State of Play: Task Force: Carrier Battles in the Pacific, Scenario 1 (Solo tutorial)

  

 

I had to run some errands today, but I managed to do something I’ve been meaning to since it arrived in May; I finally got Task Force: Carrier Battles in the Pacific (Vuca Simulations, 2023) to the table. If you’d like a better look at the whole game, Task Force was the first game I “stripped down for parts,” and my effusive commentary and component photos of questionable quality can be found here.

The first three scenarios are single-player tutorials, introducing the concepts and rules gradually. I’m somewhat a novice when it comes to modern-era naval games so I appreciate the approach. There are some excellent materials available on YouTube; Ruff at Rough Swordsman and Michael at Boardgames Chronicle both have good playthrough videos, and I’m not embarrassed to say I’ve been checking both out. Thanks, fellas.

Helpful scenario set-up board, populated,

The first scenario is the Attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The intention is to introduce how the air-to-surface combat and air-defence rules work (a crucial part of carrier operations), before moving on fleet movement and conducting search operations. I always appreciate the opportunity to learn new games with unusual concepts or mechanics in bite-sized chunks rather than the sink-or-swim approach. I’m not saying it’s the best way to teach and learn, but it works for me.

The set-up took a little longer than it might have if I’d used counter trays; there is so much in the box that there was no way the three GMT trays I’d need to accommodate everything were going to go in it (one would have been snug). I bagged up the ships for each side by class, except for the carriers, which each got their own bag to accommodate their air assets. While some of the planes were generic land-base planes, three-quarters of them were from the carriers involved in the actual Pearl Harbor raid, so I had to go fishing through extra zip-loc baggies to make up their numbers.

Once the helpful scenario template was filled, setting up the game map was a simple task and quickly done. The Scenario 1 map is printed on paper; it’s the only one in the whole box not mounted, I’m guessing because the scenario was written specifically as a teaching exercise, and not meant to be repeated more than a time or two.

Initial set-up (the calm before the storm).

The attacking IJN planes are a mixture of high-altitude bombers (B), dive-bombers (D) and modified Torpedo bombers (T). To make it a bit more of a challenge each wave completely, then rolled, so as not to be able to cherry-pick weakened targets. Well, that’s not entirely true; the scenario rules allow the first four planes attacking to strike without dealing with AA fire from their targets. These were straight runs, so I set these up first. I went straight for Battleship Row, and the two closest to the mouth of the harbour channel, the USS Oklahoma and USS West Virginia. I paired a much weaker B-Kate unit with a T-Kate unit from Yamamoto’s flagship, the Akagi. The West Virginia got a full-strength unit of T-Kates from the Akagi and the half-strength T-Kate unit from the Kaga.

Remainder of the First Wave; they'll have to deal with AA fire.

In air-to-surface combat in Task Force, a low roll is a good roll. The attacker also gains a -2 modifier when the target is stationery (e.g., a land-base or a docked ship). Reader, I rolled ones on the Air-to-Surface Chart, sending the Oklahoma to the bottom of the harbour and falling just one point of damage short of sinking the West Virginia as well. Big ship damage is handled quite well in Task Force. A battleship can shake off repeated hits of a few points (it’s a battleship, after all), but each one has a rating on the lower left corner, usually a 7 or higher. Let’s talk about the Oklahoma (7-rating). Meet or exceed that number in a single attack, and that puts a Minor Damage marker on the ship. But it doesn’t stop there; one more point of damage takes that marker off and flips the counter to its Reduced side. The Oklahoma has a 7 on this side as well. If the result you rolled was ten (7 + 1 + 2), it would end there; the big old battleship would shake off those last few points. If the result was a fifteen though (7 + 1 + 7), that would tear through that extra seven points and put a Critical Damage marker on the ship. A critically damaged ship can’t manoeuvre or defend itself, and just one more point of damage will end it. The Kates hit the Oklahoma for nineteen points.

The USS Arizona sustaining damage.

The West Virginia was a younger ship, and structural improvements had been incorporated from the laying of her keel. Her initial integrity factor was 9, with another 7 on her reverse side. Her initial attack fell just one point short of sinking her outright.

The Second Wave attacks.

I could go and on with stories of the glory my brave pilots brought to the Emperor, and of the sheer tonnage of metal sent to the bottom of Oahu harbour, but suffice it to say five ships were sunk,  four battleships (the West Virginia among them) and the light cruiser Honolulu with another two battleships damaged (the Arizona significantly, the Maryland only lightly – probably operational again within days) and a cruiser, the San Francisco, for a total of 30 scenario points, a full battleship short of the prize. To “win” the scenario, 35 points would be required to reach a major tactical victory, 40 for a decisive tactical victory.

The USS Maryland, takes 9 points damage; one more would have flipped her.

I could run though it again, see if I can sink even more ships, but I don’t think so. This was meant to be a learning scenario, and I think I’d like to take the lessons and move on to Scenario 2: Sinking off the Prince of Wales and the Repulse.

 

Casualties of war.