All At Sea Part One - by Nick Davis All At Sea is a series of guidelines for taking your Lord Of The Ring games off the land and onto the high sea. These rules have now been published in US WD295, even though no credit was given to the Author for his work. Due to a legal grey area concering copyright ownership I am able to bring you the All At Sea rules, here on the good old internet, and I am able to present them to the LOTR Gaming Community as a gift to say thank you all for your support.. Rules Mod Source - The All At Sea rules are a modied version of the Warhammer Boat rules found in the Warhammer supplement - The General Compendium written by Eric Sarlin and Jeremy Vetock. Picture Source - Warhammer Compendium & US WD295

Getting Your Feet Wet
The most important thing to remember is the basic mechanics of The Lord Of The Rings Strategy Game remain in effect. The only difference is Ships move in the Movement Phase before the crew do, the crew shoot in the Shooting Phase, and complete boarding actions in the Fight Phase. You can even use your Ships Captains Might to influence your rolls in the sameway.

When is a boat a ship?
According to naval lore, a ship is a vessel that carries other boats, like gigs and long boats, whereas a boat does not. These guidelines deal with ships exclusively, please refer to White Dwarf 290 River Rules for rules dealing with there smaller brethren boats.

The Ships of Middle Earth use two main types of propulsion, sails and oars. Most of the free races exclusively use sail, while the Corsairs of Umbar use a combination of sail and oars powered by galley slaves.

The Ships of Middle Earth vary in size and shape, obviously the smaller the ship the more maneuverable it is, but in turn its less durable than its larger brethren.

Below is a chart that outlines the general guidelines for ship size, including the ships length in inches, the minimum and maximum crew size, its defence value and batter points. These classifications are necessary to determine how the ship moves, how many crew it takes to man the ship, how powerful the ship is in a ram and perhaps most importantly how much damage the vessel can take before sinking.

Please note that theses are general guidelines to help players incorporate ships into your Lord Of The Rings games. Other ships designs are possible, but that is up to both player to agree on.

1. Crew - this is the minimum amount of crew needed to sail the ship.

2. Pirates of Umbar ships add +1 to their defence value due to the metal used in the ships construction.

3. Cavalry models are generally not found onboard ships, unless they are being ferried upon a transport ship. Even then the Riders would be dismounted, to be short Cavalry cannot fight onboard ships.

4. Large creatures like Trolls take up a lot of room and count as three models towards the maximum amount of models allowed upon your ship. However they cannot be used to sail the ship.

The Ships compliment can include most models you find in The Lord of The Rings rules manuals; The Fellowship of The Ring, The Two Towers, Shadow & Flame, The Return of The King and The Siege of Gondor can be included in your Warhost. Please use the guidelines below to work out your Ships compliment.

• A Ships Compliment must include at least one Captain or one named Hero to lead it.
• Evil Ships Compliment cannot include Gollum, Grima Wormtongue can only be included if Saruman is in the same Ships Compliment.
• A Ships Compliment taking Heroes that have rules related to a specific location always count as ‘Beyond the Borders of their Realm’.
• Named Heroes can only be taken once. Ie No multiple Lurtz
• An Evil Ships Compliment can include up to one Troll.
• Good Ships Compliment cannot include Gwaihir, or any Ents.
• No more than one half of the Ships Compliment total points can be spent on Heroes.
• No more than one third of the Ships Compliment total models can be armed with missile weapons. Note - Troops such as Trolls who can use terrain features as missile weapons cannot do so at sea.
• Up to one third of the Ships Compliment total points can be spent on Siege Engines.
• At least one third of the Ships Compliment total models must be Sailors*.

*Sailor entries can be found with Ships Captains below.

Regardless of size or movement type, a ship must have models that act as crew in order to move. The crew are the Sailors responsible for operating the ship. Each turn, the controlling player must nominate a number of models equal to or greater than the minimum crew size to operate the ship and do nothing else. Of course if your fighting off a boarding action this may be ignored. For instance, a Small Ship has a minimum crew of five. If the Small Ship contained twelve models, seven could shoot missile weapons (if they had any), while the remaining five crewed the ship. Don’t confuse the ship’s crew with other members of the ship compliment, which are separate, Marines and War Machine crew cannot operate the ship.

If, at any time, a ship has less than its minimum number of crew, the penalties are as follows.
• Ships with less than their minimum crew may move at only half speed.
• Ships with less than half their minimum crew (round down) may not move at all and are Adrift (see below).

In sum, models designated as crew in a given turn cannot shoot or fight (although they can defend themselves) – they are too busy making the ship move. Thus, each turn, it is vitally important to nominate which models are acting as crew and which are not.

Ship Speed
Ships of each type and size have different rules for their maximum speed (and some have rules for minimum speed under certain circumstances).

