Naval Wargames General

August 42: China Sea.

Transit was uneventful

On August 11, encountered Fukushu Maru (1500) alone and sunk with deck gun.

On August 13, encountered Ganges Maru (4400) and Thames Maru (5900) with escorts. She fired two torpedoes at each, and all hit, but the hits on Ganges Maru were both duds. She was then detected and attacked, causing hull damage and putting the deck gun out of action.

On August 15, she encountered Sana Maru (3400) alone and fired four torpedoes at her. All hit and three exploded, sinking her.

On August 18, she encountered a convoy. She snuck in and fired four torpedoes at the Toho Maru (4700). All hit, but three were duds. The single success sank her. However, she was then detected and attacked, the damage disabling many systems and flooding forced LCDR user to surface and scuttle Sturgeon. He was then taken as prisoner for the rest of the war.

Fucking dice got me. Started off with boxcars for escort detection, and never rolled under 9 after that. Still, it was a good run for Sturgeon. 11 ships for 77100 tons. Live fast, die hard, leave a good-looking wreck.

TOO MUCH BORING SUBTALK!

BACK TO BOOOTTTTEESS!

Oh, did your spittle drip on your SWO-sweater?

I've been meaning to play that. What's it called?

Silent Victory. It's out of print, and the only copy on Amazon is $129.95, but you can download the rules free from Consim Press's website and get the VASSAL module for it to play it.

U mad?

I've been looking at some larger scale stuff for WWII. Somehwere around 1/600 or 1/700 for destroyer or corvette actions, maybe even 1/300 for Torpedo boats. Is this feasible?

>someone made rules for playing S-Boats in Silent Victory
YES
boardgamegeek.com/filepage/130166/pigboats-s-class-expansion-pack
[pigboats intensify]

>go to see if there's something similar for The Hunters
>there is
ha ha time for shitbotes

boardgamegeek.com/filepage/118758/early-u-boats-v12

Shitbote time! This is U-60, a IIC.

September 39: British Isles

U-60 transited uneventfully.

On September 14, she encountered a small coastal vessel (1000 t) alone. She fired three torpedoes at it. All hit, but one was a dud.

Her transit home was uneventful.

November 39: British Isles

Transit was uneventful.

On November 13, she encountered another coastal vessel (800 t) alone. She fired two torpedoes, both hit and exploded.

During transit she dove to avoid air attack.

Jan 40: British Isles

Transit was uneventful

On Jan 12, she encountered the freighter Kumasian (5000 t) and fired three torpedoes at it. Only one hit, and failed to sink her, and U-60 was then sunk by aircraft when she attempted to make a second attack.

That was anticlimactic.

Hey, user who was wanting a Brit sub game? Someone's done that for The Hunters.

boardgamegeek.com/filepage/129831/british-campaign-module

Does anyone have a photo or diagram of the inside of the gunhouse on the Bismark? I heard somewhere that the loading mechanism was really weird/over engineered but I have never seen any images of it.

Now a IIA, U-1.

April 40- Norway. (IIAs in these rules roll on a chart for what patrol date they get, either a Sep 39, April 40, or both).

U-1's transit was uneventful.

Arriving on-station in Norway, on April 12 she stumbled across the CA Belfast. Closing the range she fired her three fore torpedoes at her, but two were duds, failing to sink her. She managed to escape undetected, and followed the damaged cruiser until the next night, when she attacked again. However, her last two torpedoes were both duds, and although she escaped safely U-1's crew were very disappointed.

Her transit home was uneventful.

Looks pretty neat, shame there's no rolls for encounters with your opposite numbers.

There's 9 subs on the small freighter roster. Maybe steal the sub vs sub rules from Silent Victory for them?

Boat Bump

I'd bump with this bote.

ha ha time for S-Boats

S-20 is go

December 41: Philippines

December 8, S-20 is attacked by a bomber. The bomb misses the ship, but shrapnel severely injures a crewman.

December 9. S-20 springs a fuel leak.

December 14, the hydrophones break down.

On December 18, S-20 is attacked again, but dives in time.

Transits home safely.

February 42: Solomons - Evacuation

S-20 is ordered to evacuate personnel from the Solomons and to rebase to Dutch Harbor in Alaska due to the Aleutian campaign.

During transit, one of her electrics breaks down but is repaired.

She successfully picks up her passengers and heads straight out, not intending to risk them. Her periscope fails but is repaired.

During transit, her #2 diesel fails twice but is repaired both times.

April 42: Kuriles - Recon

During transit her periscope breaks down but is repaired.

