Little Great War - A Naval Prologue continues...

 

The main fleets join the action

Continuing on from my previous posting of just over a week ago, we rejoin the action between the Azuria and Hellenia navies, just as the two fleets arrive to put an end to the single-ship duel between the ironclad battleship Amiral Duperré and the armoured cruiser Georgios Averof. It was probably just as well for the cruiser that its friends had turned up, for it had got so much the worse of the action, that its speed was halved, and one of its rear turret main guns knocked out. Amiral Duperré hadn't escaped unscathed - a couple of waterline hits to deplore - but was able, after fetching a wide circle under the Snifnos shoreline, to join rear of the battle line. 

It so happened that the respective fleets joined the action at very much the same time. This was decided by a die roll each, the low score arriving first, and the differential determining when the opposing ships arrived at the table edge. As it turned out, both sides rolled a 4. The remainder of the narrative will continue to offer asides concerning the game mechanics.

We'll begin with a comment in the last posting that concerned the relative technologies of Amiral Duperré and Georgios Averof. Had I accounted for technological advances in the 30-odd years between  the laying down of the two warships? Good question. Had I?

A check seemed to indicate that, insofar as we can conjecture what the net effects would be, the more advanced armoured metallurgy equalised the protection against the ironclad battleship's thicker armour, and the more modern guns, despite the considerable difference in calibre (9.2-inch vs 13.5), also equalised their effects. The two vessels under my 'stats' (close to but not identical to Bob Cordery's original) come out as very nearly equal in power. Georgios Averof, however, had a speed advantage, at least at the beginning of the single-ship duel.

 

As the fleets approached each other in the strait between the islands of Serifos and Snifnos, the Azuria torpedo boats TB1 and TB2 veered off to port to hunt down the Georgios Averof, heavily damaged, and attempting to crawl its way out of trouble. Admiral Polyomyelitis ordered his torpedo boat destroyers Panthir and Leon to cover the wounded battlecruiser.

The remaining Azurian torpedo boats remained on the starboard side of the main battleline, which itself began to turn to starboard in line ahead in order to bring the main-gun broadsides to bear. The peculiarities of the gun arrangements aboard the Hellenic coastal battleships Psara and Hydra dictated their plan simply to charge bull-headed at the Azurian line. The powerful battleship Lemnos, turned due eastward, whence its main guns, outranging the Azurians', might be brought to bear.

Georgios Averof under heavy fire

Naturally, coming into range of the unlucky battlecruiser, all three battleships - Amiral Duperré not yet having rejoined the line - let fly. The three hits, two of them critical, were enough to induce the cruiser, reduced to just 2FPs (flotation points) to quit the battle if it could. It was lucky at that, for the Hoche put a 13.5-inch shell close under Georgios Averof's main gun turret, where the crew just barely averted an explosive catastrophe. Meanwhile, the first salvo from Lemnos failed to get the range of Charlemagne, leading the Azurian battle line.

As the Azurian battle line began their turn, two Hellenic destroyers, boldly handled, came charging in under Charlemagne's guns. Whilst the battleship's main guns engaged Lemnos, the secondaries tried to hold off the smaller vessels. Putting one aboard Lemnos, Charlemagne received two in return that started a couple of small fires. But the secondary gunfire proved woeful. Nor were the little torpedo boats able to offer much protection either. Completely unscathed, Hierax and Aetos fired off their torpedoes (the green dice in the pictures). Sixes required to hit - both scored!

Gun and torpedo fire. White dice = Azuria
Red dice = Hellenia
Big dice = primary weapons
Little dice = secondaries
Green Dice = torpedoes
Special dice = torpedo damage

Now here I added something to the game mechanics for torpedoes. I still rolled three dice to represent one torpedo, but only a six would represent a hit. Very chancy. But not only did it count as a critical, it also brought in another D6 to determine how many FPs were knocked off the target's flotation. Blow me down if both destroyers didn't roll a six! Twelve FPs Charlemagne lost at once, not to mention the two more at the hands of Lemnos. Reduced to just 2FP out of 16, Charlemagne had to option but to fall out of the battle line.

An alternative method has today occurred to me. Having scored a six to hit, rather than roll a fourth D6 to determine flotation damage, why not simply add up the other two green dice? In this case, Charlemagne would have lost 10FP, still disastrous, but there would have been a pretty decent chance the battleship would have become a feature of the Mesogesean Sea floor.

