SPI/Pacific Theater of Operations Coral Sea Part I

[PassandReview]

Coral Sea 1942 Late April-Early May
Situation: After the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto replied with a complex plan that in theory would
be a decisive setback for the U S Pacific Fleet.
The U S Command aware of the developments sent a Task Force to disrupt Part I of the Japanese Plan to invade Port
Moresby and extend Japanese zones of control further south and east to cutoff Australia.
Quick Play Example Game Sequence:
1. Naval-Air Movement/Opposing Naval-Air Units may Intercept if in Range. Naval Unit Range for ships are ships in same
sea area of connected coastal Hex. Air Unit Range in Hexes is the # on the low right side of counter.
After the first side move and intercepts/the other side performs Naval-Air Movement subject to interception

1. Offensive/Attacks Combat Phase
2. End Phase- Determine Control of The 5 Sea Areas and Award 1 Point to side with Control. 1 Point Possible per Move Phase.
3. Ships return to base unless left on Station to maintain control of 5 Sea Areas
4. Repeat Process until all 6 Move Phases and Game play is ended.

Japanese have the initiative and move first. Thereafter, at start of each Move Phase a dr is made to determine who moves first
High dr # moves first.
The Game consists of 6 Move Phases /Night Action Option/Combat/End Phase
Control of The 5 Sea Areas determines Victory Conditions per Point Schedule/To have Control there must be
a Friendly Naval Unit in Each Sea Area with no opposing Naval Units present.Subs do not Count for Control.
There is a one time add to Japanese O B of 2 Heavy Cruisers placed at Rabaul when Japanese gain Control of The 5 Sea Areas
Note: Japanese CV Shokaku and CV Zuikaku and escorts are not avail 1st Move Phase/Delayed by Weather other factors. At the End
of Move Phase 1 they are placed on Port Rabaul.
* All Ships start Setup in Friendly Port
** Japanese must land 1-3 Engineer on Guadalcanal 1st Move Phase
Japanese Start O B /Standby Port Rabaul
1.Guadalcanal Landing Group Amphibious Assault
Destroyer x 2/0-8-48/ STP x 9/SNLF 4-3/Engineer 1-3/Supply Marker
Task Force moves directly to Guadalcanal and remains on Station until further notice.
2. 6-10 Bomber at Rabaul

Wild Card Option: The Japanese Player draws 5 Task Force Markers/Place 2 TF Markers on top of each other making 2 dummy Stacks
place the other TF Marker on Top of CVL Shoho/ Japanese player then randomly/blind draw 1 of the Stacks and places it at Rabaul
move phase 1. Remaining TF are set aside. The TF at Rabaul can only be revealed thru contact vs opposing Naval -Air Units. The TF
used as a decoy to one of the 5 Sea Areas may be one idea.

After Japanese Move/and opposing interception/ U S and Australia now proceed with their 1st Naval-Air Move Phase subject to interception
US OB Honolulu P Harbor Standby

1. CV Yorktown CV Lexington Each CV Naval Air x 3 3-3 quality 2/Destroyer x 4/0-8-48
2. Cruisers: Minneapolis/New Orleans/Astoria/Portland/Chester
3. Destroyer x 6

Australia/New Guinea Standby

1. Cruisers; Cranberra/Australia/Chicago
2. Submarine 2-8-26
3. Carirs 4-7 Bomber/Townsvilled 4f-7 Bomber/P Moresby 6-3 Inf/3-2 Fighter 1 quality/4-7 Bomber

Both sides use Task Force Markers if 3 or more ships are placed together form 1 group/ both sides recieve 1 dummy Task
Force Marker
Japanese OB 2nd Naval-Air Move Phase

1. Submarine x 2
2. CV Shokaku CV Zuikaku Each CV with Naval Air x 3 3-4 quality 2
3. CVL Shoho unless already in play with Naval Air 2-4 Quality 3
4. Destroyer x 5 /0-8-48
5. Cruiser x 4/ 2-10-48

POINT SCHEDULE
Control of a 5 Sea Areas +5
Loss of Control of 5 Sea A -5
Each Move Phase with
Control +1 Per Each Move Phase
Loss of CV -3
Loss of CVL -2
Loss Destroyer -1
Loss Cruiser -2
Loss Air Unit -1 per unit
Replacement Land
Air/Bomber Unit -1 Per unit
Repair Installation -1 per repair
Failure to Repair Installtion +2 to Air Bomber Units Side
The side with Lower loss point at end of move phase 6 wins.

