Grey Christmas

For our regular Wednesday evening game Mrs Kobold and I played Torpedoes & Tides. I wanted to try one of the new scenarios in the book, and she was happy to give it a go because it features the naturalist Peter Scott.

It's an action from 1943 in which two steam gunboats from Scott's flotilla encountered a couple of German S-boats .  In order to play it I had to make a couple of steam gunboats. So here's HMS Grey Owl and HMS Grey Wolf. 

The action was fought on a moonless night and the only terrain is a patch of fog. It's a simple 'shoot up the enemy' mission. Catherine took the British, whilst I took the Germans. We both had one regular and one veteran vessel. Here we are at the 'Still On Blinds' stage. 

I hid one S-boat in the fog, but the other was soon spotted. In return I located Grey Wolf. 

With gunfire starting it was time to stop hiding and get stuck in. Initial fire from one S-boat caused the crew of Grey Wolf to take cover. The other S-boat swung round in a wide arc ...

... and running a hail of fire from both gunboats launched a pair of torpedoes at Grey Wolf. 

A hit! The British were now down one ship. 

The first S-boat veered off to reload its torpedoes. It had taken some light damage and lost a gun as well. The second S-boat came in and fired its torpedoes, but Scott's Grey Owl was a harder target thanks to its veteran crew, and they missed. 

I tried to line up some gunnery on Grey Owl, but Catherine kept up a hail of gire from it. The gunboats have heavy guns and a couple of hits soon showed that a straight gunfight wasn't going to end well for the Germans. 

One S-boat caught fire, but it was quickly extinguished. However damage is damage. 

I kept trying to get in a shot on Grey Owl. but couldn't. However my veteran S-boat had reloaded its torpedoes and was looking to make another attack. I couldn't get a good line on Grey Owl, though. 

With both of my boats taking hits from the 3" gun on Grey Owl I decided to cut my losses and ran for home.

The Germans won the scenario, sinking one British vessel, and only taking damage in return. It would have been nice to have sunk Grey Owl as well, but I didn't think I could get into a good torpedo run position without being sunk, so it wasn't worth it. I quit whilst I was ahead.

I reckon for this scenario that the Germans need to get in fast, fire off a salvo of torpedoes at the lower quality British vessel, then scarper. If they don't sink it then they stay at long range, reload and then have another go. And then scarper for sure. I reckon the British need to evade and keep their bow/stern to the Germans as much as possible to throw off the torpedo attack, and then use their longer range guns to fire as many shots as possible at the Germans, regardless of odds. They only have to get lucky a couple of times. The Germans aren't going to win a straight gunfight. 

Torpedoes & Tides - Encounter

I'm running a game of Torpedoes & Tides on Thursday, so I thought I'd better refamiliarise myself with the rules.

I set up the basic encounter scenario from the rules in which three British MGBs take on two German S-Boats. The S-Boats are faster and tougher, but the British have an edge in quality and are smaller. 

As every the two forces approached each other in the darkness under the cover of blinds. 

The lead British boat was spotted and the Germans sped into the attack, scoring no damage.

The action flared into life, and the British closed up on the Germans, guns blazing. Through amazingly lucky rolls they inflicted a couple of hits on the lead German boat. 

The Germans couldn't catch a break; they kept rolling sixes to hit, which would normally be great, but the British boats are 'Hard To Hit', a trait which converts a 6 to a 1. Meanwhile the British were also rolling sixes, but there's were translating to hits. Both German boats were damaged now. 

The Germans finally manage to inflict 1 (one) hit on a  British boat. 

Another is supressed.

The British organised themselves into a line (very traditional) and pounded one of the S-Boats. 

Its commander decided that enough was enough and turned for home. 

In the darkness and confusion the other German boat mistook it for a British boat and opened fire, but scored no damage. 

The British pursued, but the escaping German evaded them. 

The British turned after the second German. The S-Boat's sensible option would be to flee, but it decided to put up at least some fight first, and opened fire on the pursuing MGB. 

The British kept up a dogged pursuit.

An MGB was damaged as a second came into the action. 

The German boat now ran for it, taking fire as it did so.

Another friendly fire incident saw one of the MGBs fire on another, scoring light damage. 

Confused as to just how many enemy boats were in the area. the damaged MGB broke off from the action. 

This left one MGB chasing the German. The S-Boat fired one final shot before fleeing. 

But that delayed it long enough to give the MGB a final shot. And it was a telling blow that sank the S-Boat.

This was a fast and furious action. It was pretty much decided by the first few shots, with the British rolling a string of sixes to inflict useful damage on the Germans. German shots were nullified by the British boats being smaller targets. 

The Germans lost one boat damaged and fled, and one sunk. All of the British boats had taken light damage, and one fled the action. 

Mockern 1813

Last night we played a game of Valour & Fortitude, which I am assured was an action at Mockern in 1813, part of the Battle of Leipzig. This was a rehearsal for a slightly larger game that some members of the club are putting on next weekend. Ralph adjudicated, Caesar and Dave took the small French defending force and Peter, Stuart and I handles the Prussian attackers.

Massed Prussians ready to advance. Off-table was the cavalry reserve, which I was commanding. 

French defenders. They had to hold the two settlements. 

The Prissians begin their advance. Some lurking French light cavalry cause the left flank brigades to advance slowly making use of squares as much as possible. Naturally the squares then suffered badly from long-range French artillery fire. 

The light cavalry reserve came on early and moved forward quickly to get rid of their French counterparts. 

The Prussians attack the first defended settlement, As the main objective this naturally became something of a meat-grinder. The French had a lot less infantry than the Prussians, though, so it would only be a matter of time before they were defeated. 

