What will the game play be like in general terms?

[Shosties]

OK, I have a better idea of what the mechanics of MNB could be like after poking about the DiF forum (relative positioning, manuever and action cards, reaction and counter-reaction, etc.). However, that leaves open the question of what the scope of a single game is? Does it stay at the tactical level or are there some strategic components to it?

[Shosties]

*Crickets chirp. Somewhere, an owl hoots.*

:confused:

[Richie]

* cough *

[Moon]

This is, quite frankly, not decided yet. The focus, i.e. the core game, is definitely centered on tactics, but one way or another we'll try to embed this into some kind of strategic background to provide a purpose for all the naval battles. It's just not clear yet what kind of background this will be and/or what options will be there for the player to manipulate.

We'll have some more information when we open up the game website in the coming weeks.

Martin

[Shosties]

Moon, great! Nothing wrong with a "TBD" per se. I'll be looking forward to the website and associated bone throws.

[coldmeter]

Will it be anything like SSI's game FIGHTING STEEL?

Mark

[Moon]

coldmeter, no - Modern Naval Battles is a strategy game, based on Dan Verssen's award-winning card game. As such, it will be much more abstract than Fighting Steel.

Martin

[Bruceov]

Will it be a text game or yet another hex game? Or will it be a modern game with graphics

[Harv]

Here is some information I found on the original card game, which might help to answer some questions people might be having.

Harv

[Shosties]

Thanks to Harv for the great link.

[Shosties]

Seeing as it is available for free (not for resale) over the web, I am taking the liberty of quoting from the rules of Cold War Naval Battles, available here ("rules", a zipped .doc)(thanks again for the pointer, Harv). I added some spacing and bolding of headers for easier reading and only took sections one through six for the sake of brevity (these cover the bare bones of the game I think). If this is a no-no, I will gladly delete this post. Hopefully, this will give a better picture of what kind of game MNB will be like, though obviously Dan, bartbert, and Battlefront are taking the opportunity to kick it up a notch for the home computer.

I take it this is the design taken as the starting point for Modern Naval Battles: WWII at Sea, correct?

...(table of contents snipped)...

1. Introduction

Cold War Naval Battles was originally published as Modern Naval Battles, a series of three boxed card games for two to six players based on (then) present day sea power with an emphasis on action. It was introduced in the late 1980s by 3W, Inc. of Cambria, California.

The rights to the game’s design have long since reverted back to designer Dan Verssen, and Rodger B. MacGowan has always retained the rights to the graphic design. Meanwhile, Alan Emrich, who did the development work and codesigned the series, continued to receive email from its many fans asking if copies could still be obtained (even though it was long out of print).

In their quest for good gaming karma, Dan, Rodger, and Alan agreed that they would re-release the game, renamed (more accurately) Cold War Naval Battles, as a free download for personal use only (i.e., not for resale) on the internet. It is their hope that the fans of this wonderful game series will continue to find hours of enjoyment in it well into the future.

2. Components

Cold War Naval Battles consists of the following parts:

This rules booklet

114 Action cards*

9 Action Summary / Player Order cards

55 Ship cards*

* Each marked with an anchor symbol (P) in the upper-right corner of the cards so that they can be easily sorted out from all of the expansions when you desire to play the basic game of Cold War Naval Battles.

In addition, players will need a handful of regular 6-sided dice.

2.1 Printing and Cutting the Cards

There are thirteen Action Card Front Sheets and one Action Card Back Sheet. Naturally, the Back Sheet is printed on the reverse side of each of the Front Sheets. Print these cards on white 8.5” x 11” cardstock paper sheets (65# paper that is commonly available) with a color printer and cut them along the gray cut lines shown on their front sides.

The fourteenth Action Card-size sheet has nine Action Summary cards, and these cards receive the special back design featuring the Player Order values 1 through 9.

Similarly, there are seven Ship Card Front Sheets to be printed and cut apart. The first two have their own unique back designs that show the reverse sides of the ships on the Front Sheet. Ship sheets #3 through 7 all use the standard back design with the Cold War Naval Battles game logo.

3. How to Win

The object of a game of Cold War Naval Battles is to be the first player to score 180 or more points at the conclusion of a round of play; if more than one player does so, the player with the higher total wins. A round of play ends one complete series of Player Turns after the last Action card is drawn from the Draw Pile.

