Torpedo question

What happens if there is no ship in the other half of the template? Do you lose those dice? How do you accidentally hit one of your own ships?

Yes, those dice are lost, it gives a bit of realism in that you cant have all the torpedoes in a spread hit a ship that was just grazing a corner of the template.

And yes, it is possible to hit your own ships. Either by placing the torpedo marker at the wrong angle (probably by mistake) or when a ship moves into the template area during the turn.

Another question. It says in the rulebook "bank that has been launched and aim the spread in the direction you want to fire it.". Does that mean you can point the torpedo in any direction as long as it's coming from a legal arc? Ex- a port torpedo can be pointed anywhere in the port arc. Also, does the "center" designation mean the torpedo can shoot into both the port and starboard arcs?

Yes to both questions. As a rule, I put the starting corner of the torpedo counter at the spot where the actual torpedo launchers are, I then pivot the marker around to see what is in my arc. So the Graf Spee for instance, has its launchers on the rear end of the ship, so I put the tip of the marker at that spot, which gives it a somewhat odd torpedo arc...

Thanks. I was doing everything correctly then. You might want to put a note in the rulebook about the meaning of "center". New players may not know what that means.

Hi.
I have a question about torpedoes as well. In the hit location & damage effects table you can not hit a ships superstructure because a roll of 1 to 5 (1 to 7 in version 1.4) is treated as a waterline compartment hit. This sounds logical. But what about a dice roll that hits a weapons system? If you roll 16 to 20 (rules version 1.4) a torpedo would hit a primary, secondary, tertiary weapon or magazine. A torpedo always hits a ship below the waterline. There are no weapons at this location of the ships hull. Even a magazine hit would not start a fire because a torpedo would rather flood this area with water instead of starting fires or causing explosions.
I suggest, add the following phrase to the torpedo hit text in the hit location & damage effects table:
"In case of torpedo hits, treat all rolls of 1-7 as a waterline compartment hit and all rolls of 16-20 as a waterline engineering hit. Also add 1 aditional flooding token to all damage effects". What do you think?

Regards,

Lindinho

Hello Lindinho,

Thanks for the feedback. The reason I kept the Weapon systems in the table for torpedoes is that historically, a torpedo could, and would, have grave effects on the working of weapon systems on board.

Some visual examples:

I don't think anyone can deny that these ships will have some serious problems operating their weapon systems

Another well-know example is the torpedo that knocked out almost all weapon systems onboard of HMS Prince of Wales:

The single torpedo hit had devastating further effects. First, it caused an 11.5-degree list to port, resulting in the starboard 5.25-inch anti-aircraft turrets being unable to depress low enough to engage the attackers. Furthermore, power to Prince of Wales' aft 5.25 inch dual-purpose turrets was cut, leaving her unable to effectively counter further attacks. Power loss to her pumps meant an inability to pump out the in-rushing flood water faster than it was entering the breached hull. The torpedo damage also denied her much of her auxiliary electrical power, vital for internal communications, ventilation, steering gear, and pumps, and for training and elevation of the 5.25-inch and 2-pounder gun mounts. All but S1 and S2 5.25 inch turrets were almost unmanageable, a factor compounded by the list, rendering their crews unable even to drag them round manually using chains. The crews also had difficulty bringing the heavy 2-pounder mountings into manual operation. The extensive internal flooding and shaft damage caused the shutting down of the inboard port propeller shaft, leaving the ship under the power of only the starboard engines and able to make just 15 knots at best. With her electric steering unresponsive, the ship was virtually unmanageable.

There are plenty other examples of weapon systems failing (usually by knocking out the electrical systems or because of ship listing) because of torpedo hits.

I agree that fires are a more rare occurence following torpedo hits, but they could be caused by the shockwave setting off ammo, electrical fires, etc. I did not alter too much about the fires because it would make things more complicated for minor improvements to realism.

I hope this will answer your questions about my motivation to keep the weapon system damage in the table for torpedo damage.

Now this makes sense! You are absolutely right. So just forget my suggestion.

Regards,

Lindinho

Wow!