What follows has been cross-posted to the Consimworld folder, where Ty Bomba (the designer) hangs out so if you are interested in any reply he might have, please join us there. I am, of course, interested in your comments and always trying to post something on-topic on boardwargaming@yahoogroups.com and Consim-l@mailman.halisp.net, so I hope you will find this interesting.... (BTW, Nine Navies is a new game of hypothtical WWI strategic naval war, using essentially the same system as the old AH War at Sea. Just published by Decision Games.) Nine Navies War First Impressions Got my copy of Decision Games new Nine Navies War this weekend. What follows is not a review, just first impressions formed as I set up for my first game. I liked the cover art, attractive and evocative of the period. Same for the illustration on the rulebook cover, sadly neither are credited that I can see. The map is immediately attractive and the very large boxes to indicate each port appear to solve two major problems with the predecessor “War at Sea”. In 9N there is enough room for each port to hold the ships and it is clear which ports border which sea areas. Well done! A few nits do leap out at me however. The turn track must hold a large number of reinforcements and it could be bigger. Space would be available if each side did not have it’s own Victory Point chart, there is really no reason they couldn’t share one. The sequence of play is not listed on the map, but the disposition of the French Navy is. Considering that the French disposition is a once per game event, it would seem to make more sense to put the sequence of play on the map. There is a random events table on the map, with rules sections referenced (e.g., Misc. Ship Losses 6.1). In all but one case, these rule references are miss-numbered compared to the rulebook, the map always being point one behind the rules. The same table makes reference to “Canadian Colonies (6.7) “ which are not referred to in any rule. (Almost undoubtedly this is supposed to be Central Powers colonies). Finally, why not indicate on the map the die roll required for the random event? The Alexandria/Suez port is shown as a box with a NW to SE ( \ ) slash. This is unfortunate in that the label has a NE to SW ( /) slash, which would also correspond to the geography better. Do you put the Suez based ships in the upper box (which is the most northern) or the lower box (which is the most western)? Either choice is awkward and could have been avoided by running the diagonal NE to SW like the label, which would make the lower box both southern and eastern most, better corresponding to the relative position of Suez. The counters are very nice, clearly conveying the appropriate information. I especially liked the inclusion of nationality abbreviations so you don’t have to rely on color coding to tell which ships belong to who. I was struck by how clean the die-cutting was, the counters separated very nicely. I do question the mix. There does not seem to be enough control markers. When I first set it up I had one more marker than sea zone, which seemed like a nice touch, but when I realized I would want control markers for the various ports which might fall to ground assault, potentially five of them, I realized I’m actually likely to come up short. Part of that might be explained by the fact that the rules (11.15) refer to “Fight or Break-Off” chits as being part of the half inch counter sheet when in fact they were included in the five eighths sheet, possibly at the expense of some control markers. The rules seem somewhat disconnected from the other components. In addition to the discrepancies noted above in the case numbering and which size counters are used for “Fight or Break-Off” there are other differences. The components list shows 1 die (mine had six) and no baggies (mine had 4). The dice, by the way, are very high quality!. So, no objections to getting more, but….The rules also repeatedly refer to the turn of reinforcement being printed on the right side of the counters (its really at the top). Rule 9.3 refers to rule 9.6, which does not exist, the correct number being 9.5. So, I detect a certain lack of coordination in the production process. The rulebook was obviously written before the final counter design was settled on and never updated. Likewise the discrepancies between the case numbering of the rules and that on the map. These are minor things, but they do leap out at one, so I suspect the game was never play-tested with a mock-up of the PRODUCTION components. I emphasize that last bit because I know the game was well tested, I’ve enjoyed reading the write-ups of the test sessions. But there is no way play-testers could miss having the wrong sized counters, or running out of control markers. Most of my criticisms of the map can be dismissed as personal preference I suppose, but “Canadian Colonies”? How could play-testers miss that one, unless they never saw the production map? Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited about this game and looking forward to my first playing. And overall I am impressed with the components. But if I see this many issues just in setting it up and reading through the rules once, well that does not speak well for the production process. I'm playing (solo) the new Decison Games "Nine Navies War". It's a hypothetical WWI in which the western front does not stalemate so both Central Powers and Allies put all their efforts into a naval war to control the sea around Europe. Basically an execuse to have a big battleship brawl that didn't happen historicaly. The system is the old Avalon Hill War at Sea, with a few changes that I like. It's still a very simple game, but much larger, so it plays slower. I'll write a review later, for now I thought you might enjoy the AAR, which I'll post turn by turn. 1915 – I The Allies are not too sure about how to deploy, but end up with most of the biggest ships in England and a force at Alexandria judged large enough to handle the Turks. Other forces are allocated to Malta and Gibraltar. The British wonder about the wisdom of basing any ships in Algiers (which only borders one sea area) or Azores (which seems remote) until they remember the random base activation and then it seems to make sense to divide up the smaller ships a bit in the hopes of getting late mover advantage. The Germans set up exclusively in Germany since I like the Zucker optional rule that they must fight their way into Cherbourg. The French fleet at Toulon suffers heavily in the German ground assault, with probably 2/3rds of the ships damaged, and four sunk outright. The remainder split pretty evenly between Central Powers and Allies, the later fleeing to Algiers. Most of the biggest ships (attack factor 5) end up with the CP. Then disaster! The random ship loss mechanism that starts every turn decrees the Allies lose a ship, and it must be one with an attack factor of 6! The only ship that fits the bill is the Queen Elizabeth, which apparently was built using an experimental steel that (who knew?) is not salt water resistant and she simply dissolved at her mooring before ever firing a shot…. Infernal bad luck! I won’t try to give you every base activation in sequence, but there were some interesting situations. The Italians deployed early, to the Central Med., then the Turks deployed to the Black sea. That meant the British in Alexandria could hold the eastern Med. with no threat except from the Greeks, so the British briefly toyed with the idea of forcing the Sea of Marmara and following the Turks into the Black sea. If successful, they might well wipe out the Turks and guarantee the Black sea to the Allies for the duration. But they are likely to lose 1/3 of their ships in the passage through the narrows, and it seems premature to risk the fleet for the 1 VP of the Black Sea. Besides which , they hope the Southern Russian fleet can handle the Turks on their own. The Germans come out into the North Sea in force, diverting only a handful of ships into the Baltic. Since all sea zones are controlled by the Allies at the onset, they cannot attempt to make 2 sea zone moves into the North or Central Atlantic. The British decline to risk an all or nothing battle so early, and concede the North Sea but content themselves with grabbing the Atlantic. Of course, this means the Germans will be able to sail into Cherbourg unmolested, but the British hope the Germans will divide their fleet into both North Sea and North Atlantic in future turns, thus perhaps creating the opportunity to defeat them in detail. When the Italians divide their fleet between Western Med. (joining the new German ships in Toulon) and Central Med. (joining the Austro-Hungarians) the British send all ships from Gibraltar, Algiers and Malta to the Western Med., ceding the Central Med. for the moment. During the combat phase, the Southern Russian fleet does defeat the Turks and gains control of the Black Sea, sending the only two surviving Turkish vessels home. The big battle in the western Med. goes decisively in favor of the Allies as the British and Free French badly outnumber the Italian, Franco-German and Spanish fleets. The Spanish fleet is in fact completely wiped out. Most of the British survivors go to Malta, in anticipation of needing to regain the Central Med. next turn, but the British are also somewhat concerned they have overcommitted to the Med. so the faster (speed 7) ships go into Gibraltar in anticipation of joining the battle of the Atlantic. Finally, the Russian Northern fleet claims the Baltic in a close fought battle against an almost equal strength German contingent. In fact, this is the only battle where both sides decided to continue into a second round before the Germans broke off. The Germans send a small portion of their fleet from the North Sea back to Germany, hoping it is sufficient to defeat the Russians, but the vast bulk of the ships goes into Cherbourg to contest the Atlantic next turn. The turn ends with Allies ahead on victory points, 19 to 9. 1915 – II Each side picks up a few reinforcements, and each side loses a ship to the random events table. The Ground war sees no progress so we go to the base activation’s. The very first base drawn is Great Britain, but the Allies invoke the Room 40 rule and return it to the cup. The next real decision point comes for the Allies when they draw Alexandria/Suez. Since the Central Med. is currently C.P. controlled the Italians, even the A.H. could decide to contest the Eastern Med. But the Allies really want to win the Central Med. this turn so they send a handful of ships into the Eastern Med., sufficient to defeat a combined Greek and Turkish attack they hope, but too few to provide an attractive target for the Italians and Austro-Hungarians. The bulk of the Alexandria fleet goes to the Central Med., where they are ultimately joined by ships from Malta and even Gibraltar as the C.P. does decide to make their big push in the Central Med. When Gibraltar was drawn they sent one ship to the South Atlantic for the gimme points, and then debated about going into the Central Atlantic. The problem was the huge German fleet in Cherbourg, which could easily crush the Gibraltar force. So, rather than risk defeat in detail, the Gibraltar ships went into the North Atlantic where they could more easily be reinforced from Britain if