Modern Naval Battles: Global Warfare
Modern Naval Battles: Global Warfare Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Your copy of Modern Naval Battles - Global Warfare contains the following components:
- 110 Action Cards
- 110 Ship Cards
- 2 Dice (6-sided)
- Rulebook
Set-Up
Perform these 4 steps to prepare for play:
1. Determine Player Order
Ask each player to roll a die. The player to roll the highest becomes the first player. Players take their turns in player order, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise around the table.
The game uses a single 6-sided die for all rolls. Throughout the game, you always want to roll high to succeed.
2. Select Navies
In player order, ask each player to select one of the 9 navies to command. Each player takes the Ship cards belonging to his (or her) navy. You can tell which navy a Ship card belongs to by the flag in its top-left corner.
The navies are: Argentina, China, France, Japan, Norway, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and Non-Combatant.
You will find one "Non-Combatant" ship in the ship deck. It is not used in normal games, but can be used when you create your own scenarios.
3. Create Fleets
Each player secretly selects the ships that will form their starting fleet. In the default game, each player gets to select 25 VPs (Victory Points) of ships. Each ship's VP value is located in its bottom-right corner.
Each player places the ships they did not select off to the side to form their Reserve Ship deck. These ships can be brought into the game using the Reinforcement rules.
Some navies do not have enough ships to play in large battles. If those navies are in use, reduce the VPs of the ships selected to 15 or 20.
In player order, each player arranges his Ship cards into a fleet formation face-up in front of him.
Fleet Formation
Each player's fleet can have zero, one, two, or three rows of ships. A player's First Row is the one closest to the center of the table. The Second Row of ships is placed just behind the First Row. The Third Row is placed behind the Second Row, closest to the owning player.
Each row can contain one or more ships. Each row must contain at least one ship. If a row does not have at least one ship, all the rows behind it move forward to fill the gap.
Submarines are not placed in a row, but rather off to the side of the fleet. Submarines begin the game in "Passive" mode. To indicate a submarine being passive, rotate its card 180 degrees. Submarines can be identified by the upside-down blue "Evasive" symbol in their top-right corner.
Example: The Titan has a Command capability of 1, so the player's maximum Hand Size is increased from 7 to 8.
4. Draw Action Cards
Shuffle the Action card deck and place it face-down in the middle of the table. Each player begins with a Hand Size of 7 cards. The ships selected for a player's fleet can adjust this.
Ask each player to draw a number of cards from the deck equal to their Hand Size to form their initial hands.
Command Capability
Some ships have a Command capability. Add the command capability of your ships to your maximum Hand Size while they are part of your fleet.
If these ships are sunk, your maximum Hand Size is reduced. You do not have to discard to meet your new Hand Size limit.
How to Win
After each complete round of play, check to see if a player has won the game. If a player has sunk 25 Victory Points (VPs) of ships, or is the last player remaining in the game, he or she wins the game. If more than one player has sunk 25 VPs of ships, the player who sunk the most VPs wins.
The number of VPs needed to win is the same as the VPs each player received to select their initial ships. A player is eliminated from the game if he does not have any ships or submarines remaining in his fleet.
Example: If each player received 20 VPs of ships at the start of the game, the first player to sink 20 VPs of ships wins.
Sequence of Play
Players take their turns in player order. Each player performs the following steps, in this order, during their turn:
- Actions
- Opponent Defenses
- Resolve Attacks
- Discard
- Everyone Draws
Once a player completes his turn, the next player starts their turn. Once all players have had a turn, a round of play has been completed. Check for victory after each round of play is completed. If no one has won, conduct another round of play. Shuffle the discarded Action cards to form a new Action card deck when the last Action card is drawn from the deck.
Actions
The acting player performs all of his attacks and other actions during this step, such as: Reinforce, Action card attacks, Air Strikes, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Attacks, and non-Attack actions. Each of these actions is explained below.
Reinforce
All Action cards have a Reinforcement value. You can play Action cards into the discard pile as Reinforcement cards to add Ship cards to your fleet.
Search your Reserve Ship deck to select the Ship cards to be purchased. Select any Ship cards with a total VP value equal to or less than the value of the Reinforcement cards. Immediately add these Ship cards to your fleet.
Example: The acting player plays Action cards with Reinforcement values of 1, 1, 2, and 3 into the discard pile and declares them to be Reinforcement cards. He can now select up to 7 VPs of Ship cards from his Reinforcement deck. Once selected, he adds the new Ship cards to his fleet.
