Falklands-Malvinas 1982 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • This Rulebook
  • Counters
  • Markers
  • Scale and Game Map
  • Naval Group Templates
  • Air Base Templates
• Main Game Concepts
• Game Length. Modes
• Turn Structure
  • Sequence of Play
• Campaign Mode
  • Mining
  • Reinforcements
  • Random Event Cards
• Strategic Phase: Weather
  • Special Rules Applicable to Weather
• Operational Phase
  • Determining Initiative
  • Naval Segment
    • EMCON Check
    • Towing of Immobilized Ships
    • Assignment/Reassignment of Naval Groups
    • Transfer of Embarked Troops
    • Surface Naval Movement
    • Minesweeping (British Player Only)
    • ITB Attack (Land-Based Exocet)
    • Surface Combat
  • Air Segment
    • PAC (Combat Air Patrol)
• Administrative Phase
  • Fires
  • Carrier Control and Withdrawal of CAP/Helicopter Missions
  • Air Maintenance
  • Radar Contact Degradation
  • Strategic Supply
  • Checking Victory Conditions (Campaign)
  • Sudden Victory
• Detection
  • Other Forms of Detection
  • Situations Affecting Detection and Its Ranges
• Combat
  • Bombardment of Installations/Radar (or Strategic Bombing)
  • Air-Air Combat
    • Dogfight and Interception Combat
  • Air-Surface Combat
  • Naval Surface Combat
    • Resolution of Naval Gunnery Combat
  • Submarine Combat (ASW)
  • Minefield Attack
  • Ground Combat
    • Landing and Ground Combat in the Falklands
    • Commando Assault Operations
• Hits and Damage
  • Description of Damage
    • Severe Damage
    • Critical Damage
• Special Rules
  • Atlantic Conveyor
  • San Carlos Strait
  • Argentina's Black Days
  • Argentine Ground Air Support
  • Argentine Destroyer Seguí
  • In-Flight Refueling (KC-130)
• Advanced Rules
  • Santa Fe Submarine
  • Retargeting by Exocet Missile
  • PAC Interception by Sectors
  • Harrier Aircraft as Maritime Patrols
  • Effectiveness of Argentine Torpedoes
  • Individualized Detection of Radar Signatures
  • Boeing 707 on Maritime Patrol Missions

Components

In the game box you will find:

• 1 main map, 84x65cm.
• 236 counters (20mm) representing the air, naval and ground forces of both sides.
• 367 marker counters (some bilingual).
• 2 tri-fold player aid charts (one for each player).
• A deck of 26 event cards.
• 2 Air Base Control boards (one for each player).
• 2 Operations Control boards for submarines and naval groups (one for each player).
• 2 hiding screens.
• 2 Damage Control boards (dual).
• 1 Rulebook.
• 1 Playbook.
• 3 ten-sided dice and 1 six-sided die.

This Rulebook

The rulebook you are holding is organized to teach you how to play; you should read it once through first to familiarize yourself with it. After that first read, you can try playing the engagement scenarios, which are designed to help you settle the game's mechanics. Falklands-Malvinas 1982 is not a complex game, but it can seem that way since it is a simulation of air-naval warfare in which technology is a fundamental aspect.

In this rulebook we will go over each part of the board and the boards/templates, as well as the game counters. The rulebook proceeds linearly with the game turn. Wherever the game needs to resolve a situation, the corresponding chapter explains the game situation to you and will point you to a different chapter where it explains how to resolve it.

Counters

Naval unit factoring (front and back)

• Tactical identification (ship type): DD: Destroyer (includes H: embarked helicopter). For submarines the identification is SSN = Nuclear, SSK = Diesel.
• Anti-air (SAM) defense capability. (A dark green arc indicates the presence of surface countermeasures). Lower value = very-low-altitude defense. Upper value = low-altitude defense. When the capability doesn't exist, a black circle is shown.
• Gunnery capability (standard naval-air). Base factor for naval surface gunnery attacks. Superscript factor (when present): conventional anti-air artillery (AAA) capability. When the capability doesn't exist, a black circle is shown.
• Damage the ship can absorb (above this value the ship sinks).
• SSM attack capability (Exocet anti-ship missiles). Red-colored missile: defensive capability with the Sea Wolf missile (anti-SSM missile).
• Movement capability: number of hexes the unit can move in a turn (without any restrictions). Submarines show their movement factoring as 1S = 1 sector/turn.
• Ship name. Historical name.
• Anti-submarine (ASW) countermeasures: blue-colored arc.
• Surface-to-air radar (range in hexes): when not shown, the unit does not have this characteristic.

Two additional parameters are also shown on some counters: detection range by radar (air/surface), when the sensor is present, generally for maritime reconnaissance aircraft; and in-flight refueling capability (A-4 Skyhawk, Super Étendard).

Air unit factoring

• Number of aircraft represented, between 1 and 4 aircraft.
• Aircraft model identification.
• Countermeasures (flares/chaff bundles).
• Operational range (maximum range in hexes without refueling). Background color indicates flight ceiling: black, maximum altitude; orange, medium altitude; green, low altitude.
• Aircraft role:
  • REC: Reconnaissance and patrol.
  • MR: Multirole (attack and interception).
  • BMB: Bombing.
  • INTCP: Interception.
  • REF: In-flight refueling.
  • ASM helicopters: for anti-ship attack missions.
  • TP helicopters: for troop transport.
• Combat factor (number of bombs/missiles or dice to roll). When shown in parentheses, indicates its multi-capability option. It can bomb or act as escort (not both at once). Generally matches the number of aircraft the counter represents. 1 aircraft = 1d10.

Markers

The game includes markers that help players track various aspects of play related to administration, air missions, damage, detection, armament, and more, such as: ASW damage, accumulated-points damage, carrier-without-operations damage (2 turns), towing damage (2 movement points), radar-destroyed damage, SAM damage, half naval-movement-points damage, immobilized damage, EMCON off, fire damage, installation damage, installation-destroyed damage, embarked-helicopter damage, tactical naval withdrawal, no-amphibious-operations damage (2 turns), CAP (combat air patrol), sector patrol CAP, coordinated defense, helicopter ASM mission, helicopter ASW mission, submarine on alert, A-4 Skyhawk in escort role, Exocet missile expenditure (ARG), wave identification, maritime patrol waypoint, ground support, ship damage marker, naval mine marker, ground supply points, RN general supply, victory points, and turn marker.

Scale and Game Map

The scale of Falklands-Malvinas 1982 is approximately 50 kilometers (27 nautical miles) per hex. As for the time scale, as reflected by the turn track, each turn represents a full day, although it is assumed that play takes place during daylight.

The map shows the area of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands and the southern Argentine Atlantic coast. There is also a special area (lower right) representing the South Georgia Islands, not in their true position but included as an important historical reference. The red dashed lines mark the maritime sectors into which the map is divided: NE Sector (Northeast), N Sector (North), Cont. Sector (Continental), SE Sector (Southeast) and the Falklands Islands sector.

The map also includes several game-control boxes:

1. An attack-resolution box for resolving air-naval combat.
2. An area for placing losses per turn and permanent losses.
3. Land-based Exocet missile control.
4. The Royal Navy's supply level.
5. The action segments of the turn's different phases.
6. The game's turn counter.
7. An anti-ship SSM/torpedo and naval Exocet missile control box (UK).
8. A victory-point counter for each player.
9. Finally, the game map also includes a box to track the progress of ground combat. This part of the conflict is handled more abstractly in the game, but aims to simulate the advance of British forces toward Port Stanley/Puerto Argentino during the ground operational segment.
10. An anti-ship SSM/torpedo and naval Exocet missile control box (ARG).

Designer's note: Although the game is predominantly air-naval, I decided to keep a minimal level of playability for ground combat given the key importance that the recovery of control of the islands by the British had for ending the conflict. Thus one of the main British objectives in the game is to land on the Falkland Islands and take its capital to end the game with a decisive victory.

Naval Group Templates

Both players have templates for organizing their naval groups so they stay hidden from their opponent. On these templates, players organize their naval groups with a maximum of 8 ships per group and 16 per hex, distributed in any number of groupings (that is, a maximum of two complete naval groups per hex).

On each template, the actual naval counters are placed at the players' discretion, and the group's number is represented by the corresponding marker on the game map.

Submarines may NOT be included in naval groups. They are placed on the submarine-movement marker of the naval group template, where each box corresponds to one of the large maritime areas into which the map is divided.

Each naval group has four boxes used to mark different characteristics of that naval group:

• EMCON status (Emission Control): Used to determine whether during that turn the naval group is sailing with all of its detection, defense and attack sensors switched on. If the player wants to keep the sensors off, they place an "EMCON off" marker in this box. The entire naval group then takes on the same status. Chapter 9, Detection, expands on the effects of EMCON.
• Active helicopter missions: In this box the player can define, using specific markers, the type and number of helicopter missions that naval group has in a given turn. Argentine Tracker S-2 aircraft can be used interchangeably as points for maritime patrol or anti-submarine missions.
• CAP (Combat Air Patrol): Used to place air counters assigned to the defensive combat air patrol mission for naval groups. 6 aircraft must be placed in this box to cover a full game turn. This CAP protects you from enemy air attacks.
• INT (Interceptors): Box for placing aircraft on interception missions (maximum 2 aircraft per turn). These represent fighters on emergency-scramble protection duty for the naval groups. The British player may use the Pradera del Ganso (Goose Green) airfield in the Falklands as a base for up to 4 Harrier units. (It becomes available once its box on the ground-combat chart is captured.)

Designer's note: the difference between PAC and INT missions is that the former are considered to be airborne, rotating between them, with always 2 aircraft aloft, and they go into maintenance at the end of the turn. Aircraft on an INT mission are not airborne but are ready on deck for immediate emergency scramble; while unused, they do not go into maintenance.

Air Base Templates

Both players use these to organize and manage their aircraft and their missions. They represent the land bases and ships capable of operating aircraft that both sides used in the conflict. The template shows several types of control boxes, organized as follows:

Bases: On these templates both players can manage their air forces according to the bases where they can land. These templates may be kept hidden or not, at the player's discretion. They are organized into several boxes corresponding to one base or aircraft carrier each.

Aircraft are placed in them without exceeding the maximum number of aircraft the base can hold, which is marked with a figure in parentheses next to the base or ship's name. The number of boxes per base varies and helps the player organize the aircraft better. Any number of air counters that the base can hold may be placed among the template's boxes.

For example, the carrier Hermes has a capacity of 26 aircraft, and the Argentine base at Comodoro Rivadavia can hold 18 aircraft. Players should keep in mind that the figures given are the number of aircraft, and that counters may represent one or several aircraft depending on whether their front or back face is shown. Following these one-or-several-aircraft-per-counter conventions, players are free to distribute the aircraft as they see fit for more convenient management. For example, if the Argentine player wants to have eight A-4 Skyhawks at the Río Gallegos base, they could use four two-aircraft counters, three two-aircraft counters, and two one-aircraft counters, etc.

Any excess of aircraft at land bases will force the player to remove the surplus aircraft, and they cannot be used again until they move to another base or the number housed returns within the original base's capacity margins. On aircraft carriers, such surpluses are removed from the game permanently.

This check must be made by both players during the administrative phase at the end of each game turn.

Attack waves: There are 2 columns for attack missions (or waves). Each column groups a wave formed by aircraft coming from all bases. Only two air-naval attack waves may be organized per turn in total, and these also include tanker aircraft. The maximum number of aircraft per wave is 18.

Players are also free to distribute the number of aircraft on counters of one or two aircraft, as desired, for easier management.

Maintenance: The last box on this template indicates the effect of maintenance on aircraft. Any fighter or bomber aircraft that flies on a mission (even if it later aborts for some reason such as weather, failure to locate the target, or is simply making a move between friendly air bases) must be placed in this maintenance box for the following turn. Maintenance requires that a specific number of aircraft not be used, and they cannot fly in the next game turn. Aircraft still in maintenance are left in that box. Maintenance affects players as follows (helicopters, maritime patrol aircraft, and tankers are not subject to this effect):

• Argentina: half of the total aircraft that operated that turn.
• UK: one third of the total aircraft that operated that turn.

Rounding is always in favor of the owning player, and a minimum of one aircraft will always go into maintenance. The choice of which aircraft types remain or go into maintenance is always made by the player. Of each deployed CAP, only one counter or 2 aircraft go into maintenance per turn.

As with bases and waves, players are free to organize the number of aircraft counters to reflect the amount remaining in maintenance.

Main Game Concepts

Air-naval warfare has always taken place in two physical domains: sea and air. It also includes another, no less important, domain: the electronic domain. Thanks to technological advances applied to the military world, each combat unit is equipped with systems designed to capture information about the enemy, their exact location, and their offensive and defensive characteristics. This technological deployment aims to neutralize enemy units or the control they exert over the battlefield. For this reason, technology applied to air-naval warfare seeks to develop systems that provide greater speed, reliability, and lethality in detecting any threat, as well as in eliminating it.

Based on these principles of air-naval warfare, this game seeks to simulate this type of conflict by focusing on three key aspects that represent the fundamental mechanics players need to know:

1. Movement. No one stays still if they know you're there. Staying motionless at sea means that, if your location is known, they will come looking for you. Moving, even a little, adds more fog of war and makes it harder for the searcher, since they need to move too if you do. Ships, and especially aircraft, have great mobility, and combined with detection, the equation is nearly solved.
2. Detection. Electronics allow for fast detection at relatively long ranges without putting the detector at risk. Detection carries risks: whoever detects is also susceptible to being detected. The game uses radar as the main detection element (direct visual detection also exists, but is obviously riskier). Players should be familiar with how these work, but don't worry — we have simplified it so we will only focus on what players need to know in order to decide.
3. Combat. Once that detection has been turned into something concrete, a decision must be made. Generally in air-naval combat, surprise is a key element since it lets you get ahead of events, although the enemy can always surprise you too (remember the Battle of Midway). And in many cases, not attacking a target when you have the chance may prevent you from attacking it another time.

Important: unlike many games, this game does not have a combat phase fixed in a set place within the turn structure. In each of the operational segments, the player with the initiative may declare all the attacks they see fit, as long as they meet the minimum requirements to carry them out.

