Itchy and Scratchy Naval wargame rules ... or should that be Bangy and Sinky?

I finally managed to put my ideas down on paper ... and here they are. They are totally untested, so please do not complain ... yet!

The point of my ITCHY AND SCRATCH NAVAL wargame rules is that they are designed for a quick and fun 'knock-about' naval wargame that can be fought out on a simple grid (preferably a hexagonal one made from Hexon II) using small, cartoon-style models of 1860 to 1890 warships. The do not profess to be anything else ... and should be regarded in this light.

---

ITCHY AND SCRATCH NAVAL WARGAME RULESShips

• Ships are allocated a Flotation Value (FV) and a Movement Rate.
• A ship’s combat ability depends upon the type of weapons that the ship is equipped with and the range at which it is firing.

Flotation Value (FV)

• Type of Ship = Flotation Value
• Battleship = 10
• Old Battleship = 8
• Armoured Cruiser = 6
• Unarmoured Cruiser = 4
• Torpedo Boat = 2

Flotation Value Rules

• Ships are allocated a Flotation Value (FV) before the battle begins; these may be adjusted in order to take into account the ship’s design, armour, and overall fighting power.
• Ships lose Flotation Value as a result of enemy action, and these reductions must be recorded (i.e. on a roster or by the use of markers).
• When a ship’s Flotation Value (FV) is reduced to 0, the ship is sunk and it is removed from the tabletop.

Exhaustion Point

• Before the battle begins both sides calculate their Exhaustion Point. This is one half of the side’s total initial Flotation Values, rounded up.
• When a side has lost that proportion of its initial Flotation Values, it has reached its Exhaustion Point.
• A side that has reached its Exhaustion Point must immediately stop taking aggressive action (i.e. it will continue to fight to defend itself, but will turn away from the enemy and attempt to disengage).
• When both sides have reached their Exhaustion Point the battle ends.

Turn Sequence

1. For individual ship vs. ship actions, a D6 die is thrown by both sides and the side with the highest score always activates its ship first each turn.
2. For larger battles each side is allocated a playing card colour (i.e. Red or Black).
3. A playing card for each ship – of the relevant colour – is withdrawn from a normal pack of playing cards, shuffled, and placed face down somewhere convenient near to the tabletop.
4. When the battle starts, the top playing card is turned over and the side that has been allocated that playing card colour activates one of their ships. Once that ship has moved and/or fired (both guns and/or torpedoes), the next playing card is turned over … and so on until both side’s ships have moved and/or fired (both guns and/or torpedoes) in turn, subject to any restrictions laid down in the rules.
5. Both sides must then check to see if they have reached their Exhaustion Point. Once that has been done, the turn is complete, the playing cards can be re-shuffled, and the next turn can commence.

Movement

• Type of Ship = Movement Rate
• Battleship = 3 grid areas
• Old Battleship = 3 grid areas
• Armoured Cruiser = 4 grid areas
• Unarmoured Cruiser = 4 grid areas
• Torpedo Boat = 5 grid areas

Movement Rules

• All movement is measured through the edges of the grid areas not the corners.
• A ship may be moved only once each turn.
• A ship may turn from facing one edge of a grid area to an adjacent edge of the same grid area after moving forward a gird area; this turn reduces its movement by 1 grid area.
• A ship may turn from facing one edge of a grid area to an adjacent edge of the same grid area without moving forward a gird area (i.e. on the spot); this turn reduces its movement by 2 grid areas.
• A ship may change its direction of movement any number of times during its move but must end its move facing the edge of the grid area not the corner.
• A ship may not start, pass through, or end its move in the same grid area as another ship.

Gunfire

• Heavy Gun battery or turret (max. range = 9 grid areas): 6-6-6-4-4-4-2-2-2
• Medium Gun battery or turret (max. range = 6 grid areas): 6-6-4-4-2-2
• Light Gun battery or turret (max. range = 5 grid areas): 6-4-4-2-2
• QF Gun battery or mounting (max. range = 3 grid areas): 6-4-2

Notes

• The numbers show how many D6 dice are thrown per gun battery or per turret at different ranges.
• It is assumed that a gun battery or turret is armed with one or two guns. If the gun battery or turret has more than two guns, increase the number of D6 dice thrown by 2.

Gunfire Rules

• All ranges are measured through the edges of the grid areas not the corners.
• All the guns in each gun battery or in each turret must fire at the same target.
• Each ship may fire only once each turn, although each of the ship’s gun batteries or turrets may engage a different target.
• Ships may only fire at targets that are in direct line-of-sight and the targets must be within the arcs-of-fire of the gun battery or turret firing at them.
• The target ship is identified. The requisite number of D6 dice is thrown for each gun battery or turret the firing ship is firing with and the range at which the firing is taking place. The results are then read from the Gunfire Results shown below.

Gunfire Results

• Double 1: Destroys a gun battery or turret on an unarmoured ship
• Double 1 + Any other double: Destroys a gun battery or turret on an armoured ship.
• Double 2 or Double 3: Reduces an unarmoured ship’s movement rate by 1 grid area.
• Double 2 or Double 3 + Any other double: Reduces an armoured ship’s movement rate by 1 grid area.
• Double 4 or Double 5 or Double 6: Reduces an unarmoured ship’s Flotation Value by 1.
• Double 4 or Double 5 or Double 6 + Any other double: Reduces an armoured ship’s Flotation Value by 1.
• All damage takes immediate effect. When a ship’s Flotation Value (FV) is reduced to 0, the ship is sunk and it is removed from the tabletop.

Torpedoes

• Number of D6 thrown (max. range = 3 grid areas): 6-4-2

Torpedo Rules

• Only ships armed with torpedoes may fire them.
• No ship may be armed with more than two torpedoes.
• No ship may fire more than one torpedo each turn.
• All ranges are measured through the edges of the grid areas not the corners.
• Torpedoes are fired either directly ahead, directly astern, or directly abeam; they may not be fired at an angle.
• The target ship is identified. The requisite number of D6 dice is thrown for the range at which the torpedo is being fired. The results are then read from the Torpedo Results shown below.

Torpedo Results

• Any double: The torpedo has hit the target ship and reduced the target ship’s Flotation Value by 1D6.
• All damage takes immediate effect. When a ship’s Flotation Value (FV) is reduced to 0, the ship is sunk and it is removed from the battlefield.

---

Examples of shipsA battleship

This battleship is armed with Heavy Gun battery or turret (forward), a Medium Gun battery (aft), and two Light Gun batteries (one each side) plus two torpedoes.

An armoured cruiser

This armoured cruiser is armed with two Medium Gun batteries (one forward and one aft) plus two torpedoes.