CLARIFICATIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO SOPAC
by
Alan R. Arvold
The following clarifications and corrections are the result of
many phone calls to Avalanche Press for rules questions to the
game SOPAC. While these clarifications and corrections did come
from Avalanche Press, they should be considered unofficial until
Avalanche Press puts out an official errata sheet for SOPAC.
Operations Board
The little tombstones on the map which represent where the ships
whose names are by them were sunk have no effect on play what-so-
ever. Their purpose is merely decorative. The tombstone for the
USS Chicago is in the wrong sea zone. It should be in sea zone
P25, not M21. However the tombstone in sea zone M21 can represent
the USS Juneau which went down in that location.
Battle Board
On the Torpedo Damage Table the correct Hit Type for a die roll
of seven is 3 hull, 2 secondaries.
Japanese Capital Ship Hit Record Sheet
The Battleship Haruna should have four shaded secondary boxes
just like her sister ships on the sheet.
Japanese Light Ship Hit Record Sheet
The Japanese Light Cruisers all have fuel boxes that would seem
to indicate that they use coal for fuel. This is a misprint. All
Japanese Light Cruisers use oil for fuel just like every other
ship in the game.
American Capital Ship Hit Record Sheet
The Carrier Hornet should have five AA boxes, not four.
The Carrier Yorktown should have eight Hull boxes, not seven.
It should have a point value of 130, not 125.
(The Yorktown was the sister ship to the Enterprise and the
Hornet and therefore should have the same number of hull boxes
as they do.)
Rule Book
Page 6, Top Left Corner of Page
The word Navl should be Naval.
Page 10, Rule 6.53 Gunnery Restrictions
Gunfire may be traced through the length of hexside that borders
a hex with friendly ships in it except if that hexside borders
adjacent hexes both of which contain friendly ships. Gunfire may
also be traced through a corner intersection of three hexes if
only one of the hexes contains friendly ships.
Page 10, Rule 6.54 Reductions to Gunfire
A ship which engages multiple targets using its different fire
values may be the first ship to fire against one target and a
subsequent ship to fire against another. However if a ship uses
two or more of its different fire values against the same target
then it must either fire as the first firing ship or as a
subsequent firing ship with all of its fire values, not both.
Page 10, Rule 6.55 Gunnery Hits
The maximum modifier that can be applied to the die roll is +1
regardless if there is more than one modifier which applies to a
ship's gunnery factors during firing.
Page 11, Rule 6.63 Torpedo Hits
The maximum modifier that can be applied to the die roll is +1
regardless if there is more than one modifier which applies to a
ship's torpedo factor during firing. Note that when using the
Optional Surface Combat rules there is a -1 modifier to the die
roll for torpedo fire. In this case all modifiers are totaled and
the end result (which can not exceed +1) is applied to the die
roll.
(Example: The Japanese destroyer Shirayuki is firing torpedoes at
the American battleship South Dakota. The applicable modifiers
are as follows;
1. The Japanese have a surprise sighting in effect for that
impulse for +1.
2. The target is a BB for +1.
3. The range to the target is 1 hex for +1.
4. The line of fire goes through the South Dakota's bow arc for
-1.
The total would be a +2 modifier but since the maximum die roll
modifier permitted is +1 then that is what is applied to each of
the Shirayuki's torpedo die rolls.)
Page 12, Rule 7.71 Speed Loss
This speed level reduction occurs only once in the game as soon
as the ship has lost more than half of its hull boxes. There is
no further speed level loss if further hull boxes are lost later
on in the game. This speed level reduction is in addition to
those which occur from hit results on both the Torpedo and
Gunnery Damage Tables. Note that it is indeed possible for a ship
to receive a two level reduction in speed if an eleven is rolled
on either table, one level for the damage result and one level if
the number of loss hull boxes becomes more than half as a result
of the hit.
Page 12, Rule 8.0 Damaged Ships
When reading the rule people will notice that Rule 8.21 is
missing. In reality there is no missing rule, the number was
inadvertantly skipped at the publishers when the rule book was
printed.
Page 14, Rule 9.32 Torpedo Reloads
If a ship receives a torpedo mount hit while in the process of
reloading then the torpedo mount is destroyed, the hit is not
ignored just because there are no torpedoes in the tubes.
Page 14, Rule 9.34 Reductions
Allied ships which are with the Americans in the scenarios (i.e.
the Australians) do not suffer a reduction in their torpedo
factors.