During her first attempt at recon she is attacked by a bomber, damaging the odd # tubes beyond repair and lightly injuring a crewman. Her second attempt is successful.

At night on April 12 she encounters the DD Natugumo and attacks with her two operational tubes. Both miss, but Natugumo cannot detect S-20.

On April 13, some of her batteries fail but they are repaired.

On April 16, she encounters the Nanrei Maru (2400) with escorts. She is detected trying to close, but manages to escape without damage.

During transit home, her radio and dive planes break down.

everything german was overengineered.

for example, the breech block of the german 105mm had 102 parts to it. The breech block for the US 105mm had 12.

July 42: Aleutians.

During transit her Diesel #1 breaks down but is repaired.

On July 9, she encounters the DD Ikazuchi (2000). She closes the range and fires four torps. Two hit, one is a dud, but it sinks her. S-20 is able to escape safely.

July 10, diesel #1 broke down again but is repaired.

July 12, spots the Aso Maru (3000) but is detected closing the distance, but manages to escape with no permanent damage. Her periscope fails later that night but is repaired.

July 16, spots the Byakuran Maru (900) with escorts. Fires 4 torps, hits with three, sinks her. She is detected but manages to escape with only minor hull damage and a dead crewman.

During transit home, her dive planes fail but are repaired.

October 42: Aleutians - Evacuation

During transit she springs an oil leak.

During her first pickup attempt she is forced to dive to avoid air attack. The second is a success.

During transit one of the air compressors fails but is repaired, and the boat springs another oil leak.

December 42: Aleutians - Evacuation

During transit diesel #2 fails but is repaired.

She successfully picks up her passengers.

During transit she springs an oil leak.

February 43: Aleutians

S-20 finally received radar.

Transit is uneventful.

On February 10, she spots the CL Yubari. She closes the range and fires four torps. One hits, but it strikes the magazine and sinks her. S-20 is detected, but dodges the initial depth charges before escaping.

February 16, she spots the CA Takao. Closing the range, she fires four torps. Three miss, and the one that hits fails to sink her. However, S-20 escapes undetected and comes back the next night to attack again. Two torpedoes hit, but one is a dud. The hit sinks Takao. S-20 manages to escape undetected.

One compressor and one electric fail in the transit home, but are both repaired.

>S-Boat kills 2 cruisers
[Lt. user smug intensifies]

April 43: Kuriles - Recon

Transit is uneventful.

S-20 takes pictures successfully.

On April 14 she encounters the CA Kako. She fires four torpedoes, two miss and one is a dud. S-20 escapes successfully but loses Kako the following day due to air compressor breakdown causing her to stop for repairs.

April 17, she encounters the Renzan Maru (5000 t) with escorts. She fires four torpedoes, two miss and one is a dud, and the hit fails to sink her. The escorts spot S-20 and attack, causing some hull damage.

Her transit home is uneventful.

July 43: Kuriles

Transit is uneventful

On July 10 S-20 dives to avoid a bomber.

On July 13 she spots the Boko Maru with escorts. She is detected while closing and half her fore torpedo tubes are taken out of action.

On July 17 she spots the Kenzui Maru (4200) with escorts. She closes and fires two torpedoes, which sink her. The escorts attack, knocking electric 1 out of action and seriously wounding one of the crew.

On July 20 she spots the Tsuneshima (2900) with escorts. She closes and fires two torps, one of which hits and sinks her. She suffers hull damage and loses her radio and the other two torpedo tubes before she escapes. Air compressor 2 fails the next day, forcing S-20 to return home at half speed.

During the transit home, the ice box and dive planes break down.

November 43: Kuriles

During transit, the dive planes fail and the boat springs an oil leak.

On November 15, she encounters the armed merchant Nagoya Maru alone. She fires four torpedoes, two of which hit and sink her. Later that day, the periscope fails.

On November 18, she dives to avoid air attack.

During transit, her ice box fails.

For his accomplishments, Lt. user is promoted to LCDR user.

January 44: Kuriles

During transit, diesel 1 fails but is repaired.

On January 10, S-20 dives to avoid aircraft.

On January 13, the batteries are damaged but repaired.

On January 17, the periscope fails.

On January 19, S-20 encounters the Jinzan Maru (5200) alone. She fires four torpedoes, all of which hit and sink her.

Transit home is uneventful. For his successes in combat, LCDR user is assigned to war bond drives.

That went rather well. S-20 is the Pride of the Northern Seas.

