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Victory at Sea Redux Table of Contents

1.0 Object ............................................................................................................................................................. 4 2.0 The Mapboard ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Table 1: Initial Port/Base Control - Allies .............................................................................................................. 5 Table 2: Initial Port/Base Control - Axis ................................................................................................................ 5 3.0 The Playing Pieces ....................................................................................................................................... 7 4.0 Prepare for Play ............................................................................................................................................ 9 5.0 Sequence of Play .......................................................................................................................................... 9 6.0 Movement .................................................................................................................................................... 11 7.0 Combat ......................................................................................................................................................... 12 8.0 Retreats ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 9.0 Carrier Air Raids ......................................................................................................................................... 15 10.0 Returning to Base ..................................................................................................................................... 15 11.0 Repairs ....................................................................................................................................................... 16 Table 3: Port Repair Capacity ............................................................................................................................. 16 12.0 Land-Based Air ......................................................................................................................................... 17 13.0 Amphibious Units ..................................................................................................................................... 18 14.0 Submarines ............................................................................................................................................... 19 Table 4: Submarine Deployment ........................................................................................................................ 19 15.0 Hilfskreuzers (German merchant cruisers) ............................................................................................ 20 16.0 Capturing Ports and Bases ...................................................................................................................... 21 Table 5 Italian ship surrender ............................................................................................................................. 21 17.0 Controlling Sea Areas .............................................................................................................................. 21 18.0 Minor Navies .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Table 6 French ship disposition .......................................................................................................................... 22 19.0 Starting the War in The Pacific ................................................................................................................ 23 OPTIONAL RULES ............................................................................................................................................ 25 20.0 Turn 0 (Advantage undetermined) .......................................................................................................... 25 21.0 Turn 11 (Japanese advantage small)...................................................................................................... 25 22.0 French Fleet Dilemma (Axis adv. med.) ................................................................................................ 25 23.0 Pearl Harbor Realism (US adv. med) .................................................................................................... 27 24.0 Um Shoukan? (US advantage likely none at all, slim chance of huge) .............................................. 27 25.0 Gunnery Radar (US advantage small) ................................................................................................... 28 26.0 Hidden Submarine Deployment (Axis advantage small) ...................................................................... 28 27.0 Submarine Targeting Restrictions (Allied advantage medium) ........................................................... 28 28.0 Damage Control (US advantage small) ................................................................................................. 28 29.0 Task Forces (Advantage undetermined) ................................................................................................ 29 30.0 The Greek Navy (British advantage small) ............................................................................................. 29 31.0 HMS Argus (British advantage, small) ....................................................................................................... 29 32.0 Pocket Pride (German advantage small) ............................................................................................... 29 33.0 Graf Zeppelin and Seydlitz/Weser (German advantage small/medium) .............................................. 30 34.0 Alternate Ship Names (No effect on play, of historical interest only) ....................................................... 30 35.0 Japanese BB-CV's (Japan adv. very small) ........................................................................................... 31 36.0 Aging British Fleet (Axis adv., small) ....................................................................................................... 31 37.0 Italian Naval Ineffectiveness (British advantage, large) .......................................................................... 31 38.0 Aggressive Italian Naval Buildup (German advantage, small/medium) ................................................. 32

2014 by Brian M. Herr

Date printed: 17 December 2014

(supercedes any/all previous printings)

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This work originally began life several years ago as a Christmas present for a friend. I wanted to construct for him a replica of Victory in the Pacific made entirely out of wood. Since any true craftsman uses stain, not paint, to color wood, I was left with the problem of how to distinguish the patrolling side from the counter from the raiding. The solution I came up with was one side would use a profile view of the ship and the other would use an aerial view. Obviously, this led to a great deal of research in order to find such images. It just kind of snowballed from there. I never did make the wooden game go figure. Anyway, it is to Rob that I want to dedicate this project. Through the whole process, he has been my sounding board, my devil's advocate, my foil. Through nearly my whole life, he has been my best friend. In more ways than one, if not for him, this game would never exist.

For Rob

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Victory At Sea Redux (VASR) is a boardgame rec-reation of the strategic naval situation in WWII, from the early months of the Atlantic war to the decisive Battle of the Philippine Sea in late 1944. Although all the major combat ships in the Axis and Allied na-vies are portrayed in the game, and although the board shows all the battle areas from the Barents Sea to Samoa, VASR is only a basic simulation of the war on a strategic level, with most of the tactical details represented by simple, admittedly artificial game mechanics. The resulting game is relatively fast-paced and fun to play, but it is not as realistic as most other simulations.

Much of VASR is derived from mechanics used in Avalon Hill's classic game Victory in The Pacific (VITP), applying a modified version of that system to the sea wars in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, es-sentially combining that title with its older brother War at Sea (WAS), which was published in turn by Jedko Games, Avalon Hill, and L2 Design Group. Players familiar with these older titles will immediate-ly notice that the mapboard representing the Pacific is structurally similar to it's predecessor, whereas the map for the Atlantic theatre has changed radically.

This was done for two main reasons: 1) to more seamlessly combine the mechanics of the two games, and 2) to better reflect the nature of the At-lantic naval fighting. The original WAS, for all its ap-peal, essentially recreates a Jutland-like scenario using a WW2 order of battle, something that never really happened. The Battle of the Atlantic from 1939-1944 was much more a game of hide & seek or even whack-a-mole than anything else. Also, the U-boats that were so central to the real war were relegated in WAS to very much a supporting role. This game attempts to address those issues while still maintaining most of the original system's simplic-ity, and minimizing special rules that apply to only one theatre or the other. The solution selected is to replace the patrol-only, one-or-two-area moves of WAS with the patrol-raid and up-to-three-area struc-ture of VITP, but simultaneously dividing the Atlantic and Mediterranean into more areas. This combina-tion satisfactorily restricts the range of the Axis ships, but at the same time gives them added op-tions, thus presenting the Allied player with a far more complex blockade/anti-submarine problem.

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1.0 Object

VICTORY AT SEA REDUX can be played as either a two-player game with one player controlling the naval and air forces of the Allies (Britain, the United States, France, plus several minor fleets) and the other player controlling those of the Axis (Germany, Italy, and Japan), or as a four-player game with each player controlling one of the following: Britain + mi-nor allies, US + France, Germany + Italy, or Japan.

The object of the game is to control the many sea areas of the mapboard, thus gaining Victory Points (hereafter, VP). These VP are recorded on two separate tracks printed on the mapboard; one for the Atlantic Theatre of Operations (ATO) and one for the Pacific Theatre of Operations (PTO). The player with the most accumulated VP in each theatre wins that theatre. In order to win the game, a player or team must win one theatre and win or draw the oth-er. On any other result, the game is a draw. Alter-nately, if players agree beforehand, the winner of a 4-player game is the single player with the most VPs on his track.

The number of VPs that a player gets for controlling a sea area is printed beneath the name of that sea area on the mapboard. There are two VP numbers in each area, one that the Axis player gets if he con-trols the sea area, and one that the Allied player gets if he controls the sea area; the VP numbers are different for each player, and vary from sea area to sea area. Each side's VP number reflects how valu-able that particular sea area was to that side's war effort.

Examples: As seen in the picture above, the North Sea is worth 1VP to the British player and 3VP to the German player. The In-donesian oilfields were crucial to the Japanese war effort, so the Japanese player gets 3VP for controlling Indonesia, while the Al-lied player gets only 1VP there. In the Atlantic, virtually all Eng-land-bound convoy traffic passed through the Western Approach-es; hence it is the single most valuable sea area on the board: 4VP for Germany/Italy, and 2VP for the British.

To control a sea area, a player must have a patrol-ling surface ship or a land-based air unit still at sea in the area after combat has concluded for the turn. Only one player at a time can control a sea area, so if both sides have units in the same sea area, the units must fight until all of one (or both) side's units have retreated or been destroyed. The players use their ships, subs, land-based air, and ground units to control areas for themselves and to prevent the en-emy from doing the same. The players are free to use whatever strategies they see fit: ones that were

actually used, ones that were discarded or ones that were never even considered.

2.0 The Mapboard

2.1 The mapboard portrays the sea areas, ports, and bases that were the centers of fighting in the world's seas and oceans during World War II. Gen-erally, ships and other units move onto sea areas during turns and return to friendly bases or ports be-tween turns. Each sea area, major port or minor base can be controlled by either side, and control of each of these can change sides from turn to turn. Markers are placed on each sea area, base, or port with either the Axis or Allied side face up to indicate possession/control.

2.2 Sea Areas are the large water-patterned re-gions separated from each other by white lines. Moving from port or base to a sea area, or one sea area to another counts as a single move, regardless of the size of the sea area(s). Exceptions: the Straight of Gibraltar (2.61 ) and the English Channel (2.62 ).

