Had my first taste of hosting a naval war game, and it could not have gone better. I used the Battle Stations! Battle Stations! Rules they played very fast and it was very intuitive. My players picked up the rules did not even need me toward the end.
I played The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay I played this game in daylight hours as the real battle took place at night.
I had the players show me privately where they wanted their fleet to enter the board and how they were set up. I then placed them on the game mat where to two fleets meet. The ships used were…..
Japanese Fleet
Heavy Cruisers
Myoko (Myôkô class)
Haguro (Myôkô class)
Light Cruisers
Sedai (Sedai Class)
Agano (Agano Class)
3 Shiratsuyu Class Destroyers
Shigure
Samidare,
Shiratsuyu,
Naganami, Yugumo-class destroyer
Hatsukaze, Kagero-class destroyer
Wakatsuki. Akizuki-class destroyer
U.S. Shipt
Light Cruisers
Montpelier CL-57 (Cleveland Class)
Cleveland CL-55 (Cleveland Class)
Columbia CL-56 (Cleveland Class)
Denver CL-58 (Cleveland Class)
Fletcher Class Destroyers:
Charles Ausburne DD-570
Dyson DD-572
Stanly DD-478
Claxton DD-571
Spence DD-512
Thatcher DD-514
Converse DD-509
Foote DD-511
The American fleet came in as a giant line and the Japanese came in with a box like formation. The fleets spotted each other at 45" apart (clear sky) The Japanese moved first and advanced slowly, then the Americans set flank speed and headed toward the Japanese fleet. Some shots were fired but just minor damage on a few ships. The next turn it became a swirling melee the American moved first and set up defensively when the Japanese moved they were able to cross the T on a few formations. The Denver was heavily damaged as was the Sedai. Both fleets inflicted moderate damage on each other. In this game when spreads of torpedoes are fired and they miss their first target they have a chance to hit targets in the line of attack. So it was neat to see torpedoes missing ships and hitting others. The next few turns saw the sinking of the Denver and Sendai. The game was still anyone's until the last turn when the Americans were able to sink the Myoko. The Japanese Morale threshold was exceeded and the Japanese broke off the engagement. In this game each side has a morale threshold each time a ship takes damage you loose points, not many, but they add up. Then when a ship sinks you lose more depending on the size of your ship. When a big ship like the Myoko goes down that was over half the points of the Japanese threshold value. when the loss of Sendi and damage on other ships the Japanese more could not take such a loss.
All the players seemed to have a great time; many of the players expressed interest in playing again and one player bought the rules the next day. I had a great time as the game pretty much was played by the players half way into the game. In the end I was only watching the action, handing out splash counters, damage markers and keeping track of fleet morale. Unlike other games I GM I did not have to try and keep this game going and players focused. The action was fast, and furious. I had no problem with player down time everyone was involved with the game start to finish. The game was played from Start to finish with rules explanation in 2 1/2 hours. A few players commented it was great to play a good game start to finish and get to bed early for the next long day of gaming.
I will more then likely run this game at most conventions in the future.
All in all I give the game two thumbs up for a great convention game.
…………..Doug
experiments to find a better way to mount aircraft for wargaming.