Game Length. Modes

The game can be played in several modes. Each has a variable length and specific victory conditions:

1. Engagement scenarios: simulate specific historical or hypothetical situations within the framework of the Falklands conflict. For example, the attack on HMS Sheffield or the bombing of the Puerto Argentino airstrip. They are useful for learning all the game's mechanics, gradually using the different unit types. Their length is normally one game turn (or even less).
2. Historical scenarios: focus on real events during the Falklands War, with a longer length than the previous type, spanning several game turns and involving more units. For example, players can recreate the landing operations at San Carlos Bay in the Falklands (Operation Sutton).
3. Campaign scenario: this represents the entire war. Players may use all the units that took part in the conflict. It covers from May 1st to June 13th (days without significant combat activity have been removed from the general turn marker). The campaign is divided into 4 phases, linked to one another, where players can earn points for damage directly, as well as other bonus points for strategic objectives achieved over the course of the full game.
4. Player-created scenarios. The game's structure makes it easy for players to design their own scenarios.

Turn Structure

A game turn represents one day of real time, although the game's actions represent the daytime portion of the day. Not every action shown in a turn's sequence of play must be carried out, but if they are carried out, they must be done in the specific order indicated by the turn structure.

Some activities can only be carried out by the player indicated in the Sequence of Play table. A turn is divided into phases and sub-phases. They are as follows (a brief overview is given now; each will be explained in its corresponding chapter):

Campaign phase (only played in the full campaign scenario):

• Mining (Argentine player only): The hexes where mines are deployed are recorded, hidden from the opponent.
• Reinforcement entry and presence or absence of the submarine Santa Fe (the latter only for the Argentine player): a die roll determines the participation of this Argentine submarine (following historical events).
• Event card (odd turns only): an event card is drawn and its effects applied.

Weather phase:

• Weather: a die (1d10) is rolled for each of the map's sectors and the weather conditions table (Table 3.3) is consulted, assigning a weather type for the next turn and placing the corresponding marker in each sector.

Operational phase:

• Initiative: both players roll 1d6 to determine initiative. Ties are won by the British player. The player with the initiative goes first (except where otherwise indicated) with:
• Naval segment: activities for naval units.
  • EMCON: change the electronic-emissions status (by switching sensors on/off) of their naval groups.
  • Towing of immobilized ships. Check the status of ships under tow in sectors under storm conditions.
  • Assignment/reorganization of naval groups. Create, remove, or modify naval groups and their composition.
  • Transfer of embarked troops. Move embarked units from one ship to another.
  • Movement of naval units.
  • Minesweeping (British player only). Clearing sea hexes of mines.
  • ITB land-based Exocet attack (from the 4th phase onward, Argentine player only). Possible attack on ships.
  • Surface combat (naval gunnery, SSM missiles, ASM helicopters).
• Air segment. Activities for air units.
  • Mission designation: CAP, interceptors, and helicopter missions. (This action is carried out simultaneously by both players.) CAP patrol areas (if special rule 13.3, PAC Interception by Sectors, is in use).
  • Vulcan strategic bombing (British player only). Attacks on installations.
  • Maritime patrol missions. Waypoint designation (flight route) and execution to detect surface targets.
  • Movement and combat (air-to-air, air-to-surface, bombing).
• Submarine segment. Activities for submarines.

Administrative phase:

• Fires: check fire development. (1d6)
• Carrier control: control of aircraft carriers and withdrawal of CAP and helicopter missions.
• Maintenance (from turn 2 onward): determine which aircraft go into maintenance that turn.
• Contact degradation: check the degradation of detection levels.
• Supply: control and effect on the Royal Navy (effect the following turn).
• Victory levels, phase/general: check points for losses and sudden-victory conditions.

Sequence of Play

Phase	Sub-phase	Side	Operations (bold = mandatory step)	Dice	Notes
Campaign	Mining	ARG	Record mined hexes hidden from the opponent	—	Once per game, plus extra mining event card
Campaign	Reinforcements, submarine Santa Fe	—	Campaign game only (see turns). Roll for submarine Santa Fe	1d10	1-4: Sunk at South Georgia. 5-10: Active
Campaign	Random event cards	—	Draw an event card (alternate turns)	—
Strategic	Weather	—	Roll for conditions in each sector (valid for the turn). Roll for towing in storms

Campaign Mode

Let's explain in more detail each of the segments that make up a game turn. We will use a campaign-mode game turn, since this is the mode that includes all the segments of a full turn.

In this first phase, the deployment of Argentine mines, the arrival of reinforcements (per the turn marker), and, on odd turns, the play of an event card will be resolved. Players are also advised to agree, before starting, whether they will use any of the proposed advanced rules (see 13. Advanced Rules).

Designer's note: Although it may seem that applying the advanced rules increases the game's complexity, it doesn't have to be that way. They add even greater depth and let you get to know the procedures in more detail, in addition to providing near-total historical accuracy.

Mining

At the start of the campaign scenario, the Argentine player may place, in this sub-phase, up to three mine markers in the Falklands sector. This deployment is done hidden (recording the position on paper).

Depending on the mine-density level they want to place, they will have 1, 2, or 3 markers available. Each marker can only be placed in one hex. In game terms, this is determined as follows:

• High density: 1 marker to place.
• Medium density: 2 markers to place.
• Low density: 3 markers to place.

For example: if the player wants to have more marker options (up to 3 markers), they will choose to mine at low density across 3 hexes. If they want to mine at medium density, they will only have 2 markers to use, and if they want to mine one hex at high density, they can only choose one hex for it. Density affects the odds and level of damage.

Using event card #23, Naval Mines, the Argentine player can place additional mined hexes or improve mining density by one density level.

Reinforcements

In this sub-phase, players receive the reinforcements indicated for the current turn. The turn-track box indicates, with each side's flags, the arrival of these new units, which are detailed in each scenario's deployment.

Important: British reinforcement units that enter on the 23/05 turn must do so via the upper-right edge of the map (marked as the British deployment zone).

Players must also decide, by resolving a die roll, whether to play with the Argentine submarine Santa Fe (advanced rule 13.1).

Random Event Cards

The game includes a deck of 26 cards representing real and/or fictional events that occurred during the course of the war. These cards add fidelity to the game and are used in campaign mode.

On odd turns, an event card is played (indicated with an "Ev" on the turn track as a reminder for players).

Either player may draw the random event card from the deck, and its effects apply to both players equally. The cards show, at the top, a main title indicating the subject it refers to, as well as an order number that has no effect on the game. Then the card details, in a short text, the events for the players, and finally, at the bottom, indicates how it affects the players in game terms.

At the start of the game, this event deck is made up of the cards showing black boxes next to their text. Cards with red boxes are set aside from the main deck and enter play once the British player manages to land ground troops in the Falklands. These new cards are then shuffled into the starting deck. Once a card is played and its effect resolved, it is discarded for the rest of the game.

Strategic Phase: Weather

In this phase the players determine the weather for that turn for each sector of the map. Taking turns, they roll 1d10 for each sector and check the General Weather by Sector table (Table 3.3), placing the corresponding marker on the map.

• 1-5: Clear/Good weather.
• 6-8: Showers/Bad weather.
• 9-10: Storm/Severe weather.

Each result has implications for the various military operations carried out during the turn:

• Clear: units act without restriction due to weather.
• Bad weather: radar detection range is reduced by 1 hex. Roll 1d6 for each maritime patrol aircraft or attack wave (as a group) attempting to cross a sector affected by this weather. On a result of 6, the mission is aborted and the aircraft return to their bases and go into maintenance. This does not affect Vulcan missions, CAPs, or helicopter missions. Naval unit movement is reduced by 2 movement points. Troop transfers between ships cannot be made. Submarines are unaffected.
• Storm: radars cannot detect in that sector. All air operations (aircraft and helicopters) are forbidden. Naval movement is reduced by 3 points. There is no surface naval combat. In addition, at the start of the segment, immobilized or towed ships must roll 1d6 to see if they sink: 1-4, no effect; 5-6, sunk. These sinkings count toward victory points. Submarine operations are affected by the storm with a negative modifier to detection.

The following table (3.5, also shown at larger scale on the player aid sheet) summarizes the level of weather effect:

3.5 Weather Condition Effects

Operations	Clear	Bad Weather	Storm	Notes
Detection: Air-Surface and Surface-Air	No effect	Yes*	No operations	*Reduces by 1 hex; surface-to-air radar
Detection: Surface	No effect	No effect	Yes*	*Same hex (visual)
Movement: Surface	No effect	-2 hex	-3 hex	*Penalty
Movement: Air	No effect	Roll 1d6*	No operations	*6 = abort (all operations)
Movement: Submarine	No effect	No effect

Special Rules Applicable to Weather

• A naval group in a storm sector may immediately activate its helicopter and CAP operations if it transits to another sector with less adverse weather. Conversely, if a naval group enters a sector with storm weather while moving, its helicopter, CAP, or interceptor missions are no longer active. These actions take effect immediately upon crossing the sector affected by the weather change.
• Weather in the Southeast sector also affects the South Georgia Islands box.
• If a naval group ends its movement in a hex on a dividing line between map sectors, the controlling player must declare, at that moment, which of the two sectors it is in. The decision affects the rest of the turn.

Operational Phase

In this phase, play begins by determining who has the initiative for that turn. Next, each of the operational segments is carried out in turn, activating the corresponding units: naval, air, submarine, and ground. The marker for the current operations phase is placed in the control box located on the game map.

Determining Initiative

Each player rolls 1d6 to determine which player activates first in the following phases. The player who rolls higher has the initiative and acts first. In case of a tie, the British player has the initiative.

On the turns of May 21st and June 8th, the British player receives a +4 modifier to the initiative roll to simulate the historical dates on which they carried out their landings in the Falklands.

Naval Segment

In this segment, players carry out all, some, or none of the various naval operations: from checking emissions, managing naval groups, or the movement of ships itself. Actions are carried out in the following strict order: first the player with the initiative, and once they have completed them, the player without the initiative, except in specific cases noted otherwise. Those operations marked in bold in the turn sequence must be carried out in that same order.

EMCON Check

The player may modify this EMCON (Emission Control) status with the corresponding marker on their naval group templates. The concept refers to all electronic sensors aboard ships used for detection, communications, and self-defense. Its status can be switched off or on, and depending on which is chosen, it will have different effects:

• EMCON on: naval groups (or a ship sailing alone) will be able to detect, but can also be detected, during play. Each ship has a detection range (according to the power of its sensors) marked on the counter next to the "wifi" symbol. Sailing with EMCON on lets you detect and defend yourself, but in exchange you are "electronically" exposed to enemy reconnaissance. If detected by the enemy, during the corresponding operational segment, the player controlling the naval group must declare to the opposing player the highest range value among all units in the target hex (only the range of the most powerful sensor). This "on" mode is considered the default setting.
• EMCON off: means the electronic sensors are not active, so the owning player of the ship or naval group does not have to give electronic information to the enemy during detections. They will only have to report their radar signature (the size of the naval group or individual ship), since this information does not depend on your EMCON status. With the "off" option, the naval group will be harder to detect, but in exchange it cannot include its defensive modifiers against a potential enemy attack, since those rely on information from electronic sensors to function.

The status is the same for the entire naval group, but different naval groups in the same hex may have different EMCON statuses. The status may be changed during the game turn depending on certain circumstances that will be explained later.

Note: Ships without sensor capability (no "wifi" symbol on the counter) cannot place the "EMCON off" marker. It can also happen that the sensors are disabled due to damage.

Towing of Immobilized Ships

A ship that has been immobilized by severe/critical damage, or is at its final damage point before sinking, can be towed.

Movement per turn is 2 hexes (in any weather). Towing is automatic for up to a maximum of 3 simultaneous events. A fourth tow requires a specific counter from another ship that accompanies the damaged vessel in the same hex, forming its own naval group. In this situation both ships have detection level 3 (maximum). Submarines cannot tow.

A towing ship that finishes its tow by exiting off the map edge re-enters at the same place the following turn (except if it is the last turn of a phase, in which case it enters as a normal reinforcement).

Assignment/Reassignment of Naval Groups

In this step, the player may reorganize their naval groups (create, remove, modify their composition) as desired, subject to the following conditions:

• Each naval group can have a maximum of 8 ships (submarines cannot be included). British logistics-group counters count as one ship for this condition.
• If two naval groups are in the same hex, ships can be moved from one group to the other as the player wishes. However, only contacts at detection level 1 may be reassigned this way.

There cannot be more naval groups on the game map than appear on the naval group control template: 8 for the British player and 6 for the Argentine player.

Transfer of Embarked Troops

Embarked ground troops from a transport ship that has become immobilized can be transferred to another amphibious ship (LST, LPD, or LSL), if the following requirements are met:

• Both ships are in the same hex, and can belong to different naval groups.
• The weather must be good weather.
• Embarkation capacity is not exceeded. Amphibious ships have a capacity of 2 strength points (except line ships, which have a capacity of 3). Commando units do not count toward this limit and can embark on any ship.

Ground units are placed on the transporting ship on the naval group control sheet, hidden from the opposing player's view. British ground forces must reach the Falklands this way.

Important: if the damaged ship catches fire, it must extinguish it (see point 8.1 Fires) before the transfer can be carried out. But if the fire goes "out of control," the troops it is transporting are permanently removed from the game and the ship is eliminated.

Note: Although situations of ship evacuation due to fire did occur in the war, the game assumes that in that case the ground-force units that were embarked, even though most of them survived, would have lost all their equipment and their strength as an operational combat unit, and are therefore permanently removed from the game.

Surface Naval Movement

In this step, ships may move according to the movement factor printed on the counter. Naval groups move at most according to the movement factor of the slowest ship in the formation.

Weather affects movement. In bad weather, the movement factor of each ship in the sector is reduced by 2 points. In a storm, the reduction is 3 movement points.

A naval group that moves from a good-weather sector into one with a storm or bad weather adjusts the penalty on its remaining movement points upon entering the sector with worse weather. Otherwise, it uses the appropriate movement points after reducing them for these conditions, without gaining extra movement points for entering a good-weather zone.

Movement is carried out for all ships together; they can move all, some, or none of their movement points. Once movement is finished, any resulting combats are resolved. Naval units can move through mixed hexes (water/land). To determine the hex type, it is enough for the hex to contain some area of water. Stacking is permitted, following the ship limit of 16 ships per hex and 8 per naval group.

