The Naval War Game

A game of encounter

Introduction

This is a superb game for two or more players, made even more so by the fact that the only equipment needed is pencils and paper. If more than two play, the game could be a free-for-all, or alliances could be formed.

The Naval War Game is based on the principles of Battleships, but on a far grander scale.

This game was discovered during the 1960s in The Penguin Hoyle book of games, long out of print, to which the credits are due. As far as is known, this page is the only remaining evidence of this game's existence.

This game is played on squared paper, the area within which battle takes place being 21 x 21 squares, i.e. 441 squares in all. The general idea is that the opposing forces (Red and Blue) have fleets that have taken shelter in adjacent archipelagos. Each is endeavouring to bomb the other's ships. The player wins, whose surviving ships, at the end of the game, have the greater point-value.

At the beginning of the game, each player is allotted 160 points. These he allocates among ships, planes, artillery, and A-A (anti-aircraft) guns. He must spend at least 60 points on ships, and at least 60 points on aircraft, A-A guns and artillery. The remaining 40 points he can dispose of as he likes.

These are of five types:

(1) AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, represented by a square 2 x 2.
They cost 4 points each.

(2) BATTLESHIPS, represented by four squares in line.
They also cost 4 points each.

(3) CRUISERS, represented by three squares in line.
They cost 3 points each.

(4) DESTROYERS, represented by two adjacent squares.
They cost 2 points each.

(5) SUBMARINES, represented by a single square.
They cost one point each.

All ships are, of course, at sea. The entire area of 441 squares is sea, save in so far as either player introduces land. This he can do to any extent he likes.

The ships can be placed where one wishes, battleships, etc., lying either horizontally or vertically. But no ship may be in contact with another ship; it is not even permissible to have a corner of one ship touching the corner of another.

Bombers and Reconnaissance Planes may be carried on Aircraft Carriers, each plane occupying one square. Atom Bombers and A-A guns must be located on land. Artillery (used for firing salvoes) is not specifically located anywhere, and cannot, therefore, be put out of action.

A unit of land is 3 x 3 squares, i.e., nine squares altogether. Units of land may adjoin one another.

These are of three types:

(1) ATOM BOMBERS. An Atom Bomber costs 10 points.
It cannot be shot down by an A-A gun. An Atom Bomber directed to any particular square destroys the enemy ships, planes, etc., on that square, and on the twenty-four squares surrounding it (i.e., everything within a square 5 x 5). No player may buy more than six Atom Bombers.

(2) BOMBERS. A Bomber costs 3 points.
It destroys enemy ships, planes and guns, within a square 3 x 3 (nine squares in all), of which the square to which it is directed is the centre. It can be shot down by an A-A gun, if it is directed to one of the nine squares of which that gun is the centre.

(3) RECONNAISSANCE PLANES (R.P.). These cost one point each.
An R.P. cannot do any damage, but - unless shot down by a gun - can report the enemy's exact dispositions within the nine squares of which the square to which it is directed is the centre.

These cost one point each.
They can bring down Bombers or R.P.s directed to any one of the nine squares of which the gun is the centre. An A-A gun can be used only once; thereafter it is out of action.

A salvo of three shots costs one point.
The three shots can be directed to any three squares, however far apart. Whatever is located on a square to which a shot is directed is destroyed.

A ship must be completely sunk. A Bomber, despatched without reconnaissance to a particular square, may find an enemy Battleship partly within the area that it covers. The report from the opponent would be, 'Two hits on a Battleship,' or 'One hit on a Battleship.' Now, whoever has scored these hits must endeavour to locate the Battleship, and, with another Bomber or a salvo, sink it.

In the first of the illustrative games that follow, Red has a Cruiser partly sunk at S 6-7. Blue did not have the resources to locate it, and complete its destruction.

To begin with, each player has two charts of 21 x 21 squares; the squares are identified by reference to letters and numbers: the top-left square is A 1. (See the illustrative games that follow.) He is allowed an agreed time (say, twenty minutes) in which to decide how to lay out his 160 points, and make his dispositions. Before this is done, the players toss for first move.

