the maximum size of a TF is 25 naval factors).
20.163 A naval force retains its TF status while at sea even if combat losses result in it no longer meeting the conditions necessary to be a TF. When the naval force returns to port, its TF marker would be removed unless the port contained other naval units sufficient to bring the depleted TF up to the required strength.This is a rare instance where the game relies on the common sense of players to avoid abuse. Normally the Axis will be most interested in the disposition of Western Allied destroyers (as this relates to their invasion capabilities) and fast carriers. The Axis player is not entitled to a detailed census every turn, nor should the Allied player stand on ceremony and insist on a specific request from his opponent every turn.
20.17 RANGE: Naval operations are subject to various range restrictions as set out in 21.36. Naval interception depends on a dice roll (22.21).
20.23 DESTROYERS: Destroyers (DDs) are represented by generic units ranging in denomination from one to ten factors.
20.24 CRUISERS: Cruisers (CAs) are represented by generic units having even-numbered denomination only.Destroyers or cruisers? Cruisers may not carry units or BRPs and have no on-board ASW value, but can raid and are more robust in combat.
20.25 CAPITAL SHIPS: Capital ships are represented by named ship counters with values of two, three, four and five factors. Depending on the nationality, these are represented as pocket battleships (PBs), battlecruisers (BCs) or battleships (BBs).
20.31 FAST CARRIERS: Fast carriers are represented by named ship counters with values of two (CVLs), three (CVs) and four (CVBs) factors. Fast carriers are identified by a yellow band across their counter.
20.41 ESCORT CARRIERS (CVEs): Escort carriers are represented by generic units of various denominations. Escort carriers are identified by a purple band across their counter.Escort carriers are worth building! They may not raid, patrol, or intercept enemy naval activities, and their air may not counterair or intercept defensive air support. However, they can assist in finding raiders, shift the submarine warfare modifier, may later be withdrawn if no longer needed (unlike ASW) and have an enhanced air defense value.
20.44 ESCORT CARRIER AIR:|
AS |
FF |
Dice Roll |
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|
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12+ |
||
|
1 |
1-2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
- |
3-4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
2 |
5-6 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
3 |
7-9 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
|
4 |
10-12 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
|
5 |
13-15 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
|
6 |
16-18 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
|
7 |
19-21 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
|
8 |
22-24 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
|
9 |
25-27 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
|
10 |
28-30 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
|
11 |
31-33 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
|
12 |
34-36 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
|
13 |
37-39 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
|
14 |
40-42 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
|
15 |
43-45 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
|
16 |
46-48 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
|
17 |
49-51 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
|
18 |
52-54 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
|
19 |
55-57 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
13 |
|
20 |
58-60 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
13 |
13 |
|
Modifiers - Air Attacks on Naval Units +# attacker’s Air Nationality DRM -# defender's Naval Nationality DRM +1 if the attacker achieves a surprise level of 3 or greater |
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|
Modifiers - Fleet Attacks on Naval Units +/-# Naval Nationality DRMs (22.552A) +/-1 If one of the combat groups involved is carrying out a naval activity which reduces its effectiveness (22.552B) |
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|
If more than 20 air squadrons engage in combat, the result is deter-mined by consulting the "20" row and whatever other row is required to equal the total number of air squadrons engaged. If more than 60 fleet factors engage in combat, the result is determined by consulting the "58-60" row and whatever other row is required to equal the total number of fleet factors engaged. |
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|
Results Named ships and cruisers: A named ship or cruiser is damaged if it incurs a naval attack effect one less than its size in factors and is sunk if it incurs a naval attack effect equal to or greater than its size in factors. Cruiser groups: If a group of light ships consisting only of cruisers incurs an odd number of hits, the odd hit damages one cruiser. One-factor naval units: If a group of ships consists only of destroyers, CVEs, transports or a combination of the three, each hit sinks a destroyer, CVE, or transport factor. Mixed light forces: Naval attack effects incurred by a light force consisting of both cruisers and one-factor naval units are distributed evenly between the cruisers and one-factor naval units, subject to the proviso that the number of one-factor ship factors sunk may not exceed the number of cruiser factors sunk until all the cruisers in the force are sunk (20.551). |
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Before there is a chance at a critical hit, double sixes must be rolled. An “11” result with a +1 modifier is insufficient. Negative modifiers to a “12” dice roll are disregarded.
B. SUNK IN PORT: A named ship is sunk while in port (20.524).In a mixed force, a cruiser is always damaged by the first, fifth, ninth, etc. hit, provided there is still a cruiser to be damaged.
20.552 DIFFERENT TYPES OF ONE-FACTOR NAVAL UNITS: Naval attack effects against different types of one-factor naval units are apportioned between the different types of one-factor naval units as per 20.57.
20.61 FORCE POOLS: The shipping capacities of the Western Allies and Japan are represented abstractly by the number of transports in their force pools. Britain and the U.S. share a single Western Allied transport force pool.Transports are versatile, but whenever they operate they are exposed to enemy attack. For example, if Western Allied transports evacuate the Atlantic SW box in Spring 1941, no Western Allied transport activity in the Atlantic is permitted in Summer 1941. If the Western Allied transports returned to the Atlantic SW box in Summer 1941, they could be used in Fall 1941.
20.631 INITIAL LEVELS: The initial number of transports are:For the sake of convenience, all Western Allied transports are listed on the British force record sheets.
20.632 RESTRICTIONS:
20.71 BASING: Each submarine is equivalent to one fleet factor for basing purposes. In addition to basing at ports or in mapboard boxes:
20.81 BASING: ASW may base in SW boxes, ports or mapboard boxes. ASW may be transferred from one SW box to another during the redeployment phase without impairing the ability of the ASW to oppose submarine warfare in the next enemy player turn.