necessary. Germany was activated next and they sent most of the ships in the Baltic, with a handful going into the North Sea, using similar logic to that of the British (i.e. easily reinforced from Cherbourg if necessary). Then we got to the heavy weights. Britain was drawn first and rapidly concluded they could not risk splitting the force, so they moved everyone into the North Atlantic and conceded the North Sea. Then Cherbourg was drawn and while the C.P. was tempted to sail everybody into the North Atlantic for a climatic battle, prudence dictated accepting the North Sea and dispatching only one ship (just to be insulting, a 1-1-2) into the Central Atlantic for easy points. The remainder of the fleet stayed home. (You can see the importance of the base activation sequence, a significant improvement over War at Sea. Being forced to activate first puts you at a disadvantage, going last lets you better judge the force necessary to win in a given sea and “pick your battles”. Of course, with 19 bases, either player might be “first” or “second” in any corner of the map, and the possibility of ships moving two sea zones makes it even more complex. ) In the ensuing battle for the Central Med., the C.P. combined fleet sinks 8 British ships in the first round, against 4 of their own. The British decide to withdraw in two groups, one speed 5 and better, the other speed 4. Since the Austro-Hungarian ships are rather slow, the C.P. fleet decides against pursuing the faster British ships and concentrates on the slower group. The C.P. suddenly start rolling a lot of 5’s, which send the smaller British ships home safely. The British concentrate all their fire on the two Italian battleships in the pursuit, sinking one. After the first round of pursuit there is only 1 British ship left, and it has damage equal to its defense rating. The C.P. break off pursuit with their remaining big ships (to avoid a lucky shot) and let their remaining 10 small A.H. ships finish him off without incident. In the Baltic, both sides miss opportunities to sink ships, letting their opposites slink back to port, albeit with some damage. The Germans control the sea, but are disappointed at how many Russian ships still survive. The turn ends with Allies ahead on victory points, 33 to 20, for a slight extension of their lead. And here you go John, turn 3: 1915 – III On turn three the Central Powers manage to avoid losing a ship to miscellaneous causes (the Allies lose a strength 4) but before the celebration gets underway comes news that the C.P colonies in Africa have surrendered. Not only does this give the Allies 9 victory points (sum of two dice) but it essentially bars the C.P from contesting the Red Sea or South Atlantic, as they no longer have bases bordering on either sea area. Ships from Cherbourg could sail to the South Atlantic, but they would be automatically sunk at the end of the turn when they had no base to go to. The base activation sees Britain drawn very early again, and again, the Allies invoke the Room 40 rule and return the chit to the cup. Malta goes first in the Med. and the Allies decide to commit to the Western portion, hoping the A.H. fleet won’t be able to join that fight. Greece and Turkey sent their few ships, plus a single FG ship that had repaired in Greece, into the eastern Med. Even this small force is enough to intimidate the British in Alexandria, who stay in port. The remaining FG ships in Toulon and the Italians move into the Western Med. Then Cherbourg activates and the C.P. decide to try and isolate Britain, splitting the force to enter both the North Atlantic and North Sea, with a small force going into the Central Atlantic. When the home German ports activate, they send everyone into the North Sea and cede the Baltic to the Russians for this turn. Finally, Britain (funny how it ended up almost at the last after invoking Room 40) decides to send everybody into the North Atlantic. The big battle for the North Atlantic is quite bloody. The Germans have 23 ships, 10 of which with attack factors 4 and above. The British 39 ships, 16 with attack factors 4 and above. In the first round, 5 German ships are sunk outright, while the British lose 9, including Malaya (6-7-6), the best ship in the fleet. The British also send 4 damaged ships back to port, while the Germans see 11 ships drop out of the fight after the first round, some heavily damaged. The Germans decide to withdrawn before a second round of combat. They form two groups, Rheinland (damaged) and Aegir, moving at speed 1 and 4 undamaged 1-3-4 ships moving at speed 4. The British keep their remaining battleships, and especially the useful 3-2-7’s out of the pursuit, content to let swarms of smaller ships take that duty. During the pursuit, 4 more of the German ships are sunk, vs. no losses for the British (the Germans having lost their first round Target Acquisition and Fire Control bonus). In a more evenly matched battle for the Western med., 15 Italian and Franco-German ships take on 19 British and Free French. In the first round, both sides lose 5 ships sunk and 5 more each. forced to return to port. With 5 ships left for the C.P. vs. 9 for the Allies both sides want to continue into a second round, the C.P. player counting on his Italian BBs which are superior to any other ship still in the fight. And indeed, the second round sees 3 British ships sunk and 2 more driven into port for the cost of just one of those Italian battleships. This leaves just four ships per side, and C.P. ships are stronger, but the Allies want to stay and fight, they are hoping the Italians won’t risk their BB to a lucky shot, but the C.P. want to control this area, so we go to a third