0.0 Contents:

1 Introduction:

Scales, Models, Equipment, Turn Sequence

2 Command:

Divisional Orders, Signals, Fleet Orders

3 Movement:

Formations, Turning, Changing Speed

 

4 Gunnery:

Targets & Positions, Ranging, Measuring

5 Torpedoes:

Launch Arcs, Calculating Hits

6 Damage & Sinking:

Recording Damage, Damage Types/Glossary, Damage Locations, Damage Control

« 1.3 Equipment
Naval wargames are a bit more technically demanding than some other forms of miniature wargaming and require a few extra tools. The standard gaming equipment of tape measures, six sided dice (one of which is referred to as 1D6) and pencils are definitely required. Players will also need to download the Battlefleet Combat Chart, Ship Log, Gunnery Log and Arcs sheet. Cutting out the arcs-of-fire and turning circles and mounting them on thin cardboard will give them extra strength. A clipboard is also valuable for writing on the ship and gunnery logs. Splash and hit markers can be very useful and add an interesting realism to the game. For many scales the best splash and hit markers are made from plastic dart tips by cutting off their mounting threads with a razor blade. If no white ones are available they may be roughed up slightly with sandpaper and painted white before applying a sealer to prevent chipping.

Combat Charts: Each player should have a copy of the Battlefleet Combat Chart, which can be downloaded off of the Battlefleet 1900 page in the WTJ Games section. There are two sides to the combat chart, both of which are needed for game play. They jointly include turn sequence, gunnery, torpedo and damage charts. For related overviews of each section of the chart, see More About Combat Charts, which includes step by step illustrations and outlines.

Ship Logs: Each vessel used in combat will need to have an entry in one of the ship logs. These entries are used to track available speed, weapons and damage to each vessel. The information shown in the Ship Values listings on the Battlefleet 1900 page has all the information needed to fill out the ship logs for those vessels. For more detailed explanations, see More About Ship Logs.

Gunnery Logs: Because Battlefleet 1900 uses a range estimate system to control gunnery, players use Gunnery Logs to record their range estimates. Each gunnery log contains two four-ship sections (most navy divisions are composed of four ships), along with a command line at the far left of each division. At the top of each gunnery log column, record the name of one ship. In the columns below, record salvo targets and hits. The spare command boxes along the top edge of each division are for recording command arrows during times when vessels are not firing salvos and/or out of range. The spare boxes eliminate the wasting of range boxes during preliminary maneuvers.

« 1.4 Turn Sequence
Once all players have filled out their ship and gunnery logs, placed their ships and arranged their formations, game play is ready to begin. Each phase of the turn sequence is conducted by both players simultaneously. At right is an outline of each turn phase and its basic steps.

« 2.0 COMMAND
During the Command Phase, players issue orders for the upcoming Movement Phase. There are two types of orders; Divisional and Fleet. Divisional orders are recorded in the far left command column of the gunnery chart and apply only to the ships within a division, which are assumed to be under orders to follow the lead ship of that division. Fleet orders are written on small Post-it style message pads and used for any communication between players.

« 2.1 Divisional Orders
If a division commander wants his ships to move in any direction other than straight during the upcoming movement phase, he must order them to do so in the Command Column of the Gunnery Log. Divisional orders are recorded as small arrows, which are drawn in the direction and approximate bearing which the commanding player wishes to move them. Refer to the examples below for the available division orders:

Turn-in-Succession - A turn-in-succession is drawn as an arrow using a single line. Only divisions deployed in line-ahead may use the turn-in-succession order. Ships turning in succession will maintain their line ahead formation while turning on a stationary pivot-point. Vessels which will turn less than 45° during their movement do not need to use a command arrow. Vessels which will turn between 45° and 90° during their turn use the 45° arrow, and vessels which will turn 90° or more during movement use the horizontal arrow. Note that the arrows are direction specific. If a player draws an arrow pointing left (to port), then the division must turn in that direction during their movement. The Turn-in-Succession figure at right depicts a 90°+ turn in succession to starboard as executed by ships in a line-ahead formation.
Simultaneous Turn - A simultaneous turn is drawn as an arrow using two lines. Each vessel in a division ordered to turn simultaneously will individually turn in unison in the direction ordered. Vessels not in line ahead formation will always use the simultaneous turn command. If a turn-in-succession order is accidentally given to vessels not in line ahead, the command will be treated as if it were a simultaneous turn order. Note that if a division is in line abreast, only certain simultaneous turn commands will allow a return to line ahead.

