A Terrible Resolve

Fast Play Rules for the Battle of Midway

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by Matt Fritz

Version 2: I made some changes to these rules. The original version can be found here. The main change made was to the sequence of play. The turns were subdivided to eliminate confusion created by having the kids try to do several different things at once. Fighter escort rules were also changed, and some notes about 1/700 and 1/1200 models were added. Improved carrier and plane counters were created. New battle reports and pictures are included.

Background: The Japanese hoped that World War II would make them the masters of the Pacific. They recognized the industrial might of the United States. Their strategy was therefore to destroy the American Navy with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The plan almost worked. The Japanese ran wild in the Pacific and seemed invincible. The most devastating weapons in their navy were their aircraft carriers. In 1942 the Americans had been driven from the Philippines and Australia was in peril. The next step in their campaign was to seize control of the American controlled island of Midway. The Japanese admiral, Yamamoto, also hoped the attack would bring the remnants of the American Navy out to fight so that he could finish it off.
The Americans had different ideas. They had cracked the Japanese code and were routinely reading their secret messages. They uncovered the Japanese plan to attack Midway and decided to gamble everything on ambushing the Japanese carriers. The Yorktown was rapidly repaired and sent to join the Enterprise and Hornet. The Japanese air strike hit Midway Island hard. But then the Americans located the enemy carriers and attacked. The shocked Japanese retaliated but lost all four of their carriers. Pearl Harbor had been avenged (The Japanese carriers had participated in the surprise attack). The Americans lost just one carrier, the Yorktown. In one battle the tide of the war in the Pacific had turned. The Japanese would never regain the initiative. Yamamoto had once said that he was afraid that the United States was a sleeping giant, which would awaken with a terrible resolve. He was right.

Battle 1: The first wave of American bombers caught the Japanese by surprise. Dive bombers from the Yorktown devastated the Soryu, leaving her burning out of control as her crew abandoned ship. The Hiryu was also crippled in the attack, and the Kaga and Akagi suffered minor damage. The Japanese retaliatory strike destroyed the Yorktown, and damaged the Hornet. The Japanese put up a powerful fighter umbrella over their carriers and launched a second strike of their own. When the American second strike reached the Japanese fleet they were without fighter protection, and the Japanese zeroes chewed them to pieces. The surviving bombers bravely attacked the Japanese flattops, finishing off the Hiryu and crippling the Akagi. The powerful Kaga, however, was still operational. The Japanese second attack wave was more successful. Their bombers concentrated on the Enterprise, overwhelming her air defenses. Kate torpedo bombers scored a series of direct hits, sinking the Enterprise. and leaving the Hornet a burning wreck. Another wave of Japanese bombers soon arrived, courtesy of the Kaga. They bravely flew through heavy anti-aircraft fire to deliver the knock out to the Hornet. The Japanese had succeeded in destroying the American carriers, although at a higher cost than they'd expected.

Battle 2: This battle was closely fought, with the two fleets trading blows and the outcome in doubt until the very end. The Americans struck first, crippling the Soryu with their Dauntless dive bombers. The Japanese quickly scrambled an effective fighter cover and struck back, crippling the Hornet. The Americans retaliated, first crippling the Akagi, then sinking her along with the Soryu. The next wave of Japanese bombers finished off the Hornet, and destroyed the Enterprise. The Americans had one more strong attack wave left, and it scored big, sinking the Akagi and leaving the Kaga badly damaged. The Japanese counterpunch was a glancing blow, inflicting minor damage on the Yorktown. Both sides put everything they had left into a final strike. The Americans arrived first, just as the Kaga launched her bombers. The Japanese pilots watched in horror as the American bombs scored direct hits on the Kaga, forcing her crew to abandon ship. The pilots knew that their attack would be a one-way trip since there would be no Japanese carriers for them to land on after their attack run. They now had only one thought in mind: sink the Yorktown! The Yorktown went into evasive maneuvers as Kate torpedo bombers and Val dive bombers attacked her with a desperate fury. Miraculously, only one bomb hit the Yorktown. For a moment it looked like that would be enough to finish off the ship, but soon her crew had managed to put out the fires and save the ship. The Yorktown limped back to port for repairs, keeping a watchful eye out for enemy submarines. This battle was an American victory.

