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When the Navy WalkedA Game Set in the Victorian Age of Conquest and Innovation!

Author: Robert M. Adams

Editor: J. Womack

Original Concept: Robert M. Adams

Game Rules: Robert M. Adams

Additi onal Material: J. Womack

Graphic Design: Joey Caso

Cover Illustrati on: James Miller (Scrying Eye Games)

Interior Illustrati ons: Arsenale Shipworks and Eli Arndt

Miniatures and terrain from personal collecti ons

Additi onal miniatures provided by Arsenale Shipworks

Copyright: When The Navy Walked ©2011 The ArmChair General. All rights reserved. Reproducti on of this work by any means

without the writt en permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. All signifi cant characters, names, places, items, art and text

herein are copyrighted by Robert M. Adams.

Sale of electronic or hard copies without permission of The ArmChair General is expressly forbidden.

This product is a work of fi cti on. Any similariti es to actual persons living or dead, organizati ons, places or events is purely coincidental.

Images: Game photographs ©2010, Robert M. Adams. All other images courtesy of Arsanle Shipworks and Eli Arndt and personal

collecti ons unless otherwise noted.

ISBN:

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When the Navy Walked: Quick Play Edition

ContentsContents ...............................................................................................................................................................................................2

An Introduction to Victorian Science Fiction & the Steampunk World ................................................................................................5

Game Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................................6

What you need to play .....................................................................................................................................................................7

History of When the Navy Walked ...................................................................................................................................................7

Definition of Game Units ..................................................................................................................................................................8

Leaders .........................................................................................................................................................................................8

Ground Units ................................................................................................................................................................................8

Artillery Units ...............................................................................................................................................................................9

Machine Units ..............................................................................................................................................................................9

Capital Units .................................................................................................................................................................................9

Small Flying Units .......................................................................................................................................................................10

Unit Characteristics ........................................................................................................................................................................10

Shoot Range ...............................................................................................................................................................................10

Shoot Damage ............................................................................................................................................................................10

Melee Damage ...........................................................................................................................................................................11

Leadership OR Command ...........................................................................................................................................................11

Morale ........................................................................................................................................................................................12

Sabotage OR Espionage ..............................................................................................................................................................12

Threshold OR Hull .......................................................................................................................................................................12

Movement ..................................................................................................................................................................................12

Playing the Game ...............................................................................................................................................................................13

When the Navy Walked - Turn Sequence .......................................................................................................................................13

Phase One: Generate Command Points .........................................................................................................................................13

Phase Two: Movement Phase ........................................................................................................................................................14

Phase Two: Movement Phase – Formation Changes ..................................................................................................................14

The Cost of Changing Formation ................................................................................................................................................14

Formation Descriptions ..............................................................................................................................................................14

Line Formation .......................................................................................................................................................................14

March Column ........................................................................................................................................................................15

Mass Formation ......................................................................................................................................................................15

Skirmish Formation.................................................................................................................................................................15

Square Formation ...................................................................................................................................................................16

Disordered Formation ............................................................................................................................................................16

Wedge Formation ...................................................................................................................................................................16

Artillery Formation .................................................................................................................................................................17

Phase Three: Shooting Phase .........................................................................................................................................................18

Allocate Command Points for Shooting Orders ..........................................................................................................................18

The Cost of Shooting Orders .......................................................................................................................................................18

Fire Allocated Units ....................................................................................................................................................................18

Flank Attacks ...............................................................................................................................................................................18

Deny Flank ..................................................................................................................................................................................19

Effects of Cover ...........................................................................................................................................................................19

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When the Navy Walked A Game Set in the Victorian Age of Conquest and Innovation!

Casualties and Damage ..............................................................................................................................................................19

Morale Checks ............................................................................................................................................................................19

Return Fire of Unallocated Units ................................................................................................................................................22

Phase Four: Charge Phase ..............................................................................................................................................................22

The Cost of Charging ..................................................................................................................................................................22

Completing Charges ...................................................................................................................................................................22

Stand and Fire .............................................................................................................................................................................22

Resolving the Charge ..................................................................................................................................................................23

Phase Five: Melee Phase ................................................................................................................................................................23

Effects of a Flank Attack ..............................................................................................................................................................23

Effects of Cover ...........................................................................................................................................................................23

Resolving Melee Combat ............................................................................................................................................................24

Phase Six: Sabotage/Espionage Phase ............................................................................................................................................24

The Cost of Sabotage and Espionage ..........................................................................................................................................24

Sabotage .....................................................................................................................................................................................24

Espionage ...................................................................................................................................................................................24

Resolving Sabotage .....................................................................................................................................................................24

Phase Seven: Rally/Repair Phase ....................................................................................................................................................25

Rallying Shaken or Routed Units .................................................................................................................................................25

Repairing Capital Units, Machines, and Small Flying Units .........................................................................................................25

Scenarios ............................................................................................................................................................................................26

Scenario One – A Chance Meeting .................................................................................................................................................26

Scenario Two – Retaliation .............................................................................................................................................................27

Scenario Three – Protect the Rynanium Mines! .............................................................................................................................28

Scenario Four – The Battle of Port Cape .........................................................................................................................................29

Unit Classifications Expanded .............................................................................................................................................................30

Important Terms and Concepts ..........................................................................................................................................................32

Edges and Flaws .................................................................................................................................................................................34

Edges ..............................................................................................................................................................................................34

Flaws ...............................................................................................................................................................................................36