round. The C.P sees 2 ships returned to port, 1 for the Allies. In the fourth round, one Allied ship is sunk, leaving each side with 2 ships, but the Italian BB takes 3 points of damage. In the final, fifth round, both remaining Allied ships are sunk, and the Dante Alighieri is tagged with it’s 4th damage point, but remains afloat to win the area and return to port. The Allies still lead, 52 to 41 1916 - I Both sides lose another ship to miscellaneous reasons, but no other random events occur. The ground war appears to be somewhat stalemated. And at sea, both sides are becoming exhausted. The Central Powers manage sufficient force in the central and eastern Med. that the Allies don’t even contest them, being content to claim the points for the Black and Red sea, as well as the South Atlantic. The Germans decide to send most of the damaged ships in Cherbourg/Brest to Germany, which has twice the repair capacity. To do this, they sail the damaged ships into the North Sea and send out escorts from Germany. There is some debate on the need to send the undamaged ships from Cherbourg also into the North Sea, where they would have such a concentration that British interference would be unlikely, but the Germans prefer to use those ships for the North Atlantic (mostly) and a few into the Central Atlantic. The British see this as a mistake, and send the whole home fleet into the North Sea. One of the German advantages in this game is that many of their larger ships can take 7 or 8 points of damage, meaning an opportunity to attack those ships when they already have 4 or 5 points is hard to pas up, a single hit could send them to the bottom. And, in the combat round, that is exactly what happens. The British finish off 4 of the damaged German ships, and sink two more undamaged ones for good measure. But then the Germans get to fire! And even though those damaged ships forfeit their first round targeting advantage, they still have their full attack strength. The Germans sink almost as many of the British ships as they have lost, but do lose control of the North Sea. In the Western Med., the Allies defeat a mixed group of Franco-Germans and Italians, then sail back to Malta to contest the Central Med. next turn. But this is the only good news for the Allies, the Central Powers have gained control of the majority of the sea areas and close the victory point gap. Turn four ends with the Allies barely ahead, 63 to 61. 1916 – II Each side loses a ship, including a strength 3 for the C.P., which is somewhat agonizing. The only actual strength 3 ship available is Von Der Tann, which has a speed of 7. It’s really hard to give up a fast ship, but even harder to sacrifice one of the remaining strength 4 ships…. No other random events occur. North Russia is the first port drawn, which illustrates one of the key player decisions in this game. The Russian Northern fleet is down to 2 ships. If they sail this turn, it will be easy for the Germans to put enough strength into the Baltic to probably eliminate them. But if they don’t sail, the Germans can claim the Baltic VPs by sailing just one ship, and there is no guarantee that they ground offensive won’t close the Russian ports next turn. So the Russians elect to sail, but it is hardly an automatic decision. Britain is drawn next, and again invokes Room 40. (This game would be going very differently without that rule!). Next is Alexandria. With most of the A.H. fleet split between Greece and Turkey, and very few ships left for either side in the Western Med. the British decide to contest the Central Med. When Germany is drawn the C.P. moves 5 ships into the Baltic, everybody else into the North Sea. Cherbourg sends one ship to claim the Central Atlantic (with the North Atlantic in C.P. control from last turn and Gibraltar already sailed, it only takes one ship). The British can, and do, claim the North Atlantic with one ship, then hesitate before sending the whole fleet into the North Sea. It will be a close fight, but the British reason that the Germans will be even stronger in future turns when they are not diverting part of their fleet to the Baltic and when the four damaged ships in German ports are repaired, so strike now! The battle for the North Sea lasts 8 rounds, with both sides taking horrific casualties. Approximately a dozen ships are sunk for both sides, and perhaps half that number driven into port. It finally comes down to one ship for each side, a 2-3-3 for the British, a 1-1-2 for the Germans. The British win after a three round duel between the two ships, but not before the British ship suffers 3 damage points, winning as narrowly as possible! In the Baltic the last Russian ship is sunk, and in the Black Sea the Russian fleet is driven back into port by the surprise appearance of the Austro-Hungarians in company with the last Turkish ship. In the Central Med. the Allies prevail, sinking all but one Italian ship which slinks off to Toulan for repairs. Both sides begin to question the pace of attrition in this war. Are they being too profligate? The Spanish and Northern Russian fleet no longer exist, the Greeks, Turks, and Italians are down to one ship each, even the German and British home fleets have only about 15 ships left apiece. In the Mediterranean the Austro-Hungarians have the largest, and quantitatively best, fleet, but the British in Malta are close. The Victory Point totals are now tied, at 74. 