Considerations for surface movement:

• Movement between the South Georgia Islands box and the adjacent area (in both directions) takes 2 turns to complete, since the position on the game map is not the real one, being further from the Falklands than in reality. Attacking from one side of the marked hexes to the other is not permitted.
• There are other types of movement in the game; each is covered specifically in its own section, such as towing movement (see point 7.2, Towing of Immobilized Ships) and naval withdrawal movement (see point 10.4, Naval Surface Combat), regarding withdrawal prior to combat.
• Submarines have their own sector-movement system per game turn (see point 7.4, Submarine Segment).
• Naval movement through the Falklands Strait is valid (hexes 23,15; 22,16 and 21,16). (See point 12.2, San Carlos Strait.)
• Certain movements can result in the detection of the naval group carrying them out (see point 9.1, Other Forms of Detection).

Naval movement types: A. Movement into a storm area. B. Naval movement into an area with bad weather. C. Towing movement. D. Naval surface attack movement. E. Tactical withdrawal movement. F. Submarine movement (hidden on the control template).

Minesweeping (British Player Only)

In this phase, British naval groups that have a minesweeper ship (tactical designation YMS) can carry out minesweeping of a hex that has previously been declared as mined by the Argentine player (see point 5.1, Mining).

At the moment of declaration, when the naval group enters the mined hex, the British player rolls 1d10 for each minesweeper ship present, and consults the Minesweeping Roll table (Table 2.14), with the following results:

• 1-6: Hex successfully swept.
• 7-10: Minesweeping aborted.

If minesweeping fails, all ships in the naval group stop and must each individually resolve a minefield attack (see point 10.6, Minefield Attack), which determines whether there is damage (Table 2.12) and its consequences (Table 2.13).

On the following turn, the minesweeping attempt is resolved again. If the roll succeeds, the minefield marker is removed from the game and the naval group can move. While the mined hex has not been cleared, it cannot be left (except if the British player has no operational minesweepers, in which case it can be left automatically 2 turns later).

ITB Attack (Land-Based Exocet)

From the 4th phase onward (that is, starting with the June 8th turn), the Argentine player has a land-based Exocet launcher with two missiles in the Puerto Argentino hex, located in hex 17,13, which they called the "Berreta Firing Installation (ITB)." Although it is land-based, it acts within the naval segment and can attack ships in an adjacent sea hex. It is resolved normally as an Exocet missile attack (see point 11.1, Hits and Damage).

When used, the corresponding marker on the game map is turned until it is exhausted. It cannot be attacked.

Note: This twin launcher is an Argentine creation taken from the deck of the Navy destroyer ARA Seguí. Mounted on a mobile cart, it could be moved to other positions, although in reality it was positioned on the south coast of the Falklands near Puerto Argentino to cover any British approach from the south. It is responsible for the minor-damage hit on HMS Glamorgan on June 12, 1982.

Surface Combat

Two enemy naval groups (or individual ships) can engage in combat in two different ways:

1. Naval guns/anti-ship torpedoes-missiles (AS-11/AS-12) (combat in the same hex). Using the counter's naval gunnery combat factor.
2. Long-range MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles (combat in the same hex or adjacent).

Either of these combats follows the procedures described in point 10.4, Naval Surface Combat.

It is worth remembering that surface naval combat cannot take place without detection of the enemy. The difference in these cases is that, since it occurs in the same or an adjacent hex, detection is mutual and automatic, and could trigger simultaneous surface combat. (Exception: in storm weather there can be no surface naval combat.)

Air Segment

In this phase, players activate their air units to carry out some of the available operations.

The game presents several types of aircraft according to their role, as shown printed on the counters:

• REC (ASW/REC): Reconnaissance and patrol.
• MR: Multirole (attack and interception).
• BMB: Bombing.
• INT: Interception.
• REF: In-flight refueling.
• ASM helicopters: for anti-ship attack missions.
• TP helicopters: for troop transport.

First, in this sub-phase, players will simultaneously assign whichever aircraft they wish to the following air operations:

• Combat air patrols (CAP).
• Aircraft in interceptor role.
• Helicopter missions.

These three operations are carried out by the players hidden, on their respective naval group control templates. Once both players have finished and declared as much, the player who won the initiative continues performing the next air operation in the turn scheme, bearing in mind the restrictions due to weather and the number of aircraft available due to maintenance.

It is worth remembering that air bases or naval groups located in sectors affected by storm weather conditions can never assign aircraft to missions.

Generally, air operations tend to generate air-to-air combats that occur as a result of aerial interceptions. There are three types, depending on the composition of the intercepted air group, and we will explain them as they appear in this rulebook (see point 10.2, Air-Air Combat):

• If all the aircraft involved are fighters, a dogfight occurs.
• If the intercepted aircraft is a bomber or maritime patrol aircraft, the combat is an interception.
• If the intercepted group is mixed (fighters and bombers/maritime patrol), it is resolved sequentially: first the dogfight between fighters, then interceptions against the bombers.

Next, we return to air operations to detail the assignment of air units to CAP, interceptors, and helicopter missions.

PAC (Combat Air Patrol)

CAPs are groups of 6 fighter aircraft that, on a rotating basis, fly protective missions for an existing naval group on the game map. CAP groups are placed in the similarly-named box that exists for each naval group being protected, which each player can find on their naval group template.

These aircraft on air patrol can intercept and attack any enemy aircraft or air group that comes within 2 hexes of their position (patrol area) during the rest of the air segment. In the basic game, combat is resolved automatically at the indicated range; if playing with the advanced PAC-sectoring rule, it will be necessary to resolve whether there is interception depending on the sector where the detection occurs. (See point 13.3, PAC Interception by Sectors.)

In addition to indicating the presence of this type of mission, if playing with the advanced PAC-sectoring rule, this must be indicated with an additional marker showing which direction the aircraft are patrolling (north, south, east, or west). It's worth remembering that all these assignments are made hidden, on the control template.

For example, the British player wants to assign, during their air segment, a CAP mission to protect the carrier Hermes. So they will place 6 of their Harriers in the CAP box of the naval group where their carrier is assigned.

To simulate the rotation of aircraft throughout the day, we assign 6 aircraft to each CAP mission to represent the aircraft rotation, although for operational purposes, when some air combat is resolved, there will only be two aircraft actually flying. This simulates that there will be protection at all times as long as there are enough operational aircraft.

In other words, these 6 aircraft assigned to each of the CAPs will be committed to this mission for the entire turn and cannot be used for other air missions.

If, during the course of the game, due to air losses, players cannot meet the condition of the number of aircraft assigned to CAPs, they must include the maximum number possible to get as close as possible to that requirement (6 aircraft/turn).

Designer's note: British Harriers flew more than 1,100 missions during the conflict, most of them assigned to protective CAP. To maintain the security "umbrella," they had to keep a pair of Harriers airborne over the naval group being protected at all times. By assigning 6 aircraft to CAP missions, we are simulating this rotation over all the daylight hours of a day. Keep in mind that if there is an interception, only 2 of the 6 assigned aircraft are the ones that actually did the work.

When assigning their CAPs, players must take the following conditions into account:

• CAPs may NOT be assigned to empty hexes.
• CAPs originating from a carrier or air base can be placed over other naval units that are, at most, at half the range of the unit flying the CAP. That is, if they are within its range, they can protect another naval group/individual ship.
• If the naval group moves, the CAP moves with it, but the above condition about aircraft range must always be respected. For example, a CAP of two British Harriers (with range 10) is positioned over a transport naval group 5 hexes from their carrier of origin. This transport group moves 4 hexes and moves away from the carrier; the British player must move the carrier too in order to be positioned again within 5 hexes of the transports, bring the CAP Harriers back, or place them over another naval group at an appropriate distance.
• A CAP assigned to a naval group, if that group comes within range of any enemy radar (ship or land-based radar), the owning player of the air mission must place the CAP warning marker over the naval group or ship that has been detected.

CAP deployments: A. Carrier that is the CAP's base. B. CAP group (6 A-4 Skyhawk). C. Interceptor ready. D. CAP over DD Hércules with sector marker (optional rule). E. Interceptor protection. F. Prohibited CAP location (not in empty hexes).

Aircraft in Interceptor Role

These simulate aircraft ready at a base or carrier to take off immediately in an emergency.

In game terms, here we will place aircraft in interceptor role in the boxes marked INT on the naval group sheets. Each of these boxes can hold a maximum of two aircraft.

Aircraft on this type of mission can attempt to attack any air threat within half its operational range during the rest of the air segment. For example, a British Sea Harrier in interceptor role on a carrier can attempt to attack any enemy that approaches within five hexes of the ship. An Argentine Mirage III in INT role at a mainland base can intercept any enemy aircraft at a distance of 8 hexes.

To check whether an interceptor can react, we roll 1d10 and consult the Interception table (Table 2.5):

2.5 Interception (Maritime patrols and interception missions) (1d10)

Roll	Result
1-6	No interception
7-10	Interception

At ONE hex of distance: +2 to the interception roll.

The intercepting aircraft can respond not only to threats against its own carrier or air base, but can react to any enemy within its range, so it can also defend other friendly units.

Note: The player must understand the differences between these two types of missions. Although both are patrol and protection missions, with CAP it is assumed that the aircraft are already airborne, while interceptors are aircraft on the runway ready to take off within minutes in response to a threat, usually one or two aircraft. They do not burn fuel, and can also fly directly toward the threat. CAPs may take a variable amount of time to intercept the enemy depending on where they happen to be positioned when needed. Related to this, interceptors do not go into maintenance as long as they don't fly, so they are units that remain effective for the player at all times.

An interception mission can be combined with a CAP mission at the player's discretion, or used to attack at another time. If the interception roll succeeds, interception combat must be resolved. (See point 10.2, Air-Air Combat.)

Helicopter Missions

Every ship whose tactical designation includes an "H" indicates it carries an embarked helicopter that can be assigned to various missions. Helicopter units do not have a specific counter representing them; instead, they are markers for the different mission types they are assigned to: anti-submarine (ASW) or anti-ship (ASM) missions. Carriers have a variable number of these aircraft as indicated on each side's Air Base control sheet.

Example: a carrier that shows on its control template that it has 5 helicopters means we have 5 helicopter-mission points to assign. A DDH indicates it has 1 embarked helicopter, i.e. 1 mission point for these. If both ships are part of the same naval group, the player has 6 points in total to assign to ASW or ASM missions.

A special mention deserves the Argentine S-2 Tracker aircraft based on the Argentine carrier "25 de Mayo," which can be assigned to either maritime patrol or ASW (anti-submarine) missions, with the following peculiarities:

• If the S-2 Trackers are used as maritime patrol, they cannot also be used in anti-submarine patrol roles later in the turn.
• When these S-2 Trackers are assigned to anti-submarine missions, they provide coverage in the event of an attack against their naval group and against those in adjacent hexes.

Missions for helicopters and Argentine S-2 Tracker aircraft are:

• ASW missions (anti-submarine): Every 2 helicopters assigned provide a +1 modifier to the die against submarine attacks (see point 10.5, Submarine Combat). S-2 Trackers can also be assigned to this type of mission during this sub-phase. A maximum of 6 ASW mission points can be assigned per naval group each turn.
• ASM missions (surface attack): Each helicopter assigned to this mission can attack with an anti-ship missile (of the AS-11/AS-12 type) against enemies that do not have SAM systems (either because they don't exist, the SAM resources are disabled, or EMCON is off). If a mission is declared against ships with operational SAM defense, the helicopters are automatically shot down without needing a roll. Important: these attacks are activated in the air segment, even though it is a ship's resource, using the helicopter-on-ASM-mission marker for this each time. Combats in these missions against ships are resolved as anti-ship missile attacks. (See point 10.3, Air-Surface Combat.)

Example: A carrier that has a base allocation of 5 helicopter points can place 4 points on ASW mission (which will provide a +2 to defense against submarine attacks) and assign the remaining point as an ASM mission for a possible attack against a ship.

Vulcan Strategic Bombing Missions (British Player Only)

In this sub-phase, the British player may assign one bombing mission with Vulcan aircraft per turn. It is resolved now as described in section 10.1, Bombardment of Installations/Radar (or Strategic Bombing).

With the resolution of the bombing, the segment for this type of attack on installations ends. It's worth remembering that the ability to carry out this type of bombing depends on the availability of Vulcan aircraft in each of the four sub-phases the game has (indicated on the turn marker).

Maritime Patrol Missions

In this sub-phase, players will assign their REC (reconnaissance) aircraft to detect enemy surface units (see also point 9, Detection). These aircraft will move according to a flight plan that players indicate by placing markers on the map, or waypoints (up to a maximum of 3), tracing a route within the limits set by each reconnaissance aircraft's operational range. If they have the "+" symbol, they have unlimited range.

Specifically, the procedure for maritime patrol missions is as follows:

• The player places up to 3 waypoints on the map. It's worth remembering that if these markers are placed directly on a hex with an enemy naval group, or adjacent to it, the aircraft can immediately come under anti-aircraft fire (see the SAM picket fire section). The presence of enemy CAP or interceptors that could attack the maritime patrol mission must also be taken into account.

Note: Since patrol-aircraft sensors have a wide range, place them at a prudent hex distance when assigning waypoints, to avoid surprises.

• The player with the initiative moves the aircraft to the first of these points and triggers the detection procedure.
• Any enemy naval group/individual ship within the radar detection range (wifi symbol) of the patrol aircraft is required to declare information about its radar signature and its electronic signature (if it has one and is not in EMCON-off status).
• The radar signature is checked by the player being detected, on the Level 2 Radar Contact Size table (Table 3.2); it is important NOT to report the exact number or identification of the ships.
• Likewise, the detected player must report the range (in number of hexes) of the longest-range sensor present in the naval group, if active.
• Next, the level-2 detection marker is placed on the map (replacing the previous level-1 marker).
• The owner of the reconnaissance aircraft can decide to abort the mission or proceed to the next waypoint and repeat the procedure. If this was the third waypoint, the maritime patrol mission is considered concluded and the aircraft returns to base. As many maritime patrol flight plans can be made as there are available aircraft for it.

3.2 Level 2 Radar Contact Size

Level 2 contact size	Contact characteristics
Large	≥3 ships, or 2 ships (one with a large -G- radar signature), or 1 large -G- ship individually
Medium	2 small -P- ships or 1 medium -M- ship, or 2 medium -M- ships
Small	1 small -P- ship

Air Movement (Declaring an Air Attack)

Once the previous missions have been assigned and/or resolved (having moved in this air segment), the player can organize other air movements as attack waves to strike detected enemy targets.

Note: air movements don't have to be offensive; you can move aircraft between bases (and thereby keep the British guessing!!). Remember though that these movements also send the aircraft involved into maintenance.