As long as both sides have offensive forces (planes or artillery) at their disposal, they move in turn. But one player's resources are almost sure to be exhausted before the other's. The latter then plays on until his offensive material is also exhausted.

The players then compare their own charts on which they made made their initial dispositions; they will have marked which of their vessels have been sunk. The point-values of the unsunk ships (1 square = 1 point) are then compared, and the player with the higher aggregate wins.

The second chart with which each player begins is used by him to record what he learns from his R.P.s (if any), and from such other information as he is given.

A player must mark on his own chart where he is placing 3 x 3 squares of land; where his ships are; where his planes and A-A guns are. Where a ship is sunk, or partially sunk, he should record the fact by blackening in the whole or part of it; when he despatches a plane, or uses an A-A gun, he should record the fact by placing a ring round it. He cannot despatch just any plane; it must be one of which the position is specifically marked on his chart, for planes, like ships, are liable to destruction. He should also note at the foot of his chart how many planes, A-A guns, and salvoes be is starting with, and ring them as they are used.

Finally, two players, who are taking the game seriously, may, if they wish, keep a record of each move, such as is shown in the illustrative game that follows. This will facilitate a post-mortem, which can be extremely interesting.

Note. In the record that follows, each player notes from which squares planes are despatched, and where the A-A guns are located of which he makes use. He does not, of course, give this information to his opponent.

And so to our illustrative games.

His dispositions are interesting. His biggest concentration of ships (to a total of 27 points) is in the SW corner of the chart, and here he masses 17 of his 24 A-A guns. This plan, as we shall see, works out very well. Blue has 6 R.P's shot down in this area, where Red loses only 2 of 7 Cruisers.

He spends nothing on salvoes, which is a bad mistake; a few salvoes would have enabled him to sink economically the ships he had located.

Apart from this blunder, Blue's plan has merit, and he is somewhat unlucky to come off as badly as he does. His idea is that Red may well attack in the centre, will find it heavily defended, and will erroneously assume that his ships are concentrated there. In fact, he has a large number of widely dispersed submarines, which it is not worthwhile defending with guns; also (what is more dubious) 4 undefended Aircraft Carriers. But he is unfortunate in that, at the end of the game, Red - taking 'pot-shots' with his salvoes - sinks an Aircraft Carrier and 7 Submarines.

Figure 3 - Red's chart of Blue's dispositions after 20 moves

Figure 4 - Blue's chart of Red's dispositions after 22 moves

The final positions are compared (Figures 5 and 6), and checked by the players' records.

Result of the game

To what factors can Red's success be attributed? Partly - since in this game, as in war itself, there is an element of chance - to the luck being on his side. But, luck apart, he can claim:

(a) That his initial dispositions were sensible. To concentrate one's ships, as Red concentrated his, involves certain risks. For example, Blue might have bought Atom Bombers, and might have elected to attack the area in which Red had parked seven of his Cruisers. That would have been unlucky. But, against any attack, save that of Atom Bombers, the Cruisers are well defended: eight of Blue's Reconnaissance Planes were shot down.

(b) That his attacking force was well balanced. Seven of his R.P.s collected useful information, and all of his eight Bombers inflicted damage on the enemy. There remained 20 salvoes with which to sink craft located, but not destroyed by Bombers. Blue was seriously disadvantaged by not having made a corresponding investment.

(c) That he was able to build up a fairly satisfactory - though, of course, an incomplete - picture of Blue's dispositions.

In the game just given, neither player had thought it worthwhile to buy Atom Bombers. But now Blue, who again lost the toss, had decided to go all out for success with this formidable weapon. He planned for 6 Atom Bombers, fortified by offensive and defensive weapons to the value of another 40 points. Red, meanwhile, had spent 100 points on ships.

