A generic term for a naval flag officer but also, technically, a 'four star' rank.
In Supremacy at Sea you issue all your commands and have access to all information from your Admiral's Office - your own personal "War Room"
See the admiral's office help page for more information.
A a 'five star' flag officer rank in Britain and the US, equivalent to Generaladmiral in Germany or Ammiraglio di Armata in Italy.
By default, when a campaign is created, the Advanced Port is the second most important port and it will get most of the remaining resources and have the second highest level of infrastructure after the Home Port. You can only have one Advanced Port.
The default location of the Advanced Port (and Home Port) on the theatre map is based on actual locations, but simplified where necessary. For example, in the Pacific theatre, the home port and advanced port for the US are San Francisco and Pearl Harbor, whilst for the Japanese they are Tokyo bay and Truk. In the Mediterranean theatre, the Italians have La Spezia and Taranto respectively while the British have Gibraltar and Alexandria.
The default locations can be changed when a campaign is created.
This is one of four predefined strategies that your 2-i-C will follow; each strategy has a favoured approach to spending resources, designing ships and ordering fleet operations.
See aggressive strategy for more information.
Aircraft played a huge role in WW2 - both those from airields and from aircraft carriers. Land-based and carrier-based airpower can be separately enabled or disabled for a campaign. (See creating a campaign - an overview for more information).
If aircraft are enabled you an build them every turn privided you have enough resource points.
See how to build aircraft for more help.
Historically, the 'Allies' were the countries in World War 2 that were at war with the Axis powers: The United States, Great Britain and the Commonwealth, Russia and the Free French.
In this game, the term 'allies' has a more generic meaning. An ally is any of the six major countries that are represented in SAS, that is not currently at war with you and that has joined in an alliance. See making alliances.
A a 'five star' flag officer rank in Italy, equivalent to Generaladmiral in Germany or Admiral of the Fleet in Britain and the US.
The second lowest flag officer rank in Italy - a 'two star' rank. Equivalent to Vizeadmiral in Germany or Rear Admiral in Britain.
The third lowest flag officer rank in Italy - a 'three star' rank. Equivalent to Konteradmiral in Germany. or Vice Admiral in Britain and the US.
A a 'four star' flag officer rank in Italy, equivalent to Admiral in Britain, the US and Germany.
The countries in World War 2 that were at war with the Allies: Germany, Japan and Italy.
In Supremacy at Sea you play as the Supreme Naval Commander of a chosen country, against a chosen enemy country.
There are six countries you can choose to play for and against, so you can play not only historical match-ups like Britan vs Germany or the US vs Japan, but might-have-beens such as Britain vs the US.
Each such game you play is called a "campaign".
Several campaigns come pre loaded with SAS WW2. But you can create a limitless number of other campaigns as well, using the Campaign Creator, choosing the theatre, the countries and setting many starting parameters. See create campaign - an overview for details.
This is one of four predefined strategies that your 2-i-C will follow; each strategy has a favoured approach to spending resources, designing ships and ordering fleet operations.
See cautious strategy for more information.
The lowest flag officer rank in Britain and the US - a 'one star' rank. Equivalent to Kapitan zur See in Germany or Contraammiraglio in Italy.
The lowest flag officer rank in Italy - a 'one star' rank. Equivalent to Kapitan zur See in Germany or Commodore in Britain and the US.
Usually a convoy is any fleet with at least one Merchant ship.. But naval vessels can also carry supplies and troops (but not raw materials), so it is possible to also have a fast naval task force in a convoy role.
Six countries are in the game - the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, Italy and France. These were the major naval powers of WW2. You can play for any country, against any other. Each country has historical ship types, technology, infrastructure levels and personalities - leaders and admirals. You can modify historical ship types or design your own; and you can vary the technology and infrastructure levels that countries start with - to make for easier or harder games.
The maximum range in nautical miles that a ship or fleet can travel without refuelling. Note that this is a range, not a radius - it includes the distance the fleet needs to travel to get back to a port to refuel. A ship that can not continue with its fleet - because it is running out of fuel - in most situations will be forced by the computer to detach and return to the nearest friendly port capable of refuelling it.
When a ship is constructed, its design can specify a cruising range factor.
