War at sea » Task Force F.A.Q.

07/24/08

Q. The Jean Bart looks like it’s missing a turret. Is this intentional?
A. Yes. The Jean Bart only had 1 main turret installed.

Q. How does the Barracuda’s Mission Selection ability work?
A. You declare whether the aircraft is a dive bomber or a torpedo bomber in the Air Attack phase. The Barracuda is treated as the type chosen for the rest of the turn.

Q. The Halifax has the Defensive Armament ability. If a fighter attacks it first during the Air Defense phase, does the Halifax get harder to shoot down with shipborne AA?
A. Yes. However, a player can always fire with his ships first before engaging with his fighters.

Q. The Illustrious has an ability called Sneak Attack. Can my initiative modifiers help this ability?
A. No. The dice have to add up to 10 or better before you add your initiative modifier in for Sneak Attack to work.

Q. HMS King George V has the Jammed Mount ability. If I roll two “1s” in consecutive turns, will the King George have –6 on its attack dice?
A. No. An ability can only affect a ship once; it would only lose three attack dice (page 33 of the rulebook).

Q. The HMS Warspite has the Long Shot 6 ability. Can I attack a ship 5 sectors away with it?
A. Yes.

Q. The Beaufighter has the Expert Strafer ability. What penalty does this avoid?
A. Hey, check out the rule update.

Q. The USS Hoel and the USS John C. Butler have the Lay Smoke Screen ability, but it’s different from the previous Lay Smoke Screen ability in the base set. Was this intentional?
A. No. The Lay Smoke Screen ability should say, “Instead of attacking during your Surface Attack phase, this unit can make a local smoke screen. The smoke screen takes effect immediately. Remove the smoke screen at the end of the next turn.

Q. How then should smoke screens affect the game?
A. Replace the glossary entry in the rulebook (pg. 39) with the following text: Smokescreen: A terrain effect. A unit may move through a smoke screen without penalty. Smoke screens block line of sight through the sector. Line of sight can be traced into or out of a sector with a smoke screen. A unit in a sector containing a smoke screen gains concealment.

Q. The USS San Francisco has both the Flagship 1 and Flotilla Leader abilities. If my force consists of the San Francisco and 3 destroyers, do I get a +3 or +4 on my initiative?
A. You get a +4. You apply both the Flotilla Leader bonus and your Flagship bonus.

Q. The U-66 has speed 2. Isn’t that rather fast for a sub?
A. This is a misprint (our mistake!). The U-66 is being erratta’d to speed 1.

Q. Can the SM.79 Sparviero base on my carrier?
A. No, it’s a patrol bomber.

Q. What happens if the A6M2 Zero Kamikaze is aborted by air defense?
A. Since aircraft don’t return until the Air Return phase, it’s destroyed at the end of the Air Attack phase.

Q. The Zuikaku has the Airfield Strike ability. If I use this ability to deploy a fighter to attack an enemy plane, do the enemy planes at the airfield shoot at my fighter?
A. No. Only the Zuikaku’s fighter attacks (it has achieved surprise and caught the enemy on the airfield).