.jpg) |
| Better late than never! |
I couldn't play my INWarD 2024 game today, so here's a little retrospective look at last year's game in the meantime:
http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2023/08/inward-23-game-part-1.html?m=0
http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2023/08/inward-23-game-part-2.html?m=0
http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2023/08/inward-2023-scenario.html?m=0
... hopefully, the 2024 game will happen at the end of this week.
A powerful French squadron of seven third rate ships of the line has slipped through the inshore naval blockade of Brest, using a thunder storm and squall as cover, in a sortie designed to challenge the Royal Navy stranglehold on the French fleet. The plan is to break out into the Atlantic then rendezvous with the Spanish, as a precursor to a full scale break out by the entire French fleet.
An unexpected change of weather and the evident strength of the offshore blockading force, has led to a change of course by the French squadron commander, Admiral Josselin, who has decided not to sail out into the Atlantic but to head for Lorient or La Rochelle, before the Royal Navy is able to stop him. Unfortunately, the squadron has been shadowed at a discrete distance by Royal Navy frigates and dispatches indicating the likely course of the French have been received.
Anticipating just such a move, a squadron of six third rate 74"s under the command of Admiral Shepton Mallet has been detached from blockade duties off Lorient and has been ordered to intercept the French squadron before it can reach a refuge in either naval port. The Royal Navy force has set a Westerly course and is patrolling off the Ile de Glenan, in the hope that the French will be spotted as it rounds the Breton peninsula.
The French Squadron deploys in the North West corner of the table heading on a South Westerly course in line astern, with the last ship touching the table edge. It must exit at least half it's ships (rounded down) via the Eastern table edge. The Royal Navy squadron deploys in line astern at any point along the Eastern table edge, with the last ship touching the table edge. It must prevent at least half of the French ships from escaping via the Eastern table edge by disabling, capturing or sinking them. Any other result is a draw.
Both commanders are Average.
The French squadron consists of Aigle, Scipion, Desaix, Patriote, Neptune (Flag), Pluton and Achille.
The RN squadron consists of Goliath, Minotaur, Ramillies, Mars, Leviathan (Flag) and Ajax.
All RN crews are Veteran and all French crews are Average.
The wind is from the North. The French have the weather gauge. The sea state is calm with a moderate breeze and visibility is excellent.
(unfortunately, due to unavoidable family commitments, it looks like I will have to postpone this game until the end of the week...but it will go ahead!)
The scenario for my INWarD 2024 game has now been drafted out with two squadrons of third rates, one French and one British, going into action on the open seas. I've given the Royal Navy six 74's with three Average and three Veteran crew and an Average Command. The French are all Average crews but have one Superior 80 and seven 74"s to even things up, as well as an Average command. I haven't worked out the exact points but I think this should balance quite well, with no overall advantage to either side, apart from the weather gauge, which the French won in the pre-game dice off. I'll set out the background, layout and objectives in another post, when I've thought up a sensible historical explanation for the game.
The plan for the International Naval Wargaming Day game next Tuesday is to run a simple scenario using Far Distant Ships with two small squadrons of French and British Third Rates. This will be the first time I've actually played a game with the rules, so I have no idea how it will work out, but I'm going to stick to no more than six ships per squadron and only use the basic rules. Unfortunately, we have relatives staying with us next week, so I might not even have time to play the game!
As you know by now, I am an enthusiast for Long Face Games naval rules, with lots of great scenarios and solo campaigns played using Broadside and Ram, Broadside and Salvo, Dahlgren and Columbiad and Find, Fix and Strike. As such, I was thinking today as I walked the dog in the drizzle, about setting up a Facebook group to cater for players like me, or those interested in trying out some of David Manley's extensive catalogue of rules.
A quick email to the aforementioned gentleman and I have the thumbs up to go ahead. This will not only give me something constructive to do while it's still crappy weather here in Brittany, but also a longer term project to build the Facebook group into a thriving online forum dedicated to an excellent range of rules. That's the theory anyway but, based on my experience with AK47, Wings at War and the club groups, I think it will pick up quite a lot of interest.
Watch this space...
The second half of the INWarD game was a bit of a close-range slogging match with neither squadron able to inflict a crushing blow. The Chileans moved into a line astern formation and attempted to cross the T of the Argentinian division, concentrating their fire on the rearmost cruiser, the ARA General Belgrano, in an attempt to cause crippling damage.
They almost succeeded in this but, thanks to some high AP rolls, the damage parties on board managed to keep the Belgrano in action. The Argentinians meanwhile pooled their fire to concentrate on hitting the O'Higgins but consistently rolled low. By Turn Ten, when the Royal Navy protected cruiser HMS Apollo arrived to stop the fisticuffs (here played by the Ministro Zenteno), both the Argentinian and Chilean warships were still in for the fight.
 |
| I think that reads 'Pack It In' |
At the last count, all three of the Argentinian cruisers were damaged, but only the O'Higgins was damaged in the Chilean squadron, so I decided it was a narrow win for the Chileans. It was a good game nonetheless and the rules ticked along at a pace, so I really enjoyed playing it solo. The mechanics were familiar which helped a lot when working out the gunnery and damage results.