3.1 General Description of Play

During each Player Turn, the acting player can reposition a ship in their Task Force, have their submarines ‘go passive,’ play Action cards allowing them to receive additional ships, retreat, or attack other players’ ships, discard any unwanted Action cards in their hand, and then draw their hand back up to seven cards.

Players receive the point values indicated on the Ship cards at the end of a round for every enemy ship sunk and for all of their own surviving ships (less the value of any Damage cards on them).

4. The Ship Cards

Below is a sample Ship card:

5. Prepare for Play

Here is how to set up for a round of play:

5.1 The Deal

Shuffle the Ship cards together and deal seven to each player. Place the remainder of the Ship cards face-up in the center of the table; this constitutes the Ship deck. Important: only the top card of the Ship deck should ever be visible. No peeking beneath the top card!

Shuffle the Action cards together and deal seven to each player. Place the remainder of the Action cards face-down in the center of the table; these Action cards constitute the Draw Pile.

5.2 Task Force Organization

A player’s ships are collectively known as a ‘Task Force.’ Ship cards must be placed face-up on the table and may be arranged in up to three rows in front of their owning player. The ships in the row closest to the center of the table constitute that player’s ‘first row’ of ships known as Pickets. The ships in the middle or ‘second row’ are called Screening Vessels, while those in the ‘third row’ (the one closest to their owning player) are dubbed the Core Group.

Designers’ Note: These three rows of ships should be envisioned as a ‘circle’ of protection around the Core Group. That is, the Core Group is protected by the Screening Vessels and, further out, by the Picket Ships.

5.21 Ships in Row Requirement

There is no minimum or maximum number of ships a player must have in a row. In fact, there is no requirement for any ships to be placed in the second or third rows (i.e., they could all be placed in the first row). However, in order for there to be a second row, there must be at least one ship in the first row; and in order for there to be a third row, there must be at least one ship in each of the first and second rows. When the last remaining ship in the first or second row is sunk, all the ships in the rows behind it move forward one row.

For Example: If all the ships in the first row are sunk, the ships in row two now constitute the first row and those in row three are now in the second row. They must all move forward by one row.

5.22 Weapon Range by Row

Gun attacks may only be conducted by ships in the first row, and only against enemy ships in their first row.

Missile attacks may be made only by vessels in the first two rows, against enemy vessels in their first two rows (exception, see “Submarines in a Task Force,” below).

Ships in the third row may only be attacked by enemy submarines and Air Strikes; only aircraft carriers in the third row may attack enemy vessels (by launching Air Strikes).

5.23 Submarines in a Task Force

Submarines in a player’s Task Force are placed to the right of his surface ships and are not considered to be in any row.

Submarines have two sides or ‘faces.’ On their active (normal) side they are in an attack posture and are themselves more vulnerable. On their passive (back) side they are in a defensive posture providing them maximum protection. All submarines commence play ‘in passive mode’ (that is, with their passive side up).

5.24 Submarines in Combat

Submarines may make their torpedo or missile attacks on any enemy ship in any row; they may also make torpedo attacks (only) against enemy submarines.

Submarines are never vulnerable to any type of gun or missile attack, nor to Air Strikes. Only torpedoes or ASW can attack submarines.

Active mode: Whenever a submarine in passive mode makes an attack, it is flipped to its active side.

Passive mode: Each turn, during a player’s Step A.4 (Dive! Dive!), that player flips all his submarines to their passive side.

6. Sequence of Play

Shuffle the Player Order cards (you must use at least as many as there are players, but you may use more to add suspense) and deal one to each player face-down (that is, with the Action card Summary side face-up). Each player examines his Player Order card, taking care to keep it hidden from the other players. The player holding the lowest value card (usually #1, but it could be higher if you used more Player Order cards than there are players) reveals this fact and commences his turn. At the completion of this turn, the player holding the next highest card (usually #2) reveals it and conducts his turn and so on until all players have completed their respective turns. When that is done, the Player Order cards are again reshuffled and dealt out, thus commencing another series of player turns.

The Action Card Summary on the back of the Player Order cards is a handy reference that indicates which attacks are countered by what defenses in Cold War Naval Battles.

6.1 The Steps of a Player’s Turn

Each player’s turn must rigidly follow this sequence of steps:

A. Prepare for Action

This step is where the pre-combat ‘housekeeping’ takes place.

1. Clear the Decks!

Discard any ‘Retreat,’ ‘Area Defense,’ and/or ‘Carrier Crew Efficiency’ cards you played during the previous turn (see below). Note that whenever cards are discarded, they are placed face-up in a Discard Pile adjacent to the Draw Pile.