Each aircraft can attack targets within its operational range. The Argentine player has tanker aircraft (KC-130) that can extend the range of A-4 Skyhawk and Super Étendard aircraft (see point 12.6, In-Flight Refueling). Each player can organize two attack missions per turn (waves), to simulate the operational limitations both sides had during the conflict.

When an air attack is declared, the procedure for carrying it out is triggered, which has several sequences described in point 10.3, Air-Surface Combat. This sequence must be followed scrupulously. Once combat is resolved, the air segment ends for the player who was active at that moment and passes to the opposing player.

Submarine Segment

Submarines do not move through the map's hexes; instead they move by sectors (marked with red dashed lines). Each turn, a submarine can move to an adjacent sector to the one it is in, or stay in it. This movement is always carried out hidden from the opponent and they will only reveal their location when they carry out an attack.

When a scenario or campaign begins, the deployment instructions will indicate whether these submarines can be freely placed by the players or must be placed in their historical locations.

Submarines have the following operating limitations:

• A submarine that changes sector cannot attack that same turn (they either move or attack). Once they declare an attack, they cannot do so again in the same turn.
• A submarine that has attempted a detection without success and remains in the same sector receives a +1 bonus (submarine on alert) on the next detection attempt in that sector this turn. This bonus is not cumulative.
• Submarines cannot be detected as long as they don't attempt to detect and attack naval groups.

When an enemy naval group enters a sector where one or more enemy submarine units are located, that player may declare an attempted submarine attack during their submarine phase. If there is more than one submarine in the sector, the player decides whether to attack with one or with all of them. A naval group can be attacked by several submarines, although the attack resolution is handled individually until the last submarine has been resolved. To resolve a submarine attack, see point 10.5, Submarine Combat.

Submarines on Intelligence Missions

At the start of a scenario or campaign, if so indicated, the British player must place four submarines of their choice in the boxes on the submarine movement marker marked with the intelligence marker. These submarines cannot attack enemy ships while they have the associated intelligence markers on the submarine control template. Three submarines on intelligence missions are required at the start of the campaign game.

Note: Several British submarines during the war, due to the lack of British early-warning resources, played an intelligence role, positioning themselves off the Argentine coast to detect enemy air movements with their sensors while at periscope depth. This gave the British a minimum reaction time against possible attacks.

On the template's submarine control marker, there are three sectors whose boxes show the sensor symbol and the bases they watch over. Specifically, these are the sectors:

• North (Rivadavia).
• Continental 1 (San Julián).
• Continental 2 (Río Gallegos and Río Grande).

Intelligence missions for submarines can only be deployed in these three sectors; that is, these missions cannot be located in the SE sector or the Falklands sector. Each of these boxes can be occupied by one British submarine. This situation obliges the Argentine player to declare to the British player the number and type of aircraft making up each of the waves that take off from bases corresponding to that sector, when they take off, as part of the sequence for declaring an attack. (See point 10.3, Air-Surface Combat.)

For example, the Argentine player announces they are launching an attack wave from Comodoro Rivadavia. It consists of five Mirage IIIs, which must be declared to the British player if the latter informs them of the existence of a submarine in an intelligence role there. If the submarine does not exist, the Argentine player is not required to reveal the composition of the attack until there is a contact.

If, during the game, the British player loses one of their combat submarines, they may withdraw one of the submarines assigned to intelligence missions to use it in attacks on enemy ships (there can never be more than two British submarines on attack missions at once).

Note: The British player has the choice to bring one of their intelligence submarines into attack operations to make up for a loss, but must weigh that if they have already lost 2 submarines, this decision could mean that losing a third grants sudden victory to the Argentine player.

Argentine submarines are never placed on intelligence missions.

Important: All submarines (of both players) are deployed before level-1 naval group markers are placed on the map.

Ground Segment

This phase of the turn sequence is activated only once the British player has managed to reach one of the landing hexes marked on the map, or is engaged in ground combat in the Falklands.

As long as these kinds of operations are not taking place, the ground segment of the general turn is skipped and play proceeds directly to the administrative segment.

Landing in the Falklands and Ground Combat

For the landing in the Falklands, the British player must reach, with their troop transport (amphibious) ships, one of the two hexes marked with a 1 and a 2. These show the historical locations of the British landings: zone 1, San Carlos Bay, and zone 2, Agradable Bay (Fitzroy Bay).

Once the British landing succeeds, the troops can advance via the Ground Operations Marker on the game map, where they will encounter Argentine troops deployed along the boxes of that same marker. Ground units represent the historical formations that took part in the conflict. A unit's combat value is represented by its strength points, which are used to resolve ground combat.

The troops of the Argentine garrison in the Falklands are deployed at the start of the game in the Ground Operations box (located on the game board) following the deployment instructions of the scenario or campaign being played.

British units must advance through that box from left to right, from the established landing points: from San Carlos Bay or Agradable Bay, always toward Puerto Argentino. Each box represents a historical ground engagement.

To be able to advance and make attacks through the Ground Combat box, British units must be supplied from the sea. To achieve this supply, the British player must keep a logistics merchant-ship counter — TP(S1), TP(S2), or TP(S3) — within a maximum of 4 hexes of the landing hex by sea movement (land hexes cannot be crossed for this calculation). The supply check is made right before ground combat; if there is no supply, ground combat cannot be carried out, and the no-supply marker is placed in the RN Land Supply box. The Argentine player does not need to check supply.

Argentine units cannot attack or advance toward the boxes on the left. Their mission is to delay, defend, and wear down their opponent, to prevent the British from reaching Puerto Argentino and achieving a sudden-death victory.

These two types of ground combat are resolved following what is explained in point 10.7, Ground Combat.

Commando Operations

Among the ground troops there are commando units on both sides that can carry out specific operations in the game. These units are the Buzos Tácticos (Tactical Divers) group and Marine Commando 1 (in orange) for the Argentines, and the 22 SAS, D Squadron/SAS, and 2/SBS for the British (in green).

These units can attack the South Georgia Islands bases (Grytviken) if they are in enemy hands, or the Base Calderón (Falklands) to sabotage an advanced Argentine airfield. These attack actions simulate commando operations. The assaulting units do so via transport helicopter units (marked with a TP). Base Calderón (initially in Argentine hands), if taken by the British, is considered destroyed for the rest of the campaign game and its value in strategic points is added to the British side. These commando missions are carried out indifferently in the air segment or the naval segment.

To resolve these operations, see point 10.7.2, Commando Assault Operations.

British commando units can also be used to support the regular army's ground operations in the Falklands, once the landing has taken place.

Commando units can land in the Falklands on any game turn if the ship they are embarked on (commandos can be transported on any ship) is placed adjacent to any land hex in the Falkland Islands. Once landed (they do not need to resolve combat), they are placed in one of the two landing boxes on the Ground Operations marker on the game map. They cannot be activated until conventional British units have landed.

In addition, if British commandos have landed in the Falklands, any Argentine naval group with a level-1 detection marker that is positioned adjacent to any Falklands coastal hex gets upgraded to a level-3 detection marker.

Administrative Phase

This is the last phase of the regular turn, where the administrative bookkeeping related to all the actions that have just been carried out is performed. This bookkeeping consists of:

• Fires on ships.
• Carrier control, withdrawal of CAP and helicopter missions.
• Air maintenance.
• Radar contact degradation.
• Strategic supply (British player only).
• Check damage points and sudden-victory conditions (campaign).

Once all the checks for this phase are complete, the game turn is finished.

Fires

Any ship that has suffered critical damage that generated a fire must roll 1d6 at this point and consult Table 1.3c, Fire, to determine whether the fire goes out (damage points from the hit are always counted) or the fire becomes uncontrolled (the ship sinks that turn).

A carrier sunk by an uncontrolled fire must roll 1d6 to check how many aircraft are lost (Table 1.3d).

In the case of other ships with embarked troops, these are eliminated from the game. See point 11.1.2, Critical Damage.

Carrier Control and Withdrawal of CAP/Helicopter Missions

Players withdraw all air units involved in CAP and helicopter missions. For carriers, if after performing the check the number of aircraft on them exceeds their management capacity, indicated by a number in parentheses on the base control template, the surplus units must be eliminated (player's choice).

At land air bases, aircraft are not eliminated, but they are unavailable to fly and are set aside until the next turn, being placed on the turn track to remember the turn on which they become available again.

Air Maintenance

In this sub-phase, players check which of the aircraft they placed in the maintenance box of each base or carrier will be available the following turn, and how many will not be because they need repairs. Only jet fighter and bomber aircraft go into maintenance each turn for both sides, although all aircraft that flew in a turn must be placed in the maintenance box upon return, without exception.

Note: We recommend placing in maintenance all aircraft that took part in a wave and have returned (and in the second wave, if any), then during the administrative phase doing the math by separating out those aircraft that don't need it. To make this easier, first transfer back to their bases the aircraft that have already completed their maintenance turn, then calculate the new aircraft that will be in that status this turn.

Example: Argentine maintenance. All the aircraft in groups A and B flew this turn. Since the aircraft in group A are neither fighters nor bombers, they become available again right away. As for group B, since they are jet combat aircraft, half of them must remain in maintenance, rounding down — in this case, 2 of 5.

The number of recovered aircraft will differ for each side and follows these ratios:

• British side: 1 in every 3 aircraft used that turn remains in maintenance.
• Argentine side: 1 in every 2 aircraft used that turn remains in maintenance.

This is always rounded in favor of the player, and at least 1 aircraft must always remain in maintenance.

Note: British mechanics had access to better technology and spare parts to work with than the Argentines, who often had to work under greater difficulties, although the professional training of both sides was good.

Radar Contact Degradation

Level 2 and level 3 radar contacts currently on the map that are not maintaining their detection because they fall outside the range of enemy radars have their detection marker reset to level 1. This does not apply to ships on fire, which are placed on the map independently with the fire marker. Ships adjacent to an enemy or to the coast that remain in that location will never degrade their detection level.

Strategic Supply

In this sub-phase, it is checked whether the Royal Navy's general supply level (marker on the game map) has changed for better or worse. The level depends on the supply ship groups — TP(S1), TP(S2), and TP(S3) — that remain operational at the end of that turn. Each counter of this type that is eliminated lowers the Royal Navy General Supply marker on the map by one level, moving the marker to the appropriate space.

The supply level affects the operational readiness of British units in the following game turns, or until some supply level is recovered:

• N3 (optimal): No restrictions.
• N2 (scarce): Reduces naval movement by -3 points and available helicopter missions per turn by 1/2 (rounding in the player's favor).
• N1 (critical): Reduces naval movement by -4 points and there are no CAP missions (interception missions are still allowed).

This type of general supply is different from the one checked for ground operations. It could be the case that there is sufficient supply for ground operations in the Falklands but not for the Royal Navy, or vice versa. A logistics-group counter can be used to satisfy both conditions at once in any given turn.

Checking Victory Conditions (Campaign)

If you are playing in campaign mode (and only in this mode), at the end of each of the 4 phases into which the game is divided, it must be checked whether a player has earned the bonus points granted for achieving the objectives indicated on the turn marker. The campaign's phases and their associated bonus victory points are as follows:

• May 1982. Start of hostilities (turns 1 to 4 of May): 1 bonus victory point for the player who has earned the most victory points from sinkings, damaged enemy ships, and shoot-downs.
• Operation Sutton (turns 21 to 25 of May): if the British player manages to land at the objective marked with a 1, they earn 3 bonus victory points.
• The Hour of the Argentine Air Force (turns 27 to 30 of May): the Argentine player earns 2 bonus points if they sink any enemy ship in this phase (damaging it doesn't count).
• The Outcome of the War (turns 8 to 13 of June): the British player earns 2 victory points for successfully carrying out an additional landing beyond the one made during Operation Sutton. (This can be done at either of the two landing beaches marked on the game map.) If they fail to achieve this in this last phase of the campaign game, it is the Argentine player who earns those 2 additional victory points.

Important: In each engagement scenario (the less complex ones), there are specific victory conditions specified for each one in the Playbook, normally tied to destroying or damaging enemy units. The bonus points indicated on the game map do not apply (they are only for campaign-mode games).

The campaign's overall score is tracked with the score marker on the game board, where we add up the value of the damage inflicted on the enemy. The victory points earned this way are as follows:

Table of Victory Points for Damage (Table 1.4):

Units eliminated	Points
CV (carrier)	4 VP
CL / SSN / RU logistics group	3 VP
Warship / SSK / Auxiliary / TP ship	2 VP
3 x aircraft shot down	1 VP

Campaign-mode bonus points:

Achievement	Points
Severe damage¹	1 VP
Puerto Argentino base disabled	1 VP (RU)
Control of South Georgia Islands	3 VP (ARG)

¹ Applies only if the unit is not sunk.

• BRITISH MAJOR VICTORY: More victory points than the enemy by a margin of 5 or more points. Great Britain re-establishes control over the islands and forces Argentina to sign a document at the UN rejecting territorial interference.
• ARGENTINE MAJOR VICTORY: More victory points than the enemy by a margin of 5 or more points. Argentina obtains from Great Britain, at the UN, an agreement to demilitarize the Falklands and to hold a self-determination referendum.
• DRAW: Difference between total damage of less than 5 points. The British retain sovereignty over the islands, but agree to open a period of bilateral negotiation in the near future within the UN.

Sudden Victory

The game has sudden-victory conditions for each of the players. If these conditions occur at any point during the campaign game, the game ends immediately with victory for the side that triggered that sudden victory. Any additional victory points earned up to that moment are not counted.

These mutually exclusive conditions are:

British sudden victory:

1. If the British player reaches the Puerto Argentino box on the ground-combat marker.
2. The Argentine player has 2 "Black Days" (see point 12.3, Argentina's Black Days) with more than 10 air losses in the same turn over the course of the game, on any two occasions, or more than 20 air losses in a single turn (fighter and bomber aircraft).
3. The Argentine player loses both the 25 de Mayo (carrier) and the cruiser Belgrano.

Argentine sudden victory:

1. The British player loses both of their carriers.
2. The British player loses 3 submarines.
3. The British player fails to land ANY ground strength point in the Falkland Islands during the game (this condition does not apply to commandos).

Detection

In the game, naval units have three detection levels that determine how much information the rival player has about them. To be able to detect a naval group (made up of one or more ships), it must be within range of one of our radars that is switched on (not in EMCON), in addition to other riskier options explained later.