NIGHT ACTION OPTION
Both sides may use Night Action one time during opponents Move Phase/No Combat or Interception occurs.
Ships may move into sea are with opposing Ships/No air combat or flying during night
Opposing Naval units in next combat phase then each make dr to determine who attacks first high dr first/the combat is
then in daylight CV s may attack with airstrikes.
* Installations that are not repaired no air units may attack or defend from those installatioans
** Both sides have Offensive and EP points to perform Naval Operations
*** After Spending 13 Move Points the Guadalcanal TF arrives at Guadalcanal the landing succeed s on any dr but if dr is 1 the
4-3 is lost to 1-3 is able to land/ if dr is 2-6 both land with supply marker

 

[PassandReview]

The Guadalcanal TF Moves east to avoid interception range of bombers New Guinea P Moresby

 

[PassandReview]

Additional Factors:
Japanese O/B add 6-10 Bomber at Rabaul
add Destroyer x 5 /0-8-48
add 6-10 Bomber Kwajalein
Port/Airbase Repair-Point Schedule/ The player states at turn Start the Facility is repaired and receives the -1 Penalty per Facility
Bombers must designate which facility is the target. P Moresby/P Harbor/Rabaul are Major Installations with Port and 2 Airfields Facility/Cairns and TownsVille are minor Port with 1 Airfield Facility
Turn 1 Move Phase End Japanese with Wild Card Task Force in the Gilbert Islands- and the Guadalcanal Landing
No interception as no Allied Units were in Interception Range.
Turn 1 U S Move Phase: The U S forms 5 Task Forces and Moves them to the Fiji Sea Areas- The # on the Counters from
left to right- Gunnery #/Armor#/Move Point #/ CV for ex have 40 Move Points. Moving from Pearl Harbor to Fijis expends
MORE than half of Avail MP of CV for example/CV cannot be placed on Standby for Offensive attack Phase , units are at the end of movement capability therefore are not at the ready. The U S Player route to detour away from possible Japanese Interception
at Gilberts , Kwajalein and Rabaul. U S Task Forces cannot Gain Control of any of the 5 Sea Areas noted with markers, for the same reason they cannot be placed on Standby.
Australia Turn Move Phase 1
Australia has a Sub in its O/B Submarines must leave Port First/ if a Different Type Rating leaves Port First the Sub must wait until
next Move Phase to Move. The Australia Move Phase will be detailed later.
Move cost to leave Port no cost, to enter Sea Area, blue hexes with Border is 5 MP
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1. CVs/CVL are not subject to Ship to Ship Gun Battery FIre and can be kept out of such exchanges. Each Sea area represents
approx 500 miles to roam around in. CV /CVL then have some advantage in control of a Sea Area

1. CV s/CVL are subject to Submarine attack. Any Australian/Allied Ships that leave Port may be in Range of the Japanese 6-10 Bombers at Rabaul /10 Hex Interception Range/ To be detailed later action will be detailed later
2. Control of 5 Sea Areas/ All 5 Sea Areas must be controlled to receive the + 5 Points/failure to maintain control of 1 Sea Area

by having a surface Naval Unit on Station does not result in loss of control of all 5 Sea Areas, failure to maintain control of all
5 Sea areas results in a -5 Point award

 

[PassandReview]

