The concept for a combat flow chart is as old as the hills in war gaming. While I don’t think Neal, Chuck or myself broke any new ground on the concept, I think our implementation of the system is quite a pleasant and engrossing experience. One glance at our system should make it clear that we were heavily inspired by the War at Sea and Victory in the Pacific system and I’d like to acknowledge that lineage at this moment. If we hadn’t had those masterpieces to build upon, we might have had a much tougher time creating a stable foundation for our game. You should see as we get into the game however, there are fundamental things that I disagreed with in those original systems and felt the need to either adjust or just plain toss away in Seas of Thunder.

This article deals with only the Combat Sequence Card and the Combat System itself. There will be no mention of the other aspects of the game here as there are plenty of details to discuss regarding just the way combat is handled. All of that other stuff will be covered in future articles, but I thought it would be best if you saw how the tactics worked before you learn how to maximize the strategy.

The first thing to understand is that both sides will set their ships on their Combat Sequence Card in secret. That means that in most instances, you will not know what ships are opposing you as you set your strategy. This is where the system shines. Guessing, bluffing, out-guessing and over-thinking can and often does occur. Are you sure those four German units are U-boats? What if they turn out to be the Bismarck and some cruisers? All those planes on anti-submarine warfare duty are now unavailable to strike at the jewel of German sea-power. Will your powerful minelayers be countered by a fleet of second-rate minesweepers? Is your cruiser capable of sneaking into a zone and wreak havoc on merchant shipping or are there capable defenders ready to drive you off? The myriad of possibilities is remarkable.

Another ‘gamey’ item to keep in mind is to be aware that units must attack an enemy unit in full. There can be no splitting of strength to attack multiple targets. This was done to keep the game moving. Allowing a breakdown of targets opens far too many decision doors and requires extra bookkeeping and probably extra components. This was something that was codified in the original WAS/VITP games and that I had an interest in modifying. After some experimenting we quickly determined that the old guard got that one very right. We decided to keep these matchups as simple as possible yet as flexible as we could. On the other hand, multiple units may be combined in a phase to attack one single unit. So, in short, three units can attack one unit but one unit cannot attack three.

The modular and step-by-step process does mean that a unit lost in an earlier step in the Sequence will not be available to fight if scheduled to later in the sequence. Air Strikes can eliminate ships from the combat before they have a chance to fight in their own phase. Successful ASW actions will prevent SUB units from firing. SUB attacks can prevent MINE and SURFACE ships from performing an attack. Surface ships lost to MINE attacks won’t get to fire in the Surface Phase. All of this means that occasionally you may want to have a unit with a weaker ASW or MINE capability go off before SUB or Strong Surface ships get an opportunity to fire. How often do you give up an extra die or two in the surface phase to make a weaker attack earlier in the combat?

Another important factor is that the Combat Sequence is simultaneous for each side. All ships that have an opportunity for action in a box are able to be active in that phase, even if they were damaged or sunk by another ship in that phase. When the Air Strike Phase happens, every Carrier gets to launch its planes for a strike, even if they are sunk by the enemy’s carriers in the same phase.

Let’s take a look at each box along the process and see who can be in that box, what they can do and how difficult it is for success. Remember, in most combats very few of these boxes will be occupied and the most common conflict is surface against surface. Maybe a common battle is one specialty ship or two with a group of surface ships. But larger battles will probably cover many of the boxes and there will always be that one sea zone where someone pulls off a big surprise with an unusual deployment.

Box 1: Air Superiority

The Air Superiority box is resolved through a two-step process. First both sides total their Air Strength from Land-Based Air, Carriers, Seaplane Tenders, and even Japanese Submarine Carriers later in the war. The side with the smallest strength in the box is eliminated and their strength is removed from the larger side. The larger side then assigns the surviving Air Factors in the box to cancel out opposing air units designated for either Air Strike or Anti-Sub Warfare. These factors are cancelled out on a 1 to 1 ratio with the smallest units within those boxes being cancelled out first.

Box 2: Air Strike

This box may only be utilized by Land-Based Air (LBA), Carriers (CV), Seaplane Tenders (AV) or Submarine Seaplane Tenders (SSAV). Any unit here will use its Air Value against any target EXCEPT submarine units which includes any unit whose class begins with SS.

Each counter must be targeted against an enemy ship. A counter may not be broken up to target multiple targets. One Air unit attacks one ship unit.

