THE GREAT WAR AT SEA GAME SERIES

           VOLUME #6: 1898: THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR

                  ERRATA AND CLARIFICATIONS

                             by

                       Alan R. Arvold

 

   The following errata and clarifications are based on series of

questions put to, and answered by, Avalanche Press, in a number

of phone calls. Also consulted were the numerous questions and

answers posted on the GREAT WAR AT SEA SECTION of Consimworld on

this game. However all errata and clarifications in this article

should be considered to be unofficial.

 

 

SERIES RULES BOOK

 

   There have been three different Series Rules Books in the game

series. The first version came in the first three games of the

series (THE MEDITERRANEAN, THE NORTH & BALTIC SEAS, and U.S. NAVY

PLAN ORANGE). The second version came in the fourth and fifth

games of the series (1904-1905: THE RUSSO-JAPANESE NAVAL WAR and

U.S. NAVY PLAN BLACK) and was available as replacements for the

rule books in the first three games. These versions are now

obsolete. The third version came in the sixth and seventh games

of the series (1898: THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR and U.S. NAVY PLAN

RED) and the second edition of the first game. This is the

current version of the Standard Rules for the game series.

 

8.5 Dead in the Water

8.51 Speed Loss (Add): If a ship which suffers a hit where the

printed damage result includes losing one movement, and from the

same hit has more than half of the number of hull boxes crossed

off, then that ship suffers the loss of two movement, not one. A

ship may not lose more than one movement due to having more than

half of its hull boxes crossed off in the game, no matter how

many more additional hull boxes are crossed off later on.

Additional printed movement losses from damage results still

apply though.

(This rule represents the reduction of a ship's speed due to the

gradual flooding of the damaged hull spaces. The printed movement

losses in the various damage tables represent engine room hits.)

 

8.6 Referred Pain

(Add): 8.63 If primary hits on primary and secondary armament

with light or no armor cause excess damage, the excess damage can

be taken as a hull hit if the original primary hit takes out the

last armament box of the required type. However, the excess

damage is ignored if the hull has heavy armor.

 

9.0 Multiple-Ship Counters

9.3 Combat (Clarification): A player can not place all hits on

one ship in the counter if there are more hits than the one ship

can possibly absorb. In addition, once a ship has taken enough

hull hits to sink, it is no longer eligible to receive any more

hits.

 

 

COUNTERS

 

(Clarification): There has been some questions of the mislabeling

of some ships in the American fleet in the counter set. The

following answers should settle this matter.

The American coastal defence ships (Puritan, Amphitrite,

Monadock, Terror, Miantonomah, and Monterey) are misnumbered.

They should be CD1, CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5, and CD6 respectively.

Although the Texas is labeled as a coastal defense ship, she was

not classified as such until 1911. Before then she was classifed

as a second class battleship.

The armored cruiser New York should be designated AC02, not AC01.

(The original battleship Maine was originally classified as an

armored cruiser (AC01) when launched but shortly thereafter was

reclassified as a second class battleship.) The New York was

later modified and renamed, first as the Saratoga, then later as

the Rochester (CA02) which is how she appears in the game U.S.

NAVY PLAN ORANGE.

The scout cruisers Chester, Birmingham, and Salem (CS01, CS02,

and CS03) were so designated when they were launched, but later

became light cruisers (as they are designated in U.S. NAVY PLAN

RED). The Birmingham was converted to a destroyer tender and

leader in 1911 but was converted back to a cruiser in 1914. In

U.S. NAVY PLAN BLACK they are designated as DLs.

The cruisers Denver, Des Moines, and Chattanooga (C14, C15, and

C16) were later reclassified as gunboats (which is how they are

designated in U.S. NAVY PLAN BLACK)

The gunboats Petrel and Concord are misnumbered. The Concord

should be GB02 and the Petrel should be GB03.

The numbering of the gunboats Topeka, Isla de Luzon, Isla de

Cuba, and Don Jaun de Austria are arbitrary. The Topeka did not

get a hull number until 1921 when she was designated GB35. The

other three gunboats were those captured by Admiral Dewey after

the battle of Manila Bay which he refurbished and used to augment

his force. They were discarded within a year after the war ended.

