TaBle of Contents
Introduction ........................................ 3
What you need for play ...................... 3
The Data cards .................................... 4
Ship data card .............................................. 4
Aircraft data card ......................................... 5
Officer data card .......................................... 5
The Fleet ............................................. 6
Squadrons .................................................... 6
Squadron cohesion.................................................. 6
Flagships.................................................................. 6
Single ships .............................................................. 6
Ad-hoc squadron ..................................................... 6
The Command Station ........................ 7
Orders .......................................................... 7
Generating order tokens ......................................... 7
Types of orders ....................................................... 7
Basic activation orders ............................................ 7
Advanced activation orders..................................... 8
Timed orders ........................................................... 8
Reaction orders ....................................................... 8
Disruption .................................................... 8
Generating disruption tokens.................................. 8
Disrupting your opponent ....................................... 8
Failing an order ....................................................... 8
Fleet special rules ........................................ 8
Officers ................................................ 8
The game sequence ............................ 9
Phase 1: Preparations .................................. 9
Initiative .................................................................. 9
Phase 2: Direct Activations .......................... 9
Direct Activations .................................................... 9
Activations from the command station ................... 9
Phase 3: Indirect Activations ..................... 10
Indirect activations ................................................ 10
Orders and disruption ........................................... 10
Phase 4: End of turn .................................. 11
Apply damage effects ............................................ 11
Resolve torpedo damage ...................................... 11
Remove smoke markers ........................................ 11
Land Aircraft .......................................................... 11
Maneuver activations ....................... 11
Movement distance .............................................. 12
Minimum distance & Collisions ............................. 12
Attack activations ............................. 12
1. Determine the target ............................. 12
Measuring distances ............................................. 12
Determining line of sight ....................................... 12
Firing arcs .............................................................. 13
Splitting fire ........................................................... 13
2. Hitting the target ................................... 14
Guns ...................................................................... 14
Torpedoes ............................................................. 14
Anti-submarine weapons ...................................... 15
3. Determine damage ............................... 15
Armor roll.............................................................. 15
Lucky saves ........................................................... 15
4. Hit location and damage effects ........... 15
Hit location ........................................................... 15
Damage and Effects .............................................. 15
System status ........................................................ 15
Command .......................................... 19
When to take a command check........................... 19
Taking a command check ...................................... 19
Breaking off........................................................... 19
Rallying ................................................................. 19
Aircraft .............................................. 20
Launch flights/Call in off-board air support20
Air movement ........................................... 20
Interception & Dogfighting ....................... 20
Attack – Aircraft ........................................ 21
Landing flights ........................................... 21
Carriers .............................................. 23
Deployment & movement .................................... 23
Launch/land Capacity & Flight Capacity ................ 23
Off-board carriers ................................................. 23
Seaplane Tenders .............................. 23
Deployment & movement .................................... 23
No land/launch capacity ....................................... 23
Off-board seaplane tenders .................................. 23
Submarine operations....................... 24
Deployment .......................................................... 24
Moving the submarine .......................................... 24
Revealing the submarine’s position ...................... 24
First strike ............................................................. 24
Special rules ...................................... 25
Special rules .............................................. 25
Special weapon rules ................................ 26
General Scenarios ............................. 26
Building a fleet .......................................... 26
Carrier Fleets ......................................................... 26
Battle and support fleets ...................................... 26
Scenario special rules ........................ 27
Scouting..................................................... 27
Close & Distant cover ................................ 28
Time of day and weather rules ................. 28
Islands and Squalls .................................... 28
The Scenario Generator Matrix ........ 29
Scenario Generator Matrix ....................... 29
Victory points table ............................................... 29
Battle Royale ......................................................... 30
Carrier Clash.......................................................... 31
Weathering the storm........................................... 32
Surprise encounter ............................................... 33
Buying time ........................................................... 34
Standoff ................................................................ 35
Introduction
Welcome to Naval War, the naval miniatures game for gamers
that like to take their World War 2 Miniature ships for a fun and
fast-paced gaming experience with a historical flavor.
So what kind of game is it?
Naval War is a table top miniatures game, this means that your
battlefield will ideally be the size of a table (120cm x 180cm) and
that your ships are represented by 3D miniature versions which
you can move around on the battlefield. Naval War tries to
recreate the feeling that you get when you read those battle
reports of famous naval battles like the battle for the Coral Sea or
the battle of the Denmark Strait. It tries to create that atmosphere
by focusing on the action on the table. The heart of the game is
the Command Station which is a game device to enable your fleet
to perform unique actions and to influence the outcome of your
engagements. But beware, your opponent will use every means at
his disposal to disrupt your battle plans and to make sure your
luck leaves you at the most inopportune moment. This will ensure
that both players are highly involved in what is happening on the
table.
What scale and timescale is it?
Since the distances in Naval War are abstracted to enable you to
play a naval encounter on your tabletop (instead of on that rainy
parking lot outside…) scale is obviously a pretty fuzzy matter. The
What you need for play
- The Naval War rulebook
- The command stations of the fleets in play
- Miniature ships or substitutes
- The ship data cards. You could print out the cards for
one time use, but players are advised to use card sleeves
and a whiteboard marker to track damage and other
things on the ship data cards.
- A tape-measure (the game uses centimeters)
- A handful of 6-sided dice
3 Introduction | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
game enables you to play with whatever scale you like. If you like
your miniatures a tad bigger, you could opt for 1:1800 or even
1:1200, if you like to zoom out a bit more to experience a more ‘to
scale’ feel on your tabletop you could play 1:3000 or even 1:6000.
It actually doesn’t matter. Still, it is advisable to use the same scale
as your opponent, since mixing scales will surely complicate
matters.
Practically the same can be said for the timescale. Since we want
to enable you to play a reasonably sized battle in the span of a few
hours (or less), abstractions have been made. Do not let these
abstractions fool you though. Naval war plays like a World War 2
battle report. Just as the narrator of a battle report shifts his focus
from one point of the engagement to the other, so does Naval
War. At one moment your ships might be dodging torpedoes,
blasting away at enemy destroyers with secondary guns while on
the other side of the table your carrier aircraft are mixed up in a
fierce dogfight trying to intercept incoming dive-bombers. The
out-of-sequence activation system and the addition of the
command station mechanics allow you to recreate a unique naval
gaming experience. So if you’re looking for some WW2 naval
action, look no further and join us when we explain the rules
below.
- One or two 20-sided dice
- A playing surface measuring 180cm x 120cm for the
standard engagements
- Counters (PDF available on the website).
o Lettered Fire- and splash markers
o Fire- and flooding markers
o Torpedo template and markers
Back to index 
The Data cards
In Naval War every ship, plane and officer are represented by data cards. All relevant data needed for play is present on these cards. We’ve
included a rundown of the various information below:
1
4
Ship data card
1. Name: The flag, name and class of the ship.
2. Component status & Hull points: In this frame the hull
points for the ship are listed together with the different
components of the ship with their damage indicators
and values. Check the damage chapter on page 15 for
more info.
The numbers on the Engines boxes represent the
different speeds at which the ship can sail when it is
undamaged/damaged/disabled. Check the maneuvers
chapter on page 11 for more info.
3. Defenses: The protection of a ship is measured in its size
and speed (Target score), and the thickness and quality
of its armor (Armor score).
4. Armament: The armament table shows the layout and
stats of the ships weaponry, each line represents a
weapon system.
Arc: This column tells you the arc in which the
weapon system can fire; front (F), broadside
(BS), rear (R) or unlimited (-)
Type: Description of the weapon system,
preceded by a recognition symbol
Range: Range in cm
RoF: The amount of dice the ship is allowed to
use when shooting the weapon listed. There
are a total of 3 RoF (Rate of Fire) values for
undamaged (green), damaged (yellow) and
disabled (red) status.
Dmg: The amount of armor saves the enemy
must take for each hit with the weapon.
Pwr: The power value of a weapon system.
Special: Any specific weapon special rules are
listed here.
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5
6
5. Points value: Here you can find the ships point value.
6. Miscellaneous: In this box the flagship or fleet flagship
box can be checked when the ship is marked as such.
Also the size of the ship is listed for reference.
Furthermore the Special rules box list any special rules
that apply to this ship.
Weapon Systems
Each line in the armament section represents a separate weapon
system. A ship or plane can have multiple weapon systems. Each
weapon system is treated as a separate entity, but rolls from
multiple identical weapon systems can be combined.
Weapon recognition symbols
When guns of different types and sizes are present on a ship, we
refer to the strongest guns on the ship as ‘Primary armament’, the
second-strongest guns as ‘Secondary armament’ and the third-
strongest as ‘Tertiary armament’. These terms are used to
distinguish between weapon systems for the purpose of damage
or other modifiers if they apply. On the data card they are marked
with numbers: ① for primary guns, ② for secondary’s and ③
for tertiary guns. Torpedoes are marked with a “T”, Anti-aircraft
armament with “AA” and Anti-submarine equipment with “≈”.
Ship size
Warships are usually divided into classes like Heavy Cruiser,
Battleship etc. For gaming purposes we’ve divided these classes
into three ship sizes: small, medium and large. The card shows the
corresponding size for each ship.
Back to index 
Aircraft data card 1 2 3 4
1. Name: The flag and name of the aircraft
2. Target score: The target score is used when resolving
ground-to-air encounters like AA fire
3. Dodge score: The dodge score determines if an aircraft
survives an encounter
4. Dogfight: The dogfight bonus and power is used for air-
to-air combat
5. Armament: The armament table shows the layout and
stats of the ships weaponry.
Attack: The amount of dice the aircraft is
allowed to use when using the weapon listed
Dmg: The amount of armor saves the enemy
must take for each hit with the weapon
Pwr: The power value of the weapon system
Special: Any specific weapon special rules are
listed here
6. Special rules: In this box any special rules may be listed
that apply to the aircraft
7. Points value: Here you can find the aircrafts point value 5 6 7

Officer data card

1 2
1. Name: The flag, name and rank of the officer.
2. Points value: Here you can find the officers point value.
3. Command ratings: These values are important when
resolving command checks for your ships.
4. Special rules: In this box any special rules may be listed
that apply to the officer.
3
5. Squadron command rating: The squadron command
rating shows how many squadrons this officer can
command.
6. Bonus tokens: These symbols show how many bonus
order- and disruption tokens the officer generates.

