NAVAL WAR

Hasbro

Rules of Play

INTRODUCTION:

Naval War is a game combining strategy and luck loosely based on WWII naval combat. 3-9 players each control a task force and attempt to sink the other players' ships.

Victory:
The victor is the first person to score 100 points (or whatever total is agreed upon by the players at the start of the game); see Game Variations

GAME PLAY

NAVAL WAR is played using two card decks. One is the Ship Deck (54 cards), the other the Play Deck (108 cards).

The Play Deck is composed of many different types of cards, which are explained individually later. The normal course of play is to fire salvos of the appropriate size at the enemy's ships. Other special cards are played as appropriate. When a ship has received hits equal to or greater than its hit number, it sinks and is awarded to the player that inflicted the last damage.

THE DEALER
First dealer is determined by any method agreed upon by the players. Thereafter, the dealer is always the player with the highest point total.

PREPARATION
Shuffle each deck thoroughly, then deal each player five cards from each deck (except in nine player game where only four are dealt). The remaining Ship Cards are placed face down on the table and become the harbor pile; the remaining play cards become the draw pile when placed faced down in the center of the table next to the harbor pile. As play cards are used or discarded, they are placed in a pile, face up, in the table center.
Each player arranges his ship cards, face up, in front of him/her in a line of columns according to gun size. Aircraft carriers are placed in the rear of the task force as they may not be fired upon until all other ships have been sunk.

BEGINNING PLAY
Play begins with the dealer using all special play cards (if any) that can be used (additional damage cards are simply discarded at this point). Replacement cards are drawn to fill the hand back to five (four, if nine playing). Continue until all special play cards have been used. During this stage of the game, no more than one minefield card may be placed in front of any one player's task force.

NORMAL GAME PLAY
The dealer begins normal play by drawing one card from the draw pile and either playing it, playing another from his hand, or discarding one to the discard pile. Cards may never be drawn from the discard pile. The sequence continues to the player on the left, and so on, around the table. A player may never take any action that will sink or damage one of his own ships. If a special playing card is drawn, it must be played at once, counting as that player's one card draw and one card play. Special play cards are as follows:

MINEFIELD CARDS: placed in front of any player's task force. Each minefield inflicts one or two hits on every ship in that task force, including ships added after that card is played (added ships sunk by mines are awarded to that player playing the last minefield on the victim). Minefields remain in place throughout the game unless a minesweeper card is played.
SUBMARINE CARDS: immediately placed on top of any enemy ship. Roll the die -- if a "5" or "6" is rolled, the ship is sunk. If any other number is rolled there is no effect. Discard the card after use.
TORPEDO BOARD CARDS: played as Submarine cards, except that a "6" is needed to sink the target.
ADDITIONAL DAMAGE CARDS: may be placed on any salvo card already played on an enemy ship. As these cards represent secondary explosions, they must be placed on ships that have already suffered a salvo. They add one or two hits of damage, if it causes a ship to sink, it is awarded to the player that placed the card, not the firer of the salvo.
ADDITIONAL SHIP CARDS: discarded immediately, and allow the player to draw a card from the harbor pile. This ship may be added to the player's task force immediately.

Discard any special play card that cannot be played immediately.

Normal play cards may be held in a player's hand for as long as he or she chooses. These cards are as follows:

SALVO CARDS (11", 12.6", 14", 15", 16", 18"; "1", "2", "3" and "4" hits): may be "fired" if the owning player has a ship in his task force with the corresponding gun size. For example, the MISSOURI can fire any 16" salvo; it may not fire an other size salvo. To "fire" a salvo, place it under any enemy ship (not obscured by "SMOKE", and not screened, as in the case of carriers). The number of hits listed on the salvo card is the amount of damage inflicted on the target. Additional salvos fired at that ship are also placed under it, with the damage value of all salvos visible.
MINESWEEPER CARD (MS): when played, this card removes all minefields from in front of the playing task force. It is discarded with the "swept" mines upon use, and may not be re-used.
REPAIR CARD (R): play of a repair card removes any one salvo, plus any additional damage cards that may have been placed on it. Discard the repair card and the damage repaired (removed) upon use.
DESTROYER SQUADRON CARD (DD): this card is played by placing it in the center of the table, face up. Each of the other players may, if they so desire, fire on the DD card. Four hits are required to destroy the DD card; subs, torpedo boats, the other DD, mines, additional damage and air strikes may not be used against the DD. If sunk, the DD card is discarded, and counts no points for anyone. If the destroyer squadron has not been sunk by the playing player's next turn, and if that player still has ships left, it may carry out its attack. (If the playing player has his/her last ship sunk before the turn gets to him/her, the DD is discarded, and makes no attack.) To perform the attack, the owning player simply announces which task force is the target and rolls one die, the number rolled is the number of ships sunk, which are selected by the owner of the DD card. Discard after use.
SMOKE CARDS (S): may be placed in front of the owner's task force, thereby rendering it immune to any attacks except the submarine and additional damage cards. It persists until the owner's next turn, and is discarded before drawing a new card.

