Miniature Wargames

WWI Naval Battle – Goeben Escapes Again

In this fictional battle using the WWI naval game program, the Goeben and the Breslau sail into the Adriatic to join the Austro-Hungarian fleet. They are intercepted by British forces just as the Austrian escort is in sight.

Status at the end of the game: IO end 2-12-2014

Plot of entire battle: sk-plot-2-12-2014

Damage output summary: Output 2-12-2014

Damage accumulates, mostly on the slower ships.

The British armoured cruisers are taking a lot of hits from the secondary guns of the Austrian battleships.

British cruiser squadron before…

… and after.

A-H armoured cruisers before…

A-H battleships before…

… and after.

After a running fight lasting 80 minutes, the German ships escape north with little damage. The A-H pre-dreadnought battleships are sunk or sinking, probably to be finished off by the British battlecruisers. The British armoured cruisers have lost one ship and the others are heavily damaged.

WWI Naval Battle – Scandinavian Convoy

In this fictional battle using the WWI naval game program, the fastest units of the High Seas Fleet are sent north to intercept a Scandinavian convoy. The convoy is escorted by the US dreadnoughts serving as the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. Historically, the British had begun escorting these convoys with battleship divisions detached from the Grand Fleet in January 1918. The 6th Battle Squadron sailed to perform this duty for the first time on February 6, 1918 (Jones, “U.S. Battleship Operations In World War I”, Chapter 2).

Status after 50 minutes: Skagerrak-201 end norway

Plot of entire battle: sk-plot-norway

Damage output summary: Norway output 2-5-2014

German units intercept the convoy escort.

Glorious has blown up and Courageous is damaged.

Derfflinger suffers a steering hit and veers out of formation. In the distance, Texas had taken medium damage.

Damage accumulates on both sides. Lion has blown up, and Renown has fallen out of line.

Texas sinks, Repulse and Tiger blow up. All the Konigs and the three remaining US ships have significant damage.

With the Grand Fleet approaching, the German units have to withdraw. The Markgraf has a maximum speed of 16 knots and will probably be scuttled to avoid capture. New York and Wyoming are so badly damaged that making port will be difficult.

Fire and Fury AAR

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played another ACW game at the Dogs of War shop using the Fire and Fury (Brigade level) rules. In preparation for a campaign, this battle was set up to test an attack/defense scenario with the attacking force having a numerical advantage. Each side had two players, commanding a total of three infantry divisions, one cavalry division and several artillery units. The Confederate side setup first, lining a long ridge which gives a small advantage in charge (melee) combat. Most of the cavalry was dismounted to provide enough troops to cover the approximately eight feet of table. The Union players then chose to enter in supporting lines with their cavalry division on their extreme right.