battle rules v. 3.2 for wooden ships & iron men includes ... · the nijmegen games club casus...

Wooden Ships & Iron Men © AH 1976 1 Casus Belli Battle Rules v3.2 ©2016

Battle Rules v. 3.2 for Wooden Ships & Iron Men

Includes Fire System v. 2

Niek van Diepen, August 1998, revised October 2016

Two masts down on Victory (one free, one hanging over the side) in the Casus Belli 2005 Trafalgar game.The

“initial broadside” Franco-Spanish execution squad in the in the foreground. Photo by Arvid Waldrich

These Rules specify the house rules for Wooden Ships & Iron Men by Avalon Hill Game Company from

the Nijmegen Games Club Casus Belli. They are used in addition to the Basic and Advanced rules and the

following optional rules: VII Towing, VIII Loss of Rigging, IX Blocked Wind, X Exploding Ships, XIV

Fore and Aft Rigging, XV A. Copper Bottom. Often, some form of II Timed moves, and some form of

limited communication via signaling will be in force as well.

The status of these rules is the same as the status of the Optional Rules in the game: use them at your

discretion. Most of these rules are recommended for large ship actions. They are intended to fix known

problems with the standard Wooden Ships rules, like the melee and rake rules. Rules IV-VIII as well as

the Fire Rules are inspired by Close Action from Clash of Arms. Many of these rules were discussed with

Paul Vodegel.

For those familiar with v. 3 of the Battle Rules, the only real change is the addition of the Fire Rules. For

those familiar with v. 1 of the Fire Rules, some modifiers and critical hit results have changed slightly

(reflected on the Tables) and an optional fatigue rule has been added to discourage firing at long range.

I. SOL's and frigates

SOL's are not allowed to fire at frigates or smaller craft 8 (EIGHT) or more hexes distant, unless the

frigate has shot at, or has been involved in grappling or boarding with, a SOL (of either side and not

necessarily the same as the one that wants to fire) during the last three turns.


[Historical note: SOL's did not engage frigates, unless the frigate mingled in the battle, e.g., by towing off

friendly ships or boarding disabled enemy ships. Frigates in turn remained onlookers, passed on signals,

or fought their own battle with the enemy frigates.]

II. Seasoned Crews

A new Crew Quality, Seasoned (Se), is added between Average and Crack. Its effects are:

A. A +1 die roll modifier when firing with 4 guns or more in the Basic Game and 7 guns or more in the

Advanced Game.

B. A melee multiplier of 3.5 (round fractions up after computation).

III. Sailing in Line Rule

An extra movement order is available for ships following an adjacent friendly ship (i.e. with a friendly

ship with its stern in a hex next to the bow hex but not the stern hex): Follow in the Wake (notation:W,

or W with the number of the ship being followed if there is more than one candidate). The ship then

follows as closely as possible the wake of the ship indicated up to the maximum allowed for movement,

adding B's (backing sail) when needed to avoid collision with the ship it follows (only). A whole line of

ships may follow each other in this way, each indicating it follows the next ahead.

IV. The Crab move

[This move simulates movement under an angle of 30 degrees, thus making ships a little more flexible. It

should be used in conjunction with the Momentum rule below. - After an idea by Marcel Nijenhof.]

A. A ship has to move 1 forward after a turn, even if the turn is made in the previous game turn.

Exception 1: a ship may turn immediately if the ship only turned and/or drifted, or did not move at all

in the previous game turn.

Exception 2: a ship may turn if it may decelerate to 0. If so it must plot this turn only for the current

game turn.

B. An extra movement order is available. for ships which turned in the current game turn: "T" for

"Turn back". A "T" is short for "1R" if the last turn was an "L", and short for "1L" if the last turn

was an "R". A "T" must follow either an "R" or an "L" plot in the same game turn, though plots of

"1", "2", etc., and "B" may be interspersed.

A "T" plot counts as a turn for rule A above, but it does not count against the turning allowance of the

ship involved. A "T" plot counts as a 1 forward plot for rule A above.

A "T" plot costs 1 movement point (MP), not 2. It counts towards the number of movement points in

the forward direction.

