Geman attack on Oslo or Goteborg on first turn?

@CraigBee:

This is very helpful.  We start our (delayed) game tomorrow.  I can’t find anywhere in the rules that talks about “coastal Navy”.  What am I missing?

Once Norway is taken by the Germans, I’m still not sure what happens to the Norwegian Navy?

This is my understanding of how it works (I’m sure Variable will correct me if I’m wrong). If a ship is listed as coastal it is always confined to the sea zone adjacent to it’s originating country regardless of who ends up with control of it (well unless it is scuttled, or killed off and removed from play).

Norway is listed as a strict neutral, and the Norwegian capital is Oslo (FYI the roundels for capital territories are in full color, roundels for non capital territories are shaded). Once the Germans capture Oslo, you would roll dice to determine the fate of the Norwegian navy in sz 7 (assuming you didn’t amphib through sz 7). The navy has 2bb’s (coastal), 1 ss (coastal), and 1 dd (that can be moved).

Say you rolled:
*1st bb rolls a 5. Scuttled (remove it from play).
*2nd bb rolls a 2. Ship is captured by Germany, but because it is coastal can never move from sz 7, but will def if attacked (probably place a German control marker under it to show it is coastal).
*ss rolls a 10. Escapes capture (becomes UK I guess because they are the closest, and only Allied power at war in Europe), but because it is coastal it is stuck in sz7 the entire game. It will def as any allied ship though (I would probably put a UK control marker under it to show it is coastal)
*dd rolls an 11. Escapes capture, and is moved to the nearest allied naval base, or fleet. That would be the naval base off Scotland sz 15 (neighboring sz).

BTW if you rolled a 1, and captured the dd (only ship in the Norwegian navy that can move) it would stay in sz 7 until Germany’s next turn. Then it could move as any other German ship.

@CraigBee:

Thanks again Wild Bill.  What indicates that the Norwegian Destroyer can move, but the rest is stuck on the coast?  I’m having trouble figuring understanding how to determine if a navy is locked on the coast or is free to move.  Is there something on the setup charts I am missing?  Or something in the rules I’m not reading?

Yea the set-up chart for the strict and pro neutrals say (coastal) after certain ships. For the record all the neutral bb’s, and ss are coastal. I think it is so if you acquire them it doesn’t sway too much power your way. It also helps guard against bombardment during amphibs, or extra protection for your navy if you move it to the sz w/friendly coastal ships. They will defend with you.

I think it would be strange, but you could end up with coastal ships from both enemy sides in the same sea zone now that you are rolling dice.

Only thing I have to add to this is a coastal must stay in a sea zone bordering it’s original country. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s confined to one sea zone. If a country (for example all of Norway) borders more than one sea zone, the coastal ships can move into any of those sea zones.

@Variable:

Only thing I have to add to this is a coastal must stay in a sea zone bordering it’s original country. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s confined to one sea zone. If a country (for example all of Norway) borders more than one sea zone, the coastal ships can move into any of those sea zones.

OK, we have played it that way, but I didn’t know it was ruled that way. So after Oslo falls, and the Norwegian navy is activated the coastal ships could stay in sz7, or starting on the next turn could move to sz8, or sz 17 (all 3 sz’s are adjacent to Norway).

Couple quick questions/comments:

1. Now that the dice are involved (in rare occasions) you could end up with one Norw bb, on the allies side, and the other on the axis side (both coastal). Now that I know they have some limited movement, does one of them have to move once it is able to move (if possible). If coastal ships can’t perform attacks, then I guess it wouldn’t make that sz hostel, so they could be on opposite sides, but share the same sz?.

2. Why can’t a coastal ship patrol/attack if the enemy enters a sz adjacent to one of its territories with-in its range. If this was a possibility, then if the above scenario happened (2 coastal ships from opposing sides end up in the same sz), then they could fight, or one could leave (if possible).

3. Say Oslo is captured by Germany, and through the dice axis (Germany) is able to claim one Norw coastal bb, and the ss. Later in the game if England invades and takes Oslo (capital) would they get a chance to roll for the coastal navy if it is still alive?  These ships are technically still tied to the defense of Norway being coastal. Same question could be posed for any neutral navy if their capital exchanges hands.

Sorry to be such a PITA
WB

Couple more questions about coastal ships, now that I know they have the ability to move along the shoreline of the controlling country (once activated be it through an attack, or pro friendly activation):

1. Once a coastal ship is activated, does a coastal battleship have the ability to block movement through that sz, or is it considered near shore so can be bypassed?

Example(s), can an axis Spanish coastal BB in sz35 stop allied surface ships from entering the Med? Same for an axis Swedish BB in sz17 restricting the UK from attacking into the Baltic with surface ships? (I understand the straight rules would also apply)

2. Coastal ships can only defend along their shorelines (by themselves, or with friendly’s), they aren’t allowed to move to attack enemy ships along their coastline right?

#2 above kinda makes coastal subs useless IMO, is there any thought of allowing coastal ships (maybe just subs) to attack along their coastline?

Coastal ships are allowed to attack, but only in SZ bordering their country. They can attack with their controlling power (the country that activated or took command of their units). If I said defend before, it was in reference to defending their coastline, not defending only. My apologies…

Hi all,

What pieces are you using for coastal battleships? The HBG neutral sets do not include BBs so we’ve been using old school A and A ships with paint jobs. Are there any plans to make some coastal BB sculpts? I’ve been looking at GHQ WWI BBs to use as these ships as a lot of the coastals of the period where older models (such as Argentina’s and Brazil’s) and the size of the ships match up pretty good with A and A stuff.

The above posts answered a lot of questions our group has had regarding coastal ships. Thanks for working through it. We played last weekend with the rules as spelled out in your discussions and it worked out great.

@koba:

Hi all,

What pieces are you using for coastal battleships? The HBG neutral sets do not include BBs so we’ve been using old school A and A ships with paint jobs. Are there any plans to make some coastal BB sculpts? I’ve been looking at GHQ WWI BBs to use as these ships as a lot of the coastals of the period where older models (such as Argentina’s and Brazil’s) and the size of the ships match up pretty good with A and A stuff.

The above posts answered a lot of questions our group has had regarding coastal ships. Thanks for working through it. We played last weekend with the rules as spelled out in your discussions and it worked out great.

We made these which work great. 2 sizes and easy to see.

http://www.historicalboardgaming.com/HBG-Coastal-Marker-Acrylic_p_1160.html

Looks good. I’ll have to order them. Sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with all the new markers coming out.

Thanks Variable.