5 The Data cards | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
The Fleet
Naval War is played with miniatures ships. All the ships in your
force together form a fleet. A fleet can be made up from
Squadrons and Single ships
Squadrons
A squadron is a group of one or more ships that are led by a
flagship and within cohesion distance of each other. When a
squadron is activated, all ships in the squadron are allowed to
activate at the same time. When a ship falls out of formation
(either on purpose or because of a break off action) it becomes a
single ship.
Squadron cohesion
Ships in a squadron need to stay in cohesion with the squadron
flagship to be considered part of the squadron. Ships need to stay
within 10cm of any ship that is in cohesion with the flagship. This
means that a ship can be within 10cm of another ship that is
within 10cm of the flagship. If a ship ends a maneuver activation
outside of 10cm of any of the remaining ships in the squadron, the
ship is no longer part of the squadron until it rejoins.
A squadron can get separated into multiple units because ships
within the formation have been sunk. In that case, the first
maneuver the squadron performs must reestablish cohesion,
otherwise the rest of the squadron is no longer part of it. The
group that is cut off may form a new ad-hoc squadron, but it will
not have any flagship benefits if it hasn’t appointed one
beforehand.
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Flagships
Each Squadron has to have a flagship assigned before the start of
the game. This can be any ship within the squadron.
Flagships and command
The Command rating represents the ability for your fleet to stick
around when the going gets tough (more on that on page 19)
Sometimes the officer leading your fleet might have a better
command rating for your flagships’ type of ship. For instance a
medium sized light cruiser leading a group of small sized
destroyers. In that case the whole squadron may use the flagships’
command rating to take their command checks.
Fleet flagships
One flagship in your fleet may be designated as a Fleet Flagship.
This status cannot be transferred to another ship upon the
destruction of the fleet flagship.
Changing squadron compositions
If, during the battle, two squadrons merge into one squadron,
choose which flagship will be the new formed squadrons’ flagship.
The other flagship loses its flagship status.
If one squadron splits itself into multiple squadrons it is allowed to
appoint new flagships to each of the new squadrons only if the
original squadron flagship is still operational and unengaged.
If a flagship is destroyed or if it has broken off the action, the
flagship status can be transferred to another ship within 10 cm of
the former flagship. If no ships are within range no new flagship
can be appointed.
Single ships
A ship that is not part of a squadron is a single ship. It can be
activated and perform orders as normal, with the noted
distinction that the same requirements apply to single ships as for
squadrons for an activation or order. You will quickly find out that
it is far more economical to let ships sail in squadrons than as
single ships.
Ad-hoc squadron
It is possible for multiple single ships to form a new squadron. This
is allowed, but remember that an ad-hoc squadron will not have a
flagship. This handicaps the ad-hoc squadron in its generation of
order tokens.
Back to index 
The Command Station
The command station is the heart of Naval War. At the command
station all the actions for the turn are made, orders are issued and
the officer card is placed to confer its bonuses. Pretty much all
actions on the command station are driven by order tokens. Your Order token generation:
fleet generates a certain amount of order tokens at the start of The fleet flagship +1 order token
the turn. You can use these tokens to command your fleet but Each squadron led by a flagship, with at +1 order token
beware; your opponent can try to make your command harder by least one ‘large’ or two ships of ‘small’ or
playing disruption tokens. Now how does this work? We first start ‘medium’ size in the squadron
with generating order tokens:
Each carrier or tender +1 order token
A single submarine (or each pair if there is +1 order token
Orders more than one)
Generating order tokens Officer order tokens As listed on the
At the start of the turn, after the initiative roll, both players check officer card
how many order tokens their fleets generate. The following rules
decide how many you can generate:

Fleet special rule

Timed order
Advanced activation order

Reaction order
Types of orders
Orders are one of the central concepts of Naval War. Orders
determine what your ships can and cannot do during a game turn.
There are four different types of orders in the game:
- Basic activation orders
- Advanced activation orders
- Timed orders
- Reaction orders
It is allowed to perform orders multiple times in one turn, just
keep in mind that no ship or squadron can perform the same
order twice unless it is noted on the command station.
Basic activation orders
The orders in the box on the left side of the command station are
your basic activation orders. These are the orders used to give
your squadrons or single ships their basic instructions like moving
or shooting. Activation orders are played in alternating order, so if
you have just activated a ship or squadron, your opponent can
now activate one of his.
The basic activation orders cannot be disrupted, more on that
below. The cost of any activation order is one order token.

7 The Command Station | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Advanced activation orders
If you explore your command station, you will notice other
activation orders on it. These are the advanced activation orders.
An advanced activation order is played instead of a basic
activation order. If a squadron performs an advanced version of a
basic activation order, it cannot subsequently issue the same basic
order to the squadron in the same turn. The reverse is also true, if
a squadron has already performed the basic version of the
activation, the advanced version cannot be performed in the same
turn.
Advanced activation orders usually allow the squadron to perform
special actions in addition to the basic activation order. These
orders come with some risk however; in contrast to the basic
versions the advanced activation orders require a roll of 2+ on a
D6 to be executed and can be disrupted by your opponent. Just
like the basic activation orders, advanced activation orders cost
one order token to perform.
Timed orders
Timed orders differ from activation orders in that they are issued
in addition to an activation. For instance, a ‘Sustained fire training’
order can only be used on a ship that has been activated for an
attack. Each timed orders has a specific timing at which it can be
played, usually this is during a specific type of basic or advanced
activation.
Note that these orders will also cost you one order token each. So
it is perfectly possible to spend two or more order tokens during
one activation. Again, a roll of 2+ is required to perform the order.
Reaction orders
These orders can be used to as a reaction or interruption of an
enemy activation. It usually allows you to influence one of your
opponent’s actions. Again, these orders will cost you one order
token each. It is not possible to play a reaction order in response
to another reaction order. A roll of 2+ is required to perform the
order.
Disruption
Generating disruption tokens
At the start of the turn, after both players generated all their
order tokens (including officer tokens), both players check how
many order tokens the opponent has. They now each take the
same amount of disruption tokens. In addition to that, some
officers may also generate extra disruption tokens.
Disrupting your opponent
In a perfect world all orders would be issued without delay or
misinterpretation. Still, since this isn’t a perfect world and the
combat at sea was particularly notorious for its chaos and
difficulty of keeping control of fleets in combat situations.
Methods of communications were still lacking, and often order
would be misinterpreted, ignored or not transmitted at all. To
8 Officers | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
represent this kind of combat ‘friction’, you and your opponent
received an amount of disruption tokens.
These disruption tokens can be used to create friction in your
opponent’s command. When your opponent issues any order
other than a basic activation order (you cannot disrupt any of
these), he will need a roll of 2+ on a D6 to make it succeed. As the
opponent, you may select to play up to 2 disruption tokens
before the roll is made to increase his chance of failure. For each
token, the difficulty to succeed increases by 1. So one token will
increase the roll that is needed to 3+, 2 tokens will increase it to
4+. The player that wants to execute his order now rolls the die
(he cannot cancel the order after disruption tokens have been
played), if the score is not high enough the order fails and some
adverse effect may happen. Note that no more than 2 disruption
tokens can be played in response to an order.
Failing an order
When an order fails, some adverse effect may happen. Check the
third column on the command station labeled ‘Effect on failure’
for what happens next. Sometimes the order will be performed
with an additional negative effect, sometimes the order won’t be
performed at all.
Fleet special rules
Beneath the activation order you can find the special rules for
your specific fleet. This can be an action or some other effect. It
does not always require an order token to perform. Some special
rules trigger upon something happening in the game, others are
an order that need to be performed to function or to confer their
bonuses.
Officers
Every fleet in Naval War is led by an officer. Of course in a real-life
fleet there are multiple officers even on a single ship, but for the
sake of simplicity your Naval War officer represents the person
with the highest rank in your fleet. You can add a commanding
officer in your fleet list together with the rest of your ships. If you
don’t, your fleet will be led by a Commander by default and,
depending on your fleet
composition, that might
not always be the best
choice. An officer provides
your fleet with command
ratings for small, medium
and large vessels (more
info on that in the
Command section on page
19). Some officers might
be more specialized in
commanding one type of
ship over the other.
Besides their command
ratings officers sometimes
provide bonus order- or
disruption tokens and
confer some special abilities to the fleets they command.
Finally, the officer card lists the officers’ squadron rating. This
value tells you how many squadrons you may have in your fleet if
it’s being led by this officer. Higher ranking officers are able to
command more squadrons than lower ranked officers.
Back to index 
The game sequence
Phase 1: Preparations
Both players roll a die to decide initiative
Both players calculate order tokens
Both players calculate disruption tokens
Initiative
Both players roll a die, the player with the highest score has
initiative this turn. This means that he can choose to make the
first activation, or can force his opponent to make the first
activation. For the first turn ties are rerolled. In any subsequent
turns, a tie automatically shifts the initiative to the player that
didn’t have it last turn. Units with the ‘scouting’ special rule may
influence the outcome of the initiative roll.
Phase 2: Direct Activations
The player with initiative decides which player makes
the first activation
Then players are allowed to use their order tokens to
play any direct activations (both basic and advanced),
possibly augmenting them with orders from the
command station. Alternate until both players have no
more direct activations they want to make.
A squadron can perform the following direct activations:
• Maneuver activation
• Attack activation
• Launch aircraft/Call in off-board air support
activation
• Submarine search activation
Direct Activations
In this phase players alternate in playing their direct activations.
Direct activations cost one order token each.
A squadron or ship is allowed to make multiple direct activations
within one turn, still, they cannot perform the same activation
twice.
Activations from the command station
As described in the command station section, advanced activation
orders can be played instead of the normal activations.
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Direct activations
Maneuver activation
A ship or squadron can perform a maneuver as a direct
activation or select to move with an indirect activation in the
next phase. Note that moving in the direct activation phase
will cost you an order token while maneuvering indirect is
free. Still, your movement options when maneuvering by
indirect activations are more limited. Check the maneuver
section on page 11 for more details.
Attack activation
There 3 types of attack activation:
• Gunnery/ASW (page 12)
• Torpedo (page 12)
• Air (page 21)
This means that each type of attack activation requires a
separate order to be performed. Note that activating guns
that have already found the range and are eligible for ‘Repeat
fire’ and guns that have the ‘Rapid fire’ special rule are
allowed to fire with an indirect activation requiring no order
tokens. Still, if you can’t wait for the third phase to fire, you
are still allowed to activate a squadron or ship for an attack as
normal.
Launch aircraft/Call in off-board air support activation
A carrier present on the board is able to be activated to
launch its planes. It is also possible to call in your off-board air
assets. More detailed info can be found in the aircraft section
on page 20.
Submarine search activation
An ASW equipped squadron or ship may attempt to reveal
the position of an enemy sub if it is within range (check the
submarines section on page 24 for details.
Back to index 
Phase 3: Indirect Activations
When both players exhausted their direct activations,
the indirect activations phase starts.
The player that finished his direct activations first also
makes the first indirect activation
Indirect activations do not cost any order tokens but can
still be augmented by the command station
An indirect activation can be:
• Repeat fire/Rapid fire
• Compulsory movement
• Rally
• Air movement
• Damage control
Indirect activations
Indirect activations work just like direct activations with the only
exception that they are performed in their own phase and do not
cost any order tokens. Furthermore, if a squadron or ship
performed a shooting activation during its direct activations it
cannot perform a Repeat fire/Rapid fire activation anymore since
it already fired its guns this turn. Likewise, if a ship has already
maneuvered this turn it cannot perform another maneuver as an
indirect activation.
Orders and disruption
Just like direct activations, indirect activations can be augmented
with orders from the command stations. Mind, these orders will
cost you order tokens as normal and can be disrupted by your
opponent as normal.
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Indirect activations
Repeat fire/rapid fire activation
If a ship has not yet used its guns this turn it can indirectly
activate for a gunnery/ASW attack on the following
conditions:
• It is already ranged in. If so, it can shoot again at the
same target with any gun systems available.
• It has any weapon system with the ‘Rapid fire’
special rule. These weapons are allowed to shoot at
any target within range
Any ASW equipped ship may try to attempt to reveal the
position of an enemy sub if it tried to do so last turn (check
the submarines section on page 24 for details.
Compulsory movement
Any ships that have not yet moved are now forced to move at
least half their movement rate forwards. They are not
allowed to change heading except to avoid ships, obstacles or
to follow their flagship. Mind that only the minimum amount
of course change needed to achieve this is allowed.
The only exception is if an ASW equipped ship decides to
investigate a sonar contact. This allows any such ship to use
the compulsory movement activation to move closer to a
submarine marker. (However, it does not allow the ship to try
to reveal the sub’s position)
Rally
Any ships that have broken off during this turn (including
ships breaking off during this phase) are allowed to try to
rejoin the battle. Check the command section on page 19 for
more details.
Air movement
All aircraft are allowed to move during this activation. Aircraft
will always move in a straight line towards their destination.
Check during movement if any interceptions take place. For
more details check the air section on page 20.
Damage control
A ship attempting damage control can try to repair damage
effects during their indirect activation.
A damage control roll is made for each fire or flooding
marker. In addition you may try to repair one damaged
system on your ship per turn.
To repair a damaged system, put out a fire or stop flooding
you will need a 4+ on your damage control roll. A roll of 1
may cause an extra fire or flooding effect. Modifiers may
apply to these rolls: one is that you need to subtract one from
your roll in case of a damaged engineering. The other is that
some command station orders may modify the roll.
Back to index 
Phase 4: End of turn
When both players exhausted their indirect activations,
the end of turn phase starts.
Both players check if any actions have to be taken during
this phase. If at some point the order of things is
important, the player who has initiative may decide
which player takes his actions first.
Apply damage effects first before handling any of the
other end-of-turn effects.
Apply damage effects
Fire
Fires can start because of damage, and are dangerous to the ship
if left unchecked. If a fire rages on a ship, the crew will make every
effort to put it out. As an indirect activation a player can attempt
damage control to put out the fire. For any fire that hasn’t been
put out by damage control, the ship takes one extra damage; cross
off a hull point for every point of damage. If a ‘1’ is rolled for the
damage control roll to put out the fire the roll automatically fails,
to make matters worse, add an extra fire marker.
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Flooding
Flooding can be caused by hits beneath the waterline. The
damage effects work exactly the same as with fires. For each
flooding marker present a damage control roll can be made. For
each flooding marker present at the end of the turn the ship takes
one extra damage. If a ‘1’ is rolled for the damage control roll to
contain the flooding the roll automatically fails, to make matters
worse, add an extra flooding marker.
Resolve torpedo damage
Place the torpedo spread template at the end of the torpedo
markers that have been placed this turn one at a time. Each time
resolve the complete torpedo attack before moving on to the
next. Check page 14 for more info on how to handle torpedo hits.
Remove smoke markers
Remove any smoke markers that have not been placed during this
turn.
Land Aircraft
Any plane that has ended its movement within 20cm of a carrier
can now land. Mind the launch/land capacity of the carrier
though.
Back to index 
Maneuver activations
Movement distances
Movement in Naval War is worked out in leaps of 5cm. However,
it is allowed to move less than your full distance during a move.
Players can use a measuring stick, tape measure or a compass to
keep track of movement distance.
Determining speed and heading
If a squadron is ordered to perform a maneuver activation, all
ships in the squadron are allowed to move up to their maximum
movement distance. This value can be found in the green box next
to the ‘engines’ entry on the data cards. The green value is the
max speed (in cm) of the ship when the engines are not damaged,
yellow represents damage and red means that the engines are
disabled. In addition to moving, the squadron can make a course-
Attack activations
An attack activation allows a squadron to select a target and
engage it with its guns, torpedoes or depth charges. Note that
each type of attack requires a separate activation. Air attacks are
handled separately in their own section.
An attack activation is made in the following sequence, resolve all
4 steps for each individual ship in the squadron (step one is
resolved for the entire squadron at once). You must combine
equal weapon systems on the same ship if possible to reduce the
amount of rolls necessary.
1. Determine target
2. Hitting the target
3. Determine damage
4. Apply damage, system effects and command effects
1. Determine the target
Any ship can shoot its weapons if the following conditions are
met:
The shooter can draw Line of sight to the target (see
below)
12 Maneuver activations | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
change of up to 90 degrees as long as it moved at least 5cm. If a
ship has a max speed of 5 (in case of damage to the engines or a
very slow ship) it does not have to move first before turning. Note
that a ship turns by moving the bow and using the stern to pivot
on. A ship is allowed to make multiple course changes during its
movement as long as it does not end its move heading more than
90° from its original heading.
Minimum distance & Collisions
Since abstractions are made for scale and distances, on a board of
this scale, ship-on-ship collisions are not very realistic to model.
Some basic rules still apply though: All ships must end their
movement at least one movement distance apart from each other
if possible. A ship may never end its move on top of another ship.
If a ship does not have enough movement left to clear the other
ship, it halts in front of it. If a ship hits an island or other part of
scenery, halt the ship, any remaining movement is lost and the
ship counts as stationary for enemy shooting. Next movement
activation the ship may expend 5cm of its movement to change its
heading up to 90 degrees immediately or its full movement to
change course up to 180 degrees (it will still count as stationary if
it expended its complete movement allowance for turning).
There is no friendly ship within 10cm obstructing the
line of sight of the shooting ship
The target is within range of the weapon
The target is within the firing arc of the weapon
(front/side/rear)
If all the above conditions are met, the target is considered a legal
target. Check these conditions separately for every ship that
wants to shoot. Note that targets are selected for each ship in the
squadron before any dice are rolled.
Measuring distances
Distances for movement and/or shooting are measured from any
part of the hull of the ship. Ignore protruding masts, guns,
antennae, cranes or other parts.
Determining line of sight
Line of sight is determined the following way: Draw an imaginary
line from the bow or stern of your ship to the bow or stern of the
enemy ship. Then draw another line from the center of your ship
to the center of the enemy ship. The basic rule is that the lines
cannot cross. So for example if the ships are sailing in opposite
Back to index 
directions, measure from your bow to the opponents’ stern and
then from center to center.
If both lines can be drawn to the enemy ship, the enemy is in full
view. If one of the two lines is obstructed (ignore both enemy
ships and friendly ships more than 10cm away) by scenery,
weather or other obstructions, the enemy ship counts as being in
cover. If both lines are obstructed, the enemy is not in line of
sight. Use some common sense for determining if you need to
measure from bow-to-bow or bow-to-stern in odd situations.
Check the examples below for a visual guide.
Firing arcs
Each weapon system on the data card has its respective firing arc
listed. Align the firing arc template with the center of the ship to
determine the firing arc. Note that any weapon can also fire in the
arc adjacent to the one it is listed in unless it has the masked
special rule. So a weapon that is listed on the front side of the ship
can also fire on its broadside.

