Commander`s Manual - Monsters in the Sky

Transcription

standard rules
TM
an alternate history game of air fleet battles
COMMANDER’S MANUAL
1
contents
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
Original Universe Concept
John Haward
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Game Design
Randall N. Bills
Project Development
Randall N. Bills
Writing
Rules
Randall N. Bills
Leviathans Gazetteer
John Haward
Blaine Lee Pardoe
Jim Rapkins
A Monster in the Sky
and He Who Merits It
Steven Mohan, Jr.
Project Editing
Sharon Turner-Mulvihill
Diane Piron-Gelman
Leviathans Line Developer
Randall N. Bills
Production Staff
Art Direction
Randall N. Bills
Cover Art
Doug Chaffee
Cover & Box Design
Matt Heerdt
Layout & Production
Matt Heerdt
Leviathans Logo & Ship Crests
Matt Heerdt
Illustrations
Doug Chaffee
Orthographics (Schematics)
J. Lonee
Maps
Øystein Tvedten and Matt Heerdt
Playtesting
Joel Agee, Chris Bacon, Bryan Barnes,
Zac Belado, Roland Boshnack, Bryan
Botz, Sebastian Brocks, Jason Cabral, Jason
Coffey, Loren Coleman, Talon Coleman,
Joel Bancroft-Conners, Zac Belado, Bryn
Bills, Clifford Conrad, Rob DeHoff, Chris
Delzer, Ryan Dwornik, Bryan England,
Mark Franzen, Travis Friedmann, Kristian
Frosig, Dominik Frischknecht, Mark
Fugate, Johann “Eddie” Haderer, Phil Hays,
Mike Hickey, Abby “abbytron” Holmes,
Andy Holtcamp, Patrick Hurley, Aaron
Jamieson, Anders “Cozmic” Jonsson,
Joseph Knight, Rainne Knight, Walter
“El Cid” Kraus, David Leaver, Kelly
Loucks, Claire Maggard, Greg Maggard,
Jarod Mason, Jonathan Mathisen, Jamie
McGuire, Fabian Meierhans, James Miller,
Shon Morfeld, Chris “Kamakazi” Nelson,
Allen Nilles, Sydney Nilles, Mike “Breach
Loader” Noone, Alexander Pardoe, Blaine
Pardoe, Ben “Daemion” Parker, Laura Perry,
Brandon Peterson, Devon Peterson, Samuel
Pfyffer, Rhonda Ross, Brent Shadwell, Brett
Shadwell, Philip Stein, Aaron Stowell, Dan
Sweikata, Andrew White, Fred “Derfinator”
Wiedrich, Sara “Pikachu” Wiedrich, Daniel
Worthington, Andreas Zuber; Ron Barter
and the Dragon’s Den Gang: Corey Morris,
Martin Sharpe, Patrick Warren, Matthew
Cummings and Colin Welland; San Diego
Beachthralls: Alex Esposito, Hal Jensen,
Justin Maciejko, Terrance Martin, George
Reed, Ross Thompson and Tony Xiao;
Särminers Kultingar: Staffan Eric Haniel
Åhlvik, Andreas Ekestubbe, John “Copper”
Hellman, Anders “Cozmic” Jonsson, Mikael
Tengelin, Erik “Thuna” Thuning, and
Henrik “Lillen” Warpefelt.
credits
Acknowledgements
To Doug Chaffee, who brought his fabulous
years of naval experience to craft one of the
coolest and most thematically melded set of
illustrations for a new universe I’ve seen in a
long time. It’s been a joy working with you all
these years…you will be missed.
To Matt Heerdt who took my endless nips
and tucks and tweaks of text and layout with a
“stiff upper lip,” and created a fantastic graphic
aesthetic to tie words and visuals into a unique
Leviathans package.
To Mike Miller and especially Joseph Knight,
for putting together some crazy spread sheets
to help me verify the math for all these dice
combinations; and Loren for saving us from too
many re-rolls along the way.
To the “Leviathans Crew,” especially John
Haward (thanks for the brilliant concept in the
first place!), Jim Rapkins and Blaine Pardoe,
who did all the heavy lifting on the development
of the universe and kept themselves on task
(usually) while I was often gone developing the
rules or working on other Catalyst projects…an
honor to command such a crew!
Special Thanks
To Loren Coleman and Dave StanselGarner, perhaps more than any others, for
constantly banging on the game design and for
pushing me hard to always make a better and
more streamlined game, while allowing me to
push back and include as much toy-factor as
possible in the box.
Dedication
To Jay Pope Bills, the best possible realworld hero, my father, for teaching me to reach
for the sky but always with that brass compass
as a guide.
And to my son and gaming friend Bryn
Kevin Bills, whose imagination and constant
enthusiasm for this universe and game kept
the electroid powered and the ships aloft
during the darkest nights. As my father before
me, may my example lead you to always trust
that brass compass.
In Memory of Doug Chaffee
Ship-shape and Bristol fashion, Doug…
thank you for all the years....
To view a copy of this license, visit:
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or
send a letter to: Creative Commons,
171 Second Street, Suite 300,
San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
(What this means is that you are free to copy,
share, and remix the text and artwork within this
book under the following conditions: 1) you do so
only for noncommercial purposes; 2) you attribute
Catalyst Game Labs; 3) you license any derivatives
under the same license. For specific details,
appropriate credits, and updates/changes to this
license, please see: monstersinthesky.com/cclicense)
Published by Catalyst Game Labs, an imprint of
InMediaRes Productions, LLC
PMB 202 • 303 91st Ave NE • E502
Lake Stevens, WA 98258
Printed in China, 2011
Creative Commons License;
Some Rights Reserved.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported License.
3
Find us online:
[email protected]
(e-mail address for any Leviathans questions)
monstersinthesky.com
(official Leviathans web pages)
CatalystGameLabs.com
(Catalyst web pages)
battlecorps.com/catalog
(online ordering)
TM
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
an alternate history game of air fleet battles
In 1878 the Polish genius Rynchowski
isolated an electrical fluid with remarkable
lifting capabilities. This single, pivotal event
would change the world.
The smartest military minds of the coming
generation—Zeppelin, Jellico, Fisher and
others—diverted their attention to the glorious
new technological revolution, and sea-going
battleships were abandoned around the world.
In their place, armored giants took to the skies.
In 1906, Great Britain launched the HMS
Leviathan, the first of the “super air ships,”
another step in the worldwide arms race. By
1910, the most powerful nations boasted large
High Fleets, and the start of small skirmishes
left the world uneasy…welcome to Leviathans!
Leviathans simulates combat between warships that have taken to the air in an
alternate history/steampunk 1910. The king leviathans, battleships, are the
largest vessels. Maneuvering in support are light cruisers, destroyers and
other vessels. Will you captain your fleet for king and country, expanding your
nation’s power and becoming legend? Or will you fall from the sky, forgotten?
You determine the outcome!
4
THE GAME OF AIRFLEET BATTLES
TM
box set contents
TM
The following is a description of the contents of the Leviathans
box set.
TM
Rulebooks
To easily transition players into all that Leviathans has to offer,
the rules in this box set have been divided into two parts: quick-start
rules and core rules.
GAME OF
ET BATTLES
AT31000
TM
STRuCTuRAL
INTEGRITY
30
STRuCTuRAL
INTEGRITY
ARMOR 12 IN
12 IN
+1 8/16 HEX 8/16 HEX
BREACH
30
3 IN
4/8 HEX
1
13
14
13
1
14
2
CREW
ADD
4
15
14
3
5
17
15
4
6
17
3 IN
4/8 HEX
1
13
3 IN
4/8 HEX
2
14
17
17
11
9
3
CREW
ADD
4
13
13
13
4
9
11
5
10
1
MISS
of InMediaRes Productions
8
10
2
3
CREW
ADD
LLC. Some content
12
4
ENGINE
MP 4
licensed under a Creative
15
4
15
5
6
1
MISS
9
2
3 IN
4/8 HEX
TORPEDO
18 HEX
3
12
4
CREW
ADD
13
5
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
5
6
Commons License (BY-NC-SA);
CREW
ADD
3
15
2
3
CREW
ADD
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
1
11
1
2
10
CREW
ADD
3
10
4
2
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
3
9
9
5
13
STEERING
GEAR
6
12
STARTING
MP
ENTER HEXES
BEFORE TuRN
1
12
Leviathans is a trademark
1
MISS
7
2
10
3
75mm
4/8 HEX ENGINE
MP 4
12
4
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
licensed under a Creative
13
138mm
6/12 HEX
1
14
138mm
6/12 HEX
2
CREW
ADD
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
6
16
17
5
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
16
6
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
13
13
14
1
14
14
2
75mm
4/8 HEX
138mm
6/12 HEX
17
14
3
TORPEDO
18 HEX
15
17
4
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
6
16
15
3
15
4
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
15
5
15
5
CREW
ADD
16
6
STEERING
GEAR
13
6
ENGINE ENGINE
MP 1
MP 1
of
under a Creative Commons InMediaRes Productions LLC. Some content
licensed
License (BY-NC-SA);
© 2011.
ENTER HEXES
BEFORE TuRN
Leviathans Gazetteer
11
11
1
MISS
10
2
TORPEDO
18 HEX
Written as an “in universe” British document, the Gazetteer
introduces players to the dynamic and exciting Leviathans’ alternate
history 1910 world. It includes an expose on the technology that
allows multi-thousand ton ships to fly, as well as a look at the eight
major powers, and minor powers, that vie for dominance.
CREW
ADD
3
4
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
13
5
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
12
6
STEERING
GEAR
9
6
ENGINE ENGINE
MP 4
MP 4
Commons License (BY-NC-SA);
ENTER HEXES
BEFORE TuRN
1
Commander’s Manual: Core Rules
The Commander’s Manual—the rulebook you’re reading now—
contains all the core rules for Leviathans, building on the basics
provided in the quick-start rules. References to the “Commander’s
Rules” mean the rules found in this booklet.
3
1
DESTROYER
6
9
2
SHIP TYPE
MISS
5
12
ENGINE ENGINE
ENGINE
MP 1
MP 1
MP 1
5
5
BATTLESHIP
3
2
3
CREW 75mm
ADD 4/8 HEX
10
4
6
13
4
10
LLC. Some content
SHIP TYPE
ARMOR
+1
BREACH
15
12
of InMediaRes Productions
5
4
12
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
CREW
ADD
14
17
1
10
14
17
STARTING
MP
4
13
5
11
TORPEDO
18 HEX
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
75mm
4/8 HEX
12
17
ENTER
MISS
13
4
12
4
5
6
ARMOR 274mm 274mm
TESLA
+1 7/14 HEX 7/14 HEX COIL
BREACH
TRIM
TANK
1
2
3
4
5
1
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
9
6
ENGINE
MP 4
14
ARMOR
TORPEDO
+1
BREACH
18 HEX
17
18 3
11
11
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
2
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
3 IN
4/8 HEX
CREW
ADD
3 IN
4/8 HEX
STEERING
GEAR
6 IN
6/12 HEX
14
MISS
11
138mm
6/12 HEX
CREW
75mm
4/8ADD
HEX
TESLA
COIL
138mm
TRIM
6/12 TANK
HEX
17
HEXES
ENGINE
STRuCTuRAL
BEFORE TuRN
MP 1INTEGRITY
1
10
13
6
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
DESTROYER
10
3 IN
4/8 HEX
3
SHIP TYPE
of
under a Creative Commons InMediaRes Productions LLC. Some content
licensed
License (BY-NC-SA);
© 2011.
MISS
13
11
8
10
3
15
2
9.2 IN
7/14 HEX ENGINE ENGINE ENGINE
MP 1
MP 1
MP 1
4
TESLA
COIL ARMOR
TRIM
+1
TANK BREACH
10
5
6
STARTING
MP
2
CREW
ADD
1
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
3 IN
4/8 HEX
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
3 IN
4/8 HEX
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
6 IN
6/12 HEX
1
14
15
12
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
3 IN
4/8 HEX
5
6
14
15
5
6
17
17
13
14
3
4
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
11
1
BATTLESHIP
13
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
1
2
14
14
1
MISS
14
4
6
2
12
3 IN
4/8 HEX
5
3
STARTING
MP
TORPEDO
18 HEX
4
138mm
6/12 HEX
SHIP TYPE
3 IN
4/8 HEX
CREW
ADD
18
13
TESLA
COIL ARMOR
TRIM
+1
TANK BREACH
6 IN
6/12 HEX
6 IN
6/12 HEX
MISS
12
3
13
1
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
STRuCTuRAL
INTEGRITY
2
CREW
ADD
Lieutenant’s Manual: Quick-Start Rules
Players new to Leviathans should first read the Lieutenant’s Manual:
Quick-Start Rules. These rules lay out the basics of the game and allow
players to jump right into the action. Once players have tackled the
quick-start rules, they’ll be ready to move on to the core rules presented
in this booklet.
© 2011.
© 2011.
Miniatures
The eight plastic miniatures represent the various ships found
on the Ship Cards for the Great Britain and France faction fleets.
Players use the miniatures to track movement on the playing area.
5
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
1
7
YOUR VESSEL AWAITS:
STRuCTuRAL
INTEGRITY
OVERVIEW
2 30
THE SHIP CARD
1.......... SHIP NAME/SHIP CLASS
GAME
SET-UP
2......... STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY
3.... FACTION/TYPE AND GAME TYPE
MOVEMENT
4...... STARTING MOVEMENT POINTS
5..... HEXES FORWARD BEFORE TURN
6........SHIP LOCATIONS/FACINGS
COMBAT
8.............Weapon Dice Icons
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
Top (or Left): First Hex Number
Bottom (or Right): Second Hex Number
ARMOR
+1
BREACH
1
2
3
4
5
6
13
12
13
14
14
13
SHIP TYPE
4 3
BATTLESHIP
1
13
13
1
138mm
6/12 HEX
138mm
6/12 HEX
2
14
14
2
138mm
6/12 HEX
CREW
ADD
3
15
15
3
CREW
ADD
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
4
17
17
4
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
5
17
17
5
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
6
16
16
6
ARMOR
+1 BREACH
75mm
4/8 HEX
1
13
13
1
75mm
4/8 HEX
138mm
6/12 HEX
138mm
6/12 HEX
11
2
14
14
2
9.......... SLOT/BREACH NUMBERS
TORPEDO
18 HEX
3
14
14
3
TORPEDO
18 HEX
10.......... LOCATION DICE ICONS
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
4
17
17
4
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
CREW
ADD
5
15
5
CREW
ADD
STEERING
GEAR
6
16
1015
6
STEERING
GEAR
Firing Arc drawn to this Location.
Green: Target moved forward into new hex
Red: Target stationary
11.................... SHIP ART
SCENARIOS
CREW
ADD
138mm
6/12 HEX
8
7.........................SLOT
ARMOR 274mm 274mm TESLA
COIL
+1 7/14 HEX 7/14 HEX TRIM
BREACH
TANK
6
9
STARTING
MP
4 5
6
16
12
12
15
15
15
13
1
2
3
4
5
6
ENGINE ENGINE ENGINE
MP 1
MP 1
MP 1
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
ENGINE ENGINE
MP 1
MP 1
Leviathans is a trademark of InMediaRes Productions LLC. Some content licensed
under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-SA); Some Rights Reserved. © 2011.
ENTER HEXES
BEFORE TuRN
3 5
ship cards
type vs. class
A Ship Card (as shown on the previous page) contains game play
information and corresponds to an individual miniature as well as a
Recognition Card (see p. 8). A Ship Card enables a player to easily
monitor the operating status of his ship, with details of its armor,
weapon capabilities and so on. Each Ship Card displays a view of the
ship in question, along with its 4 or 6 Locations (depending on ship
Type) and the ship’s data.
As the status of a ship changes during a game due to damage,
players use a wet/dry marker to track said damage directly on the
Ship Card.
Beyond the information provided below, the call-out on the
previous page helps to explain the details of a Ship Card.
Ship Type: Four ship Types are discussed in the Leviathans
rule set. From largest to smallest, they are: Type 4, Type 3, Type
2 and Type 1. While the rules mention Type 3 ships as that term
applies to the other three ship Types, that particular ship Type is not
included in this box set.
Note: Both the fiction and these rules make passing reference to
ships smaller (Type 0, such as the gunboats mentioned in A Monster
in the Sky) and larger (Type 5, which encompasses dreadnaughts and
aircraft carriers). Such ships are beyond the scope of these rules.
Locations and Slots
Type 3 and smaller Ship Cards each contain four Locations: bow
(front), stern (back), starboard (right side) and port (left side). Each
Location contains a potential six Slots, each with its own Breach
Number and indications of what is in that Slot. Rolling dice with a
result equal to or higher than the Breach Number destroys the Slot.
When a Slot is destroyed, the player simply circles the destroyed
Slot (at the end of the turn the player will place hash marks through
all circled Slots; see Applying Damage, p. 48). Some Slots contain a
“Miss,” which means the shot against that Slot misses regardless of
the Breach Roll result or the Slot’s Breach Number (to represent
smaller profiles see Saturation Fire, p. 31, for the exception).
Leviathans refers to various ships in several
different ways: Type, class and class variations.
Type: Type refers to categories of ships that
fill similar roles despite some differences in
construction, deployment and country naming
conventions: for example, Battleship (Type 4);
Armoured Cruiser, Protected Cruiser and so on
(Type 3); Light Cruiser, Fast Cruiser and so on
(Type 2); and Destroyer, Air Destroyer and so on
(Type 1).
Class: Class refers to unique ship designs within
a ship Type. For example, the D-class (British)
and Grenouille-class (French) are unique ships
when compared to each other, and yet they are both
Destroyers (Type 1).
Class Variations: If a leviathan receives
modifications that change its game statistics but
leave the ship illustration the same (that is,
the modifications are all basically “under the
hood”), a new name designation is applied, but
the vessel remains the same class of ship. For
example, if players look at the HML Anfield, the
HML Trafford and the HML Raven Ship Cards, they’ll
notice the illustrations are the same on all three
cards, but each has subtle differences in game
play statistics (that is, they bear different
names because of those changes, but all three are
still D-class ships).
7
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Battleship Ship Cards contain six Locations: bow, stern,
fore-port, aft-port, fore-starboard and aft-starboard.
Icons: Some Slots include white icons, which represent
additional abilities. The triangle, square and T icons are all
explained under Types of Attack (for the first two; see p. 30) or
Turrets (for the T icon; see p. 25).
An asterisk icon is included on any Slot that affects other
Slots. For example, the Armor, Tesla Coil Trim Tanks and
Engine Slots all include an asterisk as a reminder to check
these Slots during game play to ensure that their effects are
applied (Steering Gear Slots are not marked as they don’t
exactly affect another Slot, but instead provide an extra ability).
Ship Data
The four corners of a Ship Card contain additional
information important to game play. While not directly
affecting game play, the area in front of the bow Location’s
Slots contain the ship’s name and Type, while a strip of a
faction’s flag makes it easy to identify each empire’s fleets.
Structural Integrity: This determines how much damage
the ship can take before it is destroyed.
Type Size: A ship’s Type size is used to determine its
various game stats, such as the weapon Slots it can carry, how
difficult or easy it is to attack, as well as how easily it can
move. (The top part of this section does not have a game play
effect, but is provided for clarity of ship faction and name.)
Starting MP: These are Starting Movement Points (MPs)
of a given ship. Each Engine Slot provides the number of
MPs as indicated (the MP values from all Engine Slots add
up to the Starting MP).
Enter Hexes Before Turn: This is the number of hexes a
ship must enter each turn before turning.
8
Recognition Cards
Each Ship Card has a corresponding Recognition Card
containing a full-color illustration of the ship in question, with
information on the reverse side that gives the ship’s history.
playing Maps
The playing maps represent the air battlefields of the early
twentieth century, where the action of a Leviathans game
takes place. Depending on the size of fleet fielded, the players
may use one or both mapsheets.
Note that the wispy clouds printed on the map have no
game play effect.
MARKERS AND REFERENCE CARDS
Two sheets of die-cut counters are provided. Players punch
out the markers, which are used during torpedo fire and
screening actions.
Additionally, sturdy game-aid cards allow for quickreference during play, helping ensure every game keeps up a
good pace as players become accustomed to the rules.
Dice
The game of Leviathans uses twelve- and six-sided dice;
the D12s are used as Crew, Weapon and Location Dice, while
D6 are used as Slot Dice.