The speed in knots that a ship or fleet can cruise. There are five possible speeds: 6, 8, 12, 16 and 24 knots. A fleet can never cruise faster than its slowest ship can cruise. A ship can cruise at a speed up to 3 knots less than its maximum speed. For example, a ship with a maximum speed of 16 knots can cuise at 6 or 12 knots but not at 16 knots. It is important when forming your own fleets to consider how different maximum cruising speeds of your ships can impact a fleet's effectiveness. Mixing a slow battleship, like the HMS Nelson that can not cruise at 24 knots, in with faster battleships and carriers that can, is restricting the effectiveness of the faster ships.
The value between zero and ten (maximum) that measures the quantity and value of materials that can be used locally at a port by the port's domestic industry.
The DMI for each port is set when a campaign is created - see create a campaign - set the DMI for more information.
Each player controls a country that has an economy. The strength of an economy is measured in resource points. These are the fundamental currency in the game and are used for ship construction, repair, rearming and refuelling, as well as for building aircraft and raising troops (if aircraft and troops are enabled for the campaign). Resource points can also be invested in technology research and infrastructure (which includes dock facilities and defences, airfields and industry, plus the training facilities for your fleets, airforces and troops, and the quality of your intelligence and counter-intelligence networks).
The player who wins a game will be the player whose economy is most able to sustain a winning war effort.
The economy grows every turn from production at each of your ports that has both an industrial base and supplies of suitable materials - either those available locally or shipped there by convoy.
See the economic model in SAS for more information.
The value between zero and ten (maximum) that measures the quantity and value of materials that can be exported from a port as well as used locally by a port's export industry.
The EMI for each port is set when a campaign is created - see create a campaign - set the EMI for more information.
A collection of one or more ships belonging to the same player. If it is not a Reserve Fleet it is able to move on the Map. (Ships must be organised in fleets before they can be moved.) Fleets cruise at one of 5 standard cruising speeds – 6, 8, 12, 16 or 24 knots, but never faster than the slowest ship. (See cruising speed). In Battle, all ships sail at their best possible speed.
Each Fleet must be given rules of engagement which determines the general behaviour in battle of all ships in the fleet.
Conventions the computer uses when it creates fleets are to use the prefix:
The reserve fleets are automatically created when a campaign is set up.
The active fleets are created by you manually or else by your 2IC when he forms missions. For example, if he were to create missions that require three naval task forces, two submarine flotillas and a convoy, you would see in your list of fleets the names "TF1", "TF2" "TF3", "SF1", "SF2" and "CF1".
The emergency fleets are created by the computer at run time.
The names of the active and reserve fleets can be changed if you prefer more descriptive names. (See renaming a fleet)
A a 'five star' flag officer rank in Germany, equivalent to Ammiraglio di Armata in Italy or Admiral of the Fleet in Britain and the US.
By default, when a campaign is created, the home port is the most important port and it will get most of the resources and have the highest level of infrastructure. You can only have one home port.
The default infrastructure levels for the Home Port allow for ship construction, as well as repair, rearming and refuelling.
The home port is also where newly raised troops first appear.
The default location of the home port on the theatre map is based on actual locations, but simplified where necessary. For example, in the Pacific theatre, the home port for the US is San Francisco whilst for the Japanese it is Tokyo bay. In the Mediterranean theatre, the Italians have La Spezia while the British have Gibraltar.
The default locations can be changed when a campaign is created.
Note: Your home port (and any of your others also) can be captured by enemy amphibious assault. If your home port is captured, this signals an immediate end to the game - your side sues immediately for peace and you are sacked as Supreme Naval Commander.
The second most important port - by default - is a player's advanced port. This normally has the second highest level of infastructure and is often situated closer to the enemy, so often becomes the centre of fleets tasked for offensive operations.
Your physical assets include not just your ships, aircraft and troops but also your ports, training facilities, technology and naval intelligence networks.
Port infrastructure includes facilities for shipbuilding, refuelling , rearming and repair as well as defences against bombardment attack.
During the game, you can use resource points to invest in better infrastructure. Starting with a low level compared to your enemy will be a real handicap. Better docks infrastructure increases the rate of construction and repair and also can allow more ports the ability to construct ships. Better defences reduce the damage you will receive from enemy bombardment, and also increase the damage you can inflict on him.