Once the targets are assigned, the ship being targeted is allowed to shoot Anti-Aircraft fire at the incoming Air Strikes. Because of the limited space on the counters, we created a chart for Anti-Air fire. While we acknowledge that the ship-by-ship variations are occasionally different than the numbers on the chart for the whole class, the chart is an excellent compromise. The numbers below show the number of dice rolled per ship. All Anti-Air hits on a 1 regardless of the ship and each hit reduces the Air Strike by one die. All hits are inflicted before the AIR unit has an opportunity to attack.

After the AA is resolved, the AIR units are cleared to attack the target ship. Every 1 or 2 rolled results in a HIT. Each HIT then allows a roll of a six-sided die for damage. So yes, even 1 HIT can do 6 Damage and yes, 3 HITS could conceivably do only 3 Damage total. It should be noted that Air Strikes are the single-most effective method of attack in the game against an opposing warship. Nothing else has a 33% chance of hitting for each die.

After Damage is assessed, a unit that has suffered Damage equal to or more than its Survivability Value is eliminated and removed from play. If a target suffers a total amount of Damage that is less than its Survivability Value, that target must immediately roll the Repair Die (this die has a value of 1-3) and is placed on the Turn Track that many spaces ahead.

Note that ships in the RAIDER box can only be hit on a roll of 1. This represents their solitary and off-the-beaten-path approach and serves to balance the game a bit in favor of the Axis side.

Once all AIR units in the box are expended in an attack, they are moved according to the chart’s instructions. LBA’s are moved to the Convoy Attack Box. CV’s and AV’s (including SSAV) are moved to the Reserve Box. This movement is done immediately and before moving to the next box.

Box 3: Anti-Submarine Warfare

This box may only be utilized by Ships with an ASW ability (usually Destroyers or Cruisers) Land-Based Air (LBA), Carriers (CV), Seaplane Tenders (AV) or Submarine Seaplane Tenders (SSAV). Any unit here will use its ASW against any SS target in any box. No ship that does not have an SS classification can be attacked by units in this box. Because in World War 2, it was an uncommon (but not unheard of) event when submarines attacked each other, we did not give SUB units the ability to affect each other. This turned out to be a very solid move for play balance and make submarines that much harder to deal with.

Each counter may target only one SS unit. The attacking unit rolls a number of dice equal to the ASW value of the unit. Any 1 rolled is considered to be a hit. Damage is not rolled. Each hit counts as 1 Damage. SS units with a Survivability Value higher than 1 must be hit multiple times to sink them. They are still damaged and require repairs with even 1 hit.

After all units in the box have attacked, they must be moved according to the directions below. Any LBA is placed back in the LBA holding box on the map. These planes cannot attack Convoys later in the turn. All surface ships, CV’s, AV’s and SSAV’s are moved to the Reserve box immediately.

Box 4: Raiders

Only Cruisers (CA) or Auxiliary Cruisers/Armed Merchantmen (CX) may be placed in this box. Ships in this box are intending to only attack Convoys in a location and forego the ability to control the Sea Zone. However by design or by being foiled by the opposition, Raiders may occasionally be forced into the main combat line.

To Raid, a ship placed in this box needs to meet one of two criteria (not both):

1) The Raider must have a higher Range value than every enemy ship in the Sea Zone.

2) A Convoy in the Sea Zone has no warships of its nationality in the Sea Zone.

If either of these conditions are met the Raider may decide to either Raid the Sea Zone or join in the Surface Combat. Note that it is possible for some Raiders to qualify for raiding and others to fail. Determine each ship individually.

If a ship is eligible and elects to Raid, it moves directly to the Convoy Box on the Combat Sequence Chart. If the ship is ineligible to Raid or chooses not to, deploy it to the Surface Line Box in the last position to the Right.

There is no combat that occurs in the Raid Box, just a determination of eligibility.

Box 5: Submarine Attacks

Only units with a SUB rating may be placed in this box. Note that just because a unit is a SS unit does not necessarily make it eligible for this box but must have SUB on the counter in the Special Ability line. Mine-laying Subs are placed in the Mine Warfare box. The afore-mentioned SSAV’s must be given air missions. Submarines placed here that survived the ASW attacks may attack any non-SS unit in the Mine Warfare Box, the Surface Line Box or the Reserve Box. No attacks may be made against the Convoy Box ships. Each SUB unit must target one enemy counter with its full value, no splitting of units.

All Submarine attacks hit on a roll of 1. Each hit results in a Damage Roll. Ships that suffer damage less than their Survivability Value must roll the Repair Die and are sent to the Turn Track. Ships that suffer Damage equal to or greater than their SV are considered sunk and removed from play immediately.

