Victory on the Rivers

Other VAS Sites

SuggestedChanges to VAS- Order of Battle
VAS was joined by a supplemententitled 'Order of Battle' (for which I was one of the contributors).The link below takes you to a set of suggested changes for OOB which was generatedby the OOB Development Team.
This should not be confusedwith the MGP official errata which will hopefully be posted soon.
Changesto Original VAS
The original rules fall alittle bit short in some areas of realism. Some of these points were addressedon OOB. The following are a suggested set of amendments that will serve toincrease the level of realism, whilst retaining as far as possible the'fast play' nature of the rules. They are intended primarily for useby players who have VAS but not 'Order of Battle. However, players whohave OOB might find some ideas here that would help them too.
I have also included links toother sites of interest to VAS players. They can be found at the bottom of thepage.
Premeasuring
The rules disallowpremeasuring, stating that 'Captains and admirals of the Second World Wardid not have sophisticated fire computers tied into radar and satellitesurveillance to rely upon, trusting instead to their own judgement'. Infact captains and admirals generally DID had sophisticated fire controlsystems, optical rangefinders and, in many cases, fire control radar. As a resultI would suggest ditching this rule (although only allow measuring to enemyvessels during the gunnery phase).
Turning
Ships in VAS turn at far slowerrates that their real life counterparts. I am still developing an alternativeturning system based on turning circles. In the meantime, the following isrecommended.
Gunnery
VAS does not have a declaredground scale but the actual scale used in determining gunnery distances was1' per 1000 yards. The current gunnery system allows firing out to theextreme range of each weapon and in many cases these were never achieved inaction. To better recreate the limitations of naval gunnery the following rulesare added:
No gun may fire at a targetmore that 30' away unless the followingexceptions apply:
Long range gunnery modifiers donot stack. A firing player can claim a +1 for one of Radar,Improved rangefinders or Spotter aircraft.
Revised Damage

When rolling Damage Dice use thefollowing system to determine damage and whether critical hits are caused:
Line of Sight
There are no LOS limitations inVAS. This can lead to some unusual situations. To counter this, treat LOS asblocked if:
To make things a bit moretricky extend the area blocking LOS by 1' from the model.
All ranges should be measuredand LOS judged from a constant point on the models. Common points such as theBridge or fore funnel are recommended.
Rapid Fire
Rates of fire for 6' andsecondary guns were sufficiently high to notably increase their volume of firein close quarter actions. To reflect this allow 6' guns and secondarybatteries a +1 Attack Dice modifier when firing at 10' or less. (asimpler approach is to allow all guns a +1 at 10' or less)
'Weak' Guns
In the current rules guns thatare listed as 'Weak' cannot cause critical hits. This is OK for hitsby small guns against capital ships but is less satisfactory for gunfireagainst and between smaller vessels. Instead, allow weak 6' guns to cause criticals on hits where they cause damage (see above). Theystill suffer the -1 Damage Dice penalty. Secondaries are allowed to causecritical hits on any vessel with an Armour value of 2.
Fast Moving Targets
The -1 modifier applied togunnery against fast moving targets is a good representation of the problemsfaced by large guns with low rates of fire against fast moving targets. It doeshowever cause a problem for smaller guns designed specifically to deal withthese kinds of threats. I suggest you ignore the modifier when firing 8'guns or smaller at fast moving targets. (A simpler approach is to ignore themodifier for fast targets completely).
Also delete the -1 modifier forships moving at Flank Speed (or better still, delete the 'flankspeed' action entirely, adding 50% to the maximum speed of a ship designedto travel 30 knots would be nothing short of an engineering miracle!)
Torpedoes
Torpedo fire against ships withtorpedo side protection systems ('Torpedo Belt' trait) is ahistorically penalised. SPSs did not run the whole lengthof the ship and were, in many cases, compromised regardless of their design. Isuggest the following changes:
1) All ships are treated ashaving armour of 2 against torpedoes, unless they have the Torpedo Belt'trait.
2) If a ship has the'Torpedo Belt trait this allows it to use its Armour Value against torpedoesor mines.
3) In addition, roll a d6 foreach damaging hit
1
Torpedo hits the bow. Normal damage plus speed reduced by 1
2-5
Torpedo hits the side. Normal damage only
6
Torpedo hits the stern. Normal damage, and Roll a d6:
·1= props damaged, speed reduced by 1,
·6 = steering damaged, turn number reduced by 1.
In addition, all ships hit bytorpedoes will suffer at least one automatic critical hit, regardless ofwhether any other damage is taken. This represents the shock effect of theunderwater explosion.
Torpedo Launching
At present the standard ruleappears to be that torpedoes are launched at the same time as guns are fired.This leads to some ahistorial aspects as DDs dash infrom long range and launch their fish before receiving fire. In order to makelife a bit more risky for destroyers (and everyone else for that matter)torpedo launch and resolution is conducted AFTER all gunnery has been resolved.
In addition, ships that are'Crippled' cannot launch torpedoes (it is assumed that they areheeling such that the mounts are unusable, or fire control systems areadversely affected).
Torpedo Tubes
Torpedo tubes currently cannotbe damaged. To rectify this minor error treat torpedo tubes as'Turrets' when assessing weapon critical hits (i.e. critical hit 5may result in the loss of tubes), and when rolling for turret/trait loss if aship is crippled.
Torpedo Reloads
Torpedo reloads to thosesurface ships that have them should be restricted to one set of reloads only. Itshould also be applied to most submarines
Aircraft
The effects of aircraft ave been deliberately understated in VAS, but to such anextent that aircraft carriers are virtually worthless. In order to redress thebalance, increase the number of flights of aircraft in VAS by a factor of 3.For example, a carrier that operates two flights of Swordfish and one ofmartlets will now operate 6 flights of Swordfish and three flights of Martlets.Other aspects of the rules that relate to flight numbers are also increased bythe same margin, e.g. carrier launch and recovery rates are tripled, ships cannow be attacked by up to nine flights.
(alternatively multiplyaircraft AD by 3 if you do not want the able swamped by aircraft. This and theabove have different implications for AAA)
Fighters vs. Ships
At present fighters areprevented from making attacks on shipping. However, many fighters were capableof carrying useful bomb loads. A notable example is the Fw190 that causedserious damage to WARSPITE off Salerno in 1943. Fighters may therefore be usedas fighter bombers. If used as such they move in the 'bomber' portionof the turn. Dogfight and Target numbers are decreased by 1. Dodge is increasedby 1. Fighter bombers have 1 Attack Die and 2DD (if carrying up to 500lb bombs)or 3DD (if carrying 1000lb bombs). They may jettison their bombs at the startof any turn. Once bombs have been dropped or jettisoned they revert to fighterstatus.
Aircraft Endurance
Fighters are blessed with inexhaustiblesupplies of ammunition in VAS. To counter this allow each fighter flight toengage in only two rounds of air to air combat before being forced to break offto refuel and rearm. If engaged in a dogfight by enemy aircraft whilstreturning they may return fire, but they may not initiate combat themselves.
Interception
Only aircraft designated asfighters can initiate dogfights
AAA
AAA Attack Dice do not need tobe allocated to individual flights of aircraft. Attacks can be rolled 'en masse' and hits distributed amongst the attackingaircraft as desired. The exception is where aircraft have differing targetnumbers, where AD can either be allocated by type, or the defending player canopt to take the higher number as applying to all attackers and then distributehits amongst all types.
The AAA values do not take intoaccount the Dual Purpose AA guns that armed many Allied (and some Axis) ships.To reflect this, ships that were fitted with Dual Purpose guns can use their Secondaryarmament AD against attacking aircraft in range. DP guns used for AA firecannot be used against surface targets in the same turn. Ships in the currentrules to which the Dual Purpose rule applies include:
Aircraft Carrier'Reloads'
At present, aircraft launchedfrom carriers are 'one shot wonders', since there are no formal rulesfor rearming after recovery. Aircraft handling is a complex subject that couldbe the subject of a host of specialist rules, but to remain in keeping with theVAS rule system the following is suggested. Each carrier has a set of threeboxes representing its aircraft handling state. These are 'Refuel','Rearm' and 'Ready'. Once a flight has landed it is movedto 'Refuel'. At the start of the each turn torpedo or bomber aircraftin 'Refuel' may be moved to 'Rearm', and torpedo or bomberaircraft in 'Rearm' may be moved to 'Ready'. Fighters maymove direct from 'Refuel' to 'Ready'. aircraft in'Ready' are available for launch in the current turn. The numbers offlights that can be moved into each box is the twice the carrier's launch /recovery rate.

