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[Aman]

We've been continuously baffled by the language with which Division, Formation, Detection and Acquisition are phrased. The following is mostly just rephrasing what appears to be the attempted rule. A couple of the clarifications may in fact result in rules changes, quite frankly I can't tell. Some of the below represent an optional rule that is incorporated as a logical match with the original rule (checking morale by divisions, for example is an optional rule that is made necessary by the benefits gained by Divisions).

My experience with the rules over about a dozen 3-4 hour sessions is that there really needs to be two scales of command with two sets of rules. If you are playing with just a couple ships per player, then all Detections / Acquisitions can be made by ship and recorded by the player. If you're playing a fleet action and each player has a division of 4 ships or so, then you really need to simplify and conduct Acquisition / Detection by Division.

If anyone has feedback, please chime in.

DIVISIONS:
1. …are a command that maneuvers and fights independently, and always writes movement orders for its ships (even if it is just to Follow).
2. …must have at least two ships and no more than eight.
3. …are commanded by a specific ship, from which all Detection / Acquisition rolls are made. It doesn't have to be the lead vessel of the Formation.
4. …count only ships within 1,000y of each other as “in the Division”. If ships become separated at night or when line of sight is blocked (islands, smoke) they are subject to Fratricide, must rejoin the division asap, and must roll morale every turn until they are back in the Division.

Divisions and Detection / Acquisition
1. Every turn, each Division independently rolls for and Detects / Acquires the single closest friendly or enemy Division and continues the attempts automatically until successful. Every Division gets ONE attempt at Detection, and ONE attempt at Acquisition per turn.
2. USN Divisions may be able to Acquire a Division with their Detection roll. Cross-reference the Detection roll with the USN Acquisition Table.
3. Successful Acquisition automatically Acquires the closest enemy ship of that Division. All ships of the Division may fire upon it. Ships that want to switch to a different target in an Acquired Division must roll to Acquire that ship. The typical order is 1st vs 1st, 2nd vs 2nd, etc.
4. Once Acquired, an enemy Division remains Acquired until LoS is lost by all ships presently in the Division.
5. Ships that are out of Formation with the Division must roll to Detect Acquire on their own, may only fire upon ships they have Acquired, and are subject to the Fratricide rules.