Rules

Models: I used 1/700 scale waterline ship models for this battle. Hasegawa makes models of the Kaga, and Akagi. They also have a Yorktown model, but this is the Yorktown II, not the one that was sunk at Midway. Tamiya has models of the Hornet and Enterprise. Aoshima makes models Models of the Hiryu and Soryu. These model kits are rather expensive, and not easy to build. Yorktown II comes with 20 planes, Kaga and AKagi have 28 planes each (including 12 seaplanes), additional 1/700 planes are available from Hasegawa's US Naval Planes and Japanese Naval Planes sets. The sets include fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers, but not the right ones for Midway. But seriously, at 1/700 scale does it really matter? These ship model kits are rather expensive ($15-$35), and not easy to build. A cheaper alternative is to use 1/1200 scale Revell Miniships. These models are cheap, and the kids can put them together with ease, despite the poor instructions. Unfortunately they only make models for the Hornet and Enterprise. Each has 19 generic looking planes, and Hornet also has 16 bombers for Doolittle's Raid. I have created paper plane and carrier counters you can print and use instead, they can be found here: Japanese, American. I actually prefer the paper planes over the 1/700 plastic planes.

Basing: One plane model was used to represent a group of fighters or bombers. The Ship Data table indicates how many planes you'll need for each carrier. The planes were glued to nails so they would look like they were flying. The bases were 1.5" x 1" pieces of foam core. Each base was painted blue and labeled with its type (fighter, torpedo bomber, dive bomber) and five circles to represent the strength of the group. The labels were laminated so they could be marked with dry erase markers. Each base was also color coded to indicate its carrier. The nail was pressed into the center of the foam core base. The foam core will hold the nail firmly, and doesn't need to be glued. This allows you to remove the plane from the base for easy storage. If this basing method seems too elaborate you should check out the original version of these rules, which included simple flat black & white table top counters which are easy to print and use. The carriers don't need bases, but you should label them with their names, AA Fire, Repair Damage, and Damage Points from the Ship Data Table. This information can be written on index cards, or the paper carriers can be printed and used.

Ship Data
Carrier

AA Fire

Repair Damage

Fighters

Torpedo Bombers

Dive Bombers
Enterprise 

16

5-6

5

3

8
Hornet

12

5-6

3

5

8
Yorktown

12

4-6

3

5

8
Hiryu

7

6

4

4

4
Soryu

6

6

4

4

4
Akagi

7

6

4

4

4
Kaga 

9

6

6

6

5
Each carrier is crippled when it has 7 damage points, and sinks at 10 damage points

Set Up: Two gaming tables are needed. They should be some distance apart and covered in blue felt, if possible. One table will hold the Japanese fleet, the other will hold the American fleet. Print out the Japanese boxes and American boxes , or simply write their names on pieces of paper. The various boxes should be laid out as illustrated. Eight bombers from each Japanese carrier should be placed in their "Ready to Land" box. This is the first wave returning from the attack on Midway Island. They must be landed before new planes can be launched.

Sequence of Play:
1. Japanese Land Planes
2. Americans Land Planes
3. Japanese Move Planes
4. Americans Move Planes
5. Japanse CAP Attacks
6. Americans CAP Attackse
7. Japanese Carrier Attacks
8. Americans Carrier Attacks
9. Japanese Launch Planes
10. Americans Launch Planes
11. Japanese Planning Phas
12. Americans Planning Phase
13. Japanese Repair Damage
14. Americans Repair Damage

Land Planes: A carrier can land planes only if it has a clear flight deck (no planes waiting for take off), and has planes in the Waiting to Land Box. Each carrier meeting the requirements can land 20 strenght points of planes (up to four full strength groups).

Move Planes: Planes that are being sent to attack the enemy move in a circuit. Planes may choose to stay in their box, or advance to the next box. The sequence of movement: Moving to Attack Box, Ready to Attack Box, Attacking Box, Heading Home Box, Waiting to Land Box. Fighter planes that are put in the CAP box move differently. See the CAP section below for details.