When executing a "T" plot, first execute the 1-forward part of the plot with all other movement of the

current movement point, then execute the turn.

Examples: ("R" turns can be read for "L" turns instead.)

1. A Class 1 ship (1 turn per movement phase) can now take part in the familiar crab-in-line:

"LT" is allowed, where "L1R" was not allowed. Note that one should plot "1LT" next turn if

one wants to repeat the crab manoever. Also, "L1L" is still not allowed for Class 1 ships.

"LT" costs only 2 movement points, so with 3 movement points faster crabs ("LT1" or

"L1T") are possible.

2. A line in attitude C can now crab if it sets full sails, since "LT" or "RT" cost only 2

movement points.

3. Extreme case: a ship with 7 MP and a turning allowance of 3 could plot "LT1LT1L".


V. Momentum

[Wooden Sailing ships had considerable bulk, and they were not so easy to get moving, or to stop.]

A. Ships of the Line may accelerate 1 MP per turn, class 5 ships and below may accelerate 3 MP per turn

(2 after the 1st rigging section has been lost), all others may accelerate 2 MP per turn (1 after the first

rigging section has been lost).

B. Ships of 80 guns or more may decelerate 1 MP per turn, class 5 ships and below may decelerate 3 MP

per turn, all others may decelerate 2 MP per turn. A ship may decelerate more if it has turned into the

wind or reduced sail so that its movement allowance is too low. It has to move the maximum allowed

then, and plots of "B" (backing sail) are not allowed.

C. A ship which collided last turn or only turned has a movement allowance of 0 last turn for calculating

maximum acceleration. Turns are counted if the ship moved forward. "B" (backing sail) and "D"

(drift) plots are not counted.

D. A ship which has not complied with the minimum movement allowance needed has to add movement

plots of "1" (forward) until the ship has reached its deceleration limit. If this means plotting more MP

than allowed due to the use of "B" (backing sail) plots, the last "B" plot(s) are illegal and must be

stricken, after which the ship's movement must be adjusted for possible new collisions.

E. If a ship plots a turn which results in a movement of its stern in a hex where a collision would occur,

and its next plotted movement factor (this can be a "D" (drift) movement plot) would resolve this

collision, the turn is allowed, and no collision occurs.

If such a turn ends the movement for the ship this turn the first movement factor of the next turn may

be plotted instead. In that case the ship remains in itd old position, and turn and move are executed

next turn as a combined move of 1 MP. The ship must calculate its allowed MP as if the turn has

already been made.

Accelaration/Deceleration table

class max. accel. max. decel.

1 1 1

80 gun 1 1

2 1 2

3, 4 2 * 2

5+ 3 * 3

*: deduct 1 after loss of 1st rigging section

VI. Battle Melee Rule

[In large ship scenarios the standard melee rules do not yield good results. Often tremendous numbers of

men are fed into one ship to fight gigantic melees. The following rules are more complex than the

standard melee rules, but on the other hand they tend to discourage the use of melee, so on the whole they

will speed up play.]

A. During the boarding preparation phase one crew section only may be selected as a new Defensive

Boarding Party (DBP). If no crew section has been selected as boarding party already, this may be

either crew section 1 or crew section 2, otherwise it has to be the lowest numbered crew section

available. (Hint: if crew section 1 alone can win a defensive melee, no crew section need to be

selected, otherwise it is often best to select crew section 2 - see rule B below.) Crew sections cannot

be selected as Offensive Boarding Party (OBP) or Transfer Boarding Party (TBP), they have to be


formed as DBP first (so it takes 2 turns to form an OBP!). Boarders may be formed by ships not

grappled or fouled.

Mark the ship with Boarders Ready the moment a boarding party is formed.

One Crew Section readied as DBP on a previous turn may be changed in an OBP or TBP. OBP crew

sections may be freely changed into TBP crew sections and vice versa. Crew Section number 3 may

never be changed into OBP or TBP, but they may defend as DBP. OBP and TBP crew sections may

always be changed into DBP.

B. Crew section number 1 (only) will automatically change into a DBP if an enemy ship which is

grappled or fouled with their own ship has formed an OBP. This change takes place just before the

melee phase, so this crew section can fire in the same turn too.