2.21 The map of each sea area contains two small flags, each with a number next to it. The flag indi-cates on which VP track points are awarded when the area is controlled, and the number indicates how many VP are awarded.

2.22 Victory Points listed next to Japanese or US flags are recorded on the PTO track, and points next to British or German flags are recorded on the ATO track. Note that the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean award VPs to the British play-er on the ATO track should the Allies patrol these areas, but to the Japanese player on the PTO track should the Axis patrol them.

2.23 Some sea areas in the PTO have one flag or the other outlined with a yellow band. This indicates twhich side, if any, controls the sea area at the be-ginning of the game. No ATO area is controlled at game start.

2.3 Ports and Bases:

2.31 Ports and bases are represented by circles, either magenta, green, or grey. Each has a circle around it to indicate which player/nation controls that base at the start of the game. These circles corre-spond to the national flag of the owner. Initial con-trol of ports and bases is also listed in Table 1 for the Allies and Table 2 for the Axis, both below.

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Table 1: Initial Port/Base Control - Allies

England France US

England Brest USA Gibraltar Toulon Panama Canal Malta Diego Suarez Philippines Suez Saigon Attu Simon's Town DY Dutch Harbor Trincomalee Midway Andaman Islands Pearl Harbor Singapore Johnston Island Australia New Hebrides Port Moresby Samoa

Table 2: Initial Port/Base Control - Axis

Germany Italy Japan

Norway Taranto Yokosuka Navy Yard Germany Tripoli Okinawa Saipan Truk Kwajalien Maloelap

2.311 There are two minor bases that are not con-trolled by either side when the game begins: Lae and Guadalcanal. They function normally as bases, with the sole execption that they must be captured (16.0 ) before either side can use them. The white ring around the green circle indicates their initial un-controlled state. The Neutral Port also has this white ring.

2.32 Major Ports are the magenta circles. These are the main fleet facilities, often with repair capabili-ties. They also function as airbases for land-based air units (LBA).

2.321 Germany may not be captured within the confines of the game, but functions in all other re-spects as a major port.

2.322 Russian Ports: Murmansk and Leningrad are Russian ports that are active for the Allied player beginning on turn three. During turns one and two (and optional turn zero), they are ignored. Like Germany, they cannot be captured within the con-fines of the game. Allied land based air units may not operate from any Russian port. In all other re-spects, they function as major ports while active.

2.323 USA is a normal major port, as is England. The flag washout overlays in the shape of the na-tional borders/islands are there to help clarify which sea areas are adjacent.

And because they look cool.

2.33 Minor Bases are green circles. They are smaller bases, and have no repair facilities other than serving to remove disabled (5.58 ) counters.

2.34 The South American Neutral Port is repre-sented by a gray circle. It may be used by both sides, even on the same turn.

2.341 Only ships may use the neutral port. Land based air units may not operate from or return to the neutral port. The neutral port may never be invaded, attacked, or captured.

2.342 Ships in the neutral port may not repair dam-age, but upon entering the neutral port, any disabled marker is removed, just as with any other port or base.

2.343 Every ship returning to the neutral port must successfully leave the next turn or the owning player suffers an immediate loss of 1VP per such unit on the ATO track. Units beginning the turn in the neu-tral port that attempt a speed roll, fail it, and as a re-sult end up back in the neutral port have not suc-cessfully left the port and are subject to the 1VP penalty.

2.35 Ports and bases are located within sea areas or along the border between two or more sea areas; a port or base is treated as part of every sea area that it touches.

Examples: Italy is part of both the Western and Eastern Mediter-ranean Sea. Truk is part of the Marianas Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the South Pacific Ocean.

2.36 Each major port or minor base can be used only by the player who controls it at that time. Unless otherwise noted in the rules or on the board, every port and base is in operation throughout the game for the side that controls it.

2.4 The topographically decorated areas on the mapboard are not used in the play of the game and are shown on the board solely to illustrate geogra-phy.

2.5 Special Geographic Cases:

2.51 The island of New Guinea is divided into two minor bases: the northern half, Lae, and the south-ern half, Port Moresby. Lae touches only the South Pacific Ocean and Indonesia, while Port Moresby touches only the Indian Ocean and Coral Sea. The two bases do not touch each other; they are sepa-rated by the Owen Stanley Ridge (the mountain range them), which effectively prevented large-scale military operations. During the game, land units cannot move directly between Lae & Port Moresby; they must go to sea and invade to get around the Owen Stanley Ridge.

2.52 Germany and Norway are considered a single major port in the standard game. German units may move back and forth between them at no cost. Al-lied air attacks on either is considered an attack on both. The minor base coloring of Norway is for use in the optional "turn zero" (20.0 ).

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2.53 Brest and Toulon are considered two separate ports for unit movement purposes, but one port for capture purposes. In other words, ships may not move freely between them, and for the Allies to cap-ture "France", both the Bay of Biscay and the West-ern Mediterranean must be simultaneously held for two turns to effect capture. The Allies may not re-capture France earlier than turn 8. Once taken back by the Allies, the Axis may not recapture either Brest or Toulon.

2.54 The entire Philippines island chain comprises a single minor base that touches both Indonesia and the Marianas Islands.

2.55 As noted on the mapboard, Addu Atoll may not be used as a base by the British until turn 3, and may not be attacked by the Axis until Trincomalee is in Axis hands.

Addu Atoll was established as a base by the British beginning in August 1941. With the threat posed to the British position in India by the Japanese army, it subsequently became a fall-back posi-tion for the Royal Navy. The Japanese were completely unaware of the base's existence for a very long time.

2.6 Geographic choke points:

2.61 Any and all ships attempting to move past Gi-braltar in either direction while Gibraltar is enemy-controlled must treat this move as an extra sea area of movement. Any ship failing its speed roll must re-turn to its original port/base. Note that this super-cedes 6.231 and 6.232 .

2.62 Any ships attempting to move through the Eng-lish Channel into another sea area while either Eng-land or Brest is enemy controlled must treat that as an extra area of movement. Note the double white line on the mapboard as a reminder.

Both rules apply to Allied units as well as Axis. Given the layout of the mapboard and the other movement rules, however, unless Germany captures England (absent a complete moron running the Admiralty, good luck with that), it is virtually impossible for an Allied ship to have no alternate route around the Channel. At that point, the Battle of the Atlantic and the game is pretty much over, anyway.

Had the Axis captured Gibraltar, it may have been difficult for them to replace damaged/destroyed shore batteries in a timely fashion; but with Stukas on the airfield and U-Boats prowling the approaches, "running the rock" would have been difficult for the Allies as well.

2.63 Units that begin the turn at the Panama Canal may move into either the US Mandate or the Hawai-ian Islands, but such a move is considered the se-cond sea area entered; speed rolls (6.23 ) are made accordingly. The reverse is not true, however; ships in those sea areas may only cross back to the ATO during the return to base portion of the turn. The Panama Canal is considered adjacent to those sea

areas for this purpose (only). Japanese amphibious units may not invade the Panama Canal.

2.64 No non-Russian Allied units may enter the Bal-tic Sea. No Russian units may exit the Baltic into other ports or sea areas.

2.65 No unit may move through the Suez Canal while Suez is enemy-controlled, likewise the Pana-ma Canal.

During the war, Axis ships and submarines did make it through both the English Channel and the Straits of Gibraltar. The manouever was extremely dangerous and often costly, but it was done. No significant Allied units passed either into or out of the Baltic; had they attempted to do so, the Luftwaffe could and would have put up a far greater resistance than is represented in this game 2.65 is a no-brainer, but one does have to write these things down, if only to thwart the armchair lawyer who claims, "Show me where it says I can't."

2.7 For purposes of several rules, and also for ease of reference, the board is divided into two halves, called Theatres of Operation. There is a heavy red dashed line separating these two halves.

2.71 The Pacific Theatre of Operations (PTO) con-sists of every sea area, port, and base from the right (Hawaiian) edge of the board up to and including Di-ego Suarez and the Arabian Sea.

2.72 The Atlantic Theatre of Operations (ATO) con-sists of every sea area, port, and base from the left (USA) edge of the board up to and including Suez and the Cape of Good Hope.

2.73 A few sea areas, despite being part of one theatre, actually yield VP in the other theatre.

Sea Area Allies VP Axis VP

Eastern Seaboard (ATO) US 1 (PTO) Germany 3 (ATO) Caribbean Sea (ATO) US 1 (PTO) Japan 3 (PTO)

Arabian Sea (PTO) British 1 (ATO) Japan 3 (ATO)

This isn't really a rule, per se, just a confirmation of the printing of the mapboard text.

2.8 Turn / Order of Appearance Chart

2.81 The Turn / Order of Appearance Chart indi-cates what units each side has at the start of the game, and what units enter or leave the game later during play.