A division must execute its turn orders at the very beginning of its move. If, once it has fulfilled the minimum requirement of its order, it has remaining movement, it may continue moving straight on its new bearing, or execute further multiple orders, if any (see multiple orders). If a vessel is ordered to execute a turn which it cannot fulfill even by using all available movement, it will complete as much of the turn as possible.

Stopping - Writing a dot or small filled-in circle on the command line of a division will order it to use the turn's movement phase to stop dead in the water. Vessels under a stop order must still move their minimum required movement for the turn, at which point they are considered at a complete stop. The stop command may not be used in conjunction with any other orders (see Multiple Commands below).

Multiple Commands - Divisions with sufficient movement allowance may be issued multiple commands other than the stop command. Multiple commands will be executed in the order in which they are written, reading from left to right.

Dropping Out - Individual vessels which suffer damage – especially to their propulsion – may need to drop out of an existing division to avoid slowing down other ships. This may only be done if the vessel in question has at least one more propulsion box hit than the next vessel(s) immediately aft. In such a case, the "slow" vessel may be announced as dropping out during the command phase, at which time it becomes a one-ship division and receives its own movement order each turn. During the next movement the ship must turn out of the existing divisional line in order to allow the ship behind it to close the existing divisional formation. The lead ships of that division may need to slow down slightly in order to allow the rear ships to close the gap made as a result of the missing vessel.

Transfer of Command - Division flagships which have suffered damage may have to transfer their command status to other ships within their division. There are two basic conditions under which this occurs; voluntary, and involuntary.

Voluntary: If a player's division leader has suffered damage which endangers the ship, he may want to transfer flag status to another vessel in the division. Division flagships which have not suffered conning tower hits may transfer their command to another vessel in their division by slowing to no faster than 1/6 original speed and declaring their transfer to any other qualified vessel which lies within one-quarter of a range bracket and which is also moving no faster than 1/6 original speed.

Involuntary: If a division's flagship is suffering either a steering or conning tower hit, the controlling player must roll for transfer of command to other vessels. In this case the transfer requires no slowing of the vessels, since it infers the assumption of command by another officer. Beginning on the command turn after the damage occurs, roll one six sided die (1D6). If a 5 or 6 is rolled, the ship closest to the flagship will assume command of the division (and of the fleet if it is replacing the fleet flagship). Add one-half point to the die roll for each point of uneven flooding and for each fire at the time of the die roll. For example: A flagship with a conning tower hit, six fires, and three points of uneven flooding would result in an automatic transfer of command (+3 for fires, +1 for uneven flooding). If the damaged flagship repairs the steering or conning tower hit before another vessel assumes command, then the original flagship retains its command status and any attempts at involuntary transfer will cease, although a voluntary transfer may still be executed. If a flagship blows up, or otherwise sinks, involuntary transfer is immediate and automatic.

Recommended Fleet Orders - Since many players are often unsure of what messages or orders to send, especially on a small square of paper, the following small list offers a few ideas about what orders a commander might want to issue to adjoining divisions of a fleet. Some are historical, and others are merely the result of previous games:

Engage Enemy: Normally issued to capital ships such as battleships and cruisers. This order instructs all friendly divisions to move as close as possible to the enemy (usually the second range bracket) while keeping out of torpedo range.

Turn 16 points together: Means that all ships should make a simultaneous 180° turn to port or starboard (the direction of which should be added to the message.

Turn 8 points together: Means that all ships should make a simultaneous 90° turn to port or starboard (the direction of which should be added to the message.

Follow Me: This self-explanatory order was issued several times historically by divisional commanders when a commander-in-chief's ship was damaged or sunk. Commonly used when signalling a general withdrawal or advance.