C. Apply the following die roll modifiers on the melee rolls. All modifiers are cumulative. a modified

roll below 1 counts as a 1, a modified roll above a 6 counts as a 6.

Melee modifiers

+1 OBP vs DBP

-2 DBP vs OBP

-1 Class 1 ship vs Class 2 ship or below

-1 Class 2 ship vs Class 3 ship or below

+1 Class 2 ship vs Class 1 ship

+1 Class 3 ship or below vs Class 2 ship

+2 Class 3 ship or below vs Class 1 ship

D. If both ships have DBP's, TBP's or no boarding parties at all, no melee takes place. If both ships have

OBP's, those parties fight first. If after any melee round either side's OBP has a 2:1 disadvantage it is

changed into a DBP and the odds are recalculated with any extra DBP's on board the defending ship

added.

If after any melee round an OBP has a 3:1 advantage over a DBP, the enemy ship is captured. If after

any melee round a DBP has a 2:1 advantage over an OBP, the OBP is changed into a DBP and the

melee ends.

If after three melee rounds the melee still has not been decided, it continues in the next turn, where

other crew sections may be added to the melee. [Note: this rule is from the 1st edition.]

VII. Signaling

A. Signaling takes place just after the wind change phase.

B. Optional: only to be used when repeaters (Frigates and below) are used in the scenario.

A signal arrives if there is a clear line of sight from the stern hex of the signalling ship to either hex of

the ship to receive the signal, no longer than 15 hexes in length. The own bow hex does not block this

line of sight. A class 3 ship or below that is not engaged in combat may send a signal through once on

the same turn, so a signal can travel a maximum of 30 hexes per turn. In the next turn the signal may

be resent by another class 3 (or below) ship that is not engaged in combat in either turn and which

was able to receive the signal in the first turn.

C. Signals are received in the NEXT turn, again just after the wind change phase, unless the signaling

path was 3 hexes or less, in which case the signal is received the same turn.

D. Use one of the following. D2 requires the use of signal books. [These are not provided in these rules.

Players may make up their own signal book.]

1. [Close Action Signaling] An admiral may send 5 words (7 for the British after 1803), a

captain may send 3 words per turn.


2. [Casus Belli Signaling] An admiral may send 3 signals (4 for the British after 1803), a captain

may send 2 signals per turn.

E. A player may send only one message per turn, even if he has more than one ship.

VIII. Wind change

Wind change is rolled for every turn. Roll 2 dice. If the wind change number is 6, the wind changes on a

roll of 2 or 12. If the wind change number is 5, the wind changes on a roll of 2, 11 or 12. If the wind

change number is 4, the wind changes on a roll of 2, 3, 11 or 12.Wind change takes effect the NEXT turn,

so players have one turn advance warning.

IX. Special Rake Rule

Ships qualify for raking only when they occupy a hex which is completely within the area defined by the

60 degree arc of the spines of the hex towards which the bow or stern is pointing. [Note: idea of this rule

is due to Erik Springelkamp]. The various rake zones are compared in the following diagram (5 hex range

from Fire Rule XIII below):


X. Fire combat Dice Rolls

[This rule is for use with the original rules. Battle Rule XIII replaces this rule.]

A. Two dice are rolled per fire combat: a normal and a red one. The result of the normal die is used to

find the damage on the Fire Table. However, a Critical Hit only occurs when the red die matches the

normal die (i.e. when a double is thrown), not when a 6 is rolled on the normal die. Critical Hits do

occur when the normal die records a no result.

B. Unless the player firing indicates otherwise before rolling the dice he is aiming at the Hull when

firing from 5 hexes or less. Above that distance fire is always at the Rigging.

XI. Timed moves

The following Phases during the turn sequence will be timed:

Plotting Movement: 3 minutes - if no movement has been plot any ship moves straight ahead at the

same speed as last turn.

Plotting Signals: 2 minutes - incomplete signals must be sent!

Plotting Melee: for each player: 1 minute per ship (s)he owns grappled to or fouled with an enemy

ship, with a minimum of 1 minute.

