From: Nick Palmer Subject: WitP house rules Marcus Stumptner suggested that some of you might be iterested to see our War in the Pacific house rules. These incorporate the official errata: the real house rules are marked *. War in the Pacific errata and addenda *=Unofficial change 5.31 Secondary HQs may be deployed by BOTH players in the Joint Supply Segment of each Supply Phase. *Secondaries are deployed in the ground, not the air, phase. 5.33 Air divisions can have 100 points; Air Forces 300. 5.37 No more than 1 HQ of the same size can be operational in the same hex in any one Cycle (i.e. you can't save supply by having two groups instead of a wing) 5.38 HQs may use ground movement like normal ground units. Supply multiples: Group=1, Wing=2, Div=3, Force=4. *5.43 You can have planes on airfields above the HQ level, but they can only do emergency transfer. They count double for attrition. 5.7 FLEEING AIRCRAFT: Air points on a base which is captured by ground troops can emergency-transfer to any base in their transfer range if they could have done a Special Strike that phase (otherwise they drop dead). 5.8 Any air point allocated to a Strategic Role is considered to be performing a Strategic Air Mission 6.8 TRANSPORT TRANSFERS: If you do a strike transfer as the second half of the transport (i.e. you fly on somewhere else) it counts as a transfer (i.e. higher attition). 6.13 Air points cannot perform strikes in successive phases of any kind - thus they CAN operate in successive air phases as there's a naval phase between. 6.3* It is possible to name Railcap or Seacap as the target if you attack the relevant center. 7.1 BOMBARDMENT PROCEDURE: always use the air phase procedures of the air/surface sequence (31.1), as this determies altitude levels for air/air combat). 7.3/7.5 PENALTY FOR EXTENDED RANGE: Air points conducting a strike at extended range (note that CAP is a strike!) have losses to air/air or AA combat applied AGAIN on the way home. 7.4 AIR AVAILABILITY Use the Air Availability Table only for CAP Cover, Naval or Joint strikes, otherwise you always have 100%. 7.55 Supply points defending vs Air Bombardment defend with the strength of the port in the hex, if any, otherwise 0. 7.55* alternative:* Supply can also be defended by the AA of military units in the hex. [Otherwise, inland supply depots cannot be protected - applies to railcap too if 6.3* is used.] 7.65 DAMAGE CUMULATIVE: Damage on ground targets cumulative up to max D4. [One can debate whether it should be possible to make the damage even worse, to make repair longer - the argument is that D4 means 'everything wrecked' already.] 8.3 errata: Key to search effectiveness chits: For Report =/-1(2) others read "+/- 1 (2) from sctual..." 8.31/8.32/8.39 REPLACING SEARCH CHITS: a TF's chits are replaced in the pool when it's definitely revealed or at the end of even-numbered game turns. [*Rather artificial. We played that chits are replaced immediately - this also means that if you draw a false it doesn't mean you know that False is now more unlikely on your next search, and it means you just need one cup. I've never understood what the two cups are for!] 8.4 RECCE PLANES STRIKING Note that you can strike against enemy task forces if in doubt over your search, even with recce planes without anti-ship strength. If you survive Cap you get a True report and set up the enemy on the spiral. [Effectively you are flying in close for a definite report. This makes dummies of very limited use.] 8.42 AIR SEARCH: The arc is traced from any two adjacent hexsides. In the 8.5 example, the 201 Wing Betts would extend from 1613 to 1714/1614 etc to the limits of their range. * AIR SPOTTING OF AIR BASES: Works like search of TFs. True: Report for each of F and B type: 1-2 as 1; 3-5 as 5; otherwise round up to nearest 5. Approx: no lies on type, cannot fail to mention a type there. Error: you can claim to have either F or B or both, but cannot pretend base is empty. 9.0 Naval units have Speed Class assigned in the Plot Segment of either (A) the beginning of the First Naval Phase or (B) the Naval Phase after refuelling. In case (b) you can choose any speed class. In case A, it's like this: Speed Active phases left before fueling 3 -> 2 3 for every 2 left previously 3 -> 1 3 for every 1 2 -> 3 FORBIDDEN! 2 -> 1 3 for every 2 1 -> 3 FORBIDDEN! 