BPC Subs
by Martin Halbert
16.00 Introduction
"BPC Subs" is a series of rules governing naval battles in sea-warfare variants of Ogre. It builds on the concepts introduced in "Continental Siege Aircraft."
17.00 Submarines
Submarines are underwater units which begin hidden, but can be subsequently detected and/or reveal themselves. They have a defense factor of 3, a movement factor of 2, and a strength/range factor of 6/5.
17.01 Setup. At the beginning of the game the owning player selects positions for his subs. Counters are not actually placed on the board; players must remember their opening positions until changed, and keep track of their positions after that. This scenario requires good record-keeping and scrupulous honesty.
17.02 Detection occurs in four ways. Once detected, a unit remains detected until it successfully escapes detection by moving (17.022). As long as a unit is detected, its counter stays on the board.
17.021 When a sub attacks in any way, it is detected.
17.022 When a sub moves, a die is cast to determine if it is detected. If the sub is hidden before it moves, it remains hidden on a 1-3, and is detected on a 4-6. If the sub had already been detected at the time it moves, it manages to escape detection on a 1 (remove its counter from the board again), but remains detected on a 2 through 6.
17.023 When an enemy unit moves adjacent to a sub, the sub is detected.
17.024 When a sub releases decoy torpedoes (see Section 17.03, its counter is placed on the board inverted.
17.03 To mask its movement, a sub may launch one decoy torpedo during each movement phase. This automatically negates procedure 17.022, but the decision to launch a decoy must be made before movement. A sub cannot first roll to stay hidden and then, if revealed, launch a decoy torpedo. A decoy torpedo is represented by an inverted counter; it may move 1 or 2 hexes its first turn and disappears just before its second turn. A sub that has launched a decoy remains inverted until the next movement phase, whether or not it attacks or an enemy unit moves adjacent (exceptions to 17.021 and 17.023). A decoy torpedo is destroyed by any attack and has no effect on other units.
18.00 Combat
Subs attack and are attacked by surface craft in a normal manner. If a sub suffers a "disabled" result, it is considered surfaced, and its position immediately becomes known.
18.01 A sub may voluntarily surface to bombard coastal targets. A sub attacks at half strength against shore targets. When a sub surfaces it stays surfaced until its next movement phase. Surfacing costs nothing; a sub may surface and also move its full movement allowance.
18.02 When detected, a sub may be attacked by bomber aircraft in a normal manner (considered a depth charge attack). They may be attacked by both bombers and fighters when surfaced. A sub attacks at half strength against aircraft.
19.00 SEVs
SEVs are larger versions of GEVs.
19.01 LSEV. SEVs have two forms. The first (LSEV) is used for amphibious operations. They can transport: one heavy tank, one missile tank and one squad of infantry (1/1); or one platoon of infantry (3/1). They have a defense factor of 2, and can move six hexes in a turn. They have no offensive strength. To load or unload they must stay in one place for a full turn. The unloaded units can move and attack after this, or the loaded LSEVs may move off.
19.02 SESs. In their second form (SES) SEVs serve as fast destroyer-sized ships. They have a defense of 4. They move similarly to GEVs. They have one main battery (4/3), and two missiles (6/5). These do not have individual defense factors as the weapons on an Ogre do. When an SES receives a "destroyed" result, all the weapons are destroyed along with the ship.
19.03 (Optional.) The SES can also carry a small hovercopter. It has no attack or defense strength. Its purpose is to search for subs. A hovercopter can detect a sub if it is in the same hex at the end of the hovercopter's movement phase. The hovercopter has a movement allowance of 12.
20.00 The Sea Control Ship
The Sea Control Ship is a seagoing platform. It can serve as a small aircraft carrier in battle. It can launch four fighters in a game; one at a time, or all at once. It can also launch four hovercopters in a game. The SCS has a defense of 2, a movement factor of 2, and no attack strength.
21.00 Water Movement
GEVs, SEVs, and SCSs (as well as surfaced subs) move on the surface of the water. SEVs may move normally on land hexes; subs and SCS may not go on land. Ogres may enter the water (see 21.01). Aircraft may cross over water areas. No other units may enter water hexes.
21.01 Ogres may move along the sea floor at a cost of 2 movement points per hex. This means that, to begin with, they may only move one hex per turn. When an Ogre's movement drops to 1, it cannot move underwater at all. Missiles are the only Ogre weapons that may be used underwater; these are used normally. An Ogre may begin play hidden (as for subs) and does not reveal itself by movement. Once an Ogre fires a missile, it is revealed and stays revealed. When an Ogre's tread units are attacked while it is submerged, the attack is at 2-1 odds, rather than 1-1.
21.02 Only one submerged unit may occupy a given water hex (exception: two enemy underwater units may pass through the same hex if neither has been detected). A surface unit and a submerged unit may occupy the same hex and attack each other. Surfaced subs may occupy the same hex as submerged subs, but not with surface ships.
22.00 Map
Obviously the Ogre map, as it stands, cannot be used for sea battles. A simple scenario can be constructed by treating clear hexes as water hexes, craters and obstructed hexsides as coral and impassible to subs. The last row of hexes should be treated as the shore and the objective of an invading player. Howitzer batteries can be set up on the crater/island hexes as shore defense. Interesting amphibious invasion battles can be invented with LSEVs and Ogres. A "wolf pack" scenario with convoy vs. subs can be made ignoring all terrain. Imagination is the limit.
22.01 Mined areas are predesignated sections that are considered mined with proximity explosives. When a surface craft or sub passes through a mined area it immediately undergoes a 1-1 attack. Special minelaying subs and SEVs can "mine" a hex by spending three consecutive turns there inactive.