Torpedo Attack: Most commonly given to destroyers, this was the signal to move as quickly as possible into effective torpedo range and launch torpedoes.

Recall: Signals light ships to cease attacking an enemy fleet and return to their duty stations among the main battle line.

We Surrender: That's right, ships which want to surrender must make that fact known to the enemy, which is done via this command.

« 3.0 MOVEMENT
The maximum distance a ship may move each turn is limited by the number shown in the topmost undamaged propulsion box on that vessel's ship log (Damaged or destroyed propulsion boxes do not count toward available speed). A ship may move less than the maximum available, and it may change its speed (distance moved) depending on the amount it moved on the previous turn. The distance moved should be measured from the front edge of the ship using a tape measure or scale, marking out the distance in inches or millimeters depending on the scale being used. See the Scales Page for more about scales and their relation to movement distances.

Turning Examples Above Left: The turning circle is held next to the side of the vessel. Above Right: The ship is moved along the periphery of the circle, to the approximate position that matches the amount of speed the ship uses. In this case, the ship has used about 85mm of its movement.

Example; if a vessel whose available speed is 120mm per turn moves only 20mm on any one turn (its actual speed for that turn), it would only be able to move a maximum speed of 40mm on the following turn, an increase of 20mm or one propulsion box worth of speed.

« 4.0 GUNNERY
Players begin the gunnery phase by deciding on targets for each of their vessels and then visually estimating the distance from those vessels to the targets. The name of each target is recorded on a firing vessel's gunnery log, followed by the controlling player's estimate of the target's distance and whether or not those guns are firing AP ammunition (default ammunition use is considered to be HE or high explosives). Once all ranging is complete, players measure each range estimate, marking its termination point with a white marker for misses and a red marker for hits. The maximum allowable range for guns depends on the game scale being used. Consult Section 1.1 Game Scales for a list of all maximum range and range bracket distances.

Later in the turn players will calculate hit damage by referring to the shell hit tables on the combat chart. Resulting hits are marked on the corresponding ship's log, with some hits possibly triggering additional damage. See the Combat Chart Overview for a step by step guide to using all of the combat chart's tables.

« 4.1 Targets and Positions
Vessels may fire upon one or more targets during their turn. Each target must be recorded separately by name on the gunnery log, along with the gun types assigned to that target and one range estimate for that target (each vessel may only make one range estimate per targeted ship per turn).

Above: French battleship ready for game play in 1/1500 scale by WTJ Naval

Line of Sight — Vessels may only fire upon targets which are within their direct line-of-sight. Line-of-sight is drawn from the forward smokestack of a firing vessel to the forward smokestack of a target vessel. The potential target may not be fired upon if line-of-sight is blocked in any way by other vessels, their bases or land.

Rates of Fire — Each weapon has a normal rate-of-fire (ROF) which is shown in the data line of the ship log's armament section. The rate-of-fire is the number of rounds per turn which each gun in each position may normally fire. A ½ value for normal ROF means that the weapon in question may only fire every other turn due to their slow loading-technology. A 1 value means that each gun may fire once each turn. A 2 value for ROF means that the weapon in question may fire twice each turn within the first two range brackets. When firing at targets over half range (third and fourth range brackets) all guns are limited to a maximum ROF of 1. Extra rounds fired due to a 2 ROF may be fired at different targets, although multiple gun positions may not split their extra fire unevenly. For example: a two-gun 15cm turret may fire two rounds at each of two other ships, or four rounds at one ship, but it may not fire four rounds at four different ships, or three rounds at one and one round at another. In this regard, single mountings are more flexible in their ability to send up a curtain of fire at smaller vessels.