1 -> 2 3 for every 2 Note that as class 1 ships only move once a week and class 2 move twice, changing from 1 to 2 still means you need to go back to port sooner. *If you move on phases 2 and three of week 1, then on phase 1 on week 2, you're moving at speed 3. (Or use Alternate system, as we did, see later.) * If you aren't refuelling but just reammoing, it's half price. * NO KAMIKAZE SHIPS: Ships may not voluntarily move to a hex from which they could not reach a friendly port or base force with at least one supply point. Exception: player owns a support force and 'sincerely intends' to use it to refuel the ship. [One of those rules only enforceable with honest play, but then cheats can wreck any WITP game without trouble! The rule prevents both the Japanese and the US from breaking enemy pipelines on the far side of the map with a single suicide cruiser and a horde of dummies. Would captains voluntarily move out of supply range? See also 14.29] *9.4 KEEP ON, MEN! Naval combat does not stop a planned move, though he may abort. [Alternatively, it does not stop it unless he withdrew any ships.] 9.15 LENGTH OF CONTACT: Once contacted, you stay that way till the end of the NEXT Air or Naval Phase (which is first). 9.4 ENGAGEMENT VALUE FOR SURFACE COMBAT: When determining adjustment to Engagement Value, use the shortest possible route (i.e. it doesn't help to plot a circular route). 10.0 When can you unload? (* = planning needed as per 10.1) Mission type (not unit type) Hex Amph Tran Etran Strat MS pipe Friendly PORT (No) Yes Yes Yes Hex with friendly ground unit (No) Yes Yes Yes No ground units in hex Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes Enemy ground unit in hex Yes* NO NO NO If both sidesd have units, count as 'enemy unit in hex'. In short: against enemy units only Amph missions work; otherwise everything's OK but if you don't have a pipeline or a local port of unit, you need to plan it. The NOs for the Amph mission are really 'not applicables', since if the hex has friendly units and no enemy units, it's just a transport mission. *10.1 Planning: note that once you've completed the planning phase you can complete the mission when you feel like it, perhaps a year later, but the APB and unit can't do any other transporting in that time! * One might ban seaplanes from surveying landing areas? We decided not to do this, since it would tilt play balance to the US. However, allowing it enables the Japanese to make unhistorical early invasions: in particular, Midway can always be captured, and New Caledonia will fall quickly. *10.3 ETRAN: A DD can carry .25 load pts or 1 supply pt. A DE can carry .25 or 2 supply. The standard rule of 1 load point for units is just too good, makes DDs into good naval transports. 11.27 Force-marching HQs: If you fail you drop a size and a group is eliminated. 11.36 Jap inf reg: It's a 2-1, not a 7-3. 13.6 Sub attack: Deploy defending ships secretly face down as in air strikes (31.3) 13.8 Sub transport: Assign subrons to and from transport roles in the Mode Segment of the Merchant Shipping phase of the Strategic turn, and cargo assigned in the following cargo allocaiton segment. These subs may not move and coastal subs can't do it. 13.9* Cancelling anti-sub role: You can take air points off their Strategic Anti-Sub role during the Cycle to use them for urgent tactical purposes: they will then be unavailable for the strategic mission in the Strategic Cycle and will therefore have just wasted the first part of the Cycle. 13.92: should refer to 13.72. In the diagram, add 1614 to the sub's ZOC. 14.21 AUTO-FUELLERS: SFs are ALWAYS fuelled, as are MS in strat mode (when they go tactical they are assumed to have fuelled the phase before). *14.29 TAKING NAVAL SUPPLY DAMAGE: You get the D1 damage at the start of the first following ACTIVE phase (that's when you 'notice' you're unsupplied). 14.3 GROUND SUPPLY SUMMARY: You always need BASIC supply to avoid attrition. MOVEMENT supply (and the supply allowance) limit your move in one week (Turn). In effect, every unit has a movement allowance of 7, if supply is available. As you move, you can draw supply from depots within a week's march (i.e. Basic Cost of distance 7). If you have spare movement points, you can use them to 'whistle up' supply from a depot into your hex. Example: Allied unit in E2015, depot with 10 supply in 2016. Joint Supply Segment: spend 1 SP for basic supply. Movement phase: Could whistle up 7 supply from the depot, or could move one hex to 1915 (Basic Cost 4) and whistle up 3 points if it wasn't for the fact that the distance in Basic Cost to 2016 is now 4+4=8, too far. COMBAT supply is separate from these: you can spend as much as you need if it's within supply path range. 14.31 Ground supply Basic Cost is always calculated as if a non-mech unit was marching the route. 14.37 Ground units being transported by ship share the ship's supply status. 14.44 To put it another way, unsupplied units have a supply allowance of 0. 14.6 ASSAULT LOCs: Units doing air/naval assault always have an LoC on the invasion TURN. 14.6D: refers to 5.36. 15.0 MS PIPELINES: Ignore the movement areas (5 points per hex etc.), just count hexes and divide into 16 to get Thruput Capacity. Use the counters' arrows to show the route. 