Sailing ships
Sail-powered boats are among the most common ships to be found in Middle Earth. The direction of the wind is pivotal to sailing ships, and good captains keep one eye on the enemy and the other on the weather. Even the worst imaginable shift in the wind can be turned into an advantage by an old sea dog!

Crew - Remember that each sailing ship requires a minimum number of crew to steer the ship, trim the sails, and carry out the captain’s orders (see above).

Speed* - All sailing ships move up to D6+8" each turn but are subject to the Sailing Special rules.
*Elven ships always add +2 to their sailing speed.

Maneuvering Under Sail Changing course while under sail is a little tricky, even more so for larger ships. Turning Radius. A single turn consists of pivoting the ship up to 45º and no more. Move Before Turn. Sailing ships cannot turn on a dime. Therefore, before doing any maneuvering, a ship must first move a minimum distance. The minimum distance a ship must move before and between any turns is listed on the Turning Chart below. Number of Turns. Some ships are more maneuverable than others. Smaller craft have an easier time of turning (they aren’t trying to redirect all that mass!). Note that the limitations count per 10" of movement (or fraction thereof).

Thus, should a ship move over 10", it may use a second allotment of maneuvers. For example, if a medium ship moved 14" in 1 turn, it could start off by moving 2", turn up to 45º, move another 2", turn again up to 45º, move 6" in a straight line (at which time it has moved 10" and is eligible for another set of maneuvers and could make two more turns), turn a third time, move 2", turn a fourth time, move 2". Remember the size and build of the ship will make a difference on how many turns it may make.

Sailing Special Rules Wind Direction. For our purposes, boats are always positioned with the wind at one of three relative directions: bow on, abeam, or astern. During a sea battle, it is important to mark down the direction of the wind if there are any sailing ships in play (wind direction rules follow on the next page). Sailing ships can move faster when the wind is astern, and there are movement penalties when ships turn into the wind (bow on). Wind-Aided Movement. When a sailing ship begins its turn with the wind astern, it may move an additional D6" (i.e., 2D6+8" instead of the usual D6+8"). A sailing ship that does not begin the turn with the wind astern may maneuver to take better advantage of the wind. Determine maximum movement as normal by rolling D6+8". If the ship maneuvers in such a way that the wind is astern before the ship moves more than half its maximum movement for that turn, the ship may add an additional D3" of movement to the end of its move.

Sailing into the Wind. Any sailing ship that starts its turn facing into the wind (bow on) moves up to 8" instead of D6+8". Any ship that turns into the wind (bow on) loses D6" from its remaining movement (if any) and may not make any other maneuvers that turn.

Determining Wind Direction
As the Captain of any sail-powered ship will tell you, keeping an eye on which direction the wind is blowing is the key to victory. The wind can be a fickle friend and is apt to change just when you most need it at your back. Charts for determining wind direction follow.

If a ship has Oars the Captain can decided to use his sails (and therefore his ship counts as a sailed ship that turn) or his oars and use the rules set out below.

Crew - Remember that each row boat or ship requires a minimum number of crew to steer and keep the vessels rowers (or at least Slave Overseers) in order power the vessel.

Speed - All oar-driven ships can move up to 5" a turn but can gain more speed with the special rule double time.

Rowed Ships Special Rules
Double Time - Before moving an oar-powered ship, the controlling player may call for a burst of frenzied rowing in order to go very quickly in a straight line either to ram an enemy or to get out of a tight spot. During this Double Time, only one turn may be made. The chart below to determine the bonus movement afforded by Double Timing.

Maneuvering By Oars
Ships with Oars can turn the ship on the spot at the start of their movement phase, pivoting the ship up to 45º and no more. Oar-driven ships get a number of free turns each round. These turns may be up to 45º. Any additional turns cost oar-driven ships 2" of movement. Oar-driven ships do not need to travel any distance between turns.

Remember the wind has no effect on oar-driven ships, unless its being used as Sailed Ship this turn. In addition Ships with Oars can be rowed backwards up to 5" a turn.

Adrift
Drifting occurs when a ship does not use any method of propulsion and is “dead in the water.” When a ship drifts, it moves D3" in the direction of the wind (or current if you are fighting in a river).

There are many reasons a ship may be Adrift. Its method of propulsion may have been destroyed (e.g., its sails or mast shot away), the number of crew could be below half the minimum complement, or the crew could be too busy fighting or shooting ranged weapons to sail the ship properly.

Attacking Ships
Middle Earth Ships do not have batteries of cannons and very few ships actually have any Siege Engines mounted on them. Those that do may have a catapult or bolt thrower strapped to their deck. These are always assumed to fixed in a forward position to fire out from the ships bow. Unless the weapon can swivel like the Avenger Bolt Thrower then all Siege Engines have a bow fire arc of 45º

If any Siege Engines are used boats count as Battlefield targets in determining scatter. The Siege Engine Operator can choose to target the ship or the crew. If the shot hits the ship remember to roll on the Batter chart is a wound is caused. If the shot hits any crew (which is possible with catapults) then those models follow the normal rules for being hit with a Siege Engine.