Landmasses
Islands and other landmasses block line of sight.

Squalls
Squalls may be present on the board. If a ship is sailing completely
within a squall, it cannot see or be seen further away than short
range. The shooting modifier for short range (-1) does not apply
and the ship also counts as being in cover. If the ship itself is in a
squall and targets a target outside of the squall (at short range, as
it cannot see further), the target still counts as being in cover.

Smoke
Smoke is artificially made by ships to provide cover. It is not
possible to shoot through smoke except at short range. A ship
even partially covered by smoke (excluding the ship that makes it)
counts as being in cover. A ship covered by smoke also considers
its target as being in cover. In the end phase, remove any
smokescreens that have been made last turn.
Splitting fire
Ships cannot split fire between targets with the same weapon
system. Still, each weapon system can pick its own target (so 14”
main guns are allowed to shoot at a different target than the 5”
secondary’s for instance)

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© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
2. Hitting the target Torpedoes
Torpedoes work a bit differently than guns. When activated for an
Guns attack a ship is allowed to launch its torpedoes. Usually torpedoes
If a ship has a valid target it can fire away! Check the Rate Of Fire are launched from banks containing 2 or more torpedoes. A bank
(RoF) of the weapon system that you’re firing. If the ship has is represented by the RoF value of the torpedoes on the data card.
multiple mountings of the same weapon system (for example; When a bank of torpedoes is launched, the torpedoes are spent
front and rear guns) add up all the RoF values. Take a number of and cannot be fired again for the rest of the game. If a ship carries
dice equal to your total RoF, these are your attack dice. If your multiple banks of torpedoes, it is allowed to launch one or more at
ship is shooting at a target that it has not yet hit before in the the same time at the players’ discretion. The amount of banks
previous turn, use the rules for finding the range below to available to a ship are listed in the ‘special’ column of the torpedo
determine your final RoF. listing. Use a marker to cross off any banks that have been
launched.
Check the target rating of the target. This is the score you will
need on each die to score a hit. There are a few modifiers that Note that submarines usually have torpedoes as their primary
influence the target rating of the enemy ship, check the Target weapon and therefore do not have to cross off any banks. In this
rating modifiers table. Some factors increase or decrease the case torpedoes may be fired every turn a submarine is allowed to
target score, others Target rating modifiers do so (usually these weapons suffer from the ‘slow’ special rule).
will halve all Target is unable to move -1
successful hits < 20 cm; short range -1 Who can launch?
(rounding up). Note > 60 cm; Extreme range +1 A ship can launch its torpedoes at any time since they are not
that halving hits is Finding the range specifically targeted weapons (sometimes a ship might even want
Halve hits
not cumulative, so Target is performing Evasive action
(rounding to jettison its torpedoes before a long range gunfight).
you don’t have to Target/Shooter is in cover
up) In contrast to gunnery, Torpedoes can only be launched from the
half you hits again Rangefinder damaged/destroyed
part of the ship they are mounted on. So starboard mounted
if two modifiers At < 60 cm maximum target score is 6
torpedoes cannot launch to the front and front mounted
apply. Note that except when shooting at extreme range, the torpedoes cannot launch on a broadside etc. Torpedoes mounted
Target score can never get worse than 6. on the centerline can fire from either broadside.

Roll all dice of identical weapon systems at once, so if you have a Beware! Torpedoes can hit your own ships if they happen to
weapon system on the front and the back of the ship, and they are stumble into the path of one of your own torpedo spreads. So
both targeting the same target, roll all dice together. consider carefully when to launch your torpedoes.

Hit location Delayed effects

In addition to your attack dice, also roll a D20 to determine the hit
location of your salvo. Check the score on the hit location table
and take into account any modifiers listed. These modifier may
influence the armor roll of your opponent, so check this
immediately after rolling to hit.
Finding the range
Shooting at long range is not easy. Warships usually shoot a lot of
dispersed salvo’s, altering the angle and distance of each salvo
until a hit is registered. This is represented by the ‘finding the
range’ rule, if your ship is trying to acquire a target which is not at
short range, your total RoF is halved (rounded up) until a hit is
made on the enemy ship. As soon as a hit is made, put a splash
marker next to the enemy ship. As long as the splash marker is
there, your ship can use its full rate of fire in any subsequent
round of fire. In addition, your ship can use the ‘repeat fire’
indirect activation as long as the marker is present. The splash
marker is removed when the owning ship hasn’t fired any shots at
it during a turn.
Centerline guns
Any guns mounted on the broadside or centerline of the ship are
allowed to shoot to the front or rear at half their RoF. If those
guns have the ‘Masked’ special rule, they cannot. AA guns are
never masked and don’t suffer from reduced RoF, torpedo tubes
are always considered masked.
Weapon ranges
The range of each weapon is listed in its entry on the data card.
Ranges are in cm. When shooting at a target, there are three
range bands: Short range (less than 20 cm), medium to long range
(20 – 60 cm), and extreme range (over 60cm)
When a ship launches a spread, place a torpedo spread counter
next to the ship. Place the tip of the counter next to the torpedo
bank that has been launched and aim the spread in the direction
you want to fire it. That’s it. No further actions are taken because
the torpedoes take some time to arrive at their targets. Leave the
counters in place, ignoring the further fate of the ships that
launched them.
Resolving torpedo hits
Torpedoes are always launched in spreads. In the end of turn
phase, place the torpedo spread template at the end of the
torpedo markers one at a time. The player that has initiative starts
resolving his torpedo markers first. The owning player can decide
in which order the markers are resolved. Each time resolve the
complete torpedo attack before moving on to the next. Check
which ships are under the template, ships even partially under the
template are still considered a valid target.
First divide the dice in half, assigning each group of dice to each
side (left and right) of the template. In case of odd or single dice
the attacking player may decide to what half the die is assigned to.
The attacking player then needs to assign the torpedo dice from
each group to the ships of his choosing that are under that half of
the template. The only rule is that all ships must have at least one
die assigned to them before a second die can be assigned a ship
that already has one, all ships must have 2 dice assigned to them
before a 3rd can be assigned, etc. If a ship is in both halves of the
template, dice can be assigned to it from both halves.
Add 1 to the target score (to a max of 6) if the point of launch is in
the front or rear arc of the target ship at the time of impact. After
all torpedo dice have been assigned, roll to hit for each ship,
taking into account the target score modifier.