I'm playing a team based Naval game right now. Each person commands a ship. Pic related is our ability in visual form.

That sounds incredibly fun.

>S-20 is the Pride of the Northern Seas.
But S-Boats don't have caterpillar drives.

The One Giant Turret is hysterical.

Oh boy! RADM user and his sub squadron is back! Woo hoo!

Can't wait for my copy to arrive.

It is OOP and Amazon is high, but checks out the many FLGS which have web stores. I ordered a copy from The Citadel in Groton, CT for 74.99.

>>someone made rules for playing S-Boats in Silent Victory

Hey now, no need for S-boat hate. In Microprose's Silent Service II my S-boat was transiting between Java and Sumatra trying to make Australia after Manila fell and by some miracle SANK two IJN carriers!

It was one of those scary night surface encounters SS-II was so famous for. All of a sudden, I'm something like 800yds from two carriers and inside their DD screen. I fired all 4 forward tubes and crash dived. Apparently the shit torps of the period had a better if hitting at oblique angle so all four exploded and it was "Scratch two flattops" for the MoH.

Of course it was shit blind luck and an unforeseen glitch in the programming. I must have tried over 100 times to recreate that encounter all to no avail.

Who said anything about hating them? They're my favorite shitbotes.

Lols, I never noticed the Turret Pagoda!

It is actually pretty fun.

Currently our stupid asses are trying to sink a Revenge using:

A Greek Battleship with a jury rigged Radar
An early gen French Courbet Dread
A Rice-a-Roni Andy Dory
A Pensacola and two Bensons
A Takao and two shit russian destroyers.

Oh, and we are in rough seas. The enemy occupies the coast, and the coastal guns, which are shooting at us along with the enemy botes.

I really hate aircraft in naval games.

What ruleset?

Blame the retards that couldn't figure out that the Pearl Harbor was vulnerable against carrier based air raids even when basically all of their war games and exercises built around that scenario had ended with carriers doing a successful attack against Pearl Harbor and then fucking off before the defenders had time to react.

...

Truly, she has ascended to pagod-hood.

>To achieve true enlightenment, one must first climb the One Thousand and One Great Ship's Ladders, to gaze out amidst the heavens.

...

...

Which ship is that? It's very interesting.

Looks like an Omaha-class light cruiser.

Custom ruleset that our GM works with. Works great, handles Pre/Dread/WW2 all together. Even does aircraft in a way that makes sense, although we don't have a carrier, yet.

It's an Omaha. They're glorious pieces of junk, and I dearly love running them with Clemson/Wickes dds because it looks like mama goose being followed by a bunch of goslings.

For the time, the Omaha wasn't that bad of a ship.

Just ordered some 1/600 Flower Class Corvettes and a Hunt Class DE. I will get some E boats and U boat for them to scuffle with eventually.

Any decent rule sets for such small scale actions? I was looking at Coastal Command but I can't seem to find the rules.

Don't get me wrong, I like them. I just know that they were really uncomfortable ships that they had a very hard time keeping dry. Putting half the main battery in casemates was a weird compromise too. I appreciate them for their quirkiness and for them being the inspiration for pic related.

Wow, I don't know why I failed to recognize her. Especially considering the casemate guns below the bridge.

Thanks anons.

I think you can find CC thru the freewargamerules UK blog.

Avalon Hill did a U-Boat game, IIRC. Not sure how good it is, though.

And is this the Coastal Command you were looking for? Might have some difficulty fitting 1;600 in hexes. deepfriedhappymice.com/html/gw_coastal_command.html

Yeah but the main rules 404, I've got the expansions. I have no real idea what they're like.

I anyone knows a system where its more detailed but you control 1 or 2 smaller ships that would be what I'm after.

Oh ok, I didn't know it was hex based, i found some rather old forum links etc.

I guess it's Action Stations then. I'll probably have to cobble something together myself.

So I've got a selection of Italian, German and Austro-Hungarian ships put together for the narrative campaign system.

In total you've got a choice of 25 ships across the 3 nations. Gonna roll up a campaign and we'll see how it goes.

Here lads have a copy of Action Stations.

>inb4 watermarked

If any of your nerds could remove that it'd be grand, but I really don't care.

I can rip it off, but it will take me some time.

"Whatta Mistake-ah to make-ah": The Unfortunate Tale of Admiral Bertorelli and the Regia Marina's Carribbean Squadron

Home Station: The Carribbean Sea
>100,000 tonnes of enemy shipping operating in this area.