Ramming Speed
A favored method of attack used almost exclusively by the Corsairs of Umbar, whose ships are designed around this tactic. Other vessels may attempt it, but it is viewed as a desperate tactic.

A ship attempting to ram can do no more than a single turn of 45º or less on its course towards the enemy ship. The two factors that determine whether damage is caused are distance traveled (the build-up of momentum!) and the size of the ship.

A Ships base strength for a ramming attack is half its Ships sizes Defense (rounding down and taken in account modifiers). Then for ever inch traveled before striking the target, the ramming ship may add +1 to its base ramming strength to a maximum of 10, which in turn is effected by the following modifiers.

Thus, a medium ship that traveled 4" to hit its target would be striking at strength 8! If the ram wounds successfully, determine how many Batter points are caused to the target ships hull.

Rams - Any ramming ship that has a specially fitted ram on its prow may reroll a failed to wound roll. Additionally, the ramming ship will take a hit itself only on a roll of 6, regardless of relative sizes of the ships. This is pure WYSIWYG rule, the ship has to have ram modeled on it for this rule to be in effect.

Crushing Your Own Ship - The ship doing the ramming also places itself in great danger. If the ships are the same size or the ship being rammed is smaller, the ramming vessel only takes a hit on a roll of 5+. If the ramming ship is smaller, it will take damage on roll of 3+.

If the ramming ship takes a hit, use the same Strength value generated by the ram to see if any damage is caused. Should the roll to wound succeed, the collision causes D3 Batter Points to the ramming ship’s hull*.

Getting Stuck in - Anytime a player makes a ram that successfully wounds an enemy ship, the two vessels are Grappled together. To free a ship, its crew must attempt to Cut Loose and Shove off (see below).

Boarding Actions
If you are lucky a Siege Engine might immobilize a ship or even sink it, but more often than not, the way to take out another ship is by sailing close enough so that your warriors can leap aboard the enemy craft. This dangerous maneuver is called a boarding action, and any ship that is touching an enemy vessel may attempt such an attack! In these hotly contested combats, enemy decks may be swept clear of foes, and captured ships can be manned by your own loyal soldiers to rejoin the fight on a different side.

Getting Ships into Contact
For game purposes, there are two ways in which you can come into contact with an enemy ship for a boarding action: Headlong or Alongside.

Headlong - When the bow of one player’s ship makes contact with an enemy vessel’s bow or stern, or approaches the enemy’s side from a right angle, it is said to have made Headlong contact. This position makes for an ideal ram, but the crew will have less room to board from the bow of its ship. Alongside - Any contact that is not Headlong is said to be Alongside and generally indicates that the sides of both ships are touching.

A - Headlong B- Alongside

When ships make Alongside contact, realign both boats after all movement is complete to maximize the amount of hull-to-hull contact without changing the point at which the ship’s first made contact.

	Grappling - As an Attacking ship nears its target – whether in a Headlong or Alongside fashion – grappling hooks and gaffs are thrown to tie the ships together. Only when the Attacking ship approaches Alongside are the ships realigned to maximize the hull-to-hull contact at the point of impact.
As soon as the ships touch, they are Grappled. Ships that are Grappled are lashed together and count as adrift unless they meet at least one of the qualifiers below to Cut Loose.

Cut Loose - Cutting Loose or disengaging Grappled ships involves lots of rope cutting and casting off all the hooks and gaffs connecting the ships together. In order to Cut Loose, a ship must meet one of the following three conditions.

• There are less than half the enemy models on board at the end of the Fight Phase. If so the Captain may cut loose on a D6 roll of 4+.

• A larger ship may attempt to Cut Loose from a smaller one as long as there are at least two models who are neither engaged in combat or are not part of the minimum crew complement. These two models will Cut Loose successfully on a D6 roll of 2+.

• If all the foes on the enemy ship have been slain, the ship may automatically Cut Loose. Once a ship has successfully Cut Loose, it will Shove off.

Shove off - After a ship Cuts Loose, the crew Shoves off off with poles and gaffs, and the ship moves up to 4" in any direction nominated by the controlling player.

Prepare for Boarding! - This is a special move, when the ships are Grappled (and perhaps realigned if they made contact Alongside), both players are allowed to readjust their onboard models up to 1" to prepare for the upcoming boarding action. Defenders reposition models first.

Note this extra movement takes place only when ship are grappled at the beginning of the movement phase and before any of the crew models use their normal movement. This extra movement allows Captains to get their toughest fighters up front or to move yellow-bellied cowards a little further away.

