Games 142 & 143 : Napoleonic Naval playtests

 We now venture to Napoleonic Naval. This has all come about after a dear friend of mien, Brendan died very young. He was a WWII fanatic, especially British artillery. 

So it came as a shock when helping to sort all his old models/soldiers that there were 2 large ice cream tubs. When opened, one tub had a load of 1/200 hulls of Napoleonic ships all stacked. When the other tub was opened, it was full of nothing but masts.

Then comes in local friend Steve. He took the lot away and lovingly repaired/restored all the ships. And hey presto, there were enough ships to do all the ships for Trafalgar!

It was a challenge/opportunity not to be ignored. The rules selected were "Signal Close Action". I had a rule set from about 1994, so I re-equipped with the latest edition and off we went. 

The rules are very in depth. Paperwork is minimal, it takes some time to come up with "efficient" paperwork. Then you need player aids, that was easy in the end.

Then playing the games. Game 142 started off with a single Frigate action for both sides. The we played 2 Frigates per side. Game 143 was with a different opponent with 2 Frigates aside.

After much sailing around, a lot of it like headless chickens, lots of referral to the rules, and the proverbial blind leading the blind, we collided!!! I didn't come out of it too good (Royal Navy). Brought to heal by the Frenchies.

With 2 Frigates a side, it played more quickly and we were beginning to get a foot hold, or floating wings, as time went on. Here we now see the victorious Royal Navy. The bottom ship is a badly mauled French Frigate that missed his turn and is now sailing away with the wind on his quarter to escape.

The right hand French Frigate, already with heavy portside damage has failed to reload his broadside and is about to get caught by both British Frigates. The closer Frigate will turn sharply and come alongside and collide (not yet got to grips with controlled grappling). It will then fire point blank broadsides into the enemy who continues to miss reloading. The end comes when the 2nd RN Frigate engages by raking from the bow.

Well, none of us drowned! Off to the pub now to try and remedy that!

This game played very differently. I had more player aids done, Pendraken came to the rescue on that one. Turning circles, wind directors, gunnery directors etc. All done with 2 MDF, laser cut to precision.

Here you see 2 French Frigates sailing up the up the wind. They have left too much of a gap between themselves. The RN Frigates are crossing the T, but more importantly they are staying close enough together to give mutual support. Collisions are a potential nightmare!

The RN Frigates engage the lead French Frigate, both managing to bow rake. The consequence of this was a badly damaged French Frigate that would be grappled and then strike. The bottom Frigate would set more sail to escape the mainly undamaged RN Frigates.

Another game and many lessons learned. I like the rules. They are involved but it mis worth the effort to sort them out. Good paperwork and player aids also greatly simplifies the actual playing of the games. The aim is to do Trafalgar later this year.

Next up could be some 2nd & 3rd rates slugging out a battle. Watch here!!

Game 141 : Crete 1941 Maleme Airfield

 A short battle with a few pics. Off to Crete, the German Sturm Regt with assets landing around the area of Maleme which was defended by the New Zealand Brigade supported by 2 Greek Btns and some other assets. This included the single Matilda II tank platoon!

A pic of the battlefield. The table to the right is the sea. The Allies had random naval support based on destroyers or a light cruiser steaming near the coast to give direct fire support. The Germans had air supremacy and random Stuka support. 

Maleme is in the distance at the far end of the table. This end had the single village in the area. Control of these were the objectives. Maleme would facilitate reinforcement/supplies via air whilst the village was deemed to have a small jetty capable of landing supplies or troop reinforcements.

The Allies had a free deployment whilst the German airdrop was spread with a fixed minimum distance between the 3 landing zones they had to select. Drops in the zones was subject to random drift. some of which was quite severe.

The village became the subject of intense fighting. It was garrisoned by a New Zealand Btn reinforced by a Greek Btn. It was assaulted by a supported Sturm Btn. The fighting was continuous for the whole days fighting. Eventually the Germans forced the Allies out. 

Maleme is just to the top right of the pic. A pretty non descript place in the open, no  cover. The area is dominated by a low hill to its south. There was a running fight to this hill by both sides in Btn strength. The Germans won the race, partly due to heavy weapons being in the right place at the right time. The holding of this hill allowed the Germans to silence the emplaced AA guns at Maleme and then to begin a 2 pronged assault with aid from another Btn to the north. 

The Allies are slowly forced away from the airfield to the "beach areas" where the Germans will not follow because of potential naval support, but happy to hold both objectives.

By our standards, this was truly a small game, regimental sized for both. However, the fighting was quite intense with 2 of the 3 German parachute Btns not far from being combat ineffective. The New Zealand Brigade was in a similar situation. We viewed it as a historical result. On to Napoleonic Naval now!!