Some Pre-Dreadnought Action with Steel Ships and Iron Hearts

 On Sunday October 10th, our local group got together at BlueSky Hobbies in Bremerton for some Pre-Dreadnought naval action using a set of Rules originally developed by the late Dick Larsen.

Between us all, we have quite a collection of pre-dreadnought ships, mainly Navis models or scratch built and haven't used them for some time. I was always partial to Perfidious Albion Naval rules because it was so easy to play but some didn't like making the ship diagrams and didn't like the damage rolls where many of the hits did nothing and seemed like saving throws which we despise.

So we dusted off the rules we played with Dick Larsen many years ago and cleaned them up a little and put them to the test. If you are interested in them, they are available in the files section on our Group web site here:https://groups.io/g/WestSoundWarriors

I was using two German Battleships, the Brandenburg and the Worth and was allied with Tom Condon who had two American battleships. Opposing us was Gary Williams with the French battleships Brennus and Jaureguiberry. With Gary was Kevin Walker with the Charlemagne and St. Louis.

 This picture is about half way through the battle. The Jaureguiberry has blown up and sunk with a lucky hit on it's magazine by the Bandenburg. The Worth was quickly reduced to 80% damage and is now dead in the water with a fire on it denoted by the red puff ball.

 

A closer view of the French ships. We didn't actually use the shell splash markers in the game. I set them out for the photos, but they do denote the armor rating of some shell hits they just received. In our rules the shell rating denotes their penetration value but the shell size is used to determine how much damage they do. I'm going to have to modify the shell splash marked to indicate both shell size and penetration value before we can use them properly.

 

A closer view of the American ships. The SMS Brandenburg is at the top.

 

I believe this is the Charlemagne taking  four hits from the Brandenburg but with an eight armor rating, they will all be non-penetraing hits. For an eleven inch shell that is 24 damage points each, but the Charlemagne has about 1110 points total. The Brandenburg will have to close to within 3000 yds (30" in game scale) to penetrate class eight armor.

The Brandenburg steaming to close the range.

 

There we go, a couple of penetrating hits on the Charlemagne. Unfortunately the Brandenburg was pummeled in the process and ended up with 80% damage and dead in the water. The battle ended in a "Draw" with only one functional ship left on each side. Although not as detailed as Perfidious Albion, the rules gave us a quick, easy to play nd fun game that seems to be very balanced.

Here is a copy of the Data Sheet I used to play the game. We'll tweak the rules a bit and next time it will be a Cruiser action. We're always looking for new players, so if you are interested join our groups.io and get notifications of all our upcoming games. BlueSky Hobbies is a great place to game and there's a Tavern located downstairs in the gaming area. What more could you ask for, beer, pizza and wargaming all in one place.

 ENFILADE 2021 Sharp Practice AAR

 Blow Up the Bridge X 2

 A scenario presented at the NHMGS Enfilde Convention on Sept. 4, 2021

 

 I put on two games at the NHMGS Enfilade Convention in Olympia, WA over Labor Day Weekend. Both were the same Scenario where the French are trying to capture two bridges to make a Flank Attack on the British. The British with some Spanish Allies have been sent with a small force to blow them up. Captain Sharpe with Sargent Harper and some Rifles are attached to the Spanish to help them along. The details of the Scenario setup are given below the AAR.

The French are tasked with capturing the Left Hand Bridge which is defended by the Spanish. A detachment from the 4th Polish Regt. in French Service has the Right side Bridge to capture which is defended by the British. Unfortunately in the 1st game some of the Poles wandered over to the Spanish held bridge and helped the French which resulted in a slightly skewed game. For this reason I will only report on the 2nd game where I was a bit more forceful in the French deployments.

To keep things moving I arranged the cards so that generally two played would activate at the same time, one from the British side and one from the french side, but on opposite sides of the table. So when a Spanish Leader activated so would one form the Polish side. When a British Leader activated, one from the French forces would also. There were a few cards that were individually activated like the Sapper Officers, but for the most part two players activated at the same time but on opposite sides of the table so one didn't interfere with the other. As you look at the pictures, you'll see the table if fairly divided length wise down the center of the table by terrain to facilitate this.

 

 In the opening moves the Spanish boldly move out getting the Guerillas to the bridge. The Spanish Explosives wagon really isn't on the table yet. On the other side the British are slow to move out, the Poles having used an MDP to get down the road quicker and prevent the British from getting the extra 6 inches for hidden deployment.

  

The French deployed early and didn't get the use of the MDP and took awhile to get into action.

      

Spanish Fusiliers going across the bridge. Sharpe and the 95th rifles to the left of them. The Spanish sappers and the explosives wagon are deployed. Spanish Guerillas move forward to meet the French. In background, the British Grenadiers have moved across the bridge and there is a Light Infantry skirmish Group supporting next to the bridge.

     

British Grenadiers bravely stand their ground as the Polish Column approaches.

   

Meanwhile the French are slowly trundling down the road. With four Command cards available the polish player brings in a troop of polish Lancers. Hard to see, but there are some Polish Voltigeurs in the woods next the column.