Reorganize Fleet
The acting player may reorganize the ships in his fleet. You cannot have a row with no ships in it. The acting player also selects the Active/Passive mode of his submarines by rotating them to the proper orientation.
Attack
Once the acting player announces that his declared attack choices are finalized, he cannot Reorganize or Reinforce his fleet. Up until then, he can freely reinforce and reorganize so long as all costs are paid and attack conditions are met.
Opponent Defenses
Once the acting player has finalized all of his actions, any opposing players under attack can play defense cards and perform defensive actions.
If more than one player is attacked, resolve their defenses in player order. A player declares all their defensive actions at one time. Once declared, the defending player can resolve them in any order.
Resolve Attacks
Once all defenses are resolved, the acting player resolves any attacks that were not defeated. All attacks are assumed to be resolved simultaneously.
Discard
The acting player may discard any unwanted Action cards left in his hand.
Everyone Draws
All players (not just the Acting Player) that hold a number of cards less than their maximum Hand Size now draw cards until they hold cards equal to their maximum Hand Size.
Ship Cards
Each ship card has a variety of text and symbols that denote its various capabilities.
Example: Here is the Kiev, a Ship card from the Soviet fleet.
Flag / Name / Class / Years
Each ship's country is noted with a flag in its top-left corner. The ship's name and class are noted across the top of its card. The name and class are not used in the game and are only presented for player interest. Its years in service are also noted. This can be used to design scenarios.
Hull Value
A ship's Hull value is noted in its upper-right corner. If a ship suffers this number of hits, it is sunk.
Submarines do not have a hull value, they are either fully operational, or sunk.
Weapon Symbols
Weapon symbols are used to note the ship's gun mounts, missile launchers, and anti-submarine capabilities. Each symbol allows it to perform a different type of attack.
Defense Symbols
Ships can also have inherent defense symbols that give them a chance to stop the noted types of attacks. Ships do not need cards to use these defensive capabilities.
Victory Point Value
This value is used when selecting a ship at the start of the game, bringing a ship into play as a reinforcement, and for determining victory.
Evasive Capability
Some Ship cards have an Evasive symbol. The Evasive capability gives the ship a chance to negate each attack sent against it.
Roll a die for each attack. If the die roll is equal to the Evasive value or higher, the attack is negated. Defending players conduct these die rolls during the Defense step of the acting player's turn.
Submarines use their blue background (top-right of card) Evasive rating when Passive, and their black background (bottom-left corner) Evasive rating when Active.
How to Attack
All attacks are conducted by the acting player during his Action step. There are several ways to attack opposing ships in the game. Each of the acting player's ships can perform only one action during this step.
Attack Symbols
To play an attack card you must have a ship that has the same symbol as the symbol in the top-left corner of the Action card. Contributing symbols to an attack card counts as the ship's action for your turn.
Example: The Kirov can play this card because the Missile symbol on the Kirov matches the Missile symbol on the Missile Combat card.
To declare an attack, the acting player places each attack card next to the ship to be attacked.
Multiple Gun or Missile Symbols
Some Gun Combat and Missile Combat action cards have more than one symbol and a number. These cards can be played by any combination of the noted weapon types. The number indicates how many mounts are required to play the card. If a ship has more than one of the noted attack symbols, it can use each matching symbol as part of its action.
Example: The player has an Action card that needs 3 Missile symbols. The Kirov can contribute both its Surface-to-Surface and Cruise Missile symbols, but the player still needs to use another ship with a Missile symbol to play the Action card. Both ships will then have acted for the turn.
Damaging a Ship
An Action card inflicts a number of hits on the target equal to the large number in its lower-right corner. If an attack does not inflict enough hits to sink a ship, place the attack card under the ship with its hit number showing. When an attack card is placed under a ship to note the Hits scored, it becomes a Damage card.
Example: The Kirov has suffered 5 Hits. If it suffers 2 or more Hits it will sink.
Attack Range
The attacking ship must also be in range of the target ship. Range is calculated by counting the rows from the attacking ship to the target ship. Do not count the row the attacking ship is in. The green boxes in an action card's lower-right corner indicate its attack range. Some attack cards cannot be used against close or long-range targets. These ranges are noted with red boxes.
- Range 1
- Range 1 or 2
- Range 2 or 3
A Torpedo Attack card can target any ship or submarine, and an Air Strike attack can target any ship.
Example: The graphic shows the range in rows from the two US ships to the different Soviet rows.
Sinking a Ship
If a ship suffers hits that equal or exceed its Hull value, it is sunk. Give the sunken ship to the player who sank the ship. They place the Ship card off to the side of their fleet to be counted toward victory.