The referee can give a grace period of 30 seconds for the first violation of this rule by a player.

XII. Critical Hit Changes: Leader Casualties and Fallen Rigging

[This rule is for use with the original rules. Battle Rule XIII incorporates this rule.]

A. (Recommended for Multi-Commander games only.) The following Critical Hit is added to Critical

Hit Table 3R, 3H, 9R, 9H, 15R and 15H (the only double No Effect items in the list):

Possible Leader Casualty. Roll two dice for each captain or admiral on board. Add 1 if the

range is 5 or 6, 2 if the range is 3 or 4, 3 if the range is 2, and 5 if the range is 1. If the total is

12 or more the leader becomes a casualty.

Effects:

a. If the leader is currently played by one of the players, he has to transfer command to another

leader. This must be the next player in seniority for fleet or division command, if there is

another player currently available. The original player keeps command of his ships, but he

has to select another leader to impersonate. This leader has to send a Leader Loss signal to his

successor for the change in command to be effective. Use the same procedure if a leader is

captured.

b. If the leader is not the admiral or captain currently played by one of the players just note the

loss. This leader cannot succeed to the command anymore, unless all regular admirals or

captains in the squadron or fleet are casualties, when his replacement can take over.

B. Change to 4R and 6R: instead of automatically reducing one broadside or another, roll one die. If odd,

reduce the left broadside. If even, reduce the right broadside.


XIII. Fire Rule

[This new fire system replaces the fire system in the game as published. It modifies many rules, including

some of the rules above. The reasons are given in the Design Notes. Special Fire Tables are needed.]

New log to the left, example filled in at start to the right

Filling in the log sheets

(New log sheets as above are recommended. The log sheets from the game can be used as well, though

space is a little cramped. The line for ‘fire’ is useful but not needed.)

Except for the gun and carronade squares, logs are filled in as for the Advanced Game (I.B.1), so hull

squares are 1.5 times the Basic Values rounded up, and crew squares are twice the Basic Values, while

other log entries follow the Basic Game. For guns and carronades fill in the Basic Game values on the

appropriate lines, no subdivision in bow and stern. This is sufficient for play.

However, it is recommended to fill in the Fire boxes and (stable) modifiers space as well. This speeds up

play considerably, since only the “Other Modifiers” table needs to be checked.

For the fire boxes, add the appropriate carronade line to the applicable gun line from the “Fire Base” table

and fill them in in the boxes under the correct range. E.g., a standard British 74 with a gun value of 8 and

a carronade value of 2 will have 12+4 = 16 at range 1, 11+3 = 14 at range 2, etc. until 3 + 0 = 3 at range

10. These values are the Basic Fire Numbers (BFN). Note that some smaller ships have no BFN at longer

ranges. For the modifiers space, add the applicable modifiers from the “Stable Modifiers” table, usually

this is just the Crew Quality modifier at the start of the game.

For carronade values of 4 and above, divide the number of carronades by 3. The whole number is the

number of times the 3 carronade line has to be added. The remainder (if any) is the carronade line added

to this total. So a carronade value of 8 (= 2x3 + 2) would see twice the 3 line plus the 2 line added, e.g. at

range 2 2x4+3 = +11.

Carronade-only ships calculate their BFN starting from 0 for each range their carronades can reach.

Ranges beyond that have no BFN.


Firing

The fire procedure is altered as follows:

1. Take the basic fire number for the applicable range from the log (or calculate this number from the

Fire Base table as above). This is the Basic Fire Number (BFN). Note that it may be halved (rounded

down) for a half Broadside. If there is no BFN at the range required, no damage is done, but the

broadside is marked as fired (can be useful for reloading with other types of shot).

2. Add the modifier from the log (or calculate this number from the Stable Modifiers table).

3. Add appropriate Other Modifiers. The total is the Modified Fire Number (MFN).

4. If the MFN is below -4 no damage is possible, but the broadside is marked as fired. Skip the

remaining steps.

5. At range 5 or less, choose between firing at the hull or the rigging (default is firing at the hull). At

range 6 or more, fire is automatically at the rigging. Roll two dice, and add them to the total. This is

the Final Fire Number (FFN). Find the damage in the appropriate column of the Fire Results Table.