1916 - III Both sides lose a ship, attack factor of 4 in both cases. No other random event occurs. The British do get a lot of new ships, and the US (though not in the war) get Arizona. In the port activation segment there is a new twist. The Allies draw Malta early, and decide to use the Room 40 rule instead of saving it for Great Britain. The thinking is that most of the German fleet is back in Germany and if Great Britain has to go first they can just sail into the North Atlantic and be fairly certain of holding that. But in the Mediterrian things are different. The Central Powers, primarily the Austro-Hungarians, are mostly concentrated in Greek or Turkish ports, with just a few ships left in Italy and Toulon. The Allied fleet is almost all in Malta. So if Malta sails first, and goes into the Central Med. they will likely be crushed. But if they can hold off , and get the C.P to commit first, Malta might be able to seize either the Central or Eastern Med. In the event, Malta is drawn again almost right away and the Allies content themselves with the Western Med. In the Black Sea the Russians decide to stay in port, so the Central Powers get the Black Sea and two thirds of the Med. for almost nothing. Up north, Cherbourg activates first and sends three ships into the Central Atlantic and the rest into the North Sea, where they are joined by the ships in German ports, except for one which takes the uncontested Baltic (the Russian Northern fleet having been sunk). The British take advantage of their new very fast ships (e.g. Courageous 3-1-9) to transit the North Atlantic and challenge for the Central Atlantic, then send the bulk of the fleet into the North Sea against virtually all of the remaining German ships. The fighting in the Central Atlantic is shocking! The Allies roll first, inflicting minor damage on the three German ships. Then the Germans roll a series of 4’s, which get boosted to 5’s with their first round targeting advantage and they send 3 of the 4 British ships home after the first round! The final British ship, with a speed advantage of 8 to 4 over the Germans chooses to flee and the whole group of British ships heads to Gibraltar where they can reach anywhere from the Central Med. to the North Atlantic next turn. But they leave 3, much smaller, German ships in control of the Central Atlantic this turn… In the North Sea the British sink two German ships, send another 5 scurrying back to port and badly damage two more.. The Germans manage to get a lot of hits on the British ships, but their damage rolls are horrible, they only sink one ship and leave little damage on the others. After the first round the Germans have four ships left, including a 4-7-5 with 6 damage points, vs. 8 British ships, including five with attack ratings of 5 or 6, albeit mostly carrying some damage. Since the German ships have effective speeds of 1 or 2, the British decide to pursue with 6 ships, sending the two most heavily damaged back to port. All four German ships are sunk in the pursuit, for the cost of one of the British. The turn ends with the Central Powers ahead 95 to 92 on Victory Points but the British seem to be winning the battle of attrition in the North, while the C.P. have a slight edge in ships in the Med. 1917 – I The new year sees the British lose one of their strength 6 ships, but no other random event occurs. (This is the seventh turn, with a minimum of 4 possible random events each turn, this is quite a drought of ones…) Britain is pulled as the first port for activation, returned to the cup per Room 40, then pulled immediately again! The British decide to move into the North Atlantic, where they can only be attacked by ships from Cherbourg With the North Sea under Allied control from last turn the German ships in German ports cannot get to the North Atlantic. The British also decide to contest the Central Atlantic with one ship from Britain. When Gibraltar is pulled next this somewhat forces the British hand. The single ship in the Central Atlantic would be easy pickings for the C.P. ships in Cherbourg, so Gibraltar has to reinforce. In the event, it does not much matter, the German fleet is content to take the unopposed Baltic and send everyone into the North Sea. In the Mediterranean the combined C.P fleet (Mostly Austro-Hungarian from Greek ports) controls the Central portion, but the single Italian ship in Toulon tries to hold the Western end and is subsequently sunk by the British from Malta. With Turkey down to one ship, the Southern Russian fleet has no trouble holding the Black Sea. The C.P. did think they would intimidate the British at Alexandria and hold the Eastern Med., but the British sent three fast 4-3-7’s from Malta to help sink all three C.P. ships (including the last Greek ship) but at the cost of one of the ships from Malta. The Allies surge ahead, 109 victory points to 103 and they also appear to be winning the ship attrition battle. The C.P. fleet finishes the turn in Greek ports and can contest probably any one portion of the Mediterranean, and the majority of the German ships are in the French ports where they can likewise contest several areas, but the Allies can pretty much pick and choose where to fight. 1917 – II The British do not lose a ship to the miscellaneous causes seen in earlier turns, but the Central Powers do, and a 6 to boot! They have no strength 6 ships left, but both the A.H. and F.G. fleets have a couple of strength 5 ships. They decide to sacrifice the A.H . ship simply because it cannot base in Italy and is thus slightly less flexible. No other random events occur, the ground war seems to be stalemated and the US continues to maintain it’s neutrality. This turn does see the introduction of the first Aircraft carrier, CV Furious. Greece, the primary C.P. fleet anchorage in the Med. is drawn first. Feeling rather weak, the C.P. decide to sortie into the eastern Med., and hopefully avoid battle with the British from Malta. Gibraltar is the next important port drawn (it has half a dozen fast British ships who could go almost anywhere), and the Allies invoke Room 40 again. The bulk of the German fleet is in France, when activated they sail into the Baltic (1 ship) and the North Sea (everybody else). The British elect to avoid battle, but get control of the North and Central Atlantic for one ship each (Furious sent to the Central Atlantic as a shake down cruise). The three new small Italian ships elect to stay in port, so when Gibraltar comes up again the Allies get the Western Med. and South Atlantic unchallenged as well. Finally, the Malta based ships occupy the Central Med. Which means we have a turn of no combat! Both sides are reluctant to risk the fleet and the port activation order conferred no real advantage to either side. This cautious strategy is not good for the Central Powers however as they score only 12 victory points to the Allies 19 and the Allied lead extends to 126 to 115. (Note though, that the 5 point margin for the Allies could have been wiped out with as little as one major sea area swinging the other way. And the Central Powers are in that position despite controlling only 3 of the 10 areas this turn. So, there is something to be said for preserving the fleet. On the other hand, they are falling further behind….) 1917 – III Germany changes their naval code. A very bright young officer has been asking if it could possibly be coincidence that the British Home Fleet seems to so often appear in the worst possible place at the worst possible time. A silly precaution, but the code is changed. (An executive decision, Room 40 has been a huge help to the Allies in this game I believe). Other than that, not much happens ashore. The land war remains bogged down and the U.S. remains neutral. A massive bunker explosion destroys the Southern Russian 5-4-5 Imp. Nikolai, but this does not change the balance of power in the Black Sea. Really, the Central Powers only hope there is to take Sevastopol from the land side. During the port activation phase the C.P. commit to the eastern Med., but the three small Italian ships find themselves virtually blockaded and do not venture out. The German ports send a small force into the North Sea, then the British sail from Gibraltar and stake a claim to the Central Atlantic. Stubbornly the British ports refuse to activate until Cherbourg, so the Germans decide to send all France based ships into the Central Atlantic. Which means when Britain does activate, they ignore the North Sea and send most of the fleet to join the Gibraltar force. These ships will have to make speed rolls, and 6 of 9 succeed. (And a certain formerly bright young naval officer gets transferred to the Russian front…) Thus we have only one contested area, the Central Atlantic. The battle opens when planes from Furious attack Konig, but cause no damage. Then 12 RN ships open up on the 10 German ships, sinking 3 and driving off an additional 4. The first round of combat ends when the Germans fire, sinking Royal Oak and driving off 5 of the other British ships. This leaves 7 British ships (with Furious) vs. 3 Germans. The British Courageous has taken damage equal to its rating and the British would like to see her break-off, but it’s an all or nothing proposition and they are not willing to concede the fight. The Germans, outnumbered, break-off, but they are slower than the British so they don’t get far. Furious launches another airstrike at Koneig, this time causing her to flee for port. That being exactly what the Germans wanted, wags immediately begin to question the value of airpower at sea if all it can accomplish is to create a screen of waterspouts that allow the enemy to retire in safety! One of the other German ships also slips away, and one is sunk. Slight damage is incurred on the British ships. The British ships put into Gibraltar having won the battle. The turn ends with the Allies ahead, 142 to 127. 1918 – I The turn opens with the usual futile rolls for random events, only one Austro-Hungarian ship of strength 1 is destroyed (capsized when too many sailors charged the port rail to see reported Mermaid). Nothing happens in the ground war, which is especially unfortunate for the Central Powers because the northern Russian shipyards have been busy and four new battleships are launched to contest the Baltic. The US, German and Italian shipyards have also been busy, with 6 of 17 possible US ships launched this turn (and promptly exiled to the opaque cup to join the rest of the fleet), 2 of 6 German ships (very close to the statistical expectation when it requires a roll of 1 or 2 to launch) and then the Italians really show some stuff by launching on time and on budget all four of their brand new Battleships which really may change the situation in the Mediterranean. The port activation sequence reveals how much has changed. Turkey goes first, into the Eastern Med. Then Alexandria and the Allies decide to move into the Central Med., reasoning that combined with Malta they would be strong enough to handle the resurgent Italians. Northern Russia moves into the Baltic and there are almost certainly not enough ships in Germany proper to contest them. What had seemed a sure C.P. lake is likely back to the Allies. Then Britain is drawn and with the Room 40 rule suspended must decide what to do. The bulk of the British fleet is now in Gibraltar, and although several of the ships there are probably fast enough to make it back to home waters, the fairly small ships in the Islands are not enough to face the German ships in Cherbourg. The British decide to keep the ships in port! Hoping for a more favorable activation sequence next turn. Then Gibraltar is drawn and the British realize they may not have the strength to hold the Central Atlantic now that they have already conceded the North Sea and North Atlantic and neither Germany nor Cherbourg has activated. They also realize they’d a lot rather have those damaged ships in England (repair capacity 14) than Gibraltar, but to try a speed run now would almost guarantee an underdog position in any fight for the North Atlantic. So they send all but one ship into the Central Atlantic, the exception going to the South Atlantic. Malta is drawn and almost has to reinforce the Alexandria contingent in the central Med.. To try for the western med. would be to give the Italians their choice of which group to attack. Things could not be better for the Central Powers. They finally get to pick their battles and many areas are now available for the commitment of one ship. Cherbourg is drawn and they decide to send all ships, even the damaged ones, into the Central Atlantic to smash the Allied fleet. Only one ship is broken off to claim the uncontested North Atlantic. When Italy activates, one of the carefully hoarded 1-1-4’s grabs the Western Med. and, with some hesitation, the rest of the fleet enters the Central Med. to engage the Allies. (Hesitation because we’ve see well illustrated on this turn how the “fleet in being” can challenge the enemy and it would be a shame to lose the Italian fleet so soon). Thus the Central Powers get the Eastern Med. (and sail back into Greece for more flexibility), the Western Med. with one Italian ship who goes into Toulon and both the North Atlantic and North Sea to fully impose for the first time a total blockade of England. The Russians dominate both the Baltic and the Black seas, and attention turns to the Central Med. and Atlantic. In the Central Atlantic, 11 Allied ships face 8 German ships, with rough parity in Attack factors, but the Germans have better fire control and armor (defense rankings). The result is slaughter, 6 British ships are sunk and forced out of line, to 2 German ships sunk, 4 forced to return to port with heavy damage. This leaves 2 large German 4-8-5’s (with damage of 8 and 1) against 4 smaller (attack rating of 2 or 3) but undamaged British ships. The Germans decide to withdraw with each ship going separately. The British decline to pursue the most heavily damaged ship (reasoning that the repair facilities in Cherbourg (5) are inadequate to get that ship back in the fight) and instead concentrate their pursuit on the lightly damaged K. Albert. The Germans get 2 hits on Africa, then suffer 7 more hits on K. Albert, bringing her to a near wreck. The Germans switch targets, scoring 2 hits on Irrestiable, then being driven under themselves with the combined weight of shell. In the Central Med. the Italians are astonished to realize that while all of the Allied (British and Free French) ships are small attack factors of two or three, there are 17 such ships to the bare 6 Italians, albeit four of them brand new 6-7-5 battleships. Quickly proving that quantity has a quality all its own, the Allies sink 3of the Italian ships and send the other three back to port while losing only one of their own ships. Curiously no damage is recorded, all ships are either sunk outright or make it back to port undamaged. Thus the Victory Point standings are now Allies 155 to Central Powers 145, showing the net gain of 5 points the C.P. made up this turn. Perhaps more importantly, although they failed to hold the Central Atlantic they sunk so many British ships that they may be able to hold the blockade of England for the rest of the year. 1918 - II Both sides lose a strength 3 ship to random causes, no other random event occurs. Slightly less than half of the eligible US and German reinforcement ships make their rolls, the remainder will get to try next turn. Of course the big difference is that two German ships that did make their rolls enter the game immediately, while the US ships go into the famous opaque container to await possible US entry into the war.. Cherbourg is the first important port activated and it presents the Germans with some tough decisions. They have 7 ships in Cherbourg, 2 very heavily damaged, 2 lightly damaged and 3 undamaged. There are 3 undamaged ships in Germany, and virtually all of the German ships are superior to the British ships, of which there are now 7 in Britain. The Germans could play it safe by sending everybody into the North Sea, but they are too far behind to play it safe. Instead, they send all but the most heavily damaged ship into the North Atlantic and hope that if the British challenge them there, the ships based in Germany will come to their aid. Britain is drawn next, and with Room 40 inoperative, they decide to take all 7 ships into the North Sea and hope to defeat the 3 German ships still in port, which are all heavy ships including the 2 new replacements. The Northern Russian fleet of four 6-7-5 ships (possibly the strongest fleet still afloat) moves into the Baltic, and when Germany is drawn they decide to avoid that fight and instead send their 3 ships into the North Atlantic. The Austro-Hungarian ships in Greece would like to send just one ship to the eastern Med. and concentrate on the central Med., but the British at Malta could still make a speed run to the east so the A.H. fleet is split between Central and Eastern Med. Then Malta is drawn. The British have almost a dozen ships, but they are very small and slow, and the Italians still have 3 ships in Italy, including two 6-7-6s. A speed run to the Eastern Med. will likely see several ships not making it. A fight in the Central Med. against the A.H. fleet (reinforced by the Italians) sees suicidal, so they elect to take the western Med. and only have to fight Italy. (In the event, by the time Italy is drawn they decide to stay in port, too weak to challenge for the Western Med. and the Allies have already conceded the Central Med.) In the Western Med. the combined Malta and Gibraltar forces sink the sole Italian ship from Toulon. In the North Sea, carrier planes from Furious redeem themselves for earlier failures by scaring Warttenburg (6-8-5) back into port before the fleets reach gun range. Once in range, the British sink one of the German ships, and the survivor, Prinz Edward Freidrich, sends a salvo at Furious (missing) and then turns tail, easily outrunning the swarms of small British ships, ships which nevertheless raise the blockade of England and control the North Sea! This puts the Allies further ahead, 171 to 158. 1918 – III The final turn opens with the Central Powers in desperate straits. The land war has accomplished nothing, except for the loss of their African colonies way back in 1915, which also gave the Allies 9 of the current 13 victory point margin they enjoy. Just a little bit of help from the army would have been great, but no use complaining. At sea, the Russians have two of the best fleets left. Fortunately they are confined to the Baltic and Black Seas as the British never got around to trying to open the straits. But that is still 3 guaranteed VPs for the Allies, to go with their guaranteed Red Sea (1) and South Atlantic (2). With the blockade of England lifted last turn, the rather small British fleet can probably afford to stay in port, and the Malta and Gibraltar forces are still strong enough to contend. Nevertheless, the Central Powers are determined to try! But a huge blow comes almost immediately, as the Warttenburg, apparently still rattled from it’s encounter with Furious’s planes, mishandles the ammunition loading and blows up! There goes one of only three remaining strength 6 ships. The Allies hardly fare better, losing Canada (strength 5) when the Admirals gig rams and sinks her in the harbor a Malta. As easily predicted, the land war continues to go nowhere and the US continues to sit this one out. It’s all down to the badly depleted navies! The Austro-Hungarians split the Greece based fleet between Central and Eastern Med. , and then the Cherbourg based Germans split between North Sea, North and Central Atlantic. The Italians go into the Western Med. and the Central Powers have contested every sea they can reach. The Allies at Gibraltar come out to fight in the Central Atlantic, while the Malta force fights in the Western Med. and the home fleet sails into the North Atlantic. Once all the fleets have sailed, the Allied lead is cut to 6 VP, with combat to occur in the Western Med., Central and North Atlantic, a potential 13 points for the Central Powers. In the Western Med., 15 British ships (mostly strength 2) confront 3 Italians ships, two 6-7-5s and one nervous 1-1-4. The Italians manage to force the two largest British ships back to Malta (undamaged) but see all three of their own ships sunk. A truism of this war is that swarms of smaller ships are more than a match for smaller numbers of big ships! That 3 additional VPs gives the Allies a 9 point lead. The Central Powers (read Germany at this point) will need to sweep the Atlantic to tie. The battle for the Central Atlantic pits four British ships (one damaged) against two Germans, both damaged. (Think Rocky and Apollo Creed in the 12th). The smaller German ship is sunk, the other forced into port, as is the largest British ship but that still leaves the British in control of the sea (and the game) In the final battle of the war, out in the North Atlantic, the Germans finally catch up to Furious and put 1 point of damage on her. In return, the smallest German ship is sunk (a trend) and the two largest forced to port with maximum damage. The war ends with the Allies ahead 187 to 171, the US fleet still in port, nothing accomplished on the ground for the Central Powers and the Russians in possession of the best European fleet. Some last thoughts…. That 16 point Allied victory margin is largely the result, I think; of winning the ground war in Africa for 9 points, not losing the ground war in Russia, which kept the Baltic and Black Seas in Allied control almost throughout and the advantage of Room 40, which lead directly to the decimation of the C.P. fleets. The large number of British ships also allowed the Allies to win several battles where the smaller ships combined to sink the larger C.P. battleships, who could only engage one target at a time, so even when they blew the Allies out of the water, they still had to survive multiple rounds to win the sea and that proved impossible. Note to future Naval Ministers, number of hulls is more important than number of guns! For all that, the Central Powers were in the game right up to the last turn. And the almost unbelievable string of failures on the random events table would almost certainly not repeat. There were 12 turns, with 3 chances each turn to roll a land victory in Russia or Suez, so 36 straight rolls without getting a 1. Of course, the Allies also failed on 12 straight attempts to get the US into the war, so it would be wrong to say the game was decided on the random events, but they clearly conditioned the course of the war and we would almost certainly see a different course next time. Which, of course, is exactly what random events are supposed to do! "Mike NotSpecified" _______________________________________________ Consim-l mailing list Consim-l@mailman.halisp.net http://mailman.halisp.net/mailman/listinfo/consim-l