When a naval group is detected, that group's marker is changed to the new detection status. Detection levels start at level 1 (minimal information) and go up to level 3 (complete information). For example, if a maritime patrol aircraft detects a naval group with its radar, that group goes from level 1 to level 2. There are special cases where detection can jump directly to level 3, detailed further on. Specifically, the detection levels are as follows:

• Level 1: the lowest information level, only indicating there is a radar contact, very imprecise. This is the level at which all naval units start at the beginning of the game (whether scenario or campaign). These are the markers both players see on the game map.
• Level 2: implies an actual radar contact. The owning player of the units detected at this level must give their opponent TWO pieces of information about their own naval group when this level is reached:
  • Radar signature (contact size): indicate the type of radar signature shown to the enemy: small, medium, or large. This depends on the number of ships present in the hex, and is determined using the Radar Contact Size table (Table 3.2). For example, if our opponent detects one of our naval groups made up of three ships, we check the aforementioned table to declare to our opponent that "a 'large' contact has been detected."
  • Electronic signature of sensors emitted by the enemy (if the ship or naval group is sailing with "EMCON on"): We must declare to the opposing player the range (in hexes) of the sensors that are active in the naval group and that reach the hex of the unit detecting them. Important: it must be taken into account whether one's own sensor is too short in range, or whether the naval group or ship being detected is in EMCON-off status, or simply does not have surface-to-air radar sensors. In these cases, this second piece of information is NOT declared to the enemy. Simply state: "No sensor information available." Important: if several sensors are within range of the detecting unit, only the most powerful one is declared (the value printed on the counter next to a wifi symbol). With this data, the radar range table (Table 3.1a) can be consulted to try to determine what type of ship that emission belongs to. If there is no doubt about the type of ship detected from the radar data provided, and both players agree, it can be marked directly with a level-3 marker.

Note: During the course of the game, a situation can arise where detecting a certain type of enemy radar from a ship or naval group can only, without any doubt, correspond to one specific ship; in that case, the detecting player can force the opponent to place the detected counter at level 3. Continuing with the previous example, our ship with the most powerful radar is the British carrier Invincible, and we will declare to the opponent that we are detecting a radar with a range of 10 hexes (per Table 3.1a).

Note: In case of an air-naval attack under level-2 detection conditions, we always place the attacked counters on the combat resolution board face-down (showing their back side).

Level 3: this is the maximum detection level, and it reveals everything related to the contact: type, identification, and all associated data. If this naval group is attacked, all ships are deployed on the combat resolution board with their front face showing all the unit's information.

Important: Only units or naval groups with a detection level of 2 or 3 can be attacked. The exception is submarines, which can also attack level-1 markers (since their attacks require passing a prior detection roll or event).

Other Forms of Detection

Beyond radar detection, enemy units are detected in the game under the following situations:

• Visual detection: this can be an aircraft spotting a ship, or a sighting between aircraft. It occurs when both units are in the same hex, whether through a patrol or attack event. When an air attack occurs against surface naval units (using standard bombs) or naval gunfire between ships takes place, detection is automatically set to level 3.
• Detection from the coast: any ship or naval group sailing in coastal hexes (whether of the American mainland or the Falklands) is detected at level 3, except for the Falklands, where the British player needs to have previously deployed commando units.
• Detection between adjacent naval groups: two enemy naval groups that are adjacent to each other are detected at level 2, unless the weather in that maritime zone is classified as a storm (no detection in that case).
• Submarine detection: when submarines carry out an attack — even if it is aborted or the submarine is sunk — the attacked ship or naval group is changed to the appropriate detection level. If the submarine attack occurred at periscope depth, the detection level is 3. If the submarine attack was made at depth, the detection level is 2.
• CAP detection: CAP over naval groups within the field of view of land-based radars and/or within range of active enemy ship radars must be marked with a specific CAP counter on the game map.
• Detection by land-based radar: surface ships within two hexes of a land-based radar's location are detected at level 2. This is especially important for the Puerto Argentino radar.

Types of detection: (A) Airfield-based CAP. (B) Adjacent to a coastal hex. (C) Via maritime patrol missions. (D) In a submarine attack. (E) Via surface naval combat. (F) Via CAP over a naval force. (G) Via long-range surface-to-air radar (vs. air units).

Situations Affecting Detection and Its Ranges

Radar range ends at a land hex. That is, we cannot count hexes beyond a land hex as valid. Detection ranges in sectors with bad weather are reduced by 1, and are "non-operational" in storm conditions.

Weather affects radar ranges: in bad weather, range is reduced by -1 hex. In storms, radars cannot be used.

The tactical use of turning sensors on or off (EMCON) also affects detection capability.

Note: For Argentine mainland-based radars, range suffers no penalty, since all possible "dark" zones were covered by other "filler radars" to minimize detection gaps.

Combat

The game aims to simulate all the possible types of combat between the represented units. Each type of combat has its own characteristics, which will be explained separately, but they are all used in a similar way. The combat types are:

• Bombardment of installations/radar (or strategic bombing).
• Air-air combat.
• Air-surface combat (aircraft-ship).
• Ship-ship combat.
• ASW (anti-submarine) combat.
• Minefield attack (sea).
• Ground combat (landings, ground combat, commando operations).

Important: Argentine naval units that are in port (mainland bases) may NOT be attacked, except if the British player holds card number 10, "United Kingdom Declares Total War," which does allow attacks on positions on the mainland. This attack is always the result of a bombardment of port installations.

Bombardment of Installations/Radar (or Strategic Bombing)

This type of attack can only be carried out by British Vulcan bombers operating from Ascension Island (off-map) or Harrier GR3s operating from Royal Navy carriers.

The number of available Vulcan aircraft is indicated on the turn marker with the silhouette of a Vulcan. In total, if playing the full campaign, the British player will have a maximum of 7 such missions available, though not all at once. Unused missions do not carry over from one campaign phase to another.

Vulcan bombing runs are carried out during the specific sub-phase set aside for them, as detailed in the sequence of play. Each Vulcan bombing event can only be carried out by one aircraft at a time. The other type of aircraft, the Harrier GR3, does so during the air combat sub-phase (multiple attacks and/or aircraft).

The procedure for a strategic bombing attack against installations (air or mixed bases and/or land-based radars) is as follows, and is covered in Tables 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3:

• The British player declares the Vulcan bombing mission, designating the target hex, and must also declare whether the attack will be at low, medium, or maximum altitude. The British player must also declare whether they are attacking installations or the radar. If attacking the radar, they can do so from an adjacent hex, and there will be no fire from Argentine SAM-AAA defenses. In the case of bombing installations, if the British player declares an attack at maximum altitude, they avoid Argentine anti-aircraft missiles but lose accuracy when carrying out the attack. Conversely, the lower the altitude, the greater the chance of causing more damage, but also of having their aircraft shot down.
• The British player must roll 1d6 to determine whether the mission is aborted or carried out (Table 2.1). If aborted, the aircraft returns to base and the Vulcan bombing phase ends.
• If the British player achieves an effective attack, they must declare the target of the attack (installations or radar) and the bombing altitude. The Argentine player must roll 1d10 to 3d10 (depending on the size of the base attacked, indicated on the map with the letters P, M, or G) on the Pre-Attack SAM-AAA Roll table (Table 2.1) to resolve the SAM defensive attack. One roll is made per attacking aircraft. The odds of success also depend on the size of the base being bombed. When attacking a small or medium air base, a result of 9 forces the altitude up one level, so the bombing loses accuracy. A result of 10 is a shoot-down. In the case of an attack on a large base, shoot-downs occur on 9-10.
• If the attacking aircraft survive, they roll a number of dice according to aircraft type: 3d10 for each Vulcan, 1d10 for each Harrier GR3 involved in the attack. The Bombardment of Installations table (Table 2.2) is consulted; results depend on the altitude and the size of the base attacked. For example, four Harrier GR3s attacking Puerto Argentino (a medium base) at medium altitude roll 4d10 and score a hit for each die that shows a result of 1-4.
• For each successful attack (regardless of how many times it has been hit) a damage-level marker is placed on it. The first time an airfield is hit...

2.1 Strategic Bombing vs. Ground Targets (Bases and Radars)

Total number of Vulcan bombing runs: 7 missions total. Harrier GR3 has no mission limit.

Roll to abort Vulcan mission (1d6): 1-4: No issues. 5-6: Abort* (*The attack still counts as having been carried out, for mission-tally purposes.)

Pre-attack SAM-AAA roll. At bases (no SAM roll at maximum altitude):

Base size	Roll	Result
Small base/Grytviken	1d10	9: altitude level increases. 10: shot down
Medium base	2d10	9-10: shot down
Large base	3d10	9-10: shot down

Dice are rolled for the entire attacking air group. Hits eliminate aircraft (not entire counters).

2.2 Bombardment of Installations. Roll: Vulcan (3d10), Harrier GR3 (1d10 per aircraft)

Bombing altitude	Large base	Medium base	Small base
Maximum altitude	1-4	1-3	1-2
Medium altitude	1-5	1-4	1-4
Low altitude	1-6	1-5	1-5

After a hit, the base remains non-operational that turn. Each successful bombing event increases the damage level by one. At 3 hits the base becomes NON-operational. At mixed bases, ships cannot dock there; if present, they must put out to sea. 3 hits: all aircraft at the base are destroyed. 2 hits: 50% of aircraft destroyed (round down, minimum 1 loss; the attacker chooses the first loss, the defender the rest). 2 hits at a mixed base: same as 2 hits, plus 1 ship (attacker's choice) rolls for critical damage.

A "light damage" marker is placed the first time a target is hit. If it is hit a second time, "medium damage" is placed (e.g. it could be attacked in the strategic bombing sub-phase by Vulcan aircraft, and later by Harrier GR3 in the air sub-phase, counting as two separate events). If it is hit a third time under these same conditions, a final "destroyed" marker is placed.

• A bombed airfield remains non-operational for that turn. On a turn when it is not successfully bombed, it recovers one level of existing damage (except once it is considered "destroyed").
• Attacks also produce additional effects beyond the intrinsic damage that must be checked:
  • 3 hits: all aircraft at the base are destroyed.
  • 2 hits on an air base: half of the aircraft present are destroyed (rounding down, but with a minimum of one aircraft destroyed). One loss is chosen by the attacker, the rest by the defender.
  • 2 hits on a mixed base: one ship (if present), chosen by the attacker, rolls 1d6 to determine critical damage.
  • 1 hit: the damage accumulates for future attacks, in addition to being non-operational that turn.

The attack on radar installations is made against Puerto Argentino, Río Grande, or Comodoro Rivadavia (in these last two cases, additionally, only if the British player has played the card authorizing attacks against the mainland). Only Vulcan aircraft can carry out this type of attack. The procedure is different from an attack on an installation:

• It can be carried out from an adjacent hex, simulating the use of AGM-45 Shrike missiles, so no SAM roll is made against the attacking aircraft. Therefore, it is also not necessary to declare altitude.
• It is resolved by rolling 1d10 and consulting Table 2.3, where the radar can be Damaged (non-operational for one turn) or permanently Destroyed (indicated with the appropriate radar damage marker).

Air-Air Combat

This takes place when one or more aircraft from each side enter the same hex, patrol zone, or interception zone as an enemy aircraft. When this situation occurs, the first thing to do is determine the type of air combat that will take place:

• If both players only have fighters involved, a dogfight occurs (fighter vs. fighter).
• If one player has fighters and the other only has bombers or patrol aircraft, an interception occurs.
• If one player has fighters and the other has a combination of bombers and fighters (escorts), a mixed combat occurs, combining dogfight and interception.

Argentine Aermacchi and Pucará-type aircraft, which are close-support bombers, CANNOT attack British aircraft; they only serve to support ground combat (as do Canberra bombers).

Dogfight and Interception Combat

The procedure for an air combat involving both dogfight (fighter vs. fighter) and interception is as follows:

• The attacking fighter counters present are placed, without splitting them, in groups of two aircraft maximum.
• The intercepting player always chooses how to pair their fighter counters with the enemy's, at a minimum ratio of 1 to 1. If the intercepted player has more counters, those extra ones cannot take part in this first round. In an interception combat, the attacker must first pair up against escort fighters, if enemy bombers are present.
• The first round of combat is carried out (whether dogfight or interception). Each aircraft (not counter) rolls a die, the modifiers shown on the Air-Air Combat table (Table 2.4) are applied, and the results are applied.

Designer's note: Harrier GR3s appear in the game with the ability to benefit from the countermeasures (flares/chaff) defense modifier. Although the GR3 models were not originally designed with these devices, they were urgently installed on some of the aircraft that were to operate in the campaign.

• A second round can be fought by the following fighters:
  • For the Argentine player, their interceptors must withdraw (return to base) unless they are fighting within 6 hexes of their base, or are A-4 Skyhawks with a tanker assigned to their mission.
  • The British may carry out a second attack.
  • Any aircraft damaged (whether British or Argentine) in the first round must withdraw and return to its base.
• In the 2nd round, the intercepting player again chooses pairings, although if there are still escorts remaining in the defending group, they must be attacked first. If there are more interceptor aircraft than enemies, the interceptors can pair up against the remaining bombers.

Note: Due to the distance to mainland air bases, Argentine Mirage III fighters (used mainly as escorts) did not have enough fuel to remain on station over the Falklands for more than 5-10 minutes, so if an encounter with British Harriers occurred, it had to be resolved quickly or they had to return to their bases immediately.

Example: An Argentine air group is made up of 3 Mirage IIIs (escorts) and 7 A-4 Skyhawks (bombers). A British CAP of 2 Sea Harriers and 1 interceptor detects them as they come within two hexes of the British CAP marker. The Argentines are more than 6 hexes from their bases.

Round 1. The British, who are the interceptor, pair one counter of 2 Sea Harriers against one counter of 2 Mirage IIIs (escort), and another Sea Harrier against the remaining Argentine Mirage III. All of these combats are resolved as dogfights (fighter vs. fighter). Both players roll their combat dice simultaneously, 1d10 per aircraft, taking into account that the British player has a +1 modifier to Argentine rolls due to having countermeasures (flares). The British get 3 and 6 (a shoot-down and a miss, respectively). The Argentine gets 7 and 7, which with the additional modifier are two misses. In the other combat, the Sea Harrier rolls a 2 (a shoot-down) and the Argentine rolls a 6, which with the modifier included is again a miss.

The final result of the round is that the Argentine has lost 2 of the 3 escort Mirage IIIs involved, while the British lost no aircraft. The Argentine Mirage III involved in the first combat that remains unscathed returns to base (it is more than 6 hexes away and has already used too much fuel, so it has no second round of combat).

