Revised simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules

After further thought, I have modified my original rules again, and the text now reads as follows.

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Simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules

Ship Flotation Values

• Ships have 12 Flotation Points and a Critical Point of 6 Flotation Points

Rules

• All hits are cumulative.
• When a ship’s Flotation Points (FP) are reduced by gunfire, torpedo hits, or ramming to the ship’s Critical Point, the ship must break off from battle and sail towards safety. It may engage enemy ships as it passes them but may not initiate any aggressive action.
• When a ship's Flotation Points reach zero (0), it sinks.

Turn Sequence

1. Both sides fire their main armament.
2. Both sides fire their secondary armament.
3. Both sides fire their torpedoes. (N.B. Firing guns and torpedoes is deemed to be simultaneous, and a ship that has been hit and sunk may fire its guns and/or torpedoes that turn – as it sinks – if a suitable target is in range.)
4. Both sides throw a D6 die. The side with the highest score moves its ships first that turn.
5. Once the first side has moved its ships, the other side moves its ships.
6. Once both sides have had the opportunity to fire and move, the turn is complete, and the next turn can commence.

Firing Guns

• Main armament has a range of 9 grid areas and a maximum of 3D6 dice per gun.
• Secondary armament has a range of 5 grid areas and a maximum of 2D6 dice per gun.

Rules

• All ranges are measured in grid areas, thus:

Firing arcs. The forward and aft firing arcs are coloured grey; the abeam firing arcs are coloured white. The numbers in each square indicate the number of D6 die per gun. Where there are two numbers, the one after the slash refers to Secondary Armament. The white arrow in the black square indicates the orthogonal and diagonal direction in which the firing ship is travelling.

• No ship may fire its main armament at more than one target each turn.
• No ship may fire its port secondary armament at more than one target each turn.
• No ship may fire its starboard secondary armament at more than one target each turn. (N.B. Ships are not obliged to fire their main and secondary armaments at the same target.)
• No ship may fire its guns at a target that is not in direct line-of-sight. (N.B. Secondary armament may only fire at targets that are abeam of the firing ship.)
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP plus throw another D6 die.
• Die score = 6: target ship’s bridge is hit and the target ship must maintain its current course and may not fire for three turns.
• Die score = 5: one of the target ship’s main turrets is hit and destroyed.
• Dice score = 4: the target ship’s engines are damaged and her movement is reduced to 1 grid area per turn.
• Die score = 3: that part of the target ship’s secondary armament that is closest to the firing ship is hit and destroyed.
• Die score = 2: the target ship catches fire. At the start of each subsequent turn, the target ship throws a D6 die. If the score is 5 or 6, the fire is extinguished; if the score is 2, 3, or 4, the fire continues to burn; if the score is 1, the fire has reached the ship’s magazine and the ship explodes.
• Die score = 1: target ship loses another FP.
• Die score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP.
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3 = Gunfire has been ineffective.

Firing Torpedoes

Rules

• Torpedoes have a range of three grid areas and throw a maximum of 3D6 dice.

Torpedo firing arcs for fixed torpedo tubes. The white arrow in the black square indicates the orthogonal and diagonal direction in which the firing ship is travelling.

• No ship may fire more than one torpedo each turn and a maximum of 4 torpedoes during a battle.
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP plus throw another D6 die.
• Die score = 6: target ship’s rudder is hit and the ship and must maintain its current course for D6 turns.
• Die score = 5: target ship’s engine and boiler rooms are flooded, and her movement is reduced to 1 grid area per turn.
• Die score = 3 or 4: target ship loses another 2 FPs.
• Die score = 1 or 2: target ship loses another FP.
• Die score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP.
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3: Torpedo has been ineffective.

Movement

• Ships move up to 2 grid areas per turn.

Rules

• Movement is measured in grid areas.
• Ships may turn 45-degrees after moving forward one grid area. The turn 'costs' the loss of one grid area of movement.
• No ship may end its movement in the same grid area as another ship.
• Any ship that attempts to end its movement in the same grid area as another ship is deemed to have accidentally or deliberately rammed the other ship.

Ramming

• Ramming occurs when a ship either accidentally or deliberately tries to enter the same grid area as another ship. In both cases the rammed ship (i.e., the ship that is in the grid area) and the ramming ship (i.e., the ship that is trying to enter the grid area) may be damaged.

Rules for a head-on ramming

• A head-on ramming occurs when the ramming ship hits the rammed ship from directly ahead or astern.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 4 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is not equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship and the ramming ship is 2.
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Ramming has caused major ‘damage’: ship loses 2 FP
• Die score = 4 or 5: Ramming has caused minor ‘damage’: ship loses 1 FP
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3: Ramming has been ineffective.

Rules for a side-on ramming

• A side-on ramming occurs when the ramming ship hits the rammed ship from the side.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 6 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is not equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 3 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Ramming has caused major ‘damage’: ship loses 2 FP
• Die score = 4 or 5: Ramming has caused minor ‘damage’: ship loses 1 FP
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3: Ramming has been ineffective.

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A Word document version of these rules are available for download from Google Docs here.

These rules may only be downloaded and printed for personal use and may not be distributed in any way to third parties without the permission of the author. © Bob Cordery 2025.