Large Gun Special Attacks
A few Gun Combat cards have a special Large Gun notation. If a ship uses its Large Gun symbol to play such a card, it will sink the target ship if the attack is not stopped.
Defense Symbols
A Defense symbol is a combination of an Attack symbol and a red targeting symbol. Such a symbol means it will stop the attack if you roll the indicated die roll or higher.
Some Action cards and Ship cards have a defensive symbol. When your fleet is under attack by the designated card or attack type, you can use these symbols in an attempt to stop the attack.
Example: In the previous graphic, the card will stop one Surface-to-Surface Missile attack, or one Cruise Missile attack, or one Air Strike, on a die roll of 2 or higher.
Example: The Kirov will stop one Air Strike or Cruise Missile attack on a die roll of 5 or higher during each opposing player's turn.
An Action card or Ship card can attempt to stop one attack for each number located next to the symbols during the Defense step. To stop the attack, you must roll the noted number or higher.
Example: The Ticonderoga gets a total of two die rolls of 3 or higher during each opposing player's turn to stop Air Strikes and/or Cruise Missile attacks targeting its fleet.
To use an Action card's defensive capability, you do not have to match the Action card's top-left corner symbol to a symbol on one of your ship cards. You can always play an Action card for its defensive capability.
Hard to Stop Attacks
Some Action card attacks are hard to stop. These have a symbol and die roll modifier next to the Hit value. When the defender attempts to stop these cards, he must subtract the attack card's modifier from his die rolls.
Example: For the card shown above, the defender would subtract 2 from his die rolls when trying to stop the Attack card. If the defense card shown here were played to stop the Attack card shown above, the defender would need to roll a 4 or higher to stop the attack card, instead of a 2 or higher.
Action Cards
As you play each card, declare any ship and weapon mounts being used. If an enemy ship is being attacked, place the attack card next to the enemy ship.
Gun Combat
These cards represent your fleet's offensive and defensive gun combat capabilities. There are 3 types of guns: Small, Medium, and Large.
Missile Combat
These cards represent your fleet's offensive and defensive missile combat capabilities. There are 2 types of missiles: Surface-to-Surface and Cruise.
Torpedo Combat
These cards represent your fleet's offensive and defensive torpedo combat capabilities.
Submarine Torpedo Attacks
Active submarines can play a Torpedo Combat action card to attack an enemy submarine or ship in any row.
Air Support
These cards can perform one of three functions: Air Strike, Air Defense, or Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW).
- Air Strike - Play the card during your Action step and declare which opposing ship you want to attack. You cannot target submarines with this type of attack. There is a number next to the Air Strike symbol. Roll that number or higher to sink the ship.
- Air Defense - Play the card when you are under attack by one of the noted attack types during the Defense step. Declare the single attack you want to stop. If you roll the indicated number or higher, you stop the attack.
- ASW - Play the card during your Action step and declare which opposing submarine you want to attack. You can only attack Submarines with this type of attack. There is a number next to the ASW symbol. Roll that number or higher to sink the submarine.
Bomber Strike
Play these cards to launch four Air Strikes against one enemy fleet. The attacker gets to decide which ship each of the strikes will target. You can target a ship more than once, but you cannot target submarines. You must discard 2 Action cards from your hand when you play a Bomber Strike.
Battle Plan
Play this card during your Action step. You can either get +1 on all your die rolls during your turn, or select one opposing player to get -1 on all their die rolls during your turn. Declare which option you are using when you play the card.
Intel
Play this card when another player plays an Action card. This card cancels their Action card. These cards cannot stop inherent Ship card capabilities like Air Strikes or Command. Intel cards can be played to stop other Intel cards.
Near Miss
Play this card during the Defense step when your fleet is under attack by any of the attack types noted on the Near Miss card. Select any one attack you wish to stop. If you roll the indicated number or higher, the attack is stopped.
Superior Tactics
Play this card when you play an Action card that is not Superior Tactics. Treat the Superior Tactics card as if it were a copy of the other Action card.
Repair
Play this card during your Action step to remove Damage cards from one or more of your ships. Any ship that has Damage cards removed cannot act during your turn.
Screening Ship
Play this card during the Defense step when your fleet is under attack. You can select any one attack and retarget the attack to a different ship in your fleet that is in the same row, or a more forward row. These cards cannot be used to move attacks targeting submarines.
Ship-Based Air Attacks
Some ships have an inherent capability to launch Air Strikes and ASW attacks. They do not need a card.