2.82 Each player takes the counters listed for turn 1 (not turn 0) from the Order of Appearance chart and places them on the board according to the set-up restrictions for his side.

2.821 German, Italian, and Japanese units are placed &/or appear in Germany, Italy, and Yokosuka Navy Yard, respectively.

2.822 French ships may be placed in any/all of Brest, Toulon, Diego Suarez, or Saigon.

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2.823 US units with a letter in the upper left corner of the counter are placed in the appropriate ports, sea areas or holding boxes according to said letter. See 3.15 for details.

2.824 British units may begin the game in any/all of: England, Gibraltar, Suez, Trincomalee, or Singa-pore. Unless otherwise noted, British reinforce-ments arrive in England.

2.83 At the start of each turn during the game, both players consult the order of appearance and place all their units listed as arriving that turn on the board. Then the player must remove from play any units that are listed under removals for that turn; these are out of play for the rest of the game.

2.84 If ships or units are listed as arriving at a port that is controlled by the enemy, the ships or units are lost instead. Exception: All US reinforcements may appear at either USA or Pearl Harbor. If Pearl Harbor has been lost, they may enter at Samoa in-stead. If both Pearl Harbor and Samoa have been lost, US reinforcements must be placed in the USA.

2.85 On certain turns, the Turn Chart requires the withdrawal of certain units. On these turns, the player must remove that specific unit if possible, even if that unit is damaged. If that unit has been lost, he must remove a different unit of the exact same type. If no units of that type are currently on the board, but one that has been lost and is due to re-enter as a later reinforcement, he must remove the next available returning unit. If no units of that type exist either on the board or as a returning unit, the player need not remove any unit. It is never necessary to substitute the Italian or a Japanese LBA for a removed German one.

2.86 VASR is normally a ten-turn game. Optional turns 0 and 11 are included in the rules and on the Turn Record / Order of Appearance chart.

2.9 VP Tracks on the board are used to record the players' relative VP accumulations. There is one track for the ATO and one track for the PTO. At the end of each turn (5.81 ), each player totals the VP listed for his side in all the sea areas he controlled that turn, the totals are subtracted from each other, and the player who gained the most VP that turn gains the difference and moves the VP counters along the track to reflect the VP gained. Gains by each player are shown by moving the markers to-wards the end of the track next to his flag; the VP10 counters are used on the 10's tracks to record multi-ples of 10 VP. If any player gets 29 VP ahead, he can gain no more; he remains at +29 until his oppo-nent starts gaining VP back.

Example 1: The German player wins 3VP and the British player wins 6. The British player moves the ATO VP counters the net 3VP gain in his favor.

Example 2: The US player wins 5 VP and the Japanese player wins 12, but the Japanese player already has 27 VP accumulat-ed. The Japanese player moves the PTO VP counters to show the maximum of 29 VP.

3.0 The Playing Pieces

3.1 Ships: The game contains several different sets of " x 1" two-sided playing pieces, or counters, that represent the capital ships of the various navies that fought during WWII. The fronts of these coun-ters are a distinct solid color for each major navy as follows: United States = blue, Japan = red, Great Britain = medium green, Germany = black, Italy = grey, France = light blue. Also represented are the minor navies of Russia, Australia, Greece, and the Netherlands; all of which = lighter green. The re-verse of most of these pieces contains much the same information as the front, but is instead super-imposed over the naval flag, or jack, of the owning country. The front side of ship counters is called the patrolling or patroller side. The back is called the raiding or raider side. Some ships have only a pa-troller side, not both. This is deliberate; such ships must move with and function as patrollers; they may not raid. Figure 1 and Figure 2 explain the numbers and symbols on the ship counters:

Figure 1: Surface Ship

(front / patrol side) (back / raider side)

Turn/place of appearance

Ship name or designation

2 Bismarck

4 7 6

Bismarck

4 7 6

Gunnery Factor

Movement

Factor

Naval Jack Armor

Factor

Shading or border around a factor indicates a bonus

3.11 Gunnery Factor: The number of dice the ship rolls when attacking during a surface action.

3.12 Armor Factor: The number of damage points a ship can have without sinking.

3.13 Speed Factor: The number a ship must roll less than in order to move an extra sea area; also used to determine whether one ship can evade or pursue another.

3.14 Bonus: Ships with a gunnery bonus add 1 to each gunnery attack (not damage) die roll during a surface action. Ships with a defensive bonus sub-tract one from each damage (not attack) roll made

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against them. Ships with an airstrike bonus add 1 to each airstrike attack (not damage) die roll during an air action.

3.15 Turn/place of appearance: A letter indicates a unit that must be set up in a specific location, a number indicates the turn on which the unit appears, and an asterisk (*) indicates a counter that is asso-ciated with an optional rule.

A Australia C Coral Sea E Eastern Seaboard or Caribbean Sea H Hawaiian Islands I Indonesia L Leningrad M Philippines (Manila) P Pearl Harbor S Singapore U U.S. Mandate W,X,Y,Z "Location Uncertain" groups

Figure 2: Aircraft Carrier

(front / patrol side) (back / raider side)

E Wasp

0 2 6 4

Wasp

0 2 6 4

Airstrike Factor

3.16 Airstrike factor: If a ship has a fourth digit (slightly separated) along the bottom of the counter, as in Figure 2, that ship is an aircraft carrier, and the fourth digit is the airstrike factor. This is the number of dice the ship rolls when attacking during an air ac-tion. If there is no fourth digit, the ship may not make any attacks during an air action.

3.2 Submarines: The " square counters that ap-pear as smaller versions of ship counters represent submarines. Gunnery and armor factors of subma-rine counters are analogous to those of ships, but submarines do not have speed factors.

Figure 3: Submarine

(front / pa-trol side)

(back / raider side)

8 Sub

1 0 *

Sub

1 0 *

No Speed Factor

3.3 Land-Based Air units (LBA): The " square counters with pictures of planes on them represent land-based air forces of the various nations.

Figure 4: Land-based Air (LBA)

(front) (reverse)

1 RAF

2 3 *

Any sea area or base adj. to an Allied base. Must start in ATO.

Attack Factor

Defense Factor

No Speed

Factor

3.31 Attack/Air Factor: The number of dice the unit rolls when attacking during an air action.

3.32 Defense Factor: The maximum number of damage points the unit can have without being de-stroyed.

In VITP, air units were eliminated when damage equaled the ar-mor factor, not exceeded it, as with ships. This always struck me as rather fiddly, since if you reduce all of these factors by one, and make the rule the same as for ships, it makes the rules more internally consistent, and doesn't change the relative value of the unit one bit.

3.33 Air units have no movement/speed factor.

3.34 Some air units have initial placement re-strictions (ATO or PTO) listed on the back of the counter.

3.35 Air units have no raiding side.

3.4 Ground Units: The " square counters with in-fantry symbols on them are ground units, used to hold or capture minor bases. The US and Japanese units represent amphibious troops; the British unit nominally represents men, equipment, and supplies intended to reinforce the Malta garrison; and the German unit represents varying combinations of German paratroopers with German & Italian sea-borne troops. All nationality's amphibs function es-sentially the same in the game. Attack, defense, and speed factors are all analogous to those of a surface ship. See 13.0 for details.

Figure 5 Amphibious Unit

(front / pa-trol side)

(no raider side)

1 Yokosuka

0 3 3

Attack Factor

Defense Factor

Speed Factor

3.5 Markers: There are also several types of mark-ers used in the game that belong to neither side, but

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are used to indicate control, damage, and game sta-tus.

3.51 The larger two-sided square pieces with pairs of naval jacks on either side are control flags, which are placed in sea areas at the end of a turn to de-note control by one side or the other. Flip the ap-propriate side face up to indicate control by the Axis or Allies. Any flag is removed if nobody controls a given sea area.

Figure 6 Control Marker

(front) (reverse)

Allied Control

Axis Control

3.52 The small square two-sided counters that con-tain either a British, German, US, or Japanese roun-del are garrison counters that are placed on the ports and bases, with the appropriate side face up to indicate Axis or Allied control. Use the Brit-ish/German counters in the ATO and the US/Japanese counters in the PTO.

Figure 7 Garrison Marker

Atlantic Pacific

(front) (reverse) (front) (reverse)

3.53 The small white two-sided square counters with numbers or x's are playing aids used to mark damaged, disabled, or sunk ships.

Figure 8 Damage Marker

Damaged Disabled / Sunk

(front) (reverse) (front) (reverse)

Damaged

5 Damaged

6 Disabled

X Sunk

XX

3.54 The small white counters with the letters "VP" on them are to keep track of the score (Victory Points) on the scoring tracks. There are two pairs of counters (ATO and PTO).

