Cruisers, aircraft carriers, frigates, destroyers, amphibious assault ships, and submarines move, attack and defend in sea zones. They cannot move into territories. For the sake of these rules, the following are surface warships: cruisers, carriers, frigates, destroyers and amphibious assault ships. Submarines are warships, but they are not surface warships.

 

All sea units can normally move up to two sea zones. An exception to this rule is ships in a sea zone that is serviced by an operative friendly naval base. You can move these ships 3 sea zones when departing from the naval base location (see Naval Bases). They cannot move through hostile sea zones. If enemy units other than submarines occupy a sea zone, the sea zone is hostile and your sea units end their movement and enter combat. Submarines are an exception: They can pass through a hostile sea zone without stopping, unless there is an enemy frigate present (see Frigates).

 

Some sea units can carry other units. Amphibious assault ships can carry only land units. Aircraft carriers can carry fighters and/or helicopters, but never strategic bombers.

 

Aircraft Carriers

Cost:                   Allies: 30+                  Opfor: 12+

Attack:              1

Defense:          4

Move:                2

 

Unit Characteristics

Capital Ship: Aircraft carriers require 2 hits to destroy. If an undamaged carrier is hit once, even by a submarine’s Surprise Strike, turn it on its side to mark its damaged status. In the case of a defending carrier, do not move it behind the casualty strip unless it takes a second hit. If a carrier survives a combat having taken one hit, it can be repaired by a visit to an operative friendly naval base (see Naval Bases).

 

Carry Aircraft: An aircraft carrier can carry up to two air units, including those belonging to friendly powers. These air units may be of two types: fighters and helicopters. Air units on a friendly power’s carrier are always treated as cargo on the carrier owner’s turn.

 

Carrier aircraft move independently of the carrier on their own turn. They move along with the carrier on its turn if they belong to different powers. On the air units’ turn, they launch before the carrier moves, even if they are not leaving the sea zone themselves. It’s possible for the carrier to make a combat movement while leaving its aircraft behind to make a noncombat movement later.

 

During noncombat movement, fighters and helicopters may use their remaining movement to move into sea zones with carriers in order to land on them. Carriers may also move, providing that they did not move during combat movement or participate in combat. In fact, a carrier must move if it’s able, or remain in place, in order to provide a landing space for an air unit that would not otherwise have one. Landing doesn’t actually occur until the Mobilize New Units phase, so air units and carriers must end their movement in the same sea zone. Any air units that are not in an eligible landing space by the end of the Noncombat Move phase are destroyed (note that this can include a sea zone in which a new carrier will be placed during the Mobilize New Units phase).

 

A damaged carrier cannot conduct air operations, which means that no air units may take off from or land on it. Any guest air units that were on board the carrier as cargo at the time when it was damaged are trapped onboard and cannot leave, attack, or defend until the carrier is repaired. Any air units that planned to land on the carrier must find another landing space by the end of noncombat movement or be destroyed. (See Phase 4: Noncombat Move.)

 

Air Defense: Whenever an undamaged carrier is attacked, its aircraft (even those belonging to friendly powers) are considered to be defending in the air and can be chosen as casualties rather than the carrier. However, aircraft on a carrier cannot be chosen as a casualty from a submarine hit, because submarines can attack only sea units

 

Air units based on a defending carrier must land on the same carrier if possible after the battle. If that carrier is destroyed or damaged in combat, they must try to land on a different friendly carrier in the same sea zone, move one space to a friendly carrier or territory, or be destroyed. This movement occurs during the Noncombat Movement phase, before the acting player makes any noncombat movements.

 

When a damaged carrier is attacked, any air units on board are considered cargo and cannot defend. If the carrier is lost, they are lost along with it.

 

Amphibious Assault Ships

Cost:                   Allies: 10+                  Opfor: 6+

Attack:              0

Defense:          1

Move:                2

 

Unit Characteristics

Combat Value: Even though an amphibious assault ship can attack or defend, either alone or with other units, it has a defensive combat value of 1. This means that an amphibious assault ship cannot fire in the attacking units’ fire steps, only in the defending units’ fire step.

 

Carry Land Units as cargo: An amphibious assault ship can carry land units belonging to you or to friendly powers. Its capacity is any one land unit, plus one additional infantry. Thus, a full amphibious assault ship may carry either a tank, APC, LAV, artillery, hovercraft, antiaircraft gun or missile plus an infantry, or two infantry. An amphibious assault ship cannot carry an industrial complex, an airbase, or a naval base. Land units on a transport are cargo; they cannot attack or defend while at sea and are destroyed if their amphibious assault ship is destroyed.

 

Marine transport by helicopters (sitrep): In addition to the cargo on board an amphibious assault ship.  

 

A helicopter can load and offload a unit from amphibious assault ships before, during, and after it moves.

Each of your helicopters can act as a transport for up to one special force unit, or one light armored vehicle (LAV) unit, or one artillery unit into a territory and/or sea zones (fleet).

 

Land units belonging to friendly powers must load on their controller’s turn, be carried on your turn, and offload on a later turn of their controller. This is true even if the amphibious assault ship remains in the same sea zone.