14 Attack activations | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Anti-submarine weapons
Anti-submarine weapons work the same way as guns with the
following exceptions:
They can only be fired at submarines that are sub-
merged
They do not require ranging shots
No modifiers apply for short range
They can only be fired at a target situated in the rear- or
broadside arc of the ship unless a special rule allows
them to do otherwise
3. Determine damage
Armor roll
For every hit scored, the defender now takes as many dice as the
dmg rating indicated on the attackers data card. These are his
armor dice.
The defender checks the armor score on his ship. In addition , he
checks the Hit location table if any modifiers to his armor rating
apply. He now rolls the armor dice and adds the ships’ armor
score to each die. If the modified armor score is equal or higher
than the Pwr-value of the enemy weapon the armor has stopped
the damage. For every armor roll that scored less than the
attackers’ Power score, the ship takes one damage.
Lucky saves
Sometimes ships got lucky and saw large shells passing through
unarmored parts of the ship without detonating, or torpedoes
would hit but not detonate because of faults in the design or
assembly. To model these flukes, an armor roll of ‘6’ will always be
successful, no matter how high the AP rating of the incoming hit
is.
4. Hit location and damage effects
Hit location
Every time a ship fires, a D20 is also rolled. Consult the Hit location
& Damage Effects table on the previous page to see if any
additional effects apply to the armor roll (i.e. in case of a
superstructure hit all armor rolls of 1 or 2 automatically fail). In
addition, if any of the hits resulted in damage, consult the table
again to figure out what damage effects apply.
Cascading damage
If a ship has failed multiple armor rolls from one attack, extra
effects can happen to the ship. Check how many armor rolls have
been failed and consult the corresponding column for the effects
on the ship. Note that the results of the table are not cumulative.
System not present/unavailable
If a number is rolled and an area of the ship is hit that is already
disabled or just not present on the ship (i.e. Secondary weapons
on a destroyer) shift one row up while staying in the same hit
location category. If this is not possible start a fire instead.
Damage and Effects
The ships’ hull points are listed
in the corresponding box on
the data card. When the ship
takes damage, bulbs are
crossed off from left to right,
and top row before bottom
row. When a double bulb is crossed out due to damage, the ship
needs to take a command check at the end of the activation.
Check the command section for more info on command checks.
15 Attack activations | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Ship crippled
When a ship runs out of regular hull points (shown in grey) and
the first red hull points (if any) is crossed off, the ship is
considered crippled. In addition to any damage already present,
all weapon systems are damaged, as well as the engines. This
might lead to the disabling of systems that were already damaged.
In case of torpedo launchers, half of them become disabled
(rounding up, randomize which launchers are disabled).
Ship sunk
As soon as the last (black) hull point is crossed off the ship is
considered sunk.
System status
Many parts of the ship can be damaged during the battle. The ship
data card shows 3 statuses for a system that can be damaged:
• Clear/Green: The system is undamaged
• Yellow: The system is damaged
• Red: The system is disabled
Damaged systems can be repaired in the damage control phase.
When a damaged system is repaired, it reverts back to
undamaged status. Disabled systems can no longer be repaired. If
multiple ‘damaged’ values are present, this means that a system
can take more levels of damage before it is disabled. Just use the
sequence and values as indicated on the card.
Damage to components
Listed on the data card there
are 4 ship components that can
be damaged and subsequently
be repaired by damage control.
These components are the
engines, the rangefinder, the
engineering bay, and the
rudder. Furthermore a ship can take damage on its weapon
systems, this damage is noted at the affected weapon system.
Damage to the engines
For every instance of engine damage a colored box is crossed off,
thereby reducing the maximum movement distance a ship can
travel.
Damage to the rangefinder
When a rangefinder is damaged or disabled, all successful hits
made by the affected ship are halved (rounding up).
Damage to the engineering
If a ships’ engineering is damaged each damage control roll the
ship makes is made at a -1 modifier. Note that this causes fires
and flooding to spread on a roll of 1 and 2, because of the
modifier. If the engineering is disabled no damage control rolls are
possible anymore.
Damage to the rudder
If a rudder hit occurs, cross off the green bulb, roll a die and note
to which side (if any) the rudder is stuck. When the rudder is hit,
the ship can no longer participate in maneuvers and only
compulsory moves are allowed. In addition, if the rudder is stuck
in port or starboard position the ship will turn 90° in the
compulsory movement phase after the first 5cm traveled.
Back to index 
16 Attack activations | Naval War Back to index 
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
 Example of play: Hitting the target with guns:

17 Attack activations | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
 Example of play: Hitting the target with torpedoes:

18 Attack activations | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Command
The command rating represents the ability for your fleet to stick
around when the going gets tough, it contains factors like morale,
command & control and just common sense to determine when a
ship decides it is time to retire, temporarily or permanently.
When to take a command check
There can be several causes for a ship to take a command check.
Most obvious reason is when a ship is taking damage. On the ship
data cards, in the hull point box you can see the hull points of a
ship. Most hull points are shaped like empty round circles, others
are circles with a dot inside. Every time such a ‘command hull
point’ is checked off, a ship has to take a command check. There
can be other reasons, for instance because of an enemy order.
Taking a command check
When a ship has to take a command check the player whose ship
it is rolls 2 dice. Add the results and if the total is less than the
command rating (check the officer card for the command rating)
the ship will have to break off.
Deteriorating command
When a ship keeps receiving damage, the will to fight on will also
decline. This is modeled by the deteriorating command rule.
When a ship takes a command check, subtract any previously
19 Command | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
crossed off command hull points from the roll. So if a ship has
already crossed of 2 command hull points and has just crossed off
its third, subtract 2 from the result of the roll.
Breaking off
When a ship breaks off it immediately leaves any squadron it was
part of, even when it would technically still be in cohesion with its
squadron. The ship must make a free maneuver (even if it already
performed a maneuver this turn) at maximum possible speed
away from the action, making sure it does not move closer to any
enemy ship within 40cm if possible. A ship that has broken off can
only make the following indirect activations: Rallying, Damage
control and Compulsory movement in which it will keep on
moving away from any enemies at max speed. It will try to head
for the nearest table edge if possible.
Rallying
To rally a ship the owning player may activate the ship as an
indirect activation using a rally-activation. As soon as the ship is
activated it may take a command check with the normal modifiers
for deteriorating command, it is also allowed to play any orders
influencing command. If the check is passed, the ship immediately
activates for a compulsory movement indirect activation if it has
not yet maneuvered this turn and can be activated as normal from
that point on again.
Back to index 
Aircraft
Aircraft in Naval War are represented by flights. A flight based air support, it will not automatically enter the battle upon
represents about 6 aircraft. In Naval War the air sequence is activation. Each time land-based air support is activated to enter
integrated into the normal phases of the game. A regular sortie the battle, roll a die for each flight you would like to call in. On a
can be accomplished in 2 turns. 3+ distant air support will enter the battle from the location pre-
designated in the scenario. If the planes are close support, they
The base sequence is the following: will enter the battle on the roll of a 2+. Select an entry point at the
- Direct activation: Launching flights edge of the board (Within the normal constraints for support
- Indirect activation: Moving flights arriving on the board). After the flights have entered the battle,
- Direct activation: Air Strikes treat them like normal air assets, which means they are allowed to
- Indirect activation: Moving flights (return trip) move as an indirect activation.
- End phase: Landing flights
Air movement
Launch flights/Call in off-board air Moving flights is an indirect activation. When activated, all friendly
support flights activate at the same time.
There are 3 ways in which flights can come into play in Naval War.
They are either launched from a carrier, launched from within the Moving flights
vicinity of a floatplane tender or enter the board originating from Flights may travel up to 80 cm from their last position. Flights that
off-board assets or airbases. have started off-board can travel up to 80 cm from their entry
point on the board.
Launching flights from a carrier
In the direct activations phase a Example: A carrier has a Flights always move in straight lines. During movement, flights
carrier that is present on the launch/land cap of 6. cannot be targeted by AA, they are assumed to fly too high for the
board may be activated to launch This means that it can AA to reach them. Patrolling aircraft can only intercept enemy
its air groups. Each carrier has a either launch or land 6 flights at the end of their movement.
fixed launch/land capacity listed flights of planes in one
under its special rules on the data turn. If the carrier has Return to carrier/exit point
card. This capacity represents the launched 4 flights in the In the indirect activation phase , all flights that have made their
amount of flights the carrier can direct activations phase, attacks or have broken off must use their movement to return to
launch or land in a single turn. only 2 planes can land at their carrier or the edge-of-the-map exit point.
When launched, the flights must the end of the turn. Keep
remain within 20cm of the carrier this in mind when Interception & Dogfighting
until activated in the indirect planning your air Intercepting incoming flights
activations phase. Flights that are operations during the All flights with a dogfighting score above 0 that have not yet
launched from a carrier cannot game. activated this turn are considered to be patrolling. Patrolling
perform an air attack activation in flights can intercept any enemy flights that ended their move
the same turn. within a 20cm radius. This can be the end of an ordinary air move
or the end of an attack run. When a flight is intercepted, a
Launching aircraft from near a seaplane tender dogfight ensues (see below). An intercepting flight that wins the
A seaplane tender functions as a mobile land base for any dogfight is moved to the spot of the flight it destroyed. If the
seaplane flights that belong to it. In the direct activations phase a intercepting flight won the dogfight it may attempt a second
tender can be activated for launch just like a carrier. intercept. If it wins the second dogfight it cannot attempt a third
intercept. At the end of the activation all flights that have
Land based air support & fighter cover intercepted must break off due to lack of ammo and/or fuel.
Land based strikes are much more difficult to coordinate for a
fleet than carrier-based operations. Usually more flight time is Dogfighting
involved and often higher echelon command structures also When a dogfight is initiated, both flights are moved into contact
complicate air-sea coordination. Because of this, if you have land- with each other. Both players roll a die for their flight, adding their
dogfighting bonus. If the score is equal, both flights break off the
action (return them to their starting positions). If the score of one
player beats the score of the other player, the other players’ flight
breaks off the action. The aircraft that broke off then rolls a save
on 1D6 and adds the its dodge score. If it scored equal or more
than the attackers aircraft power score, the flight is unharmed and
breaks off as normal, otherwise, the flight is destroyed.

You may choose to intercept one enemy flight with several of your
own. In this case the intercepting aircraft will be rolling separately
for each aircraft in the dogfight (adding that specific craft’s
Dogfighting score) and using the highest of their results. If the side
with only one aircraft wins without destroying one of its
opponents, they choose which of the opposing craft is broken off
and then initiates another dogfight with the remaining opposition.

