HMSResolution,
Thank you for the kind review.
I really appreciate it.
For the Channel, other options include Vosper MTB's, and BPB MGB's trying to beat up various German vessels, e.g. R-Boats, VP Boats (armed trawlers), MFP's, flak-lighters, minesweepers, KfK's (small fishing boats that were heavily armed), and merchants. Of course, your Dogboat MTB's can also participate in the sorties, as can the Fairmile D MGB's too.
One of the recent scenarios we played was pitting a couple of Vosper MTB's vs. a pair of VP Boats out on a recon patrol, looking for the English vessels. Spotting is critical for this scenario, since unless the night is quite dark, or a bit foggy, the heavy 88mm guns on the VP Boats will make toothpicks of the MTB's. You can of course substitute the Fairmile D MTB's for these battles, and/or play with the numbers too on the British side, to give them a better chance against the much more heavily armed German vessels.
On a number of occasions, 4 – 6 British MTB's and MGB's engaged the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse", as they were known to the RN Coastal Forces, close in to the European Coast. These were four VP Boats that frequently patrolled for RN vessels to try to keep their convoy lanes and approaches to their ports free of enemy vessels. Both sides gained a great deal of respect for their enemies from these engagements.
British vessels would sometimes patrol within sight of the port breakwaters to attack German shipping and S-Boats.
Frequently, the RN used MGB's paired with MTB's to try to distract the Germans with the gunboats, while the MTB's snuck up on the KM vessels from the other side for a sneak attack with torpedoes (each unit would have two – four vessels for such an attack, e.g. 3 x MTB's and 3 x MGB's. The MGB's won't do much damage against these larger vessels, unless they get a lucky hit with a depth charge attack across their bow, but can try to distract and knock out some of the VP Boats guns.
You may need to develop some special house rules for the attacks too, e.g. not letting the KM player(s) know which are your MTB's and MGB's to keep them from unfairly targeting those vessels with torpedoes. Special rules for a reduced chance to spot other vessels once engaged might also be appropriate, although after this tactic is used once or twice, the Germans would be on to these types of attacks, so that would no longer be valid.
Have the MTB's attack from the shore side of the gameboard, which is darker, and makes them harder to see.
We have both sides pre-plot their force movements, speeds, entry points, etc., prior to gameplay to keep them honest. That makes the games a bit more interesting, and historical in nature, since neither side should have the overview of where their enemy's forces are, like we typically get in a wargame. Vessels move, as plotted, until they sight something, or are attacked.
You could also use dummy counters instead, if you don't want to do the above, but I recommend it.
For German convoys, any of the above could be used, plus just a few merchant vessels, since they were frequently heavily escorted, e.g. say 4 – 6 escorts, with a similar number of small to medium sized merchants, or just a couple of larger ones. R-Boats, minesweepers, VP Boats, and KfK's would be the most frequent escort types in the English Channel, from what I have read.
For the Mediterranean Theater, you can add in the MFP's and Flaklighters too, which provided escort for convoys, and also carried cargo on their own.
Occasionally, the larger German torpedo boats (small destroyers) would sortie in support of their convoys (acting as a screening force), and/or on patrols in the Channel (2 – 3 ships in the formation). Usually, these were a big surprise for the British vessels, who spotted them at very close range in the gloom, but were unprepared for their fast speed on at least one occasion. On one dark night, a pair of these passed close by 3 – 4 Vosper MTB's at such close range that the RN commanders were unable to launch a torpedo attack, since they were within minimum launch range. In the heat of the moment, they forgot about using depth charges to attack them, and the German vessels slipped away, while the British boats tried to get up to speed, and to maneuver to launch an attack.
The RN boats were lucky that the KM commanders were equally surprised, or they might have been run down by the vessels and cut in two.
For the British Coastal Convoys, you can use a Flower Class corvette, some trawlers, minesweepers, Fairmile B or C MGB's, and the occasional Hunt Class DD for escort. The ratio of escorts to merchants would typically be lower than for the German forces, since they were not attacked as frequently as their KM counterparts.