6. If the dice under step 5 are double, roll again on the Critical Hit table, using the Critical Number on

the Final Fire Number line as a modifier. Note that any damage from critical hits is added after all

normal damage has been added. In the rare case when the order of applying critical hits matters,

decide at random.

At the end of the Fire Phase check your ships for changes in the Stable Modifiers table, and alter your

modifier log entry accordingly (usually this is only applicable to damaged ships, especially for hull

damage).

Fatigue (optional):

After every five broadsides fired, future firing suffer a -1 modifier. This modifier is cumulative, so it is -2

after ten broadsides, -3 after fifteen, and so on. If a ship fires two broadsides in one turn, both are fired at

the same fatigue modifier (e.g., broadsides 10 and 11 would both be at -1 for fatigue if fired in the same

turn). A half broadside counts as a full broadside for this rule.

Note this modifier under under the Notes section, and include it in the stable modifier log entry.

Battle Rules designer’s Notes: [These notes are from “A New Fire System for Wooden Ships and Iron Men”, Niek van Diepen, November 2013.]

A favorite game

The game Wooden Ships & Iron Men (WSIM) from Avalon Hill was among the first wargames I bought,

now over 30 years ago. It is still one of my favorite games! When I moved to Nijmegen, the local games

club Casus Belli already hosted multiplayer battles. Of course I joined those. Over the years I tried many

alternatives, notably Close Action (CA – Clash of Arms) and Flying Colors (FC – GMT), where my

contribution to the gun ratings really added to the game. Fine games both, but the simultaneous

movement of WSIM is missing in Flying Colors, and the complexity of Close Action was a bit much for

our group.

WSIM was not without its faults, though. We borrowed bits from Close Action for movement in our club

‘Battle Rules’, and we introduced a signaling system for command control. But we also perfected fire

tactics, wherein the British used their Crack Crew modifier to shoot at the French and Spanish at mid-

range. The killing was slow, but once the initial broadsides were exhausted, it was the French and

especially the Spanish who wanted to close, to get on Hit Table 0. Needless to say, with only the British

able to fire, this spoiled the fun.

It also felt very ahistorical: the British did not close to use their carronades. Instead, carronades became

‘Cannon’ Fodder, protecting the British long guns by absorbing the first gun hits. We tried to fix this, by

rolling for gun versus carronade hits, but it proved cumbersome.


What did work was adding a new crew quality, dubbed Seasoned, between Crack and Average. Good

French ships now had a little extra bite, and not too good British ships had a more difficult time. This of

course only worked with our own redesigned scenarios.

We also included our own “60 degrees rake zone” to diminish the 10 hex rake problem. Ships closing at

full sails often ran into a rake with an initial, and a good roll on Rigging Table 4 or better could cost one

mast, and the right critical hit could cost another. This happened to Victory in two of our Trafalgar games.

Rakes were effective, and initials as well, but not at that range.

As sailor’s tales go, there is also the remarkable story of the Spanish 80 gun SOL San Nicolàs, green

crew, which, in contrast to naval history, managed to beat off a British boarding party. Not without loss

though, the ship lost two crew sections. With 19 gun squares left, and the British still alongside,

Advanced Hit Table 4 became 3 (green crew) and then -1 (2 crew sections lost at -2 each). More losses

this turn, so next turn at 17 gun squares, why bother checking the tables? Well, Hit Table 3 became a 2

(green crew) and then a 0 (2 crew sections at only -1), so why not? And the turn after, with only 15 gun

squares left, it got even better: Hit Table 3 stayed at 3 (0 for green crew this time), then became 1 (for the

crew sections lost). Of course this is a rare double anomaly, but other anomalies exist, e.g. a captured ship

is better off with 6 gun squares than with 7.

More anomalies are introduced when adding the Critical Hit tables, e.g., the Mast Falls critical hit cannot

be rolled on Rigging Tables 8 and 9.

The new fire system

Our new fire system borrows from CA and FC as well. Both games have abandoned separate gun hits.

Instead damage to hull is also damage to gunnery. This saves on recording gun hits, and it works well.

