Civil War OnLine

Wood, Iron, Steam, and Canvas

Rule Book

Last modified July 25, 2022


This document provides a basic overview to the rules of Wood, Iron, Steam and Canvas (WISC), the naval combat module of the Civil War OnLine (CWOL). A player who has read and understood these rules should be able to command ships in WISC. New players should start with the rules summary before going through this document. Some details of the rules that are not required for low-level command of ships can be obtained by clicking on the [More Details] links within this document.

The rules are divided into ten sections:

 

1. Map

1.1.  WISC takes place on two maps, one showing American waters (the Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic ocean) and one showing European waters (the Baltic, Mediterranean, and North Seas, and the eastern Atlantic ocean), as well as on the navigable river squares of the ROTD map (see ROTD rule 1.3).
1.2.  Each WISC map is divided into four types of smaller area; harbors, river mouths, coastal waters and sea areas. Sea areas are open ocean not near the coast, and contain a number of smaller tactical areas which do not correspond to any particular part of the map. Coastal waters are ocean that is near the coast, while harbors and river mouths are on the boundary between land and water. Each river mouth is also a river square on the ROTD map. Seven harbors are also river mouths: New York City (Hudson River), Brooklyn (East River, south entrance), Hampton VA (James River), Plymouth NC (Roanoke River), New Bern NC (Neuse River), Beaufort SC (Broad River), and Galveston TX (Trinity River).  Any ship at sea is located in either a sea area, a coastal waters, a harbor, or a river mouth. Ships may also be in navigable river squares on the ROTD map.
1.3.  Each coastal waters is connected to exactly one sea area. Examples: Cape Fear coastal waters is connected to the Georgia Coast sea area; Pensacola coastal waters is connected to the East Gulf Coast; London coastal waters is connected to the North Sea. Exceptions: Pamlico Sound and Albemarle Sound are not connected to any sea area. Ships enter and exit Albemarle Sound via a river square at Roanoke Island (K7-V0) which then admits them to Pamlico Sound. Ships enter and exit Pamlico Sound via a river square at Hatteras Inlet (K7-V3) which then admits them to Outer Banks coastal waters (see rule 6.9 below). Upper Chesapeake is connected to the Mid-Atlantic Coast sea area, but traffic must pass through Lower Chesapeake coastal waters to travel from one to the other (see rule 6.10 below).
1.4.  Each ocean port's harbor and each river mouth is connected to exactly one coastal waters, in a specific direction. Inland river ports are not connected to any coastal waters. Example: Charleston harbor is connected to Charleston coastal waters. Morehead City harbor is connected to Cape Fear coastal waters. The mouth of the Cape Fear River is also connected to Galveston coastal waters. A coastal waters area may be connected to the harbors of one or more ocean port cities, or the mouths of one or more navigable rivers. Example: the Connecticut coastal waters is connected to two harbors (New Haven and New London) and two river mouths (the Connecticut River and the northern end of the East River).  When sailing out of a harbor or river mouth, a ship must sail to the connected coastal waters, and thence to the connected sea area. In order to sail into a harbor or river mouth, the ship must be located in the connected coastal waters, or be located in the sea area connected to that coastal waters, and sail through the connected coastal waters en route to the harbor or river mouth. Example: Beaufort SC and the mouth of the Savannah River are connected to the Savannah coastal waters, which is connected to the Georgia Coast sea area. A ship sailing out of Beaufort or the Savannah River cannot sail directly into the Bahamas sea area nor into the Brunswick coastal waters. It must first sail to the Savannah coastal waters, then to the Georgia Coast sea area, then to another sea area or another coastal waters. To sail from Beaufort to the Savannah River, a ship must sail to Savannah coastal waters, but does not need to sail to the Georga Coast sea area. Exception: Ships may sail from Boulogne coastal waters to NOS sea area and from Gibraltar coastal waters to SOA sea area even though these are not the sea areas to which the coastal waters are connected (see rule 6.8 below).
1.5.  Each sea area has a name and a three-letter code; when referring to sea areas in orders, use the three letter code. For each sea area there are chances for the winds to blow in various directions, and a list of sea areas to the north, south, east, and west of the given sea area. On each turn, winds are blowing in a particular direction in each sea area and are either light, moderate, or heavy. There may also be storms in each sea area during the turn; the chance of storms is higher the heavier the winds are. Table of sea areas.
1.6. Each coastal waters has a name and a four-letter code; when referring to coastal waters in orders, use the four letter code. Each harbor is referred to by the name of the port city (check spelling carefully) and each river mouth is referred to by the strategic square of the first square of the river. Example: the mouth of the Savannah River is I2-X4. Each harbor and river mouth also has an exit direction. The winds in each coastal waters are the same as the winds in the sea area to which the coastal waters is connected. Table of seas areas, coastal waters, harbors, and river mouths. Information about coastal waters, harbors, and river mouths can also be obtained by clicking on them in a WISC map.
1.7.  There are three types of port cities: ocean ports, off-ROTD-map ports, and river ports. Ocean and river ports are also cities on the ROTD land warfare map of the United States. Units and supplies may be moved by water in WISC, then placed back into ROTD at an ocean or river port. Off-ROTD-map ports are not on the ROTD land warfare map. Units and supplies in off-ROTD-map ports are part of the garrisons of those ports, and operate under the rules for amphibious operations below, but do not take part in ROTD. All European ports are off-ROTD-map; most American ports are on-ROTD-map, but six are off-ROTD-map. All off-ROTD-map ports are foreign-held except for two, Ship Island and Dry Tortugas.
1.8.  The European waters map and the American waters map are not connected directly. Ships leaving the west edge of the European map sailing west, or the east edge of the American map sailing east, enter the Atlantic Ocean, and remain there for several turns before arriving on the other map. While in the Atlantic Ocean ships do not report, nor can they receive new orders, until they arrive at their destination.
1.9.  The ROTD map contains a number of river ports, which have some of the same functions as ports on oceans, including handling stores and building and repairing ships.
1.10.  Sea areas, coastal waters, harbors, and river mouths which contain one or more ships are marked with ship icons. Blue ships represent Union ships, red ships represent Confederate ships. A square may be marked with more than one ship if it contains ships of more than one of these categories.

