War At Sea (Victory at Sea) UNITS & TERRAIN

These rules are meant to provide a crossover between Victory at Sea and Axis and Allies Naval Miniatures to combine the best of both into one game that creates a fun and engaging game for everyone. In some instances, major changes were needed to better combine the two game systems to better meet the needs of the game. I have tried to take into account both the realism and balance needed for naval combat simulations while maintaining game play that is not hampered by tables and charts and paper crunching. Use the stat cards from the A&A set along with some minor modifications to range and speed to develop your strike force.

NOTE: The following pages detail changes made to each type of unit under the new rules. For specifics on each unit, see the following post on the Navies of both the Axis and Allied countries. Rules presented here are optional. Add those you feel will add for a better game.

Fleet Build Points:

• 100: Small engagement between 2 capital ships, few aircraft, and some submarines. Land Airbases can hold 5 aircraft. 150 Victory Points WINS! (Objectives worth: 50)
  
• 200: Medium engagement (up to 20 units in fleet) Land Airbases can hold 7 aircraft. 300 points WINS! (Objectives worth: 100)
  
• 300 Major engagement (up to 25 units) Land Airbases hold 9 aircraft. 450 points WINS! (Objectives worth: 150)
  
• 500 Epic engagement (up to 40 units) Land Airbases hold 13 aircraft. 750 points WINS! (Objectives worth: 200)
  

~ Naval Units ~

SCALE: 1 to 1,800 / Each ship or submarine represents 1 ship / Each PT Boat/Torpedo Boat represents 3 boats in one unit.

NOTE: Movement information is given after the unit type and includes: how many segments a unit's move can be broken into, how many turn actions it can perform- 45 degrees per turn action, and the average number of inches a unit of that type can move in a given turn. See: Units Converting posting for information on making each unit's move historically accurate.

PT Boats / Torpedo Boats (3 movements- 3 separate turn actions / 8" per turn) Rounds out PT Boats, giving them a punch they lack in the original game.

• 1 unit represents 3 ships (a “stand” of boats)- place 2 white counters under base of unit

NOTE: Because of their small size, PT boats can make a limited number of torpedo and depth charge attacks in a game. They start the game with 12 torpedoes (blue markers) and 15 depth charges (white markers) for the unit (4 torpedoes and 5 depth charges per ship in the unit). Use a counter (d20 dice or poker chips) to represent this. After each attack, remove a number of counters equal to the dice rolled in an attack. If you loose a unit during an attack, remove the corresponding number of markers. You do not have to use all of the allowed attack dice if you want to conserve torpedoes / depth charges.

• When a PT Boat is hit (Attack meets/exceeds its Armor value) roll d6- Destroy all units if its Vital Armor is breached.
  

1-3: stand aborted and must move off next turn
4-5: stand aborted / -1 unit
6: -1 unit / stand can still attack

Remove counters from the base of the unit at the end of the Surface Attack Phase. Remember to also subtract torpedoes / depth charges from the unit at the end of the turn.

PT Boats Defenses/Abilities

• Immune to Battleship and Cruisers Main Battery attacks at any range
• Immune to Bombing attacks from Patrol Bombers
• Fighters, Patrol and Dive Bombers only score hits on a 5-6 (-1 to attack)
• Battleship/Cruiser Secondary Batteries take a -2 attack roll penalty
• Immune to torpedo attacks from ALL units
• Shallow Draft- can enter island and shoal zones
• Does not block Line of Sight
• CAN be targeted by a ship's Anti-air Guns at no penalty.
  

SPECIAL ATTACK: Explode depth charges within 1” of target as an aft torpedo attack for 1-2 damage (Torpedo Belt does not reduce damage)

• Roll ASW attack as normal: 5 = 1 damage / 6 = 2 damage

Destroyers (2 movements / 2 separate turn actions / 7" per turn)

NOTE: As they stand, destroyers are incredibly weak, too weak to survive beyond turn 2. The following rule changes should help shore up the Destroyer and allow her to last well into the game to keep those subs from running amok. The following changes are the result of suggestions made on the Axis and Allies website forum page, VAS, and War at Sea Clarifications. (See Bibliography for web links)

Defenses / Abilities

• Immune to Battleship and Cruisers Main Battery attacks at Extended Range 4 or greater
• Battleship Main Batteries take a -2 attack roll penalty at ranges 0-3 against DDs
• Patrol and Dive Bombers only score hits on a 5-6 against DDs (-1 to attack)
  
• Can enter island zones and shoals
  
• Does not block Line of Sight past 5”
• Can use AA Attack Dice to make a separate attack against PT Boats within 5”. Cannot defend against aircraft on the same turn.
  

