CLARIFICATIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO SOPAC

 

                            by

 

                      Alan R. Arvold

 

   The following clarifications and corrections are the result of

many phone calls to Avalanche Press for rules questions to the

game SOPAC. While these clarifications and corrections did come

from Avalanche Press, they should be considered unofficial until

Avalanche Press puts out an official errata sheet for SOPAC.

 

Operations Board

The little tombstones on the map which represent where the ships

whose names are by them were sunk have no effect on play what-so-

ever. Their purpose is merely decorative. The tombstone for the

USS Chicago is in the wrong sea zone. It should be in sea zone

P25, not M21. However the tombstone in sea zone M21 can represent

the USS Juneau which went down in that location.

 

Battle Board

On the Torpedo Damage Table the correct Hit Type for a die roll

of seven is 3 hull, 2 secondaries.

 

Japanese Capital Ship Hit Record Sheet

The Battleship Haruna should have four shaded secondary boxes

just like her sister ships on the sheet.

 

Japanese Light Ship Hit Record Sheet

The Japanese Light Cruisers all have fuel boxes that would seem

to indicate that they use coal for fuel. This is a misprint. All

Japanese Light Cruisers use oil for fuel just like every other

ship in the game.

 

American Capital Ship Hit Record Sheet

The Carrier Hornet should have five AA boxes, not four.

The Carrier Yorktown should have eight Hull boxes, not seven.

It should have a point value of 130, not 125.

(The Yorktown was the sister ship to the Enterprise and the

Hornet and therefore should have the same number of hull boxes

as they do.)

 

Rule Book

Page 6, Top Left Corner of Page

The word Navl should be Naval.

 

Page 10, Rule 6.53 Gunnery Restrictions

Gunfire may be traced through the length of hexside that borders

a hex with friendly ships in it except if that hexside borders

adjacent hexes both of which contain friendly ships. Gunfire may

also be traced through a corner intersection of three hexes if

only one of the hexes contains friendly ships.

 

Page 10, Rule 6.54 Reductions to Gunfire

A ship which engages multiple targets using its different fire

values may be the first ship to fire against one target and a

subsequent ship to fire against another. However if a ship uses

two or more of its different fire values against the same target

then it must either fire as the first firing ship or as a

subsequent firing ship with all of its fire values, not both.

 

Page 10, Rule 6.55 Gunnery Hits

The maximum modifier that can be applied to the die roll is +1

regardless if there is more than one modifier which applies to a

ship's gunnery factors during firing.

 

Page 11, Rule 6.63 Torpedo Hits

The maximum modifier that can be applied to the die roll is +1

regardless if there is more than one modifier which applies to a

ship's torpedo factor during firing. Note that when using the

Optional Surface Combat rules there is a -1 modifier to the die

roll for torpedo fire. In this case all modifiers are totaled and

the end result (which can not exceed +1) is applied to the die

roll.

(Example: The Japanese destroyer Shirayuki is firing torpedoes at

the American battleship South Dakota. The applicable modifiers

are as follows;

1. The Japanese have a surprise sighting in effect for that

   impulse for +1.

2. The target is a BB for +1.

3. The range to the target is 1 hex for +1.

4. The line of fire goes through the South Dakota's bow arc for

   -1.

The total would be a +2 modifier but since the maximum die roll

modifier permitted is +1 then that is what is applied to each of

the Shirayuki's torpedo die rolls.)

 

Page 12, Rule 7.71 Speed Loss

This speed level reduction occurs only once in the game as soon

as the ship has lost more than half of its hull boxes. There is

no further speed level loss if further hull boxes are lost later

on in the game. This speed level reduction is in addition to

those which occur from hit results on both the Torpedo and

Gunnery Damage Tables. Note that it is indeed possible for a ship

to receive a two level reduction in speed if an eleven is rolled

on either table, one level for the damage result and one level if

the number of loss hull boxes becomes more than half as a result

of the hit.

 

Page 12, Rule 8.0 Damaged Ships

When reading the rule people will notice that Rule 8.21 is

missing. In reality there is no missing rule, the number was

inadvertantly skipped at the publishers when the rule book was

printed.

 

Page 14, Rule 9.32 Torpedo Reloads

If a ship receives a torpedo mount hit while in the process of

reloading then the torpedo mount is destroyed, the hit is not

ignored just because there are no torpedoes in the tubes.

 

Page 14, Rule 9.34 Reductions

Allied ships which are with the Americans in the scenarios (i.e.

the Australians) do not suffer a reduction in their torpedo

factors.

