Solo Campaign Scenario 1: 'A Matter of Honour' Game Report

I played the first scenario in my solo naval mini-campaign yesterday, after a very busy family weekend prevented me from getting it done earlier. I used A+A Game Engineering's Tsushima rules for this, which was the first time I'd tried them out, with some interesting results...

Turn 1

The Chilean protected cruiser Ministro Zenteno and the Argentinian protected cruiser Nueve de Julio were positioned at either end of the table, 2nm (20cm) from the short table edge, the former offset to the south and the latter on the centre line. Both ships were 14nm apart, so within spotting range. The Chileans lost the initiative, so moved first by steaming straight ahead at 20 knots, while the Argentinians cruised forward at half speed of 11 knots. The lookouts on the bridge of Nueve de Julio spotted the Ministro Zenteno but the range of 11nm put her out of gunnery range this turn (the Chileans were not able to spot this turn, as they had been spotted first)

Turn 2

The weather deteriorated to moderate, reducing the spotting range to 10nm, and the wind shifted to the North East, but otherwise having no effect on proceedings. The initiative was won by the Argentinians again, forcing the Chileans to move first and continue at full speed dead ahead, the Nueve de Julio changing course to port to intercept. The range was now 7.3nm and the Chilean lookouts spotted the advancing Argentinian cruiser successfully. Once again, however, the range was too great for any gunnery, so it was on to the next turn.

Turn 3

The weather conditions remained the same in this turn, which would be a factor in the gunnery that was going to happen once the range had narrowed after the movement phase. Yet again, the Argentinians won the initiative, with the Chileans moving first to cross the T of the Neuve de Julio, the Argentinian cruiser responding by increasing speed and turning 45 degrees to starboard, closing the range to 3.7nm. 

The gun crews on both ships now prepared to open fire, which is resolved simultaneously in the rules. The Ministro Zenteno opened up with the three 6'' guns in the starboard battery at medium range, but failed to score any hits, requiring a 9+ on a D10 to be successful due to the sea state and size of the target. The Nueve de Julio could only bring her forward 6'' gun to bear but also failed to hit as well, only rolling a 3, plus 1 for her experienced gun drill. 

Turn 4

Once more the weather held, but this was going to be the critical turn for gunnery, so just as well. The Chileans lost the initiative again (!), so Ministro Zenteno moved first, steaming forward at full speed to ensure that her powerful starboard battery was in range and arc for another broadside. The Nueve de Julio once again steamed ahead at full speed, turning 45 degrees to port at the end of the move to bring her starboard battery to bear, the range now down to 1.8nm or 18cm. This was close range for the 6'' main armament but medium range for the secondary 4'' guns on the Argentinian cruiser.

This time I resolved the Argentinian gunnery first, the Nueve de Julio opening up with one 6'' and four 4'' guns, scoring a hit with the former but completely missing with the latter. The 6'' shell penetrated the armour deck on the starboard side of the Chilean cruiser, destroying two of the 6'' gun mounts in a shower of splinters and plunging deep into the boiler room, where it exploded, starting a raging fire and knocking out propulsion in one devastating critical hit. The exploding boiler caused three points of hull damage on a d4 roll, so the Argentinians had achieved the scenario objective in one fell swoop.

In response, the gun crew of the Ministro Zenteno fired back with the starboard 6'' battery, scoring no hits at all despite a positive modifier for the short range. In a desperate attempt to strike the Argentinian cruiser while she remained in range, the Ministro Zenteno also launched a single torpedo but completely fluffed the D10 to hit roll with a roll of 1. The Ministro Zenteno meanwhile came to a full stop and started to drift, out of power, shrouded in clouds of smoke and lit by flames.

Turn 5

With the Chilean cruiser crippled, the Argentinians decided to withdraw and, made a 135 degree turn to port before steaming at full ahead to the east. The Ministro Zenteno had already rolled for on-going fire damage, which inflicted a further three points of hits to the hull, reducing her chances of survival even further, especially as the subsequent damage repair phase failed to fix either the boiler of extinguish the now out of control fire. 

Despite the raging fire and the imminent risk of sinking, the crew of the Chilean cruiser stuck to their guns, the remaining starboard 6'' mount firing an ineffective shot at the retreating Argentinian enemy, rolling a 1 when they needed at least a 9. This was met with a shell from the aft 6'' gun of the Nueve de Julio, which also missed, as the range had lengthened to 4nm requiring a modified D10 roll of 9+ but the crew only managing an ineffective 4 + 1 despite their superior training. 

Turn 6

It was all over for the Chileans when the weather worsened to heavy at the start of the turn, making it impossible to save their ship from sinking. The fire spread further, wiping put the last of the hull boxes on the Ministro Zenteno's sheet before the repair phase, effectively preventing any chance for the Chilean crew to stop the raging inferno from spreading throughout the ship. The order was given to abandon ship and the crew took to the lifeboats, with Captain Villareal the last to step off the deck as the Ministro Zenteno was swamped by the rising seas. The Nueve de Julio did not stay to pick up the survivors but continued at full speed toward the east, wary of any Chilean warships that might even now be steaming to the scene of the battle.

Blimey!

That was a pretty decisive clash and a good run out for the rules, which I had not used before but thought would work well for one on one engagements like this scenario. The end result was a surprise as I expected one of the two cruisers to be damaged and have to limp away, pursued by the other one, but the critical hit caused by the 6'' shell from the Nueve de Julio was decisive to say the least.

Things I liked about Tsushima were the measurement and movement mechanics, the fast play gunnery and the straightforward sequence of play, which made it easy to run the scenario with only a bit of head scratching. I particularly liked the scale of 10cm to 1 nautical mile and 1cm per knot of speed, which worked very well on a 6' x 4' table. 

Things I wasn't so keen on were the weather rules, which seemed disjointed, and the rules for spotting, which were too simplistic and didn't involve any sort of randomisation or even testing, spotting being virtually automatic at the required range. I also didn't like the ambiguous rules for ongoing damage, which were referred to but not quantified clearly by explanation, specifically in relation to the fire that broke out on the unfortunate Ministro Zenteno. 

In the end, I really enjoyed the game and will have another crack with Tsushima to iron out some of the wrinkles. In campaign terms, the Chileans have been roughly handled and will have to decide if they now respond in strength or back down. The Argentinians are on a roll and will have to escalate to satisfy domestic popular and political pressure, or seek a way out of a rapidly deteriorating military situation, the Chileans having some serious naval assets that could really inflict an embarrassing reversal of fortune if deployed. And who knows what the Royal Navy will do...?

Tune in for the next instalment....