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Jim O’Neil’s Arctic Winter Battle Scenario, December 1941

 

Late December 1941: 2025 hours

Wind: Force 7 East North Easterly at 30 knots

Cloud Cover: 1 layer at 6,000 feet, rated overcast

Squalls & Sea Haze: None

Moon State: Full (The freaks come out)

RN Visibility/Radar: 4,000/12,000 yards

USN Visibility/Radar: 8,000/8,000 (FCR only) yards

KM Visibility/Radar: 8,000/8,000 yards

Allied Deployment

HMS Norfolk FF leads the convoy, and HMS Aurora trails the convoy. Close escorts consist of 4 A-I DDs in a division and 2 V&W conversions deployed within 4,000 yards of the convoy at the Convoy Commander’s (Norfolk) discretion.

The convoy consists of 4 columns (from west to east) of 6 MM each except for column 3 which has 7 MM.

The Big Spud (USS Idaho), USS Philadelphia and DesDiv 18 (USS Somers, Warrington, Davis & Jouett) is to the East of the convoy and centered on it.

The entire force is heading 240 degrees at 6 knots.

German deployment

Scharnhorst FF, Gneisenau & Admiral Hipper are in a column heading 310 degrees at 16 knots south east of the convoy at 20,000 yards on a crossing course.

 

2025-2034 hours: The unnamed USN Rear Admiral (an ugly American) sat on the bridge of the “Big Spud”, totally coffee out. It was dark but not so stormy night, and he wondered if the Germans would come out to play.

 

2035 hours: The masthead reported ships to port. The Admiral did not believe there were any friends in that direction and ordered an increase in speed and the waiting spotter a/c launched immediately. He also ordered DesDiv 18 to illuminate those ships with star shell.

 

2038 hours: The next masthead report said that the unidentified ships were also increasing speed and had apparently seen the Idaho and her consorts. Then DesDiv 18’s star shell illuminated what appeared to be 2 capital ships and a cruiser. Idaho fired at the leading capital ship (later identified as Scharnhorst) and hit her 4 times. The return fire hit her thrice (EDR halved the hits). Philadelphia fired rapidly at the cruiser and hit 5 times. The cruiser’s return fire hit Philly 6 times.

Idaho lost her forward PSSB and had her hull damaged twice that limited her to 17 knots as well as an EDR fire illuminated her. Philly suffered a magazine hit among many others that she failed to flood. Philly exploded and went down with all hands.

The German capital ship’s forward fire was cut in half, and she had an illuminating EDR fire. The German cruiser suffered fire in her FP facilities as well as an EDR fire and other damage to her upper works.

 

2041 hours: The Admiral ordered DesDiv 18 to attack the German column with torpedoes. Idaho’s second salvo hit the lead capital ship twice. The second capital ship fired back and missed as the German column turned to starboard. The lead capital ship took another fire in her FP facilities and further hull damage.

 

2044 hours: DesDiv 18 fired off all 8 mounts at 4,500 yards with 3 mounts each targeting the capital ships and 2 at the cruiser. None of the German ships managed to evade. 2 of the mounts aimed at the lead capital ship hit and actually exploded (making RAdm Blamey’s day). The 3 aimed at the second capital ship all hit and failed to explode. The 2 aimed at the cruiser also hit and failed to explode. We will never know exactly what other damage they caused as one detonated a forward magazine and Scharnhorst exploded in what the Americans would later call justice for Philly’s death.

Idaho switched targets to the second capital ship and totally whiffed as did the German in return. Meanwhile the cruiser was trying to withdraw under smoke.

 

2047 hours: Idaho hit the remaining capital ship once and the return fire from its rear turret (nothing like the back of a fleeing Kraut) missed. The capital ship lost its aft turret.

 

2050 hours: Idaho got in her last licks before the German could get out of sight and hit her 5 times. Her forward fire slackened, she slowed and then turned abruptly to port and continued to circle.

 

2053 hours with German circling to port the Big Spud hit her 6 more times. That silenced the German, and she sank lower and lower in the water as she circled the drain so to speak.

 

2056 hours: Idaho’s next salvo sank her.

 

Idaho had to put in repairs, but the Brit said that she could come back and play any time she wanted in future.

 

 

This was written totally from the perspective of an Ugly American and he has no idea how long it took Admiral Hipper to repair.

 

WMC

 

 

 

 

I am prepping for Sand Wars here in Mesa, AZ on May 18-19.  In order to tweak my Cruisin' for a Bruisin' scenario and get back in the groove so to speak, I decided to run a couple of games at Imperial Outpost which is an FLGS in Glendale, AZ.

The first game was played this last Saturday, April 13th.  I had only 2 players for the game this time with Matt W. taking the role of the British and Jeffrey M. taking the role of the Germans.  Each player had a reduced company with the Germans having 10 Panzer IIIs with 3 being "Specials" and the British side with 11 Crusader IIs.

We played through 4 turns before the game was called but there was a lot of action.  The British got the worst of things but did manage to kill a few German tanks including the German HQ tank.  The British also lost their HQ tank as well.

Both players were fairly new to the game.  Matt had played in the game I hosted in October while Jeffrey had never played Mein Panzer before.  They enjoyed the game and want to play again so I consider it a success.

The next game will be on April 27th at Imperial Outpost.  I think I may have more players for that one.

Here are a few pictures of the game from Saturday.

 

G' Day all,

 

This has been an interesting discussion with some good questions and suggestions on torpedo reloads in a combat area.  As I wrote a number of years ago, no one person comes up with all the good ideas, so this is a good opportunity for us to work together to evolve the GQ3.3 rules for torpedo reloads - especially the optional 1.4.14 IJN tactical reloads section.  As you work through potential changes, this seems a good point for me to add in my two cents to clarify a few things and offer a few things to consider.

 

First, I am gratified that viewing GQ3.3 as an simulation using a mix of different time and movement aspects and various probabilities to provide the gamer with realistic situations to have to make tactical decisions in a reasonable amount of playing time is well understood.  As a captain or force OIC (Officer In Command), you don't fire every gun or perform other detailed actions. - your crew(s) do. But you are in command, responsible for applying and maneuvering your forces to best achieve your objectives and - just as important - react to how situations evolve and make the best of things as they deviate from the plan or don't go as expected.

 

OK, on to torpedo reloads.  Here are several aspects and clarifications to consider:

1. The rules are only applicable to reloading in the tactical battlefield, described as the tactical area, during a tactical combat situation.  When not in combat, vessels can take whatever time is required and maneuver as needed to move extra ordnance around in a relatively safe and stress free manner. As several of you have noted, few surface ships carried reloads as it was impractical to attempt to reload during a combat situation without some very specialized processes and equipment.

2. Three types of reload situations are covered:

a) Fixed tubes for submarines and a few older ships with fixed tubes using various forms of block and tackle and blunt manpower.  This is covered in 1.4.8 at the rate of  2 GTs (Game Turns) per tube. This should be 2 daytime GTs, although it doesn't explicitly say that. Mine to fix. Night time doesn't impose a lot of extra issues as it is done inside the hulls in lit compartments sheltered from weather and other distractions.  One could get into enormous complexity over this, but I would suggest that it would not add a lot of additional realism or variation as most navies employed fairly similar systems.

Slow Reloads for rotating torpedo mounts by some IJN ships and a few other surface ships at the rate of 4 GTs per tube, also covered in 1.4.8.  Again, this would be 4 daytime GTs (8 nocturnal GTS).  As noted in the earlier posts, the prewar USN Porter class DDs and Kriegsmarine DDs carried reload torpedoes.  These systems did not prove practical for tactical reloads and were discarded before WWII started to free up weight and deck space for AA armament and stability.  This leaves the IJN pre Hatsuharu class DDs such as the Fubuki, Akatsuki and Mutsuki class DDs.  Searching through various sources did not provide much data on how fast their reload systems worked beyond a general description of hauling torpedoes out of their lockers one by one via block and tackle onto a carriage or trolley that was then maneuvered on fixed rails in the deck to the location of the tubes, lining it up with a torpedo tube and then loading the torpedo in the tubes one by one via block and tackle. [footnote 9 in the Hans Lengerer article on the Hatsuharu class DDs] Doesn't sound like something that would happen quickly on a moving DD in combat, particularly at night.  That is further supported by the fact that the six Fubuki class DDs refitted with Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes late in the war (4Q 1943 - and 1944) only carried 3 reload torpedoes and don't appear to have been refitted with the heavy and deck space consuming high speed tactical reload system.  The Italian Da Barbiano class CLs were probably similar, but hopefully someone can check some of the newer sources to confirm.  Thus, these earlier IJN DDs did have a reload system (noted as shaded reload data on the Ship Logs), but it was not very practical in a combat situation and may or may not have actually been used in a battle.  Unless someone finds some specific data, it seems the duration per tube in the basic 1.4.8 rule remains a reasonable simulation for these slow reload systems. 

3.  Tactical Reloads then only apply to the Hatsuharu and later IJN DD classes and the 8" gun cruisers and some of the CLs (see the Ship Logs as appropriate). They shipped a very clever and practical engineering solution for tactical reloads that was simplified as a 6 GT reloading cycle in 1.4.8.  This is the situation that the optional rule 1.4.14 for IJN Variable Tactical Reloads attempted to address - and would well benefit from an upgrade.

 

Things to consider enhancing this optional rule to provide a better simulation:

A) The 1.4.14 rule refers to 3 minute NIGHT GTs rather than 6 minute DAY GTs as night actions were the primary occasions for employing the reload tactic. I should have specified Dark GTs, but didn't.  My bad.  So, the base 6 GT duration before rolling to complete reloading a TT mount would consume 18 minutes. Once we finalize on probabilities for durations, I will list them in a table stated in successive Dark (Day) GTs probabilities for clarity.  That will enable the gamer to easily use it for day or dark scenarios. That's a needed fix.

