Reset Ship Names

The "Reset Ship Names" button should only be used after loading a saved game. There is a bug in VASSAL that causes the ship name labels to be cutoff at both ends if the name extends beyond the counter edges. Flipping the counter over causes the name to be reset and could be a real pain if you have 20 ships set up on the map. Hitting the "Reset Ship Names" button cause all ship counters to be flipped and the names reset. However, flipping the ship counters also changes their sail state from FS to MS or MS to FS. So when using this button to reset ship names be sure to hit it twice. Once to reset the name and once to set the ship counter back to its original sail state.

Number of Players

It wasn't feasible to build this module for a large number of players, and because it's difficult to coordinate a large number of players to meet up at the same time to play a game online, I drew a line at ten players and two sides, or five players per side. There are five ship logs available for each side, so only five ships per side may be tracked within the module. If more ships are used they will have to be tracked offline.

Player Sides

When logging into the game you will receive the following options for logging on to the module:

Red 1, Red 2, Red 3, Red 4, Red 5, Red Master
Yellow 1, Yellow 2, Yellow 3, Yellow 4, Yellow 5, Yellow Master
Solo

All of these options will give the player access to the standard Close Action module features. Additional access is granted as follows:

Red 1: Gives the player access to the Red 1 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Red 2:
Gives the player access to the Red 2 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Red 3:
Gives the player access to the Red 3 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Red 4:
Gives the player access to the Red 4 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Red 5:
Gives the player access to the Red 5 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Red Master:
Gives the player access to all five Red Ship Logs and the Red Plot Chits board.

Yellow 1: Gives the player access to the Yellow 1 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Yellow 2:
Gives the player access to the Yellow 2 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Yellow 3:
Gives the player access to the Yellow 3 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Yellow 4:
Gives the player access to the Yellow 4 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Yellow 5:
Gives the player access to the Yellow 5 Ship Log and its Plot Chit.
Yellow Master:
Gives the player access to all five Yellow Ship Logs and the Yellow Plot Chits board.

Solo: Gives the player access to everything.

Ship Logs

The ship logs are setup to use both text labels and markers for tracking a ship's activities and damage. The sections of the log that are pre-filled may be altered by doing a right-click on the area to be changed and selecting the desired menu option.

Those areas that are not pre-filled, such as the Rigging, Hull, and Sailor sections, may be setup using the Ship Log Markers available in the counter tray. The following log markers are available for use by dragging and dropping them on a ship's log.

Block Out marker: The block out marker is used for blocking out boxes on a ship's log that will not be used.

Number marker: The number marker is used to record damage to the Rigging, Hull, and Crew sections. It begins set to 1 but the number may be increased up to 99 by right-clicking on the marker and selecting the appropriate menu option. The number marker is also used to set up areas of the log before play, such as the Gunnery Section, Acceleration, Deceleration, morale, etc.

Letter marker: The letter marker may be set to any letter from "A" to "Z" and are used much the same as the number markers.

The turn record track of the ship log is set up to handle 30 turns. The movement plots, crew plots, gunfire, etc. of each turn may be entered and updated by right clicking anywhere on the current turn's line in the table and selecting the appropriate option.

Plot Chits

The plot chits are used for revealing a ship's plot to other players. Right clicking on a plot chit will present a menu of options that should be self explanatory. There are 60 plot chits setup for use, 30 for each side, and you'll initially find them on the Revealed Plot Chits board. Hitting the "Return Red Plotters" button at the top of this board will send the red plot chits to their starting locations. The first five will be sent to the five Red Ship Logs respectively and the rest to the Red Plot Chit board. Hitting the "Return Yellow Plotters" button will do the same for the yellow plot chits.

The plot chits on the Red and Yellow Plot Chit boards are used only for two player games where more than five ships per side are being used. Each table has 25 plot chits set up for use and, combined with the 5 on the ship logs, gives each player 30 plot chits to use during a game. These extra 25 plot chits were added to enable two players (or a solo player) to play the larger scenarios in Close Action. When doing so, however, additional ship logs will have to be maintained offline.

How to plot a turn and reveal it to other players

To plot a turn, use the following steps:

  1. Fill out the Turn Record Track of your ship's log by right clicking on the turn line and selecting the appropriate menu option. You should record your movement plot, your current sail state, and any crew plots to be done during the upcoming turn.

  2. Now go to your ship's plot chit and change the plots on it to match those you just entered on your ship log.

To reveal your plot chit to other players:

  1. Right click on the plot chit and select flip counter to hide its plots from view. You will see a small inset of your plot chit but everyone else will only see the back of the Plot Chit marker with the name of your ship on it.

  2. Right click on the plot chit and select the Move Plotter submenu, then select the Reveal option. This will send your plot chit to the Revealed Plot Chits board.

  3. Go to the Revealed Plot Chits board and your chit should be there.

  4. Once all ships have sent their plot chits to the Revealed Plot Chits Board, click on the button at the top labeled "Reveal All Plotters". All of the plotters on the board will be flipped for all to see. The "Reveal All Plotters" button will have to be hit twice, once by a member of each team, to get all plotters revealed.

  5. After all ship movement and actions are completed, and you're ready to move on to the next turn, click on the "Return Red Plotters" and "Return Yellow Plotters" buttons at the top of the Revealed Plot Chits board to send the plotters back to their ship log or plot board.