Sample Sea Area map - Northern Caribbean

This Needs Updating In a Big Way, and Soon Will Get It. But Not Yet.
Bahamas
 
Western Caribbean
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOC
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Southwest Atlantic
 
Southern Caribbean
 

2. Ships and Transport Groups

2.1.  There are eight kind of naval vessels in WISC. Three of them are capable of sailing in sea areas,, but not in rivers except for unbridgeable rivers (see ROTD rules section 1.3). These three are Ironclad (IC), Frigate (FR), and Sloop (SL). Two types, Gunboat (GB) and Transport Group (TR), can sail in unfordable rivers as well. The final three types can sail in unfordable rivers, but cannot go to sea areas. These are River Ironclad (RI), River Gunboat (RG), and River Transport Group (RT). All eight ship types can sail in harbors, coastal waters, and unbridgeable rivers.
2.2.  Each ship has a state, a type, and a number. US1FR is the first Union frigate and CS23RG is the twenty-third Confederate river gunboat. Ships also have names, which are chosen automatically from a list of historic names. Each ship is rated for number of crew and Marines, quality, morale, experience, naval stores aboard, and damage to hull and propulsion. Quality represents the innate abilities of the officers and men of the ship. Experience represents their sailing experience and exposure to combat over the course of previous campaigns. Ships gain one point of experience each campaign turn spent in a sea area or coastal waters of a port, and also gain experience in battle. At the end of each season, ships in harbor (but not those at sea) lose a fraction of their experience, reflecting turnover of men within the unit and the effects of inactivity if they have not been gaining experience at sea. Morale represents their elan and willingness to fight. (Note: Morale is not currently used by WISC, but may be used in future expansions.) Hull and propulsion damage vary from 0 (undamaged) to 5 (maximum damage). Ships sink if hull damage reaches 5.
2.3.  Each ship has a commander and a deputy commander, both of whom receive reports from the unit and can send orders for it. Commanders and deputy commanders are assigned by the Naval Secretary of the ship's state. Each player has a password that identifies him or her as the commander or deputy commander of his or her ships.

Sample Ship Report - Virginia (CS1RI)

Commander: Franklin Buchanan
 Deputy: Catesby ap Roger Jones
Location: Hampton harbor (mouth of James River)
 Base: Norfolk
Quality: Good Experience: 11 Morale: 2 Stores: 5
Crew: 250 Marines: 0 Hull Damage: 0 Propulsion Damage: 2
Attached Ships
CS1GB, CS2GB
Ships Visible
Allied ships: CS1GB, CS2GB in harbor
Enemy ships: US3FR, US5SL, US1IC at sea
Land Units Visible
CS2IN

2.4.  Transports groups have states, numbers, and the type TR; thus, US4TR is the fourth Union transport group. Transport groups are rated for the same items as ships are, excluding rams, and are also rated for capacity. Capacity indicates the amount of troops, ROTD supplies, and extra stores and sailors the transport group can carry (see the rules on transporting units and supplies for details). Transport groups also have commanders and deputy commanders, and in general operate in the same way that ships do.

Sample Transport Group Report -  US3TR

Commander: Don Federico Gravina Deputy: Jose de Palafox y Melzi
Location: Atlantic Ocean (sailing to West Atlantic) Base: Boston
Quality: Fair Experience: 3 Morale: 2 Stores: 11
Crew: 500 Capacity: 5000 Hull Damage: 0 Rigging Damage: 0
Carrrying:
US16IN, 15 supplies
Ships Visible
US2SL

2.5.  Transport groups controlled by the same state can be combined if they finish a turn in contact with one another; they can also be divided into two smaller groups. Transport groups so combined or divided may not have capacities greater than 20,000 or less than 2,000. To divide a transport group or combine two or more, submit orders to combine or divide transport groups.
2.6.  Ships may be active or inactive. Transport groups cannot be inactivated. When inactive, ships do not appear on the map, do not use stores or supplies, and do not give intelligence reports. Ships can only be inactivated in ports of their home nation, under control of their home state, not in off-map ports. They cannot inactivate in the presence of hostile ships. Reactivating an inactive ship takes four campaign turns. If an inactive ship is in a port which is captured, or if enemy ships are in the harbor and no friendly ships or shore guns are present, then the capturing/entering nation can choose to capture or destroy the inactive ships. That nation scores points, and the nation losing the ships loses points, equal to those for sinking or capturing the ships in a sea battle. If the ships are captured, they will be captured with 0 crew, and the capturing nation will need to transfer crew from its own ships to sail them.
2.7. Crew can be transferred between warships, and from warships to TRs and RTs, except that RTs and TRs must not be reduced below 1 crew per 10 capacity. To do so the ships must be in the same location. If in a sea area they must be able to see one another - if in a port, they must both be in harbor, or both in the coastal waters. There must be no enemy ships present in that location. Crew can only be transferred from transport groups if the group retains at least 1 crew per 10 capacity after the transfer. Ships may not be left with less than 70 crew (limit to change) as a result of a transfer, unless the ship is immediately scuttled. ICs and RIs are limited to 200 crew, FRs to 350 crew, SLs to 200 crew, and GBs and RGs to 150 crew. TRs and RTs have 1 crew per 10 capacity. They can carry crew above this amount; each crewman above 1 per 10 capacity takes up 1 space of capacity.

