"Starting WWI naval help me pick a few ships" Topic

Hi I just got a great deal on the Fleet Action Imminent rules (WWI GQ3 rules)

Now I have picked out a few great ships to have some historical battles with (1/3000 Skytrex Davco ships)

That gives me 17 ships to play with, now I can get about 15 more ships. What would be some good ships for "What If" battles using the ships I already have?

Battle of Coronel
Admiral Maximilian von Spee

SMS Scharnhorst (Scharnhorst Class)
SMS Gneisenau (Scharnhorst Class)
SMS Leipzig (Bremen Class)
SMS Dresden (Emden Class)
SMS Nurnberg (Nurnberg)

Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock's West Indies Squadron

HMS Good Hope (Good Hope Class)
HMS Monmouth (Monmouth Class)
HMS Glasgow (Glasgow Class)

HMS Canopus (Canopus Class) HMS Defence (Defence Class) Reinforcements not at battle, but what if they were?

Battle of Falklands

HMS Invincible (Invincible Class)
HMS Inflexible (Invincible Class)
HMS Carnarvon (Argyll Class)
HMS Cornwall (Monmouth Class)
HMS Kent (Monmouth Class)
HMS Bristol (Glasgow Class)
HMS Glasgow (Glasgow Class)

We added Goeben and Breslau to the German side at Falklands once. Not very probable, but it did add some balance.

Try, as my friends and I have, some hypothetical battles in the Far East if Spee had not gone east. Several of your ships had sisters or near sisters on the China station. Spee in the Indian Ocean is another possibility.

Well, if you are thinking of Goeben and Breslau, they almost duked it out with Defence, Warrior, Black Prince and Duke of Edinburgh

Or

Goeben and Breslau vs the Russian predreads Evstafi, Rostislav, Pantelimion, Zlatoust and Tri Svititelia

Or

You can get some Japanese opponents for von Spee's sqadron – Ibuki, Hizen and Asama were all in on the hunt.

Or

A hypothetical Austro-Hungarian vs Italian/French scenario

SMS Emden to add to Spee

HMS Newcastle, Hampshire, Yarmouth and Weymouth as additional East Indies foes

Hunt Spee down with HMAS Australia, Sydney, and maybe Melbourne ( although Spee thought the Australia alone was superior to his entire force)

Another option in a different direction would be the High Seas Fleet and Grand Fleet battlecruiser forces for Dogger Bank and some near misses.

And match the I class BC from the Falklands against the Goeben, as they were in the Med hunting it as well.

David

Dogger Bank, the more I look at it the more it looks good. But is the battle very unbalanced?
Looks like the Germans would get pounded everytime.

Good thread, since I've recently picked 2 different WWI ruleset and have been wondering where to start.

Dogger Bank either has to be played with a fudged OOB (otherwise as you say, absent early German luck, they get pounded )or victory conditions based on the Germans getting away, either of which can be fun.

If you're looking to enhance around the Coronel and Falklands OOB's. I like adding Emden and Blucher since Blucher really did not belong in the High Seas Fleet trying to pretend she's a battlecruiser but out in the Pacific, she's one scary beast added to Scharnhorst and Gneisnau.

I'd certainly add Canopus, she's a clapped out pre-dread (Majestic class I think) with bad engines but she changes the equation if the Brits fall back on her. Defence is a far more modern armoured cruiser than Good Hope or Monmouth and gives the Brits a much better chance as well. The Brits also had an armed merchant cruiser Otranto that can at least occupy some of the German CL's and might have gotten lucky.

I recommend reading Massie's "Castles of Steel" for an description of Coronel and the Falklands and some of the possible variant OOB's that might have been involved.

The Scarborough Raid is a good "what-if scenario:

The raid
link

The order of battle
link

I generally use it as the scenario when I demo Naval Thunder: Clash of Dreadnoughts.

I'd certainly add Canopus, she's a clapped out pre-dread (Majestic class I think) with bad engines but she changes the equation if the Brits fall back on her.

Canopus was the lead ship of the class after the Majestics – slightly lighter and somewhat faster. There are a lot of sources that say Canopus' engines were fine – their condition was misrepresented to her captain by an insane chief engineer. I believe he was cashiered after the situation was investigated. Had her captain pushed her to her full capabilities, Canopus might have reached Coronel on time, or Craddock may have fallen back on her.

Yes, adding Blucher to the OOB, or Karlsruhe, as if she came around from the Atlantic would be interesting!

Also, there was an old Austrian cruiser at Tsingtao that Spee left behind.

The intention was for Canopus to be the unassailable fortress for the British cruisers to fall back on -- but I don't think given the disparity in crew qualities, that Canopus would have actually been a game changer.

Probably the same result would have ensued, just a little tougher for the Germans.

As far as hunting Von Spee I would suggest taking a look at Avalanche Press Cruiser Warfare for a plethora of alternate scenarios. Including adding SMS Moltke, as there were plans for her to join Goeben on overseas station.

When we started WW1 naval about a year ago, we decide to model the British and German BC fleets, as they saw the most action.

Alternately the Russians vs. Turks in the Black sea would be good, Goeben under the Ottoman Flag, Russian pre-dreads, and very nice DD's, a whole slew of absurd square rigged gunboats, seaplane carriers, U-boats, the Bulgarian navy etc…

@Inari7
The Age of Dreadnoughts scenario for Dogger Bank has the Germans winning by escaping, and at any point in the game forcing the British to "see a periscope" and attempt a turn away…
In a straight up duel, Hipper probably will get pounded, but a well crafted scenario can add historical objectives and make a playable game.

Good Luck and have fun! This is probably my favorite period, and any ole' fleet is good in my book!