ASW DETECTION- In order to target an enemy sub, a destroyer must find it first. At the start of the Sea Movement Phase a destroyer can attempt to locate an enemy submarine. Because of the sensitive nature of the equipment, destroyers must slow to below 18 knots (3") to “hear” submerged subs.

• Reduce speed to 3” for the Sea Movement Phase
• Detection Range: 20”(only can detect suspected subs within range)
  
• Sub Hunters (special card ability) get a +1 to detection rolls
  

Roll an ASW attack to locate suspected subs (See submarines below for a list of modifiers) On a successful detection roll, the destroyer can make an attack against the target by making a run at it by moving an additional 2” (attack run increasing speed) towards the sub and attacking if it is in range.

ASW ATTACKS interferes with a submarine’s attack ability

• -1 torpedo dice for each ASW aircraft / ship in the same sector (5”) that makes an ASW attack that round
• Cannot reduce attack below 1 dice
  

MINE LAYER Some destroyers have a new special ability- Mine Layer (See Terrain for more information on a mine field.)

• Reduce speed to 2” and place a number of mines counters (RED poker chips) astern, equal to her ASW value or less, in her previous sector. (1 counter = 10 mines) Most destroyers add Mines 4 (4 mine tokens for a total of 40 mines) as a special ability.
  
• Cannot place mines in a space occupied by a friendly surface ship.
• Cannot use ASW attack while laying mines
  

Cruisers (2 movements / 2 separate turn actions / 6" per turn)

• Immune to critical hits (Optional Rule) from PT Boats Main Batteries
• Can only use full Attack Dice value of its Main Guns when it is broadside to a target. Must use 1/2 attack (round down) value when target is NOT broadside of it but can attack a target to both aft and ahead as a separate attack. (Ex: The Graf Spee is range 2 away from a target (21"-30") and can make a full Main Gunnery Attack when it is broadside a target (11 attack dice). If the Graf Spee only had a her front Main Batteries trained on a target she could only roll 5 attack dice (11/2 rounded down) to the fore and an additional attack at 5 attack dice to the aft)
  
• Can divide Main Battery attack dice for an extra attack (Port / Starboard / Fore / Aft) within the Battery’s firing arc (round down).
• Can only use the Luck Dice on one of the rolls
• Can use AA Attack Dice to make a separate attack against PT Boats within 5”. Cannot defend against aircraft on the same turn.
  

Battleships (2 movements / 1 separate turn action / 5" per turn)

• Immune to critical hits (Optional Rule) from Destroyers and PT Boats Main Batteries
• Can only use full Attack Dice value of its Main Guns when it is broadside to a target (See Cruiser above).
• Can divide Main Battery attack dice for an extra attack (Port / Starboard / Fore / Aft) within the Battery’s firing arc (See Cruiser above).
• Can only use the Luck Dice on one of the rolls
• Can use AA Attack Dice to make a separate attack against PT Boats within 5”. Cannot defend against aircraft on the same turn.
  

Aircraft Carriers (2 movements / 1 separate turn action / 5" per turn)

Carriers can base Fighters, Dive Bombers, and Torpedo Bombers equal to its basing capacity. Place stat cards under the Carrier to which it is assigned. If an air unit lands on another carrier, move the corresponding card to that carrier.

SPECIAL LAUNCH CONDITIONS

Fire (Aircraft Carrier suffers 2 points of damaged OR crippled): Cannot launch / recover squads (Roll d6)

• 1-2: 1 squad stationed on the carrier is destroyed

Bad Weather: roll d6 for each squad launched/recovered:

• 1- 1 squad stationed on the carrier is destroyed

Destroyed carriers roll d6 for each squad stationed there

• 1-2: the unit is destroyed

Special Defense: Can use AA Attack Dice to make a separate attack against PT Boats within 5”. Cannot defend against aircraft on the same turn.

Submarines
Surfaced: 2 movements / 2 separate turn actions / 3" per turn
Submerged: 1 movement / 1 turn action / 1.5" per turn

The problem with a Naval Miniatures battle is that all of the units are placed on the board in plain sight. While this is the idea with surface ships, with submerged units it takes away from their greatest advantage: stealth. The optional rule below should allow for subs to maintain a level of stealth and still appear on the play area.

