Rules for the Conduct of the War Games (Naval War College, 1905)

A signal hoisted at the start of a move cannot be executed in that move; the fleet stands on at its existing course and speed, and at the start of the next move the commander may haul it down to execute or keep it flying to delay. Signals may be annulled and replaced, but the replacement is again subject to the 2.5-minute rule; abbreviations like 'H V 4 R' are used. In the Strategic Game telegraph messages take one hour per 1,000 miles by day and 1.5 hours at night, with signal, wireless and searchlight ranges limited by table.

Each signal must be flying at least one move (two and one-half minutes) before it may be hauled down

Before the first fleet move each fleet commander writes and submits to the umpire his 'general instructions' summarising the plan of action and how captains act in contingencies without signals; unrealistic instructions are disallowed. Fire is distributed per these instructions or by signal. In the Strategic Game commanders in chief write plans of campaign and detached commanders receive written orders.

each fleet commander will write out and submit to the umpire his "general instructions"

The Fleet Tactical Game uses two fleet commanders, an umpire, a recorder for fire and sketch records, and two assistants who move ships and measure fire. In the Strategic Game each commander sits in a separate room with his own chart; assistants act as sole messengers, the umpire decides when moves begin, determines sightings and sends written information, and his decision is absolute.

All information must go through the umpire

Table I gives distances at which ship types are visible and recognisable in clear weather; smoke of a single ship is visible 15 miles by day and 1 mile at night, larger squadrons further. When forces sight each other the umpire sends them written information and may shorten moves to 15 minutes.

The umpire then determines by inspection whether any of the forces sight each other or not.

The duel track curve represents a ship at 12 knots with hard-over helm, tactical diameter 475 yards, marked at 15-second intervals; a full 16-point turn takes 2.5 minutes. Fleet turning cards (1 inch = 200 yards) show the locus of positions reachable in one 2.5-minute move for each number of points turned, a 16-point turn taking 3 min 20 s and encroaching on the next move. Any ship turning more than 8 points in one move loses half her gun-fire score for that move.

Every ship turning through more than 8 points during any one move loses one-half of her gun-fire score for that move.

A ship starting from stop goes 1 knot the first 30 seconds, 2 knots the second, and so on; backing engines from 12 knots runs 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 knots. In the fleet game a signal to slow to half speed gives one move at three-quarters speed, then half speed; stopping takes one move at three-quarters and one at one-quarter. A ship turning on the circle loses speed (12 to 9 knots) and must regain it at the same rate.

A ship is allowed to gain or lose speed at the rate of 1 knot for each period of thirty seconds

Each fleet commander designates a fleet speed matching a turning card; each ship has a 20% reserve speed usable briefly to close up, avoid collision or regain station. In the Strategic Game classes have tabled maximum speeds; single ships may hold maximum for 24 hours, squadrons with battleships are capped at 14 knots and 10 knots with convoy.

Each vessel of the fleet, however, is supposed to possess a reserve speed of 20 per cent of the speed of the fleet to which it belongs.

Fleets deploy in formation at 400-yard distance in numerical order. A column led by the flagship may change direction of the head of the column without signal; all other manoeuvres (e.g. 'Vessels 4 points right', 'Front into line from column') require signals.

If a fleet be in column with the flagship of the fleet commander leading, it may change direction of the head of the column without signal.

When forces stay within 2,000 yards (armored) or 4,000 yards (unarmored) for over an hour, the umpire may decide by relative fighting values from Table I. At 2:1 the inferior is removed; at 3:2 the inferior loses half and the superior is unharmed; at 4:3 the superior is crippled and must withdraw temporarily. Armored ships cannot be captured by unarmored ones regardless of numbers.

Two forces meeting, with odds of 2 to 1, the inferior will be removed from the game.

Gunfire is deterministic; the die resolves torpedo zone-of-chance results and submarine attack chances (1 in 3, 1 in 6).

The die is one of the ordinary six-sided game dice in common use.

Tables I and II give points scored by a first-class battleship broadside in 2.5 minutes at ranges from about 1,000 to 8,450 yards, derived from an assumed 1,000-point target life; players may build new tables by applying factors for battery, rapidity, accuracy or target resistance.

The destructive effect of a given volume of fire per minute upon a given target ship at various ranges is approximately represented by a curve

In the duel, the wand's zero is placed on the target and the value at the firing ship's mast is multiplied by the number of pairs of 8-inch guns; 12-inch guns are commuted to 8-inch at 1:3 and smaller guns by half-minute fire equivalence. In the fleet game the score wand gives points for a battleship broadside out to 6,000 yards; broadside battery is twice end-on, a ship may split fire between two targets in different quadrants, and cruiser fire is divided by two or four.

