NAVAL RULES

© 1998-2001 by MC Gianni
Last updated 13 February, 2001

INTRODUCTION

These rules were written in order to simulate naval battle encounters between the naval forces of the players of the Atrilian campaign, my fantasy pbem campaign set in the World of Holobar.
However, they can be used to simulate any naval battle encounter set in an Ancient or Mediaeval campaign, fantasy or not, with very little work since the only actual references to the Atrilian campaign are the prices of the ships and the nationality of the crews. If you are playing a one-off encounter, just ignore campaign rules.
Also, the overall environment is one of Arabian or African taste. If you want to play in a more Northern- or European-like setting, change dhows to cogs, and pirogues to boats.

All you need to play are:

• a 12x18 hex grid, either blank (open sea) or featuring a coast line,
• some square cardboard counters representing the ships and the marines,
• some square markers (fire, sinking ship, etc.),
• a six-sided die.

1 COUNTERS

You will need the following counters to enact naval battles using these rules:

Ships - Full strength on one side, crippled on the other.

Marines - Combat value of 2 on one side and 1 on the other.

Markers - Sinking ship markers. Volley markers. Committed ship markers. On fire markers.

You can either make your own counters or copy the ones provided below and paste them on thin cardboard.

SHIPS
(full / crippled - three sizes)

   

   

   

MARINES
(combat value 2 / combat value 1)

   

MARKERS
(committed ship, fire, sinking, volley)

           

2 SHIP STATS

Atrilian ships may divided into three broad categories: galleys, dhows and pirogues.
Explanation of ship stats:

• Ship: Name of the ship type
  Price (dinars): Useful for campaign game, budgets, etc.
  Time to build (weeks): Useful for campaign game.
  Crew: Number of sailors needed to manoeuvre the ship.
  Holds: Marines or cargo the ship may hold. Only used for campaign game, for tactical game see 7.4.
  Speed: Only used for campaign game, for tactical game use crew quality.
  War gaming size: Value of the ship with regard to tactical combat (ie for these rules). Size 0 ships are not used in naval battles.

2.1 GALLEYS

Galleys are war ships that can either sail or be propelled by their rowers. Only the Northerners (Gyptians, Meshuesh, Pheacians, Talians) master the technique to build galleys. Building a galley is time and wood consuming. Galleys are the most expensive ships of the world.

1. Ship: Pheacian large galley
   Price (dinars): 15,000
   Time to build (weeks): 4
   Crew: 150
   Holds: 150 tons of cargo or 150 men
   Speed: 3 to 14 km/h
   War gaming size: 3

2. Ship: Gyptian or Meshuesh large galley
   Price (dinars): 12,500
   Time to build (weeks): 5
   Crew: 200
   Holds: 100 tons of cargo or 100 men
   Speed: 5 to 10 km/h
   War gaming size: 3

3. Ship: Small galley
   Price (dinars): 7,500
   Time to build (weeks): 3
   Crew: 100
   Holds: 50 tons of cargo or 50 men
   Speed: 5 to 10 km/h
   War gaming size: 2

4. Ship: Liburnian galley
   Price (dinars): 7,500
   Time to build (weeks): 3
   Crew: 50
   Holds: 30 tons of cargo or 60 men
   Speed: 5 to 15 km/h
   War gaming size: 1
   

2.2 DHOWS

Dhows are medium size ships unfit for ocean voyaging but very useful for coast voyaging, being very easy to maintain and to repair.
They are usually used for trade or to transport heavy loads (like metal or wood). Dhows can even navigate on large rivers.

1. Ship: Baghla (picture here)
   Price (dinars): 10,000
   Time to build (weeks): 3
   Crew: 40
   Holds: 150 tons of cargo or 360 men
   Speed: 6 km/h
   War gaming size: 0 [May be improved to 1 by spending 2,500 dinars. Will then hold but 50 tons of cargo or 120 men.]