15.6 Searching/breaking pipelines: Airpoints search strat MS pipelines only in the Air Search Segment of Air Phases. Pipelines broken by enemy action can be reformed after combat if the owner wants to and has enough MS left. 15.6* MS Capture: One MS is gained whenever each of Singapore, and all ports in Java and Phillippines are captured: this represents coastal traffic pressed into military service. Also: add one Jap MS on 7/42. [The Japanese historically captured and used 670,000 tons of merchant shipping and built 270,000 tons in the first year. The 32 MS they start with are half of what they had historically, the rest being used for civilian purposes.] *17.0 Refit/yard periods must BEGIN in the specified period, but can carry on into the next week/month. Refits can start in any phase (see next point) but repairs and yard periods must be for complete weeks (for simplicity). 17.1* Refits: If you are doing repair work you are deemed to do yard and refit work at the same time. If you do a yard period you are deemed to refit at the same time. We clarified the refit rule as saying the refit must be for 3 consecutive (active or inactive) naval phases (prevents a speed 1 ship doing it in one phase, then 'speeding up' to move in the next phase). 18.0 Repair: You don't have to announce the start or completion of repair work. The joint shipping units (MS, APB, SF) cannot be repaired, though it can be recombined. Make a note when you do max repair on a ship: each ship can only get it once until fully repaired. *We played that you can raise enemy ships sunk in major ports (the Japanese did this in Soerabaja and Hong Kong. 19.25 Islands have an Basic Cost of 4 for attrition (normal and combat). 20.5 Base Forces: Deployed or semi-deployed can be captured like ports; undeployed if the hex is controlled by an enemy ground unit. *20.6 Support forces: Note that the Naval Cap of the port limits loading of SFs, the NC of the SF when it's unloading. 20.14* Torpedoes in harbor: count 0, but one can still get combined attack benefits (important at Pearl). In Port: Ships in repair or yard periods when a port is captured are sunk: everyone else is just forced out of port. The total ships In Port, including fuelling/refitting/yarding ships, may not exceed the Naval Capacity. 21.25 MULTIPLE AIRBASES: You can build more than one in a hex, but only when the first reach level 10; they are counted as one base for all purposes. 21.54 ENTRENCHMENT->FORT upgrades only cost 80. 24.43 INDIA: Correct to: 3*11-3 inf divs, in either or both rail centers. [*The errata doesn't mention the 3 air points requirement, but I guess it should be there.] 24.9 MALAYA: Part of the CW, includes Bintan Is, C0208. No supply. Railcap 10/15, seacap 20/20, both with center Singapore. Garrison 7 ground combat strength points. 24.9 HONG KONG: Part of the CW. No supply. Railcap 0, seacap 10/*10. *No garrison. 25.2 PEARL: Hawaiian Islands: everything that can be reached by Seacap from Pearl (3342). *27 CHINESE SUPPLY: We said Chinese supply lines must be no more than 7 movement points to a rail line leading to a provincial capital or an LTU. If we do this, then the Chinese must be allowed free LTU deployment to avoid being out of supply on turn 1. *27 Chinese raids: unless supplied, the Chinese must 'plan to' return by cycle end - i.e. no kamikaze invasions. 27.8 CCP FIGHTS FOREVER: CCP partisans can keep being placed and operate even if all other CCP assets have gone. 28.5 MANCHURIA: Railcap is TWICE provincial value. 30.5 What example? There is no example of movement on the tac display: delete the ref. 30.9 JAP NIGHT EDGE: Also, all Jap DDs have tac display range doubled to 2 for the first tac sequence, and this ranged attack won't make them spotted. [Nice!] 31.75 COWARDS NEED NOT APPLY: You can't voluntarily choose a Target Ring with no enemy naval units. 31.8 ATTACK ALTITUDE: The height whence the bombs are dropped. Level Bombers (B) have the one you chose to come in by; T/D/FB planes always have a LOW Attack Altitude. *33/34 PRODUCTION LEAKS: Ships being built are announced after one year's progress (spies see the ship in progress). [Not convinced this is a good idea.] *34.53 JAPANESE SHIPPING BUILDS LIMIT: Jap players hate this limit, and is it really historically accurate? 35.22 DOOLITTLE RAID: The ref is to 41.43, and it consists of a strike on a Jap Industrial Center by land-based air flying off carriers: this triggers the Jap Garrison increase in 28.14. *38.4 JAPANESE SUB DOCTRINE: Is it realistic that pipelines out of Japanese air range know they are safe so have no escorts at all? We used this rule: Japanese attacking US merchant pipelines have the Sub Points Available die halved (round down) like the early Americans, but throughout the war. This forces the US to use some of their mass of DDs for escort. *38.7 Coastal guns. BFs count towards coastal guns. 39.3 AVOIDING AIR ATTRITION: Only if crated throughout the last four-turn cycle. Open your Christmas presents and they start to deteriorate. *The rule leads to players crating vast numbers of planes. Alternative: reduce total attrition to 5% (still 10% for transfers): this means obsolete planes disappear whereas otherwise they hang around crated. 