The 'Goeben' Incident - Retests

You would have thought, wouldn't you, that a force whose combined Flotation Points at 36FP versus 48FP, and firepower not much in excess of the enemy, and in fact less at short range, would be on a hiding to nothing. Well, wouldn't you? I sure thought so, which was why I matched my battlecruiser and 'heavy' cruiser against four 'light' cruisers, and watched the lights get scrambled.

OK, then: next pass. The battlecruiser, representing Saabia this time, had a light cruiser - 12FP - by way of a consort. The game as before, was set up with the Ra'esharn's 4-vessel cruiser squadron in pursuit of the Saabian 'Middle Sea Division' of battlecruiser, let's call it SNS Charybdis and cruiser, SNS Cockatrice. The pursuers were just out of range of the battlecruiser's big guns, the chase heading due south.

The pursuit. The hex-grain, right to left is north-south.

Tiring of the pursuit, Rear-Admiral Karl Trummler ordered the two, in line astern, upon a West-Nor'west course, to close the range. Of course, Rear Admiral Trewford, nothing loth, eagerly entered the action. The single battle line comprised Trewford's flagship RNS Andronicus, and RNSS Bucephalus, Caractacus, and Demosthenes.

SNS Charbdis fires its first salvo at long range.

Bringing his squadron together in a single line of battle, Trewford set a course converging upon the enemy. His plan was to close the range. Now, I played this out twice. The first of these seems to have been inconclusive, and, as I took few pictures, I will omit its narrative. So what follows will be the second.


It might have been in the interests of the battlecruiser to keep the range long, but although immune at that range, it would take it a long time to inflict serious damage. Charybdis's long range gunfire scored two early hits, but Trummler needed to get closer to inflict sufficiently discouraging damage. All the same, it wouldn't do to permit the four enemy vessels to get into short range. Apart from the risk of torpedo attack, their combined firepower would exceed their own. Medium range seemed ideal.
 

The range closes, with Kiivar squadron within
medium range of the lead Ra'eshar ships. The two rear cruisers
are still not in range of their own main guns.

As the squadrons closed, Trewford found that only his two leading ships had the range. The twelve combined guns requiring sixes to hit, they score a par result: 2 hits. Cockatrice also scored a par with its six-gun salvo. The secondary batteries aboard Charybdis chimed in with two hits (out of 6) of their own. But he primary batteries, 9 guns requiring fives and sixes at medium range, were less impressive. Still and all, the lead Ra'esharn ship, Andronicus, had now taken 6 hits - not very far from its 'let's get outta here' point. The second ship, Bucephalus, had taken the hit from Cockatrice. Meanwhile both Saabian ships had taken a hit.

The range closes further. I've shown only the dice that 'hit'.

Reluctant to close the range too much, Trummler edged away slightly before bringing his squadron back onto the WNW course. Trewford doggedly maintained his own course. That only the lead ships were within short range of each other rather suited Trummler. At this range Charybdis would take more damage, but should hand out more in turn.

So it proved, receiving two hits, Charybdis threw five aboard the Andronicus (9 guns, 4to 6 to hit). I rather think I omitted a pic of an earlier exchange of salvoes, as the five hits were enough to put Andronicus under - along with Admiral Trewford.  Cockatrice and the Bucephalus also exchanged blows. Although the third and fourth cruisers were in range at least of their forward main guns (four apiece) neither managed to score any hits at all.

RNS Andronicus turns turtle and goes down.

The sinking of the lead cruiser rather threw the whole squadron into a turmoil, having to avoid the wreck. Although the range was precisely as Trewford desired, just two hits registered upon Charybdis. The battlecruiser handed out five upon the already battered second cruiser, whilst Cockatrice shoved three aboard the third. 

The Ra'esharn ships have fallen into a tangle on account of 
the sinking of Andronicus. I daresay we should look at how long 
the wreck remains on the surface filling with water.

Torpedoes, then. At this range, the probabilities weren't too good, 1 die only, requiring a six. None of the three launched scored hits.

'Torpedoes away!' No hits.

The damage to Bucephalus forced that ship out of the line, leaving just Caractacus and Demosthenes in the fight to cover its withdrawal. It was all very one sided. Although the cumulative damage was eventually sufficient to force Cockatrice out of the battle, Charybdis battered the two remaining, crippling one and sinking the other. 

A badly wounded Ra'esharn cruiser exits the action.

Two enemies sunk, and two in sore need of a major repair, the Charybdis resumed its former course towards the Omez Narrows, escorting its wounded consort, Cockatrice.

The Ra'esharn squadron is routed. But Cockatrice
has been badly mauled.

Well, that was fairly interesting, but Trummler's little squadron had a huge measure of luck. Charybdis took a fair amount of damage enough, had it been given 18 Flotation Points instead of the 21 I assigned it probably would also have been badly injured.