Twelve-inch guns are commuted to 8-inch guns at the ratio of 1 to 3.

Each ship has four submerged tubes set by gyroscope to fire abeam or at a pre-announced angle (five minutes to change setting). In the duel the enemy's position when the torpedo crosses his track is plotted; if the line crosses the outline, the torpedo card placed on the keel line gives a zone of chance 1-5 resolved by one die. In the fleet game the torpedo run is plotted against the target fleet's track and dividers proportional to speeds show which ship, if any, is hit. A torpedoed ship loses 500 points and all speed; defensive submarines hit 1 in 3 when awash within 1,000 yards, 1 in 6 if firing submerged.

A ship torpedoed loses 500 points and all her speed.

If ships collide on opposite courses or stem strikes stem the result is a draw. A successful ram must strike the side or stern, and in the mêlée the ramming vessel is motionless during the succeeding move.

To deliver a successful ramming blow the ram must strike the side or stern of the enemy.

If fleets come so close that a mêlée is imminent, the umpire may stop the game or have it fought out under Duel Game rules, with each move representing half a minute and a player acting as captain for each ship. Once 'Close action' is declared, ships are manoeuvred by their captains irrespective of fleet tactics and signals cannot be answered in less than five moves.

In the mêlée each move represents one-half minute

Duel moves represent 30 seconds; fleet moves represent two and a half minutes; strategic move lengths are set by the umpire in hours. After both moves are plotted, stencils or ships are placed at the new positions and each side's gun fire for the move is scored, then the next moves are written.

used upon the board during the progress of the game to indicate the simultaneous positions of the vessels

In the Duel Game each player writes down his next move, then plots it with the scale track curves; torpedo fire must be written as tube, time and bearing (e.g. 'S. F. T., 15 NE.'). In the Fleet Tactical Game each fleet commander writes and submits to the umpire what he wants done that move; the umpire hands moves to assistants who execute them with turning cards. In the Strategic Game each side plots its moves on its own chart in a separate room.

The players then write down their second moves

At 30% of fighting endurance received a ship's offensive power is halved; at 60% it is quartered. Single and double rings (or punched cardboard squares) are placed on the ship's mast to remind measurers to divide wand values by two or four; a purple marker shows a torpedoed ship.

A ship having received a number of points equal to 30 per cent of her total fighting endurance, her offensive power is reduced to one-half

Duel battleships have a life of 200 points. In the fleet game a battleship has 1,000 points, an armored cruiser 500 and a protected cruiser 170; damage is recorded on a score card at 10 points per tenth of an inch, and destroyed ships are crossed out and removed at the end of the move after fire is recorded. Broadside and end-on targets are equally vulnerable.

A battle ship is considered to have a fighting endurance of 1,000 points, an armored cruiser 500 points, and a protected cruiser 170 points.

12-inch guns fire once every 1.5 minutes and 8-inch once a minute; all guns and tubes start loaded. Reloading a torpedo tube takes five minutes.

It requires five minutes to reload a torpedo tube.

Gun fire cannot be scored on a ship over any intervening ship, friendly or hostile.

Gun fire shall not be scored upon a ship over an intervening ship whether the intervening ship be friendly or hostile.

Fort fire is treated as so many battleship broadsides, a gun ashore counting as four guns afloat. A fort taking 300 points in a move has its next move's fire halved; 500 points silences it for at least two minutes. Mine positions are known only to the umpire, who determines damage to a fleet crossing them.

a gun on shore being considered equivalent to four guns afloat

Days before the game each commander in chief receives a statement of the problem with different information, writes a plan of campaign and assigns detached commanders. Moves of umpire-set length are plotted on charts, transferred to tracing paper and collated on the umpire's chart; rules cover cable cutting, torpedo boat and destroyer radius, telegraph messages and fitting out auxiliaries. A critique follows the game.

The Strategic Game represents a campaign between two or more opposing naval forces.

Table III gives 24-hour coal consumption as a percentage of full bunkers by speed, and commanders hand in coal remaining each move. Destroyers and torpedo boats have stepped speed reductions per 400-500 miles run, limits on spurts (100/50 miles per 24 hours), regain a step per 24/48 hours in port, and destroyers may not be absent more than five days from fleet or base.

TABLE III.-Coal consumption for twenty-four hours in percentages of full