Japanese O/B Wild Card : place Destroyers x2 from start OB with CVL Shoho.
Details of Australian 1st Move Phase Continued
1. Cruiser Chicago leaves Townsville not MP Cost to leave Port/ staying close to coast beyond 10 Hex Range of Rabaul Bombers
moving to New Caledonia Sea Area/and can be placed on Standby/Battle Stations/ Chicago used half or less of it MP
5 MP per Sea Area
2. Cruiser Australia leaves Cairns along the Coast, moves to Brisbane Sea Area/Placed on Standby
3 Cruiser Cranberra at P Moresby will run the gauntlet, being within the 10 hex Range of Bombers at Rabaul.
Japanese Bombers wait until Cranberra enters the Sea Area/5 MP/ the Bombers declare both will intercept the Cranberra.
The Bombers move as a stack hex by hex starting from Rabaul. The Bombers avoid flying over P Moresby because fighters flying over friendly Port add one to their Gunnery #, in this case a 3, would be increased to 4.
The Australian 3-2/The 3 Gunnery #/2 Fighters Range in Hexes/ Fighter/quality rating 1/
The Fighter waits until the Bombers are within Range and declares the Fighter will intercept 1 of the Bombing Units.
One Fighter is able to intercept One Bomber, there would need to be 2 Fighters available.
The Bomber stop Temp in the interception Hex the Fighter makes its attack dr/add Gunnery # and Quality Rating = 4.
4 is the combat result of the interception/by making a dr to determine effect/ the Fighter dr is 3/ resulting in Step loss
of the Bomber, the Bomber returns to Rabaul, Place step loss bomber at Rabaul.
The other Bomber continues on its bomb run/the Cranberra remains intarget hex until interception is resolved.

* Land Based Bombers add +2 to atttack Dice Roll/Bombers with underscore Gunnery # is Halved vs Ships/ in this case from 6 to 3/ The Bomber may make 3 Bomb runs by making 3 DR s.
Dice Roll Bomb Run Results

1. DR of 4 /+ 2 Modifier = 6 Miss/ result must be = or higher than ship middle Armor # on Counter
2. 9+2 =11 Cranberra is hit and suffers step loss /flip counter over/ Armor is now 8
3. 6+2= 8 Cranberra is hit and sunk

The Score at this Point
Allies -2 Japan 0
Following Graphics
General Area/Overall Area / and Moves /Interceptions/ dr and DR s

 

[PassandReview]

This quick replay skips over Game Sequence: Step 1/Weather/2/Strategic Warfare/
Starts with Step 3 Naval-Air Phase

End of Move Phase 1 /Interception Phase/Combat Phase/ End Phase
The Japanese withdraw the Wild Card Task Force that was not used. The Wild Card is a One Time
Option. CVL Shoho would begin play start of Move Phase 2

End Phase 1- Cruisers Chicago and Australia can claim control of Sea Areas- Brisbane and New Caledonia.
Control is determined and the End Phase of Offensive Phase/Attack/ if there are no opposing Naval Units present
Control can be determined- if opposing Naval Units are in the same sea area- neither side has control even if
control was previously established.
Ships that are not on station in one of the 5 Sea Areas return to a Friendly Port/ U S Task Forces can use
Australian Ports.

Fighter vs Bomber result: the dr of 3 was less than the interception Fighters 4 Combat Factor, a dr of 4 or less
has effect.

 

[PassandReview]

PART II Coral Sea
Skip Weather and Strategic Warfare Phase begin with Naval-Air Phase
The Coral Sea Battle involved mainly Carriers for quick Airstrikes
For the Japanese the area of interest /Control of New Guinea/Port Moresby/
For the US Quick Raids on Japanese Carriers and Transports
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End Phase Australia 1st Move Phase
Cruisers; Australia and Chicago return to Friendly Port-Townsville/Cairns/P Moresby-
Both Cruisers are removed from map, exact Port destination is not disclosed
Start of Part II
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Before Start Both sides check the map/ if any opposing task force is in range of Friendly Air Unit
that side may claim Reconnaissance of that TF all opposing ships are placed on Map.
Make dr to determine who starts 2nd Naval-Air Phase
MISSION SCHEDULE
Make dr to determine Mission
Only Sea Area Missions are Repeated
U S/Australia Japan
dr 1 Airstrike Guadalcanal dr 1 Claim 1 Sea Area not already under control of either side
dr 2 Defend Townsville dr 2 Airstrike Port Moresby
dr3 Claim 1 Sea Area that is not under dr 3 Airstrike Cairns
control of either side
dr4 AIrstrike Buna or Rabaul dr 4 Defend Guadalcanal
dr 5 Defend P Moresby dr 5 Airstrike Townsville
dr 6 Claim 1 Sea Area not under any control dr Claim 1 Sea Area not under any control
* Notes ONLY CV s can claim control of a Sea Area /after control is gained any other Naval Ship /make be placed on station.
exc Submarines do not count for maintaining control
** Submarines disregard Mission Schedule carry out their own Operations
*** The side that loses both CV s must withdraw / Game Ends at that point

