"Shipwreck! Ambush in the South China Sea" Topic

Howdie.

Our first scenario game (rather than mechanical games), which went 7 turns, I think. Overall, a good game.

link

Thanks!

Chalfant

Neat!

My only experience with modern naval miniatures gaming is Harpoon back in the late 80s, so Shipwreck is somewhat intriguing to me.

Thanks for sharing. How do you feel about the rules? I am planning on ordering them later this month.

A great report!

Thanks for sharing.

"The PLAN were given some initiative by this set up, and with some careful planning, could perhaps strike a lethal blow against the running dog capitalists".

Why are the Chinese attacking their own forces, e.g. the "running dog capitalists"?

;-)

[no, I'm not confused, but am enjoying the irony of that statement, as well as the inverse situation]

Sounds like a decent "victory" to me, even with both Chinese vessels sunk.

Anytime you can sink an American ship, you've dealt a heavy blow, since we are so risk averse.

No doubt, the Americans forced the Chinese to attack them, due to their belligerent actions in their "lake". At least that is how it will be played out, on the evening news, by some nations.

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Looking forward to your wargaming the Senkaku situation soon, so we can see how that plays out.

You can now throw Chinese nuclear subs into the mix for scenarios, no doubt opposed by very well trained, and disciplined Japanese submariners, manning their diesel-electrics, and/or new AIP subs:

link

The latter seem especially suited to defending territory in coastal waters.

Now, where did I put those 1/300th scale Chinese jets I have, that need painting up?

Would love to see some new 1/600th scale Chinese jets as well. Rumor has it those are being worked on, and may be available, shortly.

I played Harpoon in the 80's also. Very detailed, but cumbersome and slow.

Shipwreck is a faster game, easier to learn and complete than Harpoon. There are abstractions (the abstractions involving subs are deemed "good" and "bad" by various parties…. but are probably the part I have heard the most complaints about), but mostly I enjoy Shipwreck.

The vessels are specific, the weapons are specific, its just the mechanics that are simplified. We can sit down, and complete a 7 turn game in about 2 hours, with 3 vessels sunk.

There are not many options for this genre… so far, Shipwreck is working for us. At some point, we will get into 1980's Cold War era gaming, I think this will work even better with those ships. Or at least, my Soviets will be on a more equal footing to the USN than my 1990's -2000's Chinese are, ha ha.

Very coincidentally, I've been thinking of using Shipwreck for a possible Diaoyu Dao / Senkaku Island scenario, too, so look forward to seeing what you might come up with. Of course, it would be nice to be able to fit some amphibious landings in as well.

To be honest, I don't have the rules yet, but was on the sidelines of a Shipwreck game that was run at CanGames, and the system seemed to work well.

I also managed to find a recently-published map of the islands…!

Yes, gaming this is starting to feel more pertinent as time goes on…. and by the way, I love throwing out the old Maoist jingoisms whenever I can :)

We were discussing the OH Perrys which are considered "worn" at this time, and evidently have their primary missile systems being replaced with 25mm guns. THOSE OH Perrys would be somewhat easier to take on, I think.

On the other hand, we are eventually working towards a large fleet action…. I am somewhat apprehensive about taking on a USN carrier group. Subs might be my best bet.

Chalfant

Thanks, Chalfant. I may have to pick this up!

Yea, or some of those untested anti-carrier ballistic missiles.

I'd put my money on them, to at least distract them a bit, if going up against a carrier group, as a regiment or two of cruise-missile carrying bombers attack, simultaneously.

On the plus side, the USN no longer has Tomcats, so that should help a little, but I don't envy the PLAN on that scenario.

If you can sink, or damage even a single American escort vessel, or two, you can declare "victory".

Nice job Chalfant!
Thanks for sharing thr write up.
I have Shipwreck and am working on 1/2400 scale US and Soviet ships…I think its time to get them on the table.
Joe

As far as any amphibious landing on the Senkaku Islands the pictures I have of them show very narrow beaches backed by slopes that are very steep and once you reach the summit you are on a razorback ridge. Perhaps one or more of the islands has some level ground but they look like the tops of undersea mountains. If anyone has a picture of one of them with some level ground I would really like to see it.

Try a Type 052D Luyang against a Burke or any VLS/Aegis equipped combatant in the region (i.e., JMSDF Kongo or SoKor Sejong) – that's a more balanced fight, and you'll have missiles aplenty airborne. Toss in a smaller 056 corvette and LCS or KDX as scouts to give you an introductory card fight…

If you can find them, the old Warship Commander rules did a much better job on EW and sonar than did Harpoon.