Fighting the Boarding Action
Boarding actions are resolved in the Fight Phase. It is possible that boarding actions are occurring on the water while regular combats are being resolved on land. Either way follow the rules for fighting as described in The Lord Of The Rings rulebooks, with the following cravat for trapped fighters.

Trapped fighters who are up against the side of the ship may choose to jump over the edge and take a swim test. Instead of taking double wounds. If outnumbered and trapped by more than three models (double that for Trolls), the attacker can choose to either do double wounds or push the trapped fighter over the edge in the water.

Additional Rules
As stated in the introduction to this article, these rules are guidelines and are not intended to be the definitive Lord of the Rings rules for ship combat. As such, players will encounter situations not covered by the rules listed here and will be forced to improvise. Use the Lord of the Rings rules as a guide for things like Climbing, Jumping down, and Falling that might come up in your games.

Here are some additional rules that might help to cover some of these unusual situations. When in doubt, both players may make a case as to how to resolve the situation and either seek out a third party to make a ruling or roll a die to decide which player’s interpretation will resolve the situation.

Leadership at Sea - When it comes down to it, boarding actions are very brutal affairs, no quarter is given or asked for as the ships crew are fighting for their lives. As such neither Good nor Evil models take courage tests until their forces are reduced to quarter of their original strength.

Swinging - In typical swashbuckling fashion, models can choose to swing onto their opponents boat, overstepping the fight for the ships gunnels. Up to three models can choose to do this a turn, and can swing up to their maximum movement allowance. Take a jump test with a +1 to the dice score.

Models in the Water
Warriors and Heroes may attempt to swim through deep water. Indeed, if they have been tipped into the water as a result of a boat sinking or losing a fight, they’ll have no other choice. Swimming models are moved in the controlling player’s Move Phase. Roll a D6 for each swimming model and consult the Swimming Chart.

The only way a model can leave the water is if he makes landfall (highly) unlikely in the middle of the sea or he makes contact with a side of a Ship. If the latter the model will have to make a climb test to get back in the Ship.

Jumping In
Models may jump into the water in the same way that they would jump a gap (see the main rulebook). If a model falls into the water from more than twice its height, for any reason, it takes damage from falling in the normal way.

Ships Crew
The following are recommended guidelines for your Ships Crew, including a couple of new troop types and skills.

Ships Captain
They are the Master and Commander of their vessel, a Ships Captain has the power of life or death over the men in his command. Many are beloved of their crew, or rule through absolute fear.

The Free People
Ship Captain
Use the Captain of Men Entry
For Elf ships use the Elf Captain Entry.

The Forces of Evil
Corsair Captain
Use the Captains of Men entry

Up to one Hero can be nominated as the Ships Captain, and he can use his Might Points to call a Heroic Movement for his ship. In the same way you would for models on foot. Which can very useful to slip an opponents noose, or to call a boarding action.

Sailors
Toughened by the elements Sailors are a hardy bunch and are experienced in the nautical arts. Many Middle Earth races maintain a naval fleet, the Grey Havens, Dol-Amroth, the Pirates of Umbar and other much darker places have ships to do their bidding. All these ships are crewed by Sailors.

The Free People
Human Sailor
Use Wildmen of Dunland Entry (with the following additions)

Wargear
The base profile for a Human Sailor includes a hand weapon or double handed weapon

Elven Sailor
Use the Wood Elf Entry

The Forces of Evil
The Corsairs of Umbar have been preying on ships of Middle Earth of an age, they are a unkempt bunch bedecked in pillaged finery and body decorations.

Wargear
The base profile for a Corsair of Umbar. Any Corsair can be given additional items at the following extra cost:
Sword or two handed weapon Free
Bow 2pts
Armor 1pts

Special Rules: All Corsairs of Umbar count as Sailors when working out a Ships compliment.

Gamer Notes - The above guidelines are intended as a work in progress and have certainley got a few holes in them here and there. Try to work through them the best you can, and if you have any ideas of recommendations please feel free to email the author. Thanks to the nature of the Internet this page and guidelines are completely organic and will change from time to time.

I wish you luck with these guidelines and I hope they bring an extra dimension to your games. Which was there intent all along. Take them in the spirit they were intended and remember gaming is all about having fun. Winning is just a by product...
Domo arigato,
Nick Davis
LOTR Hobbyist.

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Legal Disclaimer. Altworld, Fight Dice MSGBS, Tales from the Dark City plug-in rules systems are designed by Nick Davis. No challenge to copyright status is intended. I am just a fanatical fan who wanted to show what you can do with a rules system, a change of setting, different models and a little imagination. So please don't panic and let us all enjoy the hobby! Contact me if you have a problem and I hope you don't. Now stop reading all this boring legal stuff and get back to enjoying the website and its ideas...