Disaster for Charlemagne - two damaging 
torpedo hits

Meanwhile, a gunnery duel between Hoche and Psara went in favour of the former. TB1 and TB2 tried torpedo attacks to finish off Georgios Averof. Unfortunately TB1 had its torpedo launcher knocked out before it could be fired. Instead it landed a pop-gun hit upon the cruiser. TB2's attack was intercepted by Panthir, but the torpedo missed. Perhaps the crew's practice was disturbed by the torpedo boat's receiving two heavy shells from Hydra.

I have adopted a convention that torpedo attacks come after all gunnery and gunnery results. If a TB is sunk before it can fire its torpedoes in the same turn, the vessel sinks, the torpedo unlaunched. I did toy with disabling torpedoes if the TB is reduced to 'get outta here' level flotation. But that seems too punitive. So, if it is already in range at that point, then it can launch. If 0FP means the vessel is reduced to an immobile hulk, rather than sunk, it is assumed the torpedo tubes have also been knocked out.

Charlemagne forced to pull out of the battle line

As Charlemagne staggered out of the battle line and the rest of the line completed their turn to the eastward, TB3 and TB4 went after Lemnos. The torpedo boats and destroyers seemed very keen to get up close and personal! For now at least, Georgios Averof's hurts had been amply avenged!

With the action in full swing, we will resume the narrative another time...

To be continued...

Little Great War - Prologue

Tensions throughout Europeia had been tightening as the Settee Empire of Turcowaz found itself under increasing pressures from all quarters. They began with the Ruberian expedition up the Pardis River that was only barely defeated a short distance from Sakhdad. There followed a desperate war (First Blacklands War) against former territories whose nascent independence proved insufficient to assuage their hostility towards their former overlords. More recently, a border war against the forces of the Czar, had, after a fine start, stalled after a sharp defeat that wrecked one of the main Turcowaz columns. Accounts of these campaigns may be found elsewhere in this blog spot.

Meanwhile Turcowaz had found a powerful ally in Azuria, itself having a long history of conflicts against its mortal foe, the Kingdom of Ruberia. Certain rivalries of trade, manufactures and primary production had long threatened to tip the Pax Europeia into all out war. We need not here go very far into the immediate causes, except to suggest that the rapprochement between the President of the Republic and the Sultan did much, if not to light the match, then to fan the flame.

Azuria and Hellenic scout ships approaching a
strait between islands Serifos and Snifnos

One of the first acts of Azurian goodwill was to send a great part of its Mesogesian fleet to visit Ionople. It was in this little mission that a 'bit player' in the recent conflicts chose to show its own displeasure. Any attempt, quoth the King Constantine's ambassador to Lutetia, by the Azurian fleet to contact the Supreme Door, would be opposed by the Hellenic fleet authorised to use force to prevent it.

Georgios Averof's opening salvo scores a hit!

Disinclined, as usual, to accept the dictates of any power, let alone the yapping of a newly created nation of no great size, wealth or strength, Azuria went ahead with its expedition. Rounding the Peloponnese without incident, the fleet entered the Aegisean Sea, the ironclad battleship Amiral Duperre scouting ahead. About to pass through the strait between the islands of Serifos and Snifnos, observers aboard Amiral Duperre discerned smoke upon the northeast horizon. The approaching smoke resolved itself into a steamship, a warship, withal, and finally to the formidable armoured cruiser Georgios Averof.

Ouch: Amiral Duperre takes a hit in the bows.

Ignoring the Hellenic vessel's signals to stop and/or turn about, the Azuria vessel ploughed on. At last, Georgios Averof loosed its final warning: a well aimed salvo that struck the Duperre in the bows. At once, the battleship swung off 60 degrees to starboard and began to engage the Hellenic vessel with its entire main armament. The battle was on.

At long range, Amiral Duperre 'crosses the T'.

Before continuing further, we'll outline the comparative strengths of the war ships. Although quite disparate classes, and Amiral Duperre was a much older vessel, they were something of a match.

