These were the rules which started it all. Back in the winter of 1989 I got interested in coastal forces wargaming, but the rules that were commercially available at the time seemed over complex and far too slow. I developed a set of quick play rules which were published in 1993 as 'Schnellboot' by SDD. These were a great success, and in 1995 they were reissued as 'Action Stations! by Felix Enterprises. In the two years between editions I learnt a lot about formatting as well as devleoping the rules way beyond the original version. In their current form they allow play from 1914 to 1953, covering small craft actions (the rules are intended for use with craft up to destroyer sized vessels, although we have used them for MTB attacks on cruisers with great success!). In August 1999 Felix Enterprises closed down, and publishing passed to A&A Game Engineering. The new edition was published by A&AGE in February 2000.
The aim of this page is to keep users of the rules up to date with any errata, new rules, scenarios and useful bits of information which I have available.
The Latest Edition
Action Stations has been reprinted by A&A Game Engineering. The 2000 third edition features the paddle steamer rules covered below plus details of the basic German S151 class S-Boat. A number of minor changes have been incorporated since the second edition from Felix. The most obvious change is the reverse of the ship classification - Class 1 vessels are now the small craft, Class 3 are now the big ships. This has allowed a more logical treatment of things such as collision, grounding and the effects of mines. The rules covering armour have changed slightly - instead of forbidding guns of certain calibres from damaging certain ship types the larger ships now have "intrinsic" armour values which must be penetrated if damage is to be caused. The rules for submarines have been drastically simplified to increase playability and to concentrate on the most important phase of sub ops as far as coastal forces are concerned, i.e. the initial dive and evasion. Apart from these changes there are a host of smaller changes which have tidied up the rules, but they have essentially stood the test of time and are largely unchanged.
Quick Play Sheet
One of the most frquent comments regarding the A&AGE edition is the lack of a quick play sheet. I've been meaning to do one for ages but never got around to it. Fortunately Peter Schulein has done one for me - many thanks Peter :)
The QPS can be downloaded here
Simon Stokes wrote a series of articles for the NWS journal "Battlefleet" detailing WW1 riverine actions. I accompanied the series with an article of WW1 variant rules for Action Stations, including riverine and lake warfare ship data. The rules and data can be downloaded here
Submarine Rules
The A&AGE edition features simplified submarine rules, whereas these were given more detailed coverage in the earlier Felix edition. I deleted the sub rules as few players used them and A&A needed to get the page count down a bit. However, since then I've had a few requests for the original rules, so here they are posted in PDF format:
2nd Edition Submarine Rules
Israeli MTB Action off Port Said, July 1967
As well as actions up until Korea, Action Stations can also be used for coastal actions in later wars where missiles were not a factor. Follow this link to an article describing an engagement between Egyptian and Israeli coastal forces in July 1967
New Ship Data Tables
New Data Tables - I'm currently working on tables of additional ship data, covering classes not included in the main rules. These will be posted here as they develop. Many of the classes added are the subject of models from PT Dockyard.
Latest update posted - 5th August 2006
Links
It is very difficult finding decent information on coastal forces craft and actions. a number of good books on Royal Navy, USN and Kriegsmarine craft have been published but there is precious little else generally available. The following pages help to fill the gap a little - if you come across any other suitable links please let me know.
Berts Motor Gunboat Page - an excellent site from a Coastal Forces veteran.
Knights of the Sea - over 90 pages devoted to PT boats and the men who sailed in them.
PT Links - The links page from KotS.
Coastal Forces Image Gallery - More images of coastal forces models from my collection.
MTB 07 - The RN's 2nd MTB Flotilla and the fall of Hong Kong
MTB 102 - Homepage for the restored Vosper MTB.
Jan Bartelski's Polish MTB Page - Polish MGBs and MTBs in WW2
Antti Joronen's War Photo Gallery - Good source of informatio on Finnish boats
Finnish Photo Archive - Some decent pictures of Siebel ferries and VMV motor launches
SCHNELLBOOT! - An Illustrated Technical History
Coastal Forces Models
1/600 and 1/1200 Coastal Forces models are available from the following manufacturers:
Hallmark Miniatures - Exquisite 1/1200 CF models at very reasonable prices (they also stock Action Stations!)
SDD - WW1 and WW2 models, plus aircraft and accessories
PT Dockyard - very nice resin models; an extensive range, lots of unusual subjects!
Skytrex - WW2, inclusing some Japanese and Italian models as well as larger vessels.
Navwar do a range of 1/300 models - good for large tables!
If anyone is aware of other suppliers (in any scale) please let me know.
Scenarios
Scenarios suitable for Action Stations, or other coastal forces rules such as "Flaklighter" and "Fast Attack". If you have a scenario that you'd like posted here please let me know.
Stopping the Express - US PT boats versus the Tokyo Express, 1942. A scenario by Dave Schueler
Optional Rules - 1995 Edition
Paddle Steamers.
2000 Edition Errata
There are currently no corrections to the rules published in 2000.