Figure 9 Victory Point Marker

(one pair for the Atlantic)

(one pair for the Pacific)

VP VP x10

VP VP x10

3.6

4.0 Prepare for Play

4.1 Unfold/unroll the mapboard and place it on the table between the players. It is recommended that the Axis player(s) sit nearest the north edge of the board and the Allied player(s) sit nearest the south edge.

4.2 Place all of the unit counters onto each player's Order Of Battle Card, matching each counter up with the corresponding space on the OOB. Units with an asterisk as all or part of this label are optional units; make sure all players are agreed upon which op-tional rules are in effect.

4.21 The German paratrooper unit (0-2-* Fsjr) ap-pears on turn 3 in the standard game and on turn 0 if optional rule 20.0 is in play.

4.22 Several American ships arriving later in the game have two counters for the same unit, one of which is an optional unit. Place both counters onto the same space of the OOB, but only bring one on as a reinforcement on the appropriate turn. See op-tional rule 34.0 for details. If you are not using 34.0 , use either counter of each pair (not both!) they are functionally identical.

4.3 Place the small square port/base control mark-ers onto each base as indicated on the Order of Bat-tle Charts. Place appropriate control flags in each sea area controlled by one player or another as indi-cated on the OOB.

4.4 Place the damaged, disabled/sunk, and unused control counters in a neutral area in easy reach of all players.

4.5 Each nationality in turn (5.1 ) takes all of the unit counters from the Order of Battle that are available on turn one and deploy them on the board according to the restrictions listed.

4.6 The Japanese player moves any desired units from Yokosuka to the holding box marked "Pearl Harbor Raid Force". Only ships with a speed of five (5) or greater may be placed into this box.

4.7 The game is now ready to begin.

5.0 Sequence of Play

5.1 In each activity, unless otherwise noted and re-gardless the number of players, the Japanese player acts first, then the British, then American, then finally the German/Italian player. This may mean that in a 2-player game, the same player performs a given action twice (for two different countries) before his opponent responds. French units are moved at the same time as the British on turn 1, and with the US or German units on turn 3+ (Free French or Axis

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controlled, respectively). Other Allied minor units (Russian, Australian, Dutch) move at the same time as the British.

5.2 Players consult the turn chart and place their reinforcements on the board. Any units listed as removals are removed from play.

5.3 As soon as all new/returning units have been deployed onto the board, if the Japanese player has not yet attacked, he declares whether he will do so this turn.

5.4 Movement Sequence

5.41 In nationality order, move all patrolling ships and all submarines to sea (front/patrolling side up). Flip over all ships in port that are to become raiders (naval jack side up). Units that are to be repaired are also left in port, but remain patrolling side face up. After all of each nation's moves are made, re-solve speed rolls for each of its patrolling ships that moved an extra sea area. Ships that fail their speed roll are inverted to their raiding (naval jack) side up.

5.42 After all patrollers have moved and all speed rolls resolved, ships that remained in port but were not inverted to raiders may conduct repairs.

5.43 Land-based air units are placed one at a time in nationality sequence. Place one Japanese LBA unit first, one British, one US, then one German or Italian, and so on, skipping a nation once it runs out of air units.

5.44 Each player in turn moves any/all of his am-phibious units to sea. Amphibs are not placed one at a time like LBA.

5.45 Each player in turn moves his raiding ships from ports and bases to sea. After movement, he makes speed rolls for his raiding ships that tried to move an extra sea area.

5.46 Each player with one or more submarines at sea may, in turn, invert one of them in each sea area to its raiding side.

5.5 Combat Sequence

5.51 The Axis player selects the next sea area or base where combat will be fought (7.1). Once com-bat begins in any location, it is fought to a finish be-fore combat proceeds to the next sea area.

5.52 Resolve ASW (14.3 . Total the ASW strength of the patrolling units in that sea area and resolve their attacks. Surviving patrolling submarines roll their attack(s) against merchant shipping. Adjust the VP track. Move surviving patrolling submarines aside; do not return them to base until the Return to Base portion of the turn (5.84).

5.53 Each side moves desired LBA units onto ene-my base(s) to attack those bases. Resolve all of those attacks. Return LBA's which attacked to an adjacent base.

5.54 Combat within a sea area is fought in rounds. Each round consists of one air action or one surface action; or occasionally, one air action followed by one surface action taking place in the same round.

5.55 The players determine whether they are fighting an air, surface, or combined air-surface ac-tion (7.3). This determination is in effect only for that round of combat in that sea area. If it is a surface ac-tion, the player shooting second must announce which of his aircraft carriers (if any) will be firing their gunnery factors.

5.56 The first player to shoot allocates all of his at-tacking forces for this action to their targets, then re-solves their attacks and places the appropriate damaged, disabled, and sunk markers on targets that were affected. These markers do not go into ef-fect until the end of that action; the second player's ships and units get to return fire before the first play-er's attacks take effect.

5.57 Then the second player allocates his attacks and resolves them, placing the appropriate markers as he goes.

5.58 At the end of the action all damaged, disabled, and sunk markers go into effect.

5.59 If the players are fighting an air action followed by a surface action in the same round, they follow steps 5.56 through 5.58 once for the air action, then repeat them once for the surface action. Note that all damage and disabled markers placed during the air action take effect before the surface action begins. Units lost during the air action are not available for the surface action.

5.6 After each combat round in a sea area, the fol-lowing actions may be taken:

5.61 First, any raiding submarine in that sea area may attempt to target an enemy unit and attack, re-turning to port immediately after executing the at-tack.

5.62 Second, either player may retreat from the sea area and the other player may pursue or (if already pursuing) break off pursuit.

5.63 Finally, non-retreating amphibious units in the sea area may land in nationality order.

5.7 Repeat combat rounds (steps 5.55 to 5.63 ) until only one side has forces in the area. The victor may then conduct an air raid (with carriers that did not

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pursue any retreating groups), and any amphibious units still at sea in the area may land. Combat then moves to the next sea area.

5.8 End of Turn

5.81 Each player in turn may invade adjacent island bases with any amphibious units still at sea.

5.82 The players place control flags on the sea are-as they control and add up the VP they gain for the turn. The VP tracks are adjusted to show the new VP totals.

5.83 Any port or base that is surrounded by enemy-controlled sea areas both before and after control flags are placed is converted to enemy control. Turn its garrison counter over to show the new owner.

5.84 Return to Base: Each player in turn returns all of his ships and units that are still in sea areas to friendly ports and bases.

5.85 The players proceed to the next turn and re-peat steps 5.1 through 5.84 . At the end of the tenth (or optional 11

th) turn, the game is over. Apply the

victory conditions from 1.0 to determine the victor.

6.0 Movement

6.1 Each units speed factor is used only for making speed rolls (6.23 ) and during combat. It does not indicate how many sea areas a unit can move.

6.2 All ships start their move by moving from a base or port into an adjacent sea area. They may then move into a second (or third, if raiding) sea area that is adjacent to the first (second) sea area.

6.21 Ships that move to sea during step 5.41 (be-fore air units are placed) are patrolling ships and are placed front side up (solid background, side view of ship). When patrolling, ships may move one area automatically, and a second area if they successfully make a speed roll (6.23 ).

6.22 Ships that move to sea during step 5.45 (after air units are placed ) are raiding ships and are placed raiding side up (naval jack background, ship top view). Only ships in port, raiding side up, may move during step 5.45 . When raiding, ships may move two sea areas automatically and a third area if they successfully make a speed roll (6.23 ).

In VITP, British and Non-US allied ships were artificially limited to two-area moves. This was not due to any inherent shortcomings in British ship design, but rather in order to keep the British forces geographically tied to their historical objectives. This limitation has been removed for VASR. In VASR, it is hoped that the distri-bution of the VP will keep each player focused on what is best for his side, while the movement system allows players the freedom to pursue their own strategies. Similar reasoning led to the re-moval of basing restrictions based on nationality.

6.23 Speed rolls: When a speed roll is made for a ship, roll one die and compare the result to that ships current speed. If the ships speed exceeds the die roll, the ship passes the speed roll and the ship successfully enters the sea area. If the die roll is equal or higher than the ship's current speed, the ship fails the speed roll.

6.231 Patrolling ships that fail the speed roll still en-ter the second sea area, but are turned raiding side face up; they are treated like raiding ships for the remainder of the turn. If the ship does not have a raiding side (the back of the counter is blank), the ship must immediately return to a friendly or neutral port/base (10.0 ) from the second area entered.

6.232 Raiding ships that fail their speed roll must immediately return to a friendly or neutral port or base (10.0 ) from the third sea area entered.

6.233 All speed rolls are done at the end of each step. All patrolling ships must move before any of them attempt speed rolls; all raiding ships must move before any of them attempt speed rolls. A player may not wait to see the result of any speed roll(s) before moving additional ships.