2. Fog of War

Roll a single six-sided die. The result is your Fog of War allotment number for that turn, indicating how many ‘actions’ you may perform during Step B.1 (Battle Stations!). This Fog of War element represents uncertainty and chance involved in any military endeavor (accidents, luck, weather, illness, Murphy’s Law, and so forth).

3. Adjust Formation

You may now move one ship (and only one ship) to an adjacent row. You cannot move ships in front of your first row (i.e., you cannot create a new, single-ship ‘first row’) nor move the only ship in rows one or two if there are ships in the row(s) behind them. In other words, you cannot use the movement of a single ship to change the row status of any other ship in that Task Force (by forcing them to move forward according to rule 5.3).

For Example: A Task Force has two ships in its first row, one in its second row, and none in its third row. The only legal ship moves would be to either move one ship from the first row back to the second row or the ship in the second row up into the first row.

Now let’s reverse that. There is only one ship in the first row, two in the second row, and none in the third row. The only legal ship moves would be to take one of the two ships in the second row and either move it forward or backward one row.

4. Dive! Dive!

Any or all of your submarines that you desire may change from active to passive mode at this time. Simply flip them over from their active to their passive side.

5. Ship, Ahoy!

You may now play any or all Additional Ship cards in your hand one at a time. For each Additional Ship card played, place it in the Discard Pile and take the top card in the Ship deck and add it to your Task Force right away. It can be placed in any row (except for submarines, which are set aside in their place to the right and begin in passive mode) and is immediately available for action!

Designers’ Note: You don’t have to play your Additional Ship cards at the first opportunity. If the top card in the Ship deck doesn’t interest you, you can always wait to see if someone else takes it before your next turn comes around. But the longer you wait, the longer you will have to do without that platform (ship) from which to attack; and remember, ships in your Task Force that survive the round score points for you!

6. Retreat!

If you have a Retreat card in your hand, you may play it at this time, placing it face-up in front of your first row to indicate to everyone that your Task Force has retreated.

A Task Force that retreats can neither attack nor be attacked until the beginning of its next turn (when the Retreat card is removed during Step A.1, Clear the Decks!).

In addition, the retreating player may conduct repairs by removing up to three Damage cards (see below) of his choice from the ships in his Task Force and placing them in the Discard Pile.

If your Task Force retreats, skip all of Step B (General Quarters) and go immediately to Step C (Ship Shape).

B. General Quarters!

This step is where combat takes place.

1. Battle Stations!

You may now perform a number of ‘actions’ (attacks and face-down Area Defenses, see rule 12.4) up to a total not exceeding your Fog of War allotment for that turn (from Step A.2, above).

Only one attack may be made for each gun, missile, torpedo, or Air Strike symbol on the Ship cards. Thus, you cannot use a single ‘A’ missile platform on a ship to launch two or more ‘A’ missile attacks during a single turn.

Attacking submarines automatically become active. Be sure to place them on their active side if they attack.

Important: All attacks are specified before any other player(s) play or reveal defense cards in response!

2. Incoming!

All attacks are resolved. Gun, Missile, Torpedo, and ASW Attacks are resolved first. After these have all been completed, then Air Attacks take place (Air Cover, Air Defenses, and Air Strikes – in that order).

C. Ship Shape

This step is where post-combat ‘housekeeping’ takes place.

1. Work the Hangers

Skip this step; it is only used with the Air Module from Cold War Naval Battles IV: The Air Module.

2. Adjust Ordnance

You may discard all unwanted Action cards from your hand. If you did not play an Action card during your turn, you must now discard at least one.

3. Resupply

Draw Action cards from the Draw Pile until your hand is replenished up to seven cards. Your turn is now over.

6.2 Drawing the Last Action Card

When the last Action card has been drawn from the Draw Pile, play continues until the end of the next complete series of player turns is completed, at which time the round is over and points are scored.

So, when the last Action card is drawn, keep playing. Finish the current series of player turns, and then shuffle the Player Order cards for one last series of player turns to end the round. Note that players will be skipping Step C.3 (Resupply), of course, since there are no more Action cards to draw; instead you’ll be just playing your hands down.

...(remainder snipped)...

[Bruceov]

So the computer will roll a die and cards will appear on the screen?

[Moon]

No, gameplay will be tweaked for the computer version to take the computer's abilities into account (for one, the game will be 3D), while keeping the core system.

Martin