VSF Scenario Design Contest Entries

Schwarzeradler Unten!

by blood on the sand

Scale

1/1200th scale

Rules

Great War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Black, Orange or Red (Avalanche Press) (aircraft and aircraft carrier rules needed)

Length

Until one of the victory conditions are met

Players

2 sides - British and German

Forces

British - Royal Navy Forces

• HMS Ark Royal carrier (plus full 3 squadrons)
• HMS Owen Spencer cruiser
• HMS Juno destroyer
• HMS Hamilton patrol nef
• HMS Winnipeg patrol nef
• Royal Navy Para-commando flotilla (entire 52nd Regiment)
  • HMS Anson (heavy dig cruiser)
  • 4x Heavy Assault Blimps (large dig)
  • 2x Light Assault Blimps (small dig)
• 386th Bomber Squadron (fixed-wing bomber)

German - Deutsche Reichsmars Luftmarine Forces

• SMS Schwarzeradler battleship
• SMS Iannenberg engineering support ship
• SMS Von Der Tann carrier (plus full 2 fighter squadrons)
• SMS Leipzig cruiser
• SMS Rolfstein light cruiser
• SMS Westfalen dig destroyer
• SMS Hamburg dig destroyer
• SMS Nuremberg dig destroyer
• SMS Schleswig dig battleship
• 171st Zeppelin Gunship Squadron (winged dig gunboat x4)

Situation

On October 3, 1893 the Deutsche Reichsmars Luftmarine (German Imperial Martian Aeronavy) took their first major aeronef loss since the Martian Wars 12 years earlier. Native Martians secretly working under Secret Service Bureau (AKA MI6) command successfully sabotaged the battleship Schwarzeradler.

The Schwarzeradler had been seen as a major provocation of the Imperial Martian Borders Act (1891) as it frequently made sorties into the demilitarized buffer zone between German and British imperial claims. The Kaiser initially denied the fact that the ship even existed, but when extensive photographs of the ship operating within the Anglo-German DMZ (believed to have been taken by the same Martian MI6 recruits) were presented before the League of Nations, the German representative claimed he could only elaborate that it was called the Schwarzeradler (the Black Eagle) and was the primary operating platform for elite German border guards in the fight against Martian insurgents operating from the mountainous DMZ.

The evening of October 1, the Schwarzeradler, along with her full compliment of Grenzwächter (border guards), left her dockyards on a mission to obliterate a suspected rebel camp in the mountains northeast of the Tyerrda refugee camp. When the enormous 'nef was suddenly rocked by a powerful explosion two days later at exactly 07:19 local time, the entire population of the refugee camp was awoken to watch the symbol of their enemy's power slam into the side of a nearby mountain and slide to rest in a relief valley. Within minutes the surviving crewmembers found themselves fighting off the rioting Martians. The Grenzwächter managed to hold off the feverish crowd while the engineers got the 'nef refloated but dead in the air and send off a general distress call. The call was picked up by both Royal Navy and DRL signal corps and the two forces had launched a rescue mission (or assault mission in RN's case) by noon that day.

Captain Frederick Schnieghffleigh and the remaining crew of the Schwarzeradler were now faced with the difficult decision of either holding out against Martian assaults (launched from the very base they were sent to destroy) until the DRL rescue squad arrived, or scuttling the ship to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Martian rebels.

The situation became even more complicated for the captain when the RN forces were sighted approaching from the southeast, at the same time the DRL rescuers were also spotted on the horizon closing equally fast. It was now a race for the Schwarzeradler between the Martian insurgents, and the renewed enemies Britain and Germany. The incident would burn itself into the history books as the spark that would re-ignite major hostilities on colonial Mars...

OBJECTIVES

German: RESCUE THE SCHWARZERADLER! Secure the crashsite with the fast reaction force. The Schwarzeradler has been rescued if the DRL holds the site when the Iannenberg arrives at the site. The German commander may choose to scuttle the ship at any point in the game unless it has been capture by the 52nd Para-commando.