POSITIONS
A	This foremost position has a 265° firing arc and is usually occupied by the heaviest weapon(s) on board the vessel. Use the 95° arc centered toward the stern to establish where guns at this position may not fire. Standard example: British Majestic class battleships.
B,C	An awkward arrangement, these guns are located abreast of each other, usually on the main deck immediately forward of the superstructure. Guns in these positions may both fire in a 95° arc centered on the bow, and individually have a 135° arc-of-fire anchored off the bow when firing to either side of the ship. This gives each gun a roughly 182° total firing arc. Standard example: forward battery of American Columbia class cruisers.
D,E	These positions are commonly occupied either by wing turrets or sponsons. Guns in these positions have a 135° arc-of-fire anchored off the bow. Standard example: secondary gun turrets on the American Indiana class battleships.
M-O	Usually occupied by wing turrets which were commonly placed in sponsons, these positions have a 150° arc-of-fire anchored off the bow. Standard example: Russian Retvisan class battleships.
P-R	These are the most extreme wing turret positions used. Commonly placed in prominent sponsons, guns in these positions have a 150° firing arc centered on the beam. Standard example: French Charles Martel class battleship.
S-U	Like M & O positions, these were usually occupied by wing turrets. These positions have a 150° arc-of-fire anchored off the stern.
V,W	Like D & E positions, these are commonly occupied by wing turrets or sponsons. Guns in these positions have a 135° arc-of-fire anchored off the stern.
X,Y	Like B & C positions, these guns are located abreast of each other, usually on the main deck immediately forward of the superstructure. Guns in these positions may both fire in a 95° arc centered on the stern, and individually have a 135° arc of fire anchored off the stern when firing to either side of the ship.
Z	Like position A, this rear-most position has a 265° firing arc and is also usually occupied by the heaviest weapon(s) on board the vessel. Use the 95° arc centered toward the bow to establish where guns at this position may not fire.
Stem & Stern	(Not shown) Mounted in the extreme forward or aft end of a ship, these weapons have a 95° firing arc centered on the stem (bow) or stern, depending on their location. Standard example: secondary armament for Peresviet class Russian battleships.
Center-line	(Not shown) Mounted on center-line amidships on the main deck of a ship, these weapons have a 95° firing arc centered on the beam, and may fire off of either the port or starboard side. Standard example: main torpedo armament for most classes of destroyers.

BEAM PATTERNS
Light caliber weapons not assigned specific positions are usually arrayed in a variety of sponsons, casemates or shields along both sides of a vessel. The following Beam Patterns establish easily remembered categories for the most common types of side armaments. All patterns apply equally to port and starboard sides of a vessel. For example, a ship with six-inch secondary guns deployed in Pattern 2 would be able to fire four of those secondaries straight forward; two from the port side and two from the starboard side.
Beam Pattern 2	Two guns (probably in sponsons) have a 135° arc-of-fire anchored off of the bow. Two guns have a 135° arc-of-fire anchored off of the stern. The balance of guns on that side will have 135° arcs-of-fire centered on the beam.
Beam Pattern 1	One gun has a 135° arc-of-fire anchored off of the bow. One gun has a 135° arc-of-fire anchored off of the stern. The balance of guns on that side will have 135° arcs-of-fire centered on the beam.
Beam Pattern 0	All guns on that side have a 135° arc-of-fire centered on the beam. Note that torpedoes mounted on a beam pattern will only have a 60° arc of fire.

« 4.3 Measuring
Once all target assignments and range estimates are completed, players measure the ranges for each assigned target to establish whether the firing vessels estimated the correct ranges. Ranges are measured along a line running from the forward funnel on the firing vessel to the forward funnel on the target vessel. A hit zone is achieved if the estimated range from the firing vessel's forward funnel intersects with any part of the target vessel or its base while maintaining line of sight alignment with the target's forward funnel. If a hit zone is achieved, mark the target vessel or its base with a red hit marker. If the estimated range does not land on any part of the target, the rounds for that turn are considered too far away to have a chance of hitting, and a white "splash" marker is placed at the incorrectly guessed range point.

Danger Zones — A danger zone is a real life effect due to the combination of shell trajectory and ship height. If the leading edge of a target vessel or its base lies within the first range bracket, then a distance equivalent to one-half of a range bracket beyond that point counts as the target area instead of only the width of the base or model . If the leading edge of a target vessel or its base lies within the second range bracket, then a distance equivalent to one-quarter of a range bracket beyond that point also counts as the target area. Danger zones dramatically increase the depth of gun targets and therefore the possibilities of hitting at closer ranges.

« 4.4 Applying Hits
Once all hit zones are known and marked, players will continue with the game until the damage phase. At that time the actual hits – if any – caused by shells within each hit zone will be rolled for. See the Recording Damage section for rules relating to shell damage, and see the Combat Chart Overview for a step by step guide to using the shell hit tables and their modifiers.

« 5.0 TORPEDO FIRE
After all movement and gunnery has been completed, players may conduct torpedo fire. All torpedo launches and their targets must be declared at the beginning of the step, and once declared, may not be canceled. Torpedoes fired are crossed off of the firing vessel's ship log, and if necessary, a launch marker may be placed next to the vessel's base on the launching side. For smaller games with a limited number of launches, launch markers may not be needed. Torpedoes may still be fired at a vessel if line of sight to that target is blocked by another ship base, but as with gunnery, land blocks line of sight (and travel) for torpedo fire.

Running Depth — Unless otherwise stated, a torpedo is considered to run at normal depth, which is set to strike large, deep-draft vessels. If a player wishes to consider any of his vessels to be carrying shallow running torpedoes or "surface skimmers," it must be recorded in that vessel's ship log before the game begins. Only destroyers, torpedo boats or torpedo gunboats may carry surface skimmers.

A torpedo running at normal depth will always miss vessels whose size is 4 or less and will inflict standard combat damage to any larger vessels. A torpedo running at shallow depth is eligible to strike all vessels, but will have its size halved against any vessel with a flood protection rating of good or great.

« 5.1 Launch Arcs
The arc of fire for torpedo positions mounted on a vessel's center-line is 95 degrees. The arc-of-fire for torpedoes mounted within the side or end of a vessel is 60 degrees. In order to establish a 60 degree arc for side/end mounted positions, use the 150 degree arc-of-fire card to establish the blind zone for the respective positions. See the Arcs-of-Fire page for examples.

« 6.0 Recording Damage
As a vessel sustains successive hits, its Ship Log is used to record the damage and its side-effects. Areas affected include armament, speed, hull (flooding), fires, damage control and other supporting features like steering, searchlights and the bridge and conning tower complexes at either ends of the ship. Steps One, Two and Four of the Damage Phase are used to calculate damage or its after-effects, and Step Three is used to conduct damage control (See Damage Control for descriptions of Step Three). Note that while mutual shell and torpedo fire is considered simultaneous, the individual steps of the damage phase are not simultaneous. The action at each damage step affects and preempts action in the following damage steps, although existing hits and damage are not preempted.

Example 1). A Gunnery Phase shell hit scored by a gun which was then lost during Step One : Fire & Flooding is still able to score the damage which came as a result of it's striking.
Example 2). A DC hit suffered by a ship during Step One - Fire & Flooding is lost immediately and may not be used in Step Three - Damage Control.
Example 3). A vessel which suffers uneven flooding as a result of an explosion during Step One - Fire & Flooding, and then uses counterflooding and damage control dice to reduce the effects of the flooding, may end up not being required to roll for sinking or suffer effects of uneven flooding during Step Four - Sinking & Listing.

Step One - Fire & Flooding: Check for complications of ongoing fire and heavy flooding. All commanders whose vessels have active fires and/or heavy or severe flooding must roll once for each fire, and once for each flooded compartment on the Fire and/or Hvy/Sev FL columns of the Critical Effects Chart and apply the resulting effects if any. Note that the Fires section of the combat chart includes separate columns for external and internal fires, and that a result which may result in one or more fires being extinguished is also included. The Hvy/Sev FL column – which is an abbreviation meaning Heavy or Severe Flooding – may trigger fresh FL hits. Any FL hits that occur as a result of this die roll must be randomly rolled for to see if it occurs in the same compartment at the triggering FL hit, or in an adjoining compartment, even if the adjoining compartment previous had no FL hits in it.

Step Two - Hits: Vessels which correctly guessed the ranges of enemy vessels or positions during the gunnery phase may now roll to achieve actual shell hits on the AP or HE hit tables corresponding to the ammunition they used. Any hits which occur as a result of the die rolls are then applied to the vessels or positions in question. All shell hits are considered to occur simultaneously.

During the same step, players also calculate and apply damage for any torpedoes which struck vessels during the Torpedo Movement Phase of that turn. Use the Flooding Occurrence section of the combat chart to check for damage caused by each torpedo hit. Torpedo hits are considered to occur simultaneously with all other torpedo and shell hits for that turn.

See the Combat Chart Overview for explanations of all the hit tables and how to use them.


Step Four - Sinking & Listing: As a vessel suffers flooding, each of its four main compartments will be marked with the most severe type of flooding (if any) present in that area. Each level of flooding carries an inherent point value; light flooding equals one point, moderate equals two points, heavy equals three points and severe flooding equals four points.

Listing (uneven flooding): If opposing vessel compartments suffer from different flooding levels, the uneven weight distribution of the seawater will cause the ship to tilt or list. If the difference is from side-to-side, the ship will list to port or starboard. If the difference is between fore and aft sections, the vessel will be "down by the bows" or "down by the stern." A famous example of the former was the civilian ocean liner Titanic, which before sinking, was dramatically down by the bows. Players whose vessels suffer from uneven flooding must consult the Uneven Flooding portion of the Listing & Sinking table and apply its effects to the ship in question. Note that a fore/aft disparity is less likely to result in the loss of a ship.

Sinking: When the total value of flooding points present on a vessel reaches five or more, the controlling player must roll on the Sinking portion of the Listing & Sinking table on the combat chart. If the unmodified die roll result falls within the corresponding Sink Roll range, the vessel in question has irredeemably begun to sink. To the right of the result is a number which indicates how many turns the ship will take to sink. A sinking vessel conducts no further movement and it cannot launch torpedoes or conduct damage control. If a sinking vessel attempts to fire its guns, it must roll 1D6 at the start of each gunnery phase to see if the gun crews have abandoned their posts. On a die result of 1-3 the ship may continue firing active (undamaged) guns. On a die result of 4-6 the crews abandon all guns for the rest of the game. No further gunfire by that ship is permitted. Until it disappears under the waves, a vessel will remain a navigational and line-of-sight obstacle to other ships and batteries.

« 6.1 Damage Types
Several of the Battlefleet 1900 combat chart tables contain abbreviations of damage which may be inflicted on participating vessels. Each of these damage codes triggers a very specific set of events, including fires, flooding, explosions and damaged or destroyed weapons. The glossary below offers definitions of all damage codes. Immediately following are guidelines for recording and positioning the various damage types. If a certain type of damage is called for on a vessel and there is no feature of that type on board, then the hit is counted as no effect unless otherwise called for by the nature of the hit in question.

« 6.2 Damage Locations
Some types of damage require players to establish where on the vessel that the damage occurred. Some of these only apply to random positions or features, whereas other types of damage must be applied in a specific order. Refer to the Battlefleet Randomizer to randomly select awkwardly or oddly arranged weapon positions.

Propulsion - Propulsion boxes are marked-off progressively, beginning with the highest value and working down to the lowest value, at which point the vessel may no longer move. Each of the boxes may only have one damage or destroyed mark on them at any one time. Propulsion hits which occur beyond the available boxes are recorded in the margin and must be repaired before repairs to any propulsion boxes may be attempted. Damaged boxes are always migrated down to make room for destroyed boxes. I.E. - A damaged box cannot be marked as destroyed while undamaged boxes remain below it.

Example: A Px hit is inflicted on a cruiser which already has two boxes destroyed and four damaged (dead in the water). One damage mark would be recorded in the margin, and the third damaged box would be converted into a destroyed box. The vessel will now have three destroyed propulsion boxes, three damaged propulsion boxes, and an additional damage to "propulsion access" which must be repaired before any repairs of the propulsion boxes proper may be attempted.

