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WW1 Naval – Oran 1914

This alternate history scenario was a confrontation between British and French ships in November 1914. The British were tasked with preventing the return of the French fleet from Oran to Toulon. The French were to get underway from the anchorage at Oran and get past the British.

Player briefings

Status at the end of the game

Narrative

Player reports:
British
French

Plots of ship movements:
0-30 minutes
30-45 minutes
40-60 minutes
All

Computer code (described here)

All ships except the rear French battleships have been sighted.

The British battleline of the four oldest dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts.

The French have deployed into a line with the armoured cruisers leading and the new dreadnoughts in the rear.

French DDs attack unsupported and are shattered by the fire of British 4 and 6 inch guns.

The Devonshire should not be in a camouflage paint scheme in 1914.

The British dreadnought division passes through the French fleet. One collision occurs. The Bellerophon blows up and the Temeraire sinks.

We stopped play after 12 turns (60 minutes of game time) and about 4 hours of real time.

Check Your Six WWII – English Channel Convoy 1940

Saturday the local HMGS-South group played a game of Check Your Six using 1/300 scale aircraft.

Summer 1940: Six Ju87s escorted by four Me109s attack a British convoy in the English Channel. They are opposed by four Hurricanes and ship-borne AA on the three merchants and one destroyer.

Three Ju87s and one Hurricane are destroyed by the time all the bombing attacks are resolved. The convoy escapes without damage.

Hurricanes dive to reach the altitude of the Ju87s.

A confused melee over the convoy as the Ju87s make dive-bomb attacks.

Heligoland Bight – 1916

This Friday we played a fictitious naval battle set in the North Sea in 1916. The British attempt to sweep the Heligoland Bight to eliminate German patrols. The Germans are supporting their light forces with heavy ships. The scenario includes ships not actually available in the North Sea at the time.

Player briefings

Winds WSW at 3 knots. Sea state 2. Visibility 5 NM toward the SW, 6 NM toward the NE.

Status at the end of the game

Narrative

Player reports:
British
German

Plots of ship movements:
0-30 minutes
30-50 minutes
All

Computer code (described here)

Initially only the 3rd British BCS and its CL screen enter the Bight.

When German BCs are engaged, the remaining British forces move in from the north.

Heligoland in 1/18000 scale (the game’s ground scale)

We played for about 4 hours without a decisive result. The British had suffered somewhat more damage. In spite of a lot of torpedo fire from the light cruisers and destroyers, the only two torpedo hits were achieved by the Von der Tann and the Blucher.

TSATF – Sudan 1884

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a Sudan game using The Sword and the Flame colonial rules (20th Anniversary Edition) and the Gunboats and Dhows rules. Six players and a referee fought on the Nile and beside it. The British/Egyptian force was victorious, sinking both dhows and maintaining control of their base.

The boats used were made by Last Stand Dan.

Photos and comments are in this Flickr album.

Talon – Planetary Defence

Today the local HMGS-South group played a game of Talon. The Terran forces were tasked with defending the planet Eden from a Talon fleet. Six players controlled 13 ships (6 Terran, 7 Talon).

After 3.5 hours of play, the Talons had done more than half of the damage to Eden required for victory. Given the long reload times of the weapons we decided against trying to finish.