 

 

The Poles do a "Pas de Charge", but end up two inches short. British Column moves up and take fire from the Polish Skirmishers. Meanwhile the Spanish Fusiliers have formed Line awaiting the tardy French

 

French Skirmishers finally get into action as the column moves up.

 

One of the French Skirmishers had his head blown off and I had to get the Super Glue out. (actually I fumbled the figures trying to help the French player move them)

 

The Poles attack again, but the Brits have already moved the column up to support. The odds are fairly even, but the Poles win. Unfortunately Level III Captain Studzinski of the Poles and Level II Lt. Rod Stiffington of the British Grenadiers are both killed in the fisticuffs.

 

The outcome of the melee resulted in the British Grenadiers being wiped out and the Column being pushed back. Lt. Butinski of the Polish Grenadier Group takes over command of the Polish Column.

 

The British Line attacks the Poles and force them back, but both units have taken a bit of Shock.

 

British Explosives wagon is slowly making its way to the bridge.

  

French Line is still not in the fight, but the French Skirmishers have done some damage to the Spanish.

 

The British Line nearly wipes out the Polish Column with musket Fire, but the Polish Lancers charge in and drive the British back to the Bridge. The British Wagon finally makes it to the bridge and begins to set the explosives.

  

Meanwhile the Spanish Sappers have fully set their charges and are ready to light the fuse.

  

French Line has finally entered the fight and starts to put casualties on the Spanish Line and the Guerillas, but it is too late.

  

We had to call the game at this point as the Game Period was ending, but it looked like both bridges had a good chance of being destroyed. The Poles had very little to fight with on their side and all the Spanish had to do was retreat across the bridge before it blew. However, the British Force Morale had been reduced to zero while the French were at Force Morale of 2. So technically a French Victory, but hard fought on both sides.

 A close game with a lot of action involved especially on the Polish-British side. I was pleased with how the double activation worked as it kept all players engaged in the game. The French player seemed to be plagued by a lot of low movement rolls as it took him forever to get his main force involved. On the other side of the table to British Force Commander who activated at the same time as the French Force Commander seemed to be able to do quite a lot. He was able to move up to support his Grenadiers and drive the Poles back. He had less distance to cover however, and I think he deployed on three Command Cards earlier in the game than the French Commander did.

 Here is the Scenario Map. I changed a few things for the actual game. The terrain is slightly different and the French Entry point is in the middle rather than off to one side. This was done so that the British and Spanish Deployment points would be hidden and so give them an extra 6 inches of deployment distance. The map is from Tabletop Simulator Mod where I tested this several times in preparation for Enfilade.

Following is the Scenario setup

Some where in Spain in 1810. The French are attempting a flank attack on the British, but to do so they most hold the only two bridges across a river that bars their way. A small force of Polish and French is sent to capture the bridges before the main French attack column arrives. The Poles are assigned the bridge on the right and the French the other.

Meanwhile a combined British and Spanish force has been sent to blow up the bridges before the French arrive. As the quality of the Spanish is doubtful, Lieutenant Sharpe has been assigned the aid the Spanish along with a Group of Riflemen including Sharpe’s trusted sidekick Sergeant Harper. The British are tasked with the left side bridge and the Spanish must blow up the one on the right flank. Both must send their infantry across the bridges to allow the sappers time to set the charges and then recall their forces back before lighting the fuses.

 British and Spanish each roll 2D6 and place their DP that far along from their starting point at the Eastern edge of the table.(i.e. from where the DP markers start).

 They then deploy from their Deployment Points according to normal rules.

French enter from their Deployment Point on the road normally on the first turn however they have a MDP which must first be used by any of the Skirmish Units that have the MDP Characteristic. It is placed and used as per the standard MDP rules.

As he has been tasked to assist them, Lieutenant Sharpe can try to activate the Spanish Units, but they will not always follow his orders. Each time he tries to activate one of them, roll a D6. On a 4 through 6 they will follow his command. On a 1 through 3, they will ignore him. Sharpe looses one initiative that turn for each time he fails to activate them. 

For the Enfilade game, I added a Group of Polish Lancers that the Polish player could bring on by playing four Command cards. They arrive on the road at the Primary French Deployment Point.

The Sappers may do a Task roll with 2D6 once the Wagon has reached the center of the Bridge. Once the total reaches 12 the charges are set. Then the fuse must be laid taking one Action per 3 inches of fuse. Only one Sapper at a time can lay the fuse. It takes one action to light the fuse. 

Once lit, the fuse will burn for one turn for each three inches of fuse, blowing up the bridge when the last turn's Tiffin turns up. Any figure within 3 inches is Dead. Any beyond that but still within 12 inches rolls for being hit as if in the open with a plus 3 modifier and any Shock is Doubled. For every three inches from the 3 inch Dead zone, reduce the modifier by 1.

 

Here are the Forces involved with the Leader Cards so you can see how the Leaders are paired so One French and one British are activated with each Card. The only ones that activate by themselves are the Sapper Officers. A lot of times they end up being activated by the Force Commander, either British or Spanish or by Sharpe. At some point I'll add the Unit Characteristics, but players of Sharp Practice should be able to figure that out on their own.

Constructive comments always appreciated. I hope you found this AAR interesting.