See the infrastructure - an overview help page for more information.
Intelligence helps you to locate and intercept enemy fleets at sea - by intercepting and decoding their signals, or sighting them from shore-based coastwatchers. (This supplements information available from reconnaisance by your own fleets).
Intelligence also allows you to build up a general picture of the enemy - from the spies you have "inserted" on his soil. The information gleaned includes the kind of ships he is building, the level of his resources and so on.
A higher intelligence value gives you more and more accurate information as well as a better counter-intelligence capability - thereby reducing the enemy's intelligence.
A low level of intelligence can result in very innacurate reports, which may be worse than none at all.
Getting a reasonably reliable handle on the enemy is very important to maximising your chances of winning.
During the game, you can use resource points to invest in better intelligence, but starting with a low level compared to your enemy will be a real handicap.
See infrastructure - an overview for more information.
The lowest flag officer rank in Germany - a 'one star' rank. Equivalent to Commodore in Britain and the US or Contraammiraglio in Italy.
The third lowest flag officer rank in Germany - a 'three star' rank. Equivalent to Vice Admiral in Germany or Ammiraglio di Squadra in Italy.
The game Map on which all movement takes place. Consists of open sea areas (blue), land areas and ports. Overlaid with a hexagonal grid to assist giving fleet movement orders. The hex grid can be toggled on or off in most map views.
On the large theatre map you can also toggle on or off the display of non-navigable land hexes, to help with plotting fleet paths.
The hex size varies depending on the map. For example, the hex size is 96 nautical miles in the Pacific and Atlantic theatres, but 48 nautcal miles in the Mediterranean.
When you create your own campaign you can choose the map you want. (See create a campaign - select the theatre).
During game play, there are many views of the game map that you use:
A ship that can load and unload raw materials as well as troops or supplies.
Merchant ships are slow, vulnerable and unarmed. There are 5 sizes of merchant ship you can have - from very small slow coastal steamers of just a few thousand tons and a maximum speed of only 12 knots up to large, faster ships of up to approximately 15000 tonnes and a top speed of 21 knots.
Merchant ships play a vital role in keepng your economy running and in strategically transporting troops and supplies to where they are needed.
In SAS WW2 fuel consumption by merchant ships is simplified - unlike for naval ships. It is assumed that merchants ships have an unlimited cruising range. (Naval ships however have their fuel usage calculated hourly; their operational range is a vital planning consideration).
The odds of victory that you face are set when a campaign is created.
The odds are calculated based on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two countries involved.
The odds are expressed descriptively, such as "very easy"" as well as numerically - e.g. favouring one side by a certain percentage. The percentage is directly applied when a player's performance is assesses annually. For example, a country facing inferior odds of say 20% will get 20% more leniency for the same objective outcomes than if the odds were equal.
Each player has a Home Port and an Advanced Port. They also will have several lesser ports. The locations and infrastructure levels at these ports are set when a campaign is created. (See create a campaign - setting port parameters).
Convoys sail between the ports carrying raw materials, troops or supplies.
Enemy ports can be bombarded by aircraft as well as surface ship gunfire, and can be assaulted and possibly captured by amphibious assaults.
The infrastructure at ports can be degraded by enemy attack as well as improved with more resource expenditure. (See infrastructure - an overview for more information).
Depending on the level of dockyard facilities, ports can be used for ship construction, repairs, rearming and refuelling. And aircaft from surrounding airfields can become powerful weapons; the airfields are unsinkable! (though they can be degraded by enemy attack).
A game has two players who play opposing sides in the war. At least one side must be a human player. The other side is played by another human or the computer.
The sides are set when a campaign is created, but can later be changed.
Player names are defined when a campaign is created. Each player makes as many of the strategic, operational and tactical decisions for his side as he wants - the rest he leaves to his 2IC.
Rules of engagement ("RoE") tell a fleet what odds it should accept when facing an enemy fleet, and, in combination with each ship's orders, determines the aggressiveness of each ship in a surface battle - how much damage it will accept before retiring and how close to the enemy it will try to get.
In fleets set up by your 2IC, as part of the missions he creates, default RoE apply based on the mission type.
You can change these orders; and you can also set up orders for the fleets you create yourself.