3. Turn Sequence

3.1.  WISC is played as a sequence of turns. A campaign consists of 12 turns. WISC turns run at the same time as the ROTD turns of the campaign.
3.2.  Each turn is divided into a series of phases; the repair phase, supply phase, initial amphibious phase, combat phase, movement phase, final amphibious phase, and intelligence phase.
3.3.  In the repair phase ships conduct repairs. Ships in same-side or actively allied ports that do not have orders to sail out will repair one point of hull damage and all propulsion damage in the repair phase of each turn. A port cannot repair more ships than its yard capacity, minus the number of ships it is building. Transport builds do not count against this limit (but transport repairs do). Other ships will repair one point of propulsion damage per turn, but will not repair hull damage.
3.4.  In the supply phase, ships and transport groups consume stores, and ships and transport groups in port may load stores aboard. Ships and TRs at sea or in the coastal waters of ports use 1 unit of onboard stores per turn. Ships and TRs in harbor will use stores from the port city if available, and will consume onboard stores if not. Ships in same-side or actively allied harbors may load up to their maximum stores if the port city has stores available to load. A port cannot reprovision more ships than 4 plus 2 times its yard capacity. Maximum stores is 24 for FRs and TRs, 12 for SLs, 8 for ICs and GBs, 6 for RI and RGs and RTs. A transport can carry additional stores; each additional store uses 20 spaces of capacity. If a ship that is in port has more stores than the amount it requested to carry in orders, it will unload the rest back to the port from which it is drawing stores. There is no way to transfer stores from one ship to another. Ships that use their last remaining store or have no stores aboard, and are not in a friendly port,, stop responding to orders except for base change orders. They will automatically sail to their base port; they will accept orders to change base to friendly-controlled port. When they reach base, they will have to draw one store for each turn they were out before reloading stores in the hold. Ships in friendly ports will accept orders, but if they do not load at least one store into their holds (in addition to the store consumed on the coming turn) their movement orders will be cancelled. (Note: the term "supplies" is never used for ship stores; it refers exclusively to supplies for land units in ROTD.) 
3.5. The Naval Secretary can order stores moved from one port or inland city to another if the ports (cities) have a line of contact between them not longer than 4 strategic squares. Two cities are in contact with one another if two units in those cities would be in contact (see ROTD rule 10.2). Stores may also be moved from one port to another if both ports are connected to the same sea area or adjacent sea areas, and there are no hostile ships in either port, and in the connected sea area(s), there are not more enemy warships raiding commerce than there are friendly warships convoying commerce. Stores can also be moved by river and rail if the cities or depots or caches have a valid rail or river path between them and are within 40 squares for a rail move or 30 squares for a river move. Stores may be moved only from the port in which they began the turn (ie, stores cannot make two consecutive moves on one turn) and no port may originate movement of more than 60 units of stores per turn. Stores moves through inland cities count against the limit of 60 supplies moved through those cities.
3.6.  In the initial amphibious phase, transports begin loading or unloading units and supplies into or from ROTD (see rules section 9 below).
3.7.  In the combat phase, battles take place. Ships in harbors and river mouths may move out to the coastal waters to join a battle, and ships in coastal waters may move into any connected river mouth or harbor to join a battle. Ships in sea areas may not move to join battles, but may only fight ships with which they are already in contact.
3.8.  In the movement phase, ships and transports move one sea area. After this movement, winds may change and storms may appear (see rule 8.1 below). Ships and transports may then, winds permitting, move a second sea area.
3.9.  In the final amphibious phase, transports complete loading and unloading begun in the initial amphibious phase, and combat in off-ROTD-map ports occurs.
3.10.  In the intelligence phase, naval intelligence is generated.
3.11.  At the end of each turn, every player will receive two reports. The first one contains a list of all events that happened during the turn that were observed by the player's ships, transports, and frigates. The second one contains maps and status reports showing the positions of the player's ships and transports at the start of the following turn. At the beginning of each campaign players will receive the position report showing the positions of their ships and transports at the start of the campaign.

Click here for the full CWOL campaign turn sequence

4. Submitting Orders

4.1. Players send orders for each ship and transport group, for each turn, at the WISC Ship Order Desk. The orders sent govern the actions of the ship/transport during the turn. If multiple orders are sent, the last one sent by the commander is accepted, and the last one sent by the deputy commander is accepted if the commander sent none.
4.2. If a ship or transport group is attached to another ship or transport group (see rule 4.4) then the orders for the attached ship are automatically copied to the attaching ship. Example: If US5SL and US8SL are attached to US2L, then orders sent for US2SL are copied to US5SL and USSL. No orders need be sent for US5SL and US8SL unless the players desire to detach them from US2SL. If orders are sent for US5SL and US8SL, and those orders do not detach the ships from US2SL or attach them to a different ship, then those orders will not be carried out, because they will be replaced by the orders copied over from US2SL. Exception: Amphibious orders sent for transport groups are not copied to other ships attached to the transport group, and amphibious orders sent for a transport group will not be replaced with orders from the ship to which the transport group is attached. [More Details] Attachment has no other effect on ships; in particular, it does not affect whether two ships move together or not in the movement phase (they generally will do so because their orders will be identical, but ships which are not attached but have been sent identical orders are equally likely to move together). Ships which are attached to other ships will remain attached on subsequent turns until they are explicitly detached, or until they finish a turn out of contact.
4.3.  The order form is divided into seven sections. In the first section, players type the ID of the ship or transport group for which they wish to send orders, and their password to identify themselves as commander or deputy commander. Ships are always referred to by ID, never by name, in orders.
4.4.  In the second section, players indicate whether they want to attach or detach their ship to/from another ship, and if they wish to attach, what ship they wish to attach to. To attach, you must click the Attach box and enter a valid ship ID. Ships and transport groups may attach to any other ship or transport group in the same tactical area, but you may not attach a ship to a second ship which is itself attached to a third ship. That is, if CS2SL is attached to CS3SL, then CS1SL may not attach itself to CS2SL. A ship or transport group may attach to ships and transport groups of other states. To detach a ship from another ship and attach it to a third, simply check the Attach order and enter the name of the new ship; do not click the Detach order in this case.
4.5.  In the third section, players indicate desired movement for their ships/transports. They can indicate one or two sea areas to which the ship/transport should move, and one coastal waters, one harbor, and one river strategic square to which the ship/transport should move. They can also specify movement to any coastal waters with an enemy ship instead of naming a specific coastal waters. If there are enemy ships in more than one adjacent coastal waters, one of the enemy ships is selected at random and the moving ship goes to its location. Players can specify at what time the ship should move to coastal waters, harbor, or rivers. They can specify if, during the desired movement, they want to halt of they detect an enemy unit (active or inactive) or an enemy pontoon bridge (also active or inactive). Last, they specify whether they want to sail together with other ships with the same movement orders with which they are in contact, or sail alone.
4.6.  In the fourth section, players indicate desired contact orders. Ships can choose to pursue enemy ships encountered, evade them, or accept contact. Pursuit means the ship will follow after enemy ships you encounter if they sail away, abandoning existing movement orders to do so, except that they cannot pursue ships evading battle or fleeing from battle (see rules 7.4 and 7.8 below). Accept means the ship will accept contact if enemy ships remain, but will not follow if they leave. Evade means you will avoid contact with enemy ships if sighted, and escape contact when possible if you cannot avoid it. Ships giving pursue or evade orders may specify both a minimum number and a maximum number of enemy ships to pursue or evade. If a ship specifies neither of them, then it will pursue or evade any number of enemy ships it encounters. If its specifies only a minimum number, then it will pursue or evade if it encounters that number or more, otherwise it will accept contact. If ir specifies only a maximum number, then it will pursue or evade if it encounters that number or fewer, otherwise it will accept contact. If it specifies both, then if the minimum is less than the maximum, it will pursue or evade only if it encounters a number in that range (inclusive), otherwise it will accept. If the minimum is less than the maximum, then it will pursue if it encounters the minimum or more, or the maximum or less. Example: If a ship specifies a mininum of 2 and a maximum of 10, it will pursue 2 ships or 3 ships, or 9 ships or 10 ships, but not 1 ship or 11 ships. If it specifies a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 2, then it will pursue 1 ship or 2 ships, or 10 ships or 11 ships, but not 3 ships or 9 ships. Ships can also choose whether to join allied ships they encounter and sail together, or to sail separately. Last, they choose whether to manuever for windward gauge or leeward gauge upon meeting enemy ships. The ship's choice of contact orders may be limited by its intended commerce orders, or whether it is maintaining a blockade. [ More Details ] Ships with Evade checked may not Join Allies, as they never approach the allied fleet to join it.
4.7.  In the fifth section, players indicate desired combat orders. Ships can choose to engage enemy ships, accept battle if the enemy offers it, evade battle, or run past enemy ships (offering battle but breaking it off quickly). They can choose, if in battle, to maneuver for leeward or windward gauge, to engage in line ahead or to break the enemy's line (this will probably be removed), and to aim at enemy superstructure or enemy hulls. They can choose whether they want to run past any river batteries they encounter in combat, if they escape the battle. They can also choose, if they retreat from a battle in coastal waters, to attempt to go to harbor, a river mouth, or to open sea (success is not guaranteed). They can also indicate a desire to bombard a land tactical square in ROTD.
4.8.  In the sixth section, players indicate desired orders for encountering commercial shipping. Ships can choose to raid enemy commerce, convoy their own commerce, or ignore commercial shipping entirely.
4.9.  In the seventh section, ships/transports indicate how many naval stores to load, and if transports, indicate orders to load or unload units or supplies from/to ROTD.
4.10.  In general, players may submit orders in all sections in any combinations they desire.
4.11.  If a ship/transport fails to send orders, and does not receive orders from an attached ship, then default orders will be carried out. The ship/transport will not move, will not change its attachment if any, will load to full store capacity if located in a harbor, will not load or unload units or supplies if a transport, will accept contact with other ships, will join allies, will accept combat, will maneuver for leeward gauge, will engage line ahead, will not break enemy lines, and will fire at enemy superstructure. 

