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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. 

I hosted Mein Panzer at my local FLGS, Play or Draw, in Surprise, AZ.  This was another go of my "Stemming the Tide" scenario which I have run a number of times now.  The scenario takes place on the Russian Front in WWII right after Kursk as the Russians go over to the offensive.  During one attack, the Russians breach the German main line and are trying to get into the German rear area.  A scratch force of German panzers is sent to stop them and plug the gap.

I had 5 players for this game.  Of the 5, I had 2 veteran players that have played in a lot of my games, I had 2 returning players that have not played in a while, and 1 player new to the rules but familiar with miniatures wargaming.  Each of the 3 Russian players commanded a T-34 company of 10 tanks each with 1 of the veterans on that side plus the new guy.  The two German players each had a reduced company of 14 tanks with a mix of Panzer IIIs and IVs.

Their were 3 main geographical objectives including the village in the north, the hill in the center, and 3 bridges in the south for the Russians to take and the Germans to try to defend.

The Germans got a pre-move to get their forces on the board. After that, both sides rolled for initiative and the game was on.  

This game went 4 full turns before we called it as a Russian victory when one of the players had to leave.  The Russians had pretty much taken the village in the north and were putting great pressure on the hill in the center.  The Germans had lost almost 1 whole company while the second had lost most of the tanks defending the hill.

Everyone had a great time and the new player is interested in playing again.  I also talked with a couple of other guys that are into Flames of War and they indicated they are interested in playing in future games that I host.

I am taking this scenario to Mini Wars in Fullerton for this coming Sunday.  I will be making some minor tweaks to the terrain but overall the game is pretty well balanced with the Russians having better tanks overall but the Germans having better veteran troops. 
Here are a few pictures.

    I’ve been contemplating JWSlesser’s comments and the more i consider what we know, the more sense his comments make.  I believe it was USS Gambier Bay that was taken under direct fire by Yamato, with 18” shells passing through the ship and exploding some 100 yards or so on the far side after going completely through the ship. 

The west coast of Africa saw a short fierce action between the Frigates HMS Apollo and the French Minerva.

It was a dusk that we aboard the Apollo spotted the French Frigate. They were to windward of us at about a 1000 yards when the battle began.  I had a major concern going into the battle. The Apollo was short of crew from a bout of sickness and subsequent desertions in Cape Town so I was just able to man all my guns on one side if I assigned my marines to the task. We were equally matched with our French foe and I figured if things went badly I could hold them off until nightfall and then slip away in the night.

The French came down wind at us and we exchanged the first shots of the engagement at 500. The French scored a hit on that cut some of my rigging and I watched as one of my 18 pdrs plunged into the enemy ship undoubtedly causing some damage in return. We were wrestling with the French to try gain the weather gauge and just when it seemed we would have it the squirrely French attempt to tack.

For a moment they hung there in the wind with their stern to us. I swung around to unmask my port side and raked them with 18 pdr and Carronades at 200 yards. The French decks must be a mess but they succeeded in their tack and once they came out of it they fired off their reply which cut off my fore top mast and caused significant damage to my rigging.

I pulled men off the carronades and set them to cut away the fallen mast. We danced with the French and scored a few more hits while my men worked at their task. No sooner did they get it cut away then the French fired a broadside that knocked out a gun on the port side and devastated our rigging. By some miracle we didn't lose a mast.

I reorganized the crew once again, I stripped more men from the guns and set them to trying to repair my rigging before a mast decides to let go. I was only manning 3 guns on the starboard side now and I greatly wished to open the range. Either I would make sufficient repairs and could choose to close with the enemy again or nightfall would cover our retreat.

So we set off with the French off our starboard quarter.  Try as they might the French could not get closer than 600 yards.  A few favorable gusts gave me some room to maneuver and got into position to fire off a salvo at long range but I failed to score any hits.

My rigging was as good as it was going to get and I was able to man my guns again. Durning the chase I had developed a theory, the French captain refused to show their starboard side and I guessed that I must have done some sort of damage to their starboard side when I raked them. To test this theory I would put my ship on the port tack. If I was correct the French would decline to follow and the battle would be over, if I was wrong then we would fight it out until the sun finally set over the horizon.

I gave the order "Wear ship" then I took up my glass and watched for the French response. There was none and we parted ways.

As it turns out, I was correct. When we raked the Minerva we knocked out every gun on her starboard side. Admirably the French crew rallied and were determined to fight it out. 

We decided that it was a draw and maybe I came out the slightest but ahead. My damage could be repaired with materials on hand while the French would have a hard time replacing their lost guns. Casualties were very light, somehow. I took none (thank god) and the French lost one crew factor.

