"Cruiser action in the atlantic" Topic

Hello, for those interested I've made a battlereport of a fictional cruiser action of Germany vs UK, used to playtest some new rules.

I hope you will enjoy…

The game setting is 'pickup' game, so no historical scenario.

Order of Battle:

Germany

Officer: Konteradmiral
- CA Admiral Graf Spee
- CA Admiral Scheer
- CA Prinz Eugen

Officer: Kommodore
- DD Z-24
- DD Z-26
- DD Z-27

United Kingdom
Officer: Commodore
- CA Exeter
- CL Leander
- CL Achilles
- CL Neptune

Officer: Commander
- DD Jervis
- DD Jackal
- DD Kipling
- DD Kelvin

The mix of forces left the Germans with fewer ships but better range and firepower while the british had more ships but they really need to close the range to win this battle.

Read more and pictures:
‌link

I want to compliment you on the rain squall. It looks great and is a very nice "terrain" piece to have on the table.

I was reading your blog and was intrigued by the ruleset you are creating. Although you speak of creating a more detailed WAS type game, it appears your game doesn't limit the number of ships per hex (and it appears hexes are done away with and replaced by some type of movement using the calipers) and the ship cards are much different. Would you provide more details here or on your blog as to what you are creating and how it is working out? Will you be releasing a "final" ruleset at some point? I like the graphics on the cards and reference sheets.
thanks for any further info you provide,
glen

Love the squall!

Hey Glen,

I've made some posts already on my blog explaining some of the thought process and objectives for my game. You can check those out. More will follow on the mechanics as I flesh them out.

I started out from War at Sea because it is so unlike any other naval miniatures game. Its got tension because of the 'gamey' aspects of it. Its much more a game than an attempt at a simulation which all others try to do in some way.

So I took that premise, reworked the special abilities into a command station and added hexless movement. Then when facings became important I reworked the gunnery system. So one thing leads to another which makes it not much like WaS any more but for the basic premise.

Still it is an easy game to pick up. My opponent for this playtest had a little experience with WaS and no experience with any other Naval miniatures game. Still I explained the game and we played it to the bitter end in under 2,5 hours, which is not bad for a battle containing 14 ships. I haven't worked out any 'game end conditions', so with those in place even bigger battles can be fought in a short timespan.

I have a draft ruleset, command stations and statcards in PDF, but some of it is still experimental like the sub and air rules. I someone is interested in playtesting I can probably fix something.

Thanks for the responses :)

That does look like a super game, with the rain squall, what appear to be lighted explosion markers, and also the superbly painted sea terrain.

I love the very realistic waves effects of it, and would like to know if you created it (and if so, how), and/or if you purchased it?

I'd be interest in play testing. My experience is gq3 plus a friend's home brew and have most fleets for ww1 and 2 including some obscure odds and ends!

Your rules look really interesting!

Eccl.
I did read the Dec 2014 posts on your blog. I got a bit confused on some of it, probably cause you referenced the rules being somewhat based on WAS, but I also saw references in other areas of your blog on VAS (Mongoose's game) and looking at the cards was thinking that maybe it leaned more in that direction.
I take it that gunfire hits on a 6, and based on the ship cards they appear to roll a lot less dice (unless you multiply the no. on the card by the number of guns).

In any case I was especially drawn to the command dice rolls. It sort of reminded me of Chain of Command and I like that system.

I also would be willing to help play test the rules. Let us know how to contact you (here or your blog?). You can reach me at
glenmwilli at msn dot com

I am always looking for a less complex set of rules for those times I want to spend an hour or so with gamers that dont play naval games and cant handle Seekreig V or even GQ3 (but I'm not a fan of AA's WAS and I spent alot of time in the past trying to improve upon the VAS game thinking it might fit that bill but finally just shelved it. (heard it was revised but I havent tried the revised version of it yet.)

Excellent "game" rules so far. Close and tense.

More of an aerial than naval guy but I hope to see more AARs in the future.

I'm currently working on update 0.6, working in all the feedback I've received till now. If your interested in trying the set out, leave a message at my blog, then I'll send what I've got.

Hello Mako,

The ocean tablecloth is of my own making. I got some leftover fabric from a fabric store (I think it might have been like an old curtain fabric in a former life) and then worked it with cheap acrilic paints, all kinds of shades of blue, working it up to white in the end for the wavetops.

I've added a post to my blog for everyone that is interested in playtesting the rules:

link