5. Detection

5.1.  A ship or transport group will detect an enemy ship or transport group if it is contact with it. Two ships are in contact if they are in the same tactical location of the same sea area, or in the same coastal waters, or in a harbor or river mouth attached to the coastal waters. Ships and transport groups in the same sea area but different tactical locations are not in contact. Ships in rivers are in contact only if they are in the same strategic square, and only a ship in the river mouth strategic square is in contact with a ship in the coastal waters to which the river mouth is attached. Two ships on rivers will also detect one another if they are in adjacent squares. Ships in rivers or in on-map harbors will detect NB units in adjacent strategic squares and other land units only in the same strategic square. A ship will list the identities of all ships with which it is in contact in its position report (see sample report in rule 2.3). Ships will report whether enemy ships are to windward or to leeward; if in port, they will also report whether the enemy ships are in harbor or in the coastal waters. A player's position report maps will show ship icons in all places where his or her ships/transports (those on which he is commander or deputy commander) are in contact with other ships/transports.
5.2.  Ships located in an ocean port's harbor will automatically report the identities of ROTD units in that port's tactical square, and have a chance to report the identities of ROTD units in the port's strategic square but not in its tactical square. Units in the strategic square (whether in the city tactical square or not) will receive reports of the ships in the port. Garrisons of off-ROTD-map ports will report the presence of ships and frigates in those ports to the Naval Minister with a one-turn delay. Ships in river squares (including river mouths) detect units in the strat square only if the units are friendly, are NB units, or are in a tactical square adjacent to the riverbank. Ships in coastal waters don't detect land units, but land units do detect them (units can move out of sighting range and send an observer to look for ships; ships have no comparable way to evade detection while retaining vision).
5.3.  At the end of the turn, any ship in a sea area which has not moved and is not in the presence of an enemy ship has a chance to detect other ships in the same sea area. They will not do so if their contact order is Evade, and if they have orders not to join allies, they will not join allied groups of ships. (They may be joined by other ships that detect them, however, even the detected ships have orders not to join allies. This may change later on.) [More Details]
5.4.  During the intelligence phase, players will receive reports of the presence of ships that started the turn in the same sea area or port as their ships ended the turn. The ships so reported may have sailed to new locations during the turn. These reports may not be accurate, and the number of ships reported may not be accurate. 