British Northern Colonial Army ..........................................................................................................................................................37

German Kleindeutschland Korps ........................................................................................................................................................39

Quick Reference Sheets ......................................................................................................................................................................41

Turn Sequence ....................................................................................................................................................................................41

Unit To-Hit Chart.................................................................................................................................................................................42

Internal Hits and Sabotage Tables ......................................................................................................................................................43

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When the Navy Walked: Quick Play Edition

When the Navy Walked is a miniature rules set that covers an alternate history from the 1872 Victorian era to the

1909 Edwardian Industrial Age. It is a springboard for imaginati on and a high-level game of tacti cs and batt les set

amongst a ‘what if’ world inspired by the classic authors of Victorian Science Ficti on and Retro Science Ficti on. In

WTNW players take the reins of generals and command massive armies of steam driven behemoths. In the end, the

thunder that cascades across the batt lefi eld to sett le in the souls of the fi ghti ng men will only be assuaged with the

assistance of the landship.

When the Navy Walked is the fi rst in a series of books that will outline the story and history behind this alternate

Earth, its culture and the rules for fi ghti ng massive batt les. In future supplements players will have the opportunity to

play through various alternate historical scenarios, including the colonizati on of Africa and the deep, dark folds of the

Aether. So grab your goggles and your Aethertech and get ready for a good ti me fi lled with steam and adventure!

This is the “rules-only” version, for the full version including the story of the alternate earth and the ti meline as well

as advanced rules you will want a copy of the full version of When the Navy Walked, Second Editi on.

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When the Navy Walked A Game Set in the Victorian Age of Conquest and Innovation!

An Introduction to Victorian Science Fiction & the Steampunk World

No doubt, many remember the classic War of the Worlds novel written by H.G. Wells back in 1898 as the two part

novel series, The Coming of the Martians and The Earth Under the Martians. Some have called the book a variation

on evolution interpretation, while others consider the book sheer romantic science fiction. The War of the Worlds

spawned a 1953 movie, a spin off television special, several made for television movies and the most recent Hollywood

iteration of War of the Worlds, where the tripod war machines are more organic beings than metal monstrosities. In

either event, many agree that this book, along with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the

Earth, was the springboard for the Victorian Science Fiction genre and later the Steampunk movement itself.

Most of us have fond memories of Victorian Science Fiction romances whether we consciously realize the fact or

not. Indeed, many of us probably can either remember reading the books or watching the television movies inspired

by the books. The zealous Captain Nemo played by James Mason in the classic retelling of Disney’s 20,000 Leagues

Under the Sea certainly brings back happy visions of my childhood. The battle between man and beast plays out ever

so beautifully and the contrast between evil and good take center stage in the form of the heroism displayed by Ned

Land as he rescues the captain from the dreadful clutches of the giant squid. Then there is the submarine boat, the

Nautilus herself: a marvelous machine of wonder, power, beauty and death, powered by atomic energy - a grandiose

achievement of humanity. The blue-green color of the machine plowing through the water and the beauty of the

brass fittings and clockwork-like interior lends itself well to the imagination. Then we watch in horror and amazement

as the spectral-like, awe-inspiring design effortlessly slices through the water and slams into her victims.

I fondly remember spending countless nights reading Edgar Rice Burroughs’s fantastic tales set in the Pellucidar

world, deep in the center of the Earth. I cheered the villainous, evolved pterodactyl-like rhamphorynchus race, the

Mahars, as they tormented, enslaved, belittled and basically controlled their stone-age human slaves and gladiators.

Other books by Edgar Rice Burroughs bring such Victorian Science Fiction/Pulp crossovers such as Tarzan the Ape Man

and Of Men and Monsters. In Tarzan, a young man becomes a bridge between man and beast by being raised by apes.

As the young man explores the visitors’ language and their tools, he becomes enchanted with the beauty of their

technology. All the while, that same technology looms overhead, threatening to destroy Tarzan’s beloved home. In

Monsters, we find Mankind living inside a mousetrap where aliens are the keepers and we are the mice. The struggle

of day-to-day life unfolds as humanity attempts to throw off the yoke of our giant prison guards.

Now, let us discuss what miniature war gamers think of when we talk about Victorian Science Fiction. The words

“Land Ironclad” and “Aeronef” immediately spring to mind, one being a creation of Wessex Games and the other a

short story by H.G. Wells. I have seen a good many Victorian Science Fiction games played using British Colonials

versus humble Martians and/or Colonial Powers going head to head. If you have watched James Cameron’s Avatar

or Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, then you have seen the Great Powers fighting against native populations.

This is the age of conquest and invention, covered in a thick layer of smoke. This is the bread and butter of Victorian

Science Fiction.

Next we move into a genre of gaming that is known but to only a few: Edwardian Science Fiction. This is the realm

where classics like Weird World War I and the original Land Ironclads written by H.G. Wells live. Imagine a world run by

machines much like those from World War I but instead of using the combustion engine, they still use steam. Imagine

the giant behemoths of the pre-dreadnought age being able to go about on the land as well as on the water. Imagine

armadas of flying wooden and iron ships that rival the Great White Fleet, but able to penetrate into the dark, blanket-

like folds of the Aether. The combustion engine has been invented by this time but cannot compare to the wonders of

steam and technology driven by the massive power plants that feed these behemoths. Turbine-powered steam and

smoke vehicles are a symbol of pride for the powers. This is an age of invention and reason, where people dream of

steam and politicians maneuver beneath the veil of smoke.5

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