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| Capitan Prat and O'Higgins |
The Battle of Picton Island
29th February 1899
A Solo Mini-Campaign Scenario for Broadside and Salvo
Argentinian Briefing
The Bahia Blanco Division of three armoured cruisers has been ordered to reinforce Argentine control of the Beagle Channel and to engage any hostile warships in Argentine territorial waters, a powerful show of force that is designed to deter any further Chilean attempts to challenge Argentinian sovereignty. The Division has been placed under the command of an experienced naval officer, Captain Barilari. It consists of the armoured cruisers Garibaldi (F), Puyerredon and General Belgrano, the San Martin having been sunk in a night attack by Chilean torpedo boats. The Division had been dispersed to patrol the Beagle Channel but has now concentrated to the west of Picton Island. If any foreign warships intervene, specifically the Royal Navy protected cruiser HMS Apollo which is known to be in the vicinity, Captain Barilari has been ordered to disengage from any action, regardless of the consequences.
Chilean Briefing
The Argentinians have been caught on the back foot by the sinking of their armoured cruiser San Martin last night in an audacious torpedo boat attack. The opportunity to assert Chilean control over the disputed territorial waters of the Beagle Channel must be seized immediately. A Chilean squadron consisting of the battleship Capitan Prat (F) and armoured cruiser O'Higgins, under the command of Commodore Francisco Nef, has been ordered to steam to the western end of the Beagle Channel to intercept any Argentinian naval units, engage and destroy them before any foreign intervention can halt hostilities. However, should the Royal Navy intervene, any action must be abandoned regardless of the consequences to avoid antagonising an erstwhile ally. The protected cruiser HMS Apollo is known to be in the area and will no doubt intervene to stop any hostilities between the Argentinian and Chilean squadrons.
Objectives
This is a standard encounter scenario, with a limit of ten turns after which HMS Apollo will arrive to call a halt to the action. The Chileans enter in echelon right led by O'Higgins from the South Western corner of the table. The Argentinians arrive from the Eastern short table edge in line astern formation.
The crew of the Argentinian ships are Trained and the commander, Captain Barillari, is rated as Good. The crew of the Chilean ships are Well Trained and the commander, Commodore Nef, is rated as Good.
For the purposes of the scenario, the Argentinian armoured cruisers (AC) use the standard ship statistics. The Chilean cruiser O'Higgins has an uprated AF of 4, to reflect its more powerful main armament compared to the Argentinian cruisers, while the battleship Capitan Prat has a reduced DF of 4 to reflect her relatively small size.
The rules for determining victory use the standard procedure from p5 of the rules. The scenario will end on Turn 10. If neither side has achieved a victory by this point, the game will be a draw. If one side achieves the victory conditions at any point prior to the end of the game, the losing side must immediately disengage and attempt to leave the table by the nearest edge.
excellent!
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