6. Movement

6.1.  A ship or transport group can submit five orders for movement; two for sea areas and one each for coastal waters, harbor, and river. Moves to the harbors of ocean ports, whether on-map (e.g. Charleston SC) or off-map (e.g. Ship Island LA) go in the harbor order box. Moves to all river squares, including river mouths and inland river ports, go in the river order box. They can be given either as strategic squares or as port names (e.g. you can order a ship to K3-S4 or to Baltimore). There are seven ocean harbors that are also river mouths: Galveston TX, Beaufort SC, New Bern NC, Plymouth NC, Hampton VA, Brooklyn NY, and New York NY. Moves to them may be ordered in either the harbor order box or the river order box. However, you cannot order a move to a river port (e.g. New Orleans) in the harbor order box, and you cannot order a move to an ocean port (e.g. Charleston SC) in the river box or by its strat square coordinates, unless you are going to one of the seven harbors that are also river mouths. A ship that makes a sea area move cannot make a river move on the same turn, except that it can enter a river mouth in preparation for sailing upriver the following turn. All other combinations of moves are permitted; a ship can order as many moves as the order form holds and all will be used if possible.
6.2.  Ships and transports in sea areas may move to another sea area only if it is adjacent to their current sea area. They can move to coastal waters if the coastal waters are connected to their current sea area, and they can move to harbors or river mouths if they are connected to a coastal waters which is connected to their current sea area. In the latter cases, the ship does not need to order a move to the coastal waters; the ship will automatically move through the coastal waters en route to the harbor or river mouth. They can also sail to river squares that are 10 or fewer squares upriver from a connected river mouth. Example: A ship in Georgia Coast sea area can move to Mid-Atlantic Coast, Bermuda Triangle, or Bahamas sea areas, but not to Western Atlantic. It can move to Savannah coastal waters, or to the mouth of the Savannah river at I2-X4, or to I0-X1 which is five squares up the Savannah River, or to the harbor of Beaufort. But it cannot move to Hatteras Inlet because that river mouth is connected to the Mid-Atlantic Coast sea area, not Georgia Coast.
6.3.  Ships in coastal waters wishing to sail to open sea may only be ordered to move to the sea are connected to that coastal waters, except as in 6.8 below. They can also sail to any river mouth or harbor that is connected to the sea area. They can also sail to river squares that are 10 or fewer river squares upriver from a connected river mouth.
6.4.  Ships in harbors or river mouths may only sail to the coastal waters to which the harbor or river mouth is connected, or to the sea area to which the coastal waters is connected, or in the case of a river mouth, to an upriver river square. Ships in harbors or river mouths wishing to sail to a different river mouth or harbor that is connected to the same coastal waters must order a move to the coastal waters, then to the destination. The move to the coastal waters must be explicitly ordered. When ships in river mouths or harbors order a move to a sea area, they do not need to order a move to the coastal water; the ship will automatically move through the coastal waters en route to the sea area.
6.5.  Ships that are in river squares and within 10 squares (inclusive) of the mouth of the river, may sail to the coastal waters or sea to which the river mouth is attached, subject to the same rules as if they were in the river mouth strat square. It is not necessary for ships within 10 squares of the mouth of the river to order a movement to the river mouth if they wish to sail to coastal waters or sea; further, since river movement is done after ocean movement, if a ship does order a move to the river mouth, it will be carried out at the end of turn (if possible at that time) causing the ship to return to the mouth of the river on which it began the turn. Ships that are within 10 squares of the river mouth, but not in the river mouth square, may not join combats in the river mouth strat square or the coastal waters in the way that they could if they were in the river mouth strat square itself (see rule 7.1 below). Ships that are 11 or more squares away from the river mouth may not sail to the coastal waters or sea, but must make a river move to the river mouth (or within 10 squares of it) and then move to the coastal waters or sea the following turn.
6.6.  Ships in river squares, including river mouths, which have not made a sea area move earlier in the turn, can sail up to 20 squares per turn along the river, but their movement is halted if they encounter enemy ships or shore batteries during the move. Ships that have made one sea area move earlier in the turn can sail up to 10 squares; ships that have made two sea area moves cannot sail on the rivers at all, except to enter the river mouth. Ships that have orders to halt on detecting an enemy unit or an enemy pontoon bridge are limited to only 8 squares per turn along the river (even if they have already made one sea area move).
6.7. Ships in harbor or river mouth may not sail to a coastal waters when hostile groups of ships are in the harbor/river mouth or the coastal waters, except at the start of the combat phase (see rule 7.1); this requires them to fight to exit the harbor or river mouth if the hostile ships wish to give battle. Similarly, ships in coastal waters may not enter a harbor or river mouth if hostile ships are present, except at the start of the combat phase. Ships in coastal waters may sail to the attached sea area, but may not sail to a harbor or river mouth if hostile enemy ships are present (either in the coastal waters or the harbor or river mouth) except at the start of the combat phase; this prevents entering the harbor without offering battle to a hostile ship off the coast if there is one, and gives ship commanders the opportunity to see enemy ships in a harbor if any before entering it.
6.8. Two coastal waters are located on a strait on the borders between two sea areas. Gibraltar is on the border between SOA and WMD, and Bolougne is on the border between ECH and NOS. This affects movement in two ways. First, ships in either of the sea areas adjoining the coastal waters may sail directly to the coastal waters, not just ships in the sea area to which the coastal waters is connected, and ships in the coastal waters may sail to either sea area. Example: ships in Gibraltar coastal waters (or harbor) may sail to either SOA or WMD, and ships in either SOA or WMD may sail to Gibraltar. (Note that Gibraltar is not connected to SOA; it remains connected to WMD only for purposes of weather, sighting, etc.) Second, ships moving from one of those sea areas to the other must pass through coastal waters, where they may be detected and/or pursued; e.g., ships moving between SOA and WMD must pass through Gibraltar coastal waters (but not harbor). It is not necessary to specify the coastal waters in the ship's movement orders; when a ship in SOA is ordered to move to WMD, it will automatically be moved through Gibraltar coastal waters.
6.9. Two river mouths are connections between two coastal waters. Croatan Sound connects to both Pamlico Sound and Albemarle Sound, and Hatteras Inlet connects to both Pamlico Sound and Outer Banks. Ships in those river mouths can sail to either of the connected coastal waters and ships in either of the coastal waters can sail to the two river mouths. A ship wishing to reach the Atlantic from Plymouth NC must sail to Albemarle Sound coastal waters, then to Croatan Sound river mouth, then to Pamlico Sound coastal waters, then to Hatteras Inlet river mouth, then to Outer Banks coastal waters, and finally to the Mid-Atlantic sea area. This will take multiple turns.
6.10.  Ships sailing from Upper Chesapeake coastal waters to the Mid-Atlantic Coast must pass through Lower Chesapeake coastal waters, and can be halted by hostile warships in Lower Chesapeake, cancelling the rest of their movement. Ships sailing from Upper Chesapeake harbors or river mouths to Lower Chesapeake coastal waters must pass through Upper Chesapeake coastal waters and can be halted by hostile warships there.
