Sixth Fleet WW3 Prelims

I've been a fan of the Fleet series from Victory Games since the late 80s. I stumbled across the game at a bookstore in Bend, OR, and they had the entire series. Over the course of a few years of going to Bend for summer vacations, I ended up owning them all. The series has morphed considerably over the run, and Sixth was the first, so it's the roughest in a few ways:

• Only one form of detection,
• Six sided die rather than ten,
• Constricted map,
• Limited access for Soviet naval forces

On the other hand, you have a rich campaign game where the various Med nations will align differently from game to game. 

For this ongoing play through, I chose the World War Three long scenario with low preparedness. Those last two affect a DRM for the Armistice roll and how units get onto the map, respectively. These options give me a lot of aligned nations, time to let the game develop, but not a huge number of units on the map at the start.

I am using all non-optional rules. Logistics seems very involved, and there are enough rules without adding in a lot of teensy chrome stuff.

I expect that the first couple of turns will take several posts, each focusing on a particular activation or SoP phase. 

I have already rolled for alignment, with the following results for the U.S. Allies:

• Morocco,
• Spain,
• Italy,
• Tunisia,
• Greece,
• Turkey,
• UK

The Soviets have a smaller array:

• Libya
• Syria

That leaves France, Egypt, Israel, Yugoslavia, and Algeria as the neutrals. I don't expect that there will be much chance any of these countries will show up with the possible exception of Yugoslavia to give the Soviets easier access to attacking Italy by air.

I am also using small dice to track VP hex values, since they change from scenario to scenario and their value to each side. Red dice will show Sov VP, green US, and the pips with show the value divided by ten for that side. I am using small red markers to denote weather or command issues for specific stacks.

To better simulate the Strategic Air war, I am using the solitaire rule from 2nd Fleet that uses a d10. 

Finally, I am using the original rules supplemented by the 2nd Fleet errata sheet that came with the game. This has a handful of tweaks but preserves the original flavor.

Next up, a discussion of early strategy for both sides, along with the AM Strategic Cycle.