Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1992 13:55:00 GMT From: Subject: SUPERMARINA Hi there guys, At long last this is the review of this Playtest Kit/Western Desert. INTRODUCTION Supermarina is the update of the Their Finest Hour/Narvik naval system, and is available from GR/D as part of the Europa Magazine, issue no 17, or as a separate test kit, cost $4.00. The couters are unmounted, and need to be photo- copied before use. I mounted them on mounting board (Q successful). In the article in TEM17, there are a comprehensive set of rules, 50% reducions of the Mediteranean Sea, (with ports marked on it), and an entirely new Air Combat system. CONTENTS Art quality is adequate for its purpose, although there are some silly erratta which lead to frayed tempers every time the module is set up (eg UK Destroyer types are listed as type A/L etc on the OBs, but as Tribal/Lance/Keppel etc on the counters (AAARRRGHHH), while some ships, especially RN cruisers are missing totally from the counter sheet, although they are listed on the OBs. Rules are quite clear, but not yet upto the immense standards seen in Fire in the East or Balkan Front (after all, it is a playtest!). The counters provided are excellent once mounted, being clear, and easy to use. UNIT TYPES Units are generally 1 ship, or 1 flotilla of Destroyers (up to 4 ships), while merchant transports are illustrated as Naval Transport points (each point can carry 1RE (see other reviews for definitions of this) of NON motorised units, or 1/2RE of C/M (mechanised) units/supply. Air units in this specific segment of Europa are at half size (ie 18-24 aircraft, NOT 40-50). Each shit has a limited number of hit points available to it. Each hit reduces the capability of all factors by a ratio of total hits to hit points. Ship Types: Destroyers (DD) - each individual ship in the flotilla has the ratings listed on front of the counter. These represent Gun type+strength (ie Primary (11" and over), Intermediate (6" +), or secondary (5" or less), ship protection rating (how well armoured/man- ouverable the ship is), anti-air rating (ALL is light AA by Europa standards), torpedo rating and ship movement factor. Destroyers are fast, well armed with "secondary" type guns, lack good armour, but make up for this a little by their speed. Most DDs have excellent torpedo factors. Cruisers, Light (CL) - marginally slower than the DDs, the are usually much better protected than DDs, and ship for ship, have more gun power and Flak. Limited torpedo capability is present on some ships. Most CLs have a mixture of secondary and intermediate guns. Uk CLs out class most Italian CLs by being better armoured/gunned, but are slower. They are a rough match for ANY Italian heavy cruiser. " , " AA (CLA) - fast, well armed with lots of secondary guns, they are unique to the RN, and are exceptionally well endowed in the AA department. They are predominantly of one main class (Dido/imp Dido) and are poorly armoured in comparison with other ships of their size. " , Heavy (CA) - These are usually alittle slower than there less well protected bretheren, but are most are armed with mixed intermediate/secondary armament, although the Italian navy suffers in this view. Armour is better than the smaller Italian units, but RN CAs are often poorly armoured/gunned in comparison. AA values vary greatly in relation to their age. Battlecruisers (BC) - Slow compared to most cruisers, they are generally as fast as the newest Italian Littorio class BBs. Armouring is almost on par with the older Dreadnoughts such as the unimproved Queen Elizabeth BBs, but their gun armament, split between Primary and secondary types is often little better than a modern CA/CL, except that they out range the CA/CL. AA ratings are braodly similar to the Allied CLs. Battleships (BB) - There are two types of BB in the game. There are the older RN WW1 super dreadnoughts which are slower than the older RIN Conte de Cavoir class BBs. All have broadly similar primary armaments, although the RN ships generally have better secondary armaments. The RIN ships are less well armoured than the improved Queen Elizabeths. All are better armoured than the RN BCs. Then there are the two Nelson class BBs, with much better guns, more armour, but still slow. The Littorio Class RIN ships are broadly similar in capab- ility to the Nelsons, although they are slightly faster. The Prnce of Wales is almost an exact match for these ships. Carriers (CV) - The RNs carriers are as well armed (in general) as their CLAs, but their armour rating match those of the RN BCs. AA ratings are excellent, while their airplane capacity (rated in terms of airunits) is very variable. The newer ships have a capacity of 4/5 units, while their older conversions (eg Eagle) are only 2. The USS WASP is in the game too. She has a capacity of 5 air units, but is poorly protected, and, (1942) has a lousy AA rating. The Wasp and the newer RN CVs are as fast as most CLs, while the older CVs are as slow as the RN BBs. Planes - Effectively, the same old air units are available, although type V (topedo bombers) and type D (dive bombers) are given a DRM on attacking ships. All Carrier capable aircraft are denoted by a "C" at the bottom of the counter. generally, ship based bombers are a rough match for land based units, but the RN fighters (eg Fulmar 1/2, Skua) are outclassed by German Me109E/Fs, but are a matchh for ANY Italian plane. RULES The NAVAL ACTION PHASE fits in to the Europa play order after the replacement phase, but before the ground/air phases. Each NAP has 7 NAVAL ACTION SEGMENTS which have several parts:- 1) Form Task Forces/Convoys 2)Attempt to detect enemy TF/con. (dependant on range from a friendly base/unit) 3)move ships upto the limit of their movement ratings. 4)role for submarine attack for each group of ships at sea. If attacked, subract the ASW rating (dependant on total no. of DDs in group) from torpedo attack rating (8 for RN/Axis subs). If any torpedo "get through", role against torpedo attack rating, and randomly assign hits. Repeat attack role for each torpedo factor that hits. RIN DDs are less capable in ASW than their RN counter parts, so they need twice as many DDs for total protection (16 instead of 8). 6)role for mine attack if unit is in a minefield hex. similar to above, except that 50% damage is done to any one ship in the group (randomly selected). 7)Air attack (see separate heading) 8)Gun actions- if a detected enemy TF is in the same hex as a friendly TF, you may elect to attack it. If it is a convoy, in may scatter, taking 10% losses in transports and transported units. If it doesn't, it may be attacked and wiped out at a later stage in the combat phase. The player deploys ships in the gunline at primary range. Any ship may engage ANY ONE ship within range. After this is resolved, the defending side may elect to disengage or close the range. If the action continues until the action is at secondary range, torpedos MAY be used after the gunnery round. Torpedo attacks are resolved the same as sub attacks, but there is NO ASW effect. Instead each attack roles against a to hit atble based on the targets protection factor. All damage is cumulative, and is simultaneuosly awarded at the end of each round of shooting. 9)Ships in harbour may be rapaired, scattered convoys may regroup. if in the combat before, the convoy DID NOT scatter, or lost its escorts, it ,may take 100% losses at this stage. Air units return to base. There are 7 NAS in each NAP. My next posting will conclude this review, with an examination of the new air system, and a look at SM/WD. Hope this was interesting. JOHN