The following is a play by play account of one turn
of Picket Duty. The game is currently in play-testing and the
following is based on the latest feedback and clarifications. Note:
counters, maps, charts and rules are subject to change as
playtesting advances.
This is the introductory scenario for both the basic and advanced
versions of the game. In order to win this scenario I must remain at
my duty station - any other result is a Japanese victory. I will be
using the advanced rules.
View color footage of kamikaze attacks -
Preliminary Set up
A good place to set up is a large table -- the 27x29 map, charts and
counters will take up some room. The map can be roughly divided in
two halves: The tactical and damage control:
The tactical area (left) contains the destroyer, clock positions,
guns, tables and various radar and support areas. The damage control
area (right) contains compartments, crew, and tracks for various
functions of the ship. See below.
Using Table 2-2 I determine my picket station for the turn by
cross referencing the Mar 24 date and roll 1 dice. I roll a 1 so my
duty station will be Station 5. I place the destroyer marker on
Station 5 on the Picket Duty Stations. Note the "0" on the station.
This number is a die roll modifier that is added to the die roll
when determining if Japanese attack my ship.
The value chits (valued from -2 to +2) are placed in a small opaque
cup. I start picking the chits and place each one picked on the CO,
XO DCO, EO, GO, and the CPO. I also pick chits and place one each on
each of the repair section chiefs. For reference I picked the
following:
Repair crewman are placed in the boxes labeled and are not to exceed
the number listed for each section.
Using Table 3-1 I determine if I have a Fighter Director Team on
board. I roll 2 dice and roll a 6, indicating I have a team on
board. I place the marker on the space in the upper left of the map.
Next I use Table 4-4 to determine my surface support. Rolling 2 dice
I end up rolling a 4, giving me no support. If this happens the
value becomes -1. I place a -1 chit in the box near the upper left
of the map.
The time of day marker is placed under morning on the Time of Day
Track. The morale marker is placed on the zero space on the Morale
Track. The hull integrity, maneuver capability, ammo supply and fuel
level tracks have markers placed next to the 10 position, indicating
full status.
Prior to start of the game, the Japanese kamikaze planes are placed
in an opaque container. They represent the 27 different types of
planes encountered by US forces off Okinawa. In the example below,
the Peggy is special attack capable, represented by the Ohka symbol
on the bottom right of the counter.
The hit and flood markers, plus other maintenance counters are
placed off to the side to be used as needed.
With all my pre-start items out of the way, I am now ready to begin
the first phase.
The USS Aaron C Cunningham is patrolling the area known as Picket
Duty Station 5. It's early morning - with the sun just beginning to
crack the horizon...
In the basic game, weather is considered clear on the first turn. In
the advanced game it is also clear on the first turn.
I place the weather marker on the appropriate space on
the weather track.
Next I determine if I have carrier air support by rolling on Table
4-1 (which covers the period of March 24 through April April 6.) I
roll an "8" giving me day support. I place a +1 Chit on the Air
Support Carrier Day Box.
Since 1both my shipboard radars are working I have a value of +1 so
I place the radar marker on this space. Having previously determined
my surface support and presence of a FDT Team, my current values are
shown below.
With radar functioning and lookouts posted, we await for the
Japanese attack. We know it will come but at what strength is always
the unknown factor!
The following values determine which column I use on Table 5 to
determine if Japanese attack: FDT (+1), Air Support (+1), Land and/or
Ship Radar (+1) and Surface Support (-1). I add these all together,
getting a +2. I will use the "2" column on Table 5.
Rolling 2 dice I roll a 5 - not a particularly good roll. There were
no die roll modifiers since weather was clear and station 5 has no
die roll modifier. The result reveals I will be using chart B to
determine the number of planes attacking.
I roll two dice and roll a six - with this result: 6 planes: 12H,
12M, 12L, 4:30M, 1:30H and 1:30M. I reach into the large, opaque
container containing the Japanese planes and begin placing them in
the clock positions.