39.71 ATTACKING SEAPLANES: You can, as usual, even though they aren't on an HQ. * 39.78 FLYING OFF: Allow any number of fighters to fly off. [There are precedents] *39.96 Japanese MS minimum: Fracvtional MS can be added up to reach this total. 39.97 Oil center supply: Cannot be used for reammoing or refitting. 40.0 PRE-GAME TRANSPORT: The Japs can move supply and ground units as cargo before the Pearl and Campaign scenarios; in all other circumstances one can only move supply in such pre-game cargo. *41 NO SECOND HELPING AT PEARL: Ban the Japanese from making more strikes on Pearl before refuelling. They can attack elsewhere if they wish, but are 'too conservative to strike Pearl again'. A second strike after one inactive phase is just too good! *41.64 ALTERNATIVE JAP NAVAL AIR BONUS RULE: the advantage is lost when 60 naval air are lost, not 100 all air points. The Japanese will probably lose about 5% of 1600 points per turn (assuming our alternative rule without crating protecting from attrition), plus combat losses, so would lose the edge in 5/42 or so. 41.23 Add to Jap deployment: 2*7-3 and 3*2-1 Thais. 46.37 PEARL THREAT: If the Japanese can do non-seaplane land-based air search/strike on Pearl, the war is shortened two turns. [* For one lonely plane? We said just one turn. Also applies if Pearl captured, of course.] 49.7 MANCHURIAN RELIEF: After 1/43, if the Jap Inner Defense Perimeter is breached (cf 46.22) the Japs can attempt to reduce the Manchurian garrison: roll a 1 to remove 1. COUNTER MIX LIMIT: Wellington bombers are also known as 'Wimpys'. Anything with a counter is limited to the mix (as opposed to sub points, air blocks, etc.) except markers (TFs etc.). [*Do we want this apparently artificial restriction? It may have important limits on e.g. Japanese APBs. I think the number of TFs is reasonable, though - otherwise plotting and searching gets very tedious with numerous dummies and one-ship forces all over the place. I think one should be able to have any number of supply depots, though - just note them on paper (better than on the map anyway - opponent should be able to ask about them when he enters a hex with ground units or an air recce mission.] ALTERNATE NAVAL MOVEMENT in the errata at the end: we like this better - the other system is 'jerky' with some units not moving on many phases while others zip past them. The obvious drawback is that you have to order everyone every phase, slowing play. This means: Speed class MP per phase Fueling period 1 28 12 phases 2 84 7 phases 3 126 3 phases Night movement allowance and fuel implications of speeding up/slowing down are unchanged. We allowed speed 1 ships to travel 30, not 28, as otherwise the map scale (mostly 5/6 points per hex) means you lose too much of your movement. Map and scenario and counter corrections: various, see back of air/surface tactical charts and errata sheet from 41.2 onwards, as well as the two extra sheets, one printed, one typed. It's also worth copying the Chinese and Japanese centers from the back of the tac chart; note B3028 is another Jap Northern Resource Center. * SB2C: range 36/52/120, bomb 6/3: this is the carrier blocki version of the SBC * Ningsia has 2 points. *Other changes: The Japs had 34 US-built Lockheed transports (3 air points) in Indochina in addition to their 3 Terri points, and captured a Borneo oilfield intact with an airdrop - with only 3 points they can't lift their 1-2. Increase Indochina Terri total to 5. (Allies will wish to note that this means they need to garrison Chungking to avoid immediate catastrophe in China.) General note: it appears that SFs can be used to deliver large supply dumps to any hex with an anchorage or harbor. If this is accepted, then they will MAINLY be used for this, and it makes them vital. If it is not accepted, there will be a huge impact on play, since the side on the defensive will have great trouble in supplying anything, pipelines being too vulnerable near the front. lay balance will swing heavily against the Japanese. In our last game, we abolished all the clunky artificial war-shortening rules, replacing them by 'realistic' effects. If Australia and NZ are isolated, they 'go on strike', refusing to act as bases for non-CW ships or planes. This is lifted if Japan invades them. If the Japanese penetrate India, they gain additional production centres. The Pearl war-shortening rule is dropped (it's bad enough to have the Japanese get that far anyway). General effect of all this is to hurt the Japanese chances, so in return we dropped the restriction on builds of 1 ship per turn and waived the sub doctrine rule which didn't have the dramatic effect predicted by the rules).