Rules questions

[kirkoa]

1) is torpedo damage the only way a fire starts on a ship?

2) I understand that if a ship is in the same band with an island, it can affect radar detecting it. What happens if an island is between divisions? Say an island is in band 4, a US division is in band 3, and a JP division in band 7. Can they spot each other, or does the island block them?

3) How are land forms used/generated in the campaign game?

4) How are land targets used? I am assuming they are on Guadalcanal during a JP bombardment mission?

5) How does the stern/bow modifier come into play?

[William Miller]

1) is torpedo damage the only way a fire starts on a ship?

2) I understand that if a ship is in the same band with an island, it can affect radar detecting it. What happens if an island is between divisions? Say an island is in band 4, a US division is in band 3, and a JP division in band 7. Can they spot each other, or does the island block them?

3) How are land forms used/generated in the campaign game?

4) How are land targets used? I am assuming they are on Guadalcanal during a JP bombardment mission?

5) How does the stern/bow modifier come into play?

Hello Kirkoa,

Some answers to your questions below:

1) No. If a ship takes damage from either type of a hit (gunnery or torpedo) it can cause a fire to start: For gunnery hits a roll of "4-6" on 1d6 starts a fire while for a torpedo hit only a roll of a "6" on 1d6 starts a fire. [this is shown on the Reference Charts under the "Gunnery Damage Allocation" and "Torpedo Damage Allocation" Tables]

2) As a general rule, using radar to spot targets past the Range Band either Salvo or Florida Island occupies does not block LOS but does affect the targeting radar as per the rules in Section "F". As an optional rule, a target may specify that it is using the Island to block LOS for all units past the Range Band occupied by the Island, but then its own LOS checks to all targets past the Range Band occupied by the Island are also considered blocked. Note that the "Guadalcanal Island" marker is really intended to be used to block the map at one end for battles that are confined against the main island itself.

3) I have updated the NOF eratta with a method to generate the inclusion of Islands in the campaign.

4) A Land Target is used in the campaign only for the "IJN Bombardment" battle: This represents Henderson Field and its support areas. A "Henderson Field" card is provided with the game for use with this type of Battle, and is placed on the Island if one is generated for a Battle.

5) If the firing ship stays in the same Range Band during a Turn (i.e. it does not move into another Band) then it does not suffer the Bow/Stern penalty. If the firing ship moves and changes Range Band then it does suffer the penalty unless its target stays in the same Range Band as it does (i.e. if the target starts in the same Range Band and then moves into the same Range Band as the firer moves into then the penalty is not applied).

All of the above info is included in the updated NOF eratta...

Thanks!

[kirkoa]

1) Right, right...didnt see that on the table. Need new glasses I guess

2) This rule sounds good to me...in essence a smaller force can hide behind the island until the enemy gets into the same band with the island.

3) Excellent! Just printed them up

4) I am assuming that in the campaign game, the JP forces start on band 10 and the US forces start on band 1? Except for the JP Bombardment mission in which you would place the Guadalcanal piece in band 1 and the US forces in band 2? Also, place the Henderson Field and the Medium Gun cards next to the battle board (obviously on Guadalcanal) and could still roll for an island per your errata? It would mesh with the geography in the area.

5) Makes perfect sense. As a division moves, point it at the opposite end of the board (US towards band 10 for example) then if it doesnt move the next turn point it sideways to show it is in "broadside" as it were.

I am also toying with two house rules...

I love the fact that you included the Yamato as a "what if". Since it wasn't there historically, I was thinking about having the JP player roll at the beginning of each month and on a '1' die roll the Yamato is available. It still doesnt mean it will be used per the rolling for the size of the forces.

The second I am thinking about is when you roll for damage per hit, making a roll of '1' be a "near miss" and no damage, with the 2-4 staying 1 DP, 5 staying 1 flotation DP, and 6 the 1+1 damage. I was thinking this near miss result would counter balance the '6' result.

Like I said, still toying with those ideas. Otherwise, love this game. Great cards, the battle board is simple and effective. I am a big fan of the NWS WW1 and WW2 games, but really like the further depth of this one with the flotation damage introduced, and rolling for each hit to see the damage effects of each hit.

[William Miller]

4) I am assuming that in the campaign game, the JP forces start on band 10 and the US forces start on band 1? Except for the JP Bombardment mission in which you would place the Guadalcanal piece in band 1 and the US forces in band 2? Also, place the Henderson Field and the Medium Gun cards next to the battle board (obviously on Guadalcanal) and could still roll for an island per your errata? It would mesh with the geography in the area.

5) Makes perfect sense. As a division moves, point it at the opposite end of the board (US towards band 10 for example) then if it doesnt move the next turn point it sideways to show it is in "broadside" as it were.
...

Kirkoa,

You are correct, the national flags on the Range Band Chart shows where each side starts: IJN starts at Range Band 10 and the US Forces starts at Range Band 1 - unless it is an IJN bombardment mission and you rolled the "1-5" for an Island, in which case you would place the USN at Range Band 2 and the 'Guadalcanal Island' marker on Range Band 1. Henderson Field would then be located on Guadalcanal at the same Band 1 of course. That should have been made clear in the rules but was not, my apologies.

I have updated the errata with the above clarification, and added the date to the filename so that everyone can easily determine the version date.

Thank you for your support and I do hope you keep enjoying the game. If you have any more questions (or suggestions) feel free to post them anytime.

[kirkoa]

Jeez William, do you sleep?

Thanks for the quick response. One more question, if Henderson Field is the automatic target on Guadalcanal, how do the Medium Battery cards come into play in the game?

[William Miller]

Jeez William, do you sleep?

Thanks for the quick response. One more question, if Henderson Field is the automatic target on Guadalcanal, how do the Medium Battery cards come into play in the game?

Kirkoa,

Sleep? I have heard of the concept, but have yet to encounter it

The "Medium Battery" unit cards were designed for player-created scenarios since Guadalcanal Island did not have any significant fixed gun/coastal batteries. I have a "house rule" for campaigns where if the roll to check for an Island was a "1-2" you would include a single Medium Gun battery on the island, with the defending player choosing to have the battery cover either the IJN or USN side of the Range Band map, but not both sides. This simulated the fact that the defending player could have a (perhaps temporary) battery in place on/near the coast.

[kirkoa]

Kirkoa,

Sleep? I have heard of the concept, but have yet to encounter it

The "Medium Battery" unit cards were designed for player-created scenarios since Guadalcanal Island did not have any significant fixed gun/coastal batteries. I have a "house rule" for campaigns where if the roll to check for an Island was a "1-2" you would include a single Medium Gun battery on the island, with the defending player choosing to have the battery cover either the IJN or USN side of the Range Band map, but not both sides. This simulated the fact that the defending player could have a (perhaps temporary) battery in place on/near the coast.

Hmmm...how about if a JP Bombardment is the mission, the JP roll a die. On 1-4 Henderson Field is placed, 5 is a Medium Battery, and a 6 is both Medium Batteries? That way the batteries could (loosely) represent Marine ground positions?

[William Miller]

Hmmm...how about if a JP Bombardment is the mission, the JP roll a die. On 1-4 Henderson Field is placed, 5 is a Medium Battery, and a 6 is both Medium Batteries? That way the batteries could (loosely) represent Marine ground positions?

That would be an interesting alternative and would offer some additional variety.