2. Ship: Sambuk (picture here)
   Price (dinars): 3,000
   Time to build (weeks): 2
   Crew: 20
   Holds: 90 tons of cargo or 80 men
   Speed: 5 km/h
   War gaming size: 0

3. Ship: Zaruq (picture here)
   Price (dinars): 2,500
   Time to build (weeks): 2
   Crew: 15
   Holds: 60 tons of cargo
   Speed: 8 km/h
   War gaming size: 0
   

2.3 PIROGUES

Pirogues are small to medium size dug-out canoes mainly used by the Black peoples of south-eastern Atrilia. They are usually used on rivers or on the sea when the weather is calm. Some Ndogo pirogues can cross some distance on the sea, holding up to eighty persons and the corresponding supply.

1. Ship: Ndogo large pirogue
   Price (dinars): 20
   Time to build (weeks): < 1
   Crew: 20
   Holds: 60 men
   Speed: 3 km/h
   War gaming size: 0

2. Ship: Standard pirogue
   Price (dinars): 10
   Time to build (weeks): < 1
   Crew: 20
   Holds: 1 ton of cargo
   Speed: 3 km/h
   War gaming size: 0

3. Ship: Kleshite small pirogue
   Price (dinars): 5
   Time to build (weeks): < 1
   Crew: 4
   Holds: .25 ton of cargo
   Speed: 3 km/h
   War gaming size: 0
   

2.4 IMPROVEMENTS

• the 'corvus'.
  The corvus is a draw-bridge-like boarding plank with a large spike at one end (see 8.8). It is lowered onto an enemy galley in order to make boarding easier.
  Price (dinars): 300
• the ballista.
  It is a siege engine adapted to the galley which looks like a giant crossbow (see 9.2). It fires spears or flaming missiles at a great distance but is not very accurate.
  Price (dinars): 600
• magic.
  This is to indicate there are wizards on board the boat (see 9.1).
  Magic should only be used in campaign games, and then only with the consent of the Campaign Master.
• the catapult.
  Again, a siege engine adapted to naval battles. It is a blunt stone thrower (see 9.3).
  Price (dinars): 800
• the ram.
  It is a long, sharp prow used to break open and break apart an enemy ship (see 6). It is mounted near the waterline, in order to sink the attacked ship. An attack with a ram can sometimes result in the two ships being locked together. All galleys have rams. Baghlas cannot have rams.
  Price (dinars): 500 times ship size
• the castle.
  Mounted amidships, it provides protection to the marines (see 8.9).
  Price (dinars): 1,000 times ship size
  

3 NAVAL BATTLES

Each encounter lasts 20 turns, unless specified otherwise by the Campaign Master.

It takes place on a rectangular battle map of 12 hexes per 18 hexes (see below). According to the instructions of the Campaign Master, some of these hexes may be impassable land hexes.

Set up:

1. Each player places his ships and marines as listed by the Campaign Master.
2. Both players should take note of crew qualities, ship sizes, and equipment of both fleets.
3. The first player listed by the Campaign Master moves first.

4 TURN SEQUENCE

A player performs the following actions in the sequence given here. Once he has completed his turn, his opponent does likewise.

1. Roll for movement
2. Ship Movement and Ramming
3. Marine movement
4. Marine attacks
5. Other attacks
6. Repair

At the conclusion of each game-turn, the completion of another turn is noted.