I would suggest the conditions/movement restrictions should be (1) not under fire (2) no more than one 2 point change of course per GT (3) Force 4 or milder weather conditions and 4) a speed of 20 kts or less.  Certainly not more than 25 kts.  I have a strong sense of how lively even a moderate sized ship rolls and pitches unexpectedly in "good" weather from spending four and a half months at sea during a circumnavigation voyage a number of years ago.  Shifting 3,000 to 5,000+lb torpedo loads is no easy or simple matter at sea on a moving ship.  Further, ships, DDs in particular, take on some different handling conditions once they start moving over 20 kts in a seaway.  Check out 200,000 Miles Aboard the Destroyer Cotton by C. Snelling Robinson page 133 for some illuminating comments.  BTW, this is good memoir on DD combat in the Pacific in 1943+. Well worth a read.

C) How long would a tactical reload normally take? As noted in several of the previous posts, there doesn't seem to be much conclusive data to go on.  Several have mentioned durations from post war interviews with Japanese sailors of only about three minutes or less in ideal conditions. Maybe tied up to a dock in daylight without the stress of a combat situation. Seems quite unlikely.  Strikes me that the Japanese sailors may have been having a little fun at the expense of their interrogators! That leaves durations of 20 - 30 minutes which seems to come primarily from Morison and analyses of several of the 1943 nocturnal battles in the upper Solomons where this tactic was employed. In a few cases, durations exceeded an hour.  Not so surprising as there are a lot of variables in performing tactical reloads in combat conditions.  Even the encyclopedic Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War by Lacroix and Wells provides lots of data on the tactical reload systems, including some nice drawings, but is a little circumspect on durations.  On page 248, they state, "In ideal conditions, the reload time was 3 - 5 min, but routinely the reloading took 20 - 30 min when there was no need to hurry."  May have been plenty of need to hurry in a battle, but that's offset by lots of stress, particularly in the dark.  My sense is that we should use the 20 - 30 minute cycle as the average base period for determining probabilities unless something more definitive is located in a source.  That fits pretty well with the proposed probabilities in the earlier posts once we correct for the Dark (Day) GTs. For those with a more fiendish disposition, we might consider making a die result of "12" be a malfunction preventing completion of reloading that mount. 

D) Finally, I hope some of you will take on the task of trying to find more definitive data on the pre-Hatsuharu slow reloading systems and spend some time doing a more thorough review of Lacroix and Wells to ensure that all the reload systems for the various IJN cruisers were pretty similar to the DD systems.  Not recommending separate destroyer vs cruiser durations unless that should prove absolutely necessary.  

 

Once we work through these issues, and do the play testing, we will have a better simulation for tactical torpedo reloads.  I can then package it with several other minor rule upgrades I've been working on with Jim and a few others for later this year.  This will be a free download available to all GQ 3.3 owners.   Working together, we can further enhance the system as new and better sources come out.

 

LONNIE

Me and my group love GQ3 and have fought a long extended campaign with the rules as well as a dozen or so smaller actions. So when we started reading the Hornblower series and began searching around for rules it was a no brainer to give Post Captain a chance.

 

We set up the game using the Hornet vs Penguin ship action. I would command the Hornet and my mother would command the Penguin. The system for tracking crew was a little too much math for us so I simplified it so that there would only ever be half or full crew factors so that we could track them with poker chips (each chip representing one half) and a piece of paper with the different tasks and positions written on it. This worked quite well and was fun to boot. Also since this is our first game with the new rules we worked together for damage and maneuver, this meant that we knew more about what each other's condition was than we normally would.

 

The battle

 

We sighted the Penguin 4 points off the port bow with the wind behind her coming from the southeast.

We cleared for action and I began beating to windward. The Penguin barreled down on me and drew up at 400 yards to fire off the first shots of the action. One of her shots tore through my rigging instantly costing me two boxes. I closed another 100 yards before I replied with my own guns scoring no hits.

After some more twisting and turning my gunners scored their first hit killing a few British Marines. Before my men could let out with a cheer the royal navy replied by blasting into my damaged rigging. The main mast was not up to the strain and it came crashing down on my port side. My crew set to work trying to cut away the dead weight and shore up the remaining rigging. The British were thankfully slow to take advantage of the situation and we managed to get our guns uncovered. My gunners dander was up and they began cutting holes in the British crew roster. The battle continued like that for awhile with the British dismantling my rigging and my gunners whittling down their crew. It wasn't long before my foremast followed my main over the side. A poorly executed tack left the British in irons but I failed to score a decisive blow and with most of my sails on their merry way to the bottom of the sea I was unable to get away. Once they got back underway we found ourselves alongside one another at point blank range. Up to this point I thought the situation was bad but not hopeless, my crew was in high spirits and we had taken no casualties in guns or men. Half the British crew was dead and we had hulled her multiple times. When we began blasting each other at point blank range that changed quickly, in one round of firing a third of my crew was killed and after another half was killed and one of my guns was destroyed (we hardly noticed the rigging damage). The British were struggling to man their guns and sails at this point and if the battle continued it would take every thing they had to man the pumps. I rolled a hard command check and after what must have been one heck of a speech my crew stood firm ready to fight till the bitter end.

 

We became fouled and the British attempted to board us and were bloodily repulsed. We attempted the same and to the same result. After that the British cut themselves free and I saw little point in continuing. We couldn't even man the sails at this point and the British were just able to sail and fire a gun.

 

It was a lot of fun although the boarding was probably our least favorite and we might have to modify it for future battles. We both agreed I should have surrendered when half my crew died but where is the fun in that.

 

I'll leave you with the only picture we took during the whole game. It was taken early in the action when the British were firing chasers at me.

A Night in Bharu and Singora Too

It was midnight with a Quarter Moon, but the overcast made the moon like new. The wind was a Force 4 Southerly at 15 knots. There were no squalls or sea haze, so it was a dark but not stormy night and smoke was still an option.

 

0000 hours. Force Z was at sea heading due North at 25 knots looking for those Sons of Nippon. The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere was reported to have landed another Beach Party at Koto Bharu the RN intended to voice its objection at this blatant repeat of earlier trespasses at this same location.

The steward brought Admiral Phillips a cup of tea with a bit of brandy in it. It was after all a new year and that called for a bit of cheer. HMS PoW (Prince of Wales) the flagship led a column of cruisers (1^st Div. Exeter, Mauritius & Emerald; 2^nd Div. Danae, Dragon and Durban) under RAdm Palliser. There was a destroyer division in column to the port and to the starboard of the central column respectively. Repulse had been left in port. This would be a torpedo ambush if Phillips had his say. He might not have Enterprise, but he did have Emerald, and he intended to boldly go where he had not gone three weeks ago.

 

Unbeknownst to Phillips, the invasion convoy was still at sea and was closing on Force Z from the NE on a heading of 225 degrees at 11 knots. That made for a closing speed of about 36 knots. Also unbeknownst to Phillips was that the Port IJN destroyer column could see 16.000 yards (I rolled a 1!) which equaled the best (DesDiv 1) RN radar return but DesDiv 1 was to port of the central column. Those Sons of Nippon would get first peek. This would allow the IJN to accelerate and maneuver to port opening up their arcs.

 

0012 hours. PoW and Electra both made radar contact some 12,000 yards off PoW’s starboard bow. This was the exact opposite of Phillips’ expectations, whoops. PoW fired star-shell from her SS SB and illuminated the second and third ships of what appeared to be a 4-ship division of destroyers.

 

0015 hours. Phillips accelerated Central column to 29 knots and turned 2 points to port. He had DesDiv 1 accelerated to 35 knots and for it to take station ahead of the Central Column. Phillips had DesDiv 2 (S&T class) fall in behind the Central Column. PoW now engaged the first illuminated DD with it SS SB and whiffed completely. Mauritius fired at the other illuminated DD and hit it 6 times.

But PoW found herself under fire from very large guns indeed, the Nagatos were putting in their two cents.

The Isonami took a hit to her DC racks that started a minor fire. She also lost 2 turrets, had a bulkhead damaged and suffered critical hits to her bridge and engineering. PoW was straddled but not hit with shell splashes that went as high as her main mast.

 

0018 hours. Phillips turned the central column and DesDiv 2 away together under smoke to break LOS and used DesDiv 1’s SWR to keep situational awareness. This was not the fight Phillips had hoped for.

 

0021 hours. Phillips turned back into column on a heading of 340 degrees and continued to smoke. He needed to get them within 8,200 yards to torpedo them and he needed to do it without them shooting his cruisers and destroyer to pieces before they could launch. It was obvious that at least some of the Japanese could see as far his radar. DesDiv 1 could still see the damaged DD. It had put out the fire but still had 2 EDR fires burning.

 

0024 hours. Phillips decided to separate PoW from the cruisers. PoW radar was currently good out 12,000 yards and her SB could fire star-shell that far. He’d light the DDs up again at 12,000 yards and pray that the Nagatos were further away when he did it. If he could get lucky and avoid damage, he might just be able distract the IJN while he slipped his cruisers and DDs within 8,000 yards. If he could pull that off then he would launch torps and let the chips fall as they may. He was going to get Napoleonic on the Japanese, engage, then wait and see.

 

0030 hours. PoW illuminated another contact at 12,000 yards that turned out to be anther DesDiv of 4 Asashio class DDs.

 

0033 hours. PoW engaged the lead illuminated DDs with her MB and her SS SB. PoW MB inflicted 4 hits on the Oshio and her SB hit Arashio once. Oshio took a hit to her DC racks that started a minor fire, lost her fore turret and two engineering hits that threatened to knock her DIW. Arashio took a hit in her DC racks and a minor fire. PoW was fired upon by the Nagatos and they missed again.

 

0036 hours. Phillips had his cruisers and DDs turn together towards the gun flashes that he believed were the Nagatos and turn back on course together while moving the last half of their movement straight ahead. He then had DesDiv 2 fire star-shell in an attempt to illuminate what he believed were the Nagatos. PoW engaged the DDs again with her MB & SB. PoW hit Oshio 4 more times but missed Arashio. Oshio took 3 hits to her hull and a bulkhead. Nagato hit PoW once knocking out a TB and a SL. DesDiv 2 illuminated Nagato and Mutsu.

 

0039 hours. PoW engaged Nagato with her MB and Arashio with her SB. Nagato returned fire. PoW missed and Nagato hit her once damaging her hull. Several IJN DDs fired at DesDiv 1 & 2 without effect.

 

0042 hours. All the RN cruisers and DDs fired their torps off at the Nagatos at 8,000 yards. All of Force Z then turned away under smoke to break LOS.