20 Aircraft | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
If the defending flight destroyed one of its attackers, the
remaining attacking flights must break off.
Mind that any plane that is still carrying bombs or torpedoes is
considered to have a dogfighting score of 0. A player can select to
drop the ordinance to restore its dogfighting score (select before
any dice are rolled), but this means that a plane that has dropped
its ordinance must head back to the carrier/tender/base at the
next opportunity.
Escorting
Any flights that are not carrying ordinance at the start of either a
normal move or an attack run are assumed to escort any flights
that are within 10cm at the start of the movement. If any escorted
flight is intercepted by an enemy flight, the escorting plane is
allowed to engage the attackers first. Move the escorting flight
into contact with the attacker. If the attacker wins the
engagement it is now allowed to engage any other enemy flights
within interception range. It is not allowed to engage the attacker
another time with an escorting flight during the same turn. If the
escort wins the dogfight it is allowed to function as an escort for
another attack, after which it must break off for lack of fuel and
ammo.
Attack – Aircraft
A direct activation is needed for flights to start an attack run.
Select an enemy target ship within 20cm of a friendly flight. Any
other flights within 20cm of the same target can join in the same
activation. These flights will form the attack group. Note that an
attack group cannot ever consist of more than 8 flights.
Initiating an attack run
Select a target ship; aircraft are allowed to initiate an attack run if
they are within 20cm of the target. Any other enemy ship within
10cm of the primary target is also eligible as a target for this
attack group. Move the aircraft in a straight line into contact with
the target(s). Any patrolling aircraft that are allowed to intercept
can do so at the end of this move.
Rendezvous point and breaking off
The starting point of the attack is also the point to which any
flights surviving the attack will return after their attack run is
completed. Any flights intercepted during the attack run that did
not get destroyed will also return to this rendezvous point. Any
flights that needed to break off during the attack must also return
to the rendezvous point.
Conduct AA fire
Ships that are within AA range of the target ship, including the
target ship, can fire their weapons in AA support of it. If the target
ship is directly between the attacking aircraft and a ship
conducting AA fire, resolve the AA after the attack but with a +1 to
the dmg rating of the AA. If there is another ship between the
two, no AA can be fired by the outer ship. Repeat this for every
new attack run.
AA attacks work almost the same as normal gunnery with the
exception that none of the usual modifiers like range, cover, etc.
are applied (AA can still be subject to Command Station orders
that affect it). Check the amount of AA shots (RoF) each ship is
allowed. The defender divides the AA dice between the attacking
planes. No airplane can be allocated a second die before all planes
in range have at least one die allocated. A third die can only be
allocated if all attacking planes in range have two dice allocated
etc. Finally, no more than five dice can be allocated to any one
flight during an attack run, any remaining dice are lost. Roll the
21 Aircraft | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
dice, if different flights are involved the target scores of the
aircraft may vary.
Check how many dice have hit. All flights that have been hit must
break off. The attacker may still see if the flights made it out of the
AA-fire alive by making a dodge roll for each successful hit. This is
much alike the gunnery armor roll: The aircraft needs to equal or
beat the damage score of the AA to survive. Usually this damage
score is 7, so flights with a dodge rating of 3 need to roll a 4 or
higher to survive the AA and make it to the rendezvous point in
one piece.
Overwhelm the defenses
If a squadron of ships is attacked by air a second time within the
same turn, all AA values of Dual-purpose guns involved (except
those of the target ship itself) are halved (rounding up) as long as
the second attack wave does not exceed the number of flights in
the first attack wave. This rule works the same for every
subsequent attack on the same squadron within the same turn.
Resolve torpedo-, bomb- and gun attacks
Any flights that made it through any interceptions and AA fire
without being shot down or breaking off may now make their
bomb, gun or torpedo attacks. These are resolved in the same way
as surface gunnery with the exception that no modifiers are
applied and that the attacking player may decide to roll the
attacks of each flight separately or combine attacks of identical
flights. Note that aerial torpedo attacks are directly resolved like
surface gunnery. This in contrast to the surface torpedo attacks,
which are resolved in the end phase. This is because aerial
torpedoes were dropped close to their targets so they didn’t have
the long running times of their surface counterparts. After the
attack, all aircraft return to their rendezvous point.
Landing flights
When a flight has spent its ammunition, it will automatically head
back to the carrier during the air movement indirect activation. If
it ends its movement within 20cm of the carrier it may land in the
end phase. Seaplanes based near a tender treat the 10cm area
around the tender as their airbase. Landed flights can be rearmed
and refueled for future operations and may be re-launched next
turn. Note that if a flight cannot land because it would violate the
launch-land capacity of the carrier the flights will keep circling the
carrier until they can. Note that this is an abstraction because
Naval War does not include the bookkeeping that is involved with
keeping check of fuel stocks. The penalty for delaying the landing
of flights (and therefore their ability to take part in a new strike) is
considered enough to discourage players from keeping their
aircraft in the air for too long.
Land based flights that have spent their ammo will head back to
their entry point in the same way. However, since these planes
need to fly all the way back to a land-airbase, these planes will
have to spend an additional turn off-table before they can re-
enter the battle.
Back to index 
 Example of Play: Attack – Aircraft

22 Aircraft | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Carriers
Deployment & movement
Historically, carriers usually operated at quite a distance from the
actual action and were rarely involved in surface actions. In the
rare cases that they were involved in surface action the carrier
usually tried to escape (Battle of Samar) or was sunk (HMS
Glorious). Carriers in Naval war usually fight battles at a distance.
If they are attached to a support- or battle fleet they are usually
located off-board as close- or distant support. When they do enter
the battle at a later time it is assumed that the battle has moved
within the vicinity of the carrier. In rare instances, a carrier group
is surprised by a surface force, to prevent having carriers hugging
the edges of the board from the start, we use the following rules
for deployment and movement of carriers in these encounters:

Carriers cannot deploy within 20cm of the table edges,

unless there is no other option.
Carriers that launch or land more than half their capacity
(see below) during the turn cannot move more than 5cm
during that turn.
Carriers in support must enter the table when required
to do so.
Carriers that arrive on the board as support must make a
full speed move straight towards the opposite table end
when they do. They can still launch/retrieve aircraft in
the turn they arrive, so this is an exception to the rule
that a carrier that launches or lands planes can only Seaplane Tenders
move speed at speed 1.
Deployment & movement
Launch/land Capacity & Flight Capacity A seaplane tender functions as a mobile land-base for any
Carriers have a limited capacity to launch or land flights during a seaplanes that belong to its complement. At deployment, place
given turn. This capacity is listed in the special box of a carrier. The the seaplanes. Seaplane carriers cannot deploy within 20cm of the
Launch/land capacity shows the total number of flights that can table edges, unless there is no other option.
be launched and/or landed during the turn. Keep this in mind
when performing more complex air operations. A seaplane tender must remain stationary in the turn it
launches/lands aircraft, representing the refueling and
IN addition to the launch/land capacity, a carrier also has a ‘flight maintenance of the seaplanes.
capacity’. This shows the total number of flights that can be on
board of the carrier at any given time.
No land/launch capacity
A seaplane tender does not have a launch-land capacity and as
such it does not suffer from any of the capacity reductions from
The launch/land capacity of a carrier is influenced by external
damage etc.
factors like damage and evasive maneuvers:
A carrier that has moved more than 5cm during the turn
When under attack from ships, subs or planes (planes that have
or has performed the Evasive maneuvers activation
broken off because of AA or friendly fighters do not count as
halves the launch/land capacity for the remainder of the
having attacked the tender) a seaplane tender may not launch or
turn.
land any planes for the rest of the turn.
A carrier that is on fire cannot launch or land any
aircraft. Off-board seaplane tenders
Any aircraft still on board when a carrier is sunk are When a seaplane tender starts the game off-board as close- or
considered destroyed distant support, a player can still call in the tender’s aircraft in the
A carrier that has broken off can only land aircraft, but same way as land-based aircraft. Any seaplane tender aircraft may
cannot launch them, they also suffer from the half reroll any failed rolls for arriving on board.
launch/land capacity, since breaking off requires them
to move at full speed.
Off-board carriers
When a carrier starts the game off-board as close- or distant
support, a player can still call in the carrier’s aircraft in the same
way as land-based aircraft. Any carrier aircraft may reroll any
failed rolls for arriving on the board. Note that you still have to take
into account the launch/land capacity of the carrier.