If the situation requires you to roll one Slot Die, the rules
indicate this in shorthand, such as 1D6. If the situation requires
more dice, the shorthand indicates this as well, such as 2D6.
The twelve-sided dice are color-coded to represent the
different types of D12 (shorthand for a twelve-sided die)
used in the game: green, blue, yellow, red and black. Though
each color-coded die has twelve facings, like any other D12,
the numerical values displayed on the dice are unique to each
twelve-sided
•Weapon Dice
•Location Dice
•Crew Dice
six-sided
•Slot Dice
product is also useful to ensure enough sets at the table
for larger games. If this dice pack is not available (and the
players don’t have access to a second box set), Leviathans dice
are patterned on standard roleplaying game polyhedral dice,
which can be found in most hobby game stores.
If any D12 is lost, simply use the appropriate polyhedral
dice as follows: Green = D4; Blue = D6; Yellow = D8; and
Red = D10 (the black die is a standard D12). While it won’t
harm enjoyment of the game, please note that some minor
variances across numerous games might emerge if players are
using polyhedrals against Leviathans dice.
String
color. If the situation requires you to roll one twelve-sided
die, the rules indicate this in shorthand: DBlue, DYellow,
DBlack and so on. If two of the same dice are used, the rules
indicate this in shorthand also, such as 2DRed. Two dice
of different colors are indicated as DRed & DBlue.
When a player looks at a Ship Card, he’ll notice various
circular color icons, representing the number and type
of dice to be rolled under certain circumstances. If a line
separates dice icons, then different situations mean different
dice are rolled; if two (or more) dice icons are not separated
by a line, then that action requires all such dice to be rolled.
In all instances, when multiple twelve-sided dice are rolled
(whether Crew, Weapon or Location Dice), add the values
together for a final total.
For ease of reference, we’ve included a dice icon next to any
rule that requires a dice roll.
Replacing Dice
Most of the D12s in Leviathans are custom dice. If they
get lost, players can purchase the Leviathans Dice Pack; this
The string is used when determining line of sight (see
p. 11).
Leviathans rules
Throughout these rules, several “hints” sections present
various ways to make playing Leviathans easier. Players are free
to invent their own ways of handling such situations, of course.
As all the rules are tracked through the Ship Cards and on the
reference cards and mapsheets, players should have little need
to reference the rulebook for tables or other game aids once
play begins.
Following the rules, several scenarios provide players with
ready-made games for getting right into the action.
Fiction
Leviathans uses two different types of fiction to convey its
story.
Story fiction includes novels, novellas, short stories and
so on: fiction that puts the reader inside the heads of the
characters that populate the universe.
9
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
The novellas A Monster in the Sky and He Who Merits It
included in this box set are examples of story fiction.
Sourcebook fiction presents story elements as though the
reader were a character transplanted into the game universe,
reading military documents, historical texts, secret security
briefs, intercepted personal communications, local newspapers
and so on. The Leviathans Gazetteer sourcebook is an example
of sourcebook fiction.
These two methods work hand-in-hand bringing the
Leviathans universe to life.
Fiction vs. Rules
Through its fiction, Leviathans embraces a dynamic
universe where the characters, the giant ships they helm and
the empires they fight for are brought to life with as much
real-world nuance as possible.
At the same time, the rules are designed to retain the flavor
of this alternate world in a fast and fun game that embraces an
abstraction of that world for ease of game play. For example,
while gun sizes are used (3 IN, 138mm and so on) as a nod
to the real-world weaponry of that time period, they are
abstracted for game play into gun batteries, which might
represent 2 guns, or 6 or more mounted close together, or
anything in between. Furthermore, the rules do not address
the size of a hex or the time of a turn. Such information is
simply not needed for enjoyment of the game, and instead—
especially for those with an intimate knowledge of this era—
could turn into a distraction as the abstractions of the game
clash with too many real-world specifics.
In other words, though fiction is essential to making the
game universe come alive, it should never be construed as
rules. In all such situations, players are encouraged to enjoy
driving their opponents from the sky while reveling in the
adventures of the characters that populate Leviathans.
Art vs. Rules
The same concept applied to the fiction also applies to
the art and miniatures of Leviathans. While great lengths are
taken to ensure visual continuity between the universe and
the miniatures that accompany it, the abstract nature of the
rules means it’s almost impossible for a ship’s game statistics
to exactly match the art or miniature it represents. Instead,
the game statistics strive to capture the flavor of a given
illustration.
At the end of the day, however, illustrations should never
be construed as rules.
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Stern, starboard and bow views of a British Defender-class Armoured Cruiser.
10
game terms
The following terms describe important concepts
used in the Leviathans rules. While some of these
simply expand upon the concepts presented in the
quick-start rules, others, like Line of Sight, are
new and should be thoroughly studied.
Crew Slot simply means there are more crewmen in that
Location and/or they’re slightly better at their
task than a ship without such a Crew Slot.
Gun Battery Slots
The Ship Cards mount numerous gun Slots (65mm,
138mm, 6 IN and so on). Each such Slot is an abstract
If a weapon Slot on the Ship Card has a triangle “gun battery” (65mm Gun Battery, 6 IN Gun Battery and
icon, that weapon can fire with other weapons of so on), which might represent 2 guns, or 6 or more
the same size to increase the chance of a hit (see mounted close together, or anything in between.
Bracketing Fire, p. 31).
Bracketing Fire
Line of Sight (LOS)
Breach Number
To successfully attack and damage a ship, the player
must roll dice against a Breach Number, representing
the difficulty of the action; he must hit with the
attack, as well as striking an area where the damage
can breach the armor. If the roll result equals or
exceeds this Breach Number (after any applicable
modifiers are taken into account), the action
succeeds. If the result is less than the Breach
Number, the action fails (the attack didn’t hit the
target, failed to breach the armor and so on).
Crew Slots
All ships have a crew that mans the weaponry and
keeps the ship in flight. Even if a ship does not have
a Crew Slot in a given Location, all weapons in that
Location can still make attacks; the presence of a
11
In some instances—such as screening—a player
must determine if a clear line of sight (LOS) exists
before an attack can be made, or must use LOS to
determine the outcome of a potential attack (such as
for torpedoes).
A straight line running from the center of the
attacking ship’s hex where the firing weapons are
located to the center of the target hex being attacked
defines the LOS between two points. Any hexes through
which this line passes lie along the LOS, even if the
line barely crosses a given corner of a hex.
Simply stretch the string (included in this
box set) taut between the center of the two hexes
in question to determine the exact LOS. Usually,
players can do this by holding the string over the
miniatures and looking down at the playing area.
In some instances, however, miniatures may need to
be temporarily moved out of the way and the string
placed
flat on the playing area to determine the Saturation Fire
CON
TENTS/
exact
LOS for an attack.
If a weapon Slot on the Ship Card has a square icon,
CREDIT
S
If the LOS passes through a hex occupied by the
attacking ship, the attack cannot be made.
If the LOS passes through a hex occupied by the
IEW
OVERV
target
ship, then the attack cannot be made against
the designated hex.
If the LOS passes exactly between two hexes, the
player
GAMEcontrolling the targeted ship decides which of
the
two hexes lies along the LOS. The chosen hexside
SET-UP
is used for all attacks between those two ship hexes
for the remainder of the turn.
Each rule specifically states whether players
Note:
MOV
EMENT
must use Line of Sight when using that rule. If LOS is
not mentioned, then it is not used.
that weapon rolls more than one Slot Die and can
potentially damage multiple Slots with a single shot
(see Saturation Fire, p. 31).
Target
A target is defined as anything a unit may attack. A
friendly ship can never be a target.
Tesla Coil Trim Tank Slot
Every Location contains a Tesla Coil Trim Tank
Slot. This represents a small reservoir of electroid
fluid that helps to balance the ship (trim) and make
it easier to maneuver and attack. (On the Recognition
Cards for each of the ships, the copper tubing and
Mapsheet
tanks on the side represent these small reservoirs.)
COMBAT
This general term refers to a single playing map as As the coils are destroyed, that balance (trim) is
found in this box set.
lost and the ship is more difficult to control, making
SPECIAL
attacks harder, but doesn’t affect over-all lift.
Playing
CASE Area
This general term refers to the total playing area Turn
RULES
of a given game, regardless of the number of mapsheets
used.
END OF
Unless
N a scenario states otherwise, if a ship ends
TUR
its turn with any part of it occupying one of the halfhexes along the edge of the playing area, that ship is
considered destroyed (removed from play at the end of
SCENARIOS
its movement) when determining who won the game.
SCENARIO
This term usually describes a game with specific
forces and set-up conditions (see Scenarios, p.
49). It can also be used to described a single, oneoff game.
A Leviathans game consists of a series of turns.
During each turn, all ships on the playing area have
an opportunity to move and fire their weapons.
Turret
If a weapon Slot on the Ship Card has a T icon, that
weapon is mounted in a turret, which can swivel to
cover a wider range of targets than if the weapon was
mounted directly on the hull (see Turrets, p. 25).
12
GAME SET-UP
The specifics of game setup (map placement, miniatures
chosen and so on) are left up to the players. However,
the Scenarios section (see p. 49) provides comprehensive
guidelines for setting up different games, as well as ready-toplay scenarios.
Randomly Determining Locations/Slots: When the rules
call for randomly determining a Location, roll a DGreen for
any Type 1, 2 or 3 or a DBlue for Type 4 ships. Starting with
the bow on any ship, rotate to the right a number of Locations
as determined by the die roll result. For example a player rolls
a DGreen on a Type 2 ship with a result of 1, meaning the
Bow Location is affected, while the same player rolls a DBlue
on a Type 4 ship with a result of 5, meaning the Aft-port
Location is affected.
After determining the Location, simply roll a Slot Dice to
determine the specific Slot affected (if needed).
Firing Torpedoes
Before any movement begins, players place
torpedo markers (see Firing Torpedoes, p. 38).
The team that lost the Initiative places their
torpedo markers first, followed by the team
that won Initiative.
Note: Though firing torpedoes occurs
before movement and resolving torpedoes
occurs before combat during game play, the full
rules for torpedoes are found after Combat in the Special
Case Rules section (see p. 38). The choice to organize the
rules in this fashion was made because resolving torpedoes
requires an understanding of how Combat is resolved,
making it much easier to understand how torpedoes work
in game play once players have familiarized themselves
with combat resolution.
Sequence of play
Movement
Ships are always moved according to their Type size, largest
to smallest: Type 4 ships must move before Type 3 ships, Type
3 ships before Type 2, Type 2 ships before Type 1.
The team that lost Initiative starts by moving all their
largest Type ships. If the winning player has a larger ship Type
than the player that lost Initiative, the winning player moves
all of his larger Type ships.
The team that lost the Initiative then moves all of the next
largest Type of ship. Once again, if the winning player has a
The following Sequence of Play summarizes the
progression of the game, building on the framework provided
in the Lieutenant’s Manual, but incorporating those rules that
apply to the Commander’s Manual.
Initiative
One player from each side rolls 2DRed to determine
his team’s Initiative. The team with the higher result has
Initiative throughout the turn. Re-roll all ties.
13
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
larger ship Type vessel than the player that lost Initiative, the
winning player moves all of his larger Type ships. And so on.
Movement alternates between sides until all ships have been
moved. Each time a player must move a ship, he must designate
movement for all ships of the appropriate Type that have not
been destroyed, even if the move is simply to stay in its hexes.
Resolving Torpedoes
Before any other attacks are made, resolve torpedo attacks,
if any. The team that won the Initiative resolves their torpedo
attacks first, followed by the team that lost Initiative. As each
torpedo attack is resolved (whether there was no ship to hit,
the Breach Roll was a success or the Breach Roll was a failure),
remove that torpedo’s markers from the board.
Determining Damage: Unlike all other attacks, damage
from torpedoes is applied immediately, so destroyed Slots (or
ships) cannot be used in this turn’s combat.
Attacks
The team that lost Initiative chooses a ship to declare fire
first. The controlling player must declare any attacks he plans
to make using his ship’s weapons, specifying which weapons
he will fire and at what target(s). There is no penalty for
shooting at multiple targets.
The team that won the Initiative then chooses a ship to
declare fire. The player controlling the firing ship declares
any attacks he plans to make using that ship’s weapons, as
described above.
The act of declaring attacks alternates between players
until all fire has been declared. Each time a player must
declare an attack, he may do so for any ships that have not
been destroyed, even if the declaration is to make no attack.
If there is an uneven number of ships between sides, players
alternate, as above, until the one side is finished. Then the
14
other side with the larger force simply finishes declaring all
the rest of its ships’ attacks.
Ammunition: Though the ships of Leviathans carry gun
batteries and torpedoes that use ammunition, ammunition is
not tracked for game purposes; a ship can fire a gun battery/
torpedo as long as its Slot has not been destroyed.
Hint: Players will discover that once they’ve become
accustomed to playing and know how to deal with the quirks
of a given playing group that attack declaration can simply
be wedded into making Breach Rolls (this can also be very
useful in larger games when there are many ships on the
battlefield to track). For example Jason, John and Tim are
playing a game and know each other well enough that they’ve
done away with attack declaration. During a turn Jason starts
making Breach Rolls with his Light Cruiser against John’s
Battleship and on the first roll lucks out with a series of high
rolls that breaks the keel on John’s Battleship even though it
wasn’t very damaged. Jason then tries to switch some of his
gun batteries to Tim’s Destroyer and both Tim and John point
out they know very well that Jason always plays a “always
concentrate all firepower” style of game, so they’re confident
that Jason would’ve fired all weapons at John’s Battleship if
he’d not lucked out on his first Breach Roll. Jason sheepishly
agrees and so all the rest of his rolls automatically ‘miss’
because the target he was firing against is gone.
Resolving Weapons Fire
Players resolve weapons fire one ship at a time. The order
in which each ship’s attacks are resolved is up to the ship’s
controlling player. All weapon attacks by one ship must be
resolved before those of the next ship.
Determining Damage
Players record damage as attacks are resolved by circling
Slots, but this damage does not affect the ship’s ability to attack
this turn. This means a ship may make its declared attacks in
the turn even if that ship or its weapons are destroyed.
End of Turn
At the end of every turn the players may attempt to repair
their ships, then apply damage to their ships by drawing hash
marks through circled/damaged Slots, and check to see if the
game has ended.
End of game
Players repeat all the steps given above until one team
meets its victory conditions for the scenario. Under normal
circumstances, the team with the last surviving ship(s) left on
the playing area wins. If the last ships from each team are
destroyed simultaneously in the same turn, the game is a draw.
15
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
MOVEMENT
Leviathans ships change position and location on the
mapsheets by spending Movement Points (MPs).
The Ship Cards note the Starting MP of a given ship (in
the bottom left-hand corner), with each Engine Slot providing
the number of MPs as indicated (the MP values from all
Engine Slots add up to the Starting MP). As Engine Slots are
destroyed, MPs are lost and the Starting MP value is no longer
accurate. To determine the MPs available at the start of a turn
after an Engine Slot has been destroyed, players can either
subtract the value of the destroyed Engine Slot(s) from the
Starting MP, or can add up the MPs on the remaining Engine
Slots (Hint: Players also may find it useful to simply cross off
the Starting MP value and write on the current value.).
A ship need not expend all its MPs. Furthermore, a ship
does not have to expend any MPs in a turn; if no MPs are
spent, it remains in its hexes, with its same facing.
If a ship loses all its Engine Slots, it no longer has any MPs
and cannot move or change its facing for the rest of the scenario.
A ship can enter half-hexes during its movement. However,
if a ship ends its movement with any part of it occupying
one of the half-hexes along the edge of the playing area, it is
considered destroyed when determining who won the game
(see Ending the Game, p. 48). Remove this ship from play at
the end of its movement.
Hint: During smaller games, remembering which ships
moved out of their hexes and which did not is relatively easy.
However, as players increase their fleet size, it may be more
difficult. Players can use any markers they have at hand to mark
such movement. For example, a block of small dice is cheap and
16
placing one next to a ship that’s moved makes it very easy for a
player to determine if a ship moved or not, making it simple to
figure out which Location Dice to use for a Breach Roll.
The following additional rules govern movement each turn.
Movement Direction
A ship can only move forward into the hex it is facing (it
must always face a hexside). It cannot move into any other hex
unless it first changes its facing (the direction it is pointed).
Entering a Hex
To enter a hex, a player spends 1 MP (see Sideslip, p. 18, for
the exception)
Changing Facing
Changing a ship’s facing costs 1 MP per hexside. A
ship may only change one hexside per hex (see below for
the exceptions). Depending on the ship, it must move
straight forward and enter a number of hexes (as shown on
the Entering Hexes Before Turn portion of the Ship Card)
before it can make a hexside facing change. This number can
change, depending on whether a ship mounts Steering Gear
Slots (see Steering Gear, p. 17). If a ship must enter more
hexes than it has MPs, it can no longer turn.
Two-Hexside Turn: If a ship does not spend any MPs
to enter a new hex during a turn (provided it has at least
1 undamaged Engine Slot), it can always spend its entire
movement to change 1 or 2 hexsides; it can never change
more than 2 hexsides in this fashion.
Facing Change Diagram
RED =
PIVOT HEXES
TYPE 1
TYPE 4
TYPE 2
& TYPE 3
Three-Hexside “Broach” Turn: A ship
can attempt to make a three-hexside
“broach” turn, a dangerous, emergency
maneuver that often pushes the ship
beyond its structural capacity. If a ship
does not spend any MPs to enter a new
hex during a turn (provided it has at least
1 undamaged Engine Slot), it can choose
to spend all of its movement to change 3
hexsides. After the turn is completed, the
ship must immediately make a Breaking
the Keel Roll (all destroyed Slots provide
only a +1 modifier; see p. 33). A successful
roll does not destroy the ship, but instead
the ship’s SI is immediately reduced by 1
(damage is applied before combat); cross
out the SI and write in the new, lower value.
Finally, regardless of the success or failure of
the Breaking the Keel Roll, the ship cannot
fire any gun batteries during the Firing
Weapons portion of the turn in which it
executes a three-hexside “broach” turn.
Movement Across Turns: Movement
tracking does not carry over from one
turn to the next. In other words, each turn
a ship must enter its designated number
of hexes before making a facing change;
unspent MPs are not carried into the next
turn; and so on.
Type 1 Ships: A Type 1 ship occupies 2
hexes, so it pivots on the front hex.
Type 2 & 3 Ships: Type 2 and 3 ships
occupy 3 hexes, so they pivot on the
middle hex.
17
Type 4 Ships: A Type 4 ship occupies
4 hexes, so it pivots on the second hex
behind the bow hex.
Stacking
During movement, a ship may move
through hexes occupied by another ship
(friendly or enemy). A ship may not,
however, end its movement in a hex
occupied by another ship.
Steering gear
All ships are considered to mount
minimal steering gear that does not take
up Slots and that provides the minimum
amount of facing change capability as
described above.
Steering Gear allows for two additional
movement options, as described below.
Reduced Hexes Entered Before Turn
For every Steering Gear Slot in a
Location, reduce by 1 the Enter Hexes
Before Turn value on that Ship Card for
that side (Starboard Location or Port
Location; for Type 4 ships, use the AftStarboard or Aft-port Location). For
example, the HML Essex has an Enter
Hexes Before Turn value of 2, which means
it normally must enter 2 hexes before
turning right (starboard) or left (port).
However, it mounts Steering Gear in each
side Location (starboard and port), and so
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
it need only enter 1 hex straight ahead in order to turn in
either direction. If in a following turn the Steering Gear Slot
in the Starboard Location is destroyed, then the HML Essex
need only enter 1 hex before turning left (port), but must
enter its standard 2 hexes before turning right (starboard).
If a ship’s Enter Hexes Before Turn value is reduced to 0
because of steering gear, then the ship need not enter any
hexes before turning in the appropriate direction. Regardless
of steering gear, however, a ship can never change facing more
than 1 hexside in the same hex (see Changing Facing, p. 16,
for the exception).
Sideslip
If a ship mounts Steering Gear Slots in side Locations
(Starboard Location or Port Location; for Type 4 ships,
the Aft-Starboard or Aft-Port Location), the player can
sideslip the ship during movement. If a Steering Gear Slot is
destroyed (there are no longer any Steering Gear Slots in that
side Location), the ship can no longer sideslip in the direction
of that Location.
