 Editor in Chief Bill   | 29 Jul 2017 11:04 a.m. PST |
What historical naval battles should every wargamer know? |
| Paint it Pink | 29 Jul 2017 11:17 a.m. PST |
Spanish Armada
Glorious First of June
Battle of the Nile
Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Jutland
Battle of the River Plate |
| Onomarchos | 29 Jul 2017 12:02 p.m. PST |
Midway
Trafalgar
Jutland
Tsushima
Salamis |
| nvdoyle | 29 Jul 2017 12:03 p.m. PST |
|
Ed Mohrmann  | 29 Jul 2017 12:28 p.m. PST |
Battle of Taranto (from which the Japanese got the idea
for a strike on Pearl Harbor)
Battle of the Capes (aka Chesapeake Bay) [British are
driven off by French, leading to Cornwallis's surrender
and (probably) American liberty]
Tsushima Strait (for the first time, radio comm critical
a battle
Coral Sea (first naval battle where the 'main batteries'
were all aircraft on both sides)
Lepanto (the end of the 'Age of Oar' and the beginning
of the 'Age of Sail') |
| Wackmole9 | 29 Jul 2017 12:30 p.m. PST |
Salamis
Lapanto
Trafalgar
Jutland
Midway |
 Yellow Admiral | 29 Jul 2017 1:05 p.m. PST |
Some of the top five that wargamers will know something about and think they want to play:
- Midway
- Jutland
- Trafalgar
- The 1588 Armada to England (not a single battle, but treated that way in light histories)
- Salamis
A random selection of five that wargamers should actually attempt to play:
- Second Guadalcanal, Nov 1942 (or alternatively First Guadalcanal, the cruiser action)
- Coronel, 1914
- Yellow Sea, 1904 (during the Russo-Japanese War)
- Trincomalee, 1782 (or really any of the five Suffren/Hughes encounters in the Indian Ocean: Sadras, Providien, Negapatam, Trincomalee, Cuddalore)
- Leghorn (Livorno), 1653
I leave out galley battles and carrier battles as, in general, they are not good subjects for miniature wargames, requiring either severe bathtubbing, severe abstraction, or a massive effort involving lots of miniatures and lots of gamers. Of course, I am determined to play them anyway, but I'm a loony naval gamers, so I have an excuse. - Ix |
| Winston Smith | 29 Jul 2017 1:11 p.m. PST |
Midway
All the actions around Guadalcanal. That campaign impressed me with how quickly the USN caught up from the disaster at Savo Island. And of course Jutland. |
 Herkybird | 29 Jul 2017 3:04 p.m. PST |
Salamis
Midway
Hunting the Bismarck
Trafalgar
Tsushima |
| KSmyth | 29 Jul 2017 5:09 p.m. PST |
The Battles of Leyte Gulf
Hampton Roads (Monitor vs. Merrimac)
Trafalgar
Sluys
The Armada |
 etotheipi  | 29 Jul 2017 6:46 p.m. PST |
Salamis – If you haven't put a billion ships in a little harbor, you just haven't fought naval wargames! Trafalgar – The three most important things in naval warfare are maneuver, maneuver, and maneuver! Midway – The best defense is a good offense … with dive-bombers! Lepanto – What characterizes naval warfare better than an infantry battle? Dan-no-ura no tatakai – If you can't work the tides, you can't work the ships! |
| Wargamer Blue | 30 Jul 2017 2:48 a.m. PST |
Trafalgar
River Plate
Sunda Strait
Tsushima
Jutland |
| troopwo | 30 Jul 2017 7:43 a.m. PST |
Salamis
Actium
Lepanto
Defeat of the Armada While the choices of first and second war battles so far puzzles me. While many are influential and possibly tide changeing, I might not qualify them as war winning. If I had to pick one from the first and second world war, let it be the longest most drawn out and an event upon which the war depended. The Battle of the Atlantic. A six year struggle that covered a few thousand mile and tens of thousands of ships. The war depended on its' outcome. |
| Mollinary | 30 Jul 2017 2:31 p.m. PST |
Salamis
Actium
Trafalgar
Tsushima
Atlantic |
| GildasFacit | 30 Jul 2017 2:49 p.m. PST |
Salamis, Actium or Chios in the pre-gunpowder era. Actium would be my choice. One of the Dutch wars battles for early gunpowder. Armada is too indecisive – the 4 days battle is my choice. I prefer Glorious 1st of June to Trafalgar but either is good. After that it gets difficult. Neither Lissa nor any RJW battles were typical of their period and they are all we have for early steam period. Yellow Sea is probably more typical than Tushima. Jutland is a must – unplayable but a must. I class Midway as an air battle but Leyte Gulf combines all the parts of a WW2 naval action in one battle. River Plate has lots of British 'pluck' but the outcome of a wargame wouldn't be much in doubt, unlike reality. |
| Old Contemptibles | 30 Jul 2017 6:08 p.m. PST |
I don't believe in the five choice scenario. Salamis
Lepanto
Virginia Capes
The Glorious First of June
Trafalgar
Santiago de Cuba
Tsushima
Jutland
Pearl Harbor
Midway
Convoy ONS 5
Savo Island
Leyte Gulf
Philippine Sea |
| Ottoathome | 30 Jul 2017 7:29 p.m. PST |
Why do they have to know them? |
| Narratio | 30 Jul 2017 8:34 p.m. PST |
The Glorious 1st June (soooooo pretty!) Salamis – the first attempt at making a naval battle an infantry battle. Memory failing. English vs Dutch… that running battle in 1666? Took 4 days. Most probably called the 4 day battle. I can't get Google up and running and my memory is offline. I remember some great paintings came out of it. It was about 80 ships per side. The rest? nah. These are the ones I'd choose. |
| DeRuyter | 31 Jul 2017 10:19 a.m. PST |
Some additions: The Raid on Medway- Anglo-Dutch Wars – - Dutch sail into the English backyard. Battle of Lissa 1811 – like Trafalgar only with frigates. Battle of Lissa 1866 – first sea battle between ironclads Battle of Lake Erie – very decisive! Battle of Grand Port 1811 – What the French won a naval battle in the Napoleonic wars! Battle of Mobile – damn the torpedos! Battle of Manila Bay – you may fire when ready Gridley! Operation Dynamo – battle or rescue op – maybe this should be in the category of movies every wargamer should see! |
| Khusrau | 31 Jul 2017 3:23 p.m. PST |
I would also add in the 1914 Falklands engagement. And River Plate is iconic. |