23 Carriers | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Submarine operations
Deployment
During deployment, for every sub the owning player places one
submarine token (or the submarine itself, player preference)
anywhere on the battlefield with the following exceptions: You
may not place the sub in the enemy deployment zone, and you
cannot place it within 40cm of an enemy ship.
All friendly submarines count as one squadron for the purpose of
order tokens only, there is no need to assign a flagship (they do
get the order tokens as if they had one).
If a submarine is in the core fleet, you may place these tokens
when you would otherwise deploy a single ship. If a submarine is
part of a support group, place the tokens as soon as the support
option is arriving on the table. On the counter, place a die showing
a ‘4’. This means that the submarine could be anywhere within 4 x
5cm of the token.
Moving the submarine
There are three ways of moving a submarine. All three require the
sub to be activated.
Surfacing
The submarine surfaces and is able to move like a surface
ship this turn.
On the surface
A submarine on the surface moves like any ordinary ship. If
activated for a maneuver it can move and turn. If not, it will
move in the indirect activations phase with all other ships
that haven’t moved yet.
Diving
Diving requires an activation, the sub is still allowed to move
one distance, but at the end of the move it is replaced by
the submarine counter, with the die on a ‘1’
24 Submarine operations | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Hidden movement
If the sub is submerged, it will move by default at the end of
the turn (if it has not activated for maneuvers like diving or
surfacing this turn). There are two ways to move submerged:
Either the marker die is increased in value (+1), meaning the
radius in which the sub can reappear is increased, or the
marker itself is moved one distance without increasing.
Revealing the submarine’s position
By the owning player
If the submarine attacks, or is revealed by the owning player,
it is placed on the board (or the counters are removed). A
submarine can be revealed anywhere within the radius of the
number of the (marker die * 5cm). The sub must be placed
more than 20cm away from any enemy ships unless it is
placed within 5cm of its marker. The sub may be placed facing
any direction the owning player chooses.
By the enemy player
The enemy player can attempt to reveal a submerged sub’s
position. This can be done by any ship or plane with anti-
submarine equipment (ASW). A ship or plane can try to
narrow down the position of the sub by doing searches. A
search can be performed if the maximum radius of the sub is
within the DC range of the ship or plane. Roll a die, on a 4+ the
sub needs to subtract one from the marker die and is allowed
to move the marker one distance. If the marker die value
drops below 1, the sub is revealed within a 5cm radius of the
marker. When the sub’s position is known, Depth charge
attacks can be made.
First strike
A submarine that is hidden can use its activation to reveal its
position and immediately launch its torpedoes. For order
purposes this counts only as an attack activation. A sub does not
have to surface to launch a first strike.
Back to index 
Special rules
Special rules
Accurate
Any weapon or aircraft with this special rule may roll 2 hit location
dice and discard the one of their choosing.
Advanced RFC
A ship with Advanced RFC is allowed to reroll all misses when
firing ranging shots.
Armored flight deck
Carriers with an armored flight deck do not suffer the -1 to target
score from units with the ‘accurate’ special rule.
Destroyer hunter
A ship with this special rule may roll one extra die when firing
ranging shots at a ship classified as ‘Small’.
Destroyer leader
A destroyer leader may be counted as either its own size or a
Small size ship when generating order tokens.
Defensive armament
Aircraft with this special rule do not reduce their dogfighting score
when carrying a payload, but may not initiate a dogfight, even
when the payload is dropped.
Hybrid carrier
The rules for carriers apply to this ship. This ship may launch and
receive its flight of aircraft just like a normal carrier. The only
exceptions to the normal carrier rules is that it may not launch or
retrieve its aircraft when it has fired its main armament this turn
or is being shot at during the turn. Note that a Hybrid carrier
cannot retrieve non-seaplane aircraft. These aircraft need to
return to an off-board base instead. If the ship has launched or
retrieved any aircraft this turn it may not activate for attacks
anymore during this turn.
Insignificant
Ships with this special rule do not count to the extra order token
for 3 small sized ships in a squadron.
Long lance
The Japanese Type 93 61cm torpedo, also known as the Long
Lance was the most advanced naval torpedo in the world at the
time. It’s pure oxygen propulsion system allowed it to outrange all
other contemporary torpedoes. To model this, add the long lance
extension template to the normal torpedo template when
checking for hits.
One-shot
Ships with the one-shot ability are removed from play after they
have launched their payload. In some cases a one-shot ship is
allowed to replenish its ammo at a mother ship (usually a tender
of some sorts), in that case, place the ship back at the mother ship
instead of removing them.
Pincer attack
If a ship has been hit by a weapon or plane with pincer attack, any
other weapon or plane, attacking in the same phase from the
opposite firing arc compared to the last attack (so left-
broadside/right-broadside or front/rear) may reroll one of its
failed rolls to hit. Aircraft with this rule may move to the opposite
25 Special rules | Naval War
© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
side of a ship if they have enough movement left from their
starting point.
Scout
This ability has a different effect depending on the vehicle:
Plane: A scout plane can confer a +1 to the initiative roll
of its owning player when it spends its turn
scouting. The scouting plane is placed anywhere
within 30 cm of an enemy ship but does not take
part in the battle in any other way this turn, it can
however, be shot down.
Ship: A scout ship confers a +1 to the initiative roll of its
owning player as long as it is present on the table.
Submarine: A submarine that has not been located also
confers a +1 to the initiative roll of its owning
player. As soon as the location of a sub is known it
no longer provides the scout bonus.
A scouting bonus can only confer a maximum of +3 to the
initiative roll. In addition to the initiative bonus, for every active
scout on the board, the owning player is allowed to reroll one of
the dice rolled for the arrival of close or distant support aircraft.
(even if a scout arrived earlier in the same turn this bonus
applies). If a flight is already eligible for a reroll, no roll is required
at all.
Small craft
Small craft are considered a group of small ships always operating
together as a squadron. They activate and attack within the same
activation, just like a normal squadron. Small craft need to stay
within 5cm of each other instead of the usual 10cm. They will also
get a Lucky save on a 5+ instead of 6+. Furthermore their shallow
draft makes them immune for torpedoes.
Small craft tender
This ship is a mother ship to any small craft that have been
assigned to it. After a small craft has expended its ammunition it
may return to the mother ship instead of being removed as per
the one-shot ability. Place the craft with the mother ship after the
attack has been made. Next turn it may redeploy to the map and
move as normal.
Submerged movement (#)
Submarines are allowed to move when submerged, the number
indicated at the ability is the speed at which they are allowed to
move.
Submerged tubes
Any torpedo tubes present on this ship are not taken into account
when the ship is hit on the superstructure hit location.
Weak deck armor
Ships with this special rule reduce their armor rating by 1 for all
fire coming from over extreme range. Note that this is not
cumulative if hits already cause a -1 armor rating for shooting at
extreme range.
Back to index 
Special weapon rules
Dual Purpose (DP)
Any weapons with the Dual Purpose special rule can contribute to
the AA score of a ship. The AA bonus with the corresponding
weapon system designation (①②③) is listed in the special
rules column of the AA weapon of the ship. If a DP weapon system
has sustained any damage, the AA bonus is halved (rounding up).
If more than half of the DP weapon systems are disabled, the
corresponding bonus of that weapon system is lost. Any weapon
systems that contribute to the AA cannot fire, or have fired at
surface targets in the same turn.
High Level
High level bombing proved to be very ineffective in naval warfare.
All bombs dropped from high level need 6’s to hit their targets. If
6’s were already required, half the total number of successful hits.
This rule does not apply when the target is stationary.
Masked
A weapon that is listed as masked cannot fire at any other angle
than the one it is listed on, so a masked gun listed on the
broadside of a ship cannot fire to the front or rear. AA guns are
never masked, torpedo banks are always masked.
Slow
A weapon that is designated as slow requires a full turn to reload
after it has fired.
Rapid fire (RF)
This weapon ignores all normal + modifiers for targeting, except
modifiers due to damage to the rangefinder, modifiers due to the
command station or modifiers due to nighttime. Rapid fire
weapons do not have to take ranging shots. They may shoot as
normal during a shooting activation or they may shoot as an
indirect activation for free. If a ship has already fired its rapid-fire
weapons, it may not use them again during the same turn.

General Scenarios
Naval War facilitates many different modes of play. On the
website you will find historical scenarios, you will also find many
‘Orders of Battle’ there. These Orders of Battle are meant for
players who want to create historically plausible fleets based on
points values. These fleet lists give your fleet a historical flavor
and allow for pickup and competitive games. The following
chapter outlines this mode of play.
A carrier fleet may spend 50% extra points on its escorts but
cannot buy any escorts with the normal points allowance. Also,
they need to spend at least 60% of their normal points allowance
on aircraft (either carrier- or land-based).
To make things easy, we’ve put the most common game sizes and
their requirements and benefits in the table below:

Building a fleet Game size Minimum points Extra points for

To build a fleet for the general scenarios you will need an ‘Order spent on aircraft escort
100 points 60 or more +50
of battle’. These are intelligence briefings containing fleet lists
150 points 90 or more +75
from which you can build a fleet of a certain point value. Agree
200 points 120 or more +100
with your opponent on a set point value, 250 points for instance,
250 points 150 or more +125
and select ships from the fleet lists accordingly. 300 points 180 or more +150
350 points 210 or more +175
Each fleet list contains fleet segments that can be selected:
cover

400 points 240 or more +200

450 points 270 or more +225
Shiratsuyu-class Destroyer 26 points 500 points 300 or more +250
Destroyer
Division

1 - 3 Ships
Nagara-class Light Cruiser 21 points
0 - 1 Ship
No fleet segment can be selected twice. A fleet segment can
contain options for multiple ships of the same class, these are
cumulative and must honor the minimum stated number of ships,
so the above example fleet segment needs at least one destroyer
to be able to field it. The maximum size of the above fleet
segment is 3 destroyers and one light cruiser. Note that any points
values shown are costs per ship.
Battle and support fleets
50% rule
Your Officer + Core fleet must contain at least 50% of the total
points available if possible. It is allowed to divert from this rule if
all core fleet options have been selected already. After settling on
your officer and core fleet select your other assets from the
support options. This puts a natural limit on the size of the fleets.
Should players want to play fleets beyond the size of the available
order of battle, you can try to build multiple fleets from different
fleet lists in an order of battle and combine them.

Mixing fleet segments Cover options

It is allowed to mix up your fleet segments during deployment, but
keep in mind that it is not allowed to change the category of a
fleet segment. So you can for instance merge or exchange ships in
your Core fleet during deployment, but it is not allowed to put
your Close cover ships in your core fleet.
Most Order of Battles enable the players to bring close- or distant
cover with their fleets, these parts of the fleet are in the vicinity of
the battle but will usually not be present on the table from the
start of the battle. Each scenario will specify when and how the
cover force will enter the battle.

Carrier Fleets Convoys

Carrier fleets are made up differently than the other types. Carrier A convoy is obviously centered around the transport ships. These
fleets are divided into carrier groups and an escort group. Note are included in the fleet list and cost no extra points. The
that carrier fleets get extra points to spend on their escorts. transports form one squadron together with any assigned escorts.

26 General Scenarios | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Scenario special
rules
Scouting
A lot of historical battles involving aircraft depended a lot on
information provided by scouts. Use these rules in the designated
scenarios to simulate the effects of scouting and fog of war.
Deployment
Instead of deploying your squadrons as normal, each player with
hidden ships takes a number of contact tokens according to the
following rules:
• Four tokens for the first squadron (these will translate
into one contact, one false contact and two empty
positions)
• For each additional squadron take three more tokens
(these will translate into one contact, one false contact
and an empty position)
Deploy the tokens according to the scenario rules and note down
which numbers are contacts (with their corresponding squadrons)
and which numbers are false contacts. The remaining tokens are
considered to be empty positions. (a little foldable table to note
this down on is included in the counters & templates file)
Scouting phase
At the start of each turn, before order tokens are generated, an
extra scouting phase is played.
First, take stock of how many scouts each side has available:
• Each surface ship (except carriers) with the ‘scouting’
special rule gets one scouting token.
• Each carrier may assign one flight to scouting.
• Flights with the scouting ability may also be used as a
scout.
• Submarines are considered a scouting asset.
Starting with the player who has initiative, each player places their
scouts (subs are deployed once, see below) in the vicinity of an
opponent’s contact token. After all players have placed their
scouts, make a search roll for each scout.
Confirmation
If the token has another scout in range that has not yet made a
search roll, immediately ask for confirmation. If there is no second
scout in range, confirmation can only happen in the next scouting
phase. Next-turn confirmation cannot be made if there are no
scouts in range the next turn.
When confirmation is asked, the opposing player must reveal if
the contact was real or false. In case of a false contact, remove the
contact marker, in case of a genuine contact, place the revealed
squadron on the table.
Attacking from an unknown position
If a players own carrier squadron has not yet been discovered (and
therefore not yet present on the board), they may place their
launched planes at a contact token. Note that this action will
narrow down the position of your carriers so much that only
confirmation is needed to reveal it. As long as your carriers are not
present on the table, treat the contact token as the launch- and
landing spot for that carrier group.
If a carrier groups launches a second strike from a contact point,
the carrier groups location has been pinpointed and no further
confirmation is needed, place the carrier squadron on the table.
Deploying a squadron
Each squadron needs to be deployed at least within 20 cm of the
contact token with the flagship replacing the token. If the group
consists of multiple carriers, center one of them on the contact
token and deploy the remaining within 20cm. It may now function
as normal. Each carrier may be deployed with 2 flights with a
dogfighting score of 1 or more in the air. This does not count as
movement or an activation.
Moving into other contact tokens.
If any squadron present on the table moves a ship within 20cm
range of a contact token, nudge the token towards the nearest
edge of the table until it is outside of 20cm of the approaching
ship.

Submarines
Any scouting submarines can be deployed to investigate a contact.
Deploy the sub marker according to the scenario rules. As with
other scouts, the submarine may search any contact within 15cm.
However, if the contact turns out to be false or empty, the
submarine may move as normal using the submarine rules. If it
comes into range of another contact, it may scout these as well. A
submarine makes a search roll and needs to confirm a sighting as
normal (see below). A submarine may not surface until a group
has been sighted, and then needs to confirm to the usual rules for
surfacing.

Search roll
Roll a die for every contact token within 15cm of a friendly scout.
On the roll of 4+, an area has been searched and the opponent
has to reveal if the scout has found a contact (do not reveal if it is
real or false!) or not. If there was no contact, remove the token
from play. If the scout has found a contact, confirmation is
needed. If there are multiple contact tokens within 15cm of a
scout, multiple search rolls can be made. Note that a scout that
has made a search role cannot confirm a contact in the same turn.