Azuria:
Amiral Duperre - Ironclad Battleship
Flotation: 12FP, withdraw when FP reduced to 4.
Main armament 13.4", range 6 hexes:
Broadside - 5/4/3/2/2/1/-/-
Forward only - 3/3/2/2/1/1/-/-
Aft only - 2/1/1/1/1/-/-/-
Secondary armament 6.4" and 5.4", range 4 hexes:
Broadside only - 8/6/4/2/-/-/-/-
Torpedoes: 4TT

Hellenia:
Georgios Averof - Armoured Cruiser
Flotation: 12FP, withdraw when FP reduced to 4.
Main armament 12", range 6 hexes:
Broadside - 6/5/4/3/2/1/-/-
Forward or Aft: - 3/3/2/2/1/1/-/-
Secondary, 7.5", range 4 hexes:
Broadside only: 4/3/2/1

Superb gunnery on both sides, but the Azurian is 
formidable! Averof takes a hammering.

As the range closed, the fire grew deadlier with increased accuracy. But, formidable as the battle cruiser's gunnery was, the training aboard the ironclad would have won prizes. Georgios took a terrible hammering; its speed reduced by damage to its screws.

The tale of damage: four criticals on Averof to one
on Duperre. The damage to the former's motive 
power is the most serious.

With such a 'passing of honours', the combatants drew somewhat apart. Amiral Duperre completed a turn about to bring it closer to its own fleet, and in the hope of drawing Georgios Averof after it. After a bit, and spotting dense smoke far to the southwest, the latter vessel rather thought better of it. Georgios Averof began to reverse course, but, its speed badly impaired began to apprehend that its retrograde move had begun too late.

Averof takes a second hit to its drive shafts and screws

This was not helped by a second hit received under its counter that reduced its speed still further. 

It was very fortunate that the rest of the Hellenic fleet was also in the offing. Would it arrive in time to haul Georgios Averof out of the maelstrom - or, indeed , to exact a revenge upon the Azuran fleet? 
We'll leave the narrative here for next time... 

The main fleets arrive at the same time. How that happened
will be accounted next time...

Imagi-Nations - Work in Progress

What I've been doing lately - instead of writing up my latest 'Chubby Marine' naval battle.

Khevenhuller Dragoons and Nadasti Hussars now have their bases flocked...

Batthany Dragoons newly painted. I've added a squadron of chevauleger using Airfix RHA mounted officers on spare Revell horses.

The mounted arm in the service of the Principality of Ursaminor. They - or at least something very similar - have occasionally been seen in the service of the Reine d'Oro Royalists in the Gatonegro War of Independence.

Ursaminor foot. These were painted well over 25 years ago to create an army for my daughter, Ursula. I added to it about 10 years ago.

Additional units (5th and 6th Foot) in Ursaminor service. I have added a second Grenadier Battalion HQ. The 6 line infantry may then be organised as 8 battalions, 6 line and 2 grenadier.

Ursaminor militia battalions, and artillery. The nearer militia battalion was created out of some Airfix Imperial Guard (horrible figures, but they made OK militia. The other was made from selected figures from an American War of Independence set - manufacture unknown (to me).

Latest paint job: Palffy Hussars in Imperial service. 

Two units that have been adapted for service with the Landgravate of Hessen-Rohr - Cuirassiers and Uhlans.

Some of the horse and all the guns in the service of Altmark-Uberheim. 

A final pic of the Palffy Hussars. I wonder if my new phone has a flash...

W still very much in P, but the light at the end of the tunnel is looking a deal brighter!

 

'Byzantiad' - Further Tests

Further to play testing 'my' 'Portable' rule set for my 'Byzantiad' campaign in my 10x10 square-grid table, I ran three more battles. The Pechenegs were doing very well. Was that due to an inherent bias in the rule set (unlikely), an inherent bias in the army balances (I was more concerned they might favour the Byzantines), or was I playing one side very badly (or the other supremely well)? Battles Three and Four need not detain us long, apart from the pretty pictures: the Pechenegs won both.

Battle Three:

This one was pretty close, but the Byzantines exhausted themselves first. 

The Byzantines began well enough. Pushing the left-hand skoutatos unit well forward into the faces of the Kagan's elite horse archers, the akontistai javelin men penetrated the wood flanking the enemy. This ought to have been decisive. The Pecheneg heavy horse were driven back, but the Byzantines failed to destroy them.

Meanwhile, the Pechenegs enveloped the Byzantine right, and were able to develop the superior force on this wing. Early exchanges were fairly level, and the Byzantines even began to edge back the enemy light horse.