My first five picks were a Tojo, another Tojo, a Lily, followed by 2
Nates. My last pick was a Sonia and I place her at the 4:30M
position.
Looks like the Japanese are pouring it on in the front. I assign the
following guns to each plane - placing the appropriate marker on
each plane:
12H Tojo - 5" No. 1, 12M Tojo - 5" No. 2, 12L Lily - 40mm Mount A,
1:30M Nate - 40mm Mount B and 1:30H Nate - 40mm Mount C. One can
consult the firing reference chart on the map to see which guns can
fire at which clock positions. Shooting at the Sonia at the 4:30M
position will be 5" No. 4 and 5 and the 40mm Mount E.
My gunnery officer rating is 0 so no die roll modifier for that. I will
get the bonuses for each gun mount (+1)-- 5 in H only, 40mm M and L
only. So here go the rolls!
12H Tojo - 5" No. 1: roll of 5 +1 = 6 = Miss
12M Tojo - 5" No. 2: roll of 6 = Miss
12L Lily - 40mm Mount A: roll 2 +1 = 3 = Miss
1:30M Nate - 40mm Mount B: roll of 8 +1 = 9 = Hit
1:30H Nate - 40mm Mount C: roll of 5 = Miss
4:30M Sonia - 5" in No. 4 and 5 and 40mm Mount E. Roll of 7 =
Hit, roll of 10 = hit, and the 40mm mount scores a hit with a roll
of 8. The Sonia is destroyed but debris may still hit my ship.
My prospects do not look good. I have 5 planes bearing down on me!
Before I resolve Japanese attacks I am allowed to try defensive
maneuvering - which I will. If successful, one will be subtracted
from Japanese die rolls. Referring to Table 9 I roll 2 dice, cross
referencing the result under the 0 column - the sum of my captain's
and engineering officer's rating. I roll a 7, indicating an
unsuccessful move! The try consumes one fuel point so my fuel
reading is now 9.
I now consult Table 5-4, rolling 2 dice using the undamaged column
for all but the Sonia.
Japanese attacks
12H Tojo - roll of 11 = Hit
12M Tojo - roll of 4 = Miss!
12L Lily - roll of 12 = Hit
1:30H Nate - roll of = Near Miss
1:30M Nate - roll of 2 = Miss
4:30M Sonia (Shot down) - roll of 9 = Near Miss
I am keeping my fingers crossed on the damage, 2 hits and 2 near
misses. For the Hits I consult the main damage table 6.0 and for the
near misses I consult the near miss table 6.1.
For the main damage table I roll four dice for each hit with the
results combined as AB and CD. AB is the left side number and CD is
the top column number.
My first four rolls are 14 and 25. I cross reference these two sets
on the chart revealing the following -
CIC Hit - firing bonuses reduced by 1
FWD Engine room Hit - roll of 2 and 5 maneuver points lost.
Secondary - Fwd Crew Quarters 2 hit
FWD Fuel Tanks hit - roll of 2 ship explodes
Secondary - FWD Alcohol Locker Hit
Secondary - FWD Storeroom 2 Hit (Flooding)
Secondary- Fwd Cold Storage Hit (Flooding)
I now resolve the special rolls indicated above - Engine room - roll
of 4. Fuel Room - roll of 9. The 2 secondary hits causing flooding
are because they are below the waterline. Since the plane hit was
from the 12 position the flood angle is towards the bow. I
move the list marker 2 spaces on the bow track on the map. I am
going to counteract the flooding so move the aft marker 2 spaces. My
ship is now on an even keel but lower in the water. Because of the
flooding, both secondary rooms are considered destroyed. I mark them
so on the secondary compartment sheet.
I place hit markers in the CIC Room, FWD Fuel Room and Fwd Engine Room
on the main map. Now to resolve the second hit!
The roll is 33 and 22 and I receive the following:
CIC Hit -
20MM Gun Mount A damaged - bonus lost for gun.
Secondary - Torpedo Ordnance shop damaged.