It was around this point, checking up the rule set upon another matter, I realised that I had given the battlecruiser 21FP. Nothing wrong with that, but the standard (according to the rule set I wrote, after all) is 18FP.

Of course, I had to give that a try.  Here are some of the pictures...

Final action. Some phenomenally fine shooting 
by at least three of these ships...

The action already well under way with broadsides delivered at long and medium ranges. Once again the heads of the columns have converged, this time with the Chrarybdis slightly ahead of Andronicus. I've shown all the dice rolled here, including Andronicus's torpedo. In effect the Saabians have practically 'crossed the Ra'esharn 'T'. Charybdis's ten hits well and truly sank Andronicus, and the damage Cockatrice inflicted upon Bucephalus - four hits - is not slight, either. But Ra'esharn has dropped seven hits on the Saabian ships - especially Cockatrice, which has taken at least four itself.

Ra'esharn salvoes: 8 hits.
Four on each of the |Saabian ships

A subsequent exchange of blows, this time pictured separately. The Saabian ships take four hits apiece. That's enough to drive Cockatrice out of the battle, and the situation aboard Charybdis is looking grim as well. Unfortunately blurry, the subsequent picture marks the end of Bucephalus's role in the action, and the other two cruisers take further damage.

Saabia replies. Eight hits on Bucephalus alone 
would drive it out of the action.

Here the action was broken off. On the Ra'esharn side, one cruiser was sunk and another seriously damaged and barely afloat. The other two ships were knocked about but still 'fightable'. On the Saabian side, Cockatrice was also in a near sinking condition, and Charybdis itself was happy to break off the action. Although still fightable, another hit would have been enough to force its retreat.

Close of action. 

I don't know about you, but I found this very interesting, in view of the comments and conversations that followed on upon the previous posting on this topic.

I really did think that the battlecruiser, even paired with a heavy cruiser - as defined under my rule set - would have very slender chances of survival against 4 cruisers. We're not talking 'real world' here, by the way, but it would be nice if this rule set does at least in some measure reflect what might have been observed in real events. 

Here's the math. To begin with, I will be coining an expression 'dice equivalents', that is to say 1 'dice equivalent' equals one die rolled requiring a six. If a die is rolled requiring a five or six, that is the same as two dice requiring a six (i.e. 2 dice equivalents); and a die rolled requiring four, five or six, counts as three 'dice equivalents'. I want to compare the total Flotation Points and firepower measured in 'dice equivalents' of the forces used in these exercises.

- Ra'esharn Squadron: 4 cruisers

Total FP = 4x12FP = 48FP
Firepower:

• long (7-9hexes) - 0DE; 
• medium (4-6hexes) - 4x6 = 24DE; 
• short (1-3hexes) - 4x12+4x6 = 72DE

- Kiivar Squadron:  B/cruiser @ 21FP, H/cruiser @ 15FP 
Total FP = (21+15)FP = 36FP
Firepower: 

• long - 9DE; 
• medium - 18 + 6 + 9 = 33DE
• short - 27 + 12 + 18 + 6 = 63DE

- Saabia Squadron (a): B/cruiser @21FP, Cruiser @12FP

Total FP = 21+12 = 33FP

Firepower:

• long - 9DE
• medium - 18 + 6 + 6 = 30DE
• short - 27 + 12 + 12 + 6 = 57DE

- Saabia Squadron (b): B/cruiser @ 18FP, Cruiser @ 12FP
Total FP = 18+12 = 30FP

Firepower:

• long - 9DE
• medium - 18 + 6 + 6 = 30DE
• short - 27 + 12 + 12 + 6 = 57DE
  

On the whole, under this rule set one might imagine that, if the four cruisers survive reasonably undamaged running the gauntlet of the battlecruiser's heavy guns until they get to 3 or less hex range, they would stand a pretty good chance of winning the action. In one of these scenarios, I had the cruisers in line abreast rapidly closing the range, but they took a bit of stick doing so, and could fire of only their forward armament until they could adopt a course parallel to the battlecruiser. At the same time, it isn't always a simple matter to bring the whole firepower of the four ships into action - especially at long and short ranges, oddly enough.

It seems to me that this scenario - even with a rule set as simple and basic as that I've adopted here - presents an interesting challenge for both sides. The balance, apparently skewed by the 'math' in favour of the cruisers might not be quite as imbalanced as the numbers might suggest. Note, by the way, that all the ships had equal speed - 3 hexes the turn. A disparity in speed would probably be decisive in favour of the faster ships.