Flagship:
>Pugliese, a Regina Margherita-class Battleship
Attending Squadron:
>Bartolo Valentini, a Pisa-class Heavy Cruiser
>Bonifacio Amato, a Nino Bixio-class Light Cruiser
>Antonio Sultana, a Nino Bixio-class Light Cruiser
>Rossa Raneri, a Nino Bixio-class Light Cruiser
>Intrepido, a Indomito-class Destroyer

Squadron Logistics
>Supply Rating:3 (21 days before resupply.)

Mission 1: Reconaissance
Admiral Bertorelli's first outing of the war was a largely successful one. Sallying forth from his home base in British-controlled Dominica, he directed his squadron to shadow German warships moving from the neutral Caribbean out into the North Atlantic to menace British merchant shipping.

After some over-zealous maneuvering by his light cruisers, Bertorelli found himself committed in a close-range cruiser battle, occasionally punctuated by long-range exchanges of fire between the enemy flagships. After identifying all of the enemy squadron, at the cost of 2 cruisers and his only destroyer, Bertorelli headed back to Dominica to lick his wounds.

Mission Results:
>11,780 tonnes of enemy shipping sunk.
>Bonifacio Amato damaged: Out of Action for 3 days.
>Antonio Sultana damaged: Scratched Paintwork.
>Intrepido damaged: Out of Action for 10 days.

Campaign Event:
>Terrors from the Deep: Morale of the Bartolo Valentini reduced by 1.

Player Actions:
>Crew Rating of the Pugliese increased by 1 to 7.
>Intrepido's repair time reduced by 4 days.

Time advances by 4 days.
>88220 tonnes of enemy shipping operating in the Caribbean Sea.
>Bonifacio Amato back in action.
>Intrepido out of action for 2 days.

Mission 2: Mine Clearance
British merchantmen report the deployment of a large-scale mine barrage by German cruisers across the straits between the islands of Haiti and Puerto Rico. The nearest Royal Navy squadron is raiding German shipping in the South Atlantic, so it falls to Admiral Bertorelli to clear the minefield.

While Bertorelli's squadron picks its way through the minefield, they are set upon by the minelayers, with the Derfflinger-class battlecruiser at the head of the squadron.

With his cruisers trapped in the middle of a minefield, Bertorelli lead a valiant charge against the Derfflinger and attending heavy cruisers with the Bartolo Valentini close behind.

After a brutal close-range knife fight, the Germans were driven off and the minefield cleared, at great cost to Bertorelli's already understrength squadron.

Mission Results:
>19,380 tonnes of enemy shipping sunk.
>Pugliese damaged: Out of Action for 6 days.
>Bonifacio Amato damaged: Crew Effectiveness reduced by 1.
>Rossa Raneri routed: Morale reduced by 1.

Campaign Event:
>Rats!: Intrepido's supply rating reduced by 1.

Player Actions:
>Pugliese's repair time reduced by 6 days.
>Morale of the Rossa Raneri increased by 1.

Time Advances by 3 days.
>68,840 of enemy shipping operating in the area.
>Pugliese back in action.
>Intrepido back in action.
>14 days until resupply.

A few questions.

Do Bertorelli's battleships steam faster than his destroyers? Why doesn't Bertorelli have more destroyers? Without mine sweepers, how does Bertorelli clear the minefield?

...

>Without mine sweepers, how does Bertorelli clear the minefield?
Paravanes? Small boats and divers?

Not really wargames related, but this is the most relevant thread I could find between here, Veeky Forums, and /k/.
Is there some kind of resource I can use to estimate sea travel times? I'm in the planning phase of a game in which the PCs will be serving on a carrier towards the end of an alternate WW2 and I don't want to just say "Okay, it takes X weeks to get from here to there."

Distance to travel divided by boat's average cruising speed during the trip would probably the simplest way to do it.

There was a map,posted a few times that shows different periods of time say mid C19th to Mid C20th to current that showed the time it takes to reach places. There's a specific term for the type of map and I can't for the life of me remember the name.

Isochronic is the term. Here's a map for 1914

sea-distances.org

Even gives alternate routes. Tack on a couple days for refueling/taking on supplies, though.

Noice.

The French had the sexiest pre-dreadnought battleships.

(x2)

Mon nègre.

Sweet. Thanks.

...

...

That's Vancouver harbor, and Repulse, with Hood (not pictured) doing their round the world tour. You'd never recognize that identical shot today, Vancouver is insanely different.

Last round of combat for my group:
Repairs are hurriedly carried out aboard the Bandai and Beowolf, with pipes being secured and compartments sealed, restoring a limited amount of flotation to the vessels as their pumps work overtime.

