Description

The rules originated from a desire to wargame the encounters between submarines and ASW forces portrayed in books such as Red Storm Rising (Tom Clancy and Larry Bond), and in films such as ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and ‘Crimson Tide’. I also was keen to use the 1/700 scale submarine and ship kits I was building as they are such great kits and I couldn’t find any rules! Modern naval wargaming has often suffered from being seen as too complex to wargame on the table top because of the technological complexity and therefore now is thought perhaps best suited to computer simulation. Existing table top rulesets such as ‘Harpoon’, ‘Prosub’ or ‘Modern Naval Battles’ either require detailed calculations and although very accurate, are often not suited to an evening club game or are designed as an abstract card based system that doesn’t allow miniatures to be used.
The difficulties arise because these sets are comprehensive and encompass all facets of modern naval combat with the submarine aspect a minor player. There are in reality several distinct aspects to modern naval warfare. At one extreme, carrier or land based airstrikes or missile strikes can originate several hundred miles away and yet be resolved in seconds, whilst at the other end the stealth and uncertainty of submarine combat can take daring, guile and be enacted over short distances where collisions are a real danger.

By concentrating on submarines and ASW specifically I have tried to develop a playable (I hope), fun and yet challenging set of rules that capture the specific tactics and tension of the ‘aerial dance’ beneath the waves, with variable levels of complexity that can be added as desired. The core rules are unashamedly simple to try and give a playable game on a club night and I have resisted the temptation to add extra complexity. Further rules will follow in subsequent updates.