 

0045 hours. Phillips continued with Force Z almost in a line abreast away from the Japanese under smoke while Electra kept track of them on radar.

 

Nagato took 5 torps from the 31 fired at her from DesDiv 1, Exeter, Mauritius and Emerald. Mutsu took 4 torps from the 26 fired at her by Danae, Dragon, Durban and DesDiv 2. Nagato took 11 hull and sank after 7. Mutsu also took 7 hull and sank. Admiral Yamamoto went down with Nagato, never to rise again and that was a first for me.

 

0048 hours. Phillips knew that he had gotten hits but did not know how many or what he had hit. Phillips withdrew and 3 WAF invasions convoys succeeded. The Singapore Index moved to 4.

 

 

 

 

2nd Vella LaVella continued.

 

2300 USN begins some radical turns to port and starboard aiming to evade torpedoes. This was initially successful until an 8 point turn to port placed the Selfridge in the path of one of Kazekumos spreads at just beyond 5000 yards. This shot did considerable hull damage and another engineering hit. Quick and effective reaction by the damage control teams restored power but the ship was still limited to 23kts due to the hull damage and previous engineering hit.

 

Gun fire continues with Kazekumo now taking the brunt. She ultimately takes 15 5” hits leaving her without guns or torpedo tubes and down to 19kts.

 

Kazekumo attempts to disengage under the cover of smoke while Samidare accelerates to 30kts hearing due north. The USN formation settles on course 270 and just becomes aware of the Transport Group DDs. These old DDs moved to the south to assist their modern sisters who were being roughly handled up to this point.

 

2309 with Selfridge starting to feel the results of her cumulative damage, Walker orders smoke and a 90 simultaneous port turn to the south. At the same time Samidare takes a Parthian shot with 8 Type 93s (2 groups of 4 each). At just short of 4800 yards they just miss astern of Chevalier but intersect O’Bannon just to starboard. O’Bannon is hit by 1 torpedo from the 1^st spread and unluckily (or not if you were the IJN) 3 more from the 2^nd spread! Hit by 4 Type 93’s O’Bannon disintegrates.

 

A longer shot of the O’Bannon hits with Kazekumo on fire and trying to disengage.

 

Additional gunfire erupts between the Transport Group DDs and Walkers formation. The Fumizuki is roughly handled but Selfridge takes another engineering hit and this time she can’t repair the damage. She begins to coast to a stop. At 2309 Yunagi fires 6 old 21” torpedoes and after a run of 3000 yards hits Selfridge 3 times. Selfridge can take no more and Commander Walker is going for a swim.

 

The Larson formation is closing the action but will arrive too late to do anything but rescue Selfridge and O’Bannon survivors if any, and perhaps pick up some Japanese prisoners. The IJN recall the small craft leaving the garrison to their fate.

 

The waters off Vella Lavella are still again with 3 IJN and 2 USN DDs on the bottom.

After a few months naval gaming pause we got back to the Central Solomons Campaign. This was the 8th action of the campaign and is based on the historical action off Horaniu. (OOBs are slightly different due to losses in previous campaign actions).

 

1^st Vella Lavella 8/18/1943

Ref:        “USN Against the Axis” pg. 195-198

                “Dark Waters, Starry Skies” pg 384-392

Time: 0040-0130

WX: Squalls (1x D6 in area with a max of 4), light breeze glassy = Force 2. 6 Kt wind. Smoke last 2 turns. 2 days past full = Full Moon.

 

USN Forces                                                                                                         IJN Forces

O’Bannon (flag) DesDiv 41                                                                           Sazanami (flag) DesRon 3

Taylor                                                                                                            Arashi

Chevalier                                                                                                      Kawakaze

Jenkins                                                                                                         Isokaze

                                                                                                                     15x barges (5 groups of 3)

                                                                                                                     4x PT {2 groups of 2)

                                                                                                                     2x PC (1 group of 2)

 

USN Mission: Interdict enemy supply mission. By sinking at least 50% of enemy small craft traffic.

IJN Mission: Deliver troops/Supplies to Horaniu on Vella Lavella to establish a barge base. Small craft must exit south edge. DD escort to exit west edge.

Notes: Torpedo dud rate: USN = 1-3 (D12), IJN = 1 (d12).

USN may launch torpedoes on radar contacts.

IJN has 1xPete floatplane in the air. A roll of 1-2 on a D12 in the detection phase indicates the Pete has located the USN task force. Once located the Pete may illuminate 2x during the game. If illuminating the Pete may be attacked by short range AA fire but only ODD results on the AA table will have effect due to night. AA fire will reveal a ships position but not count as illuminated for gun fire purposes. It will cause a 2 columns left shift for visual detection.

Small Craft are engaged using the AA tables. Due to night engagement only ODD results have effect (unless targets can be illuminated).

 

Setup:

Vella Lavella is on the south edge of the table with the small craft formation due north at 12k yards.

The USN formation with O’Bannon in the lead bearing 100 at 21k yards from the small craft formation. USN formation in column with course between 270-340 and speed between 25-30 kts (at player’s choice).

IJN Approx. 9-10k yards bearing 020 from small craft formation. Kawakaze and Isokaze in column, Sazanami and Arashi in column echelon to port of Isokaze. Course parallel to USN formation. Speed 20-25 kts (player’s choice).

 

IJN DD formation initially detected by radar indicated by markers place on contact blips. Small craft to the west of the DDs. Even with a full moon spotting these would prove to be very difficult for the USN player.

 

USN formation sprinting toward the radar contacts at 30kts. As the models are on the table it indicates they have already been spotted by the IJN formation

 

The USN visually acquires the IJN formation which has consolidated into a single column and begins a starboard turn. The USN formation is about 15K yards away. Still too far for effective shooting by either side. But visible in this shot is the Pete searching for the USN formation.

 

Sazanami, Arashi and Kawakaze between them launch 14 torpedoes assuming the USN would continue moving to the west. Unfortunately the US DDs execute a well timed 90 degree turn to starboard causing all torpedoes to miss. In the pic you can see the torpedo markers off the port side of the US formation. Their launch points are visible at the top of the pic. Sazanami's Type 90's lag behind the faster Type 93's fired by Arashi and Kawakaze.

 

 

USN illuminates and opens fire concentrating on Kawakaze. Pete manages to find the USN formation and also illuminates. All IJN gunfire misses the mark, but the USN tags Kawakaze 3 times taking out both aft 5" mounts and the aft torpedo mount. (A search light was also lost). The IJN held one mounts worth of torpedoes in reserve and Isokaze prepared to launch another spread of four type 93's.

 

The USN held course prepping for their own torpedo launch but paid the price with the Jenkins taking a type 93 from Isokaze's spread of 4 sinking her outright. 

 

Isokaze pays the price for her success by becoming the favored gunnery target. She takes 10 5" hits. She lost 2 5" mounts a torpedo mount her DC rails a fire, bulkhead and bridge critical were added to her woes. Ultimately reduced to 19Kts due to progressive fire and flood she was fortunate that the bridge crit locked her on course toward the cover of a squall. At this time in the action the USN also launch 15 torpedoes on the 33Kt long range setting.

 

Fortunately for the IJN they were fast enough to outrun all these torpedoes (markers visible in lower right corner). The small craft commanders were less than thrilled when the DD's tore through their formation while heading for the cover of a squall line. 

 

 

The action ends with the IJN DDs reaching the cover of the squall line. Isokaze manages to control the fire and flood and the small craft are never actually detected by the USN. Unknown to the IJN the US force was out of ammo firing prodigious amounts of 5" using rapid fire rates the entire action. Even had the US remained in the area to hunt for small craft they would have been limited to close range AA weapons. 

This is an after action report of a General Quarters 3.3 game played at Recruits convention 2013 in Lee’s Summit, MO on September 14, 2013. The scenario was generated by using the scenario generation system included in the GQ 3.3 rules. The scenario involves a Japanese destroyer transport task force of four converted WW I destroyer transports( PB 2, PB 31, PB 35, PB 36) carrying supplies to a base located in the Solomon Island chain in late August of 1943. Leading the destroyer transports is the light cruiser IJN Abukuma. Escorting the destroyer transports is the heavy cruiser IJN Myoko and a division of four Kagero class destroyers ( IJN Hatsukaze, IJN Yukikaze, IJN Shiranui, IJN Urakaze)with the light cruiser IJN Nagara leading the destroyer division. The night seas are calm with no clouds and a full moon. As the Japanese move through the channels of the Solomon’s toward their objective, they stumble across a US cruiser task force of two heavy cruisers(USS New Orleans, USS Chester), one light cruiser(USS San Diego) and four Sims class destroyers(USS Russell, USS Morris, USS Anderson, USS Hughes). The US task force is sailing to perform a bombardment mission on an island scheduled to be invaded next month. Both forces are surprised to see an enemy task force interfering with their missions:

The US cruiser task force, having organized in line ahead formation, was cruising at twenty one knots; weaving through the island studded channel toward their objective a few hours away. Tasked to arrive in the early morning, the cruisers were scheduled to bombard a Japanese held island to inflict maximum damage on the garrison as preparation for an invasion next month continued. The destroyers USS Russell and Morris led the column followed by USS New Orleans and Chester and USS San Diego. US destroyers USS Anderson and USS Hughes brought up the rear of the column. The admiral of this force was stationed on USS New Orleans. He patiently sat in the command chair on the bridge as the ships quietly glided through the unusually calm waters and clear night sky. The silence of the bridge is broken as the TBS (Talk between Ships) radio crackled to life. An ensign wrote quickly as the TBS spilled forth its report, unintelligible gibberish to the admiral located away from the radio room. The ensign approached the admiral, paper in hand, and reported to the admiral that the lead destroyer, USS Russell, had a radar contact bearing 300 degrees, range 20,000 yards. The contact appeared to be three distinct groups of ships. The admiral nodded as he listened to the report and replied to the ensign to tell USS Russell to continue to track the contact and send updates every five minutes. The admiral turns to the captain of USS New Orleans. He tells the captain to send to all ships….increase to max speed and send the task force to General Quarters!!!
About the time that General Quarters was sounded throughout the US task force, the Japanese admiral on board the heavy cruiser IJN Myoko was still oblivious that a US task force was nearby. The resupply force commanded by the Japanese admiral consisted of two distinct divisions: one was the destroyer transport division of four converted WWII destroyers that had guns and boilers removed to make room for a cargo hold and a landing barge to unload and load supplies to garrisons without harbor facilities. The once speedy destroyers are now slow, eighteen knot cargo vessels that are well suited for work within the confined waters of the Solomon Islands. The destroyer transports had the light cruiser IJN Abukuma escorting them to their scheduled location. The IJN Myoko was not alone. Myoko had a division of four destroyers led by the light cruiser Nagara. The IJN Myoko and the attendant destroyer division were tasked to protect the destroyer transports so they could deliver their precious cargo to the island garrison.
So far, the mission had gone without any interference by the enemy. The Japanese admiral was confident that his experienced sailors would spot trouble in plenty of time. The Japanese heavy cruiser was sailing toward a tight channel between two small unnamed islands to provide a screen as the destroyer transport division transited the gap between the islands. IJN Myoko was intending to hug the shore of one of the islands and swing around the island and hide in the shadow of the island to degrade the ever improving radar on the US vessels. The IJN Nagara and her destroyers were following IJN Myoko to assist in the screening. Just as IJN Myoko approached close to the island to begin her close swing around, lookouts shouted that unidentified ships have been spotted some 20,000 yards off of the starboard bow of the cruiser. At the same time, bright gun flashes broke the darkness from in front of the Japanese heavy cruiser and huge splashes appeared around IJN Myoko. The combination of the gun flashes and lookouts confirmed to the Japanese admiral that a US force was in front of him and had gotten in the first blow.
The US admiral had a clear picture of what he was facing thanks to the magic of radar. A large vessel led a column of ships that approached the channel. If ignored, the enemy column would push in front of his task force. The large vessel was followed by another large vessel and at least four smaller vessels. This was most likely two cruisers leading four destroyers. There was another group of ships with one cruiser target leading four slow moving smaller targets. This force was moving behind the small island. The US task force readied their guns and waited for the fire control director to let them know that they have a visual on the large cruiser target approaching them. The two rear destroyers sped up to maximum speed, swung out from behind USS San Diego and were pushing forward toward the expected battle. Just as the admiral had sorted out all of the data in his head, he heard the fire control director bark that a Japanese cruiser was spotted leading a column of ships visually some 20,000 yards away and requested to open fire…the admiral’s positive response was immediately lost with the boom of the eight inch cruiser guns.
The Japanese admiral did not hesitate due to the intense fire coming from the US cruisers. Calmly, he ordered the cruiser to return fire. IJN Myoko fired back with her forward turrets at her shooters with unknown effect. The US fire as well was not hitting anything. The Japanese admiral knew that the string of good luck would not last. The Japanese admiral’s concentration was interrupted by a report that the light cruiser following him had swung out of the line and taking the four destroyers with him. It appeared that the cruiser captain was attempting to close to torpedo range with his charges. The Japanese admiral watched as the column soon faded into the dark heading toward the rear of the US cruiser force. The USS New Orleans and USS Chester ignored the new move and continued to concentrate on the heavy cruiser. The Japanese admiral’s prediction of their luck came true as the US cruisers began to find their target. IJN Myoko took two eight inch hits that smashed into the hull but doing no significant damage. IJN Myoko’s guns were hitting the area around the US cruisers as well but nothing visual was telling the admiral how effective his return fire was. Both sides traded shots that did not seem to do any more significant damage. The US destroyers USS Russell and USS Morris began to fire at the cruiser as well. The US destroyer’s rapid firing 5’ guns peppered the IJN Myoko with multiple hits and did take out two of the IJN Myoko’s secondary five inch AA guns, but most of the hits were ineffective as they could not penetrate the thick cruiser armor.
There is a decisive moment in the flow of a battle that moves the direction toward victory to one side or another. This battle between the Japanese and the US was no different. Here is the tactical situation at the decisive moment for this battle. The heavy cruiser IJN Myoko is steaming at close to top speed toward a small island with the intention of hugging the shore of the island and swing around to use the island’s shadow to decrease US radar effectiveness. IJN Myoko’s move was detected by the US cruiser task force and now the Japanese heavy cruiser is the sole target of every US ship that is firing. The light cruiser IJN Nagara and the destroyer force that was following IJN Myoko has broken away from the heavy cruiser and is streaking toward the rear of the US cruiser line with the intention of launching their deadly cargo of “Long Lance” torpedoes. The USS San Diego and two destroyers located at the rear of the US line have just spotted the Japanese destroyer line and have begun to engage them. USS New Orleans and USS Chester are continuing to fire at the IJN Myoko as the Japanese cruiser steers toward the small island. US destroyers USS Russell and Morris have added their rapid firing five inch guns to the broadsides by the two US cruisers. The Japanese destroyer transports led by the light cruiser IJN Abukuma have been effectively screened by the Japanese warships and have slipped behind the same small island that IJN Myoko is steering toward. So far the destroyer transports have avoided being engaged. Both sides have avoided major damage from each other gunfire although IJN Myoko has taken two eight inch shell hits into her hull and non-penetrating five inch hits have destroyed two of IJN Myoko’s five inch secondary batteries. IJN Myoko continues to fire her forward eight inch turrets at the US cruisers with no telling hits observed. The US cruisers USS New Orleans and USS Chester along with the destroyers USS Russell and USS Morris return fire.
All of the US ships open fire simultaneously sending a blizzard of eight inch and five inch shells streaking toward the IJN Myoko. The eight inch salvos straddle IJN Myoko with two shells striking her. One twenty four inch torpedo mount disintegrates and bursts into flames. The other shell penetrates into IJN Myoko’s hull and adds to the damage already inflicted by previous hits. The swarm of five inch shells adds their effects to the eight inch shell hits. Four of the swarm hit the thickly armored sections of the ship, adding their explosive effects to the sight of the IJN Myoko being swamped by gunfire but doing no damage. The fifth five inch shell, for reason only known to scientist and God, took a slightly higher trajectory toward the Japanese heavy cruiser. While the other shells hit low on the ship, this shell bore in and struck the unarmored bridge of IJN Myoko.
The Japanese admiral was just beginning to send the order to slightly change course to avoid the island when the US five inch shell slammed into the bridge and exploded. The admiral never got to finish the order as the explosion killed all on the bridge instantly. The IJN Myoko continued on her present course and speed…which meant that six minutes later, IJN Myoko slammed aground on the small island.
The US cruisers did not show IJN Myoko any sympathy for her plight as USS New Orleans and USS Chester continued to shoot at the now grounded Japanese heavy cruiser. The US destroyers decided that maybe this is a good time to launch torpedoes at the hapless IJN Myoko. Torpedoes shot out from USS Russell and USS Morris and they appeared to run hot, straight, and normal. The angle of attack however had the torpedoes transit over the shallow reef before hitting the now grounded Japanese heavy cruiser. The torpedoes slammed into the reef and exploded harmlessly.
The balance of the Japanese force watched in horror as IJN Myoko slammed into the island. The will to fight drained from the two division commanders and all decided that this supply run needed to be aborted. The destroyer transport division used the small island as an effective screen and swung to return to their starting point. The IJN Nagara and her charges had just set up to launch torpedoes when the IJN Myoko grounded. The IJN Nagara’s captain aborted the launch and ordered a general retreat.
The US admiral was elated when he saw the result of their last broadsides. Staring at the burning Japanese heavy cruiser cocked at angle as it lay stranded on the reef sent a wave of satisfaction through him. The US admiral did not savor his victory too long as he still had a job to do. The US admiral sent an order for all ships to cease fire and to reform the battle line. The admiral also sent a message back to naval headquarters notifying them of the battle and sent a position report of a Japanese heavy cruiser grounded. The US admiral knew that in the morning, the planes from Henderson field would seek out the cripple and destroy her. The US admiral sat back into his chair and resumed his mission to sail to the island that he was scheduled to bombard in the morning.

In this episode we find our heroes tasked with escorting a slow convoy across the Atlantic on February 1st 1943. Once again I am the escort commander aboard USS Helm DD-388. 

 

We will fight this Sunday and I want to let you inside my head as we prepare for the encounter.

 

My convoy designated HX 57 is a slow convoy of 10 ships out of New York and bound for Liverpool. I have 4 Escorts with which to protect the convoy. USS Helm DD-388, USS Hull DD-359, USS Whipple DD-217, and HMS Lotus.

 

Let's take a closer look at my command and decide the best position for them. We will be using the GQ3 Convoy rules (for the first time) so I will describe their position based on the Small Convoy Template.

 

Let's start with the most problematic of the escorts, HMS Lotus the little flower class. The positives are an excellent ASW load-out. She has good depth charges and tons of them paired with a Hedgehog Projector, this little ship can put a serious hurtin on a submerged target. At 16 knots top speed I'm afraid maneuvering for the attack will be difficult and any kind of substantial hunt will leave her out of position for a long time and burning a ton of fuel to catch up. Her locally directed single 4 inch gun means she can just about out fight a uboat on the surface and my biggest concern is her radar or lack there of.

 

Next is Whipple, she is a Clemson Class Destroyer modified for escort duty. Her top side has been cut down to make room for more depth charges, a larger AA armament and a basic radar set. These modifications have reduced her top speed to 25 knots but all and all she's a solid escort.

 

Last but not least are Hull and Helm. These are to be my workhorses and I expect to run them hard. They are fast ,35 and 36 knots respectively, with RFC and an excellent radar set. The only real downside with these ships ,and it's a big downside, is limited depth charges.

 

I've got a good force here, I'd trade it all for a little more but I'm confident I can get some work done. As far as placement I'm thinking of two options 

 

Option 1: L,R B,H that puts two ships on either side of the convoy but leaves the front open

 

Option 2: A,B,H O that's one escort out front with two on the starboard side and a lone escort to cover the port side.

 

I'm choosing option 2 mainly because of what I call the "nightmare scenario", that is a Uboat diving ahead of the convoy and then emptying all their tubes as the merchants drive over them while I am scrambling to make my way through my own formation.

The ship alone in the O position will be the weakest for sure but a fast ship in the H position should be able to come to their aid relatively quickly.

 

I'll put Lotus in A, Whipple in B, Hull in H, and I'll put my ship Helm in O.

