From: Terry Rooker Subject: Great War at Sea Replay Fellow consimmer Dave Townsend and I just completed a game of GWaS PBeM. The following are some comments about the game. The following file is Dave's comments with mine inserted. We played Eastern Scenario 3. Dave got the Central powers and I got the Allies (only Russia in this case). ========================== SETUP The victory conditions of this scenario lead me to believe that unloading transports and bombarding the Caucasus are the way to victory. But after looking further at the map, the twenty turn time limit is (just) enough time to get to the transport's destination (Trabzon), but not enough time to unload! So I think the Central Powers can't win unless you tack on another half dozen or so turns. [TR- I agree with Dave on this one. This scenario is too short. The Central Power player has just enough time to get the transports to their destination and no more. ] So my strategy is just to have some fun and try to sink some ships. I set up in three fleets: 1. The two merchants (Transport). They will make the run as if going to Trabzon. Assuming his destroyers will make a beeline for the transports, they will go to O59 and then circle back to the safety of Constantinople. 2. Medjidieh (Raid, w/leader Souchon). This ship will be hidden at first opportunity. Hopefully it will cause the Russians some worry. I may try to bombard the Caucasus, just for a few VPs. 3. Goeben and the gunboats (Intercept). Looking for a small, isolated Russian force to pounce on. [TR- I also set up in three fleets: 1- Two Russian pre-dreadnoughts, Rostislav and Panteleimon, will head for the closest Turkish shoreline due south of Sebastopol, assigned a bombardment mission. 2- Three Russian pre-dreadnoughts, Evstafi, Ioann Zlatoust, and Tri Svititelia, assigned to an intercept mission. 3- Four Russian destroyers assigned to a raid mission. My intentions were to rush all three fleets due south to start the bombardment and to get in the way of the transport mission. Which apparently worked, since he immediately turned the transports around. Only I found out afterwards that he aborted them because of the flawed victory conditions. ] Perhaps the more powerful Goeben force should have been the hidden raider, but then again maybe the Russians will assume that that visible, slow-moving, just couldn't contain the Goeben.... [TR- At first I wondered about the one fleet left out. Despite it's slow movement I assumed it had to have the Goeben otherwise it made no sense. ] Terry's also set up in three fleets, which I found a bit surprising. Those fast, torpedo-laden destroyers worry me a lot more than than the battleships. I wonder if he's got three more-or-less even battlegroups (1-2 BB, 1-2 DD)? [TR- My whole plan revolved around those torpedo laden destroyers! With three torpedo attacks each I figured an average of 3 hull hits per destroyer and the Goeben had 12 hull points. Although I figured at least one destroyer would get toasted on the way in. The Allies got to pick the turn that the game started. Since it was winter there was 3 day turns followed by three night turns. I picked turn 4 since that maximized the number of night turns in the 20 turn game. There was better than 50% chance of not having contact contact during the three night turns, but I needed the surprise to get the DDs close enough. Contact at night was only possible on a natural '6' which also was a surprise result. ] TURN 1 No Allied fleet moves two spaces. Since we're not playing with the fuel rules, it's a bit of evidence that maybe no fleet is entirely destroyers. [TR- I was doing that intentionally to cover my tracks. After the fleets made it to the Turkish shore, I removed the raid mission from the map and sent it cruising around at two zones per turn to make sure the Goeben didn't slip through. I split on Turn 6. The problem then was bait for the Goeben. I left the two bombardment ships alone to attract the Goeben. I sent the intercept mission heading to the west in case the Goeben tried to slip away. ] TURN 10 He's finally split up. Now to try to isolate one of the fleets with my Goeben group. [TR- He took my bait! Now I just need to make contact with the the destroyers before he gets to the old ship bombarding Turkey. Just to be safe I abort the bombardment mission so they can be moving away before the Goeben can reach them. Fortunately, the Goeben must have Turkish ships with him since he isn't cruising around at two zones per turn. ] TURN 14 Goeben finally runs into a squadron, but it's the four DDs and they surprise Goeben! Worse, it's night, so now the DDs set up one hex away! Predictably, the gunboats are sunk immediately, and Goeben barely survives, dead in the water. Taking down three of the four DDs is no consolation, as the game is over if the Russian BBs can sink Goeben. [TR- At least that part of the plan worked. I just couldn't get the intercept mission back in time to support the destroyers. If I could have, then the Goeben wouldn't have wasted time firing at the destoryers after they had done their damage. ] TURN 18 Russian lookouts prove eagle-eyed again, as they again find Goeben. Tri Svititelia takes a few miscellaneous hits, but three Russian B's put Goeben away, giving the Allies the victory. WRAPUP Terry played it just right. I made a few mistakes: * Risking Goeben. But the scenario would have been no fun at all if I didn't. * Breaking up the ships. The CL alone in a task force made no sense (which I didn't realize until after I'd set up but before I wrote down orders -- that's what I get for being in a hurry to play!). * Given the Task Force arrangement, I should have had the CL task force (which was raiding) disappear [raiding TFs may be removed from the map. This might have at least sown some confusion over which group contained Goeben. * Not rolling hot enough dice. :-) [TR- I didn't play it just right:-( I should have hidden the raiging destroyers earlier. Then they could have moved two zones per turn without giving themselves away. That way I could have surprised him by attacking the Goeban from the West, or even sinking the transports on the way back. I also mishandled the intercept mission. I needed those battleships to cover the destroyers. ] I still don't see how the Central Powers guys can win, though. [TR- I agree. ] [TR- One last comment about GWaS. The nature of the movement system makes it very suitable for PBeM. You plot movement for two turns or more in advance. So by the time you 'see' your opponent's move you are already committed. The tactical impulse system is a little detailed but there are relatively few battles so it doesn't cause a big problem ]