 

[PassandReview]

Note: Rabaul is within Range of P Moresby 4-7 Bomber- the Japanese Guadalcanal-Tulagi Task force should have
been bombed twice. The recent Japanese landing at Guadalcanal-Tulagi to build an Airstrip was another factor in sending U S Carriers to the Coral Sea.
Part II Continued:
Phase 2 start: with higher dr -Japan starts phase 2 with Mission dr of 3, Airstrike on Cairns-
all 3 CV s and CVL will Task Force to area near Buna to be within Range of P Moresby- the Bomber that
was step lossed in phase 1 will carry out the Mission- not all missions were a success-if the bomber is shot down
another mission is rolled for phase 3 of Game. If there is another dr of 3 re roll- if only sea area missions remain
dispense with dr and carry out Sea area missions.
The Point of having CVs and CVL are dissuade the P Moresby Fighter from intercepting the Bomber/the Fighter can be counter intercepted if it attempts to intercept the Bomber.
A side record of what ships are in a particular port should be kept for verification
Move Phase Start : a submarine from Rabaul leaves port- Submarines are not subject to interception while moving they are
subject to interception at END of Move in area they end that move if still in interception range.
Any other ships that leave Port could be intercepted by bomber at P Moresby/that then could be counterintercepted by
Japanese CV/CVL Fighters/ Japanese can use any friendly port not just Rabaul.

 

[PassandReview]

Part II Japanese Naval-Air Phase
The Step loss bomber clears P Moresby , and reaches Cairns is then shot down by US CV Fighters that were either at Cairns or
Townsend after Interception /a Fighter dr of 5 or less on interception to hit the Bomber/add fighter Strength and Quality 3+2 = 5
dr a 3.
Bomber is replaced at Rabaul.
Score at this point US/Allies -2 / Japan -2
Move on to US/Australia Mission dr
Mission dr is 4 Airstrike Buna or Rabaul/ Japanese CV/CVL can be in any Port
The Australian 4-7 Bomber carrys out the Mission to Buna over the Target the Bomb run Dice Roll is
3- The Bomber is hit by AA fire /return to P Moresby/no Damage to Buna Installation/2 Airfields and Port
a DR of 9 or more would be needed to destroy installation/Airstrip/Port/that would have to be repaired
at Start of next Japanese Naval Air Phase

 

[PassandReview]

Coral Sea Recap
Cranberra sunk/ Japanese Bomber Step Loss
Phase 1
Japanese Bomber Loss/ Australian Bomber Step Loss
Phase 2
U S gains 1 Sea Area Brisbane/Japan Gains 1 Sea Area
Phase 3
U S gains 1 Sea Area New Caledonia/Japan Defend Guadalcanal deploy 1 CV
Phase 4
U S defend Townsend/Japan Gain 1 Sea Area
Phase 5
US Mission Schedule Airstrike Guadalcanal/ Japan gain 1 Sea Area
The Japanese CV remained on Station for Defend Guadalcanal Mission/Units on defend mission can stay on station or move
after Opponents subsequent End Phase..
Phase 5 Combat/ 1 U S CV- Air Complement 3-3/2 x 3 Counters vs 1 Japanese CV / 3-3/2 x3 Counters
1 U S Counter detail as Fighter Bomber, must target Guadalcanal not CV / 1 Japanese Counter detail as FB to attack U S CV
1 US Fighter to attack Japanese FB/ 1 Japanese Fighter to Counter 1 U S Fighter Intercept of Japanese FB
1 U S Counter detail attack Japanese FB/1 Japanese counter detail to counter U S Fighter
Result Japanese FB Step Loss/Fighter Step Loss no damage to U S CV
U S FB Step Loss no damage to Guadalcanal
By this incidental CV Battle U S Gains Control of Guadalcanal Sea Area/U S now has 3 sea Areas
at End Phase Both CV s are stationed Guadalcanal Sea Area
Phase 6
Japan Moves First to take back Guadalcanal Sea Area using night option/
subsequent dr to determine who strikes first