 

This positioning can be debated but this is what I'm going with. Let's see what happens.

 

 

Now that my convoy has been formed let's try and get it across the Atlantic.

 

About half way across the great ocean and 2 and bit days into transiting "The Gap" I received a message from my friends in England. "Uboat concentration reported".

A Wolfpack waiting for me. The message went on to say that 1 to 3 Uboats were forming up to attack me and that they had accurate knowledge of my composition. The message must have be a little slow getting to me because I'm already in the area they said to be aware of. So far I've seen no indication of any hostiles but if I were in their shoes I would attack tonight.

My force is already in the best position I can come up with and they are as alert as I can expect them to be. 

 

Now it's time to talk about fuel. As of today's fuel report all escorts are almost below half capacity with Whipple being the lowest. We had bad weather up to this point and the old tin can consumed more fuel trying to keep station. 

This means that even if I got the message in time to change course I probably wouldn't have done so. My slow convoy makes agonizingly slow progress through the gap anyway without having to go around an area wide enough to avoid the Wolfpack.

 

So far we've taken no losses and expended no depth charges so we are going into this fight with our fullest possible strength and while fuel is a major concern at all times, I'm of the belief that running out of fuel under air cover is preferable to losing merchantmen or dumping that fuel out of a torpedo hole as you head to the bottom.

 

I will post the fight when I get the chance. I would love to have a discussion about issues or points I might not have thought.

 

 

Will our Heroes fend off the Uboats? Will Donitz swarm HX 57 with more boats? Will Whipple be forced to make her way to Liverpool under sail? 

Tune in next week to find out

 

Here are a few more pictures showing stream and river hexes.



Here is a river with pontoon bridge across it.  This is probably a narrower river as each piece has a bank on one side.  To make a wider river just add more 1/4" water hexes in the middle with no banks.



Another view.



A stream/narrow river with ford.



A ford in a stream with road hexes.

I'm flying this one solo.

 

Defending the Malay Barrier (DTMB) Campaign

This is the standard start option. There are no capital ships, Force Z is sunk and the Singapore Index is at 1.

GT 1 16-31 December 1941

The ABDA has not formed yet and the Americans, Brits, Australians, and Dutch are all operating independently. They may not combine excerpt that the USN could transfer a division of Flush Deckers to Singapore. I’ve never seen that done and I’m not going to do it now.

Weather Forecast DR: 6 That results in a +0 modifier in both the WAF and EAF areas this GT.

Japanese

TE (Theater Event) DR: 9        Random ship damaged in the EAF and Oyashio is not available this GT as a result.

WAF 3 CDs

CD 1: Convoy (L) against Kota Bharu-Singora (3^rd Malayan) under VAdm Ozawa (Vet)

CA Chokai; CS7 (RAdm Kurita) CA Kumano, Suzuya, Mikuma & Mogami; 3^rd DesFlot (RAdm Hashimoto) CL Sendai; DesDivs 11^th, 12^th, 19^th & 20^th 14 Fubuki DDs, 12  APs & AV Kamikawa Maru

 

CD 2: Convoy (L) against Kota Bharu-Singora (2^nd Malayan) under VAdm Kondo

CS4 (VAdm Kondo) CA Takao & Atago; DesDiv 4, 4 Kagero DD; DesDiv 6, 2 Akatsuki DD; DesDiv 8, 4 Asashio DD; 12 APs & AV Sanyo Maru

EAF 4 CDs

CD 1: CG in the Center Axis under RAdm Kakuta

CVL Ryujo & DD Shiokaze

 

CD 2: Convoy (M) against Davo under RAdm Takagi

CA Haguro; 2^nd DesFlot (RAdm Tanaka Vet) CL Jintsu; 15^th DesDiv 3 Kagero DD, 10 APs & AV Chitose

 

CD 3: Convoy (M) against Jolo

CS5 CA Myoko & Nachi; DesDiv 16 (-), 2 Kagero DD; 8 APs & AV Mizuho

Aillies

TE: 7    Houston gets her SW radar installed; SW – radar

Singapore: Brit CD used to transfer HMAS Vampire to Darwin

Tarakan: American CD used to transfer Marblehead and DesRon 29 to Surabaya

 

GT Results: All objectives taken and Singapore index now at 2.

 

GT 2 1-15 January 1942

The ABDA still not formed and the Allies are stuck operating independently.

Weather Forecast DR: 12       That results in + 4 modifier in the WAF and a +2 in the EAF

Japanese

TE DR: 1           Admiral Yamamoto intervenes, add 2 CDs to either Attack Force as desired.

WAF 4 CDs (1 from TE)

CD 1: CD Reinforcement of CL Yura to WAF

 

CD 2: Convoy (S) against Miri/Brunei under RAdm Hashimoto

3^rd DesFlot (RAdm Hashimoto) CL Sendai & Yura ; DesDiv 11 &  19, 7 Fubuki DD; 4 APs & AV Sagara Maru

 

CD 3: Convoy (S) against Kuching under VAdm Kondo

CS4 CA Takao & Atago; Desdiv 12 & 20, 7 Fubuki DD; 4 APs & AV Sanyo Maru

 

CD 4: Convoy (L) against Kota Bharu-Singora (4^th Malayan) under VAdm Ozawa (Vet)

CA Chokai; CS7 (RAdm Kurita) CA Kumano, Suzuya, Mikuma & Mogami; DesDiv 4, 4 Kagero DD; DesDiv 6, 2 Akatsuki DD; DesDiv 8, 4 Asashio DD, 12 APs & AV Kamikawa Maru

EAF 5 CDs (1 from TE)

CD 1: CG in Center Axis under RAdm Kakuta

CVL Ryujo & DD Shiokaze

 

CD 2: CD Reinforcement CL Nagara (RAdm Hara)

 

CD 3: Convoy (M) against Tarakan under RAdm Hara

CS16 CL (RAdm Hara) CL Nagara; DesDiv 2, 4 Shiratsuyu DD & 8 APs

 

CD 4: Convoy (M) against Balikpapan under RAdm Takagi

CA Haguro; CL Jintsu; DesDiv 15 & 16, 6 Kagero DD, DesDiv 24, 4 Shiratsuyu DD 8 APs & AV Chitose

 

CD 5: Convoy (VS)

CS5 CA Myoko & Nachi; DesDiv 9, 4 Asashio DD, 1 AP & AV Mizuho

Allies

TE DR: 9 Marblehead has run aground and not available this GT.

Singapore: Brits take Mauritius as a CD reinforcement

Batavia: Dutch transfer to Surabaya

Surabaya: Americans transfer DesRon 29 & DesDiv 59, 5 DD to Darwin

Darwin: ANZACs sortie a sweep in the Eastern Axis under RAdm Crace

CAs Australia & Canberra, CLs Perth, Hobart, Leander & Achilles & DD Vampire.

 

Weather was overcast and Japanese LBA failed to contact the ANZAC sortie. All objectives were taken. The Singapore Index is now a 3. WAF LBA Tier 1 is complete. EAF LBA Tier is still at 0.

GT 3 16-31 January 1942

The ABDA has now formed. The Allies may combine forces and share CDs.

Weather Forecast DR: 4 resulting in +0 modifier.

Japanese

TE DR: 10 Carrier raid against Ambon, does not cost a CD, counts as CG in the Eastern Axis

CV Hiryu & Soryu; DesDiv 7, 2 Fubuki DD & DesDiv 27, 2 Shiratsuyu DD

WAF 3 CDs

CD 1: Convoy against Jesselton (VS) under RAdm Hashimoto

CL Sendai & Yura, DesDiv 20, 4 Fubuki DD & 1 AP

 

CD 2: Convoy against Endau (VS) under VAdm Kondo

CS4 CA Takao & Atago; DesDiv 19, 4 Fubuki DD, 1 AP & AV Sanyo Maru

 

CD 3: Convoy (M) against Bangka Island under VAdm Ozawa (Vet)

CA Chokai; CS7 (RAdm Kurita) CA Kumano, Suzuyu, Mikuma & Mogami; DesDiv 4, 4 Kagero DD, DesDiv 8, 4 Asashio DD, DesDiv 11, 3 Fubuki DD, 8 APs & AV Kamikawa Maru

EAF 4 CDs

CD 1: CD Reinforcement CA Ashigara (VAdm Takahashi)

 

CD 2: Convoy (M) against Menado under RAdm Hara

CL Nagara; DesDiv 2 & 24, 8 Shiratsuyu DD & 8 APs

 

CD 3: Convoy (M) against Ambon under RAdm Tanaka

CL Jintsu; DesDiv 15, 4 Kagero DD; DesDiv 21, 4 Hatsuharu DD, 8 AP & AV Chitose

 

CD 4: Convoy (M) against Kendari under VAdm Takahashi

CA Ashigara; CS5 (RAdm Takagi) CA Haguro, Myoko & Nachi; DesFlot 4 (RAdm Nishimura) CL Naka; DesDiv 9, 4 Asashio DD; DesDiv 16, 4 Kagero DD, 8 APs & AV Mizuho

Allies

TE DR: 7           HMS Emerald at Singapore as a 1 GT reinforcement

Singapore: Sorties a sweep against the WAF under RAdm Palliser

CA Exeter, CL Mauritius, Emerald, Danae, Dragon & Durban; DesDiv 1, 3 E class DD & 1 J class DD; DesDiv 2, 4 S & T class DD

Surabaya: Americans and Dutch sortie a sweep against the Eastern Axis under RAdm Doorman

CL DeRuyter, Java & Tromp; DesGrp 1 & 2, 7 Admiralen class DD; TF5 (RAdm Glassford) CA Houston, CL Boise & Marblehead; DesDiv 57, 4 Clemsen class DD

Darwin: Using the Dutch CD, the Aussies take the 3 N class DD as a CD reinforcement

Darwin: The ANZACs sortie a sweep against the Eastern Axis under RAdm Crace

CA Australia & Canberra; CL Perth, Hobart, Leander & Achilles; DD Vampire & DesRon 29, 5 Clemsen class DD. Pope & Pillsbury breakdown and fail to sortie.