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Sideslipping Diag
ram
18
At the start of movement, the ship must first enter at least
1 hex in the direction it is facing, after which the controlling
player may spend 2 MPs to move the entire ship into the
hexrow to the right or left of the one the ship currently
occupies (see Sideslipping Diagram at bottom left). This can
be done any time during the ship’s movement. After a sideslip,
the ship must still be facing in the same direction it started.
If a ship has enough Steering Gear Slots to reduce its
Enter Hexes Before Turn value to 0 in the Location facing
the direction of the sideslip, then the ship need not enter the
hex it is facing before making that sideslip.
A ship may sideslip any number of times during a turn,
provided it has the necessary 2 MPs for each maneuver.
However, after each maneuver the ship must once again enter
the hex it is facing before attempting another sideslip (the
exception, as noted above, is if the Steering Gear Slots have
reduced the ship’s Enter Hexes Before Turn value to 0 in the
appropriate direction).
Multiple Steering Gear Slots: If a ship mounts multiple
Steering Gear Slots in the same Location, the ship may
sideslip in that direction after paying only 1 MP. Regardless
of how many Steering Gear Slots are in the same Location, a
ship can never reduce the cost of a sideslip below 1 MP.
Reduced Hexes Entered Before Turn: A sideslip does not
count as entering a forward hex when determining how many
hexes a ship must enter before it can turn (see p. 17).
Hint: Players will discover that a sideslip is often more
useful to larger Type ships than smaller ships, especially
if they have multiple Steering Gear Slots in a Location,
such as the French Lave. While there are instances where a
sideslip can still be useful, the turning ability and speed of
smaller craft usually enable them to accomplish the same
move without a sideslip.
In the Steering Gear Diagram at right, Joel is
fielding the Jean Bart (Type 4) and Lave (Type 2)
against Karl’s HML Leviathan (Type 4).
Joel loses Initiative and so has to move his Jean
Bart first. While he could move the ship forward 2
hexes and then turn one hexside to the right (he’s
got steering gear in his Aft-Starboard Location),
he’d only have 2 MPs left. That wouldn’t be enough
for him to move forward the 2 required hexes before
making a single-hexside left turn. Because he
wants to try to keep the Jean Bart’s broadside on
the HML Leviathan—regardless of what Karl does—
Joel decides to move forward the 1 required hex,
then spends 2 MPs to sideslip into the right-side
hex row. He then spends his remaining 2 MPs moving
2 more hexes forward.
Karl decides not to do any fancy footwork and
instead wants to put a little distance between
the HML Leviathan and the Jean Bart (since his
Battleship has the longest-range weapons of the two
ships). He moves forward 4 hexes.
Now it’s back to Joel to move. He’s got to figure
out what he’s doing with the Lave, especially now
that the HML Leviathan is in his face. Normally the
Lave has two Steering Gear Slots in its Starboard
Location, allowing it to turn on a dime (it needs
to enter 2 hexes before turning, but with those
two Slots the Lave can turn in its hex right at the
start of movement). However, both of the Steering
Gear Slots were destroyed in a previous turn, so
he doesn’t have that flexibility of movement. He
also wants to ensure that his damaged Starboard
Location is pointed completely away from the
Leviathan in case of combat. Finally, he knows the
Leviathan’s Aft-Starboard Location is hurting.
With all that in mind, he starts his movement. He
spends 2 MPs to move forward 2 hexes, then 1 MP
to make a hexside right turn and another 1 MP to
move forward 1 hex. At this point, Karl could make
a hexside turn to the left if he wished; that hex
row will be outside the HML Leviathan’s broadside
Steering Gear Diagram
arc, and with undamaged Steering Gear Slots in the
Port Location, he doesn’t have to move the full
2 hexes before turning. However, Karl decides
he wants to put as much distance between himself
and a Battleship’s broadside as possible, and so
spends another 1 MP to move forward another hex.
He then spends another 1 MP to turn one hexside to
the left, and then spends the final 3 MPs to move
forward 3 hexes. The Lave is not occupying any hex
of the HML Leviathan and its 100mm Gun Battery Slot
in the Stern Location is in the right firing arc to
potentially damage the Leviathan’s weakened AftStarboard Location: right where Joel wanted to be!
19
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Screening
There are two types of screening: offensive and
defensive. In both instances, the MPs spent by one ship
represent matching heading and so on with the ship
it is “hugging.” When a player spends the MPs noted
below, he must announce that the ship is screening and
which type of screening; a ship cannot use both types of
screening in the same turn. A ship can only use one type
of screening during a turn and can only screen once (a
player cannot spend 6 MP to screen twice).
When a player announces that a ship is using a type
of screening, place the appropriate Screening Token next
to the ship once it has finished movement (for ease of
remembering later in the turn).
LOS: Screening uses LOS (see p. 11) when
determining if an attack can be made.
Defensive Screening
Defensive screening involves moving a ship in a manner
to block shots against another ship, “hugging” the other
ship protectively and taking any such shots itself.
Any ship that occupies at least one hex adjacent to
the ship hex it wishes to protect can spend 3 MPs in a
turn for defensive screening. In that turn, if LOS from
an attacking ship to a target ship hex protected in this
manner passes through a hex occupied by the ship using
defensive screening, LOS is blocked.
Defender Attacks: A ship that has a defensive
screening ship hugging it cannot make any attacks from
a Location if the LOS enters a hex occupied by the
defensive screening ship.
20
In the Defensive Screening Diagram at right,
last turn Jay’s Jean Bart (Type 4) took a pounding
in the Fore-Starboard Location. Jessica smells
blood in the air and so is trying to orient her
biggest guns on several ships to all fall into
that Fore-Starboard Location. Jay has lost two
Engine Slots and is down to hardly any MPs, so he
knows he’s going to take it in that Location again
if he doesn’t try a new tactic.
To make matters worse, he loses Initiative,
so he must first move the Jean Bart, after which
Jessica moves her HML Leviathan and then her HML
Hertfordshire (because Jay doesn’t have any Type
2 ships). In an effort to buy some time and ensure
that he doesn’t lose the big side guns on his Jean
Bart, he moves his Montcalm (Type 1) into two of
the three hexes adjacent to the Fore-Starboard
Location and announces he’s spending the 3 MPs
to perform defensive screening; he knows his
Destroyer might just be torn from the sky for this
move, but better to lose it than his Battleship.
Jessica then moves her HML Raven to finish up the
turn’s movement.
During the turn’s combat, because defensive
screening is in action, the players pull out the
string to check LOS. Right off the bat, Jessica
realizes her error in how she moved the HML Raven.
As all its weapons are mounted in Slots 1-3 on the
port side (meaning they draw their LOS from the
first hex), and the turret-mounted gun in the
Bow Location also draws from the first hex, LOS
along Path A is blocked, so the HML Raven cannot
attack the enemy ship’s Fore-Starboard Location
this turn.
Jessica then checks for her big guns. She draws
LOS along Path B and finds that the twin 12 IN
gun batteries in turrets on the Bow Location are
blocked; she doesn’t have to draw the LOS to the
Bow hex of the Jean Bart because she can plainly
see that would be blocked as well. Next, she draws
from the second hex behind the Bow Location to
see if any of her Fore-Starboard Location weapons
Defensive Screening
Diagram
can strike into the Fore-Starboard
Location of the Jean Bart along
Path C and D. Once again, LOS falls
across the hexes occupied by the
Montcalm, and so her guns cannot
attack there. She finally draws
LOS from the hex in front of the
Stern Location on the HML Leviathan
for her Aft-Starboard weapons
along Path E, and can just eke out
a potential shot with her 6 IN gun
battery. Both the 3 IN gun batteries
in that Location are out of range,
however.
Finally, Jessica has some luck
with the HML Hertfordshire. The LOS
21
drawn from the center hex along Path
F (for the Port Location weapons)
and the front hex along Path G (for
the Bow Location weapons) both
barely clear the Montcalm, so she
can try to make attacks into the
Jean Bart’s wounded Fore-Starboard
Location.
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
Offensive Screening
Offensive screening involves moving a ship in a manner
to stop a shot against itself, “hugging” another ship so any
potential shots will hit the other ship.
Any ship can spend 3 MPs in a turn for offensive screening,
and the player must nominate the ship it is “hugging.” In that
turn, if LOS from an attacking ship to a target ship that
has declared offensive screening is drawn through a hex of
a ship (enemy or friend) of a larger Type, LOS is blocked.
Ships need not be adjacent to the ship they are “hugging” for
offensive screening, and any number of ships can be “hugging”
the same ship.
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
In the Offensive Screening Diagram at right,
Chris’ HML Raven Destroyer (Type 1) is attempting
to strike through enemy lines to reach the
port side of Jen’s Jean Bart Battleship that’s
been heavily damaged. However, there are a lot
of French ships on the battlefield and Chris
knows he has to eliminate as many of those from
attacking him this turn as possible, or he just
might lose his Destroyer before he ever gets
there. He decides to use offensive screening.
Luckily he wins Initiative, so all the
French ships move first, after which Chris
moves his Type 1 ships. While he’s got a good
bead on removing the Jean Bart and Montcalm
from the equation, if he just sends the Raven
in by itself, the Pontbriand, along with the
Lave, can attack the Raven. That’s far too much
damage potential, so Chris hatches a daring
strategy.
He moves the HML Raven into position and
announces he’s using offensive screening
to “hug” the Lave, and spends the 3 MPs to do
so. Next, he moves his final Destroyer, the
HML Trafford, adjacent to the HML Raven and
announces the HML Trafford will use defensive
22
screening to “hug” the HML Raven (he spends
another 3 MPs to do so). When setting up the
Raven and Trafford, he made sure to place the
Trafford so it would be at least five hexes away
from the Pontbriand; this means Jen must make
Breach Rolls with all those 65mm gun batteries
using the DGreen in place of the DBlue.
During the turn’s combat, the players pull
the string out and start checking line of sight.
The LOS from the Jean Bart along Paths A, B and
C (each drawn to either hex of the HML Raven to
try to find a target) are blocked by the Lave.
So is LOS from the Montcalm along Path D—again,
drawn to either hex of the HML Raven. Path E from
the Montcalm is not blocked, but there are no
weapons in Slots 4, 5 or 6 on the starboard side
and the 47mm gun battery in the Stern Location
isn’t turret-mounted (so it cannot turn to fire
into the starboard firing arc); no attacks can
be made along that path.
Moving to the other side of the battlefield,
Paths H, G and F from the Pontbriand (once more
drawn to either hex of the HML Raven) are blocked
by the HML Trafford.
Obviously, the Lave can attempt to attack
the HML Raven, but by using both offensive and
defensive screening, Chris has blocked three
ships from even attempting an attack against the
Raven. Of course, all three of those blocked ships
can declare open season on the HML Trafford…but
Chris knew that heading in. He hopes his gambit
pays off next turn and he can further damage or
even destroy the Jean Bart!
Offensive Screenin
g
Diagram
23
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
COMBAT
After all players complete movement, ships engage in
combat. Ships make weapon attacks using the various gun
batteries and torpedoes they mount.
For one ship to fire at another, the target must be within
the range and firing arc of the weapons the attacking player
wishes to use. The attacking player then rolls various dice in a
Breach Roll, applying any appropriate modifiers to the result, to
determine whether the shot both hit and damaged the target.
Players fire each weapon on a ship individually (making
Breach Rolls for each weapon), and can fire as many or
as few of their ship’s weapons at the target (or targets) as
they wish, within the restriction described on the following
pages. Unless otherwise stated, each weapon may be fired
only once per turn; that is, each weapon only gets one
Breach Roll per turn.
Players choose the order in which they resolve the Breach
Rolls for all the ship’s announced attacks. Resolve all attacks
against one target before moving on to attacks by the same
ship against another target. From turn to turn, this order can
differ at the player’s discretion. For example, in Turn 1 the
HML Leviathan fires a starboard broadside at a target with
all weapons in range. The controlling player decides to fire a
6 IN gun battery first, then a 3 IN gun battery, then another
6 IN gun battery, and then follows that up with three more
Breach Rolls for the remaining 3 IN gun batteries. The player
may also fire the other weapons in other arcs at other targets,
but once started he must resolve all the aforementioned
weapons fire against the first target. On Turn 2, the player
can fire all the same weapons at a target, but this time the
24
controlling player decides to make a Bracketing Fire attack
with all four 3 IN gun batteries and then follow that with two
Breach Rolls for the two 6 IN gun batteries.
Players also choose the order in which they resolve attacks
from all their ships, regardless of Type; from turn to turn this
order can differ at the player’s discretion.
All weapons fire is simultaneous, so any Slot (or even
the ship itself ) destroyed during the turn can still fire (see
Resolving Torpedoes, p. 38, for the exception).
Slots
Determine firing arcs, range and damage for all bowmounted weapons by drawing from the bow (front) hex, and
for all stern-mounted weapons by drawing from the stern
(last) hex.
Where a side-mounted weapon is located on a ship depends
on its Type. When determining firing arcs, range and damage
arcs, use the following rules:
Type 1 (2-hex ship): If a side-mounted weapon is in Slot
1, 2 or 3, the weapon is located in the bow (front) hex. If
the side-mounted weapon is in Slot 4, 5 or 6, the weapon is
located in the stern (back) hex.
Types 2-3 (3-hex ship): Any side-mounted weapons are
located in the center hex.
Type 4 (4-hex ship): If a side-mounted weapon is in the
Fore-Port or Fore-Starboard Location, the weapon is in the
second hex (behind the bow hex). If a side-mounted weapon
is in the Aft-Port or Aft-Starboard Location, the weapon is
in the third hex (in front of the stern hex).
2
3
Turrets
If a weapon Slot shows a white
“T” icon (shown at right), it is
mounted on a turret. Weapons
mounted in turrets can be turned to
1
fire into arcs outside the standard arc
where the weapon Slot is located, as
shown on the Firing AArcs Diagram
E
at right.
Turrets do not change the
hex where a weapon is located; for
D
B a 12 IN Gun Battery with
example
1
2
C a turret in a Bow hex of a Type 4
Ship is still mounted in the first 3hex
for the purposes of counting range,
E
LOS, and so on.
When making a Breach Roll, the playerD announces
which arc the turret is facing; all turrets start every turn
automatically facing the standard arcC where they’re
mounted.
138mm
6/11 HEX
TYPE 1
1
Firing Arcs
2
To fire a weapon, a player must determine if the target is
in its firing arc and in range, and what the damage arc will
be. The three firing arcs are based on ship Type, as shown
1
1
at right:
Type 1, Type 2 & 3, and Type 4 firing
arcs.
2
3
Determining Firing Arc
TYPE 4
Firing Arcs extend
from the firing ship
to the edge of the
playing area; weapon
ranges are found on
each Ship Card.
2
E
To determine
a firing arc, the player looks at the hex
on the ship
where the weapon is located (see Slots, p. 24)
D
and compares that to the firing arcs diagram at right.
The C player then looks at the ship on the playing area
and mentally extends the firing arc out until the player
can determine if any part of the target ship falls into the
firing arc of that weapon. If it falls completely outside the
weapon’s firing arc, no attack can be made by that weapon
TYPE 2
&
25TYPE 3
Firing Arc Diagrams
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
at that target ship this turn. If any part of the ship falls inside
the firing arc, an attack can be made.
Broadside Firing Arcs: Note that Type 4 ships have
a Broadside firing arc. This means that all side-mounted
weapons as well as bow and stern turret-mounted weapons
can fire into the same arc on a side for a devastating
broadside attack.
determining Range
Count the range in hexes to the target, starting with the
hex adjacent to the attacking ship’s hex where the firing
weapons are located, and follow the shortest path to the
target, including the target hex. The path must be within the
weapon’s firing arc. If the range in hexes is equal to or less
than the range of the weapon in question, the player can fire
the weapon at that target. If the range in hexes is greater than
the weapon range—even if another part of the target is in
range of the ship’s weapons mounted in another firing arc—
the weapon cannot fire at that target this turn.
The range of each weapon is noted on the Slot for that
weapon on the Ship Card. For example, the British HML
Leviathan mounts a 12 IN gun battery with an “8/16 Hex”
notation in its Bow Location. The maximum hex range for
the 12 IN gun battery is the second number, in this case 16
hexes: if a target is 16 hexes or closer, an attack can be made
with the 12 IN gun battery. If the target is further away, no
attack can be made that turn.
SCENARIOS
26
Determining Damage Arc
After determining that a target is in a weapon’s firing arc
and range, players can determine the damage arc.
All damage arcs are identical to firing arcs (see Firing Arc
Diagrams, p. 25). Whether they act as firing arcs or damage
arcs depends on whether a ship is the attacker or target.
When determining damage arcs, treat all green hexes as
orange hexes; i.e. they all fall into the Bow or Stern Arcs.
To determine the damage arc on a target ship, the
player notes the target ship Type and compares that to the
Firing Arcs Diagram (see p. 25)—again all green hexes are
considered the orange of bow hexes here—to determine
which damage arc to use. The player then looks at the
target ship on the playing area and extends the target ship’s
damage arcs until the appropriate arc overlaps the hex on the
attacking ship corresponding to the hex where the weapon
the player is firing is mounted.
This overlap marks the only Location on the target ship
the attacking weapon can strike this turn.
Broadside Damage Arcs: The Location against which a
Breach Roll is made on a Type 4 Broadside Damage Arc is up
to the attacking player; the player can choose to attack either
the fore or aft side Locations. However, all attacks made by
a ship into a broadside damage arc in a turn must be made
against the same Location.
In the Determining Firing Arcs, Range
and Damage Arcs Diagram at right, Alex and
Geoff have just finished movement and need
to figure out what weapons, and against
which targets, they can attempt to make
Breach Rolls.
As the British player, Alex starts,
beginning with the HML Leviathan.
Determining Firing
Arcs, Range an
d
Damage Arcs Diag
ram
DETERMINING
FIRING ARCS
First, Alex looks at the Firing Arcs
Diagram for a Type 4 ship and visualizes
that around his Battleship. He then
extends that arc to find which firing
arcs intersect other ships and where.
The HML Leviathan has a beautiful
Starboard Broadside Firing Arc against
the Jean Bart. The Pontbriand, on the
other hand, is not in the Port Broadside
Firing Arc, but instead is in both the
Stern and Aft-Port firing arcs. Since
it lies outside the broadside arc, this
means that unlike the starboard shot,
the twin 12 IN gun batteries in the Bow
Location cannot fire at the Pontbriand,
so Alex knows he’ll be pointing them at
the Jean Bart.
DETERMINING
RANGE
HML Leviathan
Next, Alex counts the range from the
HML Leviathan to the Jean Bart across
the Starboard Broadside Firing Arc.
Path A starts from the hex behind the
bow (counting for the Fore-Starboard
weapons), while Path D starts from the
hex in front of the Stern (counting for
the Aft-Starboard weapons); both paths
27
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
DETERMINING
DAMAGE ARCS
COMBAT
Finally, having determined that the weapons
on the HML Leviathan are in the right firing
arcs and ranges, it’s time for the damage arcs.
As with firing arcs, Alex visualizes the Type
4 damage arcs (remembering that damage arcs
are the same as firing arcs) around the Jean
Bart—also remembering that green hexes are the
same as orange hexes—and then extends them back
to the HML Leviathan. The Starboard Broadside
Firing Arc envelops the second, third and
fourth hexes of the HML Leviathan. That means he
can decide whether all the Starboard-mounted
weapons will fire into the Fore-starboard or
Aft-Starboard Location. While he counted Path
C for the 12 IN gun batteries when determining
range that shot is not possible (i.e. into the
Starboard Broadside Damage Arc) since the AftStarboard Damage Arc overlaps hex one of the
28
HML Anfield
DETERMINING
FIRING ARCS
OVERVIEW
HML Leviathan where the guns are mounted.
As such, those guns can only fire into the
Aft-starboard Location. Since Alex wants to
concentrate all of his attacks into the same
Location he chooses to fire all of the Forestarboard and Aft-Starboard weapons into the
Aft-Starboard Location of the Jean Bart as
well. Finally, for the Pontbriand he extends
the Light Cruiser’s damage arc and sees that all
attacks from the weapons in the Stern and AftPort Locations will be made against the Light
Cruiser’s Port Location.