OPTIONAL RULE: Place a series of blue markers on the board to represent possible positions of sub activity. Each counter represents 1 sub. Number each counter 1-6+ and create another counter with the same number to mark which sub is actually at that location. Simply place the second counter face down on top of the sub’s Stat Card. Determine ahead of time which are decoys (represent suspected sub activity in the area) and which are subs. Move each counter as you would a sub. Player 2 can use counters marked A-E+ and do the same so that their counters can be kept separated from yours (Use uppercase and lowercase Roman Numerals for games with more than 2 players). Subs cannot be attacked until a unit makes a successful detection roll using their ASW attack values modified for a variety of conditions. Only after a sub is detected can it be targeted. Detection Rolls are made at the beginning of the Air Mission Phase and Sea Movement Phase depending on the attacking unit. If the detection roll fails, the attacking unit moves off in a random direction determined by rolling 2d6 (Imagine the unit is on a clock pointed at 12 o’clock and turn the unit to face the corresponding “hour” rolled on the dice). Next, move the unit ½ it’s movement in that direction. It can attempt a new detection roll the following turn. Additional rolls need to be made each round even if the sub was detected last round to see if contact has been maintained.

DETECTION MODIFIERS

• +1 to detection roll if submarine fired torpedoes last round
• +1 to detection roll if the sub was detected last round
• -2 to detection roll if any surface ships are between the destroyer and the sub
• -1 for each counter under a sub that has Gone Deep (see below).
• -1 to detection roll if sub was stationary that turn.
  

TORPEDOES: Because of their size, submarines can make a limited number of torpedo attacks in a game. Subs start the game with a number of torpedoes equal to what they carried in the war (Average number: 25 torpedoes) minus 1d6 torpedoes to account for attacks made against convoys along the way to their current battle. Use a counter (d20 dice or white/red poker chips- white=1/red=5) to represent this. After each attack, remove a number of counters equal to the dice rolled in an attack. You do not have to use all of the allowed attack dice if you want to conserve torpedoes. With this optional rule, players need to rethink firing indiscriminately at every target that moves in range. Because of this change, torpedoes now hit on a 5 for 1 point of damage and a 6 for 2 points of damage.

Special Abilities:

CRASH DIVE! roll d6 when a sub is targeted by an ASW Attack before the attack roll is made. A sub that has crash dived cannot make an attack that turn but can move as normal. Place an aborted counter next to it to remember that it cannot attack this turn.

• 1-4 No effect
• 5 +1 to Armor Value
• 6 +2 to Armor Value
  

GO DEEP Place 1 blue counter under sub for each 200’ below the surface. Subs that have "Gone Deep" CANNOT attack until they come up. This tactic allows them to evade destroyer pickets.

• -1 to surface or air ASW attacks and detection rolls for each counter
• It takes 1 full turn to come up from depth to make an attack
• Most subs have a test depth of 700' for larger subs (U-Boats) and 200' for smaller subs (Ambra- Italian coastal sub)
  

SONAR- Submarines in the war could often detect surface ships well before they came over the horizon. An individual ship is harder to spot but most often ships traveled in larger units or groups making enough noise for them to be detected well in advance. Roll for detection at start of the movement phase / A sub rolls 4d6 for detection + additional dice per additional unit over 2. The roll must meet or beat its Armor value to be successful.

• -1 to rolls vs. 1 ship in a 5" sector / add 1 dice per ship in a unit/group to the detection roll
  
• SUBS- (Range 20") +1 to subsequent detection rolls if a sub was previously detected. Subs that fire torpedoes are automatically detected that round
• DESTROYERS/PTS- (Range 20")
• CONVOYS/BATTLESHIPS/CARRIERS- (Range 100" / 8'- anywhere on most battlemaps)
  

~ Air Units: Fighter Planes / Bombers Types ~

Fighters (55" per turn average move)
(1 reload counter when they return to an airbase OR carrier)

Ammo: 2 rounds worth (use 2 white counters- remove after anti-air / strafing attack regardless of outcome) A fight without ammo cannot intercept other aircraft or strafe targets.

Declare mission (escort / strafing / CAP) during placement stage

Escort: provides a -1 penalty to anti-air attacks from enemy fighters

• Must be within 5” of Bomber Group
• Can move to intercept aircraft that come within 5” on a successful anti-air attack
• Intercepted (Aborted) aircraft stop all remaining movement and must use remaining movement to move away.
  

Strafing: -2 penalty to armor / vital armor; cannot escort / 5” range to the attack

Combat Air Patrol: Fighter Unit does not move as normal during the Placement Phase.