 

WAF Japanese LBA attacked the RN sweep but failed to straddle and lost a bomber to AA fire from Stronghold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RN Sweep vs Bangka Island Convoy

0400 Hours (12 GT of dark before dawn) Dawn at 0436 hours. Dawn Reduction: 4,000 yards

Wind: Force 2 North eastly at 4 knots.         Cloud Cover: Overcast            Smoke: lasts 2 GT

Moon State: Full but overcast reduces to new.        Sea Haze & Squalls: None at start.

Max Visibility during dark: 20,000 yards but Night Acquisition DR determine.

Max Visibility after 0436 hours: 24,000 yards

RN Sweep on a heading of 45 degrees at 25 knots

Relative Bearing to convoy: 4 points to starboard.

IJN Convoy on a heading 315 degrees at 11 knots and crossing the RN’s Tee.

RN Sweep’s Formation

In a column, cruiser divisions leading, then DesDiv 1 & 2, 3,000 yards between divisions

Cruiser Division 1 RAdm Palliser (RN)           DesDiv 1                      DesDiv 2

CL HMS Mauritius FF                                      DD HMS Electra DL     DD HMS Stronghold DL

CA HMS Exeter                                               DD HMS Encounter    DD HMS Scout

CL HMS Emerald                                             DD HMS Express         DD HMS Tenedos

Cruiser Division 2                                           DD HMS Jupiter          DD HMS Thanet

CL HMS Danae DF

CL HMS Dragon

CL HMS Durban

Bangka Island Convoy’s Formation

In a column, Cruisers than DDs followed by APs in two 4 ship columns and then the AV. There is 3,000 yards between the cruisers, DDs, APs and AV.

Convoy: VAdm Ozawa (Vet)               DesDiv 4                      DesDiv 8

CA IJNS Chokai FF                               DD IJNS Arashi DL       DD IJNS Oshio DL

Cruiser Sqdn 7: RAdm Kurita             DD IJNS Hagikaze        DD IJNS Arashio

CA IJNS Kumano SF                            DD IJNS Maikaze         DD IJNS Asashio

CA IJNS Suzuya                                   DD IJNS Nowake         DD IJNS Michishio

CA IJNS Mikuma DF                            8 APs                           DesDiv 11

CA IJNS Mogami                                 CV Kamikawa Maru   DD IJNS Hatsuyuki DL

                                                                                                DD IJNS Fubuki

                                                                                                DD IJNS Shirayuki

The opposing forces are laid out with 20,000 yards between their lead ships. No one can change course or speed until they contact or acquire the enemy.

 

Mauritius rolls an 8 for radar and ranges out to 12,000 yards. Both Mauritius and Chokai roll 4s for night acquisition. Chokai can see 12,000 yards in the new moon state and Mauritius can see 8,000 yards. However, Exeter has a broadside arc at the Japanese lead ship and rolls a 1 for radar allowing her to detect out to 24,000 yards and contact is established immediately. But Exeter has to report the contact and a 1 GT delay is imposed on RAdm Palliser.

 

0406 hours, the IJN at 11 knots has closed the range to just under 18,500 yards. Palliser ordered an in increase in speed to 29 knots and a two-point turn to starboard as he intended to cross the Japanese Tee.

0412 hours the range was down to just under 16,600 yards.

0418 hours the range was down 14,500 yards.

0421 hours the range was down to just under 12,500 yards.

0424 hours, Chokai acquires a long line of ships crossing her bow and broadside to her but the detection occurs to late in the turn for her to respond immediately. The range is down to 9,500 yards.

0427 hours, Chokai turns two-points to starboard and Ozawa orders an increase in speed to 16 knots. Ozawa orders the APs and AV to reverse course and the DesDivs to 21 knots and a turn in succession to port to strike the enemy rear. The range is down to 8,000 yards.

0430 hours, Palliser orders everyone to fire all their torps off, make smoke and turn away to 270 degrees.

Ozawa also orders his cruisers to fire off their bearing torps, but his destroyers are not yet in position.

0433 hours, neither side can see each other due to all the smoke the Allies are laying down.  Palliser is waiting to hear any torpedo impacts before turning to investigate.

0436 hours, Palliser is trying to maneuver west to take advantage of the dawn reduction. The RN cruisers and DesDiv 1 targeted the IJN cruisers while DesDiv 2 targeted DesDiv 4. The IJN cruisers split their torps between the two RN cruiser divisions.

Mauritius and Exeter both targeted Chokai with triple mount each and Chokai failed to evade but both missed completely. Emerald targeted Kumano with two quad mounts and she failed to evade but both missed. Danae, Dragon and Durban each targeted Suzuya, Mikuma and Mogami respectively with two triple mounts each. Suzuya evaded one mount but all other attempts to evade failed. Danae missed.  Dragon hit Mikuma once and Durban also hit Mogami once. DesDiv 1 targets the Mogamis with one mount each. Only Mogami successfully evaded. Electra missed but Encounter hit Suzuya once. Express missed but Jupiter overcame Mogami’s evasion to hit her once. DesDiv 2’s torps (all twin mounts) missed.

The IJN torps were attacking the rear aspect of the Brits and all 10 mounts missed.

It was dawn now and Palliser rethought his idea of returning to attack to that of preserving his force and aborted the sweep (I rolled for morale and he failed).

The RN had fired off 1 Quin, 5 quads, 8 triple and 8 twin mounts and hit 4 times. But they were intact and could try again. Mogami lost her fore and aft turrets and 5 hull hits.

Suzuya lost her aft turret and suffered 3 hull hits. Mikuma suffered 2 hull and a fire that took her 3 turns to put out and she suffered a third hull hit for it. The bottom line is that 3 of the Mogami class are forced to undergo repair, reducing the WAF CAs available to 4.

 

But the convoy was not aborted and all objectives were taken and the Singapore Index now at 4. All other WAF objectives were also taken. So, a nice try for the Brits but no cigar.

 

The rest of the turn will be completed in a follow up and we’ll go turn by turn from there on.

 

WMC

Thought I would use this thread to post photos of my miniatures, many of which have previously appeared in my AARs posted in the AAR thread.

 

The latest additions to my Toy Box are these GHQ Panzer II Fs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The full platoon:

 

 

 

In the paint shop:

 

 

I am a user of both GHQ Individual Infantry and Heroics & Ross infantry.  I have tried Adler, C-in-C and Scotia as well, but settled on GHQ and H&R.

 

For basing I have chosen US Pennies (1 cent coins).  19mm across (about 4/5 of an inch). Good sturdy metal, takes paint well enough, low cost (I get 100 for as little as $1!), and plentifully available (I have never yet had to wait to finish a unit because I ran out of pennies).

 

I have arranged my stands based on:
- 4 figures on a base to represent a "standard" squad. Major armies of WW2 were usually populated mostly by a standard squad organization.  As long as all of the squads are standard, it hardly matters what figures I put on the stand -- they are only there for the look of it.

- 3 figures is squad-sized, but not a standard squad.  Here the figures matter, to tell me what the base represents.  But they are far fewer than the standard squads so that's workable. Examples of 3-man bases:  8-12 man gun crews, combat engineer squads, 8-12 man HQ / command units, etc.

- 2 figures is a half-squad / team / crew sized stand. Again the figures might matter.  Examples of 2-man bases:  infantry support weapons, small command teams, artillery observation teams, vehicle crews.

 

Separate from that I use a marking style to identify command units.  I use small stripes/dots on the back rim of the stand:  3 = platoon command, 2 = company command, 1 = battalion / battlegroup command.  The dots are done in a dark paint similar to the dominant color on the stand (dark green for temperate zone units, dark brown for desert units).

 

Here are some pics of various units from my active forces:

 

This is a US Army armored infantry platoon, dismounted from their halftracks.  3 rifle squads (4 man stands).  By doctrine the platoon commander would ride and fight with the 1st squad.  There are 3 MG teams (splitting up the MG squad).  There is one 81mm mortar squad.  In this case the figures are older H&R castings.

 

Here is a Romanian rifle squad.  I use a prone LMG and loader figure with each squad, but the figures hardly matter, as every rifle squad had an LMG.  My Romanian infantry figures are all GHQ.

 

The Romanian army was very short on infantry anti-tank weapons.  So each platoon would have an individual who might carry any sort of improvised explosive, and a team of SMG gunners would support this tank hunter ("vanatori di carre").  Here I have re-purposed a grenade throwing figure, clipping off the stick grenade, bending the arm, and attaching a teller-mine (a random circular bit from the extras bin), and made a 2-man stand with an SMG gunner.

 

Here is a platoon commander.  Romanian officers did not travel and fight with the squads.  But platoon resources were thin, so it is only a small team.

 

Here is a company commander.  A full squad of men supported the company HQ.

 

Here is an infantry battalion/battlegroup HQ.  There is a command squad, a commo team (communications equipment was rare in the Romanian army, and should not be assumed to be available if not specifically provided), and a medical aid team.

 

Here are my Romanian AT guns. For big guns I tend to base the crews, and leave the guns loose. That way I can manage the casualties and moral of the crews separately from damage to the guns, and I don't have to do as much work, as I will usually have more gun choices than I would use in a typical game.  You see that demonstrated here -- I have 4 gun crews, and show here 4 different types of guns that they may use (late war Resita 75mm guns, mid war Pak97/50 75mm guns, early war Boehler 47mm and Bofors 37mm guns).  The kneeling gun crews are H&R.  The guns are H&R (Resita, Boehler), GHQ (Bofors) and C-in-C (Pak97/50).

 

This is a Romanian artillery battery.  The same crews can be used for French 75mm guns (H&R) or Austrian/Italian 100mm howitzers (GHQ).  There is a full squad battery HQ (with embedded commo) and an LMG security team.  The LMG figures are GHQ, the HQ squad has 2 standing GHQ artillery crew figures and one kneeling Scotia radioman, and the gun crews are a mix of GHQ and H&R figures.  I do not find the GHQ infantry to be out-sized too much, and generally have little hesitation in mixing them with H&R, even on the same stand when it suits my purpose.  The Scotia figures, however, are indeed too big, and I only occasionally use them, in particular using kneeling figures as that tends to hide their extra height.

 

Here are my Italian combat engineers.  The squad sized (3-man) units have riflemen and kneeling figures with satchel charges.  The flame throwers and supporting LMGs are on team-sized stands.  Figures are a mix of GHQ and H&R (new castings).