The Oberon and Inflexible fire at each other, neither vessel landing hits as the minutes draw by. The secondaries on the Oberon do manage to hit the Southampton however, although only causing superficial damage. The Revenge's main guns continue firing on the Oberon, but her gunnery continues to be off, and one of her aft turrets stops firing for a few minutes, the result of a jam most likely. The secondary battery does not have the same luck, and begins scoring hits on the Merda as she crosses by parallel to the Revenge. The six inch shells strike the Pensacola and knock out one of the secondary mounts amidships, starting a fire as some ammunition goes up in flames. More six inch shells rain down on the Merda as the Southampton joins in with her battery of 12 guns, and the north/central shore battery hits as well, causing significant structural damage to the cruiser.

Tortora's group responds, striking the Southampton with heavier 8 inch fire, but not finding any critical locations. The remaining secondary guns and destroyers do manage to silence the western battery on the Island in the channel, working over the dug in position with over a hundred rounds. Within minutes the battery stops firing.

The Revenge is rocked by several hits as the Skolopendra manages to bracket it. A large explosion occurs on the starboard side as two shells destroy several casemated six inch guns and the Revenge's two 4 inch AA mounts. Shrapnel from the hits blows out the Revenge's searchlights as well. Another shell strikes the conning tower of the Revenge, but the heavy armour shrugs off the mighty blow.
1/2

Three torpedoes race past the Oberon, but there is not enough time to warn the Skolopendra. Half a minute later a plume of water explodes upwards alongside the Salamis class, as one of the fish strikes her on the broadside, causing minor flooding belowdecks.

In the north, the Beowolf's main battery straddles the Kent, causing significant structural damage to the vessel, and knocking out her port torpedo launcher. The resulting explosion blows out part of the upper decks of the cruiser, causing severe casualties among her available crew. The seocndaries also add to the damage as they race in. The Kent returns fire, but her secondary mounts fail to strike the Beowolf. The main eight inch guns do hit, with one shell bouncing off the armour on one of the secondary turrets on the battleship. Another torpedo explodes against the hull of the Beowolf, but other then light flooding, does no additional damage.

The destroyers in the north fire on each other, with the Birjit Kraft scoring hits, and the Lejon taking fire from the British group. The Kent shudders as two torpedoes hit her, and smoke pours from her engine room yet she remains afloat

---
Basically, we didn't have a great round, but we gave better then we got. Our mission objective is to sink the revenge.

For those wondering:
Skolopendra - Salamis BB /Cpt Klepp
Oberon - Courbet BB /Cpt Mackey
Beowolf - Doria BB /CptSemmes
Merda - Pensacola CA /CptTortora
Bandai - Takao CA /CptFukushima

The two CAs both have 2 DDs each accompanying them.

...

>I've been looking at some larger scale stuff for WWII. Somehwere around 1/600 or 1/700 for destroyer or corvette actions, maybe even 1/300 for Torpedo boats. Is this feasible?
IIRC there was a pact between all the Japanese model makers to reproduce every single IJN hull in 1/700th, so you should be good on that front.

They did that pact to piss of the British modelling companies, who worked in 1/600. Then there is Revell, who builds shit in 1/WhateverFitsInTheDamnBox.

Stop, my penis can only get so erect.

You think that's overcompensating?

The royal navy experimented with 16 inch single mounts... in the 1880s.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_16.25_inch_Mk_I_naval_gun

Excuse me, but - this chap here would like to have a word with you ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caio_Duilio-class_ironclad

>one shot per fifteen minutes

>17.7 inches

"The great weight, low rate of fire and short life of less than 75 rounds meant that the guns were less than successful and were in fact never fired in action."

Look who's talking.

I'm not defending it. I will however say that it was breach loading and 11 tons heavier. So take that sphagettifags.

Best part of it all:
In the Battleship stats there's a line saying:
"Armored: Yes."

You seem to know about this, can you tell us what timeframe we're talking about? Does it involve the naval station at Esquimalt at all?
Have a rare bote in exchange.

...

hmshood.com/history/empirecruise/index.htm

They visited Victoria just prior to Vnacouver. I'd have to dig into the archives to find out if they made it to Esquimalt, or if they were in Victoria harbor proper.

Here is a photo from the Esquimalt archives, with Hood and Repulse at anchor in Victoria. I don't recognize the docks (it was 1924) so that pier could be in Esquilmalt perhaps?

What system are you running this in?