See setting rules of engagement for more information.
SAS WW2 is not only a game of sea power; it includes aircraft and troops as well - provided these have been enabled for the campaign you are playing. (See creating a campaign - an overview for more information).
You use troops to defend your bases and to capture the enemy's.
See how to build troops for help on this topic.
The second lowest flag officer rank in Britain and the US - a 'two star' rank. Equivalent to Vizeadmiral in Germany or Ammiraglio di Divisione in Italy.
Naval ships use gun ammunition and torpedoes during combat and need to be rearmed either at your Home Port or your Advanced Port.
Merchant ships do not require rearming, only naval ships.
It costs resource points to rearm. Torpedoes and small calibre ammunition are cheap but heavy calibre ammunition is not - a 45000 tonne battleship takes around 20 resource points to rearm from empty. (See the ecomomic model in SAS - RP Costs for more information).
Only as much rearming can occur as can be paid for at the time. Not all the points at a Port can be used for rearming - a maximum of 20% of the total points stored there can be available for rearming at any time.
Rearming is calculated hourly and can occur at any port with the infrastructure to support rearming. It can occur simultaneously while refuelling is occuring, but not repairing - a damaged ship must be fully repaired before it can rearm (or refuel).
The maximum rate of rearming for any ship is 10% of ammunition capacity per hour.
Naval ships use precious oil fuel when they sail -especially at high speeds. Shortages of fuel were a real life constraint for all of the Axis powers in World War 2 and in this game your ships will need to be frequently refuelled, at any of your ports that have the infrastructure to support refuelling.
Merchant ships do not require refuelling, only naval ships.
Refuelling costs costs resource points - 1 RP for every 500 tonnes of fuel. Some examples may help: an Escort ship would normally carry less than that, a cruiser up to 2000 tonnes and a battleship up to 6000 tonnes (or more) depending on size and range (fuel capacity). Only as much refuelling can occur as can be paid for at the time. Not all the points at a Port can be used for refuelling - a maximum of 50% of total points stored there can be available to use for refuelling at any time.
Refuelling is calculated hourly and can occur while rearming is occuring, but not repairing - a damaged ship must be fully repaired before it can refuel (or rearm.
The maximum rate of refuelling for any ship is 10% of its capacity per hour, up to a limit of 300 tonnes per hour. A big battleship with a capacity of say 6000 tonnes will therefore take 20 hours to refuel.
Ships that are damaged but not sunk can be repaired if they make it back to a friendly port that has the dockyard infrastructure to repair them and sufficient resource points to carry out the work.
Repairs to a large heavily damaged ship can take many months. You do not need only to sink the enemy's ships to gain the upper hand - if you manage to seriously damage his major ships, his ability to fight will be seriously impaired while they are undergoing repair; and he also faces the cost of the repairs.
You can replay a turn at the strategic and tactical level.
All fleet movement, operations, sightings and battles are shown on a Turn Replay screen. This replays a turn hour-by-hour. To view it, click "Briefings" on the whiteboard in the Admiral's Office. Then click the film reels lying on your desk.
When a battle occurs, the pop-up panel that notifes you has a hyperlink to a battle summary screen. For surface battles, the summary screen lets you launch a full shell-by-shell replay of all the surface action for that battle!
Every port has a reserve fleet that always stays in being, whether it is empty of ships or not. The reserve fleet is the home fleet for that port. Reserve fleets can never be deleted.
If the port is one that can construct ships, the reserve fleet there will be the one that takes newly constructed ships at the port.
Also, at the end of every turn, all ships in every port are returned to the reserve fleet there. Think of the reserve fleet at each port as the "pool" of ships available there. You (or your 2IC) can draw undamaged ships from this pool to create active fleets. The reserve fleets are non combatant - they can not move anywhere, although ships in them will fight back from inside the port, if bombarded by enemy forces.
Resource points are measure of your economic ability to wage war. Everything of value to the war effort in SAS WW2 has to be paid for in RPs.
One RP 'buys' you:
RPs are also used to build aircraft, and to build port infrastucture. The RP cost depends on the type of aircraft or the kind of infrastructure. See the economic model in SAS, how to build infrastructure and how to build aircraft for more information.