5 MOVEMENT

1. At the beginning of each turn, a player determines the movement allowance for his fleet by rolling a die, and adding the result to the crew quality of each of his ships. This is to reflect random factors such as wind, currents, and crew fatigue. Note: Ship speed (as per the ship stats) is only used to compute campaign movement, not battle movement.
2. A 'crippled' ship has a crew quality of 0. Her movement allowance is therefore only the number rolled on the die.
3. A 'sinking' ship may not move at all.
4. To move forward into the hex directly in front of the ship's bow costs 2 points.
5. To back up into the hex directly behind the ship's stern costs 3 points.
6. To change facing one hexside (60 degrees) costs 5 points.
7. A fleet's movement allowance is actually a maximum value. A ship may use less than the allowed movement points in a given phase. She may even choose not to move at all.
8. A committed ship cannot move unless she or the enemy ship manages to 'uncommit' herself. To that end, she must obtain a 'B' or 'E' result in the Boarding column of the Naval Combat Results Table during her attack phase. This has no ill effect on the other ship.
9. When two ships are committed and one of them sinks, the remaining ship is automatically 'uncommitted'.
10. Ships may not enter land hexes.
11. Ships exiting the map are counted as lost. They may be used in subsequent encounters.
12. A player may freely move through hexes occupied by friendly ships, as long as he does not end the turn in the same hex as another ship. There may only be 1 ship per hex at the end of the movement phase.
13. Example: A fleet with a crew quality of 4 rolls a 3 (7 movement point total). Each of its ships may move ahead 3 hexes or backward 2 or may change facing 1 hexside and move one. Each crippled ship could move forward 1 or backward 1.

6 RAMMING

Moving into a hex with an enemy ship may only be done while executing one of the three types of ram attacks covered here. A ship must be moving forward to execute a ram attack.

1. If entering via the enemy's bow, an OAR RAKE is being executed.
   1. If the moving ship has enough points, it may continue through the hex, but must stop on the other side.
   2. Both ships are then turned 1 hexside (60 degrees) clockwise as they try to bring their rams to bear against the enemy oars.
   3. Both players roll a die and add their crew quality. Size difference may also give a bonus. Consult the oar rake column of the Oar rake Table for each attack. The attacks are considered to be simultaneous.
2. Entering via the enemy's stern constitutes a RUDDER ATTACK.
   1. If the moving ship has enough points, she may continue through the hex, but must stop on the other side.
   2. The moving player rolls a die and adds his crew quality. Size difference may also give a bonus. Consult the Rudder Attack Table for this attack.
3. Entering via any of the enemy's 4 broadside hexes, constitutes a BROADSIDE RAM.
   1. The ramming ship must end her move in the hex before actually moving onto the enemy ship. She may not move through.
   2. The moving player rolls a die and adds his crew quality. Size difference may also give a bonus. Consult the Broadside Ram column of the Ramming Table for this attack.
4. After resolving a ram, go on to the next ship you wish to move. Any or all ships may move each turn, and ramming is considered a part of movement.

7 MARINE MOVEMENT

1. Each strength point of marines is a separate unit. They may be broken down or combined at any time.
2. Each marine may move 1 hex in this phase.
3. A marine unit may move onto a friendly ship or onto land. It may not move onto an enemy ship, even if that ship has no marines of her own.
4. At the end of each turn a small ship can hold a maximum of 1 point of marines. A large ship may have up to 2 points of marines. A land hex may have any number of marines. These stacking limitations apply only at the end of a turn.
5. Scuttling: At any point in its turn, a marine may declare it is scuttling the ship it is on. It costs no movement points to do this. Simply place a 'sinking' marker on the ship. It is, of course, a good idea to do this BEFORE you move.
6. Example: A 2 point marine is on a large ship. It breaks down into two 1 point units. One remains aboard and one moves onto a captured small ship that already has a 1 point marine. The marine originally on the captured ship moves off to an adjacent land hex. In this way the captured ship is at no point abandoned and stacking limitations are satisfied at the end of the turn.

Note: Size 1 ships are 'small'; Size 2 and 3 ships are 'large'.