Secondary - FWD provisions supply room damaged (Flooded)
Aft Engine Room Hit roll of 2 5 maneuver points lost
Aft 40MM MGZ Room Hit - roll of 2d and ship explodes.
I once again resolve the special rolls, rolling a 9 and a 3! Hit
markers are placed on the Aft Engine room box, CIC Box and 40mm Mgz
box on the map. The bow flooding marker is moved one more space and
I counteract. Not much left to do to fight the flooding. At least
ship is on even keel.
I now resolve the 2 near misses using Table 6.1. I roll 2 dice cross
referencing each. My first roll is 2 and 6 netting a random
result - so I consult Table 6-5. Rolling 2 dice I roll a six
resulting in superficial damage. My next roll is a 6 and 2 resulting
in a damaged rudder and losing 5 maneuver points.
I suffer six hull hits, since each secondary compartment hit moves
my hull integrity down one space.
Here is my status after the morning wave:
Hits: Click for larger view.
Fuel capacity, maneuvering ability and hull integrity:
Listing:
The morning has not gone well for me. Now for damage control.
I have damage in all three repair sections, with the CIC having the
most. I will assign the section one repair chief and two repair
crew, plus the DCO to the CIC in the forward section (Repair One). I
will assign 2 repair crew and the Engineering officer to the FWD
Fuel Tanks.
In Repair Section Two I am assigning the chief and 2 repair crew
each to each damaged compartment.
In repair section 3, I am assigning the chief and 2 repair crew to
the damaged 40mm MGZ Room. Click on image below to view larger
picture:
I will resolve the damage in the following order - CIC, FWD Fuel
Room, FWD Eng Room, AFT Eng Room, the 40mm MGZ Room AFT.
CIC - my initial value to repair damage is +0 for the Repair Chief,
+0 for the Damage Control Officer and +1 each for repair crew,
giving me a +2. I receive a +1 for the inherent repair value - my
total repair value is +3. Since there are 2 hit markers is present -
4 is subtracted from that total. The final repair value is -1. I
will use the -1 column under Table 10. I roll a 3 indicating an
unsuccessful repair. Nothing is removed and I will leave my crews
assigned where they are.
Next is the FWD Fuel Room - Repair chief +0 (section repair chief
applies his rating to all repairs in his section), DCO +0 (The DCO
assigns his rating to all repairs in his assigned section); The
Engineering Officer +1, Inherent Repair +1 and 2 Repair Crew for +2
gives me a total of +4 since there is one hit marker present, -2 is
applied giving a final value of +2. I look under the +2 column of
Table 10. I roll an 8 indicating success. I roll i dice to see how
many hit markers are removed - I roll 5, removing 2 hit markers,
more than enough to repair the fuel room. I then go ahead and clear
the counters.
Next is the FWD Engine Room. The repair chief is 0, and no other
officers are assigned, I get +1 for the inherent value and +2 for
each repair crew, giving me a +3. Since 1 hit counter is present, -2
is subtracted, giving me a final of +1. I use the +1 column of Table
10. Rolling 2 dice I get an 11. Success! I roll 1 die to see how
many hit markers are removed. I roll a 3, removing 2 markers, more
than enough to repair the compartment.
Next is the Aft Engine Room - Repair Chief is 0, inherent value is
=1 and one crew assigned for +1, giving me a +2, One hit marker is
present so I subtract 2 giving me a 0. I use the 0 column on Table
10. I roll 2 dice, rolling a 6 - no repairs this time. I leave the
repair crew there and will beef it up when I can.
My last repair attempt is the 40mm MGZ Room Aft - my values are -
Repair Chief 0, Inherent +1 and 2 crew for +2, giving me a =3, One
hit marker is present so 2 is subtracted from that, giving a final
value of +1, I use the +1 column under Table 10. Rolling 2 dice I
roll an eight, indication success! Rolling 1 die I roll a 2,
removing 1 hit marker - more than enough to repair the magazines! I
remove the markers from the compartment.