 

Loading onto and/or offloading from a transport counts as a land unit’s entire move; it cannot move before loading or after offloading. Place the land units alongside the amphibious assault ship in the sea zone. If the amphibious assault ship moves in the Noncombat Move phase, any number of units aboard can offload into a single friendly territory.

 

Loading and Offloading: An amphibious assault ship can load cargo in friendly sea zones before, during, and after it moves. An amphibious assault ship can pick up cargo, move one sea zone, pick up more cargo, move one more sea zone, and offload the cargo at the end of its movement. It can also remain at sea with the cargo still aboard (but only if the cargo remaining aboard was loaded in a previous turn or was loaded this turn in the Noncombat Move phase).

 

Whenever an amphibious assault ship offloads, it cannot move again that turn. If an amphibious assault ship retreats, it cannot offload that turn. An amphibious assault ship cannot offload in two territories during a single turn, nor can it offload cargo onto another amphibious assault ship. An amphibious assault ship cannot load or offload while in a hostile sea zone. Remember that hostile sea zones contain enemy units, but that for purposes of determining the status of a sea zone, submarines are ignored.

 

An amphibious assault ship can load and offload units without moving from the friendly sea zone it is in (this is known as “bridging”). Each such amphibious assault ship is still limited to its cargo capacity. It can offload in only one territory, and once it offloads, it cannot move, load, or offload again that turn.

 

Amphibious Assaults: An amphibious assault ship can take part in an amphibious assault step of the Conduct Combat phase. That is the only time an amphibious assault ship can offload into a hostile territory.

 

During an amphibious assault, an amphibious assault ship must either offload all units that were loaded during the Combat Move phase or retreat during sea combat. It can also offload any number of units owned by the amphibious assault ship’s power that were already on board at the start of the turn.

 

Cruisers

Cost:                   Allies: 14+                  Opfor: 8+

Attack:              4

Defense:          4

Move:                2

 

Unit Characteristics

Capital Ship: Cruisers require 2 hits to destroy. If an undamaged cruiser is hit once, even by a submarine’s Surprise Strike, turn it on its side to mark its damaged status. In the case of a defending cruiser, do not move it behind the casualty strip unless it takes a second hit. If a cruiser survives a combat having taken one hit, it can be repaired by a visit to an operative friendly naval base (see Naval Bases).

 

Offshore Bombardment: Your cruisers and destroyers can conduct offshore bombardment during an amphibious assault. When bombarding, cruisers hit with a die roll of “4” or less. Casualties resulting from the bombardment are moved behind the casualty strip. These cruisers and destroyers must be in the same sea zone as the offloading amphibious assault ships before they can conduct this bombardment. Each cruiser and destroyer fires against enemy units in the territory being attacked prior to land combat. Cruisers and destroyers cannot conduct offshore bombardment if they were involved in a sea combat prior to the amphibious assault. Bombarding ships cannot conduct more than one bombardment per turn (see Amphibious Assaults— Step 2. Cruisers & Destroyer Bombardment). The number of cruisers and destroyers that can bombard during an amphibious assault is limited to one ship per land unit being offloaded from the amphibious assault ships in that coastal territory.

 

Missiles (sitrep): Is capable of transporting and launching one (1) cruise missile (See Missile).

 

Destroyers

Cost:                   Allies: 12+                  Opfor: 6+

Attack:              3

Defense:          3

Move:                2

 

Unit Characteristics

Offshore Bombardment: Your cruisers and destroyers can conduct offshore bombardment during an amphibious assault. When bombarding, destroyers hit with a die roll of 3 or less. Casualties resulting from the bombardment are moved behind the casualty strip. These cruisers and destroyers must be in the same sea zone as the offloading amphibious assault ships before they can conduct this bombardment. Each cruiser and destroyer fires against enemy units in the territory being attacked prior to land combat. Cruisers and destroyers cannot conduct offshore bombardment if they were involved in a sea combat prior to the amphibious assault. Bombarding ships cannot conduct more than one bombardment per turn (see Amphibious Assaults—Step 2. Cruiser & Destroyer Bombardment). The number of cruisers and destroyers that can bombard during an amphibious assault is limited to one ship per land unit being offloaded from the amphibious assault ships in that coastal territory.

 

Missiles (sitrep): Is capable of transporting and launching one (1) cruise missile (See Missile).

 

Frigates

Cost:                   Allies: 10+                  Opfor: 6+

Attack:              2

Defense:          2

Move:                2

 

Unit Characteristics

Anti-sub Vessel: Frigates are specially equipped for anti-submarine warfare. As a result, they have the capability of cancelling many of the unit characteristics of enemy submarines.

 

A frigate cancels the Treat Hostile Sea Zones as Friendly unit characteristic of any enemy submarine that moves into the sea zone with it. This means that the submarine must immediately end its movement, whether combat or noncombat, upon entering the sea zone. If a submarine ends its combat movement in a sea zone with an enemy frigate, combat will result.

 

If a frigate is in a battle, it cancels the following unit characteristics of all enemy submarines in that battle: Surprise Strike, Submersible, and Cannot Be Hit by Air Units. Note that frigates belonging to a power friendly to the attacker that happen to be in the same sea zone as the battle don’t actually participate in it, therefore they don’t cancel any of these abilities of defending submarines.