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

Having acquired some Monopoly Battleships, I decided to write some simple naval wargame rules that I can use with them. I already had a vinyl Chessex Double-sided Blue and Green Battle Mat that is marked with a grid of one-inch squares, and decide to use that as my playing surface.

The rules are based on the Ironclad and Pre-Dreadnought rules in my GRIDDED NAVAL: WARGAMES book and have been adjusted slightly to reflect the fact that the Monopoly Battleships only have a single gun in their fore and aft turrets.

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Some 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 6 grid areas and a maximum of 6D6 dice per gun.
• Secondary armament has a range of 4 grid areas and a maximum of 4D6 dice per gun.

Rules

• All ranges are measured in grid areas, thus:

Firing arcs. The forward and aft firing arcs are coloured white; the abeam firing arcs are coloured grey. The numbers in each square indicates the number of D6 dice thrown per gun at that range. Where there are two numbers, the one after the slash refers to Secondary Armament. The white arrow 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 armament 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:
• Dice score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 2 FP
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP
• Dice 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 numbers in each square indicates the number of D6 dice thrown per torpedo at that range. The white arrow 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:
• Dice score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 2 FP
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP
• Dice 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.
• Results:
• Dice score = 6: Ramming has caused major ‘damage’: ship loses 2 FP
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Ramming has caused minor ‘damage’: ship loses 1 FP
• Dice score = 1, 2, or 3: Ramming has been ineffective.

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.

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.