Battle for the Pacific – Questions
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So reading through the Battle for the Pacific Rules manual that I got with the August copy of Wargames Illustrated and theres a few questions I’ve got – I hope these are due to the rules manual being a cut down version of the full book!
1) AA against aircraft – pg 16, says that the roll is never modified, yet pg 15 aircraft trait large has a modifier of +1 to that roll as does pg 19 Kamikazes
2) Kamikaze pg 19 – says use all the ‘normal to hit’ modifiers except speed, however pg 16 says that aircraft have a fixed to hit against ships with no mention of using the normal to hit modifiers…
so RAW says kamikaze hit on a modified 4+ with a re-roll, yet a dive bomber hits on a flat 3+ and torpedeo bomber a 5+
3) Radar / Advanced Radar – whats the point of it on a battleship! +1 & a re-roll to your scout roll on a ship that cant scout (I take it weather rules will have rules for radar included!)
4)Deep Deployed Carriers – can you retrive flights off the board (espically to rearm them once theyve used their one shot ordance)?
You’re right. Bad reading of the rules on my part.
Having looked through the relevant sections again, and having looked at the ship cards, I’m initially inclined to agree. The “Restricted” trait only applies to shots fired at targets port and starboard, but not to shots fired at targets fore and aft. Given that all of the Restricted weapons that I’ve found so far have a 360 degree firing arc, this suggests that the Restricted trait is meant to represent the smaller batteries along the side of the ship being blocked by the bulk of the superstructure. They can still fire to the front and back. But the superstructure blocks them from being able to fire at the other side of the ship.
Given that, a reading where a DP Restricted gun is quartered would make sense.
However…
After having come to that conclusion, I happened to notice that the 4×5″ Light Gun battery on the USS Essex has the special rule that “No attack dice may be fired into the Starboard Arc”. The weapon – which is DP – has a 360 degree firing arc. I’m puzzled why they wouldn’t just give the Essex a firing arc that covers fore, port, and aft. It makes me wonder if the anti-aircraft portion of the DP is treated differently. I suspect that your read is correct. But the way that Essex’s firing arc is handled makes me want to double-check just to be sure.
I think I’ll ask MongooseMatt about this.
As for your original questions –
RE: Kamikazes – the rules mention motor torpedo boats, which are not included in the starter rules. I suspect that this is a cut and paste from a larger section that covers suicide boats and manned torpedoes, in addition to the better known kamikaze aircraft.
Radar on capitol ships – I would hazard a guess that the full rules will include things that use this, such as night battles. Radar (along with USS South Dakota acting as an unwilling target) was a large part of why USS Washington was able to hammer the Japanese squadron that it was up against during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, and it would be a glaring omission if it wasn’t included. I’m more curious whether the Advanced Radar on the Essex will serve any purpose.
Answers! I’m copying my exchange with Matt over at Dakka.
USS Idaho in her default configuration has a set of 5″, 360 degree guns with 6 attack dice that are both DP and Restricted. She’s being approached by a flight of Kates on her starboard side, a flight of Vals on her port side, and a flight of Zeroes from her bow. Her priority is to deal with the Kates, so her captain announces that she’s firing her DP guns as anti-aircraft, and targeting the Kates. Her attack dice for this are halved from 6 to 3. Because the Kates are on her starboard side, and the guns are Restricted, are they halved again (rounded up) to 2? Or is Idaho allowed to use all three dice against the Kates? If the dice are halved again, can she use the remaining die against the Vals on her port side? Or is she only allowed to use it against the Zeroes flying toward her bow?Yes, apply both DP and Restricted so you will be using 2 Attack Dice. You can also split fire, but you are still subject to the Restricted rule, so that last Attack Dice can only be used against the Zeroes.
Slightly deeper answer… Yes, you are right in thinking that perhaps it _should_ be able to get a dice off to the Vals and, if you choose to play it that way I am not going to send the Gaming Police round to your place. The answer above comes purely from keeping things simple, which is where I would lean in an ‘official’ capacity. It may also encourage you to escort the Idaho with some decent AA ships
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