 

 

SCENARIO BOOK

 

Optional Rules

 

Ramming (Clarification): The ram bow symbol on the ship data

sheets are located just after the ship's name. For example: the

battleship Maine (B00) has a ram bow but the coastal defence ship

Texas (CD00) does not. In the third paragraph, last sentence, the

first word should be "If".

(In the latter part of the Nineteenth Century, the naval tactic

of ramming enjoyed a brief renaissance during the transition from

wooden to iron and steel ships. Metal ships could sink wooden

ships by ramming with little damage to themselves. However when

ramming other metal ships, the ramming ship received almost as

much damage as it inflicted on the target ship. By the end of the

century, just about all major navies were using all metal

warships and the tactic of ramming fell out of favor for good.)

 

Operational Scenarios

 

Operational Scenario #6: Delete the Spanish and American

advantages from the Play Balance section. The ships mentioned in

them were by the time period of this scenario already lost or

captured at the battle of Santiago de Cuba.

 

Tables

 

The following tables were left off of the last page of the

Scenario Book where they usually go. Here they are.

 

Weather Table

Weather conditions change on the Weather die roll as follows:

November though June

Die Roll

1-2    Decrease one level

6      Roll again, on 3-5 increase one level,

       on 6 increase 2 levels.

July through October

Die Roll

1      Decrease one level

5-6    Roll again, on 3-5 increase one level,

       on 6 increase 2 levels.

 

Torpedo Die Roll Modifiers (Pre-Dreadnought Era)

+1 if target is capital ship or F-numbered transport

+1 if target is dead in the water

+1 if target is towing or being towed (11.2)

+0 if target is in the same hex as firing ship

-1 if target is one hex away from the firing ship

-1 if firing ship is capital ship

-1 if torpedo is fired from hull mount

 

Gunnery Ranges (Pre-Dreadnought Era)

Primary   2 hexes

Secondary 1 hex

Tertiary  same hex

 

 

HIT RECORD CHARTS

 

Spanish

The Spanish armored cruisers Princ. Asturias (AC04),

Card. Cisneros (AC05), and Cataluna (AC06) should each have a box

around their torpedo factor as they had hull mounted torpedo

tubes, not deck mounted ones.

The Spanish cruisers Alfonso XII (C04) and Reina Cristina (C05)

should each have a movement factor of 1s, not 1.

The Spanish protected cruiser Estramadura should have a torpedo

factor of 1 as it had deck mounted torpedo tubes.

 

 

BATTLE BOARD

 

   In the game 1898: THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR (Avalanche Press)

the Series Rules for the GREAT WAR AT SEA are used. Within them

in Rules Section 7.0 (Advanced Combat) it describes the scenario

set up on the Tactical Map Board. These rules assume that the

standard Tactical Mapboard for the GREAT WAR AT SEA series is

being used. Unfortunately 1898 has the Tactical Map Board from

the game SOPAC in it. This board while having the same general

shape, has a different orientation and hex numbering scheme than

that of the one from the GREAT WAR AT SEA series. No wonder

people are getting confused over the rules for setting up on, and

exiting off of the Tactical Board. This problem can be solved in

one of two ways.

 

1. Borrow a Tactical Map Sheet from one of the other games in the

   GREAT WAR AT SEA series and use that. The Standard Rules are

   specifically written for this map sheet.

 

2. Use the rules below for the Tactical Map Board that came with

   the game. These rules superceed those in the book.

 

7.23 Non-Initiative Placement: The player without the initiative

must place a total of eight ships in hex A-1 before he or she may

place any ships in hexes adjacent to hex A-1. If he or she has

more than eight ships, additional ships may be placed in any

hexes that are adjacent to the ships that have been previously

placed in hex A-1, as long as no ships are placed closer to the

designated corner hexes from which the initiative player's ships

will be placed than the current sighting range (four hexes in

daylight and two hexes at night, modified by weather conditions).

All ships must be placed as close as possible to the designated

corner hexes from which the initiative player's ships are placed.