• Must be within 5” (1 sector) of a Carrier to be declared as part of a CAP for their mission and the Unit MUST have the special ability on its stat card
  
• Can move to intercept aircraft that come within 5” of its current location on a successful anti-air attack
• Intercepted (Aborted) aircraft stop all remaining movement and must use remaining movement to move away
  

Bombers (Torpedo/Dive/Patrol)
Torpedo Bombers: 35" per turn average move
Dive Bombers: 45" per turn average move
(2 reload counters when they return to an airbase OR carrier)

Patrol Bombers: 30-40" per turn average move
(2 reload counters when they return to a land airbase)

Bombers with ASW make an ASW detection roll when investigating possible sub activity. On a successful “hit” they can verify the presence of 1 sub and attack (See Destroyer)

• 20” ASW DETECTION RANGE
• +1 to detection roll if submarine fired torpedoes last round
• +1 to detection roll if the sub was detected last round
• -2 to detection roll if any surface ships are between it and the sub
• -1 for each counter under a sub that has Gone Deep (see above).
• -1 to detection roll if sub was stationary that turn.
  

Observation Planes (OPTIONAL)

• Total the number of spotter aircraft possessed by each side. The side with the largest number of spotter aircraft receives a +2 to all initiative rolls until the other side successfully wins initiative. Count visible planes on a ship's model OR use the historic information of a unit to determine number of observation planes a given ship carried in the war.
  

~ Ground Units ~

Land Airbase: can support all aircraft types. In a standard scenario, an airbase can support 5 aircraft units. A Land Airbase can be targeted if it appears on a battlemap. If it is off the board, units returning there add an additional turn BEFORE they land to rearm and when they return to the battle area.

ARMOR: 10 / VITAL ARMOR: 20 / HULL POINTS: 8 (Bases that suffer more than 1/2 their Hull Points in damage halve their basing capacity)

Fire (1/2 of hull points and/or crippled): Cannot launch / recover squads (Roll d6)

• 1-2: 1 squad stationed on the carrier is destroyed

Bad Weather: roll d6 for each squad launched/recovered:

• 1- 1 squad stationed on the carrier is destroyed

Destroyed Airbases roll d6 for each squad stationed there

• 1-2: the unit is destroyed

Anti-Air Battery: rolls an anti-air attack against 1 target in the same sector (5”) or targets passing over.

ARMOR: 3 / VITAL ARMOR: 5 / HULL POINTS: 1 / COST = AA Rank

• Provides 1 dice of anti-air suppression per point expended during construction
• Use a d6 to show how many ranks of antiair craft dice the unit provides (MAX 6 ranks)
  

Shore Battery: A fortified position from a beachhead that can target naval units

Shielded Shore Battery: 5 points
ARMOR: 4 / VITAL ARMOR: 8 / HULL POINTS: 2 Main Battery: 8 (0) / 5 (1) / 5 (2) / 5 (3)

Hardened Shore Battery: 10 points (Atlantic Sea Wall)
ARMOR: 8 / VITAL ARMOR: 14 / HULL POINTS: 4 • Main Battery: 10 (0) / 8 (1) / 8 (2) / 5 (3) / 5 (4) • Extended Range-4

~ Terrain ~

Smoke Screens / Fog:

• Blocks Line of Sight
• Units in smoke or fog can fire out without penalty
• Enemy units firing into fog / smoke attack without penalty
• Target gets a concealment roll- on a 5-6 the attack misses regardless of the number of successes the attacker rolls.
  

Shallow Water:

• Carriers and Battleships cannot enter shallow water
• Subs cannot Go Deep or Crash Dive
• ASW attacks / detection get a +1 to rolls
  

Shoals / Shoreline:

• No ship without a shallow draft can come within 1” of a shoreline or shoal without running aground

BEACHED SHIPS

• May not fire any weapons except AA guns
• Carriers may not launch / recover aircraft
• Cannot move
• +1 to all attack rolls vs. beached ships
  

Islands:

• Can’t attack or be attacked by units outside the island sector
• Like ships in the island sector can attack normally
  

Mine Fields: Attack as torpedoes for any ship entering that sector / within 5.” Torpedo Belts do not reduce mine damage.

Roll d6 when within range of the mine counter.

• 5: 1 point of hull damage
• 6: 2 points of hull damage (Roll Critical Hit)

Bibliography:
1. Armchair General (Axis & Allies: War at Sea/Task Force/Flank Speed)
2. Joisey's House Rules (Making A&A Destroyers better in War at Sea)
3. Victory at Sea (Improving rules for Victory at Sea)
4. Axis & Allies (Naval Units- to help convert stats)

Historic Sites:
1. WWII Ships
2. U-Boats
3. Air Groups
4. WWII Axis & Allies (Units/3D-models)

Official Sites:
1. Axis & Allies (Naval Miniatures)
2. Victory at Sea (Mongoose Publishing)