27 Scenario special rules | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Close & Distant cover
Depending on the scenario, your close- or distant cover fleet
segments may start the game off-table. The following rules apply
to those fleet segments:
Entering the battle area
Ships entering the battle from off the table must activate for a
maneuver before the ships can make any other activation. Place a
counter or the lead ship at the position where the ships will arrive.
This ship or counter cannot be targeted yet. During the maneuver
activation you must place the rest of the ships on the table making
sure no ship is out of command. Note that no ships can enter the
battle area within 60cm of an enemy ship unless otherwise noted.
Aerial support options
If a player brings aircraft as close- or distant cover, the scenario
will list on which turn these become available. Off-table carriers
and floatplane tenders treat their aircraft the same as other off-
table air support as long as their support vessels are still off-table.
When available, a player may attempt to call in their planes. Any
planes brought as close cover will enter the battle on a 2+, any
planes brought as distant cover will enter on a 3+. Roll separately
for each flight. Any flights that did not arrive during a turn may try
again in subsequent turns.
Time of day and weather rules
Rough weather
Visibility
A game fought in rough weather suffers from reduced sight.
Shooting at extreme range is not possible, also, no bonus to target
score is awarded for shooting at short range.
Rain squalls
You might want to place several squalls scattered around the table
to represent area’s where the weather is particularly bad.
Movement
All small ships have their movement reduced by 5cm
Landing check
It is quite difficult to land on a carrier during bad weather, roll for
each flight that tries to land on a carrier, on the roll of a 1 the
flight is destroyed
getting a +1 to its target score either since it is now also lit up. A
ship is allowed to fire its armament in addition to lighting up its
searchlights.
Star-shells
Star-shells can be fired instead of normal ammo, this attack
therefore substitutes one of the firing weapon systems attacks
completely. Star-shells can be fired up to 50cm away, but must
always be placed within the maximum range of the weapons
system if that is less than 50cm. Star-shells last until the end-
phase and illuminate an area of 10cm around the target spot. Star
shells do not require a target ship, instead select any location
within range. A target lit up by a star-shell is visible to all ships
within 60cm.
Firing weapons
Any ship firing its weapons is visible to any ship within 60cm but it
still is on a +1 target score.
Fires
Any ship that is on fire is visible from 60cm and does not get the
+1 to target score.
Landing check & Aircraft support
At night airplanes had a very rough time landing on a carrier, roll
for each flight that tries to land on a carrier, on a 1 the flight is
destroyed. Also, aircraft in close support arrive on a 3+ instead of
a 2+, likewise, aircraft in distant support arrive on a 4+ instead of a
3+.
Islands and Squalls
Most times the scenario will specify which and how many islands
and rain squalls are required for the scenario. Usually this will
involve rolling a die on the following tables.
Random island setup Roll Terrain
table
Small island: 1 No islands
(Ø < 20x20cm) 2 2 small islands
3 1 large, 1 small islands
Large Island: 4 2 large, 2 small islands
(Ø < 30x40cm) 5 4 small islands
6 2 large, 3 small islands

Nighttime Weather type Roll Terrain

Visibility Fair weather 1-2 No Squalls/Fog banks
At night visibility is reduced to 40cm. All shooting is penalized by a 3-4 1 Squalls/Fog banks
+1 to the target score, this includes shooting on ships that have 5-6 2 Squalls/Fog banks
fired, rapid fire weapons, AA fire, plane-mounted weapons and Rough weather 1-2 2 Squalls/Fog banks
ships illuminated by star-shells. No bonus to target score is 3-4 3 Squalls/Fog banks
awarded for shooting at short range. Note that except for targets 5-6 4 Squalls/Fog banks
at extreme range a target score still cannot be higher than 6.
Placing terrain before deployment
Searchlights The player with the most scouts in his force may place a terrain
Any ship can use searchlights during its attack activation to spot piece first, start with islands, continue with squalls and fog banks.
an enemy ship at night. A searchlight can be pointed at any enemy You cannot place more than one terrain piece in your deployment
ship within 40cm. A ship lit up by a searchlight does no longer get area and all terrain pieces must be at least 10cm apart at the start
the +1 to its target score, but the ship using the searchlight is not of the game.

28 Scenario special rules | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
The Scenario Generator Matrix
When playing according the general scenarios rules, you will
notice that every ship list in any Order of Battle will have the fleet
type listed beneath the Fleet list title. There are four fleet types
Battle Fleet
A Battle fleet is the ‘standard’ fleet type. These fleets were put to
sea with orders to find and destroy the enemy. In other words;
these fleets had the overall strategic objective to either intercept
an enemy fleet or to establish sea control. The fleet commander
has no overarching concerns but to preserve his ships and achieve
his objective. Depending on the situation though, potential gains
have to be weighed against the risk of losses.
Support Fleet
The support fleet is generally a fleet with a mission. It is either
protecting friendly assets like a distant convoy or invasion forces,
an important sea lane, supply lines or friendly bases and landing
approaches. The strategic objectives of these fleets were bigger
than their own group of ships and often losses would be inevitable
but acceptable to achieve their objectives. They are the first line
of defense, so when faced with superior numbers, delaying an
enemy might be just as sound a course of action as destroying it.
Carrier Fleet
The carrier fleet is a fleet type mostly tied to the war in the pacific.
Carrier fleets have no business getting into a surface battle. Their
strategic aim is to project power over long distances and to
establish air control over designated areas. Most often they are
the fleets most suited to take on their opposite number. When
caught in a surface engagement, the survival of the main carrier
assets is the first and foremost concern of the carrier fleet
commander.
Convoy Fleet
The convoy fleet has as strategic objective that is as clear as glass:
to protect their wards at all costs. If the enemy is spotted, this
means that the first lines of defense have failed and it is up to the
commander to place himself between the danger and his convoy
and to delay and harass the enemy as much as possible.
Once you have determined what Fleet type you and your
opponent have, it’s time to check the Scenario Generator Matrix.
Find your fleet type on the X- and Y axis, then determine what
scenarios are available for this combination. Roll a die or pick the
scenario that you want to play.

Scenario Generator Matrix

Fleet Type Carrier fleet Support fleet Battlefleet Convoy
1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter
Carrier fleet 3-4 Weathering the storm 3-4 Weathering the storm 3-4 Weathering the storm
3-6 Carrier clash
5-6 Buying time 5-6 Buying time 5-6 Buying time
1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter
Support fleet 3-4 Weathering the storm 3-4 Standoff 3-4 Standoff
3-6 Battle Royale
5-6 Buying time 5-6 Battle Royale 5-6 Buying time
1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter
Battlefleet 3-4 Weathering the storm 3-4 Standoff
3-6 Battle Royale 3-6 Buying time
5-6 Buying time 5-6 Battle Royale
1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter 1-2 Surprise encounter
Convoy 3-4 Weathering the storm 3-4 Standoff 3-4 Standoff
3-6 Buying time
5-6 Buying time 5-6 Buying time 5-6 Buying time

Victory points table

Draw Minor victory Major victory Crushing victory

Victory 5 points 6 points 7 points 8 points
Defeat 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points
Game size Points difference
100 0-10 11-30 31-60 61+
150 0-15 16-45 46-90 91+
200 0-20 21-60 61-120 121+
250 0-25 26-75 76-150 151+
300 0-30 31-90 91-180 181+
350 0-35 36-105 106-210 211+
400 0-40 41-120 121-240 241+
450 0-45 46-135 136-270 271+
500 0-50 51-150 151-300 301+

29 The Scenario Generator Matrix | Naval War Back to index 

© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Battle Royale
It has finally come to this; your fleet
has brought the enemy to battle.
This is the opportunity to deal a
decisive blow! Both fleets call in
their support, but will it be enough
to chase the enemy from the waters
of battle and establish sea control?

Which side is the attacker?

Both players roll a die, adding the
number of scouts in their force.
Count each aerial scouting fleet
segment as one scout. The player
with the highest score is the
attacker.

Objectives
In this scenario, both fleets have the
same objective, to force the enemy
fleet out of the area while inflicting
as many losses as possible. The
strategic objective is to establish sea need to take a command check at the end of the turn, both fleets
control, and the enemy has to be dealt a decisive blow to achieve roll their command check. If both players fail the test before the
this. game ends, both fleets break off and the game is a draw.

Fleet Deployment
Both players deploy their core fleets in the core fleet deployment Special scenario rules
zone. Alternate deployment until there are no more deployment
options left. Squadrons that are eligible for deployment need to
Close- and distant support
be deployed first before any single ships are deployed. The
This scenario uses the rules for close-and distant support for both
defender starts by deploying his first squadron.
players.
Pre-game movement
After both players deployed their core fleets, any squadrons Calculating victory points
containing only small ships (count destroyer leaders as small ships After the game ends, each player counts his losses.
for this purpose) are allowed to make a free move of up to their - Add up the points of all sunk and broken off ships and destroyed
maximum movement distance as long as they don’t move nearer aircraft in your own fleet.
than 60cm to the closest enemy ship (100cm If the enemy is a ship - Count half the points (rounded up) of any ship that is crippled.
with the ‘scout’ special rule).
The player which has lost the least amount of VP is the winner,
Reinforcements consult the victory points table for the result.
- At the start of the second turn, both players roll a die, on a 4+,
close cover arrives, if a player fails the roll, his close support is
delayed for a turn but will arrive the next turn. Close support
enters the table anywhere from the players’ long table edge. If
there are no valid entry points available, ships may enter the
battle zone from the table corner in the core fleet deployment
zone, ignoring the minimum distance.
- At the start of the third turn, both players roll a die, on a 4+,
distant cover arrives, if a player fails the roll, his distant support is
delayed for a turn but will arrive the next turn. Distant support
enters the table anywhere from the players’ long table edge. If
there are no valid entry points available, ships may enter the table
from the corner of the core fleet deployment zone, ignoring the
minimum distance.
- Off-table air support may try to enter the battle zone in any turn
except the first. It arrives from the players long table edge.

The end of the game

As soon as a fleet has lost over 50% of its total points (counting
broken-off ships as losses as long as they are broken off), the fleet
needs to take a command check at the end of the turn, using the
current command rating of the flagship. If failed, the rest of the
fleet breaks off and the game ends. If passed, the game will last
for one more turn. After that, the fleet breaks off. If both fleets

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Carrier Clash
Our scouts have located the enemy
carrier fleet! As pilots are rushing to
their planes and mechanics are
frantically working to get them
armed and ready, who will be the
one that strikes the first blow?

Which side is the attacker?

Both players roll a die, adding the
number of scouts in their force.
Count each aerial scouting fleet
segment as one scout. The player
with the highest score is the
attacker.

Strategic objectives
In this scenario, both fleets have the
same objective, to establish air
superiority, either by sinking the
enemy carrier of forcing enough
losses on his air groups for him to
break off the action.