8 MARINE ATTACKS

1. Each point of marines attacks separately in this phase.
2. A marine may either attack an adjacent hex via BOARDING combat or may attack two hexes away via ARCHERY. It may not do both in one turn.
3. Marines on land may only attack adjacent ships via ARCHERY.
4. All attacks against a single target must be declared and resolved before going on to the next. A player need not pre-declare all attacks everywhere on the board, but must announce all attacks against a single target.
5. The attacks against the target may be carried out in any order desired by the phasing player.
6. For each attack, roll a die and consult the Naval Combat Results Table.
7. Archery units must have a 'line of sight' to their target. Draw an imaginary line from the centre of firing unit to the centre of the target hex. If it passes through any ship or land hex, the line of sight is blocked. If the line passes along only the hexside of such a hex, it is not blocked unless both adjacent hexes contain blocking features. After an archery unit has fired, cover it with a 'volley' marker to remember not to move it.
8. Ships fitted with 'corvus' add 1 to boarding attacks.
9. Target ships fitted with a 'castle' subtract 1 from boarding attacks.
10. If a 'B' or 'E' (boarding successful) result is obtained against an enemy ship, both ships become 'committed' and cannot move any longer unless one of them manages to 'uncommit' herself.
11. If a 'B' or 'E' (boarding successful) result is obtained against an enemy ship with no marines, the attacking unit may advance onto her (the only way to capture an enemy controlled ship), and flip her to 'crippled' status if not already crippled. Alternatively it may scuttle her as described under movement.
12. Control of a ship goes to whichever side has a marine on her. If neither side has a marine on her, control is determined by nationality of the ship. Therefore, if you do leave a captured ship, it is a good idea to scuttle her.
13. Example: There is an enemy ship with 1 marine aboard. The moving player attacks her with 1 boarding attack and 2 archery attacks. The first attack is the boarding attack, and a 'B' result is rolled, eliminating the marine. The second attack is an archery attack, which causes a 'C' result. The rowers are hit, reducing the ship to 'crippled' status (note: if the boarding attempt had been second, the unprotected ship could have been captured instead). The final archery attack is now wasted because it could not cause more damage.

9 OTHER ATTACKS

9.1 MAGIC

Some ships carry sea or fire wizards amongst their marines, specially trained to cast their spells in communion.

1. The range of these spells is 1 hex.
2. Ships having lost all their marines are assumed to have lost their wizards too. On the other hand, if marines leave a ship for another ship, the wizards follow them. In the event a 2 point marine breaks down into two 1 point units that split, the player must state which unit the wizards shall remain with.
3. Roll a die and consult the Naval Combat Results Table.

9.2 BALLISTAE

Ballistae are giant crossbows that fire spears or flaming missiles. Each player must state, at the beginning of each encounter, for each of his ballistae, whether it will fire spears or flaming missiles.

1. The range of a ballista is 3 hexes. The target must be in line of sight.
2. Crippled ships are assumed to have lost their ballista.
3. Roll a die and consult the Naval Combat Results Table.

9.3 CATAPULTS

Naval catapults are smaller versions of the well-known siege engines used on land. They fire rocks.

1. The range of a ballista is 5 hexes, but the minimum distance to which it may fire is 3 hexes.The target must be in line of sight.
2. Crippled ships are assumed to have lost their catapult.
3. Roll a die and consult the Naval Combat Results Table.

10 REPAIR

1. The phasing player rolls one die for each ship he controls that is 'sinking' or 'on fire' and consults the Naval Repair Tables. Add ship size to the roll.
2. If the ship gets a 'sinks' result, she is removed from the game, along with any marines on board.
3. The phasing player removes all 'volley' markers from his marines.

11 OPTIONAL RULES

11.1 NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Gyptians have +1 in boardings.

Pheacians have +1 to naval repair.

Liburnians have +1 to sea wizards combat rolls.

Haranese have +1 to fire wizards combat rolls.

11.2 SET-UP

Sample map:

Set-Up Example:
Player A must place his galley. The Campaign Master or the scenario may state 'Set up in hex D11 facing direction 1'. The above hex grid shows how the player must then place his ship.

11.3 FIRST-TURN OPTIONAL RULES

1. "Even start"
   First turn movement roll for each side is the same (ie automatically '2', '3', '4' or '5')
2. "Ambush!"
   One of the sides is surprised. None of its ships may move on the first turn.

