Channel Dash

So I played a monster game yesterday! The forces were thus. The Germans had all the usual suspects, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Prinz Eugen, 2 5.9 Zs, 4 5” Zs, 9 Type 35 TBs, and 5 type 24 TBs, 26 Sboats, with 12 flights of 109s, 15 190s, and 5 of 110s. The British were sporting Belfast, Cardiff, Manxman, Welshman, 2 scott class leaders, 4 VW class in various guises, no less than up to 22 Hunt type I and IIs, 8 MTBs, 5 medium bombers with torps, 22 other random medium bombers, 1 swordfish, 10 heavy bombers, 4 hurricanes, 28 spits, 2 whirlwinds!, and not to forget the South Foreland Battery of 4 9.2” guns. Needless to say with such forces involved after 7 hours of playing we had only done 5 turns.
The stage was set with rough weather conditions. The Germans would start with the core force of the BCs CA and DDs with a CAP of 5 110s. Each turn for the first three turns a group of TBs and Sboats were allotted to be available for additional cover as close cover. The German player was allowed to allocate each turn how many additional fighters from his “force pool” he would attempt to bring on as additional CAP, again a close cover roll. The British had to roll to see how many Hunts were available, 7D3+1. This time they had 17, split between the Portsmouth and Plymouth flotillas and those based in Sheerness. All of the British force had to roll to enter their perspective entry areas as distant cover to simulate the lack of command and control. The South Foreland Battery was placed opposite a minefield so that they just had enough range to engage any large German ship, providing it got the Radar Fire Control Timed action. 4 separate dmg 1 pwr 10 rolls.
A quick synopsis of the game. Turn 1. The British were able to get about 60% of their aircraft in the air in the first turn, with the RN lagging way behind with only 2 squadrons of Hunts showing up! The Germans steamed on receiving the first group of TBs and some additional fighters. Turn 2. The Germans increase their CAP again, receive 2 groups of Sboats and the next group of TBs. Slowly the RN realizes what is going on and more destroyers and one of the MTB flotillas sets out. Not that much action the Royal Air Force is grouping it’s flights for the on coming attack on the German ships. Turn 3. The RN still have not managed to get their cruiser squadron ready for action, but most of the remainder of the surface forces were out of port. The RAFs remaining aircraft are still grounded. A few more German fighters show up for the up coming air battle over the Kriegsmarine. The Prinz Eugen decides to engage some Hunts that have strayed into range with all her guns, prompting the RAF to attack. In all the attacks made against the German ships the CAP causes minimal losses but thanks to Anti Air Barrage Fire the losses to the RAF these attacks cause minimal damage. A brief exchange of fire is exchanged between the German TBs and the Hunts. Turn 4. The turn to end all turns. Still no RN Cruisers…. The next wave of RAF planes brave the AA and CAP Gneisenau take multiple hits is on fire and has some flooding, Scharnhorst is leading a charmed life and is undamaged, Prinz Eugen has decided that any French port looks like a good idea! The South Foreland Battery opens up and gets a hit on the Eugen, adding to her misery. The Gneisenau again bears the brunt of the RAF attacks and one of the escorting 5” Zs is lost. The British MTBs realizing they cannot get close to their main target launch their torpedoes at a group of escorting TBs, resulting in 4 hits, seriously damaging 3. The first group of 5 Hunts, is reduced to 3. Turn 5. The RN Cruisers finally realize something is up and need to investigate. The last “few” RAF planes are still grounded due to bad weather. The German Sboats surge forwards and launch their loads at a group of Hunts and the VW DDs, sinking one of the Hunts. That was about it. The British lost 3 Hunts and a lot of planes, 100+. What did they accomplish, well the Germans had lost one 5” Z, 3 TBs and 3 Sboats and some fighters. But the Prinz Eugen was in a very bad way and would have to head towards the nearest French port for repairs, the Gneisenau was pretty beaten up too, Scharnhost was untouched….. So a marginal win for the British.
The only question to arise was under Elusive Prey, who decides what flights to break off?

Awesome game! Lots of small guys and that's an immense amount of aircraft.

Elusive prey allows the Kriegsmarine player to choose which planes to break off.

So the rematch played much better for the Germans! I lost a lot of Sboats, but they're not important right? I was able to limit the damage to only Scharnhorst, and even that was only 50% of her non cripple hull boxes. The Brits did come out of much worse. The main reason for this was the fact that the Belfast, Cardiff, Manxman & Welshman squadron arrived on the first or second turn and drew the immediate attention of the German battlecruisers. After a couple of turns of intermittent firing they pulverized the poor Belfast. The British air attacks were, apart from the damage to Scharnhorst, ineffective to say the least. The Brits also lost about 5 Hunts, 3 to gun fire the remainder to torpedo attacks from the mauled Sboat squadrons and even the 2 5.9 Zs threw there's out there for the fun of it. The main reason I think for the Bristish to be less effective was the fact that I put both battlecruisers and cruiser in one squadron allowing for better overlapping fields of fire.

A couple of things did come up.
There was an instance where a squadron of 2 German DDs were obligated to move in the remaining actions phase. Right in front of them was a group of British MTBs. There was no room for the DDs to move through the MTB squadron and maintain the usual minimum distance. If they were to turn either port or starboard they were then also blocked by other squadrons. So what would you suggest in such an instance? Apart from don't let this happen!
My opponent wanted to launch an air attack. He was within 20cms of a target, fine, but he then wanted to attack another target 10cms away, further than 20cms from his start point. I though in earlier copies of the rules it stated that all targets had to be within the 20cms?
One thought we had was to limit AA fire against Heavy Bombers (High Altitude attacks) to DP weapons only?
I know you don't have anything in the rules, apart from the command card for the Soviets regarding minefields. I know there are only one or 2 instances where there played apart, other than forcing movement, which is why I thought you had left them out from the main rules, but would a good rule, if a ship goes through a minefield to make 1 roll to hit with the same damage and power as the Soviet card?

Not sure what is going to be played this weekend, but will let you know if anything comes up. Also loving the command cards.

Hello Andrew,

In answer to your questions
1. I could imagine that the MTB's would be nudged to make room for the DD's. The small craft seem to be so nimble that causing a collision would be a bit weird, especially because a MTB would probably just be sailed over and be destroyed without slowing the DD?
2. Air attacks have a range of 20cm, you can add targets within 10cm of the original target but the 20cm range still stands. So no, they cant use the 10cm rule to extend their attack range.
3. I think the high altitude of Heavy bombers is accounted for in their increased dodge rating? If not, limiting AA to DP weapons might actually be a good idea.
4. The soviet and italian command station orders suppose that you actually hit a mine. If you include minefields on the table I would imagine that you would first have to check if you actually hit a mine. It is always possible to have cleared the field without hitting one. I suppose hit rating based on the normal hit rating would apply, maybe with a +1 modifier? So large ships hit on a 3+, medium on 4+ and small on 5+. After a hit you can use the same rules as the command card. Test each turn the ship moves in the minefield.

In response...
1. I think this is a good resolution. My scenario was particularly likely to end up with a lot of ships in close proximity. The ability to "push" small craft aside the minimum distance required, keeping their heading seems good.
2. I thought this was right and could have sworn this was in the rules already.
3. The reason this came up was because I felt that to counter their slim chance of hitting would make them a little harder to get rid of. So I think that them only being allowed to be targeted by DP only would be good. Plus they are not used that often.
4. That is kinda what I did. I know the use of minefields is pretty limited. I like your idea.