Next, Alex goes through the same process
for the HML Anfield. After mentally placing
the firing arcs around the Type 1 ship and
extending them, he finds that the Jean Bart
is in the Starboard and Bow firing arcs, while
the Pontbriand is also in the Bow Firing Arc.
However, he knows he’s going to try to place
all shots at the Jean Bart, so he ignores the
Pontbriand because it’s outside the Port
Firing Arc.
DETERMINING
RANGE
are 7 hexes. A quick glance at his Ship Card lets
Alex know that all weapons in both Locations
are in range at 7 hexes. Now he looks at the
Pontbriand to count hexes. First he counts
along Path E for the Stern Firing Arc, coming
up with 5 hexes; the single gun battery in that
Location is easily in range. Then, as the Port
Broadside Firing Arc is not in use, the range
for the weapons in the Aft-Port and Fore-Port
Locations draw different paths: Path F (6 hexes)
and Path G (7 hexes), respectively. Once more
he looks at the weapons in both Locations. Even
with the difference in range for the Fore-Port
Location, all weapons are in range. Finally,
Alex has the two 12 IN gun batteries on turrets
in the Bow Location. He already knows he can’t
fire them at the Pontbriand and so looks at
the Jean Bart. In this instance, he counts
two paths, B or C. The range is 7 and 8 hexes,
respectively, so he’s in range regardless of
which one he chooses.
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
Next, he counts the range. Counting for the
3 IN gun battery in the Bow (Path H) gives him
9 hexes along the Bow Firing Arc, which puts
the gun battery out of range. Luckily for Alex,
that weapon is mounted on a turret and so can
be turned to fire through the Starboard Firing
Arc. Counting along Path I puts the Jean Bart at
8 hexes, meaning the 3 IN gun battery on the bow
turret and the 3 IN gun battery in the Starboard
Location are in range.
DETERMINING
DAMAGE ARCS
DETERMINING
DAMAGE ARCS
Finally, Alex extends the damage arcs from
the Jean Bart back to the HML Anfield and finds
that the Fore-Starboard Damage Arc envelopes
the Anfield’s Bow hex, so all shots from the
Destroyer will strike into the Fore-Starboard
Location.
Finally, he extends the HML Leviathan’s
damage arcs back to the Jean Bart. Just like
Alex, Geoff has the choice of firing all of the
Jean Bart’s Starboard weapons into either the
Fore-Starboard or Aft-Starboard Locations.
DETERMINING
DAMAGE ARCS
DETERMINING
RANGE
He then counts the range to the target ship,
back along Path A. He knows that whether he
starts from the second hex behind the Bow hex
or the hex in front of the Stern hex (for the
weapon in the Fore-Starboard and Aft-Starboard
Locations, respectively), he’ll get 7 hexes. A
quick check of all weapons shows that they are
all in range.
Geoff extends the firing arcs from the
Pontbriand and determines that the HML
Leviathan is in the Port Firing Arc while
the HML Anfield is in the Bow Firing Arc.
Per his tactics with the Jean Bart, Geoff
ignores the Anfield and concentrates on the
Leviathan.
The range for the 138mm gun battery in the
Bow Location is drawn along Path E (because
Geoff is rotating the turret into the Port
Firing Arc) for a total of 5 hexes. Geoff then
draws from the center hex of the Pontbriand
along Path J for the four 64mm gun batteries
in the Port Location, coming up with 5 hexes as
well. Finally, he draws along Path F for the
138mm gun battery, mounted on a turret in the
Stern, and comes up with 6 hexes. All weapons
are in range.
DETERMINING
DAMAGE ARCS
DETERMINING
FIRING ARCS
Geoff extends the firing arcs and finds
that the Starboard Broadside Firing Arc
envelopes the HML Leviathan at hexes 2, 3 and 4
on the enemy ship. He also finds that the ForeStarboard Firing Arc envelopes the HML Anfield
on that ship’s Bow hex, while the Bow Firing
Arc envelops the Anfield’s Stern. Like Alex,
however, Geoff has no intention of splitting
his fire while the HML Leviathan is still so
strong, and so he concentrates all his fire on
that ship and ignores the Destroyer.
DETERMINING
DAMAGE ARCS
Now it’s Geoff’s turn. He just watched Alex
do this and he’s starting to get the hang of the
process; he begins with his Jean Bart.
Pontbriand
DETERMINING
FIRING ARCS
Jean Bart
Since the 274mm gun batteries can only fire
into the Aft-Starboard Location (as that is
the damage arc that overlaps the Jean Bart’s
Bow hex where those weapons are mounted),
Geoff decides to make all Breach Rolls for all
weapons against the Aft-Starboard Location on
the HML Leviathan.
Finally, Geoff extends the damage arcs back
from the HML Leviathan to the Pontbriand and
finds that the weapons in the Pontbriand’s
Port and Stern Locations will fire into the
Aft-Port Location, while the Bow-mounted
weapon will make its attack against the Stern
Location of the HML Leviathan.
29
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Firing Weapons: The Breach Roll
If the target lies within the range and
firing arc of a Gun Battery Slot, the player
makes the attack with a Breach Roll. For
each such weapon attack, the player rolls a
number of dice, as determined below:
Weapon Dice: First, the attacker must
determine the Weapon Dice. Look at the
attacking Ship Card and the weapon Slot
that is firing. As discussed under Dice (see p.
8), Weapon Dice icons are separated by a line:
the top (or left, in the case of Bow or Stern)
Weapon Dice icon is used if range to the
target is equal to or less than the first value
noted on that weapon Slot. The Weapon Dice icon on the
bottom (or right, for Bow or Stern) is used if range to the
target is equal to or less than the second value, but more than
the first value noted on that weapon Slot. For example, the
HML Raven’s 3 IN gun batteries have a “4/8 Hex” notation:
if the target ship is 1 to 4 hexes distant, the first Weapon Die
(DBlue) is used. If the target ship is 5 to 8 hexes distant, the
second Weapon Die (DGreen) is used.
Crew Dice: If a Crew Slot exists in the same Location as
the weapon, add the color die indicated by the Crew Slot.
Only a single Crew Die can be added to each Breach Roll,
even if multiple Crew Slots exist in the same Location.
Location Dice: Next, the attacker must add the target
Location Dice. Having determined the damage arc, look at
the target Ship Card and the appropriate Location on it to
determine the Location Dice to be added to the attack. If
the target ship did not move forward into a new hex this
turn, use the Location Dice icons set against the red (i.e.,
stop!) arrow; if the target ship moved forward into a new
30
hex this turn, use the Location Dice icons set against the
green (i.e., go!) arrow.
Slot Dice: Finally, add a single Slot Die (D6)—or
more, based on the type of attack—and roll all dice for the
Breach Roll.
The above Breach Roll describes the standard “fire at
will” attacks used in the Lieutenant’s Manual. However, these
Commander’s Rules make several types of attacks available to
players, which may modify how the Breach Roll is made (see
Types of Attack, below).
Types of Attack Table
Slot Icon
None*
Type of Attack
Fire at Will
Saturation Fire
Bracketing Fire
*This is the standard, default attack.
Types of Attack
Depending on the type of weapon, the player can choose one
of the following attacks. The types of attack a specific weapon
can make are based on icons that appear on the specific weapon
Slot on the Ship Card. If an attack is described as optional
below, the player chooses every turn whether or not to use that
type of attack. If the attack is not described as optional, treat it
as the default attack type for the weapon in question.
Fire at Will: A Fire at Will attack is a standard attack
where the player rolls the dice and follows the rules as outlined
above. No icon exists for this type of attack, as it is the default
for gun batteries.
Saturation Fire: Some gun batteries are so powerful that the
sheer saturation of firepower can damage multiple Slots. For those
gun batteries, Saturation Fire is their standard default attack. For a
Saturation attack, add another Slot Die for each white square. This
is in addition to the standard single Slot Die, meaning an attack from
such a weapon can damage multiple Slots simultaneously.
In addition, a Slot Die from a weapon with the Saturation Fire icon
doesn’t ignore a Miss Slot (see p. 32), but instead treats it as a re-roll;
even if the player re-rolls a Miss Slot again, he re-rolls once more until
he rolls a non-Miss Slot.
Bracketing Fire (Optional): A Bracketing Fire attack allows a player
to coordinate the fire of all weapons of the same size against a target ship
in an effort to breach a Slot. Whenever a player announces a Bracketing
Fire attack, the player designates the primary weapon and selects the
appropriate Weapon Dice. The player then adds those Weapon Dice
(regardless of the ranges of the additional gun batteries, though the
target must still be within the maximum range of any weapons used)
for each gun battery added to the attack (if a player ends up not
having enough Weapon Dice, simply re-roll additional Weapon Dice
as needed). The attacking player should also add all appropriate Crew
Dice from any Location where gun batteries are fired. The player makes
a Preliminary Breach Roll, tossing all these dice and then choosing the
best two Weapon Dice and the best single Crew Die (if applicable;
even if multiple Crew Dice are rolled, only a single die is selected). The
player then makes the rest of the Breach Roll by rolling the appropriate
Location and Slot dice. (Only add a single Slot Die; unless the weapon
Slots also contain a Saturation Fire icon, a Bracketing Fire attack can
only strike a single Slot.) A player need not add all gun batteries of the
same size to a Bracketing Fire attack, but instead can choose to fire some
as Bracketing Fire and others at will.
In addition, a Slot Die from a Bracketing Fire attack doesn’t ignore a
Miss Slot (see p. 32), but instead treats it as a re-roll; even if the player rerolls a Miss Slot again, he re-rolls once more until he rolls a non-Miss Slot.
31
During a turn, Chad looks at his Ship Card and
realizes he has four 3 IN gun batteries at 4-hex
range to a target ship hex, and two 3 IN gun batteries
at a range greater than 4 hexes to the same target
ship hex (the latter two are mounted in a different
Location further away from the target). The two
weapons at longer range have a Crew Slot, while the
four at shorter range do not.
Chad decides to fire two of the 3 IN gun batteries
at the shorter range, using Fire At Will attacks.
He makes standard Breach Rolls, both with a DBlue
Weapon Die. For the rest of the 3 IN gun batteries,
he plans to make a Bracketing Fire attack and adds
the following Crew and Weapon Dice: DBlue (3 IN gun
battery, the designated primary weapon) + DBlue
(second 3 IN gun battery at shorter range) + DGreen
(Crew Slot in the Location of the two 3 IN gun
batteries at longer range) + 2DBlue (the two 3 IN
gun batteries at longer range; normally they would
use a DGreen, but this is a Bracketing Fire attack,
and so they match the dice of the primary weapon).
He makes his Preliminary Breach Roll of 4DBlue
and a DGreen, and then selects the two best
DBlue results and the DGreen. With that number
determined, he selects the appropriate target
Location Dice (in this instance, 2DBlue; he made
a Preliminary Breach Roll so he could tell the
Bracketing Fire Weapon Dice from the Location
Dice). Next, he adds a single Slot Die and makes
the rest of the Breach Roll, adding the 2DBlue
Location Dice results to those of the original
2DBlue Weapon Dice and DGreen Crew Die. This gives
him a final Breach Roll result, which he compares
to the Breach Number in the indicated Slot.
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Slot Numbers
After making the Breach Roll, check the result of the Slot
Dice against the Slot Numbers in the target Location to
determine the Slot(s) on the target where the shot will hit.
Miss Slots: If a Slot Die indicates a Miss Slot, then the shot
misses regardless of the Breach Roll result or Breach Number
(this outcome represents a thin profile on a given ship).
Armor Slots: For each Armor Slot in a Location, apply the
Breach modifier noted for the Armor Slot on the Ship Card
to all Breach Numbers in that Location. These modifiers
are cumulative, so multiple Armor Slot modifiers stack. For
example, in the Jean Bart’s Fore-Port Location, the Breach
Numbers printed on the Ship Card are: 13, 14, 15, 17, 17
and 16. However, as long as both Armor Slots (which each
provide a +1 Breach modifier) haven’t been destroyed, the
Breach Numbers are actually 15, 16, 17, 19, 19 and 18. As
soon as the first Armor Slot is destroyed, the Breach Numbers
drop to 14, 15, 16, 18, 18 and 17.
Damage
If the Breach Roll result is less than the Breach Number,
nothing happens (the weapon missed, struck but failed to
breach the armor of the target ship, and so on).
If the Breach Roll equals or exceeds the Breach Number
in the appropriate Slot, the attack succeeds and the Slot is
destroyed. The target ship’s controlling player marks off that
Slot by circling it. Doing this serves to remind the player
which Slots are still active after being destroyed, as damage
doesn’t take effect until the end of the turn. At the end of each
turn, all players draw a hash mark through any circled Slots.
Armor, Crew, Gun Battery and Torpedo Slots: The Slot
is destroyed, and starting on the following turn cannot be
used for the rest of the game.
32
Engine Slot: The Slot is destroyed, and starting in the
following turn cannot be used for the rest of the game. For
example, the French Jean Bart Battleship (Type 4) has a
Starting MP of 5 (it has five Engine MP 1 Slots). At the start
of a turn after two Engine Slots were destroyed, the player
can either subtract those Slots’ 2 MP from the Starting MP
or add up the three remaining Engine Slots (1 MP each) to
arrive at the 3 MPs available that turn. The player can also
simply cross off the “5” Starting MP value and write in “3.”
Steering Gear Slot: The Slot is destroyed, and starting on
the following turn cannot be used for the rest of the game (see
Steering Gear, p. 17).
Tesla Coil Trim Tank Slot: The Slot is destroyed.
Starting on the following turn, an attacking ship with a
destroyed Tesla Coil Trim Tank Slot applies a –1 modifier
to all its Gun Battery Breach Rolls; this does not include
any Torpedo attacks, which are unaffected. If multiple
gun batteries are used in a Bracketing Fire attack, only a
single Breach Roll is made and so the Tesla Coil Trim Tank
modifier only applies once to the Breach Roll (not multiple
times for each gun battery involved in the attack). Finally,
this modifier is cumulative, so a ship with four Tesla Coil
Trim Tank Slots destroyed would apply a –4 modifier to all
its Gun Battery Breach Rolls. (Hint: Players may wish to
keep track of destroyed Tesla Coil Trim Tank modifiers by
writing on the illustration area of the Ship Card.)
Multiple Slots: When rolling multiple Slot Dice (see
Saturation Fire, p. 31), if the Breach Roll result equals the
Breach Number in each Slot rolled, then all the Slots are
destroyed; if the Breach Roll equals the Breach Number in
only one Slot, then only one Slot is destroyed; if it equals
neither, then both miss.
Previously Destroyed Slots (Critical Damage)
If a Slot Die indicates a previously destroyed
Slot—including one destroyed in the same turn—
some type of critical failure may occur in that
Location.
Immediately re-roll the Slot Die for one of two
results as indicated below, even if the Location
contains only a single undestroyed Slot. If the re-roll indicates
a Miss Slot, roll again; if there is only a Miss Slot in a Location
an automatic Breaking The Keel Roll occurs (see at right).
•• Re-roll Indicates Un-Destroyed Slot: If the re-roll
indicates a Slot not yet destroyed, compare the Breach
Roll result against the Breach Number of the new Slot (all
modifiers still apply except Armor Slot modifiers, which
are ignored). If the result is equal to or greater than the
Breach Number, the shot found a critical weakness in the
already damaged Location and that Slot is destroyed.
•• Re-roll Indicates Already Destroyed Slot: If the reroll indicates a previously destroyed Slot (including the
Slot originally rolled), compare the original Breach Roll
result against the Breach Number of the new Slot (all
modifiers still apply except Armor Slot modifiers). If the
result is equal to or greater than the Breach Number in
the newly indicated Slot, a massive critical failure may
occur, breaking the ship’s keel and outright destroying
the vessel (see Breaking The Keel at right). (Note that
on some ships, the first few Slot destructions will not
provide enough of a modifier to potentially destroy the
ship in this fashion.)
Whenever players re-roll Slot Dice, if the Breach Roll result
is less than the Breach Number, no additional damage is done.
Breaking The Keel: Whenever a Breaking
The Keel situation occurs, the attacking
player immediately rolls 2DRed (even if
this occurs in the middle of resolving fire),
applying a +1 cumulative modifier to the roll
result for each Slot destroyed on the target
ship (including any Slots destroyed in the current
turn). In addition, apply a +1 cumulative modifier
for each Slot destroyed in the Location struck;
this means any Slots in that Location apply a +2 modifier.
Finally, apply a +1 modifier for any Miss Slot in the Location
struck. If this modified result equals or exceeds the Structural
Integrity of the ship, as shown on the Ship Card, the ship is
automatically destroyed (this occurs at the end of the turn, so
the ship can still firing all its weapons if it’s not yet done so).
If a Breach Roll is made against a Location where all Slots have
previously been destroyed, and the result equals or exceeds the
Breach Number in the indicated Slot, a Breaking the Keel Roll is
automatically made (players need not re-roll the Slot Dice).
Destroying a Location (Breaking the Keel)
Any time a Location is destroyed (meaning all the Slots
in that Location are destroyed; Miss Slots are considered
“destroyed” for this determination), the attack may break the
keel and outright destroy the ship. Use the rules above for
breaking the keel to determine modifiers for a Breaking the
Keel Roll.
If a player rolls multiple Slot Dice for a weapon and
the target Location is destroyed, and there are Slot Dice
remaining that have not been allocated, make a Breaking the
Keel Roll for each Slot Die unassigned.
Attacks made against a destroyed Location still must equal or
exceed the Breach Number in any Slot to affect the target ship.
33
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
In the Determining Firing Arcs, Range and Damage
Arcs Diagram (see p. 27), Alex and Geoff have
determined what weapons can fire and where they
might strike. The two players begin making Breach
Rolls.
in Slot 1 shows a higher number; the listed Breach
Number of 13 is raised to 15 for the two Armor
Slots in that Location, but the Breach Roll result
is still higher. The 138mm Gun Battery Slot is
destroyed! Geoff circles the Slot.
HML Anfield Breach Rolls
HML Leviathan Breach Rolls
Alex starts first, getting the HML Anfield
out of the way before moving on to the raw power
of the HML Leviathan. Looking at his Ship Card,
he notes that both 3 IN gun batteries (from the
Bow and Starboard Locations) will use a DGreen
Weapon Die in place of a DBlue. He’s got crew in
both Locations, and so will add a DGreen to each
roll. He could make a Bracketing Fire attack,
but he decides against it and tries for some luck
instead. He then looks at the Jean Bart’s ForePort Location. He knows the Jean Bart entered a
hex this turn during movement, so he looks at the
green arrow and notes the red and yellow Location
Dice icons. He grabs one D6 Slot Die and makes a
Breach Roll with the following results: Weapon
Die (DGreen) = 3, Crew Die (DGreen) = 2, Location
Dice (DRed and DYellow) = 6 and 5, Slot Die (D6)
= 3. Adding the Weapon, Crew and Location dice
together gives him a Breach Roll result of 16.
Comparing the Breach Roll result to the Breach
Number in Slot 3 (the result of the Slot Die) shows
a lower number, but the listed Breach Number of 15
increases to 17 because of the two Armor Slots in
that Location. The Slot is not destroyed.
Alex makes another Breach Roll with the same dice
(everything is the same for range, Crew Slots,
Location and so on) and gets the following results:
Weapon Die (DGreen) = 2, Crew Die (DGreen) = 3,
Location Dice (DRed and DYellow) = 8 and 4, Slot
Die (D6) = 1. Adding the Weapon, Crew and Location
dice together gives him a Breach Roll result of 17.
Comparing that result against the Breach Number
Now it’s time for the clash of titans, and Alex
reviews his HML Leviathan’s Ship Card. He can
fire his guns in any order he wants; he decides to
unleash his big guns first to see if he can open
some holes that his smaller guns might exploit.
For the first 12 IN gun battery, he starts with
the DBlack Weapon Die, then adds a DGreen Crew Die,
then the DRed and DYellow Location Dice. Finally,
he notes the square icon on the Slot and adds 2D6
for that weapon’s Saturation Fire attack. He makes
the Breach Roll and gets the following results:
Weapon Die (DBlack) = 8, Crew Die (DGreen) = 3,
Dice (2D6) = 2 and 4. The Breach Roll Result is 24!
That great result destroys Slots 2 and 4. Geoff
circles both Slots.