11.4 VICTORY CONDITIONS

There are none in a campaign game, ie the outcome of the encounter will have an influence on the campaign, but players don't really care who 'won' or 'lost'... they are already busy preparing the next battle!
For a one-off game, victory conditions might be:

• destroy or capture all enemy units
• destroy or capture all enemy units without losing more than a given number of own ships
• destroy all enemy marines
• exit a given number of ships off the opposite side

12 SAMPLE FLEETS

Below are two sample fleets taken from the first battle of al-Zabdiyat which took place off the coast of the island of al-Zabdiyat in 1st Akhet, 2L.

PHEACIAN FLEET

MESHUESH FLEET

TABLES

Naval Combat Results Table

Die Roll	Sea Wizards	Boarding	Archery	Ballista (spear) or Catapult	Fire Wizards or Ballista (flaming missile)
1-	-	-	-	-	-
2	-	-	-	-	-
3	-	-	-	-	-
4	-	-	-	-	-
5	M	E	-	-	-
6+	M	B	A	AS	F

Range:
Magic (sea or fire wizards): 1 hex
Boarding: 1 hex
Archery: 1 to 2 hexes
Ballista: 1 to 3 hexes
Catapult: 3 to 5 hexes

Notes:
Ships with 'corvus' have +1 in boardings
Rammed ships have -1 in boardings
Target ships with 'castle' are -1 to boardings.
Crippled target ships are +1 to boardings

Results:
A = Archery hit: Target ship must remove 1 point of marines or suffer a 'C' result.
AS = Archery hit: Target ship must remove 1 point of marines or suffer a 'CS' result.
B = Boarding successful: Both ships are committed. Target ship must lose 1 point of marines. If she has no marines, the attacker may either advance the attacking unit on to capture the ship or may scuttle her.
E = Boarding successful: Both ships are committed. If target ship has no marines, the attacker may advance the attacking unit on to capture the ship.
F = Fire: Place an 'on fire' marker on the target ship. If she is already burning, she starts sinking. Remove 'on fire' marker and replace it with 'sinking' marker.
M = Magic hit: Target ship must remove 1 point of marines or suffer a 'C' result.

Ramming Table

Die Roll	Oar Rakes	Rudder Attacks	Broadside Rams
1	-	-	-
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	C
5	-	-	CSE
6	-	C	CSE
7	C	CS	S
8+	CS	CS	S

Notes:
Don't forget to rotate ships in oar rakes.

Procedure:
Roll a die and add crew quality (0 to 4).
Ships larger than target have +1 in ramming.

Results:
C = Cripple: The target is flipped to crippled status.
CS = Cripple: The target is flipped to crippled status. If she is already crippled, she starts sinking.
CSE = Cripple: Both ships are committed. The target is flipped to crippled status. If she is already crippled, she starts sinking.
S = Sinking: Place a 'sinking' marker on the target ship.

Turn Sequence

Roll for movement bonus Move & Ram Marine movement Marine attacks Other attacks Repair

Naval Repair Tables
'On Fire' Table

Die Roll	Result
1 - 5	Ship starts sinking. Remove 'on fire' marker and replace with 'sinking' marker.
6	Ship still burning. Leave marker on her.
7+	Fire extinguished.

'Sinking' Table

Die Roll	Result
1 - 5	Ship sinks
6	Ship still sinking. Leave marker on her.
7+	Ship repaired. Becomes 'crippled'.

Procedure for both tables:
Roll a die and add ship size.

Naval Crew Quality

0	Crippled
1	Slave
2	Green
3	Veteran
4	Elite

These rules are mostly taken from Chapter 14 of the war game Ancients by the defunct Californian company 3W. Credit must be given to their writer, William L. Banks.

I heavily modified most of the rules, and added committed ships and wizards. Paragraph 2 is entirely by myself since the original rules only had two possible sizes for ships (size 1 or 2). Also, the original rules weren't meant for campaign gaming.
I welcome feedback and suggestions: MC Gianni

F A Q

How do you determine Crew Quality as I can't find this and it is quite important.
Again, the Campaign Master would know this in a campaign game. In a one-off naval battle you can either decide that both sides have slave crews (that would have been the norm in many situations), or that they have green crews that become veterans (if they survive) for the next battle. An elite crew would be one having gone through five naval battles.