THE GREAT WAR AT SEA GAME SERIES

VOLUME #2: THE NORTH & BALTIC SEAS

ERRATA AND CLARIFICATIONS

by

Alan R. Arvold

The following errata and clarifications were based on a series

of questions put to, and answered by, Avalanche Press in a number

of phone calls. Also consulted were the numerous entries and

their responses listed in the GREAT WAR AT SEA section on

Consimworld. However, all errata and clarifications in this

article should be considered to be unofficial.

SERIES RULES BOOK

There have been three different Series Rules Books in the game

series. The first version came in the first three games of the

series (THE MEDITERRANEAN, THE NORTH & BALTIC SEAS, and U.S. NAVY

PLAN ORANGE). The second version came in the fourth and fifth

games of the series (1904-1905: THE RUSSO-JAPANESE NAVAL WAR, and

U.S. NAVY PLAN BLACK) and was available as replacements for the

rule books in the first three games. These versions are now

obsolete. The third version came in the sixth and seventh games

of the series (1898: THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR and U.S. NAVY PLAN

RED) and the second edition of the first game. This is the

current version of the Standard Rules for the game series.

8.5 Dead in the Water

8.51 Speed Loss (Add): If a ship which suffers a hit where the

printed damage result includes losing one movement, and from the

same hit has more than half of the number of hull boxes crossed

off, then that ship suffers the loss of two movement, not one. A

ship may not lose more than one movement due to having more than

half of its hull boxes crossed off in a game, no matter how many

additional hull boxes are crossed off later on. Additional

printed movement losses from damage results still apply though.

(This rule represents the reduction of a ship's speed due to the

gradual flooding of the damaged hull spaces. The printed movement

losses in the various damage tables represent engine room hits.)

8.6 Referred Pain

(Add): 8.63 If primary hits on primary and secondary armament

with light or no armor cause excess damage, the excess damage can

be taken as a hull hit if the original primary hit takes out the

last armament box of the required type. However, the excess

damage is ignored if the hull has heavy armor.

9.0 Multiple-Ship Counters

9.3 Combat (Clarification): A player can not place all hits on

one ship in the counter if there are more hits than the one ship

can possibly absorb. In addition, once a ship has taken enough

hull hits to sink, it is no longer eligible to receive any more

hits.

ADVANCED TACTICAL RULES

In the first sets of the game that was released in 1998, there

were copies of the Advanced Tactical Rules for the GREAT WAR AT

SEA system in the game box. These were an experimental set of

rules which were never official and were subsequently left out

when the second edition of the Standard Series Rules started to

be included in the game instead of the first edition. These rules

are still considered experimental for those players who want to

try them out, but will never be part of the standard rules.

There was also a chart with various tables for use in the

game. Several of these tables are no longer valid due to changes

in the later editions of the Standard Series Rules. These are the

Spotting Table, the Air Search Table, the Weather Effects Table,

the Critical Damage Table, the GWAS2 Gunnery Die Roll Table, and

the GWAS2 Initiative Table. All tables pertaining to the U.S.

NAVY PLAN ORANGE game can be ignored. The Torpedo Damage Table,

and the Gunnery Damage Table can be used but note the minor

changes in the third edition of the Standard Series Rules for

them. The Weather Track can also be used as the weather track

printed on the operational map sheet is obsolete. (For those

games without this chart, merely photocopy the Weather Track off

of one of the operational map sheets from another game in the

series.)

COUNTERS

The American battlecruiser Saratoga is misnumbered on the counter

and in the Hit Record Sheets, as well as in Hypothetical Scenario

1. The Saratoga's designation should be CC03, not CC02.

The British armored cruiser Hogue (CA10) should have a speed of

1, not 2 on the counter.

The British destroyer leaders Attentive (DL17), Pathfinder

(CA18), and Patrol (CA19) should have a tertiary gunnery value of

3, not 2.

The French armored cruiser Jeanne d'Arc (CA11) represents a

modified version of the ship after a refit it received late in

the war. This is why it values are different from those in GREAT

WAR AT SEA: MEDITERRANIAN. These values would only apply starting

in 1917. Fortunately it is not in any scenarios in this game.

The German light cruiser Breslau'14 is an extra counter that was

meant for the GREAT WAR AT SEA: MEDITERRANIAN game.

The German light cruiser Leipzig (CL46) should have a circle

instead of a triangle for its torpedo symbol.

The German TB series of torpedo boats (TB10-30) should actually

be labled (TB8-28). There are no missing TB8 and TB9 counters.