6.234 Ships with a speed of 1 due to damage may still attempt a speed roll, even though it will automat-ically fail. If a ship has a speed of 7+ (after account-ing for any damage), it is not necessary to roll the die, as the ship will automatically pass.

6.3 Amphibious units always start their move from a base or port by first moving onto a sea area that touches that base or port. They may then move from that first sea area into an adjacent sea area. No speed roll is required, but amphibious units must stop in the second sea area; they may not move three areas under any circumstances. Amphibious units may not land at another port or base during movement, even if the new port/base is friendly.

6.4 Any ship or amphibious unit must always stop when it enters an enemy-controlled sea area, even if that is the first sea area it moved into. It can move no further that turn.

6.5 Air units do not move, per se. They are simply deployed (placed) in any sea area that touches any friendly port or base. Air units are placed one at a time, in turn.

6.6 Hunter-Killer escorts are placed in any ATO sea area at the same time as British patrolling ships.

6.7 Submarines may be placed in any legal sea ar-ea regardless of enemy control, as per (14.2 ). All submarines are placed at the same time as each na-tion's patrolling ships.

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6.8 On the first turn of the game, German oilers (0-0-3) and merchant raiders (0-0-2) may be freely placed as patrollers into any sea area with a British VP flag symbol. German pocket battleships (2-2-5) may be placed as either patrollers or raiders into any ATO sea area except the Caribbean or the Eastern Seaboard. None of these moves require a speed roll. After the first turn, these units move normally.

7.0 Combat

7.1 Each turn, combat is resolved in every sea area. Combat is resolved in one sea area at a time; once started in an area it continues until finished and then starts in a new area. During a 2-player game, the Axis player always selects the next sea area where combat will be resolved. In a 4-player game, alter-nate between the German player selecting an area in the ATO and the Japanese player selecting one in the PTO.

Note: In a four-player game, during turns when the interaction between the ATO and PTO in minimal (for instance when there are few/no units in the Indian Ocean region), play may be often greatly speeded up by resolving combat in the ATO and the PTO simultaneously. Rule 7.1 still applies to each theater separately.

7.11 If any player has moved one or more land-based air units onto an enemy port or base, those combats must be resolved (12.6 ) before any com-bat in sea areas takes place.

7.12 If the player selecting an area chooses one where only one side has forces, aircraft carriers and LBA in that area can air raid adjacent enemy ports or bases, patrolling subs may attack merchant ship-ping, and amphibious units can land or invade. If that side has no carriers, LBA, subs, or amphibious units in the sea area, no combat takes place there.

7.13 If he selects an area containing opposing forc-es, they fight until only one side is left in the area. Then surviving carriers (but not LBA) can air raid &/or surviving amphibs may land or invade.

7.14 Rule section 9.0 explains carrier air raids, rule section 12.0 explains land-based air attacks on ports/bases, rule section 13.0 explains amphibious units and rule section 14.0 explains sub and anti-sub warfare.

7.2 The rest of section 7.0 explains normal combat between opposing forces in the same sea area.

7.21 Combat procedure: Both sides' ships and units fire at each other once, then damage takes effect and losses are removed. Survivors fire again, dam-age takes effect again, losses are removed again, and so on until one side (or both) is eliminated or re-treats from the sea area. Each exchange of fire is called a combat round or battle.

7.22 There are two types of battles; air actions and surface actions. Air actions are long range battles fought with airstrikes; surface actions are close range gunnery battles. The type of battle determines which ships and units can attack and which can be attacked during that round.

In VITP, air and surface actions were referred to as day and night actions, respectively. This was because in the Pacific, due to the overwhelming dominance of air power, that was when each type of action typically took place. In the Atlantic, however, the vast majority of capital ship battles were surface actions; many if not most of which took place during the day. Carrier-vs-carrier battles were historically non-existent in the ATO. In a game whose goal is to combine both theatres, it seemed better to use the more ac-curate terms.

7.3 At the start of each combat round, each player in turn chooses whether he wants an air action or a surface action that round. If the two sides agree, they fight that type of action. If they disagree, each rolls a die and the player with the higher result gets the type of action he chose.

7.31 In a four player game, it is possible that both teammates will have units in the same sea area. If the teammates disagree as to the type of action they wish to fight, the British or German/Italian player gets the final say in the ATO, and the US or Japa-nese player gets the final say in the PTO.

7.32 In the PTO, the player who wants an air action adds one to his roll. The player who currently con-trolled that sea area the previous turn also adds one to his roll (these modifiers are cumulative).

7.33 In the ATO, the player who wants a surface ac-tion adds one to his roll. The player who controlled that sea area the previous turn also adds one to his roll (these modifiers are cumulative).

7.34 If, after modfication, the result is a tie, the players fight an air action followed by a surface ac-tion in the same round. There can be no retreats, invasions, or submarine attacks between the air and surface portions of a combined air/surface action. Damage from the air action portion takes effect and losses are removed before the surface action be-gins. This means units destroyed during the air ac-tion may not fire during the surface action.

7.35 The determination of air or surface action ap-plies only to that round of combat in that sea area. The process is repeated for every round in every sea area.

7.351 If a player is attempting to retreat from an ar-ea with more than one group of ships (8.0 ), a sepa-rate air/surface determination is made each round for each group.

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7.352 A player may elect to fight either type of ac-tion, regardless of what he has chosen in previous rounds and even if he has no units that would be able to attack during that type of action.

7.4 Naming targets: In an action, each side in turn names its targets and resolves his attacks. The re-sults of both sides' attacks go into effect only after the second side attacks. In other words, the second side returns fire at the same strength he began the round before the first side's attacks take effect.

Example: Patrolling ships Hood and Prince of Wales are facing raiding ships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in a surface action. All ships begin the combat undamaged, so Bismarck is eligible for the gunnery bonus. Hood fires at Bismarck and gets one hit for 4 points of damage. Prince of Wales fires at the Prinz Eugen and disables her. Bismarck returns fire, and even though she is now damaged, still gets the gunnery bonus for this round since the British attacks do not take effect until both sides have fired. Like-wise, Prinz Eugen is allowed to return fire before the disabled re-sult takes effect (and she must return to base). On subsequent rounds, Bismarck will not get a gunnery bonus since she began the round already damaged.

7.41 In both theatres, all units on the same side are combined into a single force for purposes of combat. In the ATO, the Allied side declares and resolves its attacks first; in the PTO, the Axis side declares and resolves its attacks first.

7.42 In air actions, only aircraft carriers and land-based air units (LBA) can attack. Any ships or units in the sea area can be attacked.

7.43 In surface actions, only ships with gunnery fac-tors can attack. Aircraft carriers may fire their gun-nery factors or not, at their option; other ships must attack. All ships without gunnery factors cannot at-tack. Each player is limited as to what he can attack as follows:

7.431 He can attack any ship that is firing its gun-nery factor. At the start of the surface action, the second side to fire must name which, if any, carriers will fire, so the first player will know which carriers he can shoot at. A carrier not named as firing cannot fire even if fired upon.

7.432 He can attack an enemy aircraft carrier that is not firing its gunnery factor only if he also attacks every enemy ship that is attacking during that sur-face action.

7.433 He can attack an enemy amphibious unit only if he also attacks all enemy ships, including carriers, in the sea area during that surface action.

7.434 Air units cannot attack nor be attacked.

7.44 Hilfkreuzers, oilers, and submarines may not be attacked at sea during normal combat; they are only attacked during ASW.

7.45 Only ships and units at sea in that sea area can attack or be attacked. Ships and units in ports or bases can be attacked only during air raids.

7.46 Each attacking ship or unit is assigned to one target and executes its whole attack against that tar-get; it cannot split its attack between different tar-gets. Different attackers can attack different targets, or they can combine against the same target.

7.47 A player resolves his attacks only after all of his attackers have been assigned to targets. Once he starts to resolve combat he cannot change tar-gets, even if he ends up firing at a target that he has already been sunk.

7.5 Resolving Combat: The attacking player rolls one die for each shot fired by each attacker.

7.51 In an air action, each aircraft carrier and LBA unit fires a number of shots equal to its airstrike fac-tor. Gunnery factors do not attack.

7.52 In a surface action, each ship fires a number of shots equal to its gunnery factor. LBA units do not attack and are ignored.

7.53 A highlighted gunnery or airstrike factor gets the attack bonus when it attacks an amphibious unit or ship (ignore the attack bonus when it attacks an air unit or during ASW). The attack bonus adds one to each die roll when the highlighted factor attacks.

7.54 If the target is a ship or amphibious unit, a re-sult of 5 disables it. A disabled marker is put on the target. Land based air units are never disabled and ignore any roll of 5 against them.