Everything remains the same for the second 12
IN gun battery, and so Alex makes another roll with
all the same dice. He gets the following results:
Weapon Die (DBlack) = 6, Crew Die (DGreen) = 2,
Dice = 5 and 6. The Breach Roll result of 19 once
again defeats both Breach Numbers on Geoff’s
Battleship, destroying Slots 5 and 6! Geoff circles
both Slots.
Next, Alex rolls for his two 6 IN gun batteries.
He starts with a DBlue Weapon Die, adds a DGreen
Crew Die, then the DRed and DYellow Location Dice,
and finally the Slot Die. He makes the Breach Roll
and gets the following results: Weapon Die (DBlue)
= 3, Crew Die (DGreen) = 3, Location Dice (DRed
and DYellow) = 3 and 5, Slot Die = 3. The Breach
34
Roll result of 14 fails against the Breach Number,
which is given as 15.
Alex makes the Breach Roll for the second 6 IN
gun battery with the following results: Weapon Die
(DBlue) = 4, Crew Die (DGreen) = 3, Location Dice
(DRed and DYellow) = 4 and 5, Slot Die (D6) = 1. The
Breach Roll result of 16 destroys the Slot.
Now it’s decision time. That section of the enemy
ship only has one Slot left, and Alex has already
rolled it this turn. The chances of rolling it again
are diminishing, so trying for a high Breach Roll
result by firing all four of the 3 IN gun batteries
in a Bracketing Fire attack may not do any good. Alex
realizes that, since the Jean Bart has 5 destroyed
Slots in the Aft-Starboard Location, any attacks
against that Location offer an excellent chance of
striking a previously destroyed Slot, even with
the Slot die re-roll. If the Breach Roll result is
high enough, he’ll get a Breaking the Keel Roll…
and with the +11 modifier for the 6 destroyed Slots
(5 in the target Location and 1 outside the target
Location), if he rolls a 19 or 20 on the 2DRed, he
just might destroy the Jean Bart! It’s a long shot,
but he decides to go for it.
He grabs a DGreen Weapon Die, a DGreen Crew Die,
DRed and DYellow Location Dice and the Slot Die,
and then makes four separate Breach Rolls for each
of the four 3 IN gun batteries. The Breach Roll and
corresponding Slot Die results for each are: 8 and
1; 11 and 3; 19 and 6; 17 and 5.
The first roll struck a previously destroyed
Slot, but the abysmal result of 8 means that
regardless of any re-roll, he’s not going to do
any additional damage. Alex moves on to the second
Breach Roll. On that one, he managed to strike the
last remaining Slot again, but the Breach Roll
result is still too low and that pesky Slot remains
undestroyed.
The third Breach Roll result of 19 has promise.
Slot 6 was previously destroyed, so Alex re-rolls
the Slot Die for a result of 4, which once again
is a previously destroyed Slot. The Breach Roll
result of 19 equals or exceeds the Breach Number
in that Slot, and so Geoff makes an immediate
Breaking the Keel Roll. He grabs 2DRed and rolls
for a result of 7 and 9. Adding the +11 modifier for
the 5 destroyed Slots brings the total up to 27…
close, but not good enough.
The final Breach Roll result of 17 also looks
promising. Once again, as the Slot Die result
indicates a previously destroyed Slot, Alex rerolls the die and comes up with 3! This time he’s
got luck on his side; the Breach Roll result of
17 is equal to or greater than the Breach Number
in that Slot, so the Slot is destroyed! Geoff
circles the Slot.
The destruction of a Location triggers a Breaking
the Keel Roll, so Geoff nervously tosses 2DRed and
gets a result of 5 and 8. Adding the +13 modifier for
all the destroyed Slots brings it up to 26. The Jean
Bart has taken a pounding, but it’s a Battleship…
it’s got life left in it.
Even after all of that heavy metal the HML
Leviathan threw at the Jean Bart, it’s still got
some potential damage to throw at the Pontbriand.
Alex has a 9.2 IN gun battery in the Stern and
two 3 IN and a 6 IN gun batteries in the Aft-Port
Locations to fire at the French Light Cruiser.
Starting with the 9.2 IN, Alex grabs a DRed (the
target is inside 7 hexes), there’s no Crew Dice to
add, then he adds in the DBlack Location Dice for the
Pontbriand, and finally adds in two Slot Dice (the
weapon Slot has the white square of a Saturation Fire
attack). The roll generates the following results:
Weapon Die (DRed) = 5, Location Dice (DBlack) = 7,
Slot Dice (2D6) = 1 and 5. Comparing the 12 Breach
Roll result against the Port Location, the Breach
Number in Slot 1 is only 11 and is destroyed (Geoff
circles the Slot), while the Breach Number of 15 in
Slot 5 means it’s not destroyed.
35
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
He then fires the 6 IN gun battery. He selects
a DYellow Weapon Dice, this time is able to add
a DGreen Crew Dice and already knows to add the
DBlack Location dice, but only adds in a single
Slot Dice. The dice roll result is the following:
Weapon Die (DYellow) = 7, Location Dice (DBlack) =
7, Crew Die (DGreen) = 1, Slot Dice (1D6) = 5. Since
he just had to compare the last Breach Roll against
the 15 Breach Number in Slot 5, he knows right away
he’s destroyed that Slot as well with a 15 Breach
Roll result (once more, Geoff circles the Slot).
Finally, he’s got the two 3 IN gun batteries. He’s
been having good luck, so he rolls them separately
as opposed to making a Bracketing Fire attack.
Both attacks use a DGreen Weapon Dice (since the
Pontbriand is more than 4 hexes away), the DGreen
Crew Dice and a DBlack Location Dice. Alex comes up
with a Breach Roll result of 9 for Slot 3, and 11 for
Slot 4, neither of which are good enough to destroy
either slot.
COMBAT
Jean Bart Breach Rolls
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Time for Geoff to strike back after that terrible
beating. He begins with the Jean Bart, trying to
pay the HML Leviathan back.
Geoff starts with his big guns. At exactly 7
hexes in range, he can use the DRed Weapon Die.
He adds a DGreen Crew Die and finally, looking at
the Aft-Starboard Location on the HML Leviathan,
he adds a DRed and DYellow Location Dice because
the Leviathan entered a hex during the movement
portion of the turn. Finally, the square icon on
the 274mm Gun Battery Slot lets him know this gun
can make a Saturation Fire attack, and so instead
of a single Slot Die, he adds 2D6 Slot Dice. He
rolls and gets the following results: Weapon Die
(DRed) = 1, Crew Die (DGreen) = 2, Location Dice
(DRed and DYellow) = 7 and 6, Slot Dice (2D6) = 2 and
6. Comparing the Breach Roll result of 16 against
36
the Breach Numbers in Slots 2 and 6, respectively,
shows a higher number for Slot 2 (destroying the 3
IN gun battery there) and a lower number for Slot 6.
Slot 6 is not destroyed; Alex circles Slot 2.
Everything is the same for the other 274mm gun
battery, and Geoff makes the same Breach Roll
with the following results: Weapon Die (DRed) =
5, Crew Die (DGreen) = 4, Location Die (DRed and
DYellow) = 5 and 8, Slot Dice (2D6) = 3 and 3. He
then compares the Breach Roll result of 22 against
Slot 3. The Breach Number, even with the Armor
Slot, is 15, and so Geoff’s attack easily destroys
the Slot. Alex circles that Slot. For the second
Slot Die result of 3, Geoff re-rolls that die and
comes up with another 3! Instead of tumbling around
in that Location and potentially destroying other
Slots, the shot has rammed further into the ship,
forcing a Breaking the Keel Roll. However, even
though the Breach Roll result is high enough, Alex
knows he doesn’t have to make the roll because the
HML Leviathan has only one Slot destroyed. Even
a perfect 20 result on the 2DRed roll and the +2
modifier for the destroyed Slot in that Location
won’t equal, let alone exceed, the Leviathan’s
Structural Integrity of 30. The Battleship simply
hasn’t taken enough damage for any possibility of
the keel breaking at this point.
Next, Geoff rolls for the first of three 138mm
gun batteries. He already knows the Location
Dice are a DRed and DYellow, so he adds the DBlue
Weapon Die (he’s just outside the DYellow range,
unfortunately) and then adds the DGreen Crew Die
and a Slot Die. He makes the Breach Roll and gets
the following results: Weapon Die (DBlue) = 3, Crew
Die (DGreen) = 2, Location Dice (DRed and DYellow)
= 6 and 5, Slot Die = 4. The Breach Roll result of 16
against the Breach Number of 17 (modified to 18 for
the Armor Slot) means that Slot is not destroyed.
Frustrated, Geoff decides to make a Bracketing
Fire attack with his remaining two 138mm gun
batteries. He starts with the DBlue Weapon
Die, then adds another DBlue Weapon Die for the
other 138mm gun battery. He’s got Crew Slots
in both Locations and so adds 2DGreen. He makes
the preliminary Breach Roll with the following
results: Weapon Dice (2DBlue) = 3 and 6, Crew Dice
(2DGreen) = 3 and 2. He gets to keep both Weapon
Dice results, but must choose only one Crew Die,
so he picks the 3. He finishes up the Breach Roll
by rolling the DRed and DYellow Location Dice
(along with the D6 Slot Die) and gets the following
results: Location Dice (DRed and DYellow) = 4 and
5, Slot Die = 6. He adds the total results from
both rolls and comes up with 21! Even with armor
bumping the Breach Number in Slot 6 from 17 to 18,
he destroyed the Slot; Alex circles the Slot.
Finally, Geoff throws a Breach Roll for his last
weapon, the 75mm gun battery in the Aft-Starboard
Location. He gets the following result: Weapon Die
(DBlue) = 4, Crew Die (DGreen) = 1, Location Dice
(DRed and DYellow) = 10 and 2, Slot Die = 5. Once
more, even though the Armor Slot is destroyed, the
damage isn’t applied until the end of the turn, so
the Breach Roll result of 17 doesn’t destroy the
Tesla Coil Trim Tank Slot (its Breach Number of 17
is still bumped up to 18 because of the Armor Slot).
Very disappointing damage, considering what
the HML Leviathan did…Geoff will try a new tactic
next turn.
Pontbriand Breach Rolls
Frustrated that he couldn’t break through the
high Breach Numbers and do much damage to the HML
Leviathan from the Jean Bart, Geoff decides not to
take any chances and announces a Bracketing Fire
attack with all four of his 65mm gun batteries.
He starts with a DGreen for the primary gun, then
adds three more DGreen (he knows he’ll have to reroll some dice, as Alex and Geoff don’t have that
many Leviathans dice yet), then adds a DBlue for
his Crew Die and makes the preliminary Breaching
Roll with the following results: Weapon Dice
(4DGreen) = 4, 3, 1, and 4, Crew Die (DBlue) =
5. He can only keep two of the four Weapon Dice
results, so he selects both 4s. He finishes up the
Breach Roll with a DRed and DYellow Location Dice
and a Slot Die, and gets the following results:
Die = 5. That gives him a Breach Roll result of 24,
which easily destroys the Telsa Coil Trim Tank
Slot in the Aft-Port Location!
Finally, while both 138mm gun batteries (one each
in the Bow and Port Locations) can make Bracketing
Fire attacks and both are turned to fire through
the Port Firing Arc, the damage arcs are different
(Stern and Aft-Port, respectively), so they can’t
be bracket-fired this turn. Geoff decides to fire
them separately.
The stern-mounted 138mm gun battery Breach
Roll provides the following results: Weapon Die
(DYellow) = 5, Location Dice (DRed and DYellow) =
7 and 5, Slot Die = 3. The Breach Roll result of 17
exceeds the Breach Number of 14 (bumped to 15 for
the Armor Slot in that Location) and so that Slot
is destroyed.
The bow-mounted 138mm gun battery Breach Roll
provides the following results: Weapon Die
(DYellow) = 7, Crew Die (DGreen) = 1, Location
Dice (DBlue and DRed) = 3 and 5, Slot Die = 5.
Despite some low dice rolls, the weaker Stern gun
battery’s Breach Roll result of 16 is still enough
to destroy Engine Slot 3. That helped make up for
the Jean Bart this turn!
37
special case rules
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Though the following rules occur before combat, they are
organized after combat for ease of reading and understanding
the rules. In all instances a player must have an understanding
of combat resolution to fully understand how these additional
Special Case Rules work.
torpedoEs
The following rules apply to torpedoes.
LOS: Torpedoes use LOS (see p. 11) when determining if
an attack occurs.
Hint: In large games, movement may become bogged down
excessively if players spend too much time tracking every
possible move to avoid a torpedo’s LOS. In such instances,
each player group will need to create their own time limit
rules for torpedoes and to keep the game flowing smoothly.
Players can also use Fog Of War Torpedoes to speed up a
game (see p. 61).
Firing Torpedoes (Before Movement)
Before movement begins in a turn, a player that plans on
making a torpedo attack must announce he is firing an aerial
torpedo. He should place a Torpedo Launch marker in the hex
(called the Launch Hex) where the Torpedo Slot is located
on the attacking ship; for Type 1 ships firing a torpedo from
a side Location, the token is placed in the hex numerically
corresponding to the Slot as described under LOS (see Slots,
p. 24). Then place the corresponding Torpedo Target marker in
the Target Hex (with the corresponding numerical value facing
38
up), which can be empty or even occupied by another ship. This
marker need not be at the maximum range of an aerial torpedo,
but can be any number of hexes away from the attacking ship,
as determined by the player, up to the torpedo’s maximum
range as shown on the Torpedo Slot on the Ship Card.
As previously mentioned, all torpedo markers are placed
before movement occurs.
Firing Arc: The Target Hex must be in the firing arc of the
Location where the torpedo is mounted.
Hint: Because torpedo resolution is determined by LOS,
players may find it useful to pull out the string at this stage and
draw the LOS between the Launch and Target Hexes for each
torpedo so they know exactly where the attack will occur.
Resolving Torpedoes (After Movement)
After all movement has occurred, at the start of combat for
that turn and before any gun batteries are fired, determine if
there are any targets along the LOS (see p. 11) for any fired
torpedoes. Using the string from the box, draw the LOS from
the Launch Hex to the Target Hex for each torpedo. If any
ship, friendly or enemy, occupies a hex along that LOS (except
the Launch Hex; see p. 39), the torpedo automatically attacks
that target; if there are multiple ships, the torpedo targets the
ship closest to the Launch Hex. If the LOS passes exactly
between two hexes that are both occupied by ships, randomly
determine which ship hex is attacked.
The controlling player of a launched torpedo makes a
standard Breach Roll, but do not add the target ship’s Location
Dice to the roll; Crew Dice are also never added to this roll.
If the Breach Roll is successful, the indicated Slot is destroyed.
If the Breach Roll fails, the action of that torpedo is finished;
it does not move on to attack another ship in the LOS, if any.
(Hint: In a large game with a lot of torpedo action, trying
to remember who fired which torpedoes can be difficult. It’s
usually easier to have the controlling player of the targeted ship
make the Breach Roll.)
The order for resolving torpedoes is completely up to the
controlling player.
Broadside Arcs: When a torpedo attack is resolved against a
broadside arc, roll 1D6: a result of 1-3 = a Fore Location; a result
of 4-6 = an Aft Location. (Hint: In large games, with numerous
torpedoes on the playing area, a player group may wish to simply
roll a single die for all torpedo attacks against a ships’ Broadside
arc to cut down on the number of rolls to help speed up play.)
Damage Arc: If there is any question of where the damage occurs,
use the standard rules for determining a Location by extending the
target ship’s damage arc back to the torpedo’s Launch Hex.
Determining Damage: As previously noted, unlike all other
attacks, damage from torpedoes is applied immediately, so
destroyed Slots (or ships) cannot be used in this turn’s combat.
Launch Hex: The Launch Hex of a torpedo is never counted
in the LOS. As such, the ship firing the torpedo is never in
the LOS, whether it remained stationary, or it moved a hex (or
more) and part of the ship is still in the Launch Hex. This also
means if the firing ship exits the Launch Hex and another ship
moves into that hex, it cannot be hit by that torpedo as that hex
is not counted along the LOS. In any instance above, however,
if any other part of the ship occupies any hex along the LOS
outside of the Launch Hex, including the firing ship, then the
torpedo will attempt to strike the ship.
Miss Slot: If a torpedo Breach Roll indicates a “Miss Slot”
it does not continue; the torpedo is still “spent” and its markers
are removed.
Ship Repairs: Slots destroyed by a torpedo cannot be repaired
in the turn they’re destroyed (see p. 46).
m
ng Torpedoes Diagra
ri
Fi
39
In the Firing Torpedoes Diagram on
CONTENTS/
the previous page, Talon is fielding
CREDIT
S
three French ships—the Jean Bart (Type
4), Lave (Type 2) and Montcalm (Type
1)—against Justin’s British force, the
HML Leviathan (Type 4) and HML Trafford
OVERVIEW
(Type 1). At the start of a turn, before
any movement occurs, all torpedoes are
fired. Talon lost the Initiative, so he
fires his torpedoes first.
GAME Looking at the Jean Bart, he sees
SET-UP
the ship has a torpedo Slot in the AftPort and Aft-Starboard Locations.
He decides to only fire the Aft-Port
torpedo, as he feels it’s the only one
MOVEME
NT will be effective in the current
that
situation. At first, he looks to
fire his torpedo in front of the HML
Leviathan. After visually extending
the side firing arcs (the blue of the
COMBAT
Jean Bart’s firing arc is the furthest
hex row toward the HML Leviathan that
the torpedo can be fired), he realizes
SPECIhe’s
AL not going to come close to the
ship. Instead, as he sees his opponent
CASE
is attempting to flank his vessels
RULES
by zipping the HML Trafford down his
left side, he decides to throw the
torpedo out there to see if he can
END OF
TURNmake something happen. He places a
Torpedo Launch Marker 1 in Hex 3 of the
Jean Bart (the hex of the ship where
the torpedo Slot is located) and then
counts the shortest path to the hex
SCENARIOS
he wants to target (the solid green
line), which happens to be 18 hexes,
the maximum distance. In Hex A, he
then places a Torpedo Target Marker
1. Finally, he draws a quick LOS with
the string (the dotted line of the
same color) so he knows the potential
strike path for the torpedo is exactly
where he wants it.
He then looks at his Montcalm and its
one torpedo Slot in the Port Location
(again, he ignores the other Slot,
as it’s not effective this turn). As
the HML Leviathan is just inside the
Port Firing Arc, Talon decides to
send the torpedo right up the line
past the British ship. This way, even
if Justin decides not to move the HML
Leviathan, he may still be hit by a
torpedo. Talon counts to just behind
the HML Leviathan, 12 hexes. He places
a Torpedo Launch Marker 2 in Hex 1 of
the Montcalm (the hex where the Slot
is located, since it’s in the first 3
Slots) and a Torpedo Target Marker 2
in the target Hex B. He doesn’t have
to draw LOS, as it’s the same as the
shortest path.
Next, Talon looks at the Lave. This is
his key torpedo ship with its two Slots
in the Starboard Location (as before,
he ignores the other two Slots, as they
have no effect this turn). First, he
wants to anticipate the movement of
the HML Leviathan. He knows that the
ship must move forward 2 hexes before
it can turn if it moves out of its hex
at all. He therefore anticipates that
2 hexes’ forward movement and counts
out 15 hexes to Hex C, drawing a quick
LOS with the string (the same color)
to be sure of what he’s looking at. He
places a Torpedo Launch Marker 3 in Hex
2 of the Lave (the hex where the side
weapons on a Type 2 ship are mounted)
and a Torpedo Target Marker 3 in Hex C.
40
Finally, Talon knows that instead of
moving forward, Justin might decide
to sit still with the HML Leviathan
and take the single potential torpedo
attack heading toward Hex B, or he
might also stay in his hex and turn one
or even two hexsides. Talon therefore
tries to cover all his bases, placing
the second Lave torpedo so it overlaps
the British ship. This way, even if the
ship doesn’t move or if Justin makes a
turn without moving forward, there’s
still a chance the torpedo will strike.
Talon counts out 14 hexes to Hex D,
then quickly draws that LOS (the same
color) to ensure he’s right. He then
places a Torpedo Launch Marker 4 in
Hex 2 of the Lave and a Torpedo Target
Marker 4 in Hex D.
