August 1942. The island of Malta is ready to fall into the hands of the Axis powers. In a mad dash to save it an Allied convoy was sent out to resupply and rescue the island. This effort was known as Operation Pedestal.

Before the convoy could reach Malta it would have to navigate Axis controlled waters. Over the next few days over half the convoy was lost as it was attacked again and again by Axis forces.

Malta Convoy-Operation Pedestal is the name of a microgame from Warp Spawn Games' Lloyd Krassner to simulate this historic event.

INTRODUCTION
  • Solo dice game.
  • WWII Simulation of the Allied relief convoy to the British Island Stronghold of Malta August 3rd, 1942. Also known as Operation Pedestal.

    MATERIALS
  • Paper, pencil, 1-2 six sided dice, nobody to play with.

    CONVOY COMPOSITION
    Ship Type:		Number of Ships:	Notes:
    Cargo Ships		3D6		Merchant Men
    Oil Tankers		1D6		
    Aircraft Carriers	1D3		
    Cruisers		1D6 x 5		Warship
    Destroyers		1D6 x 10		Warship
    
  • Record how many of each type of ship you have.

    LENGTH OF JOURNEY
  • The game will last 20 + 1D6 Turns
  • Make a column of that many boxes on a piece of paper.
  • Number the boxes.

    FRIENDLY WATERS
  • The convoy will not be attacked for the first 1D6 turns.

    COVERING FORCE RETURNS
  • When you are halfway through the trip roll 1D6 for each of your remaining Aircraft Carriers.
  • On a roll of 4-6 they return to their bases with 3 +1D6 warships each.

    CONTACT
  • Every turn make one contact roll.
    1D6	Contact:		Notes:
    1	Dumb Luck		-1 to this roll next turn
    2-3	No Contact		Turn Ends
    4	Reconnaissance Plane 	+2 to this roll next turn
    5	Surprise Contact	Force Size -1
    6	Contact			
    7	Sortie		Force Size +1
    8	Attack Force	Force Size +2
    


    ENEMY FORCE
  • If contact is made roll to see what type:
    1D6	Type:		Notes:
    1	U-boats		Force Size -1
    2-3	Italian Air force	Attack Rolls -1
    4-5	German Air Force	Attack Rolls +1
    6	Combined Air Force	Force Size +1
    


    FORCE SIZE
  • Roll 1D6. The result of this roll is the Force Size of the enemy force.
  • The Force size is a minimum of 1 with Modifications.

    INTERCEPTION
  • Make 3 Interception Rolls.
  • Make one additional roll for every Aircraft Carrier you have.
  • Make one less roll if all of your cruisers are destroyed.
  • Make one less roll if all of your destroyers are destroyed.
  • For every roll of 1 on 1D6 the size of the attacking enemy force is reduced by one.

    ENEMY ATTACKS
  • Roll a number of times equal to the enemy force size:
    1D6	Damage:
    1-2	Miss
    3-4	Ship Damaged
    5-6	Ship Destroyed
    


    TARGETS
  • If a ship is damaged or destroyed make a Target roll to see which type:
    1D6	Type:		
    1	Tanker
    2	Cargo Ship
    3-4	Aircraft Carrier
    5	Cruiser
    6	Destroyer	
    
  • If there are no Aircraft carriers left treat the result as a Cargo Ship.
  • If you already have a damaged ship of a certain type and you get another ‘Ship damaged or destroyed’ result for that type there is a 1-3 in 1D6 chance that the damaged ship is hit again and sunk.

    OPTIONS
  • You may take an option at the very beginning of your turn.
  • You cannot take another option if you are currently using one.

    DECOY OPTION
  • Once during the trip you may send out a dummy convoy.
  • Target rolls +2 for 1D6 turns.
  • Get 1 less intercept roll.

    SPLIT OPTION
  • Once during the trip you may split up the fleet (Every ship for himself).
  • Force Size –1 for 1D6 turns.
  • Contact rolls are at +1.

    EVADE OPTION
  • Once during the trip you may take an evasive route.
  • Contact rolls at –2 for 1D6 turns.
  • Game length increases by 1D3 turns.

    SCREEN OPTION
  • Once during the trip you may set up a screen of warships to face the enemy routes of advance.
  • Get two additional Intercept rolls for 1D6 turns.
  • Attack rolls are at +1.

    SCORING Start with 100 points.
  • Lose 2 points for every cargo ship lost.
  • Lose 1 point for every cruiser lost.
  • Lose 3 points for every tanker lost.
  • Lose 5 points for every aircraft carrier lost.
  • Gain 1 point for every Interception.
  • Lose 10 points if all of your Tankers are destroyed.
  • Lose 10 points if all of your Cargo ships are destroyed.