 

Page 18, Rule 10.92 Hunter Killer.

When rolling the die for the second time there are no modifiers

applied to the die roll.

 

Page 20, Rule 13.34 Anti-Aircraft

While there is an AA Modifers Table in the Second World War at

Sea game series, it was not put into SOPAC because none of the

modifiers were applicable during the time period covered in that

game.

 

Page 20, Rule 13.35 Strike Resolution

The reference to the Naval Strike Table is incorrect, there is no

such table. Instead the reference should be to the Bombing and

Air-Launched Torpedo Modifier Table.

 

Page 20, Rule 13.4 Port Strikes

The negative modifier for torpedo planes attacking ships in ports

is due to the fact that ships in ports were usually protected by

torpedo nets. The negative modifier is added along with all the

other applicable modifiers from the Bombing & Air-Launched

Torpedo Modifier Table before coming up with the final die roll

modifier for the attack. A die roll of 6 results in a hit.

 

Page 20, Rule 13.5 Land Strikes

A die roll of 6 results in a hit.

 

Page 22, Rule 16.4 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)

The ASW Modifier Table is only used against subs which are

attacking the task force. It is not used against subs which are

attacked by wandering ASW patrol planes as in Rule 10.92.

 

Page 24, Rule 18.23 Threading the Torpedoes

Note that this rule only applies to surface combat. It does not

apply to submarine attacks.

 

Scenario Book

Page 2, Optional Rules, The Lucky Chokai:

There has been some misunderstanding on how the Chokai's luck

is applied to deal with damage results received in combat. This

explanation should clear this up. When the Chokai receives

gunnery, bomb, or torpedo hits the Japanese player may roll

against the Chokai's luck factor for each individual hit.

(Example: The Chokai has received three primary, two secondary,

and one torpedo hit during an impulse. This means that a total of

six rolls may be made, one per hit, against the Chokai's luck

factor.) If the die roll is 1-5, the hit is considered to be a

miss and is ignored. If the die roll is a 6 then the hit occured

in one of the ship's magazine rooms and the ship blows up and

sinks. The roll must be made after the hit is received but before

the damage result is rolled for. If the damage caused by a hit

has already been resolved then the Japanese player may not roll

against the Chokai's luck factor. In other words, the luck factor

is used to remove hits, not the damage that they cause. The

Japanese player is not required to use the luck factor for all

hits received, he may use it against only some or none of the

hits as he desires.

 

In a grounding result, the die roll is made after the grounding

result occurs. A die roll of 1-5 means that the Chokai has

narrowly averted grounding out, a die roll of 6 means that the

Chokai runs into an underwater mine which puts a hole in it's

hull and causes it to sink.

 

If the Chokai fails an emergency repair attempt by rolling a one

or two in the original repair attempt, the Japanese may roll

against the Chokai's luck factor in order to restore the ship's

ability to conduct emergency repairs in future rounds, not in the

current one just completed. A die roll of 1-5 means that they may

conduct emergency repairs in future rounds. A die roll of 6 means

that the damage control teams fail to notice that the gasoline

storage tank for the float planes has ruptured, spreading

gasoline and gas fumes through out the interior of the ship which

an electrical spark ignites, causing a gigantic explosion and

fire which sinks the ship.

 

Page 3, First Column, Victory Points

The opponent receives the full VP value for each friendly ship

sunk regardless whether it is lost through enemy actions,

scuttling, or foundering.

 

Page 8, First Column, Battle Scenario #9 Historical Introduction

The Americans only lost one cruiser (the Northampton) in the

battle, not two. The three crippled cruisers were Pensacola, New

Orleans, and Minneapolis. The cruiser Honolulu got away

undamaged.

 

Page 14, First Column, Guadalcanal Reinforcement Force:

3 x small AP should be 3 x small TR.

 

Page 14, Second Column, Allied Forces; any sea zone on South edge

of board: CL47 Phoenix should be CL46 Phoenix.

 

SOPAC Tables Card

Spotting Ranges - The word Sqaull should be Squall.

 

Gunnery & Ship-Launched Torpedo Modifiers - First line should

read: Target is BB, BC, CV, CVL, CVE, large transport        +1.

 

Air Search Modifiers - First three lines should read:

On result of 3 or greater, task force is spotted.

Modifiers

3-4 steps of search aircraft                                 +1.

 

Submarine Attack Modifiers - Third line should read:

Target is BB, BC, CV, CVL, CVE                               +1.