Round 2. The British Sea Harriers still have the option to expend their last missiles and pair up again against the Argentine A-4 Skyhawk bombers, which, being on a bombing mission, have no air-to-air weapons. Three d10 are rolled (one per aircraft), getting 3 and 2 (shoot-downs) and 8 (miss). The combat with the CAP has ended with the shoot-down of two Mirage IIIs and two A-4 Skyhawks, while the British return to their carriers unscathed — but it should not be forgotten that five A-4 Skyhawks made it past the CAP defense and could complete their air-naval attack mission.

Interception of shadowing missions against enemy maritime patrols. There is a special interception case: when maritime patrol aircraft remain over a waypoint to shadow an air-naval attack (see point 7.3.5, Maritime Patrol Missions), they can become the target of an interception attack by the enemy. The attack can occur when all of the following conditions are met:

• There are active radar sensors within range of the target (the maritime patrol aircraft cannot be attacked if nobody detects it).
• There are interceptor aircraft within half of their maximum range (movement points).
• An interception roll is successfully made by the player who wants to carry it out. The roll is made using Table 2.5, Maritime Patrol Interception, on the player aid sheet.

If interception of a maritime patrol aircraft is achieved, it is resolved normally, but takes up only a single round. At the end of this mission, the intercepting aircraft automatically goes into maintenance. If there is enemy interception and the shadowing aircraft is shot down, the resolution of the detection mission against the naval force is considered to have happened before the shoot-down, so the detection marker must be updated accordingly.

Important: only one maritime patrol aircraft may be placed on a shadowing mission per attack event (regardless of how many waves make it up). Only one interception attempt roll is made per attack event (which may include one or two waves).

Example: An Argentine P-2 Neptune flies a detection mission and then remains shadowing 4 hexes from an enemy interceptor's base. The British player rolls 1d10 for the interception mission and succeeds. Despite having 2 Sea Harriers in range as interceptors, they decide to use only 1 of them, which attacks and shoots down the P-2 Neptune.

Note: Despite Argentina having maritime patrol aircraft that were obsolete for the era, they flew countless missions during the war to detect and transmit the positions of the British task forces. Many of these missions were flown at real risk of being shot down, since they had to keep flying in the area guiding the attack group from mainland bases to the targets.

Air-Surface Combat

This type of combat refers to those generated by aircraft against enemy naval groups that are at detection level 2 or level 3. The procedure for this type of attack is as follows:

• Attack declaration: The player with the initiative declares to the opponent their intention to carry out an air mission, but does not yet announce the target hex. The attacking player must organize on their air base template the number and type of aircraft that will take part in the attack, including the tankers that will supply fuel to extend range. Aircraft from different bases can take part in the same wave to attack the same hex. Remember that only two waves can be made per turn, and each attacks separately. The organization of the two attack waves must be done at this point.
• Defender's reaction. When the defending player is British, it must be checked whether they have submarines on intelligence missions in the maritime sectors adjacent to the Argentine air bases from which the attacking aircraft depart (see point 7.4.1, Submarines on Intelligence Missions). This obliges the attacking player to declare, at this moment, the number and type of aircraft taking off in the current wave. If they do not have a submarine on an intelligence mission facing that air base, no information about the aircraft from those bases is declared, and there is no enemy reaction either, in the case that none of the submarines can anticipate advance information. Once the intelligence information is known, the defending player may carry out some operations as an immediate reaction. Only one of the options, but for as many units as they wish: a) Change the EMCON of their naval groups to detect the possible attacking aircraft. b) Increase by 1 aircraft the number of available assigned interceptors (never exceeding the maximum of 2). c) Automatically move 1 aircraft from maintenance to ready. d) Change, hidden, the orientation of the patrol sectors of their deployed CAPs (if this advanced rule is in use).
• Declaration of the target hex by the attacking player. The hex that is the target of the attack must be indicated (for each wave, if there are two). If more than one naval group is detected, it must be selected which one to attack, or the attacking force can be split.

Example: in a target hex there are two naval groups detected (called 1 and 5); the attacker declares that half of the force organized in the first wave will attack naval group 1, and the rest will attack naval group 5. A second wave attacks another target hex.

• Checking for an effective attack: Once the possible enemy interception attack against the patrol aircraft has been resolved, the attacker must check whether the attack actually takes place. To do this, they roll 1d10 on the Acquisition table (Table 2.6), based on the distance in usable hexes from the farthest base used to reach the target. If a maritime sector with bad weather is crossed, 1d6 must be rolled for the whole group, and a 6 would abort the attack. If the hex is the target of two attack waves, each is checked separately on Table 2.6, Target Location, and if it can get the shadowing bonus (+3), this applies to the resolution of both rolls.

Furthermore, targets adjacent to land hexes in the Falklands and on the mainland automatically add a +3 bonus to the roll (non-cumulative).

Important: If the effective-attack check is not successful against the hex chosen as the target, and that hex is within 2 hexes of an enemy CAP, the enemy player can decide whether to engage in air-air combat with the attacking force. Aircraft on an INT mission cannot engage in this type of combat. If they decide not to fight, the attacking aircraft return to their own bases within range.

Example: an attack against a naval group 11 hexes from Río Grande will require a roll of 6 or higher. The effective-attack roll fails and the attack is aborted, but the opposing player has a CAP of 2 fighters 2 hexes from the hex chosen by the attacker. The CAP's player decides to engage in air combat against the enemy aircraft passing through, engaging immediately.

• Attacks by the defense: the attacker's flights, on their way to the target hex, can be subject to prior attacks in these cases:
  • CAP or interceptors. An air-air interception attack would be resolved.
  • SAM or AAA, if they fly over or pass adjacent to a hex with a ship that has a SAM defense value of 3. This is resolved on Table 2.7, AAA-SAM Picket Attack.
  • If the attackers fly over a hex with an air base with SAM defense. This is resolved using Table 2.1, Pre-Attack SAM Defense.

AAA-SAM defensive attacks: British attack group vs. cruiser General Belgrano. Route A: the Argentine destroyer Trinidad can attack at points 2 and 3 (adjacent hexes) via SAM defense. Route B: Puerto Argentino base's AAA defenses can attack at point 1 (same hex). Route C: no attacks until the target.

• Attack resolution: If the attacking air group reaches the hex designated as target:
  • The defender places their targeted naval units in the resolution board according to their detection level: Level 2: face-down, only the ship's size is shown. Level 3: face-up, with the ship fully identified. The attacking player chooses which ships to attack and lines up the number of aircraft they will use against each of these targets, in turn assigning the attack altitude for the air group as a whole (low or very-low altitude). If flying at very low altitude, the number of aircraft doing so is tallied and the roll is made with the number of ten-sided dice indicated by the Collision With the Sea table (Table 2.8).
• Now it's the defender's turn to calculate the modifiers they may have in their favor:
  • Coordinated defense: The defender must check whether they can carry out coordinated defense among their ships. To do this, they add up all the SAM-AAA defense factors of their ships (not including the ship under attack) and roll 1d6 on the Coordinated Defense table (Table 2.9), which can provide a bonus of up to +5. These bonus points cannot be assigned as more than +2 per ship (or +3 if it is a carrier). Exception: if the attacker uses Exocet missiles, only ships with Sea Wolf anti-missile missiles can support the defense. If there are two ships with the Sea Wolf system, the first gives its +3 bonus to the ship targeted by the attack (which can also include its own countermeasures modifier, if it has one), and the second can also support, but with only an additional +1.

Example 1: the Hermes is attacked with Exocet missiles. Its SAM defense value is 1, but in its naval group it is escorted by two frigates (FF) with Sea Wolf missiles (anti-missile missile): Andromeda and Broadsword. The attacked player defends against the Exocet using the Hermes's countermeasures capability (+1) plus the support of one of the frigates. The Hermes's defense value (+1) is replaced by that of the frigate defending it (+3). In addition, the other frigate also supports, but since one is already performing this role, it can only add a +1. The Exocet roll ends up with a total modifier of +5.

• Target size: apply based on the radar size of the attacked ship, according to Table 1.1, General Combat Resolution Table.
• Countermeasures: only for torpedo or Exocet anti-ship missile attacks. A +1 is added for use of countermeasures, simulating electronic devices (jammers) or physical devices (chaff or anti-torpedo decoys).
• SAM-AAA defense: depending on the altitude at which the attack is carried out, one factor or another is used: the base factor for very-low altitude, and the higher factor for low-altitude defense. This factor is the positive modifier we apply to the attacker's roll.

Note: Many of the SAM systems fitted on the ships had been tested under controlled conditions, and their effectiveness depended on many parameters of the target to be destroyed. The war demonstrated that only the Sea Dart defenses were truly effective against Argentine aircraft. The Argentines devised a very-low-altitude final attack approach to avoid being "locked on" by British SAM defense missile sensors.

2.9 Coordinated Defense (1d6)

Die roll	SAM-AAA capability points: 1-3	4-9	10-13	14-18	19+
1	—	—	—	+1	+1
2	—	—	+1	+1	+2
3	—	+1	+2	+2	+3
4	+1	+2	+2	+3	+4
5

* Maximum modifier per ship: +2 points per attacked ship (except carriers: +3).

Example 2: a task force of 6 ships is attacked by a force of 5 enemy aircraft. 2 aircraft attack a DD and another 3 attack a group of cargo ships (both cases using GPB bombs). Of the 6 ships making up the whole naval group, 3 have SAM defense (the 3 remaining cargo ships do not). The defensive factors of the ships, not counting the SAM defense of the attacked ship, at low altitude are 2+2=4 in total. The defending player rolls on the Coordinated Defense table to determine how much help they can get. They roll 1d6 and get a 5, gaining 2 extra points of coordinated defense. They decide to put that +2 toward helping the cargo-ship group being attacked, which has no anti-air defense, so the cargo ships now have 2 points of coordinated-defense help, which the player can assign to a single ship or split between two ships.

• Attacker's roll: taking into account all the modifiers from the previous point (coordinated defense, target size, countermeasures, and/or SAM-AA defense), the attacking player rolls 1d10 per aircraft and consults the General Combat Resolution Table (Table 1.1). Results are checked on the row corresponding to the attack's altitude: low or very low. Important: Any unmodified die roll of 1 is a critical hit, regardless of modifiers. Any result of 11 or more (after modifiers) means the attacking aircraft is shot down.

Example combat resolution: the DD Comodoro Py (artillery factor 4) and the destroyer Glamorgan (artillery factor 3) exchange gunfire (since neither has a difference of more than 1 point between their attack factors). The Argentine attacks first, rolling 4d10. Both ships are medium-sized, so there are no modifiers for that. The Argentine result is 1, 3, 3, 7, which means 3 hits (results ≤4), doing 3×4 = 12 total damage points. The Glamorgan sinks. Before sinking, the Glamorgan fires its salvo of 3d10, with a result of 5, 2, 5 with no modifiers (which means one hit, 1×3 = 3 total damage points, severe damage for the Comodoro Py).

Naval Surface Combat

This occurs when two or more enemy ships are in adjacent hexes (if using Exocet missiles) or in the same hex (if, in addition to Exocet missiles, naval guns or anti-ship torpedoes are used). The procedure is as follows:

• The player with the initiative moves their ships using their movement points and declares the intention to enter the hex occupied by the enemy naval group, or stays in the adjacent one. Movement ends at that point. Remember to update the detection level of all adjacent naval groups.
• Now the reaction of the player without the initiative is checked. This player can react in two ways:
  • Stay and fight.
  • Attempt to react with a safety withdrawal. In this case, they must make a reaction roll with 1d10 to see whether they can withdraw or combat is mandatory. The roll result determines:
    • 1-3: Combat occurs.
    • 4-10: Safety withdrawal.

The withdrawing player's movement will be 2 hexes, moving away from the enemy if possible. If there is no withdrawal, or the player declines to do it, naval combat occurs, which can be simultaneous if the defender also has weapons in that attack range.

If the combat is at a range of 1 hex (Exocet attacks), the player with the initiative, or whoever has this type of Exocet missile, can attack first at any adjacent hex (if there are multiple targets), and the player who had the initiative could lose it if they don't have missiles in range of one hex. Combats are resolved with the attacker rolling first, then the defender. Results are applied simultaneously.

Special case: carrier reaction (naval surface attack). If an attempted naval surface combat occurs against a naval group that includes a carrier, or has one nearby (whose aircraft could be within range), the defender's reaction, in addition to withdrawing, can also include declaring an air-surface attack. This attack is resolved directly without making a target-location roll, and even though it's not the air segment.

Resolution of Naval Gunnery Combat

First, the quality of each involved ship's naval artillery must be determined (using the naval combat factor printed on the counter). Only ships with a naval combat factor of 3 or more can engage in naval gunnery combat.

Important: if there is more than 1 point of difference between the units involved, the ship with the lower factor CANNOT attack.

Example 1: a naval group made up of 3 ships with artillery factors of 5, 3, and 2 decides to attack another enemy group of two ships with artillery factors of 3 and 2. The attacking player decides to attack with the ship with 5 artillery factors. Their ships of value 3 (by choice) and value 2 (due to combat conditions) do not take part. The attacked player likewise excludes the ship with artillery value 2, but also cannot fire in defense with the ship of value 3, since there is a difference of more than 1 artillery point. The ship with artillery value 5 is the only one that can attack, and chooses any enemy ship as its target.

Note: Note that if, in the previous example, the attacking player had decided to also include the ship with artillery value 3 in their attack, this would allow the other player to also fire in defense with their ship of value 3. The players' choice in gunnery combat to use their higher-caliber ships rather than the smaller ones reflects the range at which they can fire safely without being attacked by lower-caliber ships.

If there are several ships capable of attacking, players must declare, before resolving, which ships are attacking and what their targets are. An attacking ship can only target one enemy ship per attack event. Several attacking ships can target the same enemy ship.

Naval combat resolution follows this procedure:

• The player with the initiative rolls a number of d10 equal to the naval artillery factor of each unit involved. For example, the HMS Cardiff (artillery factor 3) would roll 3d10.
• This is checked against the General Combat Resolution Table (Table 1.1). The following modifiers apply to the roll:
  • +1 if the target is a small ship.
  • -1 if the target is a large ship.
• The defender also makes their attack if they meet the requirements for naval combat. Results are applied simultaneously for attacker and defender.

