Crew is the central resource: crew squares are lost to hits and must be reassigned to pumps, fires and wreckage, starving guns and engines.
Short homegrown rules for open-sea ship actions of the American Civil War (e.g. Kearsarge vs Alabama), one model per ship, one knot = one inch. Turns use written orders and split half-moves with two simultaneous fire phases. Gunnery is a d20 roll against 12 using a range/gun-type table, followed by a d20 hit-location roll and d6 critical hits, with crew tracked as squares that must man guns, boilers, steering and pumps.
Each hit rolls d20 for the area struck.
d20 results include hull & crew (3-5), hull only (6-10), gun & crew (11), gun only (12), boats, and other areas, with 20 a critical hit; heavy guns add an extra damage square on some results.
Effect of a Hit: Roll one twenty-sided die
A table gives to-hit modifiers by range band for six gun classes.
Columns for light, medium and heavy smoothbores (to 48lb, 90lb, 150lb) and light, medium and heavy rifles; bands run 0-2" (+6 to +9) out to 90"+ (-9), so heavier rifles retain accuracy at long range.
Ranges L.S.B. M.S.B. H.S.B. L.R. M.R. H.R. to 48lb to 90lb to 150lb
Gunnery hits on a d20 plus modifiers of 12 or better.
Roll one d20, add the range/gun-type modifier from the table and situational modifiers; 12 or more is a hit.
Guns: to Hit: roll one twenty-sided die plus modifiers = 12 or better
Crew is tracked in squares that must man each piece of equipment.
One crew square per ten real crewmen (about 10% cadre). Each gun, boiler, steering and sail change requires one square; when crew drops below requirements, equipment is left unmanned in the order sails, guns, boiler, then steering. Federal warships carry one square of Marines who may only operate guns.
One crew square is allowed per ten actual men in the crew.
Crew must be diverted to pumps, firefighting and clearing wreckage after certain hits.
After the first waterline hit one crew square goes to the pumps, and another for each further 25% of waterline lost; when all squares are gone the ship sinks in 1d6 turns. Fires are fought by rolling 1d6 per crew factor: out on 4-6 in turn 1, 5-6 in turn 2, 6 in turn 3. A fallen mast requires one crew square to free.
After the first such hit, one crew square must be assigned to the pumps.
Naval-specific modifiers for raking, broadside targets, anchored or stopped targets.
Rake (24" or less) +1, target anchored +2, target stopped +3, broadside target +2, obscured -4, plus sea state and haze modifiers.
Rake (24" or less) +1 Obscured -4 Anchored +2 Target stopped +3 Broadside Target +2
Movement is split into interleaved half-moves with two fire phases per turn.
Federals move one-half, Confederates move one-half, both fire; then Confederates move the second half, Federals move the second half, both fire again; finally ship status is adjusted. The order of half-moves reverses between the two halves.
2- Federals move one-half 3- Confederates move one-half 4- Both fire 5- Confederates move one-half 6- Federals move one-half 7- Both fire 8- Adjust ship status
Fire is resolved simultaneously by both sides twice per turn.
After each pair of half-moves, both sides fire; damage is then applied, with ship status adjusted at turn end.
4- Both fire
Each turn begins with both sides writing orders for their ships.
Step 1 of the game sequence is writing orders; the subsequent split movement phases execute those orders.
C.rure Sequence: 1- Wn te orders 2- Federa ls move one-ha lf 3- C,onfederates move one-half 4- Both fire
A d20 roll of 20 leads to a d6 critical-hit table.
1 gun explodes (crew loss, possible fire), 2 mast down (falls port/starboard, ship turns that way, no fire that side), 3 shaft broken (dead in water or half steam), 4 steering hit (jammed; 5-6 on d6 per turn to free), 5 bridge hit (go straight one turn), 6 boiler hit (no steam; 1d6: 5 fire, 6 explodes and sinks in 1d6 turns).
20 critical hit ... S) Bridge Hit: Go s tr aigh t one tum . 6) lloiler Hit: no steam power: roll ld6 : 1-4-0K; S-fire_; 6-explodcs and sinks in ld6 tums,
Hull, crew and equipment damage are recorded as squares on a ship record.
Hits remove hull and crew squares (heavy guns +1 square on some results); waterline losses are tracked as a percentage, and once all crew squares are gone the ship sinks in 1d6 turns.
When all squares are gone, the ship sinks in 1d6 turns.
Ships turn using turning circle templates differing for steam and sail.
Steam-only ships use a tighter turning circle than sail or sail-steam ships, with a notch interval (distance travelled per turning step) specified for each (roughly 1" vs 3" circles in the noisy OCR).
Turns are done by use of turning circles.
Ships move up to a maximum speed in inches equal to knots, with separate steam, sail and combined ratings.
One knot equals one inch. Steam-only ships have one maximum; ships with steam and sail have separate maximum steam, sail, and steam-and-sail speeds (e.g. Alabama 13 steam, 15 steam and sail).
one knot of speed equals one inch on the table All ships have maximun speeds.
d20 for gunnery and hit location, d6 for morale, criticals and fires.
Gunnery and hit effect use one d20; crew morale (per editor's note), critical sub-tables and firefighting use d6.
Guns: to Hit: roll one t-..enty-sided die pl us m:xlifiers ... Fi re: Roll ld6 per crew factor as follows:
Crew grade modifies gunnery and morale.
Gunnery modifiers: Veteran +2, Average +1, Green 0, Poor -1. Grade also sets the morale pass ranges.
Crew is: Veteran +2 Average +1 Green 0 Poor -1
A captain fighting on past severe damage must pass a crew morale check or be overpowered and the ship surrendered.
A captain may surrender at any time. Fighting on after loss of all guns/engines, dismasting, or loss of over half the waterline requires a d6 roll within a range by crew grade (e.g. dismasted: Veteran 1-6, Average 1-5, Green 1-3, Poor 1-2), with -1 if over half crew lost and -1 if more than one situation applies.
If a Captain wants to fight his ship beyond the call of duty, a morale check must be made to prevent the crew overpowering him and surrendering