7.55 A result of 6 (or more) is a hit and the attacker rolls one die to see how many damage points it in-flicts. A damage marker showing the appropriate number is placed on the target.

7.56 When the total number of damage points on any unit exceeds its armor factor, put a sunk marker on it.

7.6 After both players have completed their attacks, combat results go into effect.

7.61 Sunk ships and units are removed from the board.

7.62 Each disabled ship or unit must return to a friendly port or base and remain there for the rest of the turn. At the end of the turn, the disabled marker is removed. On the following turn, the ship or unit is free to move normally.

7.63 A ship or unit that is both disabled and dam-aged takes its full damage before returning to port. If both sunk and disabled, the unit is sunk.

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7.64 In an air action followed by a surface action in the same round, do steps 7.4 to 7.6 once for the air action, then repeat them for the surface action. Ships/units lost during the air action are not availa-ble for the surface action.

7.7 Effects of Damage

7.71 Speed: Each point of damage on a ship (not amphibious unit) reduces its speed by 1, down to the lowest possible speed of 1. Otherwise, damage does not affect movement.

7.72 Gunnery: If a ship has any damage points at all, its gunnery factor loses any attack bonus it may have had. If its damage points equal its armor fac-tor, its gunnery factor is reduced to one if the gun-nery factor was originally greater than one, or to ze-ro if the gunnery factor was originally one. A zero gunnery factor remains a zero.

7.73 Airstrike: When an aircraft carrier's damage points equal its armor factor, its airstrike factor is re-duced to zero. The airstrike factor is not affected by lesser damage. A carrier or LBA unit does not lose its attack bonus due to damage, as with a gunnery factor.

7.8 At the end of each round of combat follow the steps below in the order listed. If a round contains both an air and a surface action, do these steps after both actions are complete.

7.81 First, a raiding submarine can attack, if one is in the sea area. See 14.4 .

7.82 Each player in sequence declares whether he will retreat from the area. The other player can pur-sue. See rule 8.

7.83 Each player in turn may land any amphibious units that have not retreated. See rule 13.0 .

7.9 Repeat rounds until there is a victor in the sea area. The victor's aircraft carriers can air raid ports and bases touching that area (see rule 9.0 ).

8.0 Retreats

8.1 After each round of battle in a sea area either player can retreat. Players must state their intention in normal nationality sequence.

8.2 In a four player game, when both teammates have units in the same sea area, if either player de-cides to retreat his forces, both teammates must re-treat.

8.3 When a player retreats, his air units must in-stantly return to base and his patrolling ships be-come raiders (turn the raider side face up). Only ships and units in that area are affected.

8.4 The other player can pursue and continue the combat with any or all of his ships in that sea area. LBA units and amphibs cannot pursue.

8.41 Each retreating ship or amphibious unit re-mains in the sea area until it escapes, is sunk or is disabled. When it escapesor is disabled, it must go to a friendly port or base. It does not flee from area to area; it stays in its original sea area until it es-capes and then goes directly to a port or base.

8.42 The retreating player forms his ships and am-phibious units into one or more groups. A group can have as little as a single ship or unit. Each group re-treats together at the speed of the slowest ship or unit currently in the group. Each adjacent base or port controlled by the retreating side is also consid-ered a separate retreating group; no other units may be added to such groups.

8.43 Then the pursuing player states which of his ships will pursue and assigns each pursuer to one of the retreating groups. He is not obliged to pursue every group, or even any group. A ship can pursue a group only if its speed equals or exceeds the speed of the slowest ship or amphibious unit in the group. If it is slower than all ships and units in the group, it cannot pursue that group. If it is too slow to pursue any group, it cannot pursue.

8.44 Carriers may be assigned to "pursue" enemy ports or bases. If they do so, a carrier air raid is conducted. See 9.0 for details.

8.45 Ships that do not pursue cannot start pursuing later in the turn.

8.46 Raiding subs that have not yet attacked may attack any retreating or pursuing group, regardless of speed.

8.5 Each group fights round after round of combat against its pursuers until one side is gone or the pursuers stop pursuing.

8.51 When several groups are retreating they fight their battles separately. Air/surface is determined separately for each group each round, and the group fights only the ships pursuing it.

Example: One retreating group could fight an air action against its pursuers while another group in the same area fights a surface action against its pursuers.

8.52 At the end of each combat round, each retreat-ing group can split into smaller groups and the pur-suers can split to follow the new, smaller groups. Thereafter, the new groups fight separately as ex-plained in rule 8.51 .

8.53 Each pursuing ship may stop pursuing at the end of any combat round. It must stop pursuing if it

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has a lower speed than the group it is pursuing. Once a ship stops pursuing, it cannot start pursuing again that turn; neither that group nor any other.

8.54 Whenever a group is no longer being pursued, it escapes and every ship and unit in it immediately returns to a friendly port or base (10.0 ).

8.55 When all of the ships and units in a group are sunk or disabled, its pursuers stop pursuing for the rest of the turn.

8.6 Groups cannot rejoin or combine. A ship or unit from one group cannot join a different group.

8.7 A ship can pursue only one group per turn. It cannot switch to another group.

9.0 Carrier Air Raids

9.1 When combat is completed in a sea area, air-craft carriers may air raid. If there is no normal combat in the area, they may air raid immediately.

9.11 Only aircraft carriers that are at sea in the area can air raid. Land-based air units cannot conduct air raids at this time.

9.12 A carrier cannot air raid if it pursued any re-treating group this turn. In effect, each base adja-cent to the sea area is treated as a separate retreat-ing group with a speed of zero.

9.13 Each attacking carrier is assigned to a port or base that touches that sea area and can attack only that port or base. All carriers attacking the same port or base attack at the same time.

9.14 Carrier air raids take place after all other re-treat/pursuit combat in that sea area has been fought to a conclusion.

9.2 An air raid consists of a single round of combat in which carrier airstrike factors may attack the ships and units in a port or base. The ships and units in the port or base cannot return fire. The carriers at-tack normally except:

9.21 Disabled results have no effect.

9.22 Do not roll for damage when an amphibious unit is hit during an air raid; a hit on an amphibious unit on a port or base automatically inflicts one dam-age point. Ships and air units roll for damage nor-mally.

9.23 A ship (but not any other unit) in port can take twice its normal damage before being sunk. When its damage exceeds its armor factor, it is resting on the bottom of the harbor and cannot move, but it can still be repaired. It is sunk when its damage is more than double its armor factor.

9.231 Any ship resting on the bottom in a port or base with no repair capacity is considered sunk and removed from the board.

9.232 When a port is captured by the enemy, any ships resting on the bottom are sunk. (Exception: Jean Bart, 18.31 )

9.3 Only the ships and units that are in the port or base at the moment can be attacked by the air raid; ships and units that return there later cannot be at-tacked by that air raid.

9.4 A port or base can be air raided once from each sea area it touches. Survivors of earlier air raids are still suceptible to further raids later in the turn (from a different sea area).

9.5 In the PTO, this round of combat is automatical-ly an air action; no die roll is made. In the ATO, an air/surface determination is made, and if the result is surface or air/surface, no air raid may be made by that pursuing group that turn. All normal die roll modifiers apply.

9.6 In the PTO, all carriers, whether raiding or pa-trolling, may participate in air raids. In the ATO, only raiding carriers may do so.

Air raids by carrier aircraft were far less common in the Atlantic theatre than in the Pacific, although there were significant excep-tions the 1940 attack on Taranto, of course, being chief among them. Ironically, Taranto was a night attack. The purpose of 9.5 and 9.6 is simply to limit the number of such raids.

10.0 Returning to Base

10.1 Except where specifically stated otherwise in the rules or on the mapboard, whenever a ship or unit in the PTO returns to base, it can return to any friendly green base adjacent to its sea area or to any friendly major port anywhere within its theatre of op-erations.

10.11 Allied ships in the Hawaiian Islands or the U.S. Mandate may return to the Panama Canal.

10.12 Only US or Free French units may base in the USA or any US posessions prior to Japan's surprise attack.

10.13 After the Japanese attack the Allies, US & British units may base at each other's historical pos-sessions without restriction.

10.2 Except where specifically stated otherwise, units in the ATO must return to an adjacent port or base. If there is no adjacent port or base, ships must return to the nearest major or neutral port. If there are two or more major/neutral ports the same number of sea areas away, the owning player may choose to which port the unit will return.

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10.21 Italian units that have entered the Atlantic may base in France (if friendly) or Germany, and move normally once there.

10.22 Once the US enters the war, US ships & units may base in England, Gibraltar, etc. (if friendly). At that point, British ships may also RTB to US posses-sions.

10.23 Disabled Axis ships in the Caribbean Sea or South Atlantic must go to the neutral port.

10.24 Disabled ships in the Cape of Good Hope may return to Diego Suarez or Simon's Town Dock-yard, if friendly. Otherwise, they must return to the neutral port.