The damage repair rules are pretty much the same as Broadside and Ram, which I've tweaked to make repairs more expensive in AP's, thereby preventing ships being able to shrug off damage too easily. I may well do the same for small actions using Broadside and Salvo, which would result in a more decisive outcome. I've now used all of my models, except for the Esmeralda, so will have to paint some more for future games.
The Campaign
In campaign terms, the Beagle Channel incident of 1899 is now over, the Royal Navy having put a stop to proceedings on behalf of Her Majesty's government, while the United States government also adds it's weight in diplomatic terms to persuade the Argentinians to back down. The British are worried that the Chileans might overextend and get sucked into a conflict that they can't win, which would weaken a useful regional counter to United States involvement in South American affairs.
The United States, meanwhile, is concerned that a weakened Argentina and a more powerful Chile, assuming a Chilean victory in a full war with her rival, would stand in the way of plans for the United States to extend its political and military presence in the Pacific. As a result, diplomatic pressure is applied to Argentina to accept a political rather than a military solution to the Beagle Channel question.
I'm back from Poland so will be setting up my slightly delayed game for INWarD 2023, ready to play it as the final scenario in my mini-campaign. The scenario is a simple encounter on the open sea between the Argentinian armoured cruiser squadron and its Chilean counterpart, the former steaming to reinforce the Argentinian defence of the Beagle Channel, while the latter attempt to intercept and destroy, or at least heavily damage the Argentinian warships before the Royal Navy arrives to halt proceedings. I'll write up the scenario for Broadside and Salvo later today, although I may use Tsushima as that's what I've done for the other games in the solo campaign.
Bugger. I hadn't realised that the International Naval Wargaming Day is when I'll be at a wedding in Poland, or shortly afterwards to be precise, so I'll probably be somewhere on the autobahn in Germany on the 6th August. As a result, I'll either have to run a game in the next couple of days, or more likely postpone it until when I get back sometime in the following week.
It's exactly a month until International Naval Wargaming Day in August, so I've been thinking about the games I'm going to be playing. I have three main options at the moment, the first my 1/2400th scale South American Pre-dreadnoughts, the second my 1/2400th Victorian Ironclads and the third, a dip into paper wargaming using the Helion Publishing Battle of Trafalgar ships and fast play grid based rules. I will also have the Spanish Armada book, which I've just ordered a cheap copy of just for kicks, so I could use that as well. Blimey, I'll have to make up my mind pretty quick!
For my International Naval Wargaming Day game this year, I'm seriously considering a re-boot of my old 1/600th scale early war coastal forces. The models for this have been gathering dust for a few years, so I thought it would be a good idea to get them onto the table for some games using Narrow Seas. I have had these rules for a while but haven't tried them out, so this would kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. If I have time, I will paint up some merchant ships and escorts for some East coast scenario action, as the models have already been assembled and just need some paint and bases.
It's a fair way off yet but I'm starting the planning for my INWardD 2023 game, which will be played out while on holiday this Summer, as usual. At the moment, this could be anything but I'm leaning toward something a bit different from my previous games, which have been mainly ironclad focussed with occasional forays into World War Two. If I can finish the Napoleonic ships by the end of July, that would be a great but I can always fall back on my South American pre-dreadnoughts as a back up plan.
I played the remainder of the INWarD Broadside and Ram game yesterday, which lasted for six turns by which time the result was pretty clear. After a wobbly start, the Royal Navy pulled off a stunning victory, sinking the entire French third division, sinking half of the second division and seriously damaging the rest, which were boarded and captured in the scenario wash up, but allowing the first division to escape to Le Havre unscathed. It was ironic that the first division was composed of the most powerful of the French ironclads but didn't fire a single broadside!
The Royal Navy itself suffered only damage to most of the ironclads of the first and second division, despite some close action and ramming attacks, with some successful running repairs keeping the fleet in top shape, despite the second division being split up in the action at various critical points. The British managed to pin the French down by a combination of ramming and aggressive tactics, forcing at least one of the French warships into the shallows and sandwiching others in a pincer movement.
The highlights were a full speed ramming attack by HMS Minotaur on the Revanche, flagship of the French second division, which effectively stopped the whole line astern formation in its tracks, along with the ramming of HMS Monarch and HMS Captain by the Alma and Atalante, which completely backfired leaving the French third division in tatters. The heroic French third division was deliberately sacrificed in order for the rest of the fleet to make an escape, but this wasn't enough to save more than half of the ironclads, a massive blow to the Marine Imperiale.
It was interesting to see how this replicated quite well the actual Battle of Camperdown, on which the scenario was loosely based. It was also really good fun and I think quite a well-balanced game, even given the decisive end result. The French certainly gave as good as they got at the start of the action and did manage at various points to give the Royal Navy a thrashing, but in the end, the superiority of the British ironclads and their commanders was a clinching factor.
Good fun!
