Vampire in the Storm Scenario: Game One

I played the Vampire in the Storm scenario using Naval Command 4th Edition yesterday, so here's a brief after action report.

Turn 1

The RAN won the initiative and both sides then moved forward 5cm, which was the maximum speed allowed in the storm force weather conditions. In the detection phase, HMAS Vampire successfully detected KRI Kakiali at long range, rolling a 10 on the D10, using her passive radar. The Indonesians were sweeping with active radar, so were out of range for detection. In the damage phase, KRI Kalkiali then rolled a 10 for storm damage, immediately causing flooding and engine/propulsion breakdown, counting as heavy damage. In the damage control phase, the flooding got worse causing further light damage. Things were not looking good for the Indonesians!

Turn 2

The Indonesians won the initiative, with KRI Kakiali swinging out of line to return to base at her top speed of 2cm, while KRI Jos Soedarso and KRI Ngurah Rai kept steaming ahead on the same course. HMAS Vampire also continued ahead with neither side making any further successful radar contacts in the detection phase. The range was too great for any gunnery, so I moved onto the damage control phase, rolling another failed attempt for KRI Kakiali which picked up an additional light damage marker, the other frigates passing the storm damage test (I decided that the Kakiali did not have to test again for storm damage).

Turn 3

The Indonesians won the initiative again, with KRI Kakiali turning for home and the other frigates and HMAS Vampire steaming onwards. No detections were made in the detection phase, so it was onto the damage control phase again, which resulted in another failed flooding roll for KRI Kakiali. This was too much and she rolled over and sank, with a total damage score of 15. The remaining frigates then passed the storm damage test, which was a relief for the crew to say the least.

Turn 4

The RAN won the initiative, which is hardly surprising in the circumstances, moving forward again to close the range. KRI Ngurah Rai peeled off to port to search for survivors while KRI Jos Soedarso steamed ahead to continue the mission. Once again there were no successful radar detections and neither frigate failed the storm damage roll, so it was swiftly on to the next turn.

Turn 5

The RAN won the initiative again. HMAS Vampire steamed forward, while KRI Jos Soedarso did the same, leaving KRI Ngurah Rai to hove to, lower boats and start the rescue operation at the location of KRI Kakiali's foundering. In the detection phase, HMAS Vampire succeeding in making a passive radar contact on KRI Jos Soedarso, while the frigate succeeded in making an active radar detection on the destroyer. Unfortanately, both ships were out of gunnery range, so it was onto the damage control phase, where KRI Jos Soedarso rolled a 10 on the storm damage test, immediately causing a flood and engine breakdown, followed by a further light damage. It really was a bad day for the Indonesians!

Turn 6

The Indonesians won the initiative, believe it or not, with HMAS Vampire now switching to active radar in the detection status phase, in order to make it easier to hit the target if there was any action. The rescue mission was scrubbed and KRI Ngurah Rai moved to re-join KRI Jos Soedarso, which was now reduced to only 2cm speed per turn. The range was still too great for gunnery, so it was on to the damage phase, with the flooding spreading further on KRI Jos Soedarso, adding another light damage. However, a successful repair roll of 10 + 1 by the crew, managed to stop the flooding and remove the flood marker, replacing it with a light damage marker instead. KRI Ngurah Rai also passed the storm damage test, so things were looking up for the Indonesians for a change.

Turn 7

I spoke too soon. The Indonesians won the initiative at the start of the turn, moving forward and bringing KRI Jos Soedarso into range of HMAS Vampire, which turned to port to take up a parallel course. There were no further detections in the detection phase, so KRI Jos Soedarso and HMAS Vampire prepared to slug it out with their guns. In the attack phase, KRI Jos Soedarso landed a single hit on HMAS Vampire, inflicting light damage and knocking out her radar. However, with double the rate of fire of the frigate, HMAS Vampire managed to score two hits on KRI Jos Soedarso, the firdt of which causing a heavy damage result and starting a fire. The second hit, along with the cumulative storm damage, resulted in a total damage score of 15, sending the frigate to the bottom! 

Turn 8

The scenario instructions clearly stated that the RAN would win if it destroyed two of the frigates, which would cause the third to disengage and escape. I decided that this objective had been met, even though KRI Kakiali had actually sunk due to storm damage and flooding, so called time on the game. HMAS Vampire had as yet not detected KRI Ngurah Rai, so she was able to slip away into the storm as she was well out of visual range and also switched off her active radar in order to disappear. As HMAS Vampire's radar was U/S, she also was unable to conduct an active radar sweep, so stopped to pick up survivors from the sunken frigate.

I really enjoyed this game and, with only a couple of tweaks to the storm damage rule, think the scenario works really well. I'll replay the same scenario using the new 2021 edition of the Naval Command rules, which have slightly different mechanisms for detection, gunnery and damage control, to see if it works out differently. Incidentally, in case you were wondering, I didn't bother with contact markers for this game, as I was playing solo and knew what was going on. It would work well with contact markers in a two player game, as this would add a further element of uncertainty. Good fun!