Red invested in 15 Battleships (60 points), 10 Cruisers (30 points) and 10 Submarines (10 points). They were 'staggered' fairly evenly about Red's target area. Since it is impossible to defend so many ships, Red's further investment consisted of 16 R.P.s (16 points), 10 Bombers (30 points), 6 Guns (three placed as 'bait' M 5, O 5, M 7) (6 points), and 8 salvoes (8 points). Red calculated thst his meagre attacking strength would be more than compensated for by the difficulty of sinking so many ships.

Blue massed his Atom Bombers (60 points) in opposite corners of his area, with 13 A-A Guns (13 points) to defend them. His further attacking force consisted of 6 R.P.s (6 points) and 7 Bombers (21 points). Once again he did not buy any salvoes.

His naval force consisted of 20 Destroyers and 20 Submarines. He hoped that his Atom Bombers, which, collectively, can cover 150 squares, would dislocate Red's forces sufficiently to give him good winning chances.

In this game the relative values of one's offensive and defensive material are probably very nicely balanced. Consider the 10 points that one pays for an Atom Bomber. This will obliterate 25 enemy squares - but may yet do no damage at all. And, if their despatch is preceded by that of R.P.s, there is the dual risk (a) that the R.P.s will be shot down, and (b) that the Atom Bombers, if not despatched quickly, may be destroyed on the ground. (Blue's concentration of his Atom Bombers is very unwise, as remarked upon later.) So, whether it is worthwhile to spend points on an Atom Bomber, where, alternatively, one can buy two Bombers and four R.P.s, is anybody's guess.

Figure 9 - Red's chart of Blue's dispositions after 15 moves

Figure 10 - Blue's chart of Red's dispositions after 12 moves

The final positions are compared (Figures 11 and 12), and checked by the players' records.

Result of the game

Red wins by 60 points to 45.

Blue's Atom Bombers have failed him. The snag about these weapons is that they must be used against targets chosen at random, for R.P.s are likely to be wasted where enemy ships are concentrated, and the Atom Bombers are themselves vulnerable, should the enemy be similarly armed. Blue realised, after the battle, how foolish his concentration of Atom Bombers had been. He had assumed, with no good reason, that Red would have none; but, if Red had had Atom Bombers, a shot directed at (say) Q 3 would have left Blue with just 2 Atom Bombers and 4 Bombers, supported by 5 R.P.s, to fight with!

As it was, Blue's 6 Atom Bombers, which had cost him 60 points, sank enemy ships to the value of only 20 points. This was unlucky. Had his targets been E 3, E 8, I 17, L 3, Q 14 and R 17, he would have sunk ships to the value of 39 points, and might well have won the game.

His second mistake lay in supporting his Atom Bombers with Bombers instead of salvoes. The 21 points spent on Bombers would have yielded 21 salvoes (63 shots);: enough to sink the 4 Cruisers And 5 Battleships located (32 shots), and, almost certainly, at least one more Battleship. In this event, Blue would have won by one point.

Blue won the toss.

Both players had endeavoured to absorb the lessons of the previous game.

Blue had decided to persevere with Atom Bombers, but planned, this time, to employ them in a concentrated attack on the lower half of Red's target area. They would collectively cover 150 of the bottom 220 squares (unless, of course, one or more of them were destroyed). Blue dispersed them as widely apart as possible, and decided to waste no points in trying to protect them. A random shot from a Bomber might destroy one (very long odds against that), and, should an R.P. appear, the Atom Bomber spotted would immediately take off.

Blue also bought 24 R.P.s, which (subject to casualties) could cover 216 of Red's remaining 291 squares. Finally, he spent 16 points on salvoes, which would give him 48 shots against located targets.

This left Blue with the minimum 60 points for his outlay on ships. He bought 30 Destroyers.