10.25 Allied ships in the Caribbean Sea may return to USA or Panama Canal if the Japanese have at-tacked. Otherwise they must go to the neutral port.

10.3 When a raiding ship fails its speed roll, it re-turns to port from the third sea area entered. Excep-tion: 2.61 .

10.4 When a ship or unit retreats from a port or base being captured by the enemy, rule 16.4 applies (adj. green base or nearest major port).

10.5 If a ship or unit has nowhere to return to, it is sunk and removed from play.

10.6 Oilers: The German fleet includes several sup-ply ships called oilers. At the beginning of the game, the German player may place them in any sea area not otherwise prohibited (e.g. the Caribbean). Multi-ple oilers may be placed in the same sea area. These ships do not return to base at the end of a turn, but rather function (essentially) as mobile ports for German ships (not LBA). The oiler function is in-dicated on the counter by a faucet symbol on the pa-trolling side. Oilers have no raiding side; they may only move as patrollers.

10.61 On turn two and after, oilers move at the same time and under the same restrictions as Ger-man patrolling ships. Oilers move as if their entire current sea area were a hypothetical base. Oilers may attempt to move two areas like other ships, but on an unsuccessful speed roll, they must RTB nor-mally from the second area entered. They are never inverted to raiders.

10.62 Oilers are combatted using ASW procedures (14.341).

10.63 If any German (not any other Axis) ships, in-cluding Hilfskruezers, remain at sea at the end of combat for the turn in the same sea area as an oiler, those ships may remain at sea and treat the entire

sea area itself as their hypothetical base for move-ment purposes on the following turn.

Example: The oiler Nordmark survives turn 3 ASW in the Mid-Atlantic, and at the end of all combat, the Scharnhorst and two Italian cruisers occupy the sea area as well. Scharnhorst is refu-eled. The two cruisers may not refuel, since they are Italian ra-ther than German, and must RTB normally. On turn 4 movement, the Nordmark and Scharnhorst treat the entire Mid Atlantic sea area as their base for movement purposes.

10.64 Oilers may never be used as a base for LBA units, nor may German ships that fail their speed rolls "return" to them.

10.65 Even though they move with patrolling ships, oilers do not count for control of a sea area.

11.0 Repairs

11.1 Some damage points may be removed from a ship, provided the ship remains in port and does not move that turn.

11.2 Certain ports have a repair capacity that gives them the ability to remove damage points from ships. These are noted on the mapboard with a large number inside the port's red circle (Exc. Pearl Harbor, 11.22 ) and are tabulated below. Each point of repair capacity allows the port to remove one point of damage every turn. Repairs may only be made by a player at a port that he or a teammate controls.

Table 3: Port Repair Capacity

Port Repair Capacity USA 10 US

England 8 British Brest 3 While Axis only

Toulon 2 While Axis only Germany 8 Germany/Italy Taranto 4 Germany/Italy

Gibraltar 1 British

Suez 1 British Trincomalee 1 British

Australia 1 British Yokosuka Navy Yard 6 Japan Pearl Harbor/Samoa varies, see 11.21 , 11.22

11.21 Once hosilities begin in the Pacific, the US player may repair 10 points of damage per turn in the USA, and a varying number per turn at Pearl Harbor, as detailed in 11.22 below.

11.22 On the turn Pacific hostilities begin, the num-ber of damage points the Allied player can repair at Pearl Harbor is zero. The following turn, the repair capacity is 3, and this increases by 3 per turn until a maximum of 15 is reached. If the Allied player loses Pearl Harbor, he can use these repair points at Sa-moa. If he loses Samoa too, he loses this repair ca-pacity until he retakes either Samoa or Pearl Harbor.

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11.23 Beginning on turn 3, the Allied player may remove 2 points of damage per turn at Leningrad and 1 point per turn at Murmansk.

11.24 Other than the two French ports, only the original owner (i.e. Axis or Allies) of a port can make repairs there. The repair capability of French ports is usable only while the ports are under Axis control.

There are no French repairs to be made on turn one, and the fa-cilities were wrecked by the Germans during their retreat.

11.25 Ships may be repaired at a port belonging to an ally. If there is a disagreement among team-mates as to how to split up repair points, the original owner of the base (as per Table 3) makes the deci-sion.

11.3 The points indicated are the total number of points that can be removed at the port each turn. A port's repair points can be divided among different ships in the port.

11.4 A player must state which ships he is repairing when he moves his patrolling ships. Ships that in-vert to their raiding side may not repair that turn. Russian ships may roll to see if they can move be-fore declaring their intention to repair.

11.5 Repairs take place after all movement is com-pleted, and before any combat takes place.

11.6 Repair points cannot be transferred from port to port, nor may they be accumulated from turn to turn. They must be used on the turn and at the port they are received or they are lost.

11.7 Only ships may be repaired using a port's re-pair points. These may not be used to repair LBA or amphibious units. Damaged LBA and amphibious units remain damaged until they are eliminated, then return in two turns per 12.4 and 13.5 respectively.

12.0 Land-Based Air

P 7th

AF

2 3 *

1 21st

AF

3 3 *

1 Luft II

2 2 *

12.1 Land-based air units are placed on sea areas after patrolling ships have moved but before amphib-ious units and raiding ships have moved.

12.11 The players take turns placing one air unit down at a time, in normal player order (5.1 ). Note that in a 2-player game, the Axis player will place one Japanese LBA, then the Allied player will place one British and one US unit, and finally the Axis player places either one German or one Italian LBA. Once a player/nationality runs out of units to place,

skip that side and continue until all players run out of units.

Example: On a given turn there are 2 (G)erman, 2 (B)ritish, 8 (A)merican, and 4 (J)apanese LBA on the board. The order of placement would be JBAG, JBAG, JA, JA, AAAA.

Players of VITP should note that the RAAF and RNZAF are Brit-ish units in VASR, and are moved accordingly.

12.12 Air units ignore distance and enemy-controlled sea areas and can be placed in any sea area on the board as follows (12.121 12.124 :

12.121 A player may only place an air unit in a sea area if he controls a base or port touching that sea area. The LBA need not operate from the same base where it began the turn.

12.122 Allied LBA may never operate from Russian ports. No LBA may operate from a neutral port.

12.123 Allied LBA units initially placed in one thea-tre of operations may only redeploy to the other the-atre by sitting out a full turn off-board. During LBA placement, place transferring units onto the Order of Appearance chart on the following turn, when they may be placed in either theatre.

12.124 Axis LBA units may never redeploy from theatre to theatre. Japanese LBA must remain in the PTO; German & Italian LBA must remain in the ATO.

12.2 LBA units in sea areas can attack and be at-tacked each combat round, but only during air ac-tions. In the ATO, LBA units may attack once per air or combined action, but must return to base as soon as the first surface action is rolled.

Note: Control flags are only placed after all combat is resolved for the turn. This means that an unopposed LBA in an ATO sea area can achieve control of that area, provided that either there was no combat round fought, or the final combat round was an air or a combined action. If the final round was a surface action, then the LBA's would RTB before any control flag is placed.

12.21 There is only one LBA unit that receives an attack bonus: the German Stuka counter. No other LBA receives such a bonus, even while attacking an enemy unit in port. Exception: the Japanese sur-prise attacks (19.7 ).

There are several variants of VITP that give the Japanese LBA the attack bonus at the start of the game, and retain it until they are eliminated in combat, losing the bonus when they return. I feel this approach is unrealistic. First, prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, most of the best pilots had already been transferred to the carrier air divisions. Second, when war broke out, many land-based air units deployed second-line fighter aircraft; these were almost uniformly A5M Claudes, not A6M Zeros. Third, a signifi-cant portion of a Japanese land-based air unit's total strength comes from larger bombers like the G4M Betty and the G3M Nell, which, apart from sinking the Prince of Wales and Repulse, were relatively ineffective and proved quite vulnerable.

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12.22 Shots fired at land-based air units do not get the attack bonus even if the attacking air strike would normally get the bonus. Exception: optional rule 23.2

12.23 Like ships, air units are destroyed when their damage exceeds their defense factor. They are re-moved at the end of the combat round.

12.24 Unlike other types of units, land-based air units are not affected by disabled results against them.

12.3 If an air unit finds itself in a sea area without a friendly port or base, it must immediately return to base even if combat has already concluded in that sea area. If an enemy captures its only base, it must immediately return to a legal base (red port) and stay there for the rest of that turn, even if the first base is later recaptured. Units returned to base under this rule are subject to air raids (9.0 , 12.6 ) later in the turn.

12.4 Destroyed land based air units are placed on the Order of Appearance card in the boxes labeled for that purpose and re-enter the game, undamaged, two turns later. Units so returned are initially placed on any friendly major port, then moved as per 12.1 .