Page 18, Rule 10.92 Hunter Killer.
When rolling the die for the second time there are no modifiers
applied to the die roll.
Page 20, Rule 13.34 Anti-Aircraft
While there is an AA Modifers Table in the Second World War at
Sea game series, it was not put into SOPAC because none of the
modifiers were applicable during the time period covered in that
game.
Page 20, Rule 13.35 Strike Resolution
The reference to the Naval Strike Table is incorrect, there is no
such table. Instead the reference should be to the Bombing and
Air-Launched Torpedo Modifier Table.
Page 20, Rule 13.4 Port Strikes
The negative modifier for torpedo planes attacking ships in ports
is due to the fact that ships in ports were usually protected by
torpedo nets. The negative modifier is added along with all the
other applicable modifiers from the Bombing & Air-Launched
Torpedo Modifier Table before coming up with the final die roll
modifier for the attack. A die roll of 6 results in a hit.
Page 20, Rule 13.5 Land Strikes
A die roll of 6 results in a hit.
Page 22, Rule 16.4 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
The ASW Modifier Table is only used against subs which are
attacking the task force. It is not used against subs which are
attacked by wandering ASW patrol planes as in Rule 10.92.
Page 24, Rule 18.23 Threading the Torpedoes
Note that this rule only applies to surface combat. It does not
apply to submarine attacks.
Scenario Book
Page 2, Optional Rules, The Lucky Chokai:
There has been some misunderstanding on how the Chokai's luck
is applied to deal with damage results received in combat. This
explanation should clear this up. When the Chokai receives
gunnery, bomb, or torpedo hits the Japanese player may roll
against the Chokai's luck factor for each individual hit.
(Example: The Chokai has received three primary, two secondary,
and one torpedo hit during an impulse. This means that a total of
six rolls may be made, one per hit, against the Chokai's luck
factor.) If the die roll is 1-5, the hit is considered to be a
miss and is ignored. If the die roll is a 6 then the hit occured
in one of the ship's magazine rooms and the ship blows up and
sinks. The roll must be made after the hit is received but before
the damage result is rolled for. If the damage caused by a hit
has already been resolved then the Japanese player may not roll
against the Chokai's luck factor. In other words, the luck factor
is used to remove hits, not the damage that they cause. The
Japanese player is not required to use the luck factor for all
hits received, he may use it against only some or none of the
hits as he desires.
In a grounding result, the die roll is made after the grounding
result occurs. A die roll of 1-5 means that the Chokai has
narrowly averted grounding out, a die roll of 6 means that the
Chokai runs into an underwater mine which puts a hole in it's
hull and causes it to sink.
If the Chokai fails an emergency repair attempt by rolling a one
or two in the original repair attempt, the Japanese may roll
against the Chokai's luck factor in order to restore the ship's
ability to conduct emergency repairs in future rounds, not in the
current one just completed. A die roll of 1-5 means that they may
conduct emergency repairs in future rounds. A die roll of 6 means
that the damage control teams fail to notice that the gasoline
storage tank for the float planes has ruptured, spreading
gasoline and gas fumes through out the interior of the ship which
an electrical spark ignites, causing a gigantic explosion and
fire which sinks the ship.
Page 3, First Column, Victory Points
The opponent receives the full VP value for each friendly ship
sunk regardless whether it is lost through enemy actions,
scuttling, or foundering.
Page 8, First Column, Battle Scenario #9 Historical Introduction
The Americans only lost one cruiser (the Northampton) in the
battle, not two. The three crippled cruisers were Pensacola, New
Orleans, and Minneapolis. The cruiser Honolulu got away
undamaged.
Page 14, First Column, Guadalcanal Reinforcement Force:
3 x small AP should be 3 x small TR.
Page 14, Second Column, Allied Forces; any sea zone on South edge
of board: CL47 Phoenix should be CL46 Phoenix.
SOPAC Tables Card
Spotting Ranges - The word Sqaull should be Squall.
Gunnery & Ship-Launched Torpedo Modifiers - First line should
read: Target is BB, BC, CV, CVL, CVE, large transport +1.
Air Search Modifiers - First three lines should read:
On result of 3 or greater, task force is spotted.
Modifiers
3-4 steps of search aircraft +1.
Submarine Attack Modifiers - Third line should read:
Target is BB, BC, CV, CVL, CVE +1.