Two house rules I’m submitting on Larry’s website. May appear long and complicated, but I wrote them up as I’d hope they’d be detailed in any real published rule book.
1. Naval Mines & Minelayers/Sweepers:
If at the end of the turn, a Minelayer is stationed inside a sea zone it controls it deploys a minefield (Use a mine marker to denote a mine field). Minefields are persistent on the board for 1 full turn after they are deployed . After this, the minefield is removed from play (Mines drift out of position, may sink/dud/explode over time, so unmaintained minefields becomes less effective, etc.).
Minefields can only be deployed in sea zones adjacent to island or coastal territories.
All naval units moving into a zone with a defending enemy minefield present must pass an initial preemptive D6 roll for minefield damage from the defender. This roll also applies to submarines moving through the territory and not attacking. Submarines persisting in a sea zone with an enemy minefield present must make a minefield roll each turn as if they were moving through. Minefield rolls only occur once in a battle - prior to the first round of combat.
A roll of “1” results in a casualty for the attacker - attacker’s choice. These casualties are removed before they attack. Only naval units may be removed as casualties. Hits taken to carriers that would otherwise prevent the launch of aircraft do not prevent attacking aircraft from participating in combat in that sea zone or a subsequent amphibious assault during that same turn – they are considered to already have been launched. Normal rules regarding aircraft recovery for damaged carriers apply.
Minelayer
Cost – 8 IPCs, Attack – 1, Defense – 1, Movement – 2.
Max of 2 per nation and their minefields don’t stack in the same sea zone.
If a Minelayer makes a combat move into a sea zone with an attacking force it becomes a Minesweeper and any defending minefield is negated. The Minelayer defends at a “1” in addition to any minefield rolls that occur at the start of combat
2. Fortification:
Cost – 10 IPCs, Attack – 0, Defense – 0/3, Movement – 0.
Fortifications represent more than just a bunker or a pillbox. A fortification notes the construction of a significant fortified line or coast of earthworks, minefields, and defensive emplacements designed so that even a token defensive force can take a serious effort to dislodge.
Fortifications are purchased and placed in a territory under the same rules as AA Guns. They cannot move, and more than one cannot be purchased per territory.
Territories with a fortification give a +1 modifier to any coastal bombardment attack rolls.
A territory with a fortification defends with a preemptive roll at 3 or less each round as long as an allied land unit – infantry, artillery, mech-infantry, or tank - remains alive to garrison it. The defender chooses this casualty – it must be a land unit. Fortifications with no land units defend at “0”, but enemy units may not blitzkrieg through a territory containing one.
Finally, fortifications are not taken as casualties in battle or captured. They are considered demolished when the territory is captured and are then removed from play.