The 'Goeben' Incident - a 'Jono's World' Scenario

 A short while ago - a week or two, maybe - the subject came up in someone's blog, or comments therein, of an incident early in World War One involving a German battlecruiser, SMS Goeben, accompanied by a light cruiser SMS Breslau, encountering a British force of four armoured cruisers. The German ships had been sent to the Mediterranean, destined to enter the service of the Ottoman Empire.

Without going into the adventures of this miniscule, 2-vessel, German Mediterranean Battle 'Division' against the French Navy and the British Mediterranean Fleet, there was a point at which Rear-Admiral Troubridge's armoured cruiser squadron, HMSS Black Prince, Defence, Duke of Edinburgh and Warrior, might have brought the two German ships into action. Following orders that were never quite up to date with real events, Troubridge let pass the opportunity. 

This, of course, has become one of those fascinating 'what if?' scenarios. What might have been the result of the four armoured cruisers taking on a battlecruiser accompanied by a light? Was Troubridge correct in his assessment that the German ship constituted a 'superior force', and therefore, following orders, to avoid an engagement?

One of the reasons for my particular interest being piqued, was that, some 40 years ago, this scenario was the basis of one of several scenarios used for a competition in a Wellington war games club (not the Warlords, the other one at the time). After several rounds, SMS Moltke (standing in for its sister ship Goeben) and Breslau had been universally victorious. So then I drew the Germans for my battle.

It was the type of 'rotten show' that described the Coronel disaster for the Royal Navy. I simply could not buy a straddle, let alone a hit. Under the rule set, the main guns were operated under a central control system, which gave better odds of a straddle, and therefore of hits, and consequently damage, upon the enemy. I was getting nothing (except accumulated damage to my own ships) - a whole string of sh.. cr.. horrible dice rolls. In sheer desperation, I split my 2-ship force, and shut down the central control to give the guns independent fire. At least I improved the odds of scoring a hit, even though reducing the odds of scoring multiple hits, and hence less damage. 

If memory serves, I didn't actually lose the battle, but I didn't win it either, which was, in view of the other results, tantamount to an ignominious drubbing. I seem to recall amused murmurs of 'Courts Marshal' being uttered...

At any rate, the recent blog comments sparked my interest in trying the thing out. Now, my Chubby Marine just doesn't have the mix of ships to make the thing a goer. But my Mini-Chubbies might be adapted. My entire inventory includes just one 'armoured cruiser', and a formidable unit it is, but it seemed to me that 4 standard cruisers would suitably make up the 'British' force. What would the battlecruiser's consort be?

For much of this exercise, I assumed (forgetting my own rule set) that the Battlecruiser stood at 21 Flotation Points (FP). It should have been 18FP (we'll come to that!). It carried 9 heavy guns (primary weapons), and 6 mediums (secondary). All five cruisers carried 6 mediums and 6 lights, and stood at 12FP apiece. Now, look at the 'math', per broadside:
B/C Squadron: 33FP total, 9 heavy guns, 12 mediums and 6 lights.
A/C Squadron: 48FP total, 24 medium guns and 24 lights 
All vessels carried torpedoes. 
Although the 9 heavy guns outranged the enemy, and were more effective than the rest at all ranges, I did wonder whether under my rule set, that would outweigh the disparities in protection and numbers of guns.

The range closes to medium for the battlecruiser's 
main guns. On the Cruisers' side, Rear-Admiral Trewford's
flagship has already taken two long range hits (the green die).
The Cruisers' gunnery is woeful!!

So, for the first 'passage of arms'  the armoured cruiser joined the battlecruiser. This really did beef up the B/C Squadron: 36FP, 9 heavy guns, 15 mediums and 6 lights. But, would it be enough?

As Trewford's ship staggers badly wounded out of the battle.
the rest of his squadron bravely (rashly) closes the range
in the hope that the increased firepower will redress the balance.

It was. In spades. The cruiser squadron was quickly and easily crushed.

Terrific exchange of gunfire at short range. But
the damage so far accumulated (12FP vs 3FP) places
the cruiser squadron at a disadvantage.

A terrible mauling on both sides. Another cruiser 
exits the battle critically injured, and then a third is sunk
under a decisive salvo. But the battlecruiser
has taken a lot of damage itself.

The surviving cruisers turn to flee, but the pursuing 
battlecruiser sends another to the bottom. Not without
receiving bites in return. With 18FP damage (out of 21), 
KNS Pteranodon abandons the pursuit.

Well, that was interesting. Clearly the balance was wrong, whatever the 'math' had to say to the matter.

So I redid the scenario. The Saabian Navy took over from the Kiivar, whilst the Ra'esharn continued its role as the 4-cruiser squadron. The battlecruiser's consort was to be a standard 6-gun cruiser instead of the 9-gun heavy. 

I'll leave the other AARs until next time. I will also add a little 'math', for whoever might find that sort of thing as interesting as I do.