Now it’s Justin’s turn, but he’s
only got a single torpedo on the HML
Trafford that can have any effect this
turn. As with Talon, he knows torpedoes
are most effective against the slowest
targets, and so he immediately counts
out 18 hexes to Hex E, drawing the LOS
(once more, the dotted line, to ensure
he’s placing it just right). He places
a Torpedo Launch Marker 4 in Hex 1 of
the Trafford (again, the hex where the
Slot is located since it’s in the first
3 Slots) and then a Torpedo Target
Marker 5 in Hex E.
Now that all torpedoes have been
announced and placed, movement for
that turn can begin.
In the Resolving Torpedoes Diagram at right, all
movement has already occurred. Now it’s time to
resolve torpedo fire. Talon and Justin quickly draw
LOS for the torpedoes they’re confident did not
strike anything: Paths D and E. Since no ships are
along the LOS, they remove those torpedo markers.
Now it’s time to resolve the torpedoes that did
strike a target: Paths A, B and C.
Talon looks sheepish as he realizes he was so
intent on setting up his Lave to fire both Port
torpedoes at the HML Leviathan next turn that he
stumbled into the path of his own torpedo along Path
A. He grabs 3DRed and a D6 Slot Die and rolls against
the Bow Location (remembering that neither Crew or
Location Dice are added to a torpedo Breach Roll).
Once the Breach Roll is resolved, he then removes
the Path A torpedo markers.
Talon has two potential torpedo strikes against
the HML Leviathan: Paths B and C.
Justin could have already been struck twice
by torpedo Paths B and D even if he stayed in his
hex, so he decided to move out of his hex to make
his ship harder to hit, as well as turning so he
could bring his broadside to bear against the Jean
Bart (trading torpedo Path D for Path C, but still
having to deal with Path B). However, only now does
Justin realize his potential mistake. If he’d left
the ship where it was, the Breach Roll for torpedo
Path D would have been made against the ForeStarboard Location, while torpedo Path B’s Breach
Roll would’ve been made against the Bow Location,
spreading any damage between two Locations. Now,
torpedo Paths B and C intersect the HML Leviathan on
the fore-port, potentially concentrating damage in
a single Location.
Talon only rolls a 3DRed and a D6 Slot Die for both
potential torpedo strikes.
Once both Breach Rolls are resolved, they remove
the final torpedo markers and they’re ready to
start firing their gun batteries.
Resolving Torpedoes Diagram
41
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Ramming
When weapons are destroyed and a battle appears lost, a
ship is several thousand tons of metal that can be directed
toward a target in a last-ditch ramming attack. This is the
exception to the rule that a ship cannot end its movement in
another ship’s hex (see Stacking, p. 17).
The attacking ship must have enough MPs to enter the
target ship’s hex, though there is no minimum distance for
a ram (a ramming attack can occur from an adjacent hex).
If the ship has the available MPs, the controlling player can
announce a ramming attack against a target that has already
moved, which is resolved immediately.
However, maneuvering a massive flying ship into a target
when that target is going to damage you back requires nerves
of steel, and even the most seasoned captains can falter.
After the player announces he is making a ramming attack,
but before the ramming ship enters a hex occupied by the
target ship, the player rolls 2DRed. On a result of 14 or less,
the captain falters and cannot make the ramming attack (the
player can still move the ship per standard rules with the
MPs remaining; no other ramming attacks can be attempted
this turn by that ship). On a result of 15 or higher, the
captain remains steadfast and the ramming attack can occur.
If the attack occurs, both players roll a number of dice as
indicated on the Ramming Table, applying all the modifiers
for a standard Breach Roll (see Firing Weapons: The Breach
Roll, p. 30). As with Saturation Fire, regardless of how many
Slot Dice are rolled, only a single Breach Roll is made
and the results compared to the Slot Dice results (see Slot
Numbers, p. 32). The Breach Roll of the ramming ship is
made against the Location where the ship rammed.
Regardless of whether the ramming ship has remaining
MPs, its movement is over for this turn immediately
following the resolution of the ramming.
42
RAMMING TABLE
ATTACKING SHIP BREACH ROLLS:
attacking ship
Weapon Dice
Slot Dice
Type 1
DBlue
1D6
Type 2
DYellow
1D6
Type 3
DRed
2D6
Type 4
DBlack
2D6
Weapon Dice
Slot Dice
1–3
+DYellow
+None
4–8
+DRed
+1D6
+DBlack
+2D6
HEXES ENTERED BY
ATTACKING SHIP
9+
TARGET SHIP BREACH ROLLS:
Target ship
Weapon Dice
Slot Dice
Type 1
2DBlue
1D6
Type 2
2DYellow
1D6
Type 3
2DRed
2D6
Type 4
2DBlack
2D6
Ram ming Diagr
am
Miss Slot: A Breach Roll that indicates
a Miss Slot automatically misses just like a
weapon attack. If all Slot Dice indicate a Miss
Slot, no damage or displacement (see below)
occurs and neither ship is moved.
Displacement
A ramming attack automatically displaces
the target ship one hex in the opposite direction
from which the ramming ship entered,
regardless of whether any damage occurs; after
the ramming attack, the attacking ship occupies
the hex the target ship originally occupied. If this
displacement occurs into another hex occupied
by another ship that has already moved (whether
enemy or friendly), another ramming attack
automatically occurs. Resolve it as described
above, determining the Locations rolled by the
current orientation of the ships in question.
If a ship is displaced into a hex occupied by a
ship that has yet to move in a turn, replace the
ship in question with the appropriate Ship Type
Template until all ramming is resolved. Then
move that ship using the Ship Type Template.
At the end of its movement, once it has cleared
all other ships, replace the Ship Type Template
with its miniature.
43
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
In the Ramming Diagram on p. 43, during a
movement portion of the turn, Kristian decides
it’s time to try to do some ramming damage with
the Pontbriand. He won Initiative and so his
opponent, Jacob, moves the HML Leviathan (Type
4) first and then the HML Essex (Type 2). Now
it’s Kristian’s turn to move his Pontbriand
(Type 2).
He moves the ship forward two hexes (2 MPs),
then hexside turns to the left (1 MP), and
then expends 7 more MPs to race toward the HML
Leviathan; he’s spent a total of 10 MPs and
still has the required 1 MP remaining to enter
a hex occupied by the target ship. Before he
actually enters any hex occupied by the target
Battleship, however, Kristian must roll to see
if his captain has the nerve to pull off the
daring maneuver. He grabs 2DRed and rolls for a
result of 16: the attack can proceed!
Kristian then moves to make the Ramming
Breach Roll, reviewing the Ramming Table. He
first grabs a DYellow and a single Slot Die, as
the attacker is a Type 2 ship. He entered nine or
more hexes (the Pontbriand entered a total of
ten hexes, including the target ship’s hex) and
so adds another DBlack as well as two more Slot
Dice. He then makes the Breach Roll against
the HML Leviathan’s Fore-Starboard Location
(where the attacker is entering the target’s
hex) with the following results: DYellow = 6 and
DBlack = 9, for a total result of 15; Slot Dice
= 2, 2 and 5. The result of 15 is greater than
the Breach Number of 14 in Slot 2, even with the
+1 Armor Slot, and so Slot 2 is destroyed. As
the second Slot Dice 2 result now applies to a
44
previously destroyed Slot, Kristian determines
the effect of the Slot Dice result of 5 first.
The Breach Number of 17 (+1 Armor, raising the
Breach Number to 18) means that the targeted
Slot is not destroyed. Kristian then returns to
the second Slot Dice 2 result and re-rolls that
die (keeping all the other dice as is), with a
result of 1. He compares the extant Breach Roll
result of 15 against the target Slot’s Breach
Number of 13 (14 with the +1 Armor); this Slot
is also destroyed.
Now it’s Jacob’s turn to try to damage the
Pontbriand. He looks at the Ramming Table,
and for a Type 4 ship grabs 2DBlack and 2 Slot
Dice. He makes the Breach Roll against the Bow
Location of the ramming ship and gets DBlack =
6 and DBlack = 7, for a total result of 13; his
Slot Dice come up 3 and 3. Jacob compares the
result of 13 against the Breach Number 11; even
with its two Armor Slots, the 138mm Gun Battery
Slot in the Bow Location is destroyed. Jacob
then re-rolls the second Slot Dice 3 result
and comes up with another 3! He immediately
gets a chance at a Breaking the Keel Roll, so he
grabs 2DRed and rolls for a result of 9 and 8.
Adding +2 for the destroyed Slot 3 (there are
no other destroyed Slots on the Pontbriand),
Jacob gets a 19…1 away from outright destroying
the Pontbriand! Kristian may have destroyed two
Slots on the HML Leviathan, but he almost lost
his Light Cruiser in the process.
Now that the situation is resolved,
displacement can occur. However, before
displacement occurs for the first two ships,
both players know another ram will happen
immediately. The HML Essex already
moved, and so the displacement of the HML
Leviathan will cause an automatic ramming
attack against the Essex. These are both
Jacob’s ships, so he’ll make both rolls.
For the HML Leviathan, after reviewing
the Ramming Table again, he grabs a
DBlack, a DYellow and 2 Slot Dice and makes
the Breach Roll. He gets the following
results: DBlack = 5 and DYellow = 5, for
a total result of 10; Slot Dice = 1 and
5. He compares the Breach Roll result of
10 against the Breach Numbers in Slots 1
and 5 (12 and 17 respectively, due to the
+1 Armor Slot), and breathes a sigh of
relief. The accidental ramming didn’t
damage his Essex.
For the potential damage that the
HML Essex can do to the HML Leviathan,
he grabs 2DYellow and 1D6 and makes a
Breach Roll. He gets the follow results:
DYellow = 5, DYellow = 7, for a total
result of 12; Slot Dice = 2. He compares
the Breach Roll result of 12 against the
14 (15 with the +1 Armor Slot in that
Location) Breach Number in that Slot and
no damage is applied.
Finally, while the displacement of
the HML Essex will occupy a hex of the
Pelletier’s, since that Type 1 ship has yet
to move, the displacement doesn’t effect
the Destroyer. Both players resolve the
displacement of all ships involved in the
ramming, and then Kristian finally moves
his Pelletier.
45
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
end of turn
At the end of every turn, the players can attempt to repair
their ships, apply damage, check to see if the game ends.
Ship Repairs
At the end of every turn, ship Crew Slots may attempt repairs.
Any Crew Slot destroyed (i.e., circles) in a turn is not available at
the end of that turn to make repairs. In addition, repairs cannot
be made against damage sustained that turn (any Slot that is
circled); the damage must have occurred in a previous turn.
At the end of any turn in which a ship has any destroyed
Slots in a Location, and that Location contains an undestroyed Crew Slot, the player may announce he is attempting
repairs. He must announce which Slot he is attempting to fix
(except Armor and Crew Slots, which cannot be repaired in
this fashion; a player also cannot choose a Miss Slot) and rolls
2DRed, adding any Crew Dice to this roll as well.
END OF
TURN
On a result of 14 or less, nothing happens. On a result of 15
or higher, the player may select any destroyed Slot erase the
damage and it’s ready for use on the following turn.
Only a single repair roll may be made for each Slot, each
turn.
Multiple Crew Slots: If a Location has multiple Crew
Slots, the player may choose to try to repair two different
Slots, or he may add both Crew Dice to the 2DRed repair
roll (no more than two Crew Slot can ever attempt to repair a
single Slot). A player may make as many ship repair attempts
each turn as he has Crew Slots.
Critical Failure: If all dice rolled come up 1s, the attempt to
fix the Slot on the fly backfired and destroyed another Slot in
the same Location; randomly determine which Slot (re-roll any
Missed Slots). If the Slot indicated was previously destroyed,
the player must make an immediate Breaking the Keel Roll
(see Previously Destroyed Slots (Critical Damage), p. 33).
Stern,
starboard
and bow
views of
a French
Conquentclass
Armoured
Cruiser.
SCENARIOS
46
In a previous turn Sandra’s Pelletier took heavy
damage: Slot 4 in the Bow Location; Slot 2 in the
Starboard Location; and Slots 2, 4 and 5 in the Port
Location. In the current turn, Sandra couldn’t
maneuver the ship away well enough and it took even
more devastating damage: Slot 5 in the Bow Location,
Slot 4 in the Starboard Location, and Slots 2 and 3 in
the Stern Location.
At the end of the current turn, Sandra attempts
repairs. Any damage that occurred this turn cannot be
repaired; any circled Slots are ignored.
In the Bow Location, the Crew Slot was just
destroyed, so no chance for a repair roll there. The
Stern has no Crew Slot and both Slots were destroyed
this turn, meaning they couldn’t be repaired this
turn even if a Crew Slot were in that Location.
In the Port Location, Slots 2, 4 and 5 were all
destroyed in a previous turn, so Sandra can attempt
to make repairs there. However, the armor in Slot 5
cannot be repaired, so she can only try to fix Slots 2
and 4. She’s got two undamaged Crew Slots in the Port
Location and so decides to assign one crew to each of
those, making two repair rolls. She rolls 2DRed and
adds a DGreen each for Slots 2 and 4, with results of
11 and 17, respectively; the 75mm gun battery remains
destroyed, but for the Tesla Coil Trim Tank Slot and
she erases the damage mark.
The Starboard Location has only one destroyed Slot
she can attempt to repair, since the Tesla Coil Trim
Tank Slot was destroyed this turn. Sandra puts both
Crew Slots to work on that single Slot in the Crew
Dice’s Location, rolling 2DRed and 2DGreen but manages
to actually roll all 1s on all four dice! That means not
only did the crews flub the chance to repair the 75mm
gun battery, but there’s been a critical failure. She
rolls a Slot Dice with a result of 3! The critical failure
resulted in the loss of crew; Slot 3 is destroyed and
she circles it and immediately crosses it out as well,
as it’s the end of the turn.
STRuCTuRAL
INTEGRITY
18
1
SHIP TYPE
MISS
75mm
4/8 HEX
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
CREW
ADD
75mm
4/8 HEX
MISS
1
2
3
4
5
6
11
9
9
10
9
11
11
1
DESTROYER
11
1
MISS
10
2
75mm
4/8 HEX
10
10
3
CREW
ADD
4
12
12
4
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
ARMOR
+2 BREACH
5
13
13
5
ARMOR
+2 BREACH
CREW
ADD
6
12
12
6
CREW
ADD
MISS
75mm
4/8 HEX
2
10
CREW
ADD
3
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
11
7
10
12
10
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
STARTING
MP
12
MISS
75mm ENGINE
4/8 HEX MP 4
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
ENTER HEXES
BEFORE TuRN
ENGINE ENGINE
MP 4
MP 4
1
Leviathans is a trademark of InMediaRes Productions LLC. Some content licensed under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-SA); Some Rights Reserved. © 2011.
Sandra’s Pelletier,
before attempting repairs
47
APPLYING DAMAGE
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
At the end of each turn, after all repairs are made, players
apply damage to their ships by drawing hash marks through
all Slots circled as destroyed this turn.
OVERVIEW
STRuCTuRAL
INTEGRITY
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
MISS
18
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
CREW
ADD
75mm
4/8 HEX
1
2
3
4
5
6
11
9
9
10
9
11
DESTROYER
11
MISS
10
2
75mm
4/8 HEX
10
10
3
CREW
ADD
4
12
12
4
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
ARMOR
+2 BREACH
5
13
13
5
ARMOR
+2 BREACH
CREW
ADD
6
12
12
6
CREW
ADD
2
10
CREW
ADD
3
TESLA COIL
TRIM TANK
11
7
10
12
10
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
STARTING
MP
12
MISS
75mm ENGINE
4/8 HEX MP 4
TESLA
COIL
TRIM
TANK
At the end of each turn, players can determine if the game
has ended.
Usually a game ends when all the ships on a side are
destroyed. If all ships from both sides are destroyed in the
same turn, the game ends in a draw. A ship is considered
destroyed when the number of destroyed Slots equals or
exceeds the Structural Integrity of the ship as noted on the
appropriate Ship Card.
The Scenarios section (see p. 49) includes options for
creating scenarios where the objective is more than the
destruction of your opponent’s ships.
1
MISS
11
75mm
4/8 HEX
Ending the Game
SHIP TYPE
1
MISS
1
75mm
4/8 HEX
ENTER HEXES
BEFORE TuRN
ENGINE ENGINE
MP 4
MP 4
1
Leviathans is a trademark of InMediaRes Productions LLC. Some content licensed under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-SA); Some Rights Reserved. © 2011.
SCENARIOS
Sandra’s Pelletier, at end of turn
48
SCENARIOS
This section provides a general overview of how to create
scenarios (general game situations). It also includes three
ready-to-play scenarios. Each one describes the forces each
side or player uses, the victory conditions and any special rules
for the scenario.
New players should begin with the Lieutenant’s Manual:
Quick-Start Rules. After playing with those rules a few times,
the players can then move on to the following scenarios using
the complete rules in this book. After you have played all
three scenarios, you can start to create your own.
This section also includes How to Use the Leviathans
Universe, a write-up that helps players understand how
they can take the universe of Leviathans as described in the
Gazetteer and connect it directly to game play to increase
player enjoyment and immersion.
General Rules
When creating your own scenarios, the following
guidelines provide a general framework on which you and
your friends can build games that are most enjoyable for
your gaming group.
Number of Players
The rules of Leviathans generally assume a two-sided
scenario, so if more than two players are participating, divide
them into two teams as equally as possible. While players
can generate their own scenarios of three or more sides for
some interesting and fun game play, this can significantly slow
down the game.
Set-up
Players start a Leviathans game by laying down the playing
area, which consists of one or both mapsheets. One map will
result in shorter, more brutal games and does not provide
much in the way of maneuvering room. When deploying four
or more ships per side, it’s recommended that players use both
mapsheets to allow for maximum tactical maneuvering. Of
course, if players own multiple box sets, they can field even
larger playing areas.
Fleet Composition
Once the playing area has been determined, players choose
which miniatures and corresponding Ship Cards they’ll use
during game play.
The specifics of a scenario may suggest a particular size of
fleet, or the players can make their own decisions regarding
how many ships they wish to field. Players may wish to
consider available playing time as well—larger engagements
may take considerably longer to complete than smaller ones.
Players should also consider that Leviathans is designed
as a fleet action game, so one-on-one games may not be very
enjoyable. As a rule of thumb, equal numbers and Types of
ships will result in a more balanced scenario. If Player A
is fielding two Destroyers (Type 1), a Light Cruiser (Type
2) and a Battleship (Type 4), and Player B is fielding only
a Destroyer (Type 1) and a Light Cruiser (Type 2), Player
B is at a disadvantage. In a similar vein, even if Player B
fields two Destroyers (Type 1) and a Light Cruiser (Type
49
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
2) so that he or she has equal numbers to what Player A
is fielding, Player B would still likely be at a disadvantage
because Player A has a larger Type of ship than Player B; in
this instance adding a Type 1 or Type 2 ship to Player B’s
forces would be appropriate. This concept of balance applies
to a standard “Secure Air Superiority” scenario (see p. 52)
using these Commander’s Rules. Certain conditions within
a scenario, as well as Captain’s Rules (such as commander
and crew abilities and skills), can be used to bolster Player
B’s forces, turning an uneven match into a fair fight.
In the end, trying to take into account the type of tactics
and playing style every gaming group enjoys can be almost
impossible. Nothing beats simply playing the game and
gaining experience with how the various ships and factions
interact to learn how to field fleets that make for enjoyable
scenarios in a given gaming group.
CHOOSE HOME EDGE (FIRST TURN ONLY)
The team that won the first Initiative starts by choosing
their home edge (the long or short edge of the playing area).
The home edge is the side of the map through which your
forces enter the playing area (or the side with your deployment
zone) and, depending on the scenario, the only map edge
through which you can withdraw.
The team that lost Initiative is automatically assigned the
opposite side of the playing area as their home edge.
DEPLOYMENT (FIRST TURN ONLY )
Before any action takes place (i.e. before the start of the first
turn), all ships chosen to participate in the scenario need to be
placed on the playing area. In order to deploy a ship, a player
places his miniature on the playing area, with the entire ship
in a deployment zone. A standard deployment zone is defined
50
as the four hexes of a player’s home map edge; the miniatures
can be facing any direction the players choose. Ready-to-play
scenarios may modify the standard deployment zone, or have
the ships enter the playing area during movement.
Ships are always deployed according to their Type, largest
to smallest: Type 4 ships must be deployed before Type 3
ships, Type 3 ships before Type 2 ships and Type 2 ships
before Type 1 ships.
