"Anyone play Fleet Action Imminent?" Topic

My buddies and I played this a few times, and have a couple of questions about using destroyer flotillas. I've posted this on the ODGW forum but no one has replied in over two weeks.

When you use flotillas, you're running five or six destroyers/torpedo boats per stand. The big question is about how to allocate critical hits from other ships onto a stand that represents multiple ships. Anyone play this and have an answer? Special concern is about critical hits.

Thanks in advance,
Rob

I just allocate across the numbers so if there are two, one each gets allocated going down the list. We treat hits the same way, 1 through 4-6 and then start over.

Rob,

Hi! Apologies for the crickets on the ODGW forum. I've forward your question to the Author Lonnie Gill and asked that he reply on the ODGW forum.

Thanks for your support and playing FAI!

Fair Winds,
Kenny
ODGW

When you use flotillas, you're running five or six destroyers/torpedo boats per stand.

I'm not.

What the rules actually say is:

You can streamline movement of these units by placing the individual miniatures in column on blue masking tape or on blue 3x5 cards so they can be moved together until forced to haul out of line from damage or in close proximity to opponents.

The way I handle this is to insist that players keep flotilla members together as a group, in a proper formation, measuring only the front DD moves and just lining up the others based on that move, closing up the formation as individual DDs have to drop out from damage/retreat/sinking. When flotillas disintegrate from damage and sinkings, I just sorta let it go and allow players to measure the individual moves.

I've never had an issue with Critcal Hits on flotillas because shooters aim at individual members, not the flotilla as a whole, so you know where the hits landed. I don't know of any rules that suggest doing otherwise. Some of the regular hits and critical hits are difficult to mark (fires, rudder, bridge, etc.) but we make do.

- Ix

Kenny…thank you for forwarding that. I absolutely don't mean it as a negative to you guys…I love the rules, and have always had good experiences with ODGW. I just hadn't seen a response before, so thank you!

Yellow Ad: I may have misunderstood that rule, then. I thought when it said to use the flotilla markers, it was so you didn't have to put so many DDs on the table. I just put two models on a stand and called it a flotilla. Oops!If the author doesn't offer any solution other than that, I guess I'll just have to buy some more ships….oh darn! Haha!

Just a thought to consider---Avalanche Press uses a single counter to represent 3 DD. However, their hit record sheet shows all three ships for that counter. You could still use that set up where each DD represents 3-4 DD and allocate hits or critical hits randomly among them. Of course just buying and painting up more DD's is another option a few of us have done. ;-)

Minis in my Waterloo: Interesting, you and I both interpreted the flotilla marking incorrectly in the same manner. I had decided on that interpretation to just paint more minis.

You could still use that set up where each DD represents 3-4 DD and allocate hits or critical hits randomly among them.

Not a bad idea. I may try that.

- Ix

I did hear from the ODGW staff on their forum, and of course I did misinterpret the rule. Kind of bummed…I was hoping not to clutter up the table with too many DDs running around, and my one base with two models staggered on it looks cool…but not correct. I was thinking that perhaps if you have a flotilla of five or six ships, represented by an oversized base with a couple of models on it, you could still use the flotilla chart for standard recordkeeping.

I haven't found any good reference material for DD tactics in the first World War. Would they have attacked as a group? If so, would they have launched a massive number of torpedoes against a single ship or cluster of ships? If one out of five takes a rudder critical, or a bridge critical, would it just drop out and the remainder of the flotilla continue moving together?

I'm going to take that last paragraph and start a new thread about tactics, just to keep it neat. Thanks for all the input, guys!