Every game starts with a defined map and two named players. Each player has an economy that has a set production rate per turn, and a number of resource points at home port and advanced port. Together, these defined values are a scenario.
A 'scenario' is synonomous with the term 'campaign'.
You have a famous Admiral as your 2-I-C. For example, the United States' player has Spruance, Halsey, King or Mitscher to choose from. The Japanese player can choose Yamamoto, or Nagumo among others. Each admiral has a personality and strategic approach ranging from very cautious through to very aggressive. They can take all the key decisions for you, or only as many as you want.
Another name for a Unit. A Ship has a type (e.g. Battle, Cruiser, Escort) and attributes (e.g. size, speed, armour) that are set when it is constructed. Players exercise their power through their ships, moving them around like chess pieces. Using a simple but powerful ship designer, players can set attributes for their ships: maximum speed, number and calibre of main guns, armour thickness, general structural strength and cruising range. They can choose from more than 70 historical ships, or design their own.
SAS WW2 is primarily a game of naval power which you project through your ships. See building ships - an overview for an introduction to this topic.
Note that in SAS WW2 you may only ever build new ships at your home port, and even then, only if the dockyard infrastructure is sufficient and you have enough resource points there. See dockyard infrastructure and resource points for more information.
Your strategic situation is summarised every turn in a Situation Report. This shows the state of your own economy, your ship losses in the last quarter and other key information. It is an important tool to help you plan your next moves for a turn. You can view the Situation Report at any time by clicking on "Briefings&" on the whiteboard in the Admiral's Office. The Report is searchable by hyperlinks, and also by scrolling through the document.
Each time you start up Supremacy at Sea you will see the Start Page.
It has a menu that allows you to:
Strategy is defined in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary as a "plan designed to achieve a particular long-term aim. 2 the art of planning and directing military activity in a war or battle."
As the Supreme Naval Commander you make the strategic decisions - where to direct your resources and, what sort of navy you want that will best achieve victory.
You also make the grand tactical decisions - deploying your ships in fleets and giving them operational orders.
To help you, you have a 2-I-C who will follow one of four pre-defined strategies - very cautious, cautious, aggressive or very aggressive.
Each of these strategies has a favoured approach to spending resources, designing ships and ordering fleet operations.
In SAS WW2 a task force is synonomous with a fleet.
There are 12 different technologies (such as radar, armour, and torpedoes.).
Better technology means more efficient, better fighting ships and aircraft.
In World War 2, significant differences between countries in their technological attainment did exist, and these are reflected in the default values for new campaigns. But these can be adjusted up or down when a campaign is being created.
See technologies for more information.
During the game, you can use Resource points to invest in better technology, but starting with a low level compared to your enemy will be a real limitation, and advances in technology do not come immediately or predictably.
Ships, aircraft and troops all have training levels.
The training level is on a 1 to 10 scale (10 is the best). It is impossible to have a level higher than 10 or lower than 1.
The training level is a crucial factor because it directly affects combat efficiency.
For ships, it affects:
Well trained ships therefore fight and survive much better than they would if poorly trained.
For aircraft, higher training increases the effective defensive and offensive strength vs other aircraft, the accuracy of bombs and torpedoes, as well as the probabilities of sighting the enemy.
For troops, it increases offensive and defensive strength.
Training is one of only two ways that ships, aircraft and troops can improve their combat efficiency. (The other is through battle experience.)
During the game, you can use Resource points to invest in better training, but starting with a low level compared to your enemy will definitely be a handicap.
Another name for a Ship.
This is one of four predefined strategies that your 2-i-C will follow; each strategy has a favoured approach to spending resources, designing ships and ordering fleet operations.
See very aggressive strategy for more information.
This is one of four predefined strategies that your 2-i-C will follow; each strategy has a favoured approach to spending resources, designing ships and ordering fleet operations.
See very cautious strategy for more information.
The third lowest flag officer rank in Britain and the US - a 'three star' rank. Equivalent to Konteradmiral in Germany or Ammiraglio di Squadra in Italy.
The second lowest flag officer rank in Germany - a 'two star' rank. Equivalent to Rear Admiral in Britain and the US Ammiraglio di Divisione in Italy.
The player who wins a game will be the player whose economy is most able to sustain a winning war effort.