 

 

Hope that helps.

 

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

For my 6mm infantry, I use 3/4 "x 3/4" bases for my squads and use 1/2" x 1/2" bases for my teams (mostly) with sometimes larger bases of 1/2" x 3/4" for prone figures such as AT rifle teams.

Here are a few pictures.


GHQ late war German infantry on a 3/4" x 3/4" base.  These 4 figures represent a squad sized unit.


This is a team, in this case a Company Command Team on a 1/2" x 1/2" base.


Here is a Russian ATR team on a 1/2" x 3/4" base.  It handles the prone figures better than the standard 1/2" x 1/2" base I use for most teams.

]
A Russian infantry gun also on a 1/2" x 3/4" base to provide enough room for the crew.

 

Here are American 60mm and 81mm mortar teams on 1/2" bases.


This is a GHQ 88 with crew mounted on a 1" x 1" base.  The crew is a bit crowded, especially the guy with the range finder, but I didn't want a larger footprint for this one.

Springtime for the Kaiser

March 1915

 

At long last the game group has reconvened in recent days, albeit down a few members. Two additions following the holidays, together with a general subsidence in recent plague-like conditions, has the table active once again. With the weather favorable for travel and this season’s tax filings completed and mailed, my calendar opened up significantly. I, for one, am grateful for it.

 

A number of ideas were proposed, with considerable interest found in the three to four months that followed the January 1915 dust-up at Dogger Bank. This was a period when the Royal Navy vigorously patrolled the North Sea, ratcheting down their blockade while hopeful for another crack at the High Seas Fleet. For its part, however, the HSF remained largely in port, its strategic focus shifting from the North Sea to the Baltic, together with a reemphasis on submarine operations in and around the British Isles.

 

Dogger Bank had provided a glimpse of combat in terms of training, tactics, and a susceptibility to damage. The notion of and vulnerability to “plunging fire” had been demonstrated, and the inadequate armor protection of horizontal surfaces in some designs was exposed. Thinly armored decks and turret-tops were now revealed as problematic. The Royal Navy acknowledged it, made a few cursory changes in tactics, then pressed on. The HSF, somewhat better armored but with fewer platforms, hung back while revisiting the damage they’d absorbed.

 

It was also the first time that the absolute lack of proficiency in gunnery by the British battlecruisers had been witnessed. Massie writes that Beatty had recognized it months earlier during exercises, but Dogger Bank revealed it to be more than just a veiled suspicion. He regaled the commanders for improvement, yet little seemed forthcoming.

 

All that aside, the HSF could have come out had the War Staff, and more importantly the Kaiser, had the stomach for it. The RN’s North Sea “parading” would continue until mid-summer when the British mine strikes bit, then Jellicoe dialed back the patrolling/sweeping in the interest of preserving his coal stocks. This campaign centers on the supposition that the HSF might have been so moved during the spring of 1915 to answer Jellicoe’s challenge.

 

The Operational Game

 

For this campaign, we went back to the double-blind system we’d used for North Sea – December 1917, played just a bit more than a year ago. We made a few minor changes after having reviewed the post-mortem notes from that debacle, but the basic structure remained the same. We had ten players available, so we set one aside as game-master/umpire, a second as another umpire, two as fleet commanders, and the other six as squadron commanders. This might seem administratively heavy, but having a couple of umpires had proven fortuitous during the other session, especially given the double-blind system.

 

This scenario, the first in a planned series, is built around one of the RN’s sweeps of the central North Sea, of which there were a number executed during the March-May period of 1915. It followed the action at Dogger Bank, a time when Jellicoe must surely have been thinking that the HSF would soon try again. They didn’t, primarily for the reasons outlined above. According to Scheer, there were those in the Staff that firmly believed that a pause was unwise, and this series looks to explore the possibility that they’d acted otherwise.

 

The game-master drafted a fairly large multi-layered random events table, a cursory review of which was held with his counterpart umpire and the fleet commanders beforehand. Similar to ODGW’s North Sea Campaign, some random events were serial in nature, i.e. inclusion of if-than statements based on die-rolls, adding to the “randomness” and/or “downstream effects” of outcomes. The overriding consideration, however, was that the HSF, under orders from the Kaiser himself, should lose nothing (the primary reason the fleet remained bottled up through much of 1915).

 

An added wrinkle: All orders/communications were to be made in hand-written note form between parties, passing through an umpire. All communications were subject to a single d12 die-roll by the overseeing umpire. Any result other than a “12” had the order passed to the other party; a result of “12” had the slip torn up and thrown away, undelivered. A communications log was maintained by the umpires for the purposes of tracking numbers of communications. Fleet command initiated communications were limited to four per hour; squadron command initiated communications were limited to six per hour, with all inter-squadron command communications having to pass through fleet command. Poorly written communications requiring clarification were to be handled by hand-written note, counted against the four or six-per-hour limit.

 

Order of Battle

An order of battle was drafted by the game-master based on an approximation of forces available, developed from multiple sources. Ships undergoing repairs, refit, or detached have been removed based on the best information available. Destroyers divisions were randomly compiled from the fleet lists. A full list of capital ship commanders was drafted, but is not included here.

 

Grand Fleet

 

Force W - First Battle Cruiser Squadron (Rear-Admiral Osmond de B. Brock)

                HMS Princess Royal

                HMS Queen Mary

                HMS Tiger

 

Force H - First Light Cruiser Squadron (Capt. Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair)

                HMS Galatea

                HMS Caroline

                HMS Cordelia

                HMS Inconstant

 

Force A - Second Battle Cruiser Squadron (Rear-Admiral William C. Pakenham)

                HMS Australia

                HMS New Zealand

                HMS Indefatigable

 

Force B - Second Light Cruiser Squadron (Commodore William E. Goodenough)

                HMS Southampton

                HMS Birmingham

                HMS Lowestoft

                HMS Nottingham

 

Force D - Third Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Sir Edward E. Bradford)

                HMS King Edward VII

                HMS Hibernia

                HMS Africa

                HMS Britannia

                HMS Commonwealth

                HMS Dominion

                HMS Hindustan

                HMS Zealandia

                HMS Blanche

 

Force E - Third Cruiser Squadron (Vice-Admiral William L. Grant)

                HMS Antrim

                HMS Devonshire

                HMS Roxburgh

 

Force C - Third Destroyer Flotilla (Capt. Francis G. St. John)

                HMS Undaunted (Leader)

                First Division

                                HMS Laurel

                                HMS Liberty

                                HMS Lookout

                                HMS Loyal

                                HMS Lysander

                Second Division

                                HMS Laforey

                                HMS Lance

                                HMS Lark

                                HMS Lawford

                                HMS Legion

 

Force F - Fourth Destroyer Flotilla (Capt. Charles J. Wintour)

                HMS Swift (Leader)

                First Division

                                HMS Acasta

                   HMS Owl

                   HMS Sparrowhawk

                   HMS Spitfire

                Second Division

                                HMS Achates

                                HMS Midge

                                HMS Paragon

                                HMS Shark

                                HMS Unity

                               

High Seas Fleet

 

Flot 101 - First Scouting Group (VAdm Hipper)

            SMS Derfflinger

            SMS Moltke

            SMS Vonn der Tann

 

Flot 102 - Second Scouting Group (KAdm Georg Hebbinghaus)

SMS Kolberg

SMS Graudenz

SMS Rostock

SMS Stralsund

SMS Strassburg

 

Flot 100 - First Battle Squadron, First Division (VAdm Richard Eckermann)

            SMS Ostfriesland

            SMS Thüringen

            SMS Helgoland

            SMS Oldenburg

 

Flot 106 - First Battle Squadron, Second Division (KAdm Friedrich Gadeke)

            SMS Posen

            SMS Rheinland

            SMS Nassau

            SMS Westfalen

 

Flot 103

Ninth Torpedo-boat Flotilla – Seventeenth Half-Flotilla (KptL Hermann Ehrhardt)

                S51

                V26

                V27       

                V29

                V30

 

Ninth Torpedo-boat Flotilla – Eighteenth Half-Flotilla (KKpt Werner Tillessen)

                S31

                S32

                S33

                S34

                S35

 

Submarine and Zeppelin activity was incorporated into the random events table; these units have been excluded from the OB.

 

The players had access to their respective OB only; no information regarding enemy ships/group-content was provided.

 

The North Sea minefields were already extensive in 1915, but certainly less so than just twelve to eighteen months later. Those that had been sewn by the spring of 1915 were generally known and mapped. Of far greater risk were the fields spontaneously laid by German submarines and raiders (see HMS King Edward VII and/or HMS Hampshire less than a year later). Drift mines were also a constant risk. For purposes of this scenario, the effect of mines has been incorporated into the random events table.

 

Table actions were fought at 1/6000-scale.

 

 

Operations – Part I

 

Beatty’s battlecruisers set sail from the Orkneys at 0330, 11 March 1915. Brock’s Force W (BC’s Princess Royal, Queen Mary, and Tiger) was first to depart, along with Alexander-Sinclair’s light cruisers. At 0616, they were joined by Wintour with Swift and the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla. Their orders were to sweep the western edge of Dogger Bank, then continue southwest toward the Dutch coast.

 

Pakenham’s Force A (BC’s Australia, New Zealand, and Indefatigable) weighed anchor at 0254, with orders to proceed due south along a course parallel with the coast, joining Force W at a point some 130NM east of Atwick. They rendezvoused with Goodenough’s light cruisers at 0342, along with St. John’s destroyers at 0406 (40NM southeast of Aberdeen).

 

Third Battle Squadron departed Rosyth at 0100, 11 March 1915, having raised steam the day before. They were joined by Grant’s Third Cruiser Squadron some five hours later, where they then proceeded due east in support of the BC’s, albeit at some considerable distance.

 

Hipper and the five battlecruisers of First Scouting Group had slipped the Jade at 1018 the night before. The light cruisers of Second Scouting Group followed an hour later. Both groups sailed 35NM northwest before turning due west. Their orders were an eventual turn north for a sweep of the eastern half of Dogger Bank, then to turn eastward toward the Danish coast before eventually making a southerly turn to return to port.