In the case of an attack with Exocet missiles/torpedoes, these are limited to 4 per unit, and their expenditure is tracked with the Exocet/anti-ship torpedo usage marker located on the game map. These markers are always kept face-down, hidden from the opposing player's view. When a ship fires all 4 of its launches, it is removed from the marker and cannot fire this type of weapon again during the game. Only equipped ships can carry out this type of attack, indicated by the silhouette of a black missile beneath their tactical name. Ships that show a red missile on their counter indicate they have SAM (Sea Wolf) anti-missile missiles used as anti-missile weapons. These ships cannot be considered equipped for anti-ship missile attacks (such as Exocet). Standard naval artillery and AAA ammunition is unlimited.

Note: By this era, surface naval combats between ships as we had known them in the Second World War no longer really occurred, mainly due to the increased range of attack weapons and longer-range detection systems, which meant a ship no longer needed to see the other directly in order to attack. In the design, I decided to keep this option for players, since nothing a priori could prevent naval combat between ships if both ships' players chose it. It is up to the players' discretion whether to carry out this type of attack, which is admittedly anachronistic in 1982. It is also fair to remember that the guns of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano (given their caliber) were capable of sinking any small or medium British ship if it managed to engage in naval gunnery combat and score a hit.

Submarine Combat (ASW)

Submarines can attack individual ships and naval groups with a level-1 detection status (as an exception to the general rule), since in the first stage of a submarine attack, a detection of the target hex must be attempted.

A submarine can only attack once per turn, and only as long as it has not moved to another adjacent sector that same turn. Storm weather does not prevent an attack attempt, although it gives an unfavorable modifier to the attack roll.

Submarines carrying out an intelligence role (see point 7.4.1, Submarines on Intelligence Missions) cannot take part in an attack. A submarine that fails its detection attempt gets a +1 bonus on the next detection attempt in the following turn, if it remains in the same sector. An "On patrol" marker is placed on that submarine.

The procedure for a submarine attack, once declared, has 2 phases:

• Detection attempt: the player controlling the submarine declares an attack, chooses the target hex (naval group, if more than one is present) and the attack depth (periscope depth or maximum depth). A detection attempt at periscope depth will have an advantage in case of attack, being able to identify its targets at level 3, but will be more vulnerable to an escort attack. Once this parameter is decided, the attacker rolls 1d10 on the Submarine Detection table (Table 2.10). The relevant modifiers are applied, and the result is checked in the corresponding column (for SSN or SSK submarines).

2.10 Submarine Detection (1d10)

	SSK	SSN	Die modifiers
Detects	7-10+	6-10+	Falklands sector: +1; Storm weather: -2; Submarine previously on alert: +1; Target at detection level 2-3: +1

• Attack resolution: if detection succeeds, the attack is resolved:
  • The attacked player counts the number of ships with ASW capability (shown on the counter with a blue arc in the lower-left) that provides a defensive value. They check the number of helicopters on ASW mission protecting that naval group. For every 2 helicopters assigned to ASW missions (maximum 6 missions per naval group and turn), the attacked player adds a +1 additional modifier. Finally, if the submarine attacks at periscope depth, it gets another +1 modifier. These three general modifiers are applied to the roll to determine the overall attack situation. If there are no units with ASW capability, it is considered an unopposed attack directly.
  • With these modifiers established, the attacking player rolls 1d10 on the Submarine Attack table (Table 2.11), which determines the tactical situation of the combat, depending on the type of submarine attacking (SSK or SSN).
  • The result indicates the conditions of the attack and the ASW defense the submarine will face, expressed as the number of torpedoes the submarine can fire, and the number of attacks the escorts and helicopters can make in its defense.

2.11 Submarine Attack. Torpedoes (1d10)

Attacking submarine (SSK / SSN)	Result	Torpedoes fired (Submarine)	ASW Defense
Lower / Lower	Unopposed attack (rest of submarines/SSK San Luis)	4/2	—
1-4 / 1-5	Detected**. ASW escort attack	1	1-2
5-8 / 6-8	Detected*. Submarine aborts attack	—	1 (Helicopter/S2 Tracker)
>9 / >9

* Target hex WITHOUT ASW units: treat as unopposed attack. ** 1 to 2 ASW resources = 1 torpedo; 3 or more resources = 2 torpedoes.

Die modifiers: -1: ≤1 ship (with or without ASW). 0: 2-3 ASW ships. +1: 4-5 ASW ships. +2: >5 ASW ships. +1: per every 2 ASW Helicopter/S2 Tracker missions (max 6 missions per naval group). +1: at periscope depth.

• Each torpedo attack (whether from the submarine or from ASW escorts) is resolved on its corresponding row of the General Combat Resolution Table (Table 1.1).
• In any case, a submarine attack, whether it succeeds or is aborted, leaves the target hex detected at level 2 or 3, placing the corresponding detection marker.

During the course of the game, if the British player loses an SSN, they can replace it with one of the submarines assigned to intelligence missions. The sector information it was providing (intelligence submarine) is lost, and the corresponding marker is removed and handed to the Argentine player, who begins as an attack submarine in that map sector. The choice is made hidden from the opposing player. Only one intelligence submarine can become an attack submarine per game.

Minefield Attack

If the Argentine player deployed mines during the mining sub-phase of the campaign phase, they can carry out a mine attack against enemy naval units. These attacks occur when British naval units enter a hex with mines. The Argentine player then interrupts that movement to announce that the naval group has entered a mined zone, and the attack must be resolved.

Resolving a mine attack:

• Once the Argentine player declares that a mined zone has been entered, the British player can avoid the attack if their naval group includes minesweeper ships (tactical name YMS). For each ship of this type in the hex, the British player can make a 1d10 roll per turn on the Minesweeping Roll table (Table 2.14); with a result of 1-6, minesweeping succeeds and the marker is removed.

2.14 Minesweeping Roll (1d10)

Roll	Consequence
1-6	Hex successfully swept
7-10	Minesweeping aborted

• If the British player fails their minesweeping attempt, or has no minesweeper ships in the hex, the mine attack is resolved. Each Royal Navy naval group rolls 1d10, applying the modifiers from the Minefield Attack table (Table 2.12). A result of 2 or less produces a hit.
• To determine which ship was hit by the mines, the number of ships in the naval group is counted and 1d10 is rolled again. The die result is matched to the position of each ship in a natural order, and the damage is assigned to the corresponding ship. If the result doesn't correspond to any ship in the established order, the player suffering the attack chooses which ship is hit.

2.12 Minefield Attack (1d10)

Roll for a hit against a ship: 2 or less.

Hit roll modifiers:

Modifier	Condition
0	Low-density zone
-1	Medium-density zone
-2	High-density zone
-1	The ship is part of a task force
+1	It is a single ship, and small-sized

On a failed hit roll, if there is no minesweeper ship in the hex, the naval group is immobilized for 2 turns.

• In the case of a minefield attack, the naval group or individual ship remains immobilized in that hex that turn and the next.
• To determine the damage, roll 1d6 on the Mine Damage Resolution table (Table 2.13).

2.13 Mine Damage Resolution (1d6)

Roll	Damage
1-2	Moderate damage. Immobilized next turn.
3-4	Immobilized for the rest of the game.
5-6	Major hull breach. Sinks.

Modifiers: +1 small ship. -1 large ship.

Ground Combat

The game presents two types of ground combat involving infantry units from both armies. We describe the two types below:

Landing and Ground Combat in the Falklands

When a British landing occurs at either of the two points marked on the Falklands map (1 and 2), it is resolved via a landing combat. The ground units transported on the ships that have reached one of the hexes marked as landing points are deployed in the corresponding box on the game map, marked "GB Landing Force," and the operation is resolved. In this case, each player rolls 1d10 for each strength point involved in the landing, using the Landing Resolution table (Table 2.16). Whether there is British naval gunfire support must be taken into account:

• The British player has any ship with a naval gunnery combat factor equal to 3 (non-cumulative): +1.
• Once the landing is achieved, subsequent combats are resolved in successive turns using the same Table 2.16, with the consideration that the Argentine player can include air support as a modifier based on the number of aircraft involved, and the British player can include commando support.
• Results for both types of ground combat resolution can be: no effect, retreat, or step loss. Rolls are applied to the opposing player simultaneously. If two identical results occur on the same roll, only one of them is counted.

2.16 Landings and Ground Combat (Falklands). (1d10 per strength point)

Roll	Attacker	Defender
8-9	Defender retreats	Determined defense (cancels retreats only)
10+	Defender: 1 strength point eliminated	Attacker: 1 strength point eliminated

Modifiers: +1 per every 2 ships in naval gunfire support (naval combat factor of 3 or more). +1 if British commandos support the combat (not applicable to landings). +/- support bombardment (Pucará, Aermacchi, and Canberra, not applicable to landings): 1-3 support aircraft: +1. 4-6 support aircraft: +1. >6 support aircraft: +3. In case of two results for one counter, the more favorable one for the player is used.

Example: a player attacking with 4 strength points rolls 8, 10, 9, and 3. That's 2 retreats (8, 9) and 1 enemy loss (10). Only 1 of the retreats and 1 loss are counted. If the defending player only had 1 strength point, the loss result would be used (as it's the more favorable one for the player rolling the dice).

Commando Assault Operations

These occur when a special-forces incursion is declared against the South Georgia Islands (Base Grytviken) or against Borbón Island (Base Calderón) in the Falklands.

They are resolved by rolling 1d10 on the Commando Assault table (Table 2.15). The modifier that results from comparing the attacking strength to the defensive strength is applied. The minimum defense of a base is always 1. The result is taken from the columns according to the die and the base attacked. A "no effect" result in the assault on Base Calderón allows the attackers to remain on the islands until the main landing, placing the commando units in the "GB Landing Force" box. If a "no effect" result is obtained in the operation against Base Grytviken, the attacking force returns to its ship. In both cases, no new assaults can be made that turn.

2.15 Commando Assault (1d10)

Die modifier: Attacking strength points - base defense (minimum = 1)

Roll	Result	Base Calderón	Base Grytviken
1-3 less	Mission failure	1 ARG aircraft at base destroyed	Attacking force eliminated
4-7	Operation aborted	No effect*	No effect
8-10+	Mission success	All ARG aircraft destroyed. Runway disabled*	Port captured

* UK commando units remain on the island (Falklands)

It's worth remembering that a random event card can trigger this operation. If the card is played and the operation has already been resolved, the card has no effect.

Hits and Damage

In the game, surface naval units can withstand a certain amount of damage (damage points), indicated by the number in the lower-left corner; when this number is exceeded, the ship sinks. Some hits can also result in severe or critical damage to ships, adding additional effects.

For submarines, a single hit means catastrophic damage and the sinking of the vessel. Losses to ground units due to combat reduce their strength steps until they are eliminated and removed from the game.

For aircraft, results can mean damage to the aircraft or its shoot-down.

The various weapon systems represented in the game inflict a certain amount of damage points on ships, as shown in Table 1.2:

1.2 Damage Points by Weapon Type

Attacking weapon	Damage points per hit
ASM/SSM Exocet*	5
Torpedoes*	6
Bombs*	2
Naval guns 100-114mm (Attack factor: 3)	3
Naval guns 127mm (Attack factor: 4)	4
Naval guns 152mm (Attack factor: 5)	5
ASM missiles (AS-11/AS-12 and Sea Skua)	2

* Produce critical hits.

Note: The damage system is very intuitive; you simply need to know how much damage the target can take to know what weapons to use against it, and how many hits are needed to inflict damage. Remember that a ship can be rendered unfit for its mission without having to sink it.

It's recommended that players not keep naval units at risk if they are damaged or have already completed their mission. The Argentines can use their naval bases, while the British can use the South Georgia Islands (as long as they control them).

Damage is cumulative and is tracked on the damage control template, where we place the following counters and markers in each row, in this order (left to right):

• In the "Ship" column: we place an identifying counter of the unit with the ship's name that just took damage (gray markers for Great Britain, light brown for Argentina).
• In the "Damage points received" column: we place the corresponding red marker with 4 values per side, which indicate the amount of damage points the ship is accumulating. For example, if it receives 2 damage points on a first attack, we place a marker showing 2; if it then receives 3 more damage points, we place a marker showing 5.
• In the "Damage type" column: we add the red markers corresponding to the results of critical or severe hits the ship receives: SAM damage, fire, immobilized... There are two boxes for placing damage markers; if a ship survives more hits of this type, these markers can be stacked.

Once a ship is sunk, it is removed from the damage control template and placed in the losses box on the map, for tallying.

Description of Damage

Severe and/or critical damage to ships is never repaired for the rest of the game (with the exception of fire) and produces additional effects on the units that have suffered it.

A ship that ends the game with severe or critical damage (but that hasn't been sunk) grants a number of victory points to the opposing side, as shown in the Victory Points for Damage table (see point 8.6, Checking Victory Conditions).

A ship only grants points for the most severe category of damage it has suffered. For example, a sunk destroyer grants three victory points to the opponent, regardless of whether it previously suffered severe damage.

Severe Damage

This occurs when ships reach a certain amount of damage points based on their damage factor printed on the counter, as shown in the Damage Capacity by Ship Size table (Table 1.3). For example, a ship with twelve damage points will suffer severe damage upon reaching 8 damage points.

Severe damage occurs from the accumulation of hits, while critical damage occurs on a hit event when an unmodified roll of 1 is obtained on the attack dice (see point 11.1.2, Critical Damage). When severe or critical damage occurs, a roll is made on the corresponding Table 1.3b (shown below), and the result is checked according to the type of ship: warship, individual auxiliary ship, or cargo-ship fleet.

1.3 Damage Capacity by Ship Size

Damage factor (Ships)	Accumulated damage points received
12	...1 ...2 ...3 ...4 ...5(DM) ...6 ...7(DG) ...8 ...9 ...10(HD) ...11 ...12 ...13
11-10-9
8
7
6
5
4-3-2

DM = Moderate damage. DG = Severe damage (1/2 movement capacity). HD = Sinking.

1.3b Severe Damage (1d6) / Critical Damage (1d6)

Ship type	Severe damage (1d6)	Critical damage (1d6)
Warship¹	1-2: ASW/Helicopter damage (if a carrier, damage to the flight deck²). 3-4: SAM gunnery system damage. 5-6: Sensors/Radar.	1: Explosion (sunk). 2: Immobilized. 3-4: Flight deck non-operational. 5-6: Fire³.
Auxiliary ship (individual)	1-3: NO amphibious operations. 4-6: Propulsion damage. Reduces movement by half.	1-2-3: Immobilized. 4-5-6: Fire³.
Cargo-ship fleet	No check	+3 additional damage points

¹ If it doesn't have this characteristic, always treat as propulsion damage (1/2 movement points). ² 1 air counter is eliminated (defending player's choice) and 2 turns with no air operations. ³ Check fire development in the administrative phase. (If not a carrier, always treat as IMMOBILIZED.)