Lettered Positions - The locations of any hits sustained by "Lettered" weapon positions (BC, MO, SU, etc.) are rolled for individually and assigned regardless of existing damage to them. For example, if a vessel's main turret A already has one damage slash, it can still receive more damage slashes. There is no limit to the number of damage slashes and destroyed markers that can be accumulated by any one lettered position.

Numbered Patterns - The locations of any hits sustained by weapons dispersed among numbered "Beam Patterns" are always removed from the list of currently undamaged/undestroyed weapons for that type. For example, if a vessel's six secondary guns are located in beam pattern 0 and one of those guns has already been damaged, a new S hit will cause another previously undamaged gun to be crossed out. Usually this will result in a descending sequence of crossed-out numbers on the vessel's ship log as "patterned" guns are steadily lost, depending on how closely players track the three main beam patterns. See the Ship Log Overview for more details on how to display beam patterns.

Main - Most main ship armaments will be mounted in lettered positions (as opposed to numbered patterns). Because of this, hits will usually be randomly located, which is easy when main guns are positioned in only two turrets. Most players assign a 1 through 3 roll to the forward turret and a 4 through 6 roll to the aft turret and then roll one die to decided which turret is hit. Ships which have their main armament in a lozenge (diamond) layout should use the embattled-side rule and break the location die roll into thirds instead of halves. A previously destroyed main position which sustains a hit will still trigger a critical hit check unless its magazine has been successfully flooded.

Secondary and Tertiary - Each secondary or tertiary hit causes the damage or destruction of one gun or position randomly selected from available types (some ships may have more than one set of secondary guns). The locations of all S and T hits are always assigned randomly from existing weapons throughout the entire vessel and should not be removed only from the embattled side of a vessel.

A vessel which has not deployed its boat gun crews may only suffer a maximum of one boat gun hit from any one shell hit (no multiple gun losses allowed). Only ships with armored decks may do this. Vessels without armored decks must always have their boat guns manned.

Flooding - Flooding due to shell or torpedo fire will occur randomly on the embattled side of a vessel. For example: Hits striking the port side of a vessel will be randomly established as being in either the forward, port amidships, or aft zone by splitting a six sided die roll (1D6) into thirds. If hit from ahead, the damage will be randomly established as being in the forward, port amidships or starboard amidships zones. If due to an explosion, the damage will be randomly located in any one of the four compartments.

« 6.3 Damage Control
Step three of the damage phase is used to attempt repair of damaged areas, flood magazines, counter-flood to correct listing or a variety of other important functions. All damage control actions taken during this step are considered simultaneous, and they do not need to be executed in any particular order within the step.

All damage control actions are conducted according to the results of Damage Control (DC) dice, only one of which may be rolled against any one damage event. The number of damage control dice which a ship starts the game with is six for all ships size 5 and over, and three for ships size 4 and under. The number of boxes on the DC line of the ship log corresponds to the number of DC dice available at any one time. As DC hits are suffered on a vessel, the DC boxes will be progressively marked off, reducing the number of DC rolls allowed per turn for that vessel.

Repair Actions - Weapons and/or positions which have been destroyed are not repairable, and are marked off with a full X. Positions which have only been damaged are marked off with a diagonal slash mark, which indicates that they are repairable. To attempt damage repair, look up the corresponding roll values for that damage type as shown on the Damage Control box. This represents the value range within which a ship's commander must roll in order to repair the damaged feature. Players may also attempt to modify a pending sink roll by one die point, or stop the critical flooding event which can be triggered by heavy flooding. If a position has more than one damage slash, each slash must be individually repaired, otherwise the position is still considered damaged and out of commission. Non-command related repair actions may still be conducted even if a vessel has suffered a Conning Tower hit (See below). Players must declare specifically which type of repair they are making before rolling the repair dice. Below are the basic Repair Functions and a basic outline of their use:

Repair P, BR: A successful die roll will repair one damaged propulsion box or one bridge hit.
Repair M, ST (1TR): A successful die roll will repair one damaged main armament position or one steering engine hit. Note that steering engine hits manifest themselves as turning radius hits. The repair of a steering engine hit actually allows a player to erase one of the TR hits shown on the ST line of the ship log.
Stop Hvy FL roll: A successful die roll allows a player to "contain" a heavy flooding event in any one of the ship's zones, thereby preventing that flooding event from triggering any further Critical Effect roles during the first step of the Damage Phase. Note that severe flooding events cannot be contained, and there is no need to contain light or medium flooding events because they do not trigger critical events. Draw a box around the "Hvy" entry on the shop log to show that specific flooding condition as being contained. If that zone suffers a new heavy flooding hit at a later point in the game, the existing flooding containment is lost and the player must attempt to roll again on this table to re-contain the heavy flooding.
Repair S, DC, R: A successful die roll will repair one damaged secondary gun position or one damage control box or one rudder hit.
Secure/Disengage R: A successful die roll allows a player to secure an otherwise undamaged rudder on center-line, or to free a rudder which was previously secured. Secured rudders assume an RC condition (locked on center-line) which forces a vessel to use its engines to steer. Players may want to secure a rudder if the aft portion of a vessel has suffered heavy damage or flooding and is in danger of blocking access to the steering areas. Securing the rudder prevents some types of possible damage from sending the vessel into an uncontrollable spin.
-1 this turn's sink roll: A successful die roll allows a player to subtract one point from the sinking die roll for that vessel. The bonus point is only valid for that turn.

Command Functions - Command related actions are somewhat different than repair actions in that they depend on an intact chain of command. Also, players should note that the command functions table includes two Read Message actions which are used only during the Command Phase of the game, not during the Damage Control Phase. Command functions may only be attempted if the vessel has no Conning Tower hits. Below are the basic repair related command functions available during a game and their mode of use:

Flood Magazine: Destroyed and damaged main gun positions remain a hazard to their ship because their powder magazines may still trigger on-board explosions if more damage occurs. To protect against this danger, any main gun position's magazine may be flooded if the commanding player successfully rolls one die (1D6) and the result matches the range shown on the Command Function table. A die roll result below that range indicates a failed attempt to flood the magazine. A flooded magazine will cause its corresponding vessel compartment to gain one level of flooding in the corresponding zone of the vessel; none becomes light, heavy flooding becomes severe, etc. Once its magazine is flooded, a main position is considered out of commission for the remainder of the game. If that position is later hit, the vessel commander will not have to roll on the Critical Effects table.

Counter-flood: A vessel suffering from uneven flooding may purposefully flood all or part of an opposing zone in order to reduce the vessel's list and eliminate (or reduce) the uneven flooding's more dangerous effects. Counter-flooding adds to the overall flooding points present on a vessel, which will affect that vessel's sink roll. However, counterflooded compartments do not trigger flooding effect rolls or critical hits.

A commander wishing to conduct counterflooding must roll one die (1D6). If the result of the die roll matches the range shown on the Command Functions table, the counterflood attempt was successful. If the die roll result falls below the range shown, the attempt was a failure and no more attempts to flood that zone of the ship may be made during that Damage phase. If successful, any one zone on the vessel may then be flooded to whatever degree the commander wishes. Once counter-flooding is complete, reduce the damage hits to the appropriate level called for by the Uneven Flooding table. Counter-flooding may also be used to scuttle a vessel by rolling for "counterflooding" in each of the vessel's four compartments while assigning severe flooding to each of them. This must be announced in advance, and once begun may not be called off. If some compartments successfully flood and other do not, the vessel may capsize instead, which will still result in the loss of the ship.

Recover from CT Hit: The one command action allowed after a conning tower hit is the Recover from CT Hit roll. The controlling player of a vessel with a CT hit may roll once each turn in an attempt to reestablish command of the vessel. A die roll result matching the range shown on the Command Function table will reestablish a new vessel commander or a recuperated old commander. The ship in question may then operate normally from that point on. Note that because of the involuntary transfer command rule, nearby vessels may end up assuming command of a division before a damaged flagship is able to reestablish conning control of their own vessel. See Command & Control for more details.