But the Byzantines were becoming the more worn down. The skoutatoi and akontistai were decisively defeated (terrible luck, this!), and although the battered Byzantine right chased away a unit of light horse, there were plenty more to take their place.

In a final 'throw of the dice', the peltastoi (loose-order spearmen), took on a troop of war wagons. The dice tell the story: no damage to the war wagons or their crews, whilst the 4SP of the spearmen were reduced to 1SP. The conclusion to be drawn from this - although the rolls were a little bit extreme - is that the War Wagons are bally near invulnerable. Sure, they can not initiate of themselves a close combat, but they don't need to.

The upshot is that I have reduced the War Wagon SP to 3 only - 3 'hits' to kill; 3 combat dice for shooting and close combat. That will make them quite formidable enough, thank you very much! In 'compensation' for the 'loss' of 2SP, the Pechenegs will get another light horse unit. The 'Byzantines' presenting the standard 9 units for this table, equalising the Strength Points will give the Pechenegs 11.

Battle Four:

When this battle was fought, I had not yet determined upon the 3SP war wagons. In this one, the Pechenegs placed most of their horse to the right of the village, bringing forward the war wagons, together with a horse archer flank guard, to the left of the place. For their part, the bulk of the Byzantine horse were there to face the mounted Pechenegs.

I have an idea that the ideas of a certain Vegetius Renatus might subliminally been at work here, massing the Byzantine horse of the left. Maybe. However four units were facing six, with very little advantage to the Byzantines for their weight. The Byzantine heavy horse get +1 for close combat only, and none for shooting. I have a feeling that the +1 for 'shooting before contact' ought to be appropriate. Although less well protected at a distance, the light horse are nippier, and possibly harder to hit. Maybe.

And then, of course, the opening archery exchanges drive the point home: the horse archers knock 1SP from two of the Byzantine cavalry, and force the remainder of one of them to retreat. In reply, the Byzantines chase of one of those pesky enemy units. More likely, the Pechenegs simply took themselves out of range.

Ouch!

The Byzantines are doing well here!

In the above picture, we see the Byzantines giving a pretty good account of themselves following the opening setbacks. Assailed by a unit of horse archers, the Byzantine toxotai bowmen flatten their assailants in short order, but at the cost of a strength point. In the distance, the Byzantine army commander drives off his enemy counterpart (the +1 for army commanders cancel each other out). Five Strength points of Pechenegs bite the dust  - and two whole units - for just 2SP from the Byzantines.

It didn't last. The cavalry of both sides were badly worn down, with little remaining as the battle drew to a close. On the weaker wings, the Byzantine prokoursatores took on double their numbers, which soon became three times their numbers in the mutual blood-letting. 

As a final act, the skoutatoi once again took on a war wagon, with a result more doleful than the previous go. The exchange of archery did some damage to the war wagons, but before the skoutatoi could get to within spear length, the whole unit was obliterated. 

Yet another Byzantine defeat.

Battle Five:

For this battle, the Strategos of the Byzantines changed slightly his methods. Clearly, the usual formation of infantry in the centre and cavalry on the wings simply left the Byzantine cavalry at the mercy of superior numbers of Pechenegs, whilst the foot-sloggers looked on.

On the other hand, the (my) Pecheneg method of massing most of the horse on one wing, holding the centre with war wagons and keeping a small flank guard on the other wing seemed so far to be a pretty effective formula.

For a change, I looked to the method associated with the Praecepta of Nikephorus II Phocas. Translated to this war game format, this spread the infantry across the front, leaving intervals for the cavalry, between infantry blocks and on the wings. The effect of this was to bring the foot units more reliably into the action.

This layout did not prevent the Pechenegs outflanking the Byzantine line. My rule set does not permit the deployment of any but light troops (light horse and 'psiloi' types) in the two columns of grid cells on either flank. That leaves the 6 centre columns in which to deploy the heavies. This is great for the Pechenegs, 7 units out of 10 (soon to be 8 out of 11 with the SP change to the war wagons) being light horse. The Byzantines have one light horse unit (lance-and-bow armed prokoursatores), and one light foot (javelin armed akontistai).

As expected, having won an early initiative, the Pecheneg line curled around the Byzantine left, committing the left hand Byzantine horse. At the same time the left-wing unit of skoutatoi found themselves assailed front and flank. 