 

[PassandReview]

Phase 6 Result Japanese use night option to move into Guadalcanal Sea Area/any Sea Area action continues until all opposing ships are sunk/or
opposing force withdraws
First Strike dr to Japan/ CV s of Both sides have 3 Aircraft Counters/CVL 1 Aircraft Counter/Aircraft may be designated as fighter or fighter bomber
Japanese CV s and CVL 7 Air Units as Fighter Bombers lead strike vs U S CV s in Guadalcanal Sea Area
U S CV s 6 Air Units as FIghters
1. First Japanese Bomb run with random selection dr /1-3 Yorktown/4-6 Lexington /
all 6 Fighter Bombers Hit/ fail to break thru fighter screen/ return to CV s
a. the Shoho Fighter Bomber 2-4/2 gets thru to make 2 bomb runs vs CV Yorktown /DR 5 miss/DR 11 HIT / 2 Bomb Runs per 2 Firepower # on Counter
Bomb Dice Roll must be equal or Greater than Target Armor # in this case 10
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2. US Airstrike vs Japanese CV s/ CVL Random Selection dr 1-2 Shoho/3-4 Shokaku/5-6 Zuikaku
6 U S Air Counters are Fighter Bombers in U S return strike
7 Japanese Air Counters can now be classified as Fighters
a. 2 U S Fighter Bombers step Loss/ 4 FB get thru
b. FB 1 3-3/2 Target Shokaku DR 11 HIT/DR 4/DR 4 MISS
c. FB 2 3-3/2 Target Zuikaku DR 5/DR 8/DR 5 MISS
d. FB 3 3-3/2 Target Shoho DR 7/DR7/DR 6 MISS Shoho Armor # 9
e. FB 4 2-3/2 Target Zuikaku DR 8/DR 6 Miss
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Japanese Withdraw after Heavy Air Losses and 1 CV damaged

U S Maintains Control of Guadalcanal Sea Area with 1 CV damaged
Point Schedule remains U S at -2 and Japan at - 2
End Game Result Draw

 

[PassandReview]

O/B adjustment
CV s U S or Japanese carry only 1 Naval Air Unit
U S Air Unit 3-3/ 2 quality
Japanese Air Unit 3-4/ 2 quality
CVL carry 1 Air Unit 2 combat factor/ ex 2-4/ 3 Japanese
CVE carry 1 Air Unit 1 Combat factor 1-3/ 3

Sequence of Play Explained
Skip over Weather Phase/ no effect per this scenario
Skip over Strategic Warfare/ Map area covers Coral Sea not Japan for Strategic Warfare
Naval-Air Movement/ Ships of both sides begin play in Port
Side with initiative moves first/ Movement Phase/the Movement Phase is when Task Force
moves to engage enemy forces or Bases.
During Movement interception occurs/there is no Movement Cost for this for Opposing
Naval Surface Forces within interception Range/Air Units there is Range Factor in Hexes
from Target Hex to the Aircraft Base Hex that is computed
there can be countless interceptions or Counter interceptions are resolved before attack phase
ATTACK Phase/Offensive Phase
Naval Surface Task Force that uses half or less of Movement Points/to move into attack position/is eligible to attack target hex/after moving into position/the Attack force can use 10 Movement to move into target hex sea area and attack/again interception can occur in each
separate move that occurs in each process/
Eligible Units are Marked Standby
AFTER Offensive Attack Phase/All Ships Return to Port or face possible out of supply situation
In Small Actions like Coral Sea/ scenarios/ the basic Naval Move and Combat and End Phase
can be repeated without going thru the entire Sequence of Play regimen