Paul O'Connor  - Jun 9, 2005 12:38 pm (#521 Total: 532)  
Looking for wargamers in San Diego's north county. 	 

To celebrate the release of the Mighty Hood and Battleships at War:
Atlantic, here is a long-overdue AAR of a game of Gary's Graf Spee. 

The Graf Spee began the game by accelerating and turning away to the
southwest, with an eye toward presenting a broadside to her pursuers
while lining up for a run to the open sea. Exeter turned to the west,
while Ajax and Achilles bore straight on north. Exeter and Graf Spee
exchanged fire at approximately 16,000 yards … and this would prove
pivotal, as a lucky shot would hit Graf Spee’s magazine, knocking the
German ship’s firepower down from 5-10-5 to 3-7-3. 

Graf Spee turned to the northwest, with all British ships in pursuit. A
stern shot from Graf Spee resulted in a superstructure hit on Exeter.
Then Graf Spee laid smoke, interfering with Exeter’s fire. But the Graf
Spee was in a fix. She couldn’t outrun the faster ships, so she turned
to the northeast to engage the cruisers Ajax and Achilles. Graf Spee
missed Ajax from 17,000 yards, while Achilles and Ajax couldn’t hope to
damage Graf Spee from this distance, and as they were at different
ranges from Graf Spee, they were prevented from combining their fire. 

At 8,000 yards, Ajax suffered a turret hit. The two cruisers split
apart, Achilles passing across Graf Spee’s bow while Ajax sought to pass
the German by the stern. Exeter banged away from 18,000 yards, to no
effect. 

Graf Spee and Achilles passed within 2,000 yards of each other,
exchanging gunfire and torpedoes. Achilles took the worst of it,
suffering a floatation hit, while Ajax found herself ineffective against
Graf Spee on her own even from a range of 6,000 yards. Achilles’
torpedoes couldn’t hit the fast-moving Graf Spee, while the German
ship’s torpedoes hit Achilles, dealing a second floatation hit. 

Hoping she has run the gauntlet to safety, the Graf Spee turned to the
east to flee. Achilles, slowed by her floatation hits, turned to the
south at maximum speed to cross the T of the Graf Spee’s fleeing stern.
Exeter and Ajax moved to form up to combine their fire against the
German. Another exchange of fire, this time from 5,000 yards, took a
toll of both Graf Spee and Achilles – a bridge hit on the British
cruiser, and a troublesome floatation hit for the Graf Spee. 

Still, the Graf Spee continued east. All three British ships were within
the 14,000 yard range band, and combined their fire against the German
pocket battleship, barely missing. 

Graf Spee turned to the northeast, Ajax and Exeter in pursuit, the
British ships slowly gaining on their slower prey. Neither side hit at
10,000 yards, but then the quick firing Graf Spee scored a turret hit on
Ajax. With escape impossible, and emboldened by the damage done to Ajax,
the Graf Spee turned to the southeast to cross the bow of her pursuers.
Furious fire was exchanged from with 5,000 yards, with Graf Spee
suffering another floatation hit. 

But it was a spread of torpedo fire from Ajax and Exeter that would
prove decisive, scoring massive floatation damage, breaking Graf Spee in
half and bringing the battle to a sudden and shocking conclusion. 

It was an exciting game, with more maneuver than I expected. The match
was critically impacted by the magazine hit Graf Spee suffered on the
very first turn, putting the German ship in the position of being able
to damage (but not maul) her pursuers. The torpedoes at the end but a
swift stop to things, but if Graf Spee had mustered better fire during
the stern chase that led up to that exchange, things might have been
different. 

Lessons learned: The British have to take care to keep their two
cruisers (at least) together, to maintain an identical range and permit
combined fire against the Graf Spee, as piecemeal and uncoordinated
attacks seldom strike home in this game. The Graf Spee twice lost the
chance to score hits because of the penalty for changing targets (neatly
reproducing historical accounts that the German ship had trouble
tracking between targets) – it is probably better to continue fire
against a single ship until it is out of action than to change targets,
no matter how pressing the situation. 

Like many of Gary’s games, Graf Spee has a wealth of nuance and tactical
decision making not obvious and first glance. This situation is
certainly worth gaming a time or two, and with the Mighty Hood and
Gary’s new Battleships at War: Atlantic ready to set sail, fans of this
system will find no lack of WWII battlewagon action to enjoy. Play it.