The French had a little heavy cavalry available and used it to attack a shaken Prussian square, routing that battalion. 

Prussian light cavalry advancing. In the distance is the French horse.

The Prussian heavy cavalry turned up as well. The idea was to use them on our left to roll up the Frenach army. But time was running out. 

The Prussian lights charged and drove off the French. 

Fightng in the centre and on our right was still fierce, with both French infantry brigades in a bad way but at least two Prussian brigades past their best as well. And the French had been able to hold on to the objective. However time ran out and the French won on the basis that they still held both objectives. 

The Prissuan heavy cavalry were disappointed. They should have turned up earlier. 

The actual game will have a wider table and a few more battalions in play, as well as more objectives, forcing the French to make decisions about how much to defend. 

Torpedoes & Tides Has Been Released!

Regular readers of this blog will know that last year I was involved in playtesting a WW2 coastal forces game called Torpedoes & Tides. Written by Thomas Brandstetter, they started out as a three-page set of variant rules for Galleys & Galleons, but quickly grew into their own thing. Late last year Ganesha Games offered to publish them, and they've now been released.

Obviously I'm going to give them a big thumbs up because I helped playtest them and contributed a few ideas to the rules as well. The game does a nice job of translating the G&G mechanisms to WW2 coastal forces, and the rules give fast fun actions that are not overly burdened with technical details or onerous bookkeeping. They emphasis the chaos and confusion of fast-moving fights in limited visibility.

Aside from the rules, which cover all the basics as well as fun stuff like rockets and minefields, the book has four generic scenarios covering the types of missions that small craft would have engaged in, four historical scenarios based on these missions and guidlines for setting up your own missions. It also has around 150 vessel profiles for most nations that operated coastal craft and includes a narrative campaign system. 

Available from:

Lulu (in a range of options)

Ganesha Games

Wargames Vault

Go on. Get out into the darkness and sink some ships!

Balloon Busting In 'Spandau & Lewis'

I have been asked a couple of times to write up my ideas for balloon busting in Spandau & Lewis. It's only taken me two years to do it.

 
They are inspired by THIS THREAD on the Wings Of Glory Aerodrome, which whilst set up for a specific set of rules has some great bits and pieces for WW1 air gamers. Anyway, fire up your engines, put on your goggles and check that the rockets are strapped to your wings. We're going balloon busting!

Setup

Position 2-3 balloons within 12” or so of the opposite baseline. There should be about 12” between each balloon.

If the attackers are Allied and will be using Le Prieur rockets then you need to determine the facing of the balloons which is dictated by the wind. The balloons start the game facing the Allied baseline (the west, from which the prevailing wind blows). Then roll 4D6. Each roll of 1 or 2 rotates the balloons 45 degrees anticlockwise. Each 5 or 6 rotates them 45 degrees clockwise. Obviously each roll of 1 or 2 negates a roll of 5 or 6 (and vice versa).

(If the Germans are attacking and you need to know the facing of the Allied balloons then they should start facing the Allied baseline. But the Germans didn’t use rockets.)

Place 4 altitude markers next to each balloon.

Attacking Balloons

Balloons are static and can take 24 hits. They generally have two crew and count as a large target. Test for criticals as normal. Crew hits will affect the observers in the basket. Engine hits will automatically cause the balloon to catch fire.

In addition, after any attack on a balloon roll 2D6. If the hits came from a machine gun firing regular bullets take the highest score. If the hits came from Le Prieur rockets or from a machine gun firing incendiary ammunition take the lowest score. If the score of the selected dice is equal to or lower than the number of hits inflicted by the attack then the balloon catches fire.

As soon as a balloon catches fire and at the start of each subsequent firing phase roll a D6 for each balloon that is on fire. On a 4+ it explodes and is destroyed. Any plane within 2” of an exploding balloon takes a 3D6 attack, with a 6 scoring a hit.

Lowering Balloons

At the end of any turn in which a balloon has an enemy aircraft within 6", the ground-crew will try and pull it down. Roll a D6 on the table below; if the score for the year is achieved then one altitude marker is removed. When all four markers are removed then the balloon has reached the ground and can no longer be attacked. The rolls are:

1914-15 - 6
1916 - 5+
1917 - 4+
1918 - 3+

(The technology for lowering balloons progressed throughout the war, with the balloons being pulled down by hand at first, then teams of horses, then steam-engines and finally by petrol-driven winches. By the end of the war the balloon could be pulled down in minutes)

Anti-Aircraft Fire

If a plane (regardless of nationality) is within 6" of a balloon it is subject to AA fire, which takes place before regular shooting. This consists of a 2 dice attack on the aircraft, with a 6 scoring a hit. Criticals are tested as normal, but structural hits score an additional 1D6 damage. The attack is reduced to a 1 dice shot if the target is within 2” of the balloon or is a friendly aircraft.

Le Prieur Rockets

Certain Allied aircraft carry these weapons on their outer wing struts.

Rockets fire at close range only (up to 3"). They are treated as normal gunnery, and get the regular deflection modifiers for shooting into the balloon's front or rear arc. A plane has two volleys of rockets; you can fire one of them or both. The red dice for a single volley hits on a 5+, whilst that for a double volley hits on a 4+. White dice shoot with a -1. 

Scenario Ideas 

If you just want a simple solo game then you can fly one or two planes against balloons. Make it more challenging by having one or two enemy planes turn up at random. I'd limit their willingness to chase the attackers home though. If the attackers break off from attacking balloons (or shoot them all down) and are flying for home, end the scenario once they have got a certain ditance away from the scene of the action.