The team that lost Initiative starts at the largest ship Type
and deploys all those ships. If the winning player has a larger
ship Type than the player that lost Initiative, the winning
player deploys all of those larger ships.
The team that lost the Initiative then starts with the next
largest ship Type and deploys all such ships. Once again, if
the winning player has a larger ship Type than the player that
lost Initiative, the winning player deploys all of his larger ship
Types, and so on. Deployment alternates between sides until
all ships have been placed on the playing area.
Movement And Retreat
Scenario maps are fixed once play begins. No new maps
can be added to the playing area during the game. Unless
otherwise noted, ships that exit the map at any edge other
than their home edge are considered destroyed. Ships that
exit the map through their home edge have retreated—they
remain out of play for the remainder of the scenario and
cannot return. Retreated ships do not count as destroyed when
determining victory. Ships may exit the map intentionally
or unintentionally (such as through wind displacement),
or may be forced off by an opponent (such as a ramming
displacement).
Half-hexes along the edge of the map are not considered
part of the map, and so while a ship can enter such a hex during
movement (which may result in part of the ship completely
leaving the playing area during a hex turn), it cannot end its
movement with any part of the ship occupying a half-hex.
All players should agree to the use of forced withdrawal
rules in a given scenario before play begins.
Generally, a scenario ends when all of one player’s ships
have been destroyed or have retreated off the map. At that
point, the opposing player wins. Depending on the specific
scenario being played, however, a player may need to achieve
additional or alternative goals to claim victory.
Crippling Damage
Any ship that suffers crippling damage must withdraw
from the playing area. Crippling damage is defined as follows:
•• If a Type 1, 2 or 3 ship has a Location destroyed
•• If a Type 4 ship has two Locations destroyed
•• If any ship Type has all its weapon Slots (gun batteries
and torpedoes) destroyed
Forced withdrawal
Types of Scenarios
Ending The Game
Most military forces will not fight to the last ship. Instead,
once they have taken appreciable amounts of damage, they
begin to retreat. The forced withdrawal rules help simulate this
situation. Players are free to play any of the scenarios without
the forced withdrawal rules; the scenarios are enjoyable to
play as described under Types of Scenarios (at right). However,
the forced withdrawal rules add variety for enjoyable replay,
heighten the human element and bind players to the crews
represented by the playing pieces in a game.
Under forced withdrawal, crippled ships must retreat from
the battlefield when damage has rendered them useless or
they are in imminent danger of being destroyed (see Crippling
Damage, at right). A ship making a forced withdrawal must
move toward its home map edge as designated by a scenario,
expending its full available MPs each turn.
Withdrawing ships may still attack an enemy ship that closes
within range of a weapon. The following guidelines cover the
circumstances that may occur. Within these guidelines, the
gamemaster’s decision is final. If no gamemaster is present and
players cannot come to a consensus, roll 1D6 to determine a
resolution and get back to play.
The following rules provide a few staple scenario types that
allow for quick and easy scenario generation. These general
types represent only a few of the possible scenarios that
Leviathans players can create. Using these as a template and
your own imagination (along with the rules above), you’ll be
inventing unique and challenging scenarios in no time!
Fleet Composition: Players should always take into
consideration the Types of ships involved when determining
fleet composition. For example, in the Hold Position scenario,
players are instructed to make the attacking fleet twice the size of
the defending fleet. However, if the defender is fielding a Type 4
ship and the attacker is fielding two Type 1 ships, the attacker’s
fleet is not “twice the size” of the defender’s. In this instance, the
attacking force should field the same ship Types as the defending
force: a Type 4 and Type 2 or a Type 4 and two Type 1 ships both
might be considered twice the size of a single Type 4 fleet.
51
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Secure Air Superiority
This is the simplest and most common scenario, in which
two fleets of roughly equal size face each other in a stand-up
fight. Only one side leaves the field alive.
Fleet Composition
Both sides should have the same number of ships.
Victory Conditions
The scenario ends when all the ships on one side have been
destroyed or retreated off the playing area. The surviving side
at the end of the scenario wins.
Hold Position
In the hold position scenario, a player must stave off a larger
attacking fleet. The defending ships may not intentionally
leave the playing area.
Fleet Composition
The attacking fleet should be twice the size of the
defending fleet.
This scenario also requires the use of Crew Skill Ratings
(see p. 60). The defending force should have a Gunnery Skill
Rating one above that of the attacking fleet. For example,
if the attacking fleet has a Regular Gunnery Skill Rating,
then the defending fleet should have a Veteran Gunnery
Skill Rating.
If players only have a single box set, a Hold Position
scenario is limited in scope because there are fewer miniatures
available. Having access to at least two box sets (or additional
miniatures) will significantly increase the enjoyment of
replaying this scenario.
52
Victory Conditions
The scenario ends when all the ships on one side have been
destroyed or retreated off the playing area.
If the defender destroys a number of opposing ships equal
to or greater than the number of defending ships at the start
of the scenario, the defending player wins. In all other cases,
the player whose forces survive or control the playing area at
the end of the scenario wins.
Breakout
In a breakout scenario, the attacking fleet has become
trapped behind enemy-controlled airspace and doesn’t have
the fuel available for a long voyage around the zone of control.
To reach safety, the ships must cross the playing area and
break through the defending fleet.
Place both mapsheets with their short sides together.
The attacker chooses which short side to enter during
movement in Turn 1. The opposite short side of the playing
area is the attacker’s home map edge.
The defender may set up his forces anywhere on the map
containing the defender’s edge of the playing area.
Force Composition
Both sides should have the same number of ships.
Victory Conditions
The scenario ends when all the defender’s ships have been
destroyed or retreated off the playing area, or when all the
attacker’s ships have been destroyed, crippled or retreated off
the playing area. Use the Crippling Damage rules (see p. 51)
to determine if a ship has been crippled.
If all attacking ships survive and exit their home edge, the
attacking player wins a Decisive victory. If all the attacking
ships are destroyed or crippled, or none exit at their home
edge, the defending player wins a Decisive victory.
If the players meet neither of these conditions, use the
following to determine which side wins a Marginal victory.
Attacker: 2 points for each attacking ship that safely exits
its home edge; 1 point for each defending ship destroyed.
Defender: 3 points for each attacking ship destroyed or
crippled; 2 points for each attacking ship forced to retreat off
the map.
Escort
In an escort situation, one side is trying to protect a ship at
all costs as the fleet races across the board. The ship may be
carrying valuable cargo, an important person (VIP), or it may
be the pride of its fleet.
The Escort scenario uses the same rules as the Breakout
scenario (see p. 52), except as follows:
The attacker nominates a single ship to be escorted.
Regardless of the ship nominated, remove enough Engine
Slots to cut its MPs in half (round down) before play begins
(this may result in less than half MPs).
If the escort ship exits off the attacker’s home edge, the
attacker wins. If it is destroyed, the defender wins.
Fleet Composition
The attacking fleet should be twice the size of the
defending fleet.
53
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Developer’s Note:
Gunboat Diplomacy
“How can you shoot at, much less destroy,
a nation’s leviathan and not start an allout war?” It’s a valid question, and one that
requires a very different mindset than our
modern sensibilities. A few things to consider
as you immerse yourself in this world:
No nation had experienced a World War
yet. For centuries, wars were fought by
small, professional armies, supported by
nations with pre-industrial technologies,
limited resources and small populations.
The 1900s and WWI introduced the concept
of “bureaucratized war”: wars fought by
bureaucrats wielding the massive resources
of a modern state and the marshaled might
of its people.
As such, the attitudes of nations and their
people toward war were very different. The
Old World legacy of “knightly chivalry” had
yet to meet the brutality of high technology
and massive troop numbers on a modern
battlefield. Hence, the “honor of the fight”
and a generally cavalier attitude toward war
were still rampant. For example, as WWI
began in the real world, the general British
view was amazingly innocent about the time
54
and scope of modern conflicts: “We’re off
to beat the Hun, then time for a touch of
cricket, some tea and crumpets and we’ll be
home for supper. Ta ta, chaps.”
A significant aspect of this mentality
arose through the public’s distance from the
horrors of war. Not to mention before TV/
internet, the public’s ability to easily access
information regarding the “front lines” of a
conflict was all but impossible. Only in the
latter half of the 20th century did media
start to publish casualty numbers and
graphic, visual reminders of all that war
can do; previously, it was considered crass
and unseemly to draw attention to such
details. For example, if a ship was sunk, it
was simply referred to as “lost”, with no
mention of the hundreds of crewmen lost as
well. Conventions like this distanced people’s
perceptions of war from its brutalities,
while a nation’s leaders simultaneously
wedded the public’s perception of itself and
its country’s “greatness” with a need to win
a particular war.
Then there was the matter of territorial
waters. From the eighteenth century until
well into the twentieth, the definition of
territorial waters—the region next to a
nation’s land mass where it held complete
authority—was three nautical miles (5.6
kilometers) from the coastline. This distance
originated from the length of a cannon shot,
and covered the waters a nation could expect
to defend from its shores (though the exact
distance varied widely depending upon what
a nation claimed). However, there were no
treaties or international laws that enshrined
this concept; such laws didn’t come into effect
until the 1980s (even though the technology to
launch shells from a ship 20 miles inland had
existed since WWII). Prior to that time, this
type of boundary was simply a “gentlemen’s
agreement” between rulers; an understanding
that if lines were crossed, war might occur.
With the invention of leviathans and the
ability to easily move large numbers of troops
and weapons across a nation’s “sovereign
air space,” the waters (or air, in this case)
were further muddied. In the real world,
by the time significant aircraft dedicated to
war existed, the world had passed through
a World War and a second one had begun.
Without those horrors to dampen the cavalier
attitudes of the 1800s, the concept of “gunboat
diplomacy” remained very much alive: “A
few shots into his bow will teach him to see
superiority…where’s my tea?”
So what does all this mean to the game
universe, and more specifically, to your
gaming table? It means ships can and will
fight and often be destroyed, and if the nations
involved don’t have the appetite for a larger
conflict, or feel they are not in a position to
take proper advantage of one, the situation
will be ignored.
There is also the matter of prestige and
honor. Attacking and destroying a cruiser
on the fringes of the empire is one thing;
attacking and destroying the prize battleship
of a fleet on that nation’s doorstep is altogether
different. Such an affront cannot be condoned.
And let’s not forget the complications of
nobility. Destroying that cruiser at the edge of
nowhere will only rate a line on a newspaper’s
back page, below the fold…unless it’s carrying
a cousin of the Duke of York. Then it’s frontpage news and back to a matter of honor, not
just for the duke, but for the entire country!
Even if a larger-scale conflict doesn’t occur,
a reprisal raid will surely be demanded.
In other words, the Leviathans universe is
complex, with a dozen reasons to send barrages
toward enemy ships and just as many not to
go to war. And while every such affront may
be ignored, it will never be forgotten…only a
new victory can wipe honor clean.
Ultimately, how and where you decide what
should or shouldn’t be attacked and what
may lead to all-out war is left in your gaming
group’s capable hands. Enjoy!
55
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
SPECIAL
CASE
RULES
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Scenario 1: my airspace
Clouds slid lazily by, shredding against the forecastle. Sky
Captain Kent Graham kept a firm grasp on his cup of tea as
the wind vibrated the visor on his uniform’s cap. Dark, piercing
eyes contemplated the almost ethereal feel of sixteen thousand
tons of the world’s finest war-forged metal flowing effortlessly
through the sky over the Suez Canal. The caramel-colored,
heat-baked desert below stretched to a distant horizon.
“Sky Captain,” the duty watchman called. Kent ignored
him. He lifted his tea and sipped the bitter liquid without
spilling a drop despite the wind. He hated the brew, but there
were niceties involved. Expectations. He was a nobleman and
a British officer, captain of the pride of British engineering.
He finally turned slightly and caught sight of the watchman
further out, security rope that lashed him in place flapping in
the fierce wind.
“I’ve got them!” The watchman spoke loudly to be heard,
his eyes never wavering from his binoculars.
“The Jean Bart?”
“Aye. And escorts.”
Kent’s smile almost reached his eyes. It was a good day
to remind the French they had no business meddling with
British ambitions.
SITUATION
Suez Canal, Middle East
13 January 1910
The French continue to press the British at every turn.
Nothing so great as to spark a full-out war, but enough that
day-long pitched raids in various hot spots around the world
occur more often than not of late. As the Leviathan and her
escorts guard British territories in the Middle East, one such
conflict erupts.
56
GAME SETUP
Layout both Leviathans maps with their short sides
together, as indicated.
Attacker
The attacker is a small French squadron.
Jean Bart, Paris-class Battleship (Type 4)
Lave, Liberté-class Light Cruiser (Type 2)
La Gloire, Grenouille-class Destroyer (Type 1)
Montcalm, Grenouille-class Destroyer (Type 1)
Deployment
The attacker places his fleet in the attacker deployment
zone.
Defender
The defender is a small British squadron.
HML Leviathan, Leviathan-class Battleship (Type 4)
HML Essex, County-class Light Cruiser (Type 2)
HML Trafford, D-class Destroyer (Type 1)
HML Anfield, D-class Destroyer (Type 1)
Deployment
The defender places his fleet in the defender deployment zone.
OBJECTIVES
As a standard Secure Air Superiority scenario, the objective is to
destroy the opponent’s ships or drive them from the playing area.
The surviving side wins the battle.
OPTIONAL RULES
The Forced Withdrawal rules (see p. 51) are in effect for this
scenario.
Variations
The easiest way to introduce variations for this scenario is to
swap out some of the ships, for example the Trafford for the Raven
or the Lave for the Pontbriand.
Scenario 2: Hold fast
“Losing pressure!” the engine chief bellowed. The man was easily
forty feet away through a nightmare of tubing, bundled wires and
more, all rhythmically pulsing and pounding to keep the massive
leviathan on course despite the damage. Yet the clarion call snapped
the chief ’s troops into action.
Quartier-maître 1ère classe André and his long-time friend Pierre
sprinted through the engine compartment to stave off the loss of
pressure. A seam burst, and the ship rocked as though the hand of
Zeus had hammered into its flanks. A wall of dirty white enveloped
Pierre. André lurched toward his friend to yank him back from the
explosion of super-heated steam, but the mangled pipes from the
boiler kept him at bay. Pierre died screaming, his face boiled to the
crimson sheen of a cooked lobster served at the finest restaurants in
Paris. It began sloughing off as he fell backwards.
57
André swallowed bile at the stench of well-cooked meat, swallowed
his sorrow and rage along with it. He knew his duty. He changed course,
leaping over a runnel of leaking fuel and blood to get around the tangle.
He reached the pressure junction and threw his tired muscles against
the valve shunt wheel. Moments later, the pressure began to equalize.
The Jean Bart would survive a little longer because of his efforts.
He rested for a moment, hoping that knowledge would be enough to
hold the tears back until later. Then he went back to work.
SITUATION
Suez Canal, Middle East
15 January 1910
What started as standard fracas over the Suez Canal has turned
into one of the longer engagements between the French and British
as they meet, fight and break off for short periods over Egypt. In the
midst of this “shooting incident,” the Jean Bart finds itself isolated
and vulnerable.
GAME SETUP
Layout both Leviathans maps with their long sides together, as
indicated.
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
Attacker
The attacker is a small British squadron.
HML Hertfordshire, Country-class Light Cruiser (Type 2)
HML Raven, D-class Destroyer (Type 1)
HML Anfield, D-class Destroyer (Type 1)
Deployment
The attacker places his fleet first in either the attacker or
defender deployment zones.
Defender
The defender is a lone French battleship.
Jean Bart, Paris-class Battleship (Type 4)
COMBAT
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Deployment
The defender places the Jean Bart in the central deployment
zone after the attacker has placed his ships.
OBJECTIVES
The Jean Bart cannot retreat from the playing area. The
objective is to destroy the opponent’s ships or drive them
from the playing area. The surviving side wins the battle.
OPTIONAL RULES
The following optional rules are in effect for this scenario.
Desperate Initiative
Normally, a Type 4 ship would never move after a Type 2
or Type 1 ship. However, the Jean Bart crew is superior to the
British and is driven by desperation. If the French player wins
Initiative by 2 or more over the British player, the Jean Bart
58
moves after the HML Hertfordshire. If the French player wins
by 4 or more over the British, then the Jean Bart moves after
all British ships have moved. For example, during a turn the
British player rolls a 7 for Initiative. If the French player rolls
an 8 or less, the Jean Bart moves first; if the French player
rolls a 9 or 10, the HML Hertfordshire moves first, then the
Jean Bart moves, then finally the two Type 1 ships move. If
the French player rolls an 11 or 12, all British ships move first,
after which the Jean Bart moves.
Forced Withdrawal
The Forced Withdrawal rules (see p. 51) are in effect except
for the Jean Bart, as noted above.
Veteran Crew Skill Rating
The Jean Bart has a Veteran Crew Skill Rating; apply a +1
modifier to all Breach Rolls.
Variations
Players can make achieving victory more difficult to secure
for either side. For example, dropping one of the British
Destroyers would make a British victory harder, while dropping
the Jean Bart’s crew skill to Regular from Veteran (losing the
+1 Breach Roll modifier) would test the French player more.
Players can also start experimenting with campaign play,
where the outcome of one scenario is reflected in the next.
For example, if the Jean Bart survives Scenario 1, perhaps its
crew cannot fix all its damage before it enters this scenario. To
reflect this situation, the players can either retain the damage
from the first scenario (if the ship survived) or, if it didn’t
survive (or the players forgot to retain the previous scenario’s
damage), randomly determine 3 to 5 Slots to be destroyed on
the Jean Bart.
Scenario 3:
Staking A Claim
Attacker
The attacker is a lone British battleship, with accompanying
destroyer.
Captain’s Log
Bloody French are at it again. So of course the bloody Ministry
sends us out here, in the night, with nary a Tommy on the ground
for support. Two levs against whatever the French decide to poke us
with. I just bloody hope the bastards are geeing up for a barney. Been
too long since we showed them why it’s called the English Channel.
HML Leviathan, Leviathan-class Battleship (Type 4)
Crew Skill Rating: Veteran Gunnery, Regular Navigation
(see p. 61)
SITUATION
Off the coast of Dover, England
12 February 1909
Flexing their muscles and their increasingly large leviathan
fleets, the British and French butt heads with greater
frequency over the English Channel.
GAME SETUP
Lay out both Leviathans maps with their long sides
together, as indicated.
HML Raven, D-class Destroyer (Type 1)
Crew Skill Rating: Regular Gunnery, Veteran Navigation
(see p. 61)
Deployment
The attacker enters the playing area during the movement
portion of Turn 1, through the Deployment Zone opposite
that selected by the defender.
Defender
The defender is two French Light Cruisers.
Pontbriand, Liberté-class Light Cruiser (Type 2)
Crew Skill Rating: Veteran Gunnery, Veteran Navigation
(see p. 61)
Lave, Liberté-class Light Cruiser (Type 2).
Crew Skill Rating: Regular Gunnery, Regular Navigation
(see p. 61)
Deployment
After the playing area is set up, the defender chooses one of
the two standard Deployment Zones and places his fleet there.
59
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
OBJECTIVES
The attacker’s objective is to inflict some harm on the
French, but get away before heavier reinforcements show up.
To this end, the attacker achieves a Marginal Victory if he
destroys the Lave by the end of Turn 10, a Minor Victory if
he destroys the Pontbriand by the end of Turn 10, and a Major
Victory if he destroys both enemy vessels by the end of Turn
10. If he fails to destroy any vessel, retreating from the playing
area off his home map edge before the end of Turn 10 will
count as a Draw. Finally, if the HML Leviathan is still on the
map after Turn 10 and neither defending vessel is destroyed,
the attacker loses.
The defender’s objective is to drive off the HML Leviathan
while taking as little damage as possible; the British destroyer
is almost an afterthought. The defender wins a Major Victory
if the HML Leviathan is destroyed and both vessels survive,
a Minor Victory if the HML Leviathan is destroyed and only
one vessel survives, a Marginal Victory if the HML Leviathan
cannot withdraw before the end of Turn 10, and a Draw if all
vessels survive and the HML Leviathan withdraws before the
end of Turn 10. If both vessels are destroyed and the HML
Leviathan withdraws by Turn 10, the defender loses.
OPTIONAL RULES
In addition to all to all the standard Commanders Rules,
the following enhanced rules from the Captain’s Manual
Excerpt section (see p. 61) are in effect for this scenario.