I think at this point one ought to codify carefully what happens with flank attacks. Units should shoot directly in front only. If close assaulted front and flank, the defending unit gets the full combat dice allocation, and may divide them between opponents, not more than half being directed against the flank attack. Of course, the enemy get all the dice coming to them.

So a skoutatos unit facing a light horse attack front and flank is in real trouble, but might get lucky and chase off the enemy. So it happened here. The skoutatoi lost heavily - 1SP - but they handed out a few licks of their own.

Although the light horse has some success with their flanking manoeuvre, the prokoursatores drove back their immediate adversaries, and began pushing them into the rear of their embattled comrades.

Although they lost half their number, the Byzantine light horse chased the enemy well to the rear of the Pecheneg lines. The weakened kavallarioi also managed to force back their opponents, and relieve the flank of the skoutatoi.

This left the skoutatoi vulnerable once again on the flanks, but they wiped out the light horse immediately to their front.

 

Gradually the Byzantines were forcing back the Pechenegs on their left front. Meanwhile, the centre and on the other wing a stand-off prevailed whilst affairs were settled on the embattled flank. A unit of kavallarioi was brought over to help out the remains of the prokoursatores, and shortly afterwards, the peltastoi in the centre and the Strategos himself began to insert themselves into the struggle on the wing. The Byzantines evinced no special desire to try conclusions against war wagons, and the javelin men in the village seemed to offer an effective enough flank guard against the Pecheneg lights.

Fact is, the way the activation dice were running, neither side was getting enough to start anything funny in this part of the field.
 

With the reinforcement of the left wing, the Byzantines began a push and a drive that was eventually to force the Pechenegs from the field.

Not that the Byzantines had it all their own way. The Pechenegs had one more attempt to flank the line. Seeing this off, the blue-pennon kavallarioi cleared the skoutatoi left flank. These gentry had in the meantime chased the Pecheneg heavy horse up and over the rise in front of them 

 The final pictures show the Byzantine drive on the left wing, followed by a general Pecheneg retreat following on from that defeat. But before departing, the horse archers had one last fling.

Just as a weakened light horse unit collapsed in rout, another weak unit boldly attacked the Strategos's cavalry. It achieved success! One SP lopped of the elite horse, but the Strategos himself survived unhurt. The Pecheneg horse disappeared.

So ended Battle Five: a clear cut Byzantine victory. It was close enough fought 9 Pecheneg SP lost against 5 or 6 Byzantine. After the string of Pecheneg successes this was perhaps something of a relief.

A few small issues did crop up.
1. At the moment I think the +1 for the heavy cavalry solely in close combat is insufficient differentiation by weight. I've decided to add +1 in the heavy cavalry's 'shooting before contact' against light horse.

2. Although the 'shooting before contact' is easy to remember and administer (retreats being applied immediately, and not after the close combat phase), it is tempting simply to conflate the s-before-c and close combat, by adding one die (only) to units so capable in the single combat roll. Having said that, under the present system, an attacking unit whose shooting before contact forces a retreat may follow up to re-engage in the same way as allowed by such success in the close combat. However, only the assaulting unit may follow up. 

3. Units assaulted (not merely shot at) in flank turn and face provided there is no enemy in contact in front. A unit merely in the grid area in front does not count as being 'in contact'. One or other side will have to encroach across a grid area side (That is to say: one or other has initiated a close assault) to count as being in contact.

3. War wagons are now 3SP, not 4.

4. Note that javelin armed units don't do 'distant shooting', but are capable of 'shooting before contact'.

Suggested Provincial Byzantine and Pecheneg Raiding Force lists for a 10-square base line gridded table:

Provincial Byzantine: 

1 x Strategos (1SP, added to kavallarios unit to which attached)
4 x kavallarioi heavy cavalry @ 2SP (i.e. 2 stands) = 8SP
1 x prokoursatores light horse (lance, bow) = 2SP
2 x skoutatoi protected bowmen @4SP = 8SP
1 x peltastoi loose order spearmen (spear, javelins) = 4SP
1 x akontistai light infantry (javelins) = 2SP

9 units, 25SP including Strategos.
Exhausted on -9SP; rout on -13SP

Pecheneg Raiding Force:

1 x Kagan (1SP, added to the heavy horse archer unit)
1 x heavy horse archers = 2SP
8 x light horse archers @2SP = 16SP
2 x war wagons @3SP = 6SP

11 units, 25SP, including war leader
Exhausted on -9; rout on -13SP.