To be concluded...

Ultra Simple Naval Games...

To further the development of the was between the rival nations: the Kingdom of Ruberia and the Republic of Azuria, Brian (A Fist Full of Plastic) donated a whole bunch of figures and accessories from the 'War: Age of Imperialism' boxed set.  What to do with the navies?  Well, the Red and the Blue were simple enough, but what of the Grey and the Purple?   It seems that the Grauheim and Porphyrian Empires might have to come into at least a shadowy existence as allies of one or the other.

At that, some way of adjudication naval actions was called for.  So: simple naval rules, designed for one brain cell or fewer.  As there is just the one ship type, I'll stay with that.

1. Movement: 10cm, maximum.  All moves are simultaneous.
2. Maximum turn 90 degrees, only one such turn per move.

The leading elements of the Porphyrian squadron emerging
from the Straits of Dyre just as the Ruberian squadron
 crosses its 'T'.

3. Squadrons move as a body.  If in line astern, the successive vessels turn at the same point as the first.
4. Gunnery Range: 30cm maximum, 6's required to hit.
5. Each ship gets 2 shots, one for each turret fore and aft.  Secondary armament?  What secondary armament?
6. All fire is counted as simultaneous.
7. Vessels may not fire over friendly vessels.
8. Targets within 45 degrees of a central fore-and-aft line through the  vessel may be engaged only by the fore or after turret, as appropriate.  Outside those angles, the target may be engaged by the full broadside of both guns.
9. For each hit received, a vessel loses one gun. Having lost both turrets (2 hits) the vessel is considered to have been sunk.  However, I am thinking of changing this such that although the guns are out of action, a 3rd hit is required to put the vessel down. I'm also thinking that a hit has to be registered before any damage is done.  Not sure about that one.
10. Actions are fought until one side is completely sunk, or else has successfully broken off the action.

Here is a description of an action fought between a small Ruberian squadron against a Porphyrian fleet, from the Log of Admiral Sergei Sergeivitch Nuttoffsky, aboard his flagship Tsarina.

17th October, 1871: 1600 hrs
Steaming through the Straits of Dyre in line astern, course SSW; visibility fair, slight wind from the East. Sighted Ruberian Squadron of 3 vessels steaming W or W by S at the head of the Straits.  Almost at once enemy vessels fired their first salvos at our lead vessel, Taras Bulba.  Confined as we were, no manoeuvring was possible as the Ruberians crossed our 'T' firing six times the volume of fire able to be put down by Taras Bulba (i.e. 6 shots to 1).  

The Ruberian opening salvo: totally ineffective.

Fortunately, the enemy took several salvos to get our range.

The Ruberians score a hit!  But retribution is swift and
severe.  Two hits upon HMS Obdurate puts her under;
and Commodore Slybacon's flagship also takes damage.

Adm Nuttoffsky ordered a change of course to West by South, still in line astern, to parallel to the enemy line.

It was not until half way through the change of course that the enemy registered a hit upon the second vessel Elizaveta Romanova.  However, our own gunnery proved much the superior, as the lead Ruberian vessel, HMS Obdurate took the whole salvo from Taras Bulba and went down. The Flagship of Commodore Aloysius Slybacon, HMS Obsidian.  also received a damaging hit, and a turret put out of action.  

Check out the superb gunnery of Taras Bulba!

Shortly after these successes, however, Elizaveta Romanova was also sunk by a hit from Obsidian.

In the ensuing exchanges, Admiral Nuttoffsky's flagship Medvjed remained unscathed, but the rearmost Ruberian vessel scored a hit upon Sukin Syn.   As the weather began to deteriorate, with thick stormclouds coming up from the west as afternoon faded into evening, both sides were finding hits hard to achieve (I thought I was going to run out of table).

HMS Obnoxious puts one aboard Sukin Syn.

Just as it appeared that action would be broken off, Taras Bulba's final salvo sent HMS Obsidian to the bottom, and Sukin Syn avenged herself with a telling blow upon HMS Obnoxious.  As night drew in, Obnoxious managed to crawl off without further damage. The Porphyrian fleet continued westwards in search of a sea port in order to effect repairs on Sukin Syn.  

Taras Bulba does it again: a salvo from her sends HMS Obsidian
 and Commodore Slybacon to the bottom, whilst
HMS Obnoxious takes damage.  The return salvos splash harmlessly
into the sea.

This was, of course, an undoubted success by the Porphyrian fleet against a redoubtable foe.  For the cost of one ship sunk and another damaged, the Porphyrians had fought out of what amounted to an ambush, whilst sinking two and sending the surviving enemy ship limping off heavily damaged.  But it was, of course, just another instance of God fighting on the side of the big battalions...

For a one brain cell rule set, it seemed to work OK...