12.41 Destroyed Axis LBA may only reappear as reinforcements in their "native" theatre.

12.42 Destroyed Allied LBA units may reappear as reinforcements in either theatre, but then must re-main there unless transferred as per 12.123 .

12.5 In addition to making normal attack(s), LBA units add their attack factor to the ASW strength for the sea area in which they are deployed.

12.6 LBA ATTACKS AGAINST PORTS/BASES: Af-ter ASW is resolved in a sea area, each player in turn order may move one or more LBA's from that sea area onto any adjacent enemy port or base to attack any units there.

12.61 Any/all LBA units attacking ports are resolved prior to any combat between ships and units at sea in the original sea area.

12.62 A single round of air attacks takes place, the mechanics of which are the same as carrier air raids (9.2 9.4 ).

12.63 All airstrike factors of a given LBA unit must attack the same target, as with normal air combat.

This is different than the original WAS "airstrike" counter, where only a single air factor could attack each unit. This better unifies the rule system, and in my opinion, better reflects the capability of air power.

12.64 LBA attacks on units in port are always air ac-tions, no roll is made as with 9.5 .

12.65 After the attack, the LBA must immediately return to a friendly base that borders the sea area where it was initially placed.

Example: The US controls Kwajalien, Guadalcanal, and Lae, and has placed two LBA's in the South Pacific. He decides to use one of these to launch an attack on a Japanese ship in Truk. The unit makes one attack on one ship with two airstrike factors, then must RTB. The LBA may return to Guadalcanal or Lae, but not to Kwa-jalien, which does not border the South Pacific. The returned LBA would then be subject to possible air raids later in the turn.

13.0 Amphibious Units

7 4th

Mar.

0 4 3

1 Yokosuka

0 3 3

3 Fsjr

0 2 *

13.1 Amphibious units move after LBA units but be-fore raiding ships. Amphibious units can move up to two sea areas without making a speed roll. They cannot move three sea areas, even with a speed roll. Otherwise, they move as ships. Exception: 13.7

13.2 Amphibious units do not attack, but they can be attacked. In surface actions, they can be at-tacked only if all friendly ships are also being at-tacked during that action.

13.3 Amphibious units can land on ports or bases at the times indicated below (13.31 13.34 ). A unit can land on any enemy base, friendly base or friend-ly port that touches its sea area. It cannot land on an enemy major port.

13.31 At the end of each combat round in a sea ar-ea, each amphibious unit in that area can either land or stay at sea.

13.32 At the end of all combat in a sea area (includ-ing air raids), each amphibious unit in that area can either land or stay at sea.

13.33 Axis amphibious landings take place before Allied amphibious landings.

13.34 At the end of the turn, all amphibious units still at sea must either land or return to port, Axis units before Allied units.

13.4 When an amphibious unit lands on an enemy base, it invades. A unit cannot invade if it retreated or was disabled this turn (it must return to a friendly port/base instead).

13.41 When a unit invades an enemy base, the in-vading unit is eliminated and the base is converted to friendly control.

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13.42 If the enemy base holds one or more landed enemy amphibious units, the invading unit is elimi-nated along with one of the enemy amphibious units. The base remains under enemy control.

13.43 If multiple units on the same side invade a base at the same time, they invade one by one and each invasion is resolved in turn.

Example: Three units invade an enemy base containing one en-emy amphibious unit. One invader is lost eliminating the defend-ing unit, one is lost to convert the base and the third lands safely on the now-friendly base.

13.44 When a base is converted, turn its control counter over to show the new owner.

13.45 Since amphibious units always land in na-tionality order, it is possible for one side to capture a base and the other side to capture it right back. If the captured base is the only base touching a sea area containing the original owner's air units, those air units must return to base at a red major port even though they recapture the base immediately.

13.5 Amphibious units lost in invasions or combat return, undamaged, two turns later. When lost, place these units on the OOB in the boxes labeled for that purpose. Returning amphibious units may be placed at any friendly major port.

13.6 Damage does not affect an amphibious unit's ability to invade.

13.7 German paratrooper unit: This special "am-phibious" unit functions as does any other amphibi-ous unit for capturing or defending green bases. It does not, however, move as a normal amphibious unit. The paratrooper unit may attack any enemy-held green green base at the same time and with the same range restrictions as a German LBA unit at-tacking an enemy base at the start of combat. If one or more Axis LBA units are also placed to attack the same Allied green base, these air units attack first, then the paratrooper lands.

Example: The paratrooper unit begins the turn in Italy. During the movement of land-based air units, the German player places the unit on Malta. When the attack is resolved, the paratrooper unit is eliminated and placed on the turn record track to return two turns later. The garrison counter for Malta is inverted to show Axis control. Any Allied units based at Malta must evacuate as per 16.4 . Had the Tiger convoy counter also been on Malta at the time, both the paratrooper and the Tiger convoy would have been eliminated, and Malta would have remained in Allied hands.

14.0 Submarines

8 Sub

1 0 *

1 I-Boat

1 0 *

1 U-Boat

1 0 *

1 10 MAS

2 0 *

14.1 Submarines may either patrol or raid, just like surface ships. However, all submarines initially move as patrolling ships. Then, when raiders are moved, each nationality may invert any desired submarine counters to their raiding side, but no more than one in any sea area.

14.2 Submarines may be placed as per Table 4, be-low. Distance or control flags never inhibit the movement of submarines.

Table 4: Submarine Deployment

Nation Condition Sea Areas Allowed

Germany US not at war Any ATO exc. Caribbean

US at war Any ATO Italy always Eastern/Western Med.

Japan, US always Any PTO

14.3 Patrolling submarines attack enemy merchant shipping, i.e. Victory Points, and are countered by means of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW).

14.31 Before combat begins in a sea area, total up the ASW strength in that sea area. Each patrolling, non-carrier surface ship counts as one ASW factor. Each amphibious unit and patrolling carrier counts as three ASW factors. LBA units add their attack factor to the ASW strength of the area. Raiding ships, regardless of type, do not count toward ASW.

14.32 Hunter-Killer (HK) escort groups may be placed in any ATO sea area at the same time as pa-trollers. Each hunter-killer group in a sea area grants a +1 attack bonus to the ASW roll for that sea area; these bonuses are cumulative. After ASW combat, all HK groups RTB; they take no further part in combat or control determination.

14.33 ASW attacks that takes place in either Medi-terranean sea area receive a +1 bonus.

This reflects not only the relatively shallow depth and clarity of the water, which made U-boats easier to spot, especially from the air, but also the dangers inherent in trying to get past a hostile Gibral-tar. During WW2, only one U-boat deployed from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean, operated there, and made a successful return to Germany.

14.34 Roll one shot (die) for each ASW factor. These shots are taken against submarines as a group, not individually. Each hit (6) immediately de-stroys one submarine; each disabled (5) forces one sub to immediately return to base. Hits take prece-dence over disabled results.

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14.341 German oilers and merchant raiders are counted as submarines for taking ASW losses (on-ly). Against a force containing more than one of these types of units, any oilers are destroyed first, merchant raiders second, then finally U-boats are lost.

14.342 If there are both normal and Type XXI U-Boats present in the same sea area, normal U-Boats are sunk first, then Type XXI U-Boats are sunk, then normal U-Boats are disabled.

14.343 The Type XXI German U-Boats have a de-fensive bonus, but not the same one other ships do. Instead of damage reduction, Type XXI U-Boats may ignore any disabled results against them.

Example: In a sea area, the German player has the merchant raider Atlantis, the oiler Nordmark, and two U-boats, one of which is Type XXI. If the British roll one 6 and one 5, the oiler is sunk and the raider is disabled. If the British roll two 6's and one 5, both the oiler and the merchant raider are sunk, and the normal U-boat is disabled. If the British roll two 6's and two 5's, the same thing happens because the Type XXI ignores the disabled result.

14.35 Patrolling subs that survive ASW each roll an attack using their gunnery factor against enemy merchant shipping. Each hit (not disabled) gains an immediate 1 VP for the sub's owner in that theatre. Subs in any sea area may gain no more VP's than the higher of the two VP values of that area. VP loss due to submarine attack is separate and addi-tional to VP awarded at the end of the turn for area control.

Example: Patrolling submarines that survive ASW in Indonesia may cause no more than 3 lost VP in any one turn the value to the Japanese. Patrolling U-boats may cause no more than 4 lost VP in the Western Approaches the value to the Germans.

14.36 If at least one patrolling submarine is still at sea after the conclusion of ASW in that area, such submarines remain there for the rest of the turn, do not take part in any further combat, and negate any enemy control of the area that may occur at the end of that turn. No opposing control flag is placed, no opposing VP are gained, and friendly movement through the ar