The German minesweeper counter MS04 should be labled Tp 1914-4,

not Tp 1914-3.

The Russian battleship Slava (B10) should have a tertiary gunnery

value of 1. These were additional light guns that were added to

the ship after the Russo-Japanese War which is why this ship does

not have a tertiary gunnery value in that game.

The Russians have five gunboat counters (GB01-05) for which there

are no listings on the Hit Record Charts. Three of these, the

Kubanetz (GB02), the Teretz (GB03), and the Donetz (GB04) are

already in the GREAT WAR AT SEA: MEDITERRANIAN (2nd Edition) and

are not needed. The other two, the Khivinetz (GB01) and the

Khrabri (GB05) can be used although they are not in any of the

scenarios in the game.

The Russians also have the seaplane carrier Almaz (CVS08) which

is an extra counter and does not belong in the game. Instead it

belongs in the first volume of the game series.

The Swedish coastal defence ship Oscar II (CD04) should have a

secondary gunnery value of three, not two. The hit record sheet

is correct though.

SCENARIO BOOK

There were two editions of the Scenario Book. The first

edition came in the early sets of the game and is no longer

valid. The second edition came in the second printing of the game

which has a bigger box.

Special Rules

There are several special rules listed here appear in later

games of the GREAT WAR AT SEA series. These are placed here to

update THE NORTH & BALTIC SEAS rules to their standard.

Victory Points (Add): Each destroyed airship is worth five

victory points. Each destroyed seaplane is worth one victory

point. (Players may wonder why seaplanes and airships should be

worth any victory points at all. Their destruction denies a fleet

of vital air reconnaissance, which is about all they were good

for during the war. Only as the war ended did they start to

become capable of other functions as noted in the other games of

this series.)

Combat Round (Addition): A "round of combat" (used to describe

the length of some battle scenarios) is one completion of the

tactical sequence (all 20 steps).

Crippled Ships (Addition): During tactical combat, a player may

separate an individual ship counter from a group once the ship

counter has lost at least half of its largest type of guns or

half of its hull boxes, or if it has suffered a reduction in

speed.

Release (Addition): In some scenarios, ships are not allowed to

leave port until some specified event has taken place. The owning

player may begin writing orders for these ships when they are

released; they may only be assigned an intercept mission, and

thus may not leave until two turns after they are released (in

addition to any delay specified by the scenario instructions).

Carriers (Addition): In scenarios where seaplane carriers (CVS)

and regular carriers (CV or BCV) are called for, their seaplanes

automatically come along with them. Most have only one seaplane

counter. A few, such as the British Campania (CVS01), Pegasus

(CVS05), and Argus (CV01) have two seaplane counters. Only the

German Ausonia (CV01) has four seaplane counters. Seaplane

counters have the ship that they are assigned to printed on them.

Note that the German seaplane carriers Stuttgart (CVS01) and Roon

(CVS02) have no seaplane counters assigned to them. They may use

the seaplane counters assigned to the Glyndwr (CVS03) and Santa

Elena (CVS04).

HIT RECORD SHEETS

The American battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga should have a

VP value of 70 instead of 79; five secondary gunnery boxes

instead of four, and a boxed torpedo value of 2 instead of 1.

The British River Class destroyers (DD71-74) should have no

tertiary boxes on the Hit Record Charts. The counters are

correct.

The British minesweeper MS04 is mislabled on the chart. It should

be Azalea-1, not Acacia-4.

The German minesweeper counters MS05-11 are worth 2 VPs for each

ships, not 1 VP. On the variant Light Ship variant counters for

these ship there should be a tertiary gunnery value of 1, not 0.

The Russian battleships Gangut (BB05), Petropavlovsk (BB06),

Poltava (BB07), and Sevastopol (BB08) should each have a boxed

torpedo value of 1, not 2.

The missing values for the Russian gunboats Khivinetz (GB01) and

Khrabri (GB05) are as follows:

Khivinetz: 2 VPs, 1 tertiary box, 1 hull box, speed 1s.

Khrabri: 3 VPs, 2 tertiary boxes, 1 hull box, speed 1s.

The Swedish gunboats Ornen (GB01), Claes Horn (GB02), Jacon Bagge

(GB03), Psilander (GB04), and Clas Uggla (GB05) should each

have their respective torpedo value inside a box to indicate hull

mounted torpedo tubes. The counters are correct though.

(Although these ships had their torpedo tubes mounted on deck,

they were fixed in place and did not swivel, thus giving these

ships the hull mounted torpedo tubes modifier.)