Ships with this symbol can launch one attack for each Air Strike number. Roll the Air Strike number or higher to sink the target. Launching one or more Air Strikes is counted as the ship's action. Resolve these attacks just like an Air Strike from an Air Support card.
Ships and submarines with this symbol have an inherent capability to perform ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) attacks. They do not need a card. Resolve these attacks just like an ASW attack from an Air Support card. This allows a ship to conduct an attack against an opposing submarine during its turn as its action.
A ship can either perform Air Strikes or ASW as its action for the turn.
Example: The Enterprise gets either two Air Strikes on rolls of 4 or higher, or the Enterprise can attack one enemy submarine on a roll of 4 or higher.
Example: The Kiev gets either one Air Strike on a roll of 5 or higher, or the Kiev can attack one enemy submarine on a roll of 5 or higher. If the Kiev does not attack with an Air Strike or ASW, it can attack with a Small Gun, or Cruise Missile.
Optional Rules
These rules can be used to add variety to your games. All players must agree to use each of these rules at the start of the game.
Air Strike Row Defense
The deeper a ship is in a fleet, the more difficult it is for enemy Air Strikes to sink it. If a ship is in the second row, the attacker must roll one higher than normal. If the ship is in the third row, the attacker must roll 2 higher than normal.
Team Play
At the start of the game, players can form teams. Each team is given the same number of VPs to purchase their starting ships.
The players on each team must agree as to how they will divide the VPs to purchase the starting ships for each fleet. This can be any number, but 20 to 50 works best. To win, a team must sink the number of VPs agreed upon, or sink all ships in play by the opposing team.
Players on the same team cannot target attacks against each other. Each player on a team also has his own hand of Action cards. In team games, a player is not eliminated from the game if all his ships are sunk.
Action Card Pool
Players can spend starting VPs on Action cards (buy 1 card at a time in player order). An Action card costs VPs equal to its Reinforcement value. These action cards are placed face-down to the side of the owning player. They do not count toward your hand size and can be played as normal.
Scenarios
Here are a few pre-built battles. Any special rules and victory conditions are noted.
Raider Force-710
At the height of WWIII a small Soviet naval force was dispatched to harass the ports and harbors along Norway's coast. After suffering several attacks, the Norwegian navy stepped up patrols and on the morning of March 5th, a patrolling force located Raider-710 and engaged it in combat.
- Norwegian Fleet: Bergen, Narvik, Trondheim, Ula
- Soviet Fleet: Druzhny, Smerch, K-316
- Victory: Sink 11 VPs of enemy ships.
Bear Hug
During WWIII, a US carrier task force comes under the combined attack of a Soviet surface, submarine, and bomber force.
- United States Fleet: Enterprise, Ticonderoga, Los Angeles, Virginia, O.H. Perry, Gary
- Soviet Fleet: Kiev, Kirov, Slava, Admiral Isakov, Druzhny, K-316, K-503, 1 Bomber Strike card
- Victory: Sink 35 VPs of enemy ships.
Falkland Express
During the Falklands Islands war, the British fleet ran desperately low on spare parts to keep their carrier-based Harrier jump-jets operational. A fleet supply ship was quickly loaded, met up with an escort, and sailed to the war zone at top speed.
- United Kingdom Fleet: Broadsword, Military Non-Combatant
- Argentina Fleet: Hercules
- Special Rules: Complete up to 3 rounds of play. Neither fleet can bring in Reinforcements. Neither side can perform Air Strikes.
- Victory: If the Military Non-Combatant is sunk, Argentina wins. If it is not sunk, the United Kingdom wins.
Bay of Pandas
The Taiwan government begins construction on a large surface-to-surface missile base. The Chinese government takes objection, and after diplomatic efforts end in failure, decides to take direct action as a supply ship approaches the base to deliver vital missile guidance equipment.
- Chinese Fleet: Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Wuhu, 725, 8119, 322
- Taiwan Fleet: Kee Lung, Su Ao, Cheng Ho, Hai Lung, Military Non-Combatant, any 1 Air Support card
- Special Rules: The Military Non-Combatant is worth 5 VP.
- Victory: Sink 13 VPs of enemy ships.
Sample Player Turn
Here is a player turn in a 3-player game with Alan, Keith, and Mike. This turn takes place after several rounds have been played. This is what the table looks like during Alan's turn.
Alan also declares that his Los Angeles will make an ASW attack against Mike's passive Trafalgar. Mike is commanding the UK fleet. Alan places a die with its 4 side up on the Trafalgar since the Los Angeles has an ASW rating of 4. Since Alan is conducting a lot of Air Strikes he grabs a few extra dice from his collection to mark his targets.