Red had judged correctly that he might have to meet another Atom Bomber attack. He decided to invest 100 points in Battle ships (25 ships), since, if Blue were relying again on Bombers to support Atom Bombers, it would take two Bombers to sink any one of them. They were somewhat thinly defended by 20 A-A guns. Red's remaining points were invested in 10 R.P.s, 6 Bombers, and 12 salvoes (36 shots).

Let us now take stock of the position (Figures 15 and 16). Blue's attack, this time, has been overwhelmingly successful. He still has 22 of his R.P.s. He succeeds (Figure 15) in charting all but one of Red's Battleships, and sinks 12 of them, in addition to the 10 already destroyed by Atom Bombers. So, just 3 of Red's ships survive (Figure 18.)

Figure 16 shows Red's chart of Blue's dispositions after the despatch of the sixth Atom Bomber. All he has left is 5 R.P.s and his 12 salvoes (36 shots). With their aid he contrives to bring his 'kill' up to 9 Destroyers (Figure 17.)

Figure 15 - Blue's chart of Red's dispositions after 28 moves

Figure 16 - Red's chart of Blue's dispositions after 11 moves

The final positions are compared (Figures 17 and 18), and checked by the players' records.

Result of the game

Blue wins overwhelmingly by 42 points to 12.

Whether the best reply to an anticipated Atom Bomber attack is to buy a number of Battleships is, perhaps, debatable. Red's argument is fortified by another consideration: that an Atom Bomber may well partially sink a Battleship, to the actual location of which the adversary has no clue, and a ship is not lost until it is wholly sunk. All the same, the better investment, if one expects an Atom Bomber attack, is probably a large number of widely dispersed Submarines. These can be so distributed, that an Atom Bomber is not likely to sink more than three.

Before the fourth (and last) of their series of four games, both Red and Blue did some more hard thinking. Blue's plan in the third game had proved overwhelmingly successful. But there is an answer to every plan, and Blue tried to put himself in Red's place. One answer, of course, would be for Red to adopt the same tactics as Blue, but that would turn the game into a 50-50 gamble, with half a dozen Atom Bombers on each side taking pot-shots at the enemy target area. Blue felt sure that Red would try for something more effective. He decided that Red's best answer to his Atom Bomber plan would be to concentrate his ships, so that the success of the Atom Bombers would be more 'chancy' than ever, and to defend them with A-A guns against reconnaissance after all the Atom Bombers had been released.

And this is exactly what Red did do.

Blue (who had won the toss) decided that he must have more ships, to give himself a greater safety-margin, and also more R.P.s, to allow for casualties. This meant fewer Atom Bombers; he reduced the number to four (40 points). He also bought 30 R.P.s and 18 salvoes. This left 72 points for ships: 18 Destroyers and 36 Submarines. They were dispersed evenly over the target area, with no protection against enemy planes.

Red had planned his defence on precisely the lines envisaged by Blue. He invested 84 points in ships - 14 Battleships, 6 Cruisers and 10 Submarines - and so grouped them as to make it unlikely that any one Atom Bomber would do a great deal of damage. They were defended against reconnaissance by 24 A-A guns. Red's offensive force consisted of 30 R.P.s and 22 salvoes, which would give him 66 shots against located targets.

There was, of course, no certainty that Blue would again use Atom Bombers, but Red's plan is likely to be equally effective against any other attack.

And this time, as we shall see, luck was in his favour.

Figure 21 - Blue's chart of Red's dispositions after 32 moves

Figure 22 - Red's chart of Blue's dispositions after 25 moves

The final positions are compared (Figures 23 and 24), and checked by the players' records.

Result of the game

So, Red emerges from this holocaust the winner by 24 points to 11.

One can't get more than a slight idea of the possibilities of combat from these four representative games. How best to plan one's dispositions against adversaries of varying temperaments - there's a lot of psychology in the game - can be learned only by experience. Here, however, are two tables that summarise the results of our games:

To draw from these exiguous data the conclusion that Battleships don't pay, would be altogether wrong. Red lost 22 out of 25 Battleships in the third game. In the other three games 60 per cent of Battleships survived.