Covering forces of MGB's, and MTB's would patrol between the British convoys and the German S-Boat bases, to try to screen the convoy from attack, or to try to catch the Germans after an attack, when they were returning back to their bases. This frequently worked well.
The Germans would usually use the S-26/S-38, and S-100 class boats for these attacks, and these types fought right up to the end of the war against Allied escorts and merchants. They frequently sortied in groups of three, six, or more trios of vessels. Odd/even numbers did occasionally sortie, due to breakdowns, and/or availability of serviceable boats.
British forces usually sortied in pairs, and groups of four, although trios were frequent too, due to the same issues mentioned above. For larger sorties, units of 6 – 8 MTB's, or MTB's and MGB's (three to four of each, or in each formation) worked together regularly, but split up to attack from several directions.
The S-Boats also sortied frequently on minelaying missions close in to the coast of Great Britain, as did the R-Boats too.
British vessels did the same, against the Germans, along the entire Atlantic Wall coastline, but on a less frequent basis. Usually for these sorties, the older Fairmile boats were used, e.g. the Fairmile A's, B's, and C's.
Later in the war, for some battles, the British would use a Hunt class DD outfitted with radar to control a small unit of Vosper, or Fairmile D MTB's in order to engage the enemy S-Boats (the smaller RN vessels rarely had their own radar).
They could provide tactical advice to the boat commanders.
The MTB's needed to use caution, since the keyed up gunners on the DD's would occasionally mistake the RN boats for enemy vessels, and fire upon them, so friendly fire incidents are possible in the confusion of a fast night battle.
The Germans occasionally had radar on their S-Boats (usually just the formation leader), and many at least had radar detectors later in the war, so could get a general idea of the bearing of any enemy vessels using it against them.
Both sides would, and could be controlled generally from shore-based radar, so engagements would be more likely than one would think during much of the war, especially during the mid to late war period. The control wasn't good enough to provide second-by-second tactical advice, but could help with placement for the battle against convoys and other enemy formations.
Finally, later in the war, especially in the Mediterranean, the RN would pair up with USN Higgins boats to help control their night attacks on enemy vessels. All of the Higgins boats in the Med. had radar, so the British would attach a pair of MTB's to them, and the US vessel would be used to guide the attacks on the enemy units. The PT Boats also worked with the LCT(G's), or Landing Craft with Guns to take on the heavily armed and armored flaklighters later in the war, since due to their shallow draft, torpedoes frequently just passed underneath them, and the light guns carried by the boats did little damage to them.
In 1944, and 1945, (possibly even in late 1943?) the later marks of British torpedoes had a more refined depth setting system which eventually permitted them to attack the MFP's and Flaklighters effectively.
In the Med., and Channel, many of the battles were fought close in to shore, so coastal batteries could also play a role in your games as well. A few boats from both sides were sunk by coastal gunfire, much of which was radar controlled.
Many of our Coastal Forces miniatures game packs are reasonably balanced to provide for a good scenario or two. By adding just a few more vessels to your inventory, you can greatly increase the variety of games you can play, which will provide endless hours of enjoyment for you and your allies and foes.
Given the vessels you have now, I would recommend the following: 1 x pack each of the Vosper MTB's, MGB's, R-Boats, British or German trawlers or VP Boats, and either a MFP or a Flaklighter pack. The MFP's are heavily armed with light flak guns, while the flak lighters would carry an 88mm gun, in addition to other light flak weapons. You can then purchase a few merchants to attack, or escort as well, if desired.
If you want to go "Big Game" hunting, throw in a couple of German torpedo boats, or a minesweeper, or DD, or two.
I hope the above helps you some.
If anyone else is interested in the vessels we have for sale, or a copy of Action Stations rules, please feel free to contact me for an e-mailed listing at the address below.
Best regards,
Rob
Topgun Marketing LLC
topgunace111 AT yahoo DOT com
experiments to find a better way to mount aircraft for wargaming.
