Safe Harbour.

[aftertaste]

I’ve had an idea about being able to place all ships/submarines in harbour that comes with a bunch of rules, and I was hoping for some constructive feedback:

In the non-combat move only, any naval unit may enter a friendly naval facility (hereafter referred to as; “port”) at any point in their movement. The units stay on the board, and are denoted with a marker in a Sea Zone adjacent to the port, and are treated as being in that Sea Zone for movement purposes. A naval unit may not move into and out of port on the same turn, and naval units produced in a Sea Zone with a port may be placed in port.

The max number of naval units that may stay in port is equal to the max damage of the naval facility in question. Naval units are not ejected unless the facility suffers damage, but they are not obliged to move - or become susceptible to attack by enemy naval units - until the next turn. A facilities ability to produce or repair naval units is not affected by having ships in port. Nations of the same Alliance may move their units into port on their non-combat move as long as there is room available.

Naval units in port:

• Retain the +1 to movement provided by Major Naval Facilities.

• May “Sortie” if an enemy nation makes a combat movement into, or through, any Sea Zones connected to the port, including an amphibious attack into a Land Zone that does not contain the port. Ships may not “Sortie” during an enemies non-combat movement.

• May not engage in combat unless making a combat move into a Sea Zone, including any adjacent to the port.

Enemy Action
Enemy naval units may not engage naval units in port conventionally, but may shore bombard, and all hits are assigned by the defender, defending Shore Batteries may return fire in the usual manner, and friendly fighters may scramble normally. If naval units in port “Sortie”, then a conventional battle takes place.

Enemy air units may attack naval units in port conventionally, but the defender utilises all units in the Land Zone. Bombers may Carpet Bomb the naval units in port, and may still Strategically Bomb the port, but cannot damage naval units when Strategically Bombing. In any case of Carpet or Strategic Bombing, the ports inherent AA will fire.

If an enemy captures the Land Zone that the port is in, the naval units are ejected on that turn, but they are not susceptible to attack by enemy naval units until the next turn. (I considered suggesting that all naval units in the port are scuttled, but that seemed a bit harsh).

Some bits I’m unsure of are;

• What to do if a port is captured or damaged in the enemies turn. Should the naval units be vulnerable to attack in the same turn, or is that a bit unfair? It seems to defeat the point of giving them safe harbour if they can be attacked after one round of Strategic Bombing.

• I’m also not sure about enemy ships shore bombarding, but there is some historical precedent.

[Trig]

@aftertaste I’ve had similar ideas.
I have to head to dinner with my family, but here is my rules I brewed up earlier this year. I’ll get to my thoughts on your tonight.

Note that many of these rule I am looking at changing. The main one is the inability to combat move out of port.

In Port
Ships are considered to have two states- either in port or at sea
When at sea ships behave normally.
When in port ships are subject to special rules.

• A ship can be designated “in port” during your combat movement phase. Ships can move up to their movement allowance before going “into port”
• A to “into port” there must be a friendly operational naval base in the sea zone.
• A naval facility can have up to 2 times its production slots in port for a base (so 2 ships for a minor or 10 ships for a major) Each damage on a base reduces its in port capacity by 2. A submarine base may base up to 3 submarines, with a reduction of 1 for every damage.
• When in port, ships are considered to be in the sea zone containing the naval base. If the base is on the border of two zones, one must be designated. If there are multiple bases in a zone, the base must be designated.
• Enemy ships may attempt to move through a zone with ships in port. Both sides make a roll of a D6. if the defender wins, then the opposing ships must stop at the previous zone. If the mover wins, then they may immediately proceed to up to the remainder of their movement points.
• When in port, ships may not be engaged in combat by surface ships.
• A ship in port may defend against a strategic bombing raid on the facifly in which it is ported. This is done in the same manner as facility AAA fire, and is limited to one die per ship at 3 or lees, and no more die total than the number of attacking bombers. (This is in addition to facility AA fire.)
• If a naval base is damaged and there are ships in port there, then 2 ships must be sent out to sea immediately for every damage marker.
• Ships in port may be attacked by aircraft. Air Units attacking ships in port gain a plus two to their attack value, which is cumulative to other modifiers. The Naval base containing the ships may fire up to 3 AAA rolls at the attacking planes. Ships in port defend at half their defense value, rounded up. Planes must state which base they are attacking, and may only attack ships in that base. Subs in port may be hit by aircraft not on Maritime air patrol. (This represents attacks such as Pearl Harbor or the Taranto Raid, and the ease of hitting stationary ships.)
• Submarines may attack ships in harbor for one combat round if they are in the same sea zone at the end of the combat movement phase. They roll one dice with target select on a 1 and first strike. Subs attack at half their attack value, rounded down. Enemy ships in port may not return fire. (This represents such as the sinking of the Royal Oak, or the 1941 raid on Alexandria)
• If the land zone containing a naval base with ships in port is captured, then immediately roll on die for each ship. On a 1-2 the ship escapes and is immediately placed in the sea zone. On a 3-8 the ship is scuttled and removed from the game. On a 9-12, the ship is captured and immediately replaced with the corresponding unit from the capturing power.
• Aircraft on Carriers in port are considered cargo (This represents the lack of room for flight operation on a carrier in port)
• Ships may leave port during the non combat movement phase of their turn, and may move up to their movement allowance.
• When a ship is placed on the map, during the place units phase, it may be designated as “in port” if there is available space at the shipyard where it was placed. If this is not done then it is considered at sea.

[TheVeteran]

@aftertaste i’m just going to say that I suggest considering the rules regarding ports being developed and put out for HBG GW 1914 game.

[Trig]

@theveteran
That would be great, if we knew what they were.