 

7.24 Initiative Placement: The initiative player then places his

or her ships, starting in the corner hex (Z-1, Z-5, Z-9, Z-13, Z

17, and Z-21) corresponding to the sea zone from which his or her

fleet entered the sea zone in which contact was made. If the

initiative player's fleet did not move during the turn, it may

enter the tactical map from any corner the initiative player

chooses. He or she must place a total of eight ships in the

corner hex before he or she may place any ships in the two

adjacent hexes to the corner hex along the edge of the zone. If

he or she has more than eight ships, additional ships may be

placed in any edge hexes that are adjacent to any ships that have

been previously placed, as long as no ships are placed closer to

enemy ships than the current sighting range (four hexes during

daylight and two at night, modified by weather conditions).

Example: The Spanish player has the initiative. His fleet entered

sea zone I24, where contact was made with an American fleet. The

Spanish fleet entered from sea zone H23, therefore it sets up on

the tactical map in corner hex Z-17 and in adjacent edge hexes on

either or both sides of that corner hex.

 

7.33 Exiting the Map: Ships that exit off of the edge hexes while

outside the sighting range of enemy ships have exited the

tactical map and may not reenter it during the same tactical

phase. They are returned to their boxes on the Fleet Composition

card and their fleet marker is moved to the sea zone into which

they exited. The sea zone entered must correspond to the nearest

corner hex to the edge hex the ships exited from. In the case

where the exit hex is equal distance between two corner hexes,

the owning player may choose which sea zone to enter. If ships

exit the tactical map while within sighting range of enemy ships.

move all ships back from the edge an adequate number of hexes to

keep all ships in the playing area and the same positions

relative to one another. Note that ships may not exit off of

those edge hexes which are blocked by land.

 

7.41 Tactical Movement: If a sea zone side is all land on the

operational map, players may not exit their ships off of the edge

hexes which would lead to a sea zone blocked by land. They may

move their ships through those edge hexes without checking for

grounding though. If an island (that is contained in one sea

zone) exists in the contested sea zone, treat hex A-1 as land

(the player without initiative sets up his ships adjacent to the

hex A-1, closest to the map corner from which the initiative

player's ships will be set up). Note that this may decrease the

initial distance between opposing fleets. Ships which must set up

adjacent to an island do not have to check for grounding,

providing they do not move out of their placement hexes. However

if they move out of their original placement hexes, then they

must check for grounding if they move back into them at a later

time. Ships may not enter land hexes.

 

 

Scenario Corrections:

Make the following corrections to the listed scenarios when using

the Tactical Board that came with the game.

 

Battle Scenario 1:

Set Up: The American player has the initiative and is set up on

hex Z-9 on the Tactical Board.

Map: Ships may only enter and exit the playing area through hexes

Z-8, Z-9, and Z-10.

 

Battle Scenario 2:

Set Up: The Spanish player has the initiative and is set up on

hex Z-1 on the Tactical Board. Roll for initiative on all

following rounds.

 

Battle Scenario 3:

Set Up: The Spanish player has the initiative and is set up on

hex Z-21 with hexes Z-20 and Z-22 being used for any additional

ships over eight.

 

Battle Scenario 4:

Set Up: The Spanish player has the initiative and is set up on

hex Z-21 with hexes Z-20 and Z-22 being used for any additional

ships over eight. The American fleet has the Spanish blockaded in

port. After both sides have set up, the American player may shift

his or her ships to within 2 hexes of the Spanish ships.

Map: Ships may only exit off of the playing area from hexes Z-3

through Z-15. Ships may not exit off the playing area from hexes

Z-16 though Z-2 although they need not have to check for

grounding when moving into or through these hexes.

 

Battle Scenario 5:

Set Up: The German player has the initiative and is set up on hex

Z-9 on the Tactical Board.

Map: Ships may only enter and exit the playing area through hexes

Z-8, Z-9, and Z-10.

 

Battle Scenario 6:

Set Up: The Spanish player has the initiative and is set up on

hex Z-1 on the Tactical Board.

 

Battle Scenario 7:

Set Up: The Spanish player has the initiative and is set up on

hex Z-9 on the Tactical Board.

Map: Ships may only enter and exit the playing area through hexes

Z-8, Z-9, and Z-10.

 

Battle Scenario 8:

Set Up: The American player has the initiative and is set up on

hex Z-9 with hexes Z-8 and Z-10 being used for any ships over

eight.