AIR STRIKES BY CARRIERS
On your turn, if you own one or more carriers, you may opt to perform an (or more, if you have them) air strike. This action is in place of the normal draw/discard sequence. Each carrier may be used against the same, or different ship(s). Announce the target, and roll a die. If a "1" is rolled, the target is sunk. Any other number has no effect. (see Game Variations) All Carrier targets must be announced before the first strike roll is performed.

SINKING SHIPS
A ship can be "sunk" by any of the following methods:

Successful air strike, submarine, or torpedo boat attack
Destroyer squadron attack
Accumulation of "hits" (damage points) equal to or exceeding "Hit number"

The player who sinks a ship through air strike, submarine or torpedo boat attack, destroyer attack or placing the LAST hit(s) needed to equal or exceed its Hit Number takes the card and places it in his "Deep Six" pile. The salvo cards are discarded. If all of a player's ships are sunk, he is eliminated from the round, and must discard his remaining play cards; he need not show them.

END PLAY
The round ends when all but one player is eliminated or the last card is drawn from the draw pile. The player that draws the last card may complete his turn.

SCORING A ROUND
When a round ends, all players total up the hit numbers of the ships in their "Deep Six" pile, and add that number to their score. In addition, if all but one player was eliminated, that remaining player is awarded ten bonus points. Each player eliminated on any round is penalized ten points that round by having it removed from his score. Negative scores are possible.

WINNING
Successive rounds are played until one player makes or exceeds 100 points (Exception, see Game Variations). If more than one player exceeds 100 on the same round, then that player with the highest score wins. If the score is tied, play one more round.

GAME VARIATIONS & TIPS ON PLAY

For longer games, raise the total needed to win.
For shorter rounds, remove all Additional ship cards from the deck.
For higher scoring rounds, increase the number of ships and play cards dealt to each player.
For a pure "gunnery" game, remove all special play cards, DD, MS, and carriers.
For a more realistic game, add appropriate sound effects (e.g., klaxon noises when DD card is played, large "booms" for salvos, etc.).
Instead of ending play upon drawing a special play card, continue to draw until a regular card is drawn, playing specials according to whim.
For increased carnage, treat all minefields as being two points.
To simulate night actions, allow all players to deploy ships face down. If they fire, they are exposed until one enitre round takes place in which they are not fired upon. Targets are selected at random, and exposed when hit. (In this variation, carriers may be hit while others of their task force are still in play.) Target ships remain exposed in the same way that firing ships do. (An alternative to this method of night actions is to turn off the lights.)
To simulate kamikaze attacks, owners of Japanese carriers may do the following: announce the target as usual, shout "BANZAIQQ", and roll the die. Kamikaze attacks succeed on a roll of "1" or "2". The catch is that the number rolled for a successful attack is added to "1"; that is the number of turns it must wait before that carrier may attempt another air strike. Any other number and the carrier is presumed not to have found the target. It must wait one turn before attempting another.
Limit "table-talk" to fleet members.

FLEET ACTIONS
For large numbers of players, you may wish to consider the following fleet arrangements. Task forces belonging to the same fleet (team) never fire on each other.

# PLAYERS	FLEET ARRANGEMENTS
3	Free for all
4	Free for all, or two teams of two Task Forces
5	Free for all
6	Free for all, two teams of three TF's, three teams of two TF's
7	Free for all
8	Free for all, two teams of four TF's, four teams of two TF's
9	Free for all, three teams of three TF's (four cards dealt only)

A fleet member may, on his turn, in lieu of firing, exchange one salvo card with a member of his fleet. Round ends when one fleet is left.

TIPS ON PLAY

Always attack the player with the highest score first; that negative ten is a great equalizer.
A single carrier strike is a one-in-six shot to sink a ship outright, and not such a great move except on high value ships. (Except when using "Kamikaze" rule, at which time it's a pretty good shot!) Two carriers are well worth the attempt, particularly if they are both Japanese. It is a quick way to score. While they are well screened, don't worry about them. Their low value does not make them worthwhile targets for subs, etc. When the screening force is seriously reduced, use 'em before you lose 'em. Further, if you are trying to prolong the round, remember that every strike is a card not drawn yet.
Wipe out gun size classes.
Destroyer cards pose a threat to everyone at the table. It never hurts to lob a salvo their way if you have reason to believe that a subsequent player will finish the job. If you have doubts about this, or simply wish to put the screws to the other(s), lay smoke. You will be immune to the DD card, and it is the other player(s) problem now. Be advised though, that you will have few friends if you make a habit of that.
When you don't wish to make it easier for someone else to sink a ship, and you are unable to do so on your turn, lob a one or two point salvo at some big ship with a hit number of "7" or higher. That way, no single salvo can take it out, and it is softened up for later. Discarding on your turn is better than giving someone else a cheap kill, unless of course, he or she is your fleet/team member.