Close, close, close!
Minimum Range is in effect (see p. 63)
It’s Gonna Light!
Critical Gun Battery Failure is in effect (see p. 62).
60
It’s Slate Gray!
Low Visibility is in effect (see Visibility, p. 64).
She’s Blowing a Gale!
A Strong Gale is in effect (see Wind, p. 64). If the HML
Leviathan is blown off the map, it still counts as a successful
withdrawal.
VARIATIONS
As usual, players can easily replay this scenario and trade
out various enhanced rules. A few examples:
As neither side fields the same Type of ships, this scenario’s
Initiative doesn’t effect movement, which some players may
find odd. To easily slide a chance of Initiative affecting a turn
back into the scenario, the players can use the Desperate
Initiative rules from Scenario 2: Hold Fast (see p. 58).
Changing Strong Gale and Low Visibility to a more or
less difficult ‘settings’ will effect the over-all game, providing
different flavors of play.
Tweaking gunnery/navigation skills on the ships will
easily provide a different flavored game, but players need
to be careful as too much tweaking on a single side could
significantly upset the balance of play. However, such
tweaking in combination with other rules can actually rebalance a scenario; for example if players put the Critical Gun
Battery Failure into play, they may find it hurts the Battleship
too much, but since it’s far too much fun to leave it out, they
tweak the Gunnery of the Battleship from Veteran to Elite.
CAPTAIN’S MANUAL EXCERPT
The following “enhanced scenario” rules are just a slice of all that
the Captain’s Manual in the Captain’s Box has to offer, providing
a slew of additional tactics to spice up any type of scenario.
These rules have been modified as appropriate to ensure they are
completely playable with just the rules and ships in this box.
At the end of all movement, however, no ship can occupy the
hex of another ship; this means a Type 1 (Destroyer) can never end
its movement occupying another ship’s hex.
FOG OF WAR TORPEDOES
Fog of War Torpedoes conveys a more realistic feel to the
battlefield and increases the speed of a game, but at the price of
increasing the lethality of torpedoes.
Follow all the standard rules for torpedoes (see p. 38), with the
following exceptions:
• When placing all Torpedo Target markers, ensure the side
that does not include a numerical value is face up.
• Before resolving torpedoes, after ship movement, turn all
Torpedo Target markers face-up.
Initiative (Expanded)
The Initiative system in Leviathans is simple to use but can
be overpowering at times, especially when there is a significant
disparity of ship Types on either side of a scenario. The following
rule lessens that effect, but also slows down play.
Instead of rolling 2DRed per side, each player rolls 2DRed
per Type of ship deployed, re-rolling any ties. Movement still
progresses from highest Type ship to lowest, but the order of who
is moving first within each ship Type may change based on who
wins. Players should write down the various results in order to
remember them correctly.
Crew Skill Ratings
stacking (expanded)
As with much in Leviathans, the stacking rules are designed for ease
of play. However, that often means handicapping some of the slower
ship Types. The following rules expand on the standard stacking rules
(see p. 7). Unless otherwise stated, all standard rules apply.
A ship can end its turn in a hex occupied by another ship,
provided that ship is a smaller Type and it has enough MP available
to move out of any hexes occupied by the currently moving ship.
For example, a Type 4 (Battleship) could end its movement in any
hex occupied by a Type 3, 2 or 1 ship, but a Type 2 (Light Cruiser)
could only end its movement in a hex occupied by a Type 1 ship.
61
In standard rules for Leviathans, all ship crews are considered
equal. However, that is far from the truth; a skilled crew can be just
as important as the ship. Use the following rules to simulate crews
of different experience.
Players can choose to use superior crews (which will result in
quicker games), or they can randomly roll a DRed for some real fun:
• a result of 1 to 2 = Green crew;
• 3 to 5 = Regular crew;
• 6 to 8 = Veteran crew;
• 9 to 10 = Elite crew.
Regardless of the manner of determining the crew rating,
Gunnery and Navigation Skills are determined and tracked
separately.
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
If players wish they can have the Elite Crew skills also
include the benefits of the Veteran Crew skills. However,
this makes Elite crew exceedingly powerful, so care should be
taken when building scenarios in this fashion.
Crew Slots: The following rules are in addition to the
standard rules for a Crew Slot; the loss of a Crew Slot has no
effect on these rules.
Breaking the Keel: Every time a Breaking the Keel Roll
is made (see p. 33), if that roll fails, the controlling player
of the ship rolls 2DRed. On a result of 2-10, nothing
happens; on a result of 11-20, downgrade the crew’s skill
by one rating for either Gunnery or Navigation (randomly
determine which). No rating can drop below Green in this
fashion. For example, during a game in which crew skills are
used and the target ship has Veteran Gunnery and Regular
Navigation Skill ratings, a Breaking the Keel Roll fails. The
controlling ship’s player rolls 2DRed with a result of 13,
meaning enough crew were killed to affect the crew’s overall
skill. The player then randomly determines which skill will
be affected. He rolls a DGreen, noting that a result of 1-2
will affect Gunnery and 3-4 will affect Navigation. He gets
a result of 3, which drops the crew’s Navigation Skill Rating
from Regular to Green.
Hidden Crew Skills: If players wish, instead of announcing
each ship’s crew skills at the start of the game, they can write
the crew skills down on a piece of paper and keep them
hidden. Once a crew skill rating is revealed through its use in
the game, the player can announce the rating.
Ramming and Ship Repairs: When using Skill Ratings,
the roll to determine if ramming can occur (see p. 42) and the
Ship Repair roll (see p. 46) are both modified in the following
manner (these are used in place of the standard dice): Green
Gunnery = 2DYellow; Regular Gunnery = 2DRed; Veteran
Gunnery = DRed & DBlack; Elite Gunnery = 2DBlack.
62
Gunnery Skill
Apply the following Gunnery Skill rules:
Green: Apply a –1 modifier to all Breach Rolls.
Regular: No effect.
Veteran: Apply a +1 modifier to all Breach Rolls.
Elite: Increase the maximum range of all gun batteries by
2 hexes (this only applies to the maximum range, not short
range); if the Minimum Range rule is in effect, these extra 2
hexes are not counted when comparing the gun battery range
to the Minimum Range Table (see p. 63).
Navigation Skill
Apply the following Navigation Skill rules:
Green: Apply a –1 MP modifier after determining the total
MP for each turn (if the ship has an MP of 0, this rule does not
apply), and a +1 modifier to Enter Hexes Before Turns.
Regular: No effect.
Veteran: Apply a +1 MP modifier, regardless of the current
number of MP (if the ship has an MP of 0, this rule does not
apply).
Elite: Ignore the cumulative modifiers (+2) from the
first two destroyed Tesla Coil Trim Tanks (only after the
third Tesla Coil Trim Tank Slot destruction is a +1 modifier
applied); apply a –1 modifier to Enter Hexes Before Turns.
CRITICAL GUN BATTERY FAILURE
As a ship takes damage, the structural integrity of a gun
battery mount becomes comprised. In addition, the exhausted
crew and chaotic environment put enormous strain on safety
procedures. All these factors can lead to a situation where a
gun battery may explode upon firing, with larger guns causing
more catastrophic damage.
While the following rules add more realism into the mix
and create great “Oh, man!” moments, using them requires
splitting the Breach Roll into two rolls, while increasing the overall
lethality of Leviathans. This means ships die more quickly and
games end faster.
Use the following rules when incorporating critical gun battery
failure into a scenario:
A critical gun battery failure can only occur in a turn following the
turn in which two Slots have been destroyed in a Location.
Any time a Breach Roll is made with a gun battery in a Location
with two previously destroyed Slots (a Miss Slot never counts), first
roll the Weapon Dice and Crew Die (if any).
• If the Weapon and Crew Dice (if any) all come up ones, the
gun battery has exploded; the Slot is immediately destroyed
and the rest of the Breach Roll is ignored. This is an exception
to the rule of damage taking effect at the end of the turn.
• If the Weapon and Crew dice (if any) do not all come up
ones, roll the Location and Slot Dice and proceed as normal
to determine if the attack was successful.
Apply the following rules immediately after a critical Slot
destruction as described above:
• If the gun battery’s Maximum Weapon Die is DYellow, the
Structural Integrity of the ship is immediately lowered by 1
point.
• If the gun battery’s Maximum Weapon Die is DRed, the
Structural Integrity of the ship is immediately lowered by
2 points.
• If the gun battery’s Maximum Weapon Die is DBlack, the
Structural Integrity of the ship is immediately lowered by
3 points.
• In all instances, cross out the SI and write in the new, lower
value. Depending on the damage taken in a turn, a ship’s SI
may drop multiple times.
63
minimum range table
weapon range
(in hexes)
Minimum range
(In hexes)
0–8
0
9–12
2
13–14
3
15–16
4
17+
6
Minimum Range
Standard rules assume that a gun can track as far or as close as
possible. However, in the real world, larger guns often have difficulty
moving quickly enough to track ships moving at very close range.
The following minimum range rules reflect this reality.
Use the Minimum Range Table to determine a specific weapon’s
minimum range and then apply the following rule:
If a target is inside a weapon’s minimum range, after determining
the Weapon and Crew dice (if any), but before adding the Location
Dice, rotate one die down one color for each minimum range hex: Black,
to Red, to Yellow, to Blue to Green. If multiple dice are being rolled,
always rotate the highest color dice (if there are several highest color
dice, simply choose one to start with). Once the Weapon Die equals the
Crew Die, the Crew Die must be rotated. This can result in a weapon
having no Weapon Die, which means the attack cannot be made.
Torpedoes: Unless specifically stated otherwise, a torpedo cannot
use the Minimum Range rule.
visibility
Visibility is a general term that defines the overall visual conditions
of a scenario, from lighting (night, dusk and so on), to atmospheric
conditions (fog, rain, snow and so on), to man-made conditions
(smog) and so on.
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
Minimum Range Example
During a turn, a ship is firing at a target with
100mm and 274mm Gun Batteries (the 100mm with a
DGreen Crew Die, the 274mm without a Crew Die) at a
range of 1 hex.
The 100mm Gun Battery would normally roll a DYellow
Weapon Die and a DGreen Crew Die, but the 2 hexes
inside minimum range rotates the DYellow down to
a DGreen, so the player would add the Location Dice
from the target to give himself 2DGreen when making
the Breach Roll.
The 274mm Gun Battery would normally roll a DRed
Weapon Die, but the target is 3 hexes inside minimum
range and so the weapon would only have a DGreen (DRed
to DYellow to DBlue to DGreen) to add to the target’s
Location Dice for the Breach Roll.
wind
If players wish, they can make their games more dynamic,
adding wind to move the clouds and potentially even ships
across the playing area.
visibility
condition table
Slot
(1D6)
Roll
At the start of the game, the players can choose a visibility
condition (or it may be noted in a ready-to-play scenario). To
create a more natural situation where the players are unsure of
their battlefield before combat begins, after players have set up
the playing area and deployed their ships, roll a Slot Die and
compare it to the Visibility Conditions Table.
Torpedoes: While visibility doesn’t affect a torpedoes
“dumb fire” Breach Roll, it does affect the maximum range
when designating a target point. Subtract the number of hexes
indicated in the Torpedo Maximum Range Reduction column
of the Visibility Conditions Table from a Torpedo Slot’s
maximum range to determine its modified maximum range
under a given condition.
Visibility
Condition
Breach
roll
modifier
Torpedo
maximum range
reduction
1–2
Clear
None
None
3
Reduced
–1
–2 hexes
4
Low
–2
-4 hexes
5
Poor
–3
-6 hexes
6
Terrible
–4
-8 hexes
Wind Direction
At the start of the game, the players roll a
Slot Die and compare its result to the Wind
Direction Table. The wind will travel in this
direction for the remainder of the game
(unless using Shifting Winds; see below).
Shifting Winds
If players wish, they can add further diversity to their use
of wind conditions in a given scenario, by having the direction
and strength of the wind shift from turn to turn. At the start of
the game, players should choose which wind strength they want
or should randomly determine wind strength by rolling on the
Wind Strength Table.
64
At the end of every turn, after all other ship
action has been resolved, check to see if the
direction or strength of the wind has changed.
First, roll a Slot Die for wind strength. On a
result of 1, the wind becomes one category
weaker (for example, a Moderate Gale would become a Light
Gale). On a result of 5, it becomes one category stronger (for
example, a Strong Gale would become a Storm). Wind will not
change below 1 (No Wind) or above 6 (Storm). Then roll a
Slot Die for wind direction. On a result of 1, the wind direction
changes by one hexside (60 degrees) clockwise. On a result of 6,
the direction changes one hexside counterclockwise. A result of
2–5 on either roll indicates no change.
Effects of Wind on Ships
A Light Gale has no effect on ships. However, all stronger
winds start to affect ships, depending on their type, as
summarized on the Wind Strength Table. The following rules
fully describe those effects.
In order not to be moved by wind, all ships must spend MP
equal to the Ship Effects column of the Wind Strength Table at
the end of their movement so they can “hold position” in the hex
where they ended up. If the MP is not spent, the ship is displaced
1 hex in the direction of the wind. For example, in a Storm, a
Destroyer at the end of its movement would need to spend 3
MP in order not to be displaced 1 hex, while a Battleship in the
same situation would only need to spend 1 MP to hold position.
If a unit is displaced into a target hex that contains another
ship, even if that ship is friendly, ramming automatically occurs
(see p. 42). All the standard rules for ramming apply, with the
two ships’ potentially damaged locations determined by their
current orientation. This may cause additional rams if numerous
ships are close together.
In all instances, movement due to wind occurs at the end of
movement; all wind movement is simultaneous and is resolved
on the playing area after all ships have finished moving.
Extra MP: If a ship enters hexes only in the direction the
wind is blowing, without any hexside turns during its movement,
the ship receives bonus MP equal to the Ship Effects column of
the Wind Strength Table. As with all movement, this MP is not
carried across the turn, so if it is not used in that turn, it is lost.
No Engine Slots: A ship that does not have any Engine Slots
(meaning they were all destroyed in a previous turn) automatically
moves 1 hex, as described above, if the appropriate wind strength
would affect the type of ship in question. If this movement carries
the ship from the playing area (or the ship ends the turn with
any part of it occupying a half-hex), it is considered destroyed for
purposes of the scenario.
wind strength table
1D6 Roll
Wind STrength
Cloud Effects
1–2
No Wind
Clouds Do Not Move
Ship Effects*
—
3
Light Gale
Clouds Move 1 Hex
—
4
Moderate Gale
Clouds Move 2 Hexes
Type 1 = 1 MP
5
Strong Gale
Clouds Move 3 Hexes
Type 1 = 2 MP; Type 2 = 1 MP
6
Storm
Clouds Move 4 Hexes
Type 1 = 3 MP; Type 2 & 3 = 2 MP;
Type 4 = 1 MP
*See Effects of Wind on Ships, p. 31.
65
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
END OF
TURN
SCENARIOS
the leviathans universe
How to use the
Leviathans Universe
The world of 1910 Leviathans is epic in scope. The manifest
destiny of the 1800s, combined with Old World power and
elites, mixes with new technologies that dazzle the imagination
as man uses his ingenuity to conquer science and the world.
ART AND FICTION
The art and fiction of Leviathans crafts a larger-thanlife, alternate history of clashing empires at the dawn of
the technological age. Yet heroes still make the difference,
whether engaged in deadly political intrigue in the palaces
of far distant lands, or on the deck of a ship fighting for its
life in a raging storm as hellfire from 12-inch gun batteries
threatens to obliterate it.
When immersing yourself, or describing it to a friend, the
following elements offer just a taste of the Leviathans world:
•• Giant steel-cased ships forging through the air over
cities, mountains and foreign ports. Static lightning
halos thrown off by a ship’s electroid ballast tanks when
conducting high-powered maneuvers. A broken-keeled
ship hanging for a heartbeat at the edge of the clouds,
blazing with fire and lightning, then slowly rolling over
and plummeting toward the barren desert floor...
•• The officers who must perfect three-dimensional
naval warfare on ships that mount cutting-edge 1910
66
technologies. The enlisted man who cuts his lanyard to
dash across a pitching deck and rescue a comrade before
he goes over the side; the engineer who is almost as
much a wizard as a technician, able to pull off virtual
miracles to save his vessel under fire.
An Evolving World
In addition to the scope and excitement of this universe,
Leviathans is also evolving. The current setting of the
universe is 1910. Yet the Gazetteer delves decades into the
past to fully flesh out the alternate history of this universe
that began with a pivotal event: Rynchowski isolating the
electrical fluid (electroid) in 1878. More important for you,
the player and reader, the Gazetteer shows a world on the
brink—a moment in time as a collective breath is drawn
before epic events unfold.
In future releases (as well as the website www.
monstersinthesky.com), additional fiction will depict those
events. And you, the player, will experience the universe as
it evolves, reading about the men and women fighting for
king and country, and playing out their epic conflicts on your
gaming table.
How Do I Do That?
The following is an example of how players can take the
Leviathans universe and infuse it into every game they play.
Unlike the Captain’s Manual Excerpt, which provides
rules for tweaking various aspects of Leviathans play, or the
Scenarios section (see p. 49), this section simply provides
insights into how players can immerse themselves more
thoroughly in the universe.
Where and Why?
These are likely to be the most important questions players
ask as they design a scenario or take a published scenario
and rev it up. The previous scenarios provide rough “where
Egypt
French
West Africa
Cameroon
Congo
Angola
AFRICA
and why” answers—just enough of a hint to give a frame
of reference for why British and French ships are going at
each other, especially when no formal declaration of war has
occurred. Yet those are just the tip of the iceberg.
Let’s take the My Airspace scenario as an example (see p.
54). The situation provides a quick thumbnail sketch; British
and French forces are fighting over the Suez Canal. But why?
Just because they don’t like each other? Or is something
bigger going on?
After perusing the Gazetteer (and looking
at the Africa map; displayed here for ease of
reference), a playing group may decide it’s
not about a direct fight over the Suez Canal.
There’s a lot more to it.
Nationalist fever has broken out in Egypt,
with a small uprising threatening British
control of that nation near the French West
Africa border. The British have moved in
some ground troops, while nervous leviathan
commanders are ensuring that the French
keep their collective nose out of British
business. Meanwhile, the French move their
leviathans in because the British conflict is
occurring far too close to a hidden French
manufactory. Not nearly close enough for
ground troops to threaten…but enemy
leviathans are a completely different story.
Such misunderstandings on both sides
could easily escalate into a shooting war from
which neither empire can extricate itself.
South Africa
67
CONTENTS/
CREDITS
OVERVIEW
GAME
SET-UP
MOVEMENT
Captain and Crews
Those details are great, but they’re still impersonal: a clash
of empires rather than people. Taking it down another level
to the captains and crews involved, with the wind in their hair
and cordite burning in their nostrils, can bring a wonderful
immediacy to a game.
For example, a gaming group may decide that while Sky
Captain Kent Graham would like nothing better than to
kick French posterior, the uprising is of far greater concern.
But not in the way another officer might think. Unlike many
British officers, Graham doesn’t believe in the need to stamp
the King’s authority on African natives at every turn. Yet if
he can’t fend off the French forces quickly enough, that may
allow the rebellion to spread too far in Egypt. And if that
occurs, the Royal Sky Fleet might just redeploy “Black Jack”
COMBAT
END OF
TURN
United
States
John Christian and his HML Philopoemen from another part
of the globe into the mess. Kent loathes Christian for his role
in the Calcutta massacre, but knows the high command will
allow the man to do his dirty work all over again if necessary
to secure the empire’s borders.
Sky Captain Graham would consider it a black mark on his
honor if he let such an event occur.
It’s Up to You
The description above represents only one of hundreds—if
not thousands—of ideas the players will come up with on
their own for placing themselves directly onto leviathans’
decks. Ultimately, it’s up to each playing group to decide how
much or how little of the universe plays out in their scenarios.
After all, just moving ships and tossing dice in Leviathans is
plenty fun.
However, when fully linked to all the
action, intrigue and drama that Leviathans
has to offer, any scenario becomes far
more than just a game.
Canada
SCENARIOS
NORTH
PACIFIC
United
States
68
Leviathans is a trademark of InMediaRes Productions LLC. Some content licensed under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-SA); Some Rights Reserved. © 2013

Commander`s Manual - Monsters in the Sky

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