6.11.  Movement is carried out in the following sequence. During combat, ships and transport groups can move within a port to join a battle in progress in that port; either from the harbor/river mouth to the coastal waters, or vice-versa. (See rule 7.1 for details.) First, ships and transports in harbors and river mouths can sail to coastal waters, or vice-versa (if they have not already done so during combat). Second, ships and transports in sea areas with orders to move to coastal waters connected to their current sea area may do so. Ships cannot sail directly from one coastal waters to another, except between Upper and Lower Chesapeake (see rule 6.10 above). To sail from one coastal waters to another on the same sea area, first sail to the sea area, then sail to the new coastal waters. Third, ships and transports sail to their first sea area. Fourth, winds shift and storms may occur (see rule 8.1 below). Fifth, ships and transports which moved enter ports connected to their new sea areas. Sixth, ships and transports sail to their second sea area. Seventh, ships completing an Atlantic transit arrive on the map. Eighth, ships moving along rivers move. Last, ships and transports which moved to a second sea area in the sixth step may enter harbors, river mouths, or coastal waters connected to their new sea areas, and ships which moved less than 10 river squares to a river mouth may enter coastal waters to which the river mouth is attached.
6.12.  Ships and transports may not be able to sail as ordered, depending on their engines and any damage they have suffered. Ships that move in the first movement phase have a chance of ending their movement and being unable to move again in the second phase. [More Details] Ships may not move from harbor to coastal waters within a port, or vice versa, if enemy ships are present, except in the movement before combat.
6.13.  Actively allied ships and transports groups in the same location will move together, unless they have Sail Alone orders, and will have a single roll for their ability to sail due to wind and damage. The chance of moving will be equal to the chance of the ship with the lowest movement chance in the group , so either all will move or all will not (this prevents damaged ships from being left behind by undamaged ones). They will move together regardless of whether they are attached for the purpose of sharing orders, or not; attachment does not affect movement of ships in any way. Ships with Sail Alone orders will always move by themselves (but in case of contacting groups of ships, may evade or pursue together with other ships; see rule 6.16 below). Ships that are at sea that have Sail Alone orders, but no movement orders at all (not even an order to sail to their current sea area) will disperse to separate tactical areas at the beginning of the turn (but may encounter new ships when they do, in which case their evade/pursuit orders will be used).
6.14.  Ships and transport groups which move to a harbor or river mouth will automatically move to the coastal waters of the harbor or river mouth; this move does not need to be ordered. Ships and transport groups which move to a new sea area will be placed in a randomly selected tactical area in that sea area. If other ships or transport groups are in the same tactical area, the moving ships will encounter them, otherwise they will not.
6.15.  Ships and transport groups which encounter other ships or transport groups while moving may join the ships they encounter or not. If the ships encountered are allied or neutral, then the moving ships will join them if the Join Allies box on the order form is checked, otherwise not. If the ships encountered are hostile, then the moving ships will avoid them if their Contact order is Evade, otherwise not. [More Details] When two allied groups of ships join, they will sail together. When two hostile groups join, one will be to windward and one to leeward. If the moving ships arrive from windward or leeward, they will take that position; if they arrive from across the wind, then they will maneuver for position. If one group has requested windward and the other group leeward, they will take their desired positions; if not, the position of each group is random. If two groups are already present and a third group joins, it will approach from windward or leeward as above, then join an allied group if the first group in the direction from which they approach (windward or leeward) is allied.
6.16.  If a ship or transport group with a contact order of Pursuit sees an enemy ship or transport group in the same tactical location sail, it will abandon its own sailing orders (if any) and pursue the departing enemy ship. All pursuing ships will move together; their move will succeed if the move of the pursued ships succeeds, and will fail if the movement of the pursued ships fails. If the pursued ships enter a harbor, the pursuing ships will not do so, but will remain in the coastal waters of the port. Pursuing ships can also select not to pursue into the coastal waters of ports, but abandon the pursuit remain in the open sea. Ships that encounter one another on rivers cannot evade the contact at all. Ships moving on river pursuit will not halt for enemy units or enemy PBs even if they have orders to do so - the order to pursue takes precedence over those orders.
6.17.  Ships and transport groups can cross the Atlantic, but do not send orders to move into it. Instead, they send orders to move to any sea area on the appropriate edge of one map, then any sea area on the appropriate edge of the other map. Example: A ship in Lisboa can cross the Atlantic by ordering a movement to the Iberian Coast, then to the Southwest Atlantic. (The ship may not make its second move under rule 6.12; if not, you need to resubmit the order to move to the Southwest Atlantic on the following turn.) The crossing will take 3-4 turns, not including the turn on which the ship enters the Atlantic. Ships do not know how long it will take to cross until they arrive. Groups of ships that enter the Atlantic together will remain together during the crossing, but will not encounter enemy ships while crossing. Ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean cannot receive new orders until they reach the other map; during the crossing they will refuse to accept new orders.
6.18.  During deployment turns, oceangoing warships can move to any sea area or coastal waters they desire - there is no restriction on distance. They cannot be placed in enemy-controlled harbors. They can be placed in river squares only if those squares are navigable to them and controlled by their own side, and accessible from their starting location without sailing through an enemy-controlled river square. Rivergoing warships must be placed in a river (or harbor or coastal waters) that is controlled by their side and accessible from their starting location without sailing through a sea area or enemy-controlled river square. Examples: A Union RG in the Ohio River may redeploy to the Missouri River since it can move there along Union-controlled river. A Confederate RG on the Cumberland River cannot redeploy to the Tennessee River because this would require sailing through the Union-controlled Ohio River. A Confederate RG on the Brazos River may redeploy to Galveston harbor or the Trinity River since both are connected to the same coastal waters (Galveston) but it may not redeploy to the Sabine River or the harbor of Matamoros since those would require sailing through the WGC sea area to a different coastal waters. A Union SL in East Gulf Coast sea area cannot be reployed to St. Louis because this would require moving through the Confederate-controlled part of the Mississippi. Transport groups cannot be ordered to deploy. If in a friendly-controlled port (either coastal waters or harbor) they stay where they are; if at sea or in a non-friendly controlled port, they return to their base port if it is friendly, if not they disband.

