Detailed Naval Combat (OSS)

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In this system, each round of naval combat occurs in three distinct phases: the Maneuvering phase, the Action phase, and the Resolution phase. During the Maneuvering phase, each ship declares its action and attempts to gain a tactical advantage in effect outmaneuvering the opposing ship or ships. During the Action phase, the ships perform their declared actions-including movement and combat. Combat includes the exchange of firepower- spells or missile weapons-boarding actions, and ramming. The Resolution phase occurs when all ships complete their actions for that combat round. In this phase, each ship calculates its damage and suffers the appropriate penalties. Any required Seaworthiness or Morale checks must occur at the end of this phase.
Combat resumes once again with the Maneuvering phase and continues with the other two phases until a victor emerges, or both ships agree to stand down.
==Dungeon Mastery Tips: Running Detailed Naval Combat==
The detailed combat system remains fairly abstract, and the DM does not need to know the relative position of every ship involved in the battle. However, it is important for the Dungeon Master to determine the distance between combatants.
The Dungeon Master also must remain aware of how much time passes during each naval combat round (see Time in Nautical Combat, previous page). A ship moves much farther during a round lasting 30 minutes than it does during a round lasting only 10 minutes; likewise, a spell's duration runs out fairly quickly if a combat proceeds in 30-minute or 10-minute rounds.
The actions of player characters can profoundly influence the course of a naval combat round. A character might perform several actions during a single naval combat round. For example, if the ship carrying the party tries to flee from a pirate vessel 5,000 yards away, the maneuvers between the two ships take place in 30-minute rounds. A PC wizard, however, might choose to fly over the pursuing ship and loose a few spells. That leaves the PC with 30 normal AD&D game melee rounds to resolve while the two ships resolve a single 30-minute naval combat round. Most likely, the PC's actions will end the encounter before the naval combat round is complete. When a naval combat round lasts 10 minutes or 30 minutes, the DM should resolve all PC actions before dealing with naval combat actions. When a naval combat round lasts only one minute, all PC actions take place during the Action phase of the naval combat round.
Naval combat is not always possible. Ships caught in storms or gales cannot launch any attacks, including spells. The crew and passengers on a storm- tossed ship have their hands full just keeping afloat.
Every ship involved in detailed combat should have a ship record sheet prepared before any combat occurs. A sample sheet is included on the last page of this book. Once the record sheets are ready, combat can proceed. Here's a list of the steps necessary in each round of Detailed Naval Combat:
* Determine the distance between opposing ships at the round's start. During the first round of combat, this usually will be the Spotted range for the prevailing light and weather conditions (see Table 6). During subsequent rounds, the range between ships will depend on what happened during the previous maneuvering phase.
* Determine the length of the naval combat round and which actions are possible (the distance between the ships determines both these things; see Table 11).
* Have the person controlling each ship declare an action for the coming round. Do not keep the declarations secret, and allow players one or two chances to change their actions in response to their foe's actions. If the two players cannot decide, have each roll his ship's maneuverability dice. The loser must declare an action first and stick to it.The lists of possible actions change according to the range between ships, as noted on Table 11. Missile and artillery fire need not be declared ships can perform these actions whenever a target comes within range.It's important to remember that the actions describe what a ship does in only general terms. See the notes to Table 13 for details.
* Conduct the Maneuvering phase of the combat round. The result will determine if the range between the opposing ships changes and if so, by how much.
* Conduct the Action phase of the combat round. Resolve all types of combat and player actions during this phase. If the opposing ships suffer damage, record it now.
* Conduct the Resolution phase of the combat round. Use this phase to determine any special effects from damage, crew morale checks, fire fighting, and the like.
* Repeat the process for the next round unless one ship has escaped or surrendered, or until both ships decide to break off the combat.
* The Maneuvering Phase
** Personnel Assignments · Crew Experience · The Effects of Maneuverability or Pursuit · Rower Endurance
* Action Phase
** Missile Attacks · Incendiary Attacks · Artillery · Ramming · Ramming and Boarding Actions · Boarding · Boarding Factors · Effects of Being Grappled · Running a Boarding Action
* Resolution Phase
** Damage · The Effects of Hull Damage · The Effects of Crippling Damage · Repairing Damage · Morale · Making the Morale Check · Effects of Failed Morale Checks · Surrendering · Escaping · Recovering Casualties · Multiple Ships