WSIM also had a roughly constant ratio between hull and gun losses. One big difference is the status of

the unengaged side, which will suffer from hull hits as well. Then again, did cannon balls magically stop

half-way through the ship? Some unengaged guns will have been hit as well. At least the initial broadside

will not have been fired. Another difference is in repairs, hull repairs now also help versus gun damage.

The basic firing system however, is quite like WSIM. Check your gun number on the Fire Base table,

adding a carronade modifier at short range for a Basic Fire Number. Modify this number in various ways

for the same reasons as in WSIM. Now instead of a Hit Table you’ll get a Modified Fire Number. Choose

between hull and rigging at range 5 or less, identical to WSIM. Roll two dice instead of one, add these for

the Final Fire Number, and read off hull, crew and rigging hits in the appropriate column. This system

borrows heavily from the one found in CA, this time using two dice instead of one.

Also borrowed from CA is a nifty system to compute in advance the Basic Fire Number and the modifiers

which always apply. It’s a bit of work, but no harder than marking off gun boxes before play. This does

away with most table checks during fire combat, thus speeding up play.

Critical Hits are handled differently as well. Regardless of whether you hit something, if you rolled a

double, check the Critical hit table. The roll for the Critical is then modified by a critical number found on

the Fire Results Table, which is higher for higher rolls. Otherwise, it works the same, though we have

moved some critical hits around, and we added a Leader Casualty modifier for our multi-player games.

Quite some fun if the second-in-command suddenly has to direct the whole fleet, while the erstwhile Fleet

Admiral now represents a junior admiral or senior captain. Treat those as no effect if playing without

leader rules.


Fields of Fire Quick Reference Chart

Advanced rule VIII A. Reduced Field-of-Fire: [Selected items only.]

1 The play of guns is divided into five fields,

numbered 1 through 5:

2 Fields 1, 2, and 3 cover hexes that can be hit by the

entire broadside. Field 4 can be fired at only by the

guns in the stern section. Field 5 can be fired at only

by the guns in the bow section.

[…]

5 Blocked Fields of Fire:

a. If a ship fires at a target that lies within the field of

the entire broadside (Fields 1, 2, or 3), the ship must

fire at the closest target as explained in the basic game.

b Ships cannot fire the stern section at a target in field

4 if there are closer targets in fields 2 or 4. Ships may

fire at a target in field 4 if there are targets closer in

fields 1, 3 or 5.

c. Ships cannot fire the bow section at a target in field

5 if there are closer targets in fields 3 or 5. Ships may

fire at a target in field 5 if there are targets closer in

fields 1, 2 or 4.

d. Note: In many cases a ship will straddle two fields.

For the purpose of determining fire, that ship occupies

the lowest number field. For the purposes of

determining line of sight, that ship occupies both

fields. There are two exceptions to this rule:

d.1 Ships firing at a target straddling fields 2 and 4

may not fire the stern section if there is a closer target

occupying field 4. It may fire its bow section.

d.2 Ships firing at a target straddling fields 3 and 5

may not fire the bow section if there is a closer target

occupying field 5. It may fire its stern section.

6. Determination of the field-of-fire is made

independently of the determination of the range

between two opposing ships.

Example A

Ship A has the choice of firing its stern section at

ship B, or its entire broadside at ship C (5a).

Ship B can only fire its bow guns at ship A.

Ship C cannot fire at A, since ship B is straddling its

fields 2 and 4, so B is the closer target (5a).

Example B

Ship D (friendly to B and C) has been added.

Ship A now has the choice between firing its stern

guns at ship B or its bow guns at ship D, since D is

straddling fields 2 and 4. (5d.1).

No change to ship B. Ship C is now blocked by D.

Ship D cannot fire at ship A, ship B is blocking (5a).

Battle Rule IX: Special Rake rule

The diagram shows the combined effect of the 60

degree rake from Battle Rule IX and the 5 hex rake

range of Battle Rule XIII. The firing ship needs to

occupy at least one of the shaded hexes.

battle rules v. 3.2 for wooden ships & iron men includes ... · the nijmegen games club casus...

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