 

First Battle Squadron departed Cuxhaven around Midnight, shadowing Hipper’s Scouting Groups some 100NM due east. At 0518, Kameke’s Helgoland developed engine trouble that would reduce her flank speed by nearly half. Admiral Gadeke, commander of the Second Division, ordered her back to port, sending Oldenburg with her should a tow be required. The balance of the squadron continued north.

 

 

Weather conditions off Scotland were generally good early on the morning of the 11th, but they deteriorated as time went on. A number of storms were soon moving across the center of the North Sea and the Dogger Bank, just as Brock was reaching his sweep area. Visibility was poor, at times just a few thousand yards. At 1124, they received a report by a trawler having sighted a number of German destroyers on a northerly heading less than 30NM east-northeast of Brock’s position. Presuming this might be the van of an HSF force, Brock ordered Force W to turn due east. This, unfortunately, took him into the backend of a line of storms running ahead, enduring gale-force winds and reducing visibility even further. This, combined with Hipper’s actual position some 25NM northeast of the destroyers, and Brock missed everything/everybody.

 

Pakenham was 75NM east of Scarborough when the trawler report was heard. He continued another 70+ minutes and 30NM south before receiving orders to change course to the northwest and join Brock at his earliest convenience.

 

Bradford and his Wobblies were 130NM east-northeast of Brock, having only just made their planned turn southeast, when they were spotted at some considerable distance by LZ-26. The report was relayed to the HSF squadrons some forty minutes later, by which time the intervening distances had slightly increased. LZ-26 was unable to maintain contact, forced to leave its patrol area due to dangerously high winds.

 

A wartime photograph of Admiral Edward Eden Bradford (courtesy of the Library of Congress)

 

Bradford, unaware that Third Battle Squadron had been sighted, received a message from Beatty at 1406 that he was to expand his search by dividing his force, sending a group southwest to meet up with the onrushing Pakenham. The rest of Bradford’s command was to head due south, then turn southwest on a course some 30-40 miles south of and behind his detached battleships. Since Hipper and his BC’s and light cruisers were well north of these positions/headings, it achieved nothing other than to bring Bradford’s remaining four battleships and the trailing cruisers crashing into Eckermann’s First Battle Squadron support force.

 

 

Action at Bruceys Garden

 

The weather in the area had marginally improved; the seas had calmed slightly and the cloud ceiling had risen to about 4000 feet. Bradford, skeptical of the intentions of his part of the planned sweep east of the Bank, prematurely ordered his line of four battleships to make an eighteen-degree turn to the southwest, a heading he believed replicated that of his detached group some 40NM ahead and northwest of him. Grant’s Third Cruiser Squadron was eighteen miles astern.

 

At 1612, a lookout high on King Edward VII’s director position reported the smoke of approaching ships, broad on the port bow, the range estimated at 18000 yards. Bradford ordered the column to maintain its heading and speed at 12kts while monitoring the possible transgressors.

 

Gadeke was alerted to a group of ships ahead at 1618, a column of four moving across his bow at some 16000 yards. Clearly capitals, he ordered KptzS Lange, commander of Posen, to hold the heading and maintain his speed at 13kts.

 

At 1630, Bradford ordered KE VII to fire a ranging salvo on the lead ship, now identified as a Nassau-class dreadnought. The salvo, falling short, allowed a quick adjustment to the target.

 

Six minutes later, the range down to 11000 yards, KE VII sends a volley of 12-inch toward Posen, straddling the German battleship, incurring no damage other than a bath of seawater and a few shell splinters. Posen responds with a ranging shot from her forward 11-inch, hitting KE VII just below the waterline at her aft port-side torpedo position. The compartment floods, the torpedo crews drown, and she loses half a hull-box.

 

Gadecke sends a message to Eckermann and Second Division, now nearly twenty miles aft of him, to turn northwest and raise speed to join him. He orders Posen and the column to begin a 90-degree course change to the northwest, attempting to close the range on Bradford while bringing the rest of his column into a firing line.

 

As the German battleships comes around, Bradford’s old pre-dreads hammer away, the range falling to less than 8000 yards. Hits are hard to come by, however. At 1654, KE VII manages to take out Posen’s foremast, destroying her fire-director position and collapsing the searchlight platform. It’s a gruesome scene, but the structural damage is light. German return fire is ineffective.

 

 

The two lines settle into a running battle, separated by some 7500 yards of water. At 1700, the British line fires at Gadecke’s column, just as the German is completing his turn to the southwest. Their shooting is poor and they miss everything. The German replies, however, begin to find the range; Rheinland scores two hits on Hindustan, the first a hull hit below the bridge that disables and floods the forward torpedo position (1/2 hull box), the second an 11-inch round that slams into the bridge, severely damaging the conning tower, the radio room, and killing Capt. Nicholas and most of his immediate staff. Nassau scores a single hit on Commonwealth, disabling her forward 12-inch turret.

 

Within minutes, Commonwealth’s damage-control parties have her forward 12-inch restored and on line. At 1706, Bradford signals all four of the old BBs to execute a torpedo attack…six fish are soon observed streaking toward the German line. British gunfire inflicts scattered damage amidships on Posen and Nassau, disabling a 5.9-inch secondary on each. Posen, however, delivers two 11-inch into KE VII at the waterline, increasing her flooding and reducing her speed to 12kts; Capt. Maclachlan orders counter-flooding to maintain an even keel. Britannia takes an incoming 11-inch through her mainmast, destroying the aft searchlight position.

 

 

Six minutes later, Bradford receives a welcome signal from Vice-Admiral Grant that the cruisers of Third Squadron should be on Bradford’s position well within thirty minutes. Folding the message and placing it in his pocket, he feels KE VII stagger as she takes another hit amidships, this forward of her main engine room, knocking a boiler offline. Attempts to repair the boiler are unsuccessful, and the interruption of power hinders the operation of her pumps. Britannia absorbs an 11-inch into her conning tower from Westfalen; her radio room is wrecked and the shelter deck is torn up, with a large number of casualties found behind her bridge.

 

The British torpedoes, fired anticipating the Germans would continue to close the range, run short of the target by some 500 yards. The lively exchange of gunfire continues, however, with the Wobblies getting the worst of it. Hindustan is severely battered, enduring multiple hull and bulkhead hits that reduce her speed to just six or seven knots. Capt. Nicholas orders her to turn out of line as all efforts are made to save the ship. By 1742, the flooding has been stanched, but she sits dead in the water, barely afloat.

 

Britannia soon avenges Hindustan with a 12-inch hit on the barbette of Nassau’s aft turret, sending red-hot splinters into the shell-handling room. A quick order to flood the magazine saved the ship but not the turret crew, incinerated in the resulting fire.

 

 

At 1748, a lookout on Westfalen spotted smoke on the darkening horizon, well aft of the German column. The report is passed along to Gadeke, who initially thinks it’s First Division. However, within minutes a second signal is received indicating these are cruisers coming up from the northeast, almost certainly not friendly. Gadeke reluctantly makes the decision to disengage from the battered British battleships and move away to the southwest where he hopes to rejoin First Division. He has suffered some damage, but nothing critical. Second Division will survive to fight another day.

 

Bradford watches the German line turn away in the gathering darkness. He orders his guns to stand down while an assessment of the damage is made. At 1830, he sends Beatty a report of the action, together with the disposition of and direction of the German withdrawal. A few hours later, a tow by Britannia is secured for Hindustan, and this part of Third Battle Squadron begins the long trek home.

 

Beatty, his battlecruisers recalled, regroups while planning his renewed search for Hipper east-southeast of the Dogger Bank. But is he there?

 

(Part II to follow)

USS Gambier Bay 

 

Wow, 30K views on this thread...I am truly humbled.

One reason the M10 had worse gun stats, is that the Sherman had a power traverse turret, the M10 was hand cranked, very tiring for the crew...

 

Regards, Phil

 

Here we go... again.  Mein Panzer Tutorial.  We are now on Turn 6.  The action has been pretty intense so far.  The Russians have been taking a toll of the Germans but have suffered some significant casualties, especially in the 1st Company on the Russian left.

Both sides pass their morale checks this time.  Both sides will continue to fight.  For those interested, I published my own morale rules for Mein Panzer here a couple of posts ago.

The action on the Russian left was relatively quiet on Turn 6 as both sides, despite passing their morale checks, are pretty well spent.  The Russian 1st Company is now down to 2 fully functional tanks while the German 1st Platoon opposite them is down to the XO tank.  Some shots are traded but neither side has much gas left in the tank.


1st Company down to 3 tanks with 1 of those immobilized.  It can still shoot but not move.

 

Another view from the Russian left showing the 7 knocked out tanks from 1st Company.

 

A view showing what is left of the German 1st Platoon.  2 tanks are knocked out, 1 is brewed up, 1 is immobilized but otherwise functional, and only the XO's tank is fully operational.

On the Russian right, the action is a lot more intense as 2nd Company, despite a few losses, still has a lot of strength left. 


The Russian 2nd Company makes its big push on the right.  The action here is very intense and both sides take more casualties.


Another view from the Russian right.  The 2 immobilized tanks are now out of Command as the rest of 2nd Company moves forward.

The command distance for the Russians in this game is 2 inches between tanks of the same platoon and 12 inches to the Company CO.  In the case of these immobilized tanks, it is not a big deal as they can still perform their standard action during the turn.  Out of Command means they cannot use their bonus move but only perform the standard action.  Since they are immobilized and cannot move anyway this has no further adverse effect.
 

 

The German 2nd and 3rd Platoons have suffered very heavy casualties in the short range gun fight.


Here is a picture of the whole situation at the end of Turn 6.  The Germans have suffered very heavy casualties as well as the Russians.  Both sides are near their break point.


A view from the German right.


Another view.

Next, we will wrap up the game with Turn 7,8, and 9.

Well, now we have a 1/720 set of gauges in the Download section for Post Captain (Under the Bonus Files, Play Aids).  I just up scaled the 1/1200 versions.  The Turning Gauge comes out to 5+" in diameter (a bit of a beast, that).  And the Movement Gauge had to be done in 2 parts since its too long (you can tack the halves together to get the full gauge).  The gauges are available at:

 

https://www.odgw.com...20-r2-20191128/

 

Enjoy!  (I just finished up 2 of the Black Seas brigs and converted another into a large topsail schooner.  Will be getting these on the table this weekend.)