Fleet Deployment
Each player has one or multiple fleet segments containing a carrier Special scenario rules
according to the rules for carrier fleets. Each fleet segment
containing a carrier is treated as a separate squadron. This means Separate battle zones
that two fleet segments with a carrier cannot be joined, and a Since the opposing fleets are positioned hundreds of miles away
fleet segment containing multiple carriers cannot be separated. from each other, the battle zone is divided in two zones by a line
through the center. This line can only be crossed by aircraft.
Each carrier may be assigned an escort force from the escort Measure aircraft distances as in a normal game.
segments. These segments are not fixed and can be tailored for
each carrier squadron. For each carrier in the squadron, two Scouting rules
escort ships can be brought along, one of those may be of This scenario uses the scouting rules for both players.
medium or large size. The remaining escort ships are grouped into
a single, separate squadron. Calculating victory points
Each player calculates how many points they have lost during the
This leaves the player with one or more carrier squadrons and one
battle. They do this according to the following rules:
or no squadron with the remaining escorts.
- Count the full points for each carrier that was unable to launch
or retrieve aircraft at the moment the game ended
Reinforcements
- Count the full points for each ship that is sunk and broken off
Off-table air support may try to enter the battle zone in any turn.
and flight that is destroyed
It may arrive from any edge of the owning players’ deployment
- Count half the points (rounding up) for each ship that is crippled
zone.
The player which has lost the least amount of VP is the winner,
The end of the game
consult the victory points table for the result.
The game will last 8 turns but will end before that if one player
has no serviceable carriers left on the table at the end of a turn. A
carrier is considered unserviceable when:
- it is still broken off after two rally opportunities,
- when it has accumulated more than 6 fires and/or flooding
tokens
- when it is crippled or sunk

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© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Weathering the
storm
Your force has been spotted by the
enemy. Battle stations are manned,
portholes are closed and damage
control teams stand ready. The alarm
sounds, enemy planes are incoming!
Will your fleet be able to weather the
incoming storm?

Which side is the attacker?

The Carrier Fleet always attacks

Objectives
In this scenario, the carrier fleet
needs to cripple the enemy fleet as
much as possible before the window
of opportunity is closed. Intercepting
this enemy fleet is crucial to the
larger strategic aims.

Fleet Deployment
The defender deploys his squadrons
in his deployment zone according to the scouting special scenario
rules. The attacker deploys any carriers in the designated attacker
deployment zone. This zone represents a location miles away from
the battle zone. It is therefore not necessary for the attacker to
deploy any other ships besides the carriers and their escorts (you
might want to deploy them anyway) .
Reinforcements
The attacker can call in any off-board air support from any table
edge. Treat the long distance boundary as a table edge for this
purpose.
The end of the game
The game will last 8 turns but will end before that if the defender
breaks off its attempt to reach its destination. As soon as the
defending fleet has lost over 50% of its total points (counting
broken-off ships as losses as long as they are broken off), the
defender’s fleet needs to take a command check at the end of the
turn, using the current command rating of the flagship. If failed,
the rest of the fleet breaks off and the game ends. If passed, the
game will last for one more turn. After that, the fleet breaks off. In
this case, the defender loses the game. If the defenders’ fleet
survived till the start of the 9th turn without breaking off, the
defender wins.
Calculating victory points
Each player calculates how many points they have lost during the
battle. They do this according to the following rules:
- The attacker counts the points of each flight that is destroyed
- The attacker counts the full points of each carrier that has lost
more than half of its flights.
Battle fleets and support fleets:
- The defender counts the full points for each ship that is sunk or
broken off and each flight that is destroyed
- The defender counts half the points (rounding up) for each ship
that is crippled
Convoys:
- The defender counts the amount of transports sunk. Each
transport is worth 25 points. A convoy only counts half the points
for each warship sunk, and no points for crippled ships.
Consult the victory points table for the result.

Special scenario rules

Separate battle zones
Since the opposing fleets are positioned hundreds of miles away
from each other, the battle zone is divided in two zones as shown
on the scenario map. This line can only be crossed by aircraft.
Measure aircraft distances as in a normal game.

Scouting rules
The defender uses the scouting rules for deployment of his
squadrons.

Drawing attention
When an escort has an equal or higher AA value than a ship within
15cm that is under attack, it may draw the attention of a flight
that is attacking. Roll a die, on the roll of 3+ the flight has to attack
the escort instead.

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© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Surprise encounter
Enemy contact! Call general
quarters! It seems the enemy used
the dark of night to sneak up on your
force. This will be a fight for survival.

Which side is the attacker?

This scenario has no attacker or
defender. Instead both players roll a
die to determine which player
chooses a table side and deploys
first.

Weather conditions
Roll a die, on a 1-3 the game is
played in Rough Weather conditions,
on a 4-6 the game is completely
played in Nighttime conditions.

Fleet Deployment
Both players deploy their core fleets
in their respective deployment
zones. Alternate the deployment of
squadrons until there are no more deployment options left. Special scenario rules
Squadrons that are eligible for deployment need to be deployed
first before any single ships are deployed. The player that choose Close- and distant support
the table side starts by deploying his first squadron. This scenario uses the rules for close-and distant support for both
players.
Carrier fleets:
Each carrier may be assigned an escort force from the escort Desperate escorts
segments. These segments are not fixed and can be tailored for Any carrier fleets or convoys are allowed one free ‘Make smoke’
each carrier squadron. For each carrier in the squadron, two activation before the first initiative roll. During the battle, the
escort ships can be brought along, one of those may be of opponent is only allowed to add one disruption marker to a ‘Make
medium or large size. The remaining escort ships do not take part smoke’ activation.
in the battle.

Reinforcements Calculating victory points

- At the start of the second turn, both players roll a die, on a 4+,
close cover arrives, if a player fails the roll, his close support is
delayed for a turn but will arrive the next turn. Close support
enters the table anywhere from the players’ long table edge. If
there are no valid entry points available, ships may enter the
battle zone from the table corner in the core fleet deployment
zone, ignoring the minimum distance.
- At the start of the third turn, both players roll a die, on a 4+,
distant cover arrives, if a player fails the roll, his distant support is
delayed for a turn but will arrive the next turn. Distant support
enters the table anywhere from the players’ long table edge. If
there are no valid entry points available, ships may enter the table
from the corner of the core fleet deployment zone, ignoring the
minimum distance.
- Off-table air support may try to enter the battle zone in any turn
except the first. It arrives from the players long table edge.
After the game ends, each player counts his losses.
- Each player counts the full points for each of his ships that is
sunk or broken off and each of his flights that is destroyed
- Count half the points (rounded up) of any friendly ship that is
crippled.
Convoys:
- A convoy fleet counts the amount of transports sunk. Each
transport is worth 25 points. A convoy only counts half the points
for each warship sunk, and no points for crippled ships.
The player which has lost the least amount of VP is the winner,
consult the victory points table for the result.

The end of the game

As soon as a fleet has lost over 50% of its total points (counting
broken-off ships as losses as long as they are broken off), the fleet
needs to take a command check at the end of the turn, using the
current command rating of the flagship. If failed, the rest of the
fleet breaks off and the game ends. If passed, the game will last
for one more turn. After that, the fleet breaks off. If both fleets
need to take a command check at the end of the turn, both fleets
roll their command check. If both players fail the test before the
game ends, both fleets break off and the game is a draw.

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© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018
Buying time
Smoke on the horizon, the enemy is
approaching signaling imminent
danger to the valuable assets you’re
covering. An intervening force is
detached to confront the enemy
while your helpless ships work up
flank speed to exit the danger area.

Which side is the attacker?

Attack priority is the following: 1.
Battle Fleet; 2. Support Fleet; 3.
Carrier Fleet; 4. Convoy.

Objectives
In this scenario, the attacker needs
to take out the escorts to open the
way to the valuable assets they
were escorting

Fleet Deployment
The attacker starts with one
squadron on the table, deployed
randomly in one of the three attacker zones.

The defender can only deploy his core fleet in deployment zone B. Special scenario rules
He must deploy any carriers and/or transport ships in zone A with
the first ship in the designated location. All subsequent ships are Close- and distant support
deployed at a distance of 5cm of any other ships, forming a square This scenario uses the rules for close-and distant support for both
or rectangle. players.

Defending Carrier fleets: Desperate escorts

Each carrier may be assigned an escort force from the escort The defender is allowed one free ‘Make smoke’ activation before
segments. These segments are not fixed and can be tailored for the first initiative roll. During the battle, the attacker is only
each carrier squadron. For each carrier in the squadron, two allowed to add one disruption marker to a ‘Make smoke’
escort ships can be brought along, one of those may be of activation of the defender.
medium or large size. These escorts form the core fleet for this
scenario. The remaining escort ships do not take part in the battle. Calculating victory points
After the game ends, each player counts his losses.
Reinforcements
- Add up the points of all sunk and broken off ships and destroyed
- At the start of the first turn, the attacker rolls a die for each of
aircraft in your own fleet.
his squadrons. On the roll of a 4+ that squadron will enter the
- Count half the points (rounded up) of any ship that is crippled.
battle. Randomize in which attacker zone the squadron will
- The defender does not lose any points for the Core fleet escorts.
deploy. At the start of the second turn, roll again for each
Instead, each enemy transport is worth 25 points, and each
squadron that has not entered the battle, it may now be deployed
enemy carrier is worth double its points (count the air group as
on a 3+. Repeat this for each subsequent turn until all squadrons
lost when the carrier is sunk).
have entered the battle. A squadron that enters the battle may
deploy anywhere within the designated zone as long as it deploys
The player which has lost the least amount of VP is the winner,
more than 60cm from any enemy ships
consult the victory points table for the result.
- From the start of the second turn, the defending player rolls a
die at the start of each turn, one close cover squadron will arrive
on the roll of 3+. The next turn, two dice can be rolled, and one
squadron may arrive for each 3+, next turn 3 dice, etc. Close
support may enter the battle area from any long table edge
outside of 60cm of any enemy ship. If there are no valid entry
points available, ships may enter the battle zone from the short
table edge on the defenders’ side of the table, ignoring the
minimum distance.

The end of the game

The game ends after 8 turns or when all the ships that started the
game in zone A have either left the table at the Defender exit zone
or have been destroyed.

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Standoff
The enemy is in sight, an
engagement is imminent. Still, you
have more pressing matters on
hand, a weakening of your force can
be devastating to your primary
mission. The enemy however also
seems to pursue an objective for
which your fleet is an obstacle, you
won’t get out of here without a fight.

Which side is the attacker?

This scenario has no attacker or
defender. Instead both players roll a
die to determine which player
chooses a table side and deploys
first.

Objectives
In this scenario, both fleets have the
same objective: to reach their target
area while suffering as few losses as
possible.

Fleet Deployment
Both players deploy their core- and their close cover fleets in
their respective deployment zones. Alternate the deployment of
squadrons until there are no more deployment options left.
Squadrons that are eligible for deployment need to be deployed
first before any single ships are deployed. The player that choose
the table side starts by deploying his first squadron.
Reinforcements
- At the start of the third turn, each player rolls a die, on a 4+,
distant cover arrives, if a player fails the roll, his distant support is
delayed for a turn but will arrive the next turn. Distant support
enters the table anywhere from the players’ long and short table
edges. If there are no valid entry points available, ships may enter
the table from the corner of the core fleet deployment zone,
ignoring the minimum distance.
- Off-table air support may try to enter the battle zone in any turn
except the first. It arrives from the players long table edge.
Calculating victory points
At the end of turn 8, check how many points each player has
moved into their respective destination zones. The player that has
secured the largest amount of points wins the game.
The following extra rules apply:
For battlefleet and support fleets – subtract the points of any
medium or large ship that has been crippled or sunk from the
point total of any ships within the destination zone.
For convoy fleets – Half the points of any ships in the destination
zone, but each convoy ship is worth 25 points.
For carrier fleets – Half the points total of any ships in the
destination zone if not at least one carrier made it into there.
The player which has secured the most points is the winner,
consult the victory points table for the result.

The end of the game

The game ends at the end of turn 8 or as soon as a player has lost
more than 50% of his points.

Special scenario rules

Close- and distant support
This scenario uses the rules for close-and distant support for both
players.

Exiting the battle area

It is allowed for each player to have ships leave the battle area in
the turn after they reach their destination area. These ships will
still count towards the points total of the owning player at the end
of the game.

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© H.J Seijmonsbergen 2014-2018