Alan plays a Surface-to-Surface Missile Combat card from the Gary against the Glasgow, a ship in Mike's first row. The card has a range of 2, so it is in range, and will score 2 hits if not stopped (not enough to sink the Glasgow). He then plays a Small Gun Combat card from the Phillip against the Glasgow, which will inflict 1 hit with a -2 hard to stop modifier. The two ships are both in the first row, so the range 1 attack is okay. The Gary could not have played this card since it is already firing a Missile as its action.
Alan then plays an Air Support card and chooses to use its Air Strike mode. The card has an Air Strike value of 4, so Alan places a die with a 4 on Keith's third row Kiev.
Alan is commanding the USA fleet. He decides to add some ships to his fleet and plays a Missile Combat card (Reinforce value 1) and Gun Combat card (value 2). With his 3 points he searches his Reserve Ship deck, and finds the 3 VP George Phillip. He now reorganizes his fleet as follows: The Perry, Phillip and Gary in the first row, the Virginia, which has previously suffered a 1 point attack, in the second row, the Enterprise in the third row, and the Passive Los Angeles off to the side. He rotates the Los Angeles from Passive to Active.
He then continues with his turn. He starts by declaring Air Strikes from the Enterprise. The carrier has 2 Air Strike values of 4. He targets 2 ships in Keith's first row. Keith is commanding the USSR fleet. The ships targeted are the Druzhny and Smerch. To show his targets and chances of success, Alan places a die on each ship with their 4 sides up.
Alan then plays a Missile Combat card that lists both Cruise and Surface-to-Surface Missile symbols with the number 2. This means Alan must devote 2 launchers of either type to play the card. He chooses the Surface-to-Surface launcher from the Perry, and the Surface-to-Surface launcher from the Virginia. His card has a range of 2 and will inflict 3 hits. Since the Virginia is in the deeper row, range is counted from the Virginia. This means the attack can only target a first row ship. Alan chooses the Somerset in Mike's first row.
Alan chooses not to play his remaining card. This concludes his attack step, now the other players get to defend against his attacks.
Keith is next in player order so he defends first. Keith is suffering Air Strikes to the Druzhny, Smerch, and Kiev. All will hit on a die roll of 4 or higher. The Kiev can stop an Air Strike or Cruise Missile on a die roll of 5 or higher. He declares that it will attempt to stop the attack against itself. His fleet also contains the Slava with an air defense rating of 6. It will also defend the Kiev. He then plays an Air Support card using its Air Defense value of a 4 to protect the Druzhny.
He decides to roll for the Slava first and rolls a 6! The strike against the Kiev is stopped. The Kiev's own air defense roll is wasted since it cannot be retargeted. He then rolls for the Druzhny's defense and rolls a 1, failure. The Smerch has an inherent defense against all attacks of a 5. He rolls a 5, success! Alan now rolls for his one remaining Air Strike against the Druzhny and rolls a 4, success! The Druzhny is sunk and given to Alan to place in his victory pile.
Mike now defends against the attacks targeting his fleet. He plays a Missile Combat card with a missile defense of 2 to stop the Missile card targeting his Glasgow. He also plays a Near Miss against the Missile targeting the Glasgow. Since the Missile card targeting the Somerset contained both Surface-to-Surface and Cruise missile symbols, he can use his Invincible's Air Defense to try to stop it (even though no Cruise launchers were devoted to the attack). Mike plays a Gun Combat card that will stop Gun attacks on a 4. It has a Small Gun symbol in the top-left corner. He has no Small Gun symbols on his ships, but can still play the Action card. He would usually need to roll a 4 or higher to stop the attack, but because the attack has a -2 hard to stop modifier, he must roll a 6. He rolls a 3, and fails.
He rolls a 1 for his missile defense for the Glasgow and fails. He rolls a 4 for the Near Miss and succeeds. He rolls a 6 for the Invincible's air defense and stops the attack on the Somerset. The passive Trafalgar has an Evasive rating of 2 against all attacks and rolls a 4 against the Los Angeles' ASW attack, success!
The Glasgow is hit with the gun attack for 1 hit, and the card is placed under the ship to record the damage.
This concludes the Action step. Alan now chooses to discard his remaining card.
All players now draw cards until they hold their maximum number. This is normally seven, but Keith's fleet contains the Titan, which increases his Hand Size by one, so he draws up to eight cards.
This concludes Alan's turn.