Victory Games Carrier Rules Pdf Online

A 4th box can also be added,'Hangar'. Aircraft in this box are not fuelled or armed (this is aplaceholder for future thoughts on this subject).
Observation aircraft
Observation aircraft achieve anefficiency and importance in the rules that they never achieved in reality. Inorder to grant the 1AD attack bonus the aircraft must be within 4' of thetarget (and thus vulnerable to AA fire). Observation aircraft do not conferbonuses if the target is within 20' of the shooter and the shooter has aline of sight to the target (spotting from the firing ship was generallyconsidered superior). No AD bonus is applied to gunfire over 30'.Observation aircraft do not give initiative bonuses.
Long Range Fire
The long range gunnery modifiergiven to Kriegsmarine ships is historically questionable and should probably bedeleted. However, if you chose to retain it then the following is suggested:
Critical Hits
Amend Weapon critical hit 6 toread 'No weapons can fire for 1d3 turns, One main turret destroyed. HalveSecondary AD if ship has no main armament'. (magazines were generallylocated under or close to the weapons they served. A magazine explosion wouldinevitably result in the loss of those weapons)
Fire
Fire, whilst serious, appearsto pose a risk only the crew and not to the ship itself. It is suggested thatall references to 'crew' are deleted and instead fires result in thechance for additional critical hits.
When making damage controlchecks to extinguish fires, any natural rolls of 1 result in the possibility ofcritical damage. Roll 1d6. On a 5+ the ship suffers a critical hit.

Victory Games Carrier Rules Pdf 2017

Ships Stat Corrections
There are a few obvious minorerrors in the published ship stats:
NewVAS Stats
OriginalRules
OOB
Spanish - Provided by Achiles:
Somelovely ship cards by John Hill:

Victory Games Carrier Rules Pdf Download

Britain
Germany
Japan
USA
Russia
France
Italy
Miscellaneous
DestroyerCommander!
I've been tinkering with theVAS system and generated a variant for destroyer actions. This is very much a'work in progress'. See the first draft here
Victoryon the Rivers
VAS for Ironclads, setinitially in the American Civil War but recent updates have added Europeanships so that you can fight out the Lissa campaignand the Franco Prussian War
OtherVAS Sites
Burger'sShip Viewer - an excellentsite wherein you can create your own VAS ship and fleet control sheets.

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