It was a ton of fun I think we both played it very smart. In hindsight maybe I should have stayed at close range and shot it out but all I knew at the time was "my rigging is shot to pieces, where am I going to find the men to fix that". (I had two boxes of rigging left and I rolled a one on my rigging check).

I hope the admirals won't look at me too harshly.

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:

There's been precious little action around the table of late, so very little to share. Hoping to host a few clashes in the next month or so heading into Historicon. New pup here's been sucking up every shred of spare time. Behavior training starts this week...should be fun.

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.

USS Gambier Bay 

Task Force 5

GT2 DTMB 1-15 January 1942

USN Sweep vs Japanese Invasion Convoy & Escort

RAdm Glassford looked at the ship’s chronometer, it was 1200 hours and he was already coffeed out. Task Force 5 had sortied from Surabaya the night before. Intel said that there were Japanese invasion convoys at sea. That was a real help. Where else would invasion convoys be? What would have been nice was some clue as to where they were going but the Intel Types had been just as clueless as he was on that subject. Glassford rejected trying for Ceram or Celebes. He would leave that to Crace and the ANZAC Squadron. He would stake his claim on the east coast of Borneo. Tarakan or Balikpapan was his best guess but he would look in on Banjermasin in passing.

Task Force 5 was the USN in this part of the world. The ABDA was still forming so, he still did his reporting to the USN Asiatic Fleet under Admiral Hart and Hart had told him to find something Japanese and sink it. Glassford took that instruction to heart as Hart had gone out on a limb for him to augment his force by pirating Pensacola from convoy escort. He’d try and return her in the shape they borrowed her in but that was not guaranteed.

Task Force 5 was steaming North at 25 knots led by DesRon 29 (John Paul Jones) and DesDiv 57 (John D. Edwards, Alden, Edsall & Whipple) in line abreast as a screen. They were followed by the cruiser division (Houston, Pensacola, Boise & Marblehead) under Glassford. DesDivs 58 (Stuart, Parrott, Barker & Bulmer) and 59 (John D. Ford, Pope, Peary & Pillsbury) were in divisional columns to port and starboard respectively of the cruisers.

Task Force 5 was a series of that’s OK and that’s not so good with later outnumbering the former. On the plus side was that it was daylight and Japanese LBA must be some where else. The Clemsons had all made the trip so far and given their age that was unexpected. And they had 10 more 8-inch guns than normally. Then there was the minus. This was a much longer list that we’ll save for another time.

The wind was a Force 2 from the North at 4 knots. Who rang up this weather. Glassford didn’t mind wind. He just didn’t like wind from the North or anywhere near there. It did not help him at all. He’d have been very happy with wind from the East or West and ecstatic over wind from the South. At least smoke would last a bit if he ran into more than Task Force 5 could handle. The sky had at least 3 layers of clouds and the overcast probably was the real explanative for the absence of LBA. There were squalls (he could see 3) dotted over the sea to the north and crawling towards him. There was also Sea Haze to the North and he was sure that he could not see North as well as someone could looking South. Glassford would turn out to right as the fog reduced visibility northward 2,000 yards. Otherwise, visibility was about 27,000 yards. Too far as far as Glassford saw it.

Glassford decided to launch FP. He’d look into the Borneo ports and if nothing was there, he would recover his FP and RTB to Surabaya.

1400 hours Banjermasin and Balikpapan had been clear, now for Tarakan and home. 1406 hours Glassford’s FPs reported enemy ships bearing 45 degrees on course for Tarakan. Glassford ruefully thought; you always find what you’re looking for in the last place you look.

Glassford ordered Task Force 5 to flank speed but kept the same relative formation until he had a better idea of what he was facing.

1412 hours FP reported 4 cruisers, 12 destroyers, 8 APs, 1 AV and probably a partridge in a freaking pear tree. The Japanese formation mostly mirrored his but a cruiser now determined to be light led the bunch at about 11 knots.

And now for said the weatherman. The wind had freshened to Force 4 and veered to the Northeast (worse and worse thought Glassford). There were more squalls but they were not going to help him coming from dead behind the Japanese. At least the haze was gone.

Glassford would have liked to get his flush decks involved but their 4” popguns were useless and their torps had short legs and there was no cover. Nope, this was daylight gun fight and he was as well off as he could expect to be. Glassford turned Task Force 5 to a 90-degree heading and stationed his destroyers fore and aft to his unengaged side. DesRon 29 with DesDivs 57 & 58 would lead and DesDiv 59 would trail.

