Broadside Empires of Steel - Stern Chase!

 

Last night the Wollongong Wargamers practised our Broadside game we intend to lay on at the IPMS Show.

Caesar picked the Broadside mission most likely to reflect the theme of the battle and allow for maximum public participation:

Its been pointed out that its not a precise match to the fleet dispositions for the battle except in the widest sense that the battle was essentially a stern chase: the German High Seas Fleet was outnumbered and outgunned and was sensibly attempting to escape!

Personally I also learnt how rusty I am with these rules. Even such elegant and succinct rules as Broadside need regular practice to become adept with!

By Broadside standards this was also a very large game - its designed to play with only a handful of capital ships and attendant escorts per side. However for a show we will have all day to play and are going for maximum impact.

The eponymous Bank was purely for show - we find that naval games attract more attention from the public if they have some sort of land modelled.

The pursuit force: lots of torpedo carriers!

Then the interceptors who would come on at the opposite corners at some stage...here, three of the 'Splendid Cats'!

The German team were advised to allocate at least part of their force to sacrifice themselves by turning and delaying the pursuit, but they decided to make it a straight forward stern chase, making 'More Speed' to get home for tea and medals...

So the chase was on!

We quickly ran out of 'More Speed' order cards!

Somehow the pursuers managed to close to torpedo range...

To put no less than seven fish into Blucher, which sank almost as fast as her historical counterpart.

The pursuers then focussed on Seydlitz - but she would be a much tougher nut to crack, on account of being an actual Battlecruiser...

The plot got more complicated when the British reinforcements started to arrive...

With their mighty 13.5 inch guns!

These heavy shells soon found the range to Derfflinger...

However, the pounding of Seydlitz continued, such that a mere single torpedo hit was sufficient to also send her to Davy Jones...At that bombshell, with four moves completed, we called it a day. The Royal Navy team had inflicted one more capital ship loss than occurred historically!

We concluded that we need to do some serious tweaking to the scenario if we want it to be anything other than a fairly bland stern chase...

Black Seas: Pirates of 1812

I've managed to make serious inroads into my Black Seas pile of shame...

And my mate Darren has finished the North African coastline terrain he's providing for our Black Seas game at the Illawarra Plastic Modeller's Show which has become our club's annual showcase. Well, he's a perfectionist, so he claims he still has some finishing touches to add - forts and the like. Looking pretty speccy to me though!

So although this week's primary game at the Wollongong Wargamers was ADLG, we decided to also lay on a preliminary run though of the scenario we will be putting on at the show. The idea is to have as many different squadrons as possible on the table to maximise opportunities for audience participation:

Those US 'Frigates' really were huge! 

The scenario was set up to maximise the Barbary Pirate's opportunities to benefit from shallow water, rocks and shoals.

As befits neutrals in the War of 1812, they could not be fired upon unless they commenced hostilities against either the US or UK...no matter how threatening their course and speed...

The table was set up with the RN and USN fleets at opposing table ends. Caesar and Daniel were the RN team, Caesar having three 36 gun frigates and Darren three brigs, ideal for coastal work...

The three corsair squadrons widely separated along the Barbary Coast, benefitting from the wind at their backs....

Minh took command of a Xebec squadron (blue strip sails) whilst Phillip led three galleys out of the harbour.

They owed nominal fealty to the notorious Corsair chieftain Al Bailey Al Tripolitana, who also took personal command of another Xebec squadron (red stripe sails).

For my sins I was appointed to command the US Frigate squadron, 

flying my flag on 'Old Ironsides' herself, the USS Constitution, with USS President, both frigates of 44 guns.

The British lost no time closing the US squadron, which were struggling in the wind which had immediately veered to the south east, forcing me to steer a point to PORT, trying hard not to sail off the edge of the world!

The corsairs lost no time closing the British fleet, but remaining just inside the rocks and sandbanks.

Except for the aggressive Al Bailey, who headed straight out to blue water!

The Royal Navy opened the ball with their bow chasers - hardly anything to bother Old Ironsides!

The two US Frigates responded in kind, their powerful initial broadsides seriously damaging the lead British frigate.

But meantime the pirates were edging ever closer to the Brits, some from behind, some from the flank - what where they up to? The British detached the Brig squadron inshore, just in case the pirates were up to no good...

Al Bailey led his squadron hard to leeward of the British Brig squadron - surely this was an unfriendly act?

The fragile peace between the Barbary States and the British Empire was ripped apart by the devasting close range broadside that followed...

Retaliation was swift and condign!

Leading to a pirate Xebec striking its colours.

Meanwhile the RN Frigates and US Frigates had continued their exchange of fire before drawing apart, the American frigates still constrained by the wind...

and with both crews fighting raging fires!

But the British had no time to celebrate - Minh's second Xebec squadron had carefully manoeuvred to deliver a devastating close range stern rake to  Darren's beleaguered Brig squadron!

However, the pirate's lack of gunnery training showed, with all shots missing!

As dusk fell over the North African coastline, peace broke out once again.