CAP attacks: Fighter squadrons that are assigned to fly CAP are initially placed in the center circle of the CAP Box. Each fighter squadron may attack enemy planes in the enemy's Ready to Attack Box. If there are enemy fighters in the Ready to Attack Box the attacking player must allocate an equal number of his fighters to battle them. Remaining CAP fighters, if any, can attack the bombers. Attacks on fighters and bombers should be resolved separately. Roll 1D6 for each fighter strength point in the dogfight, bombers do not get to fire back. All hits are considered simultaneous. Cross out one strength point on the opponent's base for every 4, 5, or 6 rolled. The attacker can decide how many of the bomber hits are inflicted on torpedo or dive bombers. After a fighter squadron flying CAP has made an attack it is moved out to the next ring in the CAP box. Fighters in the last ring of the CAP box are moved to the Waiting to Land Box. They must land to refuel and rearm. They may be launched again on a later turn.

Carrier Attacks: Each bomber group must choose which carrier it will attack and must be placed in the appropriate section of the Attacking Box. Fighters do not attack carriers, they should be moved to the Heading Home Box. All attacks against a carrier are resolved simultaneously for all the bombers that have been designated to attack it this turn. All the squadrons attacking one carrier are called an attack wave. Resolving AA: The player controlling the carrier under attack rolls dice to see how many planes in the attack wave are shot down. The dice are rolled only once against the entire wave, not against each individual bomber group. The Ship Data table indicates how many dice are rolled (Soryu 6, Akagi & Hiryu 7, Kaga 9, Hornet & Yorktown 12, Enterprise 12). The Carrier scores one hit for every 4, 5, or 6 rolled. The attacking players may choose which bombers are eliminated. If they can't agree then the hits should be distributed evenly, with the player with the most attacking groups receiving any extra hits. The surviving bombers in the attack wave then resolve their attacks against the carrier they are targeting. Dive-Bombers - Roll 1D6 for every surviving strength point. Every 5 or 6 scores one hit against the carrier. Re-roll any 6's and if it comes up 6 again score another hit against the carrier. Continue re-rolling 6's and scoring hits until there are no more 6's. Torpedo-Bombers - roll 1D6 per surviving strength point. A roll of 6 scores 2 hits on the carrier. Re-roll all 6's, and score one additional hit for every 6 rolled. Continue re-rolling 6's and scoring hits until there are no more 6's. Bombers that have completed an attack run are immediately placed in the Returning Home box. They must land and re-launch before they can make another attack run.

Launch Planes: A Carrier may launch planes only if it placed the planes on its flight deck during the previous planning phase. Bombers should be moved to the Moving to Attack Box. Fighters can either be placed in the center ring of the CAP Box, or placed in the Moving to Attack Box so they can protect the bombers.

Planning Phase - A carrier may launch up to 20 strength points of planes OR land up to 20 strength points in one turn. If the player is going to launch planes next turn he must put them on the flight deck of the carrier. If he wishes to land planes next turn he must leave the flight deck empty.

Repair Damage: Each carrier that has sustained damage may attempt to repair one damage point by rolling one die. A carrier may never have more than ten unmarked damage circles. Only one damage point may be repaired on each carrier each turn. A carrier that has been sunk may not be repaired. Japanese carriers may repair one point if they roll a 6. The Enterprise and Hornet may repair one point if they roll a 5 or 6. The Yorktown may repair one point if it rolls a 4, 5, or 6.

Damaged Carriers: Carriers are crippled when they have taken 7 or more hits. A crippled carrier can no longer launch or land planes. Any planes on the flight deck may not be launched. A crippled carrier can be repaired during the Repair Damage phase. A carrier that receives 10 points of damage is sunk and cannot be repaired.

Special Rule: Finding the Japanese Fleet. At the start of the game the Americans are looking for the Japanese Fleet. When the first wave of bombers is ready to move into the Ready to Attack Box they should be divided into 4 search groups. One die is rolled to determine which of the four has found the Japanese Fleet (re-roll if the die reads 5 or 6). The lucky group is immediately placed in the Ready to Attack Box. The other three groups must stay in the Moving to Attack Box. During their next turn the planes may move normally.

Download the files individually, or all at once: midway2.zip (480 KB)

US Fleet

US Boxes

Japanese Fleet

Japanese Boxes

Resources: