Replay and Review of Jutland: Duel of the Dreadnoughts ====================================================== Author: Steve Leonard (sundaybest@aol.com) Well a friend and I dusted off "Jutland: Duel of the Dreadnoughts" last night and I wrote up a replay of this great game. The following abbreviations are used: BB-Battleship,BC-Battle crusier, PD-Predreadnought, AC-Armored Crusier,FB-Fast battleship, CL-light crusier,DD-Destroyer, OOA-Out of action. I drew the Germans and he got the British. Dan's comments during the battle were inserted in the after battle report by using parenthesis. German plans: Aggresively engage british BC's w/ BC's using DD's as a screen. Bring up High seas fleet as fast as I can, let PD's catch up later. (British plans: Stand off until BC's are joined by FB's engage with DD's. Bring in Home fleet before germans can deploy.) TURN 1 Moves: British: moved CL's to engage german CL's,DD's. FB's move to form line with BC's. Other DD's deploy in line with BC's to prepare for torpedo attack on german BC's. Germans: Cl's, DD's move to engage british CL's. BC's engage british BC's. Damage: British-all misses German- 1 brit. BC,OOA TURN 2 Moves: British torp. attack puts 2 CL's OOA, continue to move FB's into line with BC's. Germans DD's engage CL's BC's keep pace with british. Damage: British-BC's miss, CL's put 1 DD OOA Germans- BC's put 1 DD OOA with secondary guns, DD's miss TURN 3 Moves: British torp. attack fails. FB's pull into line with BC's German torp attack puts 2 CL's OOA. BC's close in on british BC's to increase hits. Damage: British- FB's and BC's miss, DD's put one DD OOA. Germans-BC's put 2 BC's OOA, DD's put one DD OOA. TURN 4 Moves: German torp attack put 2 CL's OOA British FB's, BC's stay in line. Reserve DD's move to attack german DD's. AC moves into area. Damage: British BC's , FB's miss, DD's put one DD OOA German BC's put one BC OOA Turn 5 Moves: British torp attack puts one DD OOA. FB's and BC's stay engaged. German torp attack on DD's fails. BC's stay engaged. Damage: British BC's put one BC OOA, DD's get on DD. German BC's put one BC OOA, DD's get 2 DD's TURN 6 Moves: German torp attack gets one DD. High seas fleet enters area. British DD's and CL's screen BC's ,FB's as they turn to join Grand fleet which has just appeared. Damage: British- FB's, BC's miss german DD's German- BC's put 2 DD's and 1 CL OOA. First Quarter report. Losses-British (5 BC's, 5 CL's, 7 DD's) German (1 BC, 2 CL's, 5 DD's) British report-( German optics and dice are very hot, he can't miss. I still outnumber him and the new BC squadron and AC's are joining the line. I'm going to keep engaging him and hope his luck changes.) German report-Almost wiped out all his BC's but the FB's are awesome and he's got fresh units close. I'm going to work my way back to the High Seas fleet and re-engage with all ships. TURN 7 Moves: German BC's clear DD screen. British FB's move to keep engaged while AC's and new BC's come on. Damage: German BC's get one BC and one DD. British miss TURN 8 Moves: German BC's keep moving toward High Seas fleet. British fresh DD's and CL's go after german DD's. FB's and BC's keep after BC's. All shots miss at extreme range. TURN 9 Moves: British BC's, FB's and AC's chasing german BC's German BC's moving towards High Seas fleet. Damage: British miss all shots German BC hits British FB at extreme range. (ouch) TURN 10 Moves: German moves BC's across the front of the british. High seas fleet steams on leaving PD's behind. British BC's,FB's pull up to present broadsides to germans. Damage: German DD's get one CL, BC's miss. British BC's put one BC OOA. TURN 11 Moves: German BC's slow to reengage BC's. High seas fleet nearby. British BC's , FB's close with BC's. AC's and DD's nearby. Damage: German BC's put 2 BC's OOA, DD's get one DD. British BC's put 2 BC's OOA, DD's miss. TURN 12 Moves: German torp attack puts one BC OOA. Last BC runs to High seas fleet. British FB's disengage behind DD, CL screen. Damage: German DD's get one DD. British miss Second quarter report. Losses: British-( 1FB, 9BC's, 6CL's, 10DD's) Germans-( 4BC's, 2CL's, 6DD's) British- (Well my BC's are gone. FB's are going to join the Grand fleet. That parting shot hit at extreme range he got on my FB hurt. I'm going to mount a large torp attack on his main line to give me more time to deploy my fleet. I still outnumber him.) Germans- I only have 1 BC left and I'm sending it into reserve. My BB's are deploying and are ready to engage. PD's are way back and trying to get in the action. I feel OK and if my luck holds it should go well. He has more BB's than me but mine are better. Hopefully my PD's will be able to deal with his CL's and DD's. TURN 13 Moves: British move DD's and CL's to attack main line of germans. FB's AC's fire at DD's. Grand fleet keeps moving up. Germans move DD's to defend BB line. BC trys to hold of FB's and AC's. High Seas fleet deploying. Damage: British put 2 CL's, 3 DD's OOA. German put 2 DD's and 1AC OOA TURN 14 Moves: British start forming BB line. FB's and AC's attacking the rear of the german line. Germans finish forming BB line. Move up PD's and BC to defend rear. Damage: British put 4 DD's OOA Germans put 2 CL's and 2 DD's OOA TURN 15 Moves: Germans hit 1 DD with torp attack. Germans move BB line closer to British line. British almost have BB line formed parallel to germans. Damage: British put last german BC OOA Germans get 6 DD's, 1 CL, 1 BB OOA TURN 16 Moves: British torp attack gets 1 CL British and german fleets are now in parallel lines. German PD's fight off british FB's and AC's. Damage: British put 1 BB, 2 DD's OOA Germans put 1 BB, 2 DD's and 1 AC OOA TURN 17 Both fleets stay engaged in line. Damage: British put 3 DD's OOA Germans put 2 BB's and 1 DD OOA TURN 18 All torps used up for both sides. Stay in lines. Germans put 2 AC's OOA British put 2 BB's and 1 PD OOA. Third quarter report: German- Good shooting, I realize my PD's can't dent his FB's but they are tearing up his AC's. I can't take another turn like the last one. British-( He's picking on my weaker BB's but I have to keep them in line to keep up fire.) TURN 19 Both sides stay in line. Germans put 3 BB's OOA Britsh put 3 BB's and 1 PD OOA German player- I can't trade ships like that he has more. I'm stoking up the boilers in case I need to get out soon. TURN 20 Stay in lines.(It's a pounding match now) Germans put 2 AC's and 3 BB's OOA British put 1 BB OOA TURN 21 Germans put 1 BB OOA British put 2 BB's and 1 PD OOA German player- I'm outta here. TURN 22 German player makes steam and starts moving away.PD's stay behind to hold the line. British are caught off guard and stay in line. Germans put 2 AC's OOA British put 1 PD OOA TURN 23 German High Seas fleet beyong visibility. Losses: German 9 BB's 3 PD's 5 BC's 5 CL's 16 DD's Total points lost=44 British 11 BB's 1 FB 9 BC's 8 AC's 9 CL's 23 DD's Total points lost=72 Well I won, but I don't feel like I won. I had to turn tail and run. He started the game with a 1.9 to 1 advantage in BB's and finished with a 2.7 to 1 advantage. I think over all this was a great tactical victory for the germans but a stategic defeat. The germans could claim they sunk more BB's than the british, but they still did not have control of the seas. Anyhow it was a fun game. Brief Review This is a great beer and pretzels wargame. It took about 30 min. to read though the rules (advanced included) and we got down to blasting each other in no time. We added the advanced rules which didn't take much time to learn and added a lot. ( DD's , CL's, torps, secondary batteries) The smaller ships add many different tactics and the torps are fun to play with. Also when there's nothing else to shoot at the DD's make great targets. If you want to drink a lot of beer then stick with the basic big ship game. It was a nice change from muskets and panzers. We played it in one evening and had no trouble with the rules. Comparing it to other Jutland games I would have to say if you have a large basement and a couple of weekends the Avalon Hill game "Jutland" is more detailed and and also is a good game. The "Dreadnought" (SPI) scenario for Jutland is OK but I like Command's system better. I did miss the individual names of ships (adds flavor) but we can't have everything. Summed up I think it was a great game, very playable and gave a good historical look at the differences in the British and German fleets (quantity vs quality)