Once all SUB units have made their attacks in this phase they may be deployed to either the Reserve or the Convoy Box. Units deployed to the Reserve Box have a potential to be attacked but also can control a Sea Zone. Units moved to the Convoy Box will not be able to control the Sea Zone but are immune from future combat.

Box 6: Mine Warfare

Only units with a MINE rating may be placed in this box. These ships have two distinct classes, Minelayers and Minesweepers. Minelayers are indicated by a number in parenthesis. The majority of ships in this box will be of the Minelayer (ML) or Minesweeper (MS) class, there are Cruisers, Auxiliary Cruisers, Destroyers and even SS units that qualify for placement in this box.

Resolution of this box poses its own challenges and is somewhat reminiscent of the Air Superiority Box above. The first thing that must be done is that both players resolve their Minesweeping ships first. Each MS unit cancels out a Minelayer (ML). Both of these ships are moved directly to Reserve and the Minelayers so cancelled do not get to attack.

After the Minesweeping is concluded, each Minelayer may then target any units in the opposing Mine Warfare Box, the Surface Box or the Reserve Box. Ships in the Convoy Box are immune from MINE attacks. Each Mine Layer must target 1 opposing unit and cannot be broken up. Each MINE value on the counter is 1 die rolled, so a MINE value of 3 allows a player to roll 3 dice to hit. Targets are hit on each roll of 1. Each hit then results in a Damage Die roll. If the Damage equals or exceed the SV rating of the target ship, that ship is sunk and removed from play immediately. If the damage does not reach the SV of the target ship, that ship must roll the Repair Die and is placed on the Turn Track that many turns ahead.

After all ships have had their chance in this phase, they are moved to the Reserve Box.

Box 7: Surface Line

The moment you have been waiting for. This is the phase when the big guns fire. Unfortunately for the people in charge of these fleets, by the time WW2 came about, the romance and legend of Battleship combat was about to be shattered by air and submarine power. We think Seas of Thunder does a great job of showing this trend as by the time that most gunnery duels occur, the lines may have been chewed down by air strikes, submarines and minefields. This often results in the biggest gun platforms already on their way back to base for repairs (sound familiar).

Any ship may be included in the Surface Line, though many have other specialties that make their inclusion in the Line less than optimal. Ships placed in the Line must be ordered from Left to Right with the ships firing in the order they are placed. This makes for an interesting decision on how to place ships in the line. We will discuss our thoughts on that at some future point I’m sure. Ships in the line must also target ships from left to right in the opposing line. So the first ship must fire at the opponent’s first ship. After that, the number of ships you want to use to target enemy ships is up to you. If you want to use the first three ships to target the first enemy ship, then your fourth ship must target the second and so on.

Ships in the Surface Line may attack ships in the enemy Reserve only if every ship in the enemy Line is attacked by at least one ship. So the bigger fleet can “get around” the Line and hit ships that were not intended to be in the Line. All attacks from multiple ships are combined into one roll against a common target. Each 1 is a Hit and every pair of 2’s is also a Hit. All hits then require a damage roll for each Hit. In general this makes Battleships more dangerous as with more dice their ability to roll a pair of 2’s is statistically higher than cruisers and destroyers.

After Surface Combat is concluded, move all remaining ships to the Reserve.

Box 8: Reserve

All ships that end up in the Reserve after all ship vs ship combat is resolved are allowed 1 die roll against the Convoy or Convoys in the Sea Zone. On a roll of 1, 2 or 3 a Convoy is sunk and removed from play. If four ships reached this box, that side would roll 4 dice looking for 1-2-3’s on those dice. Once this roll is made, return those ships to the Map in the contested Sea Zone.

Box 9: Convoy Attacks

All ships that end up in the Convoy Attack Box roll dice according to their type. All SUB units roll 2 dice, all other units here roll 1 die. All of these dice sink a Convoy on a roll of 1, 2 or 3.

After the Convoy Attack, the participating units are NOT returned to the map but are returned to a legal base in range. These ships are not eligible to control or contest a Sea Zone.

As you can see, the sequence is simple and self-directing. But the interactions and combinations of ships and missions make each combat feel very dangerous and uncertain. Huge fleets can end up contested if they fail to account for a tactical twist. I cannot stress how these last three years of testing have been so enjoyable to us, mostly due to the fact that the combat system never gets old.

Next Up – Axis Strategy in Scenario 1: Raider Warfare

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Seas of Thunder – Sailing Outside the Edge of the Map