I ran a multiple period mini WWI campaign at Enfilade. I set it in late June 1916 with the premise that Jutland had been another near miss. I had two non-players set what the Brits and Germans were doing and left it to the various players (which changed every 4 hours) to interperate those intentions on the table top.
The German was given the choice of trying to lure a portion of the Grand Fleet into a position where it could be destroyed by a bombardment of the British coast or some other demonstration as bait. Or, the German could go after the Channel Fleet and destroy it. The objective of either operation was affect the naval balance in the North Sea in favor of the Germans.
The German looked at the past history of trying to bait the Grand Fleet and opted for a strike at the Channel Fleet. The German's reasons were that he could not predict what the exact reaction of the Grand Fleet would be or where it would be. The Channel Fleet on the other hand was more predictable in both its location and size. He also thought that the Brits would have to replace it from either the Grand Fleet or their forces in the Med and that would aford further opportunies of defeating the Brits in detail.
The German sortied the entire High Seas Fleet (all 3 battle squadrons) with the battle cruisers leading in a compact grouping. The German wanted the fleet to strike the Channel Fleet while tightly grouped so as to quickly overwhelm it and then run for home.
Room 40 gave the Brits 4 hours warning of the German Battle Cruisers sailing but no indication of an entire High Seas Fleet sortie or what the German intentions were. The Brit said the most likely target was a bombardment but a strike at the Channel Fleet was also a possibility. He looked at the map and determined that he could not reach the Channel with his battle squadrons before the Germans had come and gone, so he set course with the 1si, 2nd, 4th & 5th battle squadrons for the Jade. He sent the Battle Cruiser Fleet south along the coast to the Channel while the Channel Fleet cruised off Ramsgate.
The British plan was for the battle cruisers to intercept (with 10 BC) the German battle cruisers (5 BC) if they were trying to bombard. If not then the BCF was to make visual contact with the Channel Fleet and then turn for the Jade to meet the GF which would turn west for the Channel after checking the Jade. The hope was to trap something between them.
The HSF light forces made contact with Harwich Force about dawn. Harwich Force was pushed aside as the HSF steamed up the Channel towards the Thames and the Channel Fleet. The HSF made contact with the Channel Fleet about 0900 hours and the German commander threw the orignal plan out by ordering everything to full speed and slipping his battle cruiser's leash. The battle cruisers at 26 knots quickly left the rest of the HSF behind as the Channel Fleet slowly withdrew up the Channel before them. The result was that the battle cruisers fought and destroyed the Channel Fleet on their own which lengthened the time it took and concentrated the punishment recieved back in the battle cruisers.
The end result was that the Albermarle, and six King Edward VII predreadnoughts were either sunk out right or finished off by German light forces while the Dreadnought and Hindustan were badly damaged and would require months of dockyard repair to fight again.
The BCF entered the Channel behind the HSF and then shawdowed it as it ran for home. The weather had gone from bad to worse and then greatly improved by mid morning and the Brits were hoping that it would remain stable as the BCF herded the HSF home along the Dutch coast and into the GF.
At 1600 hours the German light forces reported the GF light forces dead ahead and then shortly afterward the 5th BS. The HSF turned towards the BCF and engaged it while their BCs passed behind the fleet to get towards their van.
The HSF with its pre-dreadnoughts leading, followed by the 3rd BS and then the 1st BS pounded the BCF. About 1630 hours the German light forces sighted the GF BS and the German realized he was facing total destruction if he continued directly home. The German ordered a battle turn away for the 1st and 3rd BS with the FF ship leading while what was left of the 2nd BS and the BC covered his withdrawal.
The weather closed in at 1730 hours causing both sides to lose visual contact. But before that happened 4 German pre-dreadnoughts had been sunk and 2 more badly damaged. The 5th BS had reduced the German BCs to 18 knots and almost no main armament. The BCF had paid for this with extensive damage that had greatly reduced its speed and armament and Indomitable had blown up outright.
At this point we ran out of time. I adjucat3ed it a British victory based on the following points:
1. I had rolled the weather out for the entire day and knew that it would open up again.
2. The German destroyers had used up more than half of their coal and would have to turn for home shortly or go DIW.
3. The Brits were directly between the Germans and home and by breaking back into divisional columns would be able to spread out and keep the Germans in front of them.
Based on the above I determined that the Brits would need to make a major mistake and the German would need to locate the gap blindly and then exploit it and that the two in combination were very unlikely.
