Naval War
Naval War Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
NAVAL WAR is a card game of strategy, skill, and luck that is based on World War Two naval combat. Each player controls a "fleet" of warships, and attempts to sink the other player's ships. Fast-moving and easy to play, NAVAL WAR will provide many exciting and entertaining sessions. This sheet provides the complete rules for the game.
Number of Players
NAVAL WAR may be played by three to six players.
Object of the Game
Each player seeks to gain victory by accumulating points through sinking the other players' warships. Normally, this is accomplished by "firing" salvos of shells, although minefields, air attacks, and torpedo attacks by destroyers, submarines, and torpedo boats also take their toll.
Description of the Game
The game is played using two different decks of cards, the ship deck and the playing deck. The ship deck, of fifty-four cards, has cards containing pictures of warships, providing the "ships" for each player's "fleet". Each ship card (called "ships" in the rules) has the following information: a Hit Number in each corner, the Ship Name and Nationality across the middle, and the Size Guns (or Aircraft Carrier) beneath the ship's silhouette.
For example, the ship card for the Maryland (United States) shows a Hit Number of 5 in each corner, and "16" Guns" as its gun size.
Aircraft carrier ship cards print "Aircraft Carrier" and an Air Strike instruction in place of a gun size — for example, the Shokaku (Japan) card reads "Aircraft Carrier — AIR STRIKE — Roll a '1', Sink a ship." Aircraft carrier ship cards are laid out face up behind the other ship cards in a player's fleet (see Preparation for Play, below).
There are numerous types of playing cards, identified as follows:
Normal Playing Cards
Salvo Cards
Each Salvo card shows, in each corner, the Size Guns which can "fire" the salvo, and in the center, the Number of Hits the card can cause, alongside a ship silhouette captioned "Salvo."
Destroyer Squadron Cards
DESTROYER SQUADRON — 4 Hits. Roll die. Number rolled is number of ships sunk.
Repair Cards
REPAIR. Remove one salvo card.
Smoke Cards
SMOKE. Only submarines and additional hits may be played.
Minesweeper Cards
MINESWEEPER. Removes all minefields in front of your fleet.
Special Playing Cards
Minefield Cards
MINEFIELD — printed "2" in each corner. Two hits on every ship in fleet.
Submarine Cards
SUBMARINE. Roll a "5" or "6." Sink a ship.
Torpedo Boat Cards
TORPEDO BOAT. Roll a "6." Sink a ship.
Additional Ship Cards
ADDITIONAL SHIP. Take one ship card from the harbor pile.
Additional Damage Cards
Two Additional Damage cards are included:
- ADDITIONAL DAMAGE (printed "1" in each corner): Add one hit to any salvo card.
- ADDITIONAL DAMAGE (printed "2" in each corner): Add two hits to any salvo card.
In addition to the equipment found in the box, players will need to obtain a standard six-sided die and a pen or pencil for recording scores.
The Dealer
To determine the dealer for the first hand in a game, each player rolls the die once. Roll again to break ties for the high roll. The player with the high number is the dealer for the first hand, and must deal out all cards to start the hand. For all later hands in a game, the player with the highest overall point total is the dealer (roll die to break ties).
Preparation for Play
Both decks are thoroughly and separately shuffled by the dealer. Each player is then dealt five ship cards and five playing cards. The remaining ship cards are left, face down, in the "harbor." The remaining playing cards are left, face down, in a draw pile. As playing cards are used or discarded they are placed face up in a discard pile next to the draw pile. Each player keeps his playing cards concealed. Each player's ship cards are laid out, face up, in a line to form a "fleet." Aircraft carrier ship cards are laid out, face up, behind the other ship cards.
Playing Diagram
Sample layout for three players.
Each player sits holding 5 concealed playing cards in hand, with a fleet of 5 ship cards laid out face up in front of them. One player's fleet in the diagram includes an aircraft carrier ship card, laid out face up behind the rest of that player's fleet. Shared in the middle of the table are the Harbor pile (face down), the Draw pile (face down), and the Discard pile (face up).
Begin Play
The dealer begins play by using all special playing cards (if any), then drawing replacement cards from the draw pile. This continues until the five-card hand contains no more special cards. The next player to the left then plays all special cards in the same manner, and so on around the table, until all special cards in the players' hands have been used. During the Begin Play period, no more than one minefield card may be placed in front of any player's fleet.
Normal Game Play
The dealer begins normal play. A player's turn starts by drawing one card from the draw pile, and then playing or discarding one card. Cards may never be drawn from the discard pile. This sequence continues with the next player to the left, and so on around the table as each player draws one card, then plays or discards one card. A player may never take any action that would sink or damage one of his own ships.
If a special playing card is drawn, it must be played at once, counting as that player's one card draw and one card play. Special playing cards are used as follows:
(The printed sheet's closing list of special-card effects continues on the reverse side, which could not be located despite exhausting the sourcing toolkit above. The effect of every special and normal playing card is nonetheless given in full in the Normal Playing Cards and Special Playing Cards sections above, transcribed directly from that card's own printed diagram.)
Component Note
The following description is transcribed from the back of the box of the Avalon Hill 1983 edition:
NAVAL WAR is a card game of strategy, skill, and luck that is based on World War II naval combat. Each player controls a "fleet" of warships, and attempts to sink the other player's ships.
The battleships, aircraft carriers, and battlecruisers of WWII roam the seas again! In this unique card game, three to six players command a "fleet" of the world's most feared ships. Drawn from a deck of 54 cards, you might get the Bismark, Gneisenau, Prince of Wales, Hood, Ark Royal, Roma, New Jersey, Enterprise, Shokaku, or even the gigantic Yamato, largest battleship ever used in battle! Using another 108 card deck, you can attack the enemy with salvos from your guns, make carrier strikes, destroyer torpedo attacks, raids by submarines or torpedo boats, or set up minefields.
NAVAL WAR is based on historical data, but is a quick play "beer and pretzels" game rated "1" on the Avalon Hill complexity scale (1-easy to 10-hard).