I also attempt repairs on 2 secondary compartments using their
inherent value, the Torpedo Ordinance Shop and the Forward Alcohol
locker - both attempts failed so each are still damaged.
Here is my status after repair attempts:
The time of day marker is now moved to the midday space and the next
phase begins with a check of weather and air cover.
Midday - March 24 - my destroyer limps along, riding low in the
water.
The weather remains clear since I am in only the 2nd phase of the
first turn. I now check for air cover rolling 2 dice on Table 4-1. I
roll a 10 so carrier air cover is with me this turn. I reach in the
opaque container and luckily draw a +2! That will help! Surface
support, Radar and FDT Values remain the same.
I now see if the Japanese Attack using Table 5-
The following values determine which column I use on Table 5 to
determine if Japanese attack: FDT (+1), Air Support (+2), Land and/or
Ship Radar (+1) and Surface Support (-1). I add these all together,
getting a +3. I will use the "2" column on Table 5. I roll
2 dice. There will be no modifiers to the die roll. My result is a 5
and once again I use Chart B. Consulting Chart B I roll 2 dice -
netting a 4. My dice rolling is sucking big time! I am attacked by 4
planes - 1 at 4:30H, 1 at 4:30L and 2 at 7:30L.
I reach into the large opaque container and pull a Zero, Frances,
Attack Ends! At this point on the draw of an attack ends, no more
Japanese planes are drawn and those already drawn are thrown back
in. The attack ends counter is set aside and will be added back into
the pot should I leave my duty station or sunk. I am breathing a
sigh of relief.
I go ahead and continue repairs - adding a repair man to each
remaining primary compartment as needed.
So for the CIC, I have a Repair Chief and 2 crewman, plus the DCO.
Because this is the same crew as last phase I will get a +1 on my
die roll. With the addition of the extra crewman I have the
following value - repair chief 0, DCO 0, inherent +1 and 3 crewman
+3 for a total of 4. Since 2 hits are present, I subtract 4 yielding
a final value of 0. I roll under the 0 column in Table 10. Rolling
two dice I roll a 6 and 1 for the repair bonus yielding a 7. Still
no repairs!
I know move to the aft engine room where I add the repair chief and
engineering officer and 2 extra repair crew. My total value will be
Repair Chief 0, Engineering officer +1, +1 for inherent value and +3
one for each repair crew for a total of +5, there is only one hit
marker so -2 is subtracted from my total yielding a final value of
+3. I will use the +2 or > column of table 10. I roll 2 dice getting
a 8 - successful repairs!. I roll 1 die yielding a 5 - so the hit
marker is removed! Repairs complete!
So moving into night only the CIC and 2 secondary compartments are
damaged.
It's now night and I must hang on through this turn to earn a
victory.
Weather remains good and I roll for any night air support on Table
4-1 Night. Rolling 2 dice I get a 5 netting me night support for the
phase.
Now we see if the Japanese attack. I have the following modifiers to
determine which column I use on Table 5 -- FDT +1, Surface Support
-1, Air Support, +2 and ship board radar is +1 for a total of +3. I
use the +2 > column. Rolling 2 dice I net a 6, cross referencing
this I find I will be using Chart B once again! Rolling 2 dice on
Chart B I roll a 7 and breath a sigh of relief - no attacks!
I try repairs once gain on the CIC room with the same crew I had
last phase so I will add one to the die roll. I have the
following value - repair chief 0, DCO 0, inherent +1 and 3 crewman
+3 for a total of 4. Since 2 hits are present, I subtract 4 yielding
a final value of 0. I roll under the 0 column in Table 10. Rolling
two dice I once again roll a 6 and 1 for the repair bonus yielding a
7. Still no repairs!
I leave the two secondary compartments alone and the game ends.
Since I stayed on station I earn the victory! With other die rolls
it could have gone a different direction. In short I seem to have
been lucky!
If the game was continuing, there would be some end of turn
maintenance to be done.