7. Combat

7.1.  Whenever two groups of ships are in contact at the start of a combat phase, they may engage in battle. [ More Details ] If some of the the ships are in a harbor or river mouth, and some are in the connected coastal waters, then they may move to join each other (if they can evade any battle in their current location: see rule 6.11). A ship is in a battle from which it can depart to exit or enter the harbor before combat (for example, a frigate in a harbor is opposed only by an enemy TR which cannot block its departure from the harbor battle, or a ship on a side which outnumbers its opponents more than 2 to 1) can choose whether to fight in its current tactical location (harbor or river mouth or coastal waters) or move to the other tactical location before fighting, if the wind permits. Ships in the harbor or river mouth have priority to come out of the harbor to fight; if the ships in the harbor wish to come out, and have favorable winds and can evade any battle in the harbor, they do so. After they move, the ships in the coastal waters may enter the harbor or river mouth if they wish to do so, and if the wind is favorable and they can evade any battle that exists in the coastal waters, including one brought on by ships in the harbor/river mouth coming out. If the battle takes place in the harbor or river mouth, then shore batteries in the strategic square where the harbor or river mouth are located will take part in the battle if any ship in the battle is allied to the side which controls the shore batteries.
7.2.  Ships in battle may choose to fire at enemy propulsion or at enemy hulls. Firing at enemy propulsion will cause a higher proportion of damage to the enemy propulsion, which increases the chance of taking prizes but reduces total fire effect; firing at enemy hulls increases the chance of sinking enemy ships.
7.3.  At the start of battle, unless the battle takes place in a harbor or river mouth, each ship or transport group may attempt to evade the battle, and will do so if its combat orders are Evade.
  • If all ships on both sides attempt to evade the battle, then no ship moves and the battle is over.
  • If all ships on one side, but not all ships on the other, attempt to evade the battle, then the side that is entirely fleeing has a chance to escape. Either all ships will escape or none will. Escape chances will depend on ship types in a way that is not yet determined. Individual ships evading battle on the side that is not entirely evading battle will always succeed in evading in this case.
  • If at least one ship is attempting to evade the battle, but at least one ship on each side is not, then the evading ships will succeed as long as the number of warships on their side that are not evading is at least half the number of enemy warships that are not evading. Otherwise each ship makes a separate attempt to escape using the same chances that apply when the whole side is attempting to escape. The ships that are not evading will engage in battle, along with any ships which fail to escape.
  • If the battle is fought in a harbor or river mouth, then evading the battle is impossible. (Actually evading upriver maybe should be possible? But not yet.)
  • Transports that do not evade battle will not be damaged if their side has at least double the number of warships in the battle that the opposing side has.
In all cases, ships evading battle cannot be pursued - if they successfully evade then they have gotten away from pursuers. Ships that evade from sea area battles will move to a different tactical location in the same sea area. Ships that evade from coastal waters battles will move to the connected sea area (ships in choke point coastal waters cannot choose which sea area to evade to). Ships that evade battle will have their first naval movement phase move postponed until the second phase, unless it is a move to the connected sea area in which case it will be cancelled as the evasion will have achieved it. Also their coastal waters/harbor/river mouth moves will be delayed until the start of naval movement phase 2 if they were ordered for earlier in the turn. Ships that evade river battles will be moved 4-5 squares in the direction from which they came, and their subsequent river movement will be cancelled. Any friendly ships they encounter during their retreat will be caught up in the retreat, and will also move back to the same square as the retreating ships, and have their subsequent river movement cancelled.
7.4.  Next, ships attempt to close quarters. If all ships on both sides have chosen to fight at close quarters, then they do so. If some ships on both sides but not all on both sides have chosen to close, and the side with fewer ships closing has at least half the number of the side with more ships closing, then all ships that have chosen to do so fight at close quarters, and those ships that have not chosen to do so fight at range. If some or all ships on one side have chosen to close, and fewer than half the one side's number of closing ships have chosen to close on the other side , then those ships that have chosen to close have a chance to succeed in closing on the entire enemy fleet. If they succeed, the ships that attempted to close, and all ships on the other side, fight at close quarters, and ships on the closing side which did not choose to close, fight at range. If no ships on either side have chosen to close, then all ships fight at range. In a battle where one side has only naval batteries, ships always succeed in closing if they attempt it. Ships that move to close quarters lose 10% of their effective strength (because they must initially engage bows-on to the enemy), are more likely to damage enemy ships but are more likely to be damaged themselves, and are more likely to take a prize or be taken than ships which engage at range.
7.5.  The combat strength of a ship is 135 for ironclads, 100 for river ironclads, 50 for frigates, 40 for sloops, and 25 for gunboats and river gunboats, and is modified as follows. Ships with less than 70% crew lose 2.5% of combat strength for each 1% of crew below 70%, falling to 0 at 30%. Ships at close quarters gain 15% if they are equipped with a ram. Ships to windward gain +10%. Strength is also modified for quality and experience (later for morale also) and for pre-existing damage. Ships with orders to run through an enemy fleet or past enemy batteries have their strength reduced by 2/3, but the damage they take is reduced by 1/3 (because they depart the battle early and maneuver to do that, rather than to inflict maximum damage on the enemy). If the battle takes place in a harbor or a river strategic square, and naval batteries are present, then each naval battery has strength equal to 80 times the number of batteries in the unit. If the unit is located in hill tactical terrain its strength is increased by 50%; if on high hills, by 150%.  All ships engaged in battle gain 1 to 5 points of experience, depending on the odds in the battle (more even odds give more points).
7.6.  At the end of combat, all unsunk ships on the losing side attempt to escape the battle. Those that do not escape are taken as prizes by the winning side. One ship on the winning side is randomly selected as captor; the commander and deputy of the captor become the commander and deputy of the prize, the prize receives a new ship ID based on her new state (the lowest number available will be used) and acquires the same attachment and orders as the captor (thus if the captor sails away, the prize will sail with it). Transports cannot be captured; if they fail their escape attempt, they are sunk instead, even if they have less than 5 hull damage. Escaping ships will move to a different tactical location if the battle was fought at sea; they will move to the connected sea if the battle was fought in a port. Ships in choke points cannot choose which sea area to escape to, but must go to the connected sea area. Ships that escape from battle will have their first naval movement phase move postponed until the second phase, unless it is a move from a port to the connected sea area, in which case it will be cancelled as the evasion will have achieved it. Also their port moves will be delayed until the start of naval movement phase 2 if they were ordered for earlier in the turn. Ships that evade river battles, or flee after losing them, will be moved 4-5 squares in the direction from which they came, and their subsequent river movement will be cancelled. Any friendly ships they encounter during their retreat will be caught up in the retreat, and will also move back to the same square as the retreating ships, and have their subsequent river movement cancelled. Escaping ships may not be pursued. Ships that successfully run batteries, or through enemy fleets, will be allowed to move 4-5 squares in the direction of their run. Any enemy ships they encounter will fall back before them; any additional batteries they run past, they will also get past. (For this reason it is wise to build battery positions at least 5 river squares apart.)
7.7.  Ships in harbors and river squares can bombard land targets in the same strat square. Ships can also give fire support into land combats. On any given turn they may only do one or the other; if they send orders to do both, they will do fire support but will not bombard. Bombardment happens during the bombardment phase of land combat - fire support happens during land combat resolution. These phases take place after naval combat but before naval movement. Ships can only bombard or give fire support if no enemy ships and no enemy NBs are in the same strat square (no matter where the ships, NBs, or land targets are located; you have to engage and destroy or drive off the naval threat before you can bombard any point on land.) To bombard, ships specify a tactical square to bombard and a land tactical phase in which to bombard. Ships can only bombard tactical squares adjacent to the river they are in (if in a river) or on the coastline (if in a harbor). The bombardment strength of ships is: 8640 for FR, 4230 for SL, 2880 for RI or IC, 2160 for GB or RG (compare to 2700 for a 300/3 LA brigade). To give fire support, ships specify a support target, radius, and land tactical movement phase range in the same way that land units give support orders. Ships can only fire support into battles that are in tactical squares adjacent to the river they are in (if in a river) or on the coastline (if in a harbor). Tactical squares which are corner-adjacent to a river (ocean) tactical square are adjacent to the river (on the coast) for the purpose of this rule. The location of the ship on the tactical map does not matter. (Since land combat happens after naval combat, ships may give fire support to land battles if their side has driven off enemy ships, or reduced enemy NBs, earlier in the turn.) If more than one battle is inside the ship's fire support box, it will fire at the one closest to its support target; if two battles are equally close it will fire into the battle whose path to its support target requires fewer diagonal moves. Ships may also destroy bridges; see ROTD rules 12.2 and 12.6.