The explanation of these types of damage is as follows:

• ASW/Helicopter damage: the ship can no longer use its ASW systems to attack or defend against submarines. Its modifiers for submarine combat no longer apply. The embarked helicopter is disabled, and points for helicopter missions no longer apply.
• Flight deck damage (for carriers): the flight deck is damaged; no takeoffs or landings for 2 turns (helicopters can still operate), and an embarked air counter is also eliminated (chosen by the defender).
• SAM gunnery system damage: the ship can no longer use its SAM systems. Its modifiers for anti-air combat no longer apply.
• Radar non-operational: the ship has no detection capability (but retains defenses). Also place a "SAM damaged" marker, but note which capabilities are disabled (detection or defenses).
• No amphibious operations: only affects auxiliary ships transporting troops; they cannot transfer them to another ship in the same hex, nor carry out landings.
• Propulsion damage: movement points are reduced by half (rounding in the player's favor).

In ground combat or in specific attacks, damage may be indicated in the resolution tables. For example, bombing damage against Puerto Argentino installations produces generic damage that could affect aircraft at the base, or attacking the base's radar could produce a one-turn malfunction or its destruction for the rest of the game. In addition, if the damage is at an air-naval base, it could also affect ships anchored there, as described in point 10.1, Bombardment of Installations/Radar.

Critical Damage

The most successful attacks can cause critical damage to ships; generally, an unmodified roll of 1 on the attack die can produce a hit that is also critical, as indicated in the General Combat table's Hit Probability column, shown in red.

Only one critical die applies per attack, even if more dice were rolled and multiple critical-hit results were obtained. If the final result of an attack, once accumulated hits are totaled, results in the ship sinking, the critical results are not taken into account.

• Explosion: the ship explodes and sinks. In the case of a carrier, an additional 1d6 roll must be made on Table 1.3d, Uncontrolled Fire or Carrier Sinking, to see how many carried aircraft are lost. The rest can fly to a friendly base or carrier within their range (they can receive refueling); if not, they are eliminated. If the sunk ship is a troop transport, the troops are permanently removed from the game (ground-troop losses do not generate victory points).
• Immobilized: the ship loses propulsion, and its movement factor is reduced to zero. It can now only move if towed by another ship. This type of damage doesn't only occur from enemy hits — it is also automatically suffered by any ship that accumulates an amount of damage equal to its damage factor printed on the counter. In addition, carriers that reach their maximum damage become completely non-operational (they cannot launch or recover aircraft or helicopters).
• Flight deck non-operational: if it's a carrier, the owning player must eliminate 2 aircraft, and aircraft cannot land or take off for two turns. Helicopters can still operate normally during these two turns. If it's another type of warship, it is always treated as immobilized.
• Fire: the ship catches fire and is immobilized until the fire is put out. This is the only type of damage that can be repaired, during its relevant sub-phase in the administrative phase. A ship on fire must resolve whether the fire is put out or goes out of control, ending in sinking. If the ship suffering an uncontrolled fire and consequently sinking is a carrier, the number of aircraft that can be evacuated must be determined. If it is a ship with embarked troops, these are removed from the game.
• +3 additional damage points: damage applicable only to cargo-ship fleets.

For any damage-table result that is not applicable (or was already disabled) on the hit ship, always use IMMOBILIZED or NO EFFECT damage instead. Damage points are always counted regardless.

Special Rules

Below we go over some special rules that alter how certain aspects of the game normally work. These always apply, unlike the advanced rules (see point 13, Advanced Rules), which are optional.

Atlantic Conveyor

The British cargo ship Atlantic Conveyor was a civilian cargo ship fitted out by the British as a reinforcement vessel to transport air material (aircraft and helicopters needed to increase air presence in the war zone).

The ship has the capacity to conduct air operations with Harrier aircraft (interceptors). It can only have one aircraft in the "ready" box at any time. That is, it can receive aircraft, but there can never be more than one aircraft operating per turn in "ready" status.

At the start of the turn of May 21st, if the British player has damaged carriers, they can decide whether the extra aircraft on this ship remain on it or are transferred. Under normal operating conditions, British carriers are required to receive the aircraft coming from the Atlantic Conveyor on turn 21, as indicated in the deployment.

San Carlos Strait

Ship movement is permitted through the hexes running along San Carlos Strait (14,13; 15,12; 16,12, marked with a faded white background), between the two main Falkland Islands.

Submarines attacking in these hexes always do so at periscope depth.

Ships of both sides can transit through San Carlos Strait, but if they do, they must change their detection status to level 3 when entering these hexes. The Argentine player has this "advantage" from the start of the game. The British player, on the other hand, must land a commando unit in the Falklands in order to gain this detection benefit.

Note: The British covertly deployed the Royal Navy's 148 Commando Forward Observation Battery in the Falklands to report possible targets on the islands for naval gunfire or air bombing to engage. This is why the presence of an Argentine naval group in the strait could be immediately detected by these commandos.

Argentina's Black Days

If the Argentine player loses between 11 and 20 aircraft in a single turn (fighters, bombers), this is considered to be a Black Day. If they suffer two Black Days, the British player achieves sudden victory immediately.

If the player loses more than 20 aircraft (fighters and bombers combined) in a single turn, the British player achieves automatic victory that same turn (even if no Black Day occurred in previous turns).

Note: This special rule is not based on anything trivial. The Argentine Air Force general staff maintained a theoretical combat-loss rate so high that they did not risk attacking the British force in large numbers, even though they could have. With the numbers on the table, in two weeks of combat, the Argentine Air Force would have been left with practically no pilots with adequate experience. Furthermore, any data on high numbers of losses could be used as solid ammunition for those in favor of a ceasefire in the war undertaken by the Military Junta.

Argentine Ground Air Support

During the ground segment, when the enemy declares ground combat in the Falklands, the Argentine player can assign air support missions to their forces using Pucará, Aermacchi, and Canberra aircraft that are within range.

The British player can, in turn, attempt to intercept them according to the normal rules of the game. Air-air combat and/or SAM picket attacks are resolved before determining the number of aircraft supporting the ground combat.

The number of aircraft involved is added up to find the modifier in favor of the Argentine player during ground combat (Table 2.16).

Argentine Destroyer Seguí

This Argentine destroyer began the war as an operational ship, but had propulsion problems, so it was decided to keep it in port as anti-air defense and remove its Exocet missiles to create a land-based missile launcher, which the Argentine player has operational in the Falklands starting on the turn of June 8th.

This ship's counter must be swapped for its "without Exocet" version starting on the turn of May 21st, though it is left to the Argentine player's choice whether to take it to port or not.

In-Flight Refueling (KC-130)

The Argentines had the capability to refuel A-4 Skyhawk and Super Étendard aircraft in flight using Hercules KC-130s. These aircraft are included in the air waves that will do the refueling and must be placed within some of the ranges established for it on the map (refueling limit indication). Depending on the limit at which the aircraft is located, it can refuel the number of aircraft indicated in the box for that purpose (on the top edge of the board). The British player does not have aircraft with this capability.

KC-130 units remain there until the mission is finished and then return to the base designated by the player. Aircraft that refuel with the tanker begin counting their movement capacity from the hex where they refueled.

For example: the tanker is in hex 10,0, and refuels a Super Étendard there. The refueled aircraft has its full operational range available starting from that hex.

Tankers do not go into maintenance for missions in a turn (although they must be placed in the maintenance box, for the purpose of calculating non-operational units the following turn).

Use of refueling missions: Both aircraft must be assigned to the same mission. (A) Normal range. (B) Normal range including refueling. (B+) Extra range. (C) Return flight to the tanker aircraft. (C+) Extra range to base.

Example: the tanker in the center of the image refuels an A-4 Skyhawk, allowing it to reach the target from its mainland base (B), since it can apply the full amount of its movement points again from the KC-130's position (B+ and C+). Otherwise it could not reach the target directly (A).

Advanced Rules

These rules (all of them, or whichever are considered most interesting by the players) can be applied by mutual agreement right before starting the game, in scenario or campaign modes.

Santa Fe Submarine

The Argentine player rolls 1d10 to determine whether this submarine is present (historically, it was sunk in April at the South Georgia Islands).

Result of 1-4: sunk. 5-10: Active.

If sunk, it is removed from the campaign game. If, instead, it takes part in the game, its initial deployment must be in the South Georgia Islands hexes.

Note: This submarine was put out of action by the British during the operations to retake South Georgia in April '82. Since the game begins on May 1st, the existence of this submarine as operational is purely a "what if" option for the game.

Retargeting by Exocet Missile

Note: This advanced rule lets the game simulate the retargeting event that could occur in the final meters of Exocet missile guidance, since these missiles had a sensor system that would "re-lock" onto any nearby target while the missile still had fuel.

If, in an attack using Exocet missiles (naval or air-launched) with this rule active, the defending player decides, before the attack is resolved, to use countermeasures to avoid being hit, they can include an extra modifier for the use of countermeasures, but this simultaneously activates the target-reacquisition mechanism. This condition must be decided before rolling the attack dice.

A modified roll result of 11 or more means the missile is shot down. A result of 8-9-10, on the other hand, means the missile does not hit the chosen target, but has the option of reacquiring another target among the rest of the ships in the naval group. If it's an individual ship in a hex, the attack ends there.

Otherwise, the attack is resolved according to the following procedure:

• If the original target ship was the only one forming its naval group, and there are more naval groups in the hex, the attacking player chooses which naval group the attack will be resolved against.
• A number from 1 to 10 is assigned sequentially to the rest of the defender's ships present in the hex (the order doesn't matter). The original target ship is not included in this assignment.
• If there are fewer ships, those numbers are left unassigned. The defender rolls 1d10 to determine which ship has been "re-locked onto." If the roll result is an unassigned number, the Exocet is considered to have missed.

Example of an Exocet retargeting attack: The Argentine Super Étendard fires its Exocet from the adjacent hex against the DD Coventry (this way it avoids SAM defense against its aircraft). The British player decides to (optionally) activate their countermeasures (chaff) to divert the missile, gaining a +1 modifier. In addition, their SAM defense also contributes a +2 modifier, adding up to a total of +3 to the enemy attack roll. The Argentine 1d10 roll is a 5, making the total 8. This result does not destroy the Exocet, but does divert it, with the possibility that it "re-locks" onto another target. Next, the rest of the attacked ships are numbered 1 to 10. Since there are only 3 ships, the possible targets are 1, 2, or 3. The attacking player rolls a 2, so the Exocet missile attacks the transport group. The final attack roll is a 6, unmodified (the transports have no defense capability), scoring an Exocet hit on that counter.

• If a ship has been hit, an Exocet hit is resolved using the relevant modifiers. After this attack, if it misses again, the attack is considered finished (missile out of fuel).

Note: Previous detection levels do not change for the targets involved in this type of attack, since the target is acquired via remote electronic detection; it's possible that level-3 information may not exist for any of the targets attacked. The sinking of the British cargo ship Atlantic Conveyor happened under this exact circumstance, when two Argentine Exocet anti-ship missiles hit the cargo ship after their seeker heads re-locked on, having initially been fooled by the countermeasures of the British escort ships. The Exocets had originally been aimed at the British carriers.

PAC Interception by Sectors

With this rule active, when players assign their CAP missions, they must assign (secretly) a sector marker — North, South, East, West — to indicate which direction their fighters are patrolling.

Note: When a CAP is established, it is not positioned flying directly over one specific ship in the group; rather, it establishes a wider patrol perimeter to cover other ships and potentially stop the enemy sooner. This meant that the moment at which enemy aircraft were detected, depending on the CAP's position, could determine whether it arrived in time to stop the attack.

When enemy aircraft approach interception range (two hexes), under the normal rules, air-air combat occurs automatically as described in points 7.3.1, CAP, and 7.3.2, Interceptor Aircraft. But if PAC Interception by Sectors is in use, the following procedure applies instead:

• The attacking player must declare from which direction they are approaching the target hex — North, South, East, West.
• Then the defending player reveals which sector their CAP is patrolling. If it's the same sector, automatic combat occurs as described in point 10.2, Air-Air Combat.
• If it's in a different sector, a 1d6 roll must be made:
  • Sector adjacent to the CAP's: air-air combat occurs on a roll of 1-4.
  • Sector opposite the CAP's: air-air combat occurs on a roll of 1-2.

Important: the hex where interception occurs must be within the 2-hex patrol zone of the CAP (the hex where the CAP counter is placed) and no further than the range of an enabled base (land or ship).

Harrier Aircraft as Maritime Patrols

The British can use their Harrier aircraft (both types) on detection missions. To do this, it must be placed adjacent to the contact it wants to identify, and, if it survives any possible SAM fire or CAP/interceptor attack, it gains the usual information obtained when a detection occurs. (See point 9, Detection.)

Note: although British Harrier aircraft did not have long-range radar, in some cases detection missions were ordered at close distances, at risk to the pilots.

Effectiveness of Argentine Torpedoes

In the normal game, a +1 modifier is applied to the hit roll of Argentine torpedoes, to simulate their age and poor maintenance.

Players can agree to not apply this modifier before starting the game.

Note: By the start of the conflict, all torpedoes aboard Argentine submarines had exceeded their "reliable use" period and needed to be replaced with new ones, but none were available, due to the arms blockade imposed by Europe (forced by British pressure).

Individualized Detection of Radar Signatures

The game presents a generic radar-signature detection mechanic; that is, depending on the number of radar echoes detected in a hex, it will show a large, medium, or small echo. The optional realistic version is that this radar signature be declared by players separately for each one. This rule does not affect electronic information, which would still be declared as the strongest signal (longest range in hexes) among those of the naval group being detected. (See point 7.3.5, Maritime Patrol Missions.)

Example: A hex containing two ships (one with a large radar signature and another with a small radar signature) would have to be declared as "large" (per the contact table). In the optional version, the player would have to declare 2 contacts, one large and one small.

Boeing 707 on Maritime Patrol Missions

The detection capabilities of these civilian-origin aircraft were not developed for use in a military environment. Their detection system (when used by the Argentine player) only requires the British player to declare the radar signature size (NEVER the sensor range).