Modern Naval Warfare
1950-1985

Miniature Rules

by Clifford L. Sayre, Jr.

These modern naval rules by Dave Harrison are so up-to-date that they have a May 1982 addenda. The rules book is 54 pages long in an 8.5 x 11 inch page format. The distance scale is one inch per kilometer, the time scale about 2.5 minutes per turn and the movement factor two millimeters per knot. All of the data and tables are bound in the book, there are no separate inserts or play aids (although a template is given for aircraft movement).

There are tables of ship and aircraft characteristics rated for speed, electronics and other parameters; HOWEVER, no weapons data are given for the various ship and aircraft classes. The author feels that armament characteristics are too dynamic and that players should provide their own data from whatever sources the players deem suitable. The various weapons' data have been converted to game data, but the weapons have not been assigned to specific ships or aircraft. There are many possible sources for armament information such as the various naval annuals as well as other sets of miniature rules.

These rules lack a game turn sequence listing. The rules are organized into sections which probably approximate the turn sequence. An excellent table of contents is provided which is of great assistance in finding the proper section of the rules or a required table. There are a lot of tables to use and a lot of lists of probability increments or decrements to account for various effects. In some cases there are different tables for different sized vessels.

Very little has been done to combine, abstract or omit factors or characteristics in order to develop a game system such as one can find in HARPOON or NAVAL BATTLE GROUP. Each missile is launched individually, detected (or not) individually, defended against individually and inflicts damage as an individual unit. Combat resolution is thus similar to a gunnery shell-for-shell damage system which can be very time consuming. The various procedures are clearly explained in specific sections (e.g., "Anti-ship Missiles -- How to Use Them", with six steps described). However, there is a lot to do and a lot to keep track of. I expect that table searching and die rolling will occupy much more time than movement and firing.

The rules include sections on aircraft operations, submarine/anti submarine operations and a sample ship record card. No scenarios or strategic rules are given. I cannot recommend these rules. They are much more complex than necessary and thus are overshadowed by other rules such as HARPOON or NAVAL BATTLE GROUP. The lack of armament data for the various ships and aircraft is a considerable inconvenience even if the weapons suites are undergoing constant change.

Finally, there are no interesting or unique features in the rules which might be studied for adaptation to other game systems. The rules are distributed through SKYTREX and are available from Modelers Mart, 760 N. Indian Rocks Rd., Belleair Bluffs, FL 33540 for $9.95.

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© Copyright 1983 by The Courier Publishing Company.

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