8. Storms

8.1.  Between the first and second sea area moves of ships and transport group, storms may occur. The chance of storms is 2% in sea areas with light winds, 5% with moderate winds, 10% with heavy winds. If there are storms in a sea area, they are also in all ports connected to that sea area.
8.2.  Ships and transport groups in sea areas caught in storms may suffer damage, and may founder; the more damaged they are (including existing damage) the more likely they are to founder. They may also be blown to a new tactical area, or to the sea area downwind of the present sea area. If land is downwind of the present sea area, they may be blown on the rocks and sunk. Ships in harbors may take rigging damage but will not take hull damage, and the same is true for ships in coastal waters of same-side or actively allied ports (they enter harbor to ride out the storm). Ships in coastal waters, not of same-side or actively allied ports, are affected in the same way as ships in sea areas, except they may be blown to the sea area connected to the port.
8.3.  Ships that are blown to a new tactical location or a new sea area by a storm will have their movement orders for phase 2 cancelled, and will also have orders to move to ports cancelled. If their contact order is "Pursue" it will be changed to "Accept." This means that ships in coastal waters of a port that are blown out to sea by a storm will not return to that port before the next turn.

9. Transporting Units and Supplies

9.1.  Transport groups may carry ROTD units and supplies, plus additional stores and crew. Each transport group is rated for capacity. Infantry units take up one point of capacity per man, as do army headquarters units. Cavalry units take up three points of capacity per man, artillery take up two points of capacity per man. If an infantry or cavalry brigade has a battery attached, then 100 of its men count as artillerists. For example, an infantry unit with 3000 men and no battery takes up 3000 points of capacity, but one with 3000 men and 1 battery takes up 3100 points (2900 infantry plus 100 artillerists at 2 points each). Corps headquarters take up 5 points per man plus 20 for each supply unit carried (supplies carried by other units do not take up any space). Supplies carried aboard the TR take up 20 points of capacity per unit, as do naval stores in excess of 24. Additional crew (above 1 crew per 10 capacity) take up 1 point of capacity apiece.
9.2.  To load or unload units, the unit must be coming from or going to a ROTD location which is accessible to the transport, or going to garrison duty in an off-ROTD-map port. A ROTD unit in a strategic square with mountain or hill terrain may not load onto a transport, and a unit on a transport may not unload into a strategic square with hill or mountain terrain. To load onto a transport in an on-ROTD-map harbor, the unit must be in the ROTD tactical square of the port city, or if no enemy units are present, anywhere in the same ROTD strategic square. To load onto or unload from a transport in the coastal waters of an on-map port, the unit must be in the ROTD strategic square of the port, but not in the tac square of the city, or in any other strategic square adjoining that port's coastal waters. If no enemy unit is present it may also be in the tac square of the city. To load onto a transport in a river strategic square, the unit must be in a tactical square adjacent to the riverbank, unless no enemy unit is present in the strategic square, in which case it may be in any tactical square. Units unloading from a transport in an on-map port's harbor must unload into the city tactical square of the port. (If the city contains hostile units the program may not handle the unloading gracefully; please contact the GA before attempting this.) Units unloading from a transport in coastal waters of an on-map port must enter the strategic square along an edge of the tactical map that is adjacent to water on the strategic map. Units unloading from a transport in a river strategic square must unload to a tactical square adjacent to a river tactical square. [Map showing loading/unloading locations] Units may load from or unload to off-map ports from either the harbor or the coastal waters of the off-map port. ROTD units loaded on transports will be automatically inactivated; they will be automatically activated when unloaded onto the ROTD map, but will remain inactive if unloaded into the garrison of an off-ROTD-map port. [More Details]
9.3.  Transports carrying supplies can unload the supplies into a port city, supply depot, or into a corps headquarters unit. To load or unload supplies from a city, the transport must be in the harbor of that city. The transport can load or unload as many supplies as it can carry into a city. The transport can move on the turn that it unloads/loads supplies to/from a city. To load/unload supplies into/from a supply depot or corps HQ, the corps HQ or depot must be in a position from which it could load onto the transport. The number of supplies that may be unloaded to a depot or corps HQ is 1 per 500 capacity of the transport group. The transport may not have movement orders and the corps HQ may not have strategic movement orders (including march to battle or pursuit orders). You can unload supplies on the same turn you load units, or vice-versa, but the form will not let you order both. Contact the game administrator and request that the supplies be loaded or unloaded manually; then send orders to unload or load the units.
9.4.  Loading and unloading of units and supplies begins in the initial amphibious phase. At this time units, supplies, and transport groups must be in a valid location to commence loading or unloading. If the transport group performing a load starts the turn in an ally-controlled port (ocean or river), then the loading is completed in the initial phase and the units/ships may move and fight normally, except that units may not load in one friendly harbor at the start of the turn and unload in a different one at the end of the turn. Similarly, if a transport group performing an unload ends the turn in an ally-controlled port (ocean or river), then the unloading can be completed in the final phase and the units may move in tactical phase 5. Otherwise the loading/unloading takes the entire turn. In this case, the units and transport groups may not engage in combat or move, except that unloading units may move in tactical phase 5; all other orders to move will be cancelled, and if the unit engages in combat or is forced to flee combat, the loading/unloading itself will be cancelled. A transport group in the coastal waters of an ally-controlled port may not move into the harbor to complete its loading/unloading in the initial phase; it does its loading/unloading from the coastal waters, and any order it has sent to move into the harbor will be cancelled.

10. Port Garrisons

10.1.  Off-ROTD-map ports that are not foreign (that is, Ship Island and Dry Tortugas) can have ROTD units as garrisons. Transports may unload ROTD units into these ports and they will automatically enter garrison duty. Off-ROTD-map ports do not have tactical maps, and ROTD units in garrisons remain inactive in ROTD.
10.2.  If hostile units land at a garrisoned port, a battle will take place between the garrison and the landing force. This battle is not fought using the regular ROTD rules. Effective strengths are equal to the unit's strength for infantry and light infantry (less 100 for each battery attached), half strength for cavalry (less 100 for each battery attached), 600 per battery for light artillery, and 400 per battery for hore artillery. Batteries attached to infantry are light, batteries attached to cavalry are horse. If a side has fewer than 800 infantrymen present for each battery (where a 3000/1 IN counts as 2900 infantry and 1 battery) then artillery units (but not batteries attached to infantry or cavalry units) are unsupported and get a -90% modifier. Strength is modified for quality and for no other modifier. The defending side receives a +33% strength bonus for defensive terrain. If the defending side loses, its units automatically surrender at the end of the battle; if the attacking side loses, its units will reboard its transports at the end of the battle if the transports are still present, otherwise they will surrender. If the attackers win the battle, they capture the port; if hostile units land at an ungarrisoned port, they capture it without loss.