[In this article, I will occasionally interject my thoughts in to issues that Chuck either left vague or skipped completely. I do this only to make sure everyone is as clear as possible on the concepts he is presenting and how they relate to the game. Honestly this could be looked at as a companion to our 2^nd article on the game where I discussed the workings of the Combat Sequence Card. This is Chuck’s first effort at writing an article for… anything, I believe. – Jeff Horger]

Air vs Air

During the early part of the game the box for Air vs Air could be left blank unless you want to counter a LBA (land based air). Later when more air units are added, this box could become more important. AIR units placed in this box are trying to counter any offensive AIR the opposition places into a sea zone. The down side is that if there is nothing to cancel out then it is a waste of an air unit. As the game advances and more air units are available (usually when the Japanese and American carriers come out), this becomes more relevant.

The Air Strikes

This box is a little tricky. On the one hand you want to put air units here to try and make strikes. especially on Raiders, but if your opponent put a submarine into a sea zone you air unit does not get an attack. However, if it is a Raider you still get the attack even if it takes a die roll of 1 to hit. The air strike is also useful to try and whittle down any anti-submarine ships when you have submarines in the same combat. Finally air strikes are great to try and damage heavy units before the surface line comes into play. You do need to be careful if you are using carriers though as they go to the reserve and may be targeted. [To clarify, no matter what mission you assign to carriers and seaplane tenders (CV & AV), they always end up in the Surface Reserve box.]

ASW Air or Surface

Obviously ASW units get placed in this box, unless somehow you are sure there are no opposing subs. Risking air units here is generally more beneficial to the Allies since a larger percentage of Axis units are indeed SS units. If you get out-foxed by the Axis and their submarine deployment, you could be chasing ghosts (otherwise known as fast cruisers and raiders). So if you actually have a submarine to attack great take your shot (die roll of 1 on a six-sided die hits) but if you miss with a AV or CV you have to place them in the surface reserve box [where the hunters will become the hunted].

Raiders

This is a box allows placement of two types of units, Cruiser (CA) and Auxiliary Cruisers (CX). This is a great place to place these ships, at least depending on how the players places their convoys. [Raiders are only effective in a Sea Zone with opposition convoys, otherwise they have no purpose in this box.] Most CX raiders have long ranges meaning you can base them in a North Atlantic base then place them in the Pacific with ease. That range also helps if you opponent places only “short legged” ship into the sea zone. [A short-legged ship in reference to this game is any ship with a range value of 4 or less. This category includes 90% of the British Fleet and about the same of the French. In the early stages of the game, Axis CX’s have very little chance of being trapped into a fight by an Allied surface ship.] As the game advances though, some ships, generally American, begin having high enough ranges to force some of the Raiders into fights so be careful if you see the Stars and Stripes in a Sea Zone. If you decide not raid or are prevented by faster ships, you have to go to the surface line box and fight it out.

Sub

Attacks anything on the surface and you can use multiple submarines on the same target. A mass of submarines can potentially devastate any target. After the strike, but before your opponent can counter you must decide whether to stay afterwards in the surface reserve or slip away. Staying allows you to control a Sea Zone but makes you fair game if your opponent has more ships than your surface line does. Leaving allows you to live to fight another day but at the cost of not having that ship to control a Sea Zone.

Mine Warfare

Minelayers attack any ship above or below the surface that is still in the Sea Zone. Anything in the Surface Line, Mine Warfare Box or Surface reserve is fair game. I like to to take out heavy ships and reduce my opponent’s strength on the surface line. The flip side is the Minelayers, which nullify completely one Minelayer each.

Surface Line

The line of battle. Here is where you will go toe to toe with your opponent’s surface ships. This takes a moment of thought as you need to contemplate how to set up your line. Do you put your heavy hitters on the left [thus firing and being targeted first] or put a few smaller ships first then your heavy hitters to allow you to set up two or three groups to take out your opponents heavy hitters. When both players follow the same strategy, the battle takes on pretty standard processes. But if things get mixed up, some odd fights can occur. [I can attest to the fact that Chuck is willing to place his heavy ships anywhere in the line. As combat is resolved left to right, some people, like myself, use the Battleships as a shield for the lesser ships since they are so hard to sink. Chuck’s Battleships may appear anywhere in his line from the left end to the right end or anywhere in-between.]

[Chuck has never been one to say five words when three would suffice. However, while I am in the middle of a very detailed look at the Combat Sequence Card, this article may provide a refresher of the whole picture.]

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