1418 hours FP reported that the Japanese were increasing speed appeared to be reforming along the same lines as he had. They must have a spy in the sky Glassford thought. Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

1430 hours The Japanese came into sight with a light cruiser leading 8 destroyers followed by 3 heavy cruisers and then 4 more destroyers. 30 eight inch to his 19 gave him pause but he considered Marblehead a match for any Japanese light cruiser and Boise’s fifteen six inch surely redressed the balance to some degree. What was it some Army puke had quoted from Napoleon. Oh, yeah “First you engage and then you see”. Glassford tried to forget Nappy’s naval record even as he followed his advice.

1430 till 1442 nether side opened until the range had come down to 21,000 yards. Then the Japanese heavies opened on their USN counterparts and Boise. The USN cruisers fired back and Marblehead engaged the light cruiser, who returned fire.

The Japanese missed Houston, Pensacola and Marblehead and bounced off Boise’s fore turret. Houston hit the lead heavy (later identified as Haguro) thrice, and Pensacola did the same to the second heavy (later identified as Myoko). Boise and Marblehead missed. Haguro had her FP facilities damaged and a fire and minor damage to her hull. But Myoko lost her fore turret and suffered minor hull damage as well as a bounce off her belt.

1448 hours Haguro failed to put her fire out and that minor damage when coupled with earlier damage slowed her to 30 knots. The range came down a bit but not enough and both sides engaged as before. Haguro hit Houston twice. Myoko missed. And Nachi hit Boise once while Jintsu missed Marblehead. Houston hit Haguro once as Pensacola hit Myoko. Boise hit Nachi once and Marblehead missed.

Houston lost her fore turret and suffered an engine hit. Nachi’s hit bounced off Boise’s belt. Houston knocked out another fore turret on Haguro. Myoko had damaged FP facilities and a fire started. Nachi had her FP facilities damaged and a fire started.

1454 hours Haguro failed to put out her fire and suffered further minor hull damage. Myoko and Nachi put their fires out. Houston fixed her engine hit. The range had come down to 18,000 yards. This (per the CRT) was supposed to make things better for IJN. It did. Haguro hit Houston twice. Myoko hit Pensacola once. Nachi missed Boise and Jintsu missed Marblehead. Houston missed as did Pensacola. Boise hit Nachi twice and Marblehead missed Jintsu.

Houston took another engine hit and hull damage slowing her to 29 knots. Pensacola lost her fore turret. Nachi lost a secondary and suffered minor hull damage.

1500 hours. Haguro failed to fix her fire and that slowed her to 26 knots. The range was coming down but still exceeded 15,000 yards. Both sides engaged their previous targets. Houston missed and Pensacola hit Myoko once. Boise hit Nachi once. Marblehead hit Jintsu once. Haguro hit Houston twice and Myoko hit Pensacola twice. Nachi hit Boise twice. Jintsu missed.

Houston lost a secondary and her last fore turret. Pensacola had her FP facilities damaged and a fire and lost her fore turret. Boise had her FP facilities damaged and a fire set and a bounce off her fore turret (which was starting to dent). Myoko suffered minor hull damage that slowed her to 30 knots. Nachi lost a TT and had a major fire set. Jintsu lost a TT and had a major fire set.

1506 hours Houston failed to fix her engine and slowed to 21 knots. Pensacola put her fire out but Boise failed to and suffered minor hull damage that slowed her to 26 knots. Nachi failed to fix her fire and suffered hull damage that slowed her to 30 knots. Jintsu also failed to put her fire out and suffered hull damage that slowed her to 28 knots.

1512 hours Houston’s black gang broke her engine (now needs a dockyard) so no Golden Monkey Wrench Award for them. Boise put her fire out. Nachi fixed her fire but Jintsu failed and slowed again to 21 knots. The range was now down to 15,000 yards. But Glassford had had enough and got while the getting was still possible. Task Force 5 turned away under smoke and the Japanese let them go. Tarakan fell. Naci and Jintsu both burned for several several turns (3 and 2). Haguro, Nachi and Jintsu are gone for repair and unlikely to return.

Glassford couldn’t understand it until a gunnery guru explained that 8 inch was 3 to 2 against cruiser armor and when you get a hit you need to then roll odd to get a second hit. The Japanese understood this and got two hits to Glassford’s one almost every time.

As for the Intel Types it turned out that they too had recently received a bottle of sake and a D12. A rueful remark that die was worth a dozen trying for 12 was overheard.

WMC

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

Scenario 1 - Hide and Seek (Continued)

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.