Welcome to Battlefleet, a set of miniature wargame rules which recreate one of the most exciting periods in the history of naval conflict. For over a decade beginning in 1895, established and developing nations of the world engaged in a series of wars and naval programs which were to reshape the world's political landscape. The variety of naval designs and doctrines which were put forth at this time resulted in an almost infinite range of possible results, and the ensuing "Pre-Great War" power struggles made for volatile crises which left no nation safe. It was at this time that the navies of two ancient empires; Russia and Spain, were dramatically defeated at the hands of two new industrial powers; Japan and America. Not only did the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese Wars bring the latest in naval technology to the forefront, but so did numerous other confrontations throughout this period.

Over all this loomed the "super-fleets" of Great Britain and France, the later of which dominated the late Victorian period in ways not to be known during the dreadnought era. The high seas of this time saw "futuristic" French battleships eyeing their British and Italian counterparts, heavily armored American "coastal" battleships maintaining the Monroe Doctrine and the latest British built Japanese fleets shooting it out with the Russians in the West Pacific.

In Battlefleet, many of the possibilities and realities of this time can be recreated, with your abilities having a direct effect on the results. During game play, your own range estimates of the actual enemy miniatures are used to establish hits and misses. Hence, personal skills of the fighting fleets become a tangible factor as you try to keep your ships afloat and in fighting trim!

« 1.1 Game Scales
Battlefleet can be played in one of three different scale formats; small, medium and large. The small format uses metric measurement and is designed for use with 1/6000 scale naval miniatures, allowing games to be played on a dining table. The medium scale format is also metric based, and is designed for use with 1/2400 and 1/3000 scale miniatures, which usually requires a large gaming table for playing. The large scale format uses inches for measurement and is designed for use with 1/1200 scale miniatures or larger, which requires a medium sized floor area. All scale ship speeds for these three formats have been pre-plotted on the Master Scale Chart, which covers most speed ranges needed for Battlefleet ship logs.

« 1.2 Models
There are many different scales of ship models available for use with Battlefleet. The lines of miniatures currently most available include the following:

Figurehead - These 1/6000 scale vessels are excellently designed and scaled, and they are well cast with clean lines. A huge advantage is the ability to use them for "snap games" which require little set up time and no more space needed than that of a dining room table. They currently offer the entire Russian and Japanese fleets for the Battlefleet period, as well as many British, American, Austrian and French vessels. This line is constantly being expanded and may eventually include vessels from the Spanish-American War. For comparison, the 1/6000 scale length of the Japanese battleship Mikasa is about 21mm.

Panzerschiffe - This line of 1/2400 scale models covers the entire range of Russian, Japanese, American and Spanish vessels for the Battlefleet period. They also offer a number of British, French and other vessels from the turn of the century, although many of the really important groups for this period (Majestic class battleships, etc.) are not available. The models themselves represent a good balance between size and price. Most are nicely proportioned and the quality of the resin mold is very good, although players should keep in mind that these resin models do not have the same level of detail as other more expensive die cast models. For comparison, the 1/2400 scale length of the Japanese battleship Mikasa is about 52mm.

Navwar - This line of 1/3000 scale models is extensive and includes a vast majority of vessels which existed throughout the Battlefleet period. The models themselves are quite inexpensive. They are however, also of very poor quality, both in the workmanship of the castings and the scaling of the models themselves. Is is notable that they have far rougher and more uneven lines than the Figurehead miniatures even though they are twice as large. Still, they can't be beat for availability and selection. For comparison, the 1/3000 scale length of the Japanese battleship Mikasa is about 42mm.

Navis Neptune - A line of exquisitely detailed 1/1250 scale miniatures made in Germany. Navis models are not really made for wargaming, but rather for naval miniature collectors. Their range of models relating to the Battlefleet period is fair, including many Russo-Japanese, Spanish-American, and European vessels. In line with their outstanding quality, Navis models are expensive, with most battleship models costing in excess of $40 US each. For comparison, the 1/1250 scale length of the Japanese battleship Mikasa is about 101mm.

Houston's - A line of nice 1/1200 scale miniatures. Their future however, appears to be in some doubt. Conflicting stories as to their availability, coupled with the line's (apparently) narrow product range leave them in the specialty or demonstration game category. For comparison, the 1/1200 scale length of the Japanese battleship Mikasa is about 105mm.

Home Construction - Instead of buying metal castings, some people prefer to build their own model ships using balsa wood. This is actually quite easy, and for many people it is the preferred way of getting their ships "on-line" in the scale they prefer. The large scale battle photos shown throughout Battlefleet are all scratch-built balsa models, some of which took only a few hours worth of work to build (others took much longer!). For comparison, the 1/780 scale length of the Japanese battleship Mikasa is about 162mm.

Above: The four zones of a ship. The front and rear arcs are 60 degrees across, centered on the fore/aft line. Any vessels being fired upon by guns from within their front or rear arc may only use the second of their two armor values.

Mounting - Small scale vessels should be mounted on bases for ease of handling. The Battlefleet mounting standard for 1/6000 scale is ½ x 11/8 inches (13mm x 30mm). Most play-testing for Battlefleet was conducted using this scale, and within the rules text, the term "vessel," "model" or "ship" also applies to any base upon which that model might be mounted.

Each model has four zones into which it is divided; a front, a rear and two beam zones. These zones are used to establish whether a vessel is being "raked" or not during the fire phase. Note that the front and rear arcs are not referred to as bow and stern arcs in order to prevent confusing their definitions with those of the arcs-of-fire of weapons. See Figure at right.

« 1.3 Equipment
Naval wargames are a bit more technically demanding than some other forms of miniature wargaming and require a few extra tools. The standard gaming equipment of tape measures (metric or standard), 12 sided dice and pencils are definitely required. Players will also need to download the Battlefleet Combat Chart, Ship Log, Gunnery Log and Arcs sheet. Cutting out the arcs-of-fire and turning circles and mounting them on thin cardboard will give them extra strength. A clipboard is also valuable for writing on the ship and gunnery logs.

Combat Charts: Each player should have a copy of the Battlefleet Combat Chart, which can be downloaded off of the Battlefleet page in the WTJ Games section. There are two halves to the combat chart, a front and back. Both sides are needed for game play, and include turn sequence, gunnery, torpedo and damage charts. For related overviews of each section of the chart, see More About Combat Charts, which includes step by step illustrations of the charts.

Ship Logs: Each vessel used in combat will need to have an entry in one of the ship logs. These entries are used to track available speed, weapons and damage to each vessel. The information shown in the Ship Values listings on the Battlefleet page has all the information needed to fill out the ship logs for those vessels. For more detailed explanations, see More About Ship Logs.

Gunnery Logs: Because Battlefleet uses a range estimate system to control gunnery, players use Gunnery Logs to record their range estimates. Each log contains two four-ship sections (most navy divisions are composed of four ships), along with a command line at the far left of each division. At the top of each gunnery log column, record the name of one ship. In the columns below, record salvo targets and hits. The boxes along the top edge of each division are for recording command arrows during times when vessels are not firing salvos and/or out of range. These spare command boxes eliminate the "wasting" of range boxes during preliminary maneuvers.

« 1.4 Turn Sequence
Once all players have filled out their ship and gunnery logs, placed their ships and arranged their formations, game play is ready to begin. Each phase of the turn sequence is conducted by both players simultaneously. At right is an outline of each turn sequence and its basic elements.