British: CAPTURE AND\OR DESTROY THE SCHWARERADLER! The Schwarzeradler will be seized if 2 heavy assault blimps drop on the site (2 light assault blimps=1 heavy assault blimp).

VICTORY CONDITIONS:

• If the Schwarzeradler is rescued by the Iannenberg = automatic German victory
• If the Schwarzeradler is scuttled = whichever side has the most victory points at the end of the current impulse sequence is declared the winner
• If the Schwarzeradler is captured by the 52nd Paras = automatic British victory
• Optional capture-and-hold victory: whichever side seizes the Schwarzeradler must hold it for two more impulse sequences

Set-Up

You can get as creative or as plain as you want, since there aren't any special terrain requirements. I normally use some fabric draped over piled-up books for cheap, spiffy-looking, functional terrain. For Mars I'd suggest some partially spray-painted burlap.

Get creative though, make those ships look damn good and add lots of extras (like the Martian refugee camp and smoke coming out of the ship's stacks, etc.) that can be half the fun of miniature gaming.

Special Rules

• At the end of each impulse sequence, the German commander must roll 1D6; if a 6 is rolled then the Schwarzeradler is captured by the Martians. It can now be seized by only 1 heavy assault blimp, or can be recaptured by the Germans if the Iannenberg and two other combat vessels are within 1 inch of it for 1 full impulse sequence.
• Para-commando drops cost the dropping blimp all movement for that step of the impulse sequence and must be done within 1 inch of the Schwarzeradler.
• Use an aircraft or ship's anti-air\air to air coefficient when attacking zeppelin gunships. All other digs are considered ships when being attacked.
• Disregard weather.
• One aircraft stand equals one squadron. Treat as a multiple ship counter, just with aircraft. Squadron numbers are shown on the data sheet. If you have enough stands\models you may divide the squadron up, this is recommended for the bomber sq. Zeppelin gunships must are not divide this way, they are one ship per stand.
• Tertiary guns penetrate light armor at 3+ inches.
• Secondary guns Penetrate heavy armor at 3+ inches.
• Once gun ranges are halved, then hits are scored on 5 & 6.
• If air-to-air coefficient is starred, then a hit is scored on 5 & 6.
• All ‘nefs have an anti-air coefficient of 2.
• All digs have an air to air coefficient of 2*.
• For any air combat to occur, the targets must be within 2 inches of each other, unless the aircraft has tertiary guns (they're not exactly the same as tertiary guns on a nef or dig, but more like heavy machine guns with armor-piercing ammo).
• Disregard carrier landing rules, to land, re-arm\re-fuel and take off again takes 1 full impulse sequence (i.e. if the aircraft lands at step 12 in the sequence then it is airborne again on step 12 of the next sequence).
• Bombers cannot land on carriers and must drop all bombs on the same target.

Ship Data Table (measurements in inches)

L= light armor, H= heavy armor, no letter means no armor

Name/Victory points	Primary Range: 8	Secondary Range: 6	Tertiary Range: 4	Movement	Hull
Ark Royal	-	3	5	1	5H
Owen Spencer	4L	5	-	2+	12L
Juno	2L	4	2	2+	8L
Hamilton	-	1	3	2+	3L
Winnipeg	-	1	3	2+	3L
Anson	5L	5	-	2	10H
H.A.B. 1	-	3	-	2+	4L
H.A.B. 2	-	3	-	2+	4L
H.A.B. 3	-	3	-	2+	4L
H.A.B. 4	-	3	-	2+	4L
L.A.B. 1	-	2	-	3	3L
L.A.B. 2	-	2	-	3	3L
Schwarzeradler	-	-	-	-	6H
Iannenberg	-	4	-	2+	5L
Von Der Tann	2L	-	-	1	8L
Leipzig	3L	3	2	2	5H
Rolfstein	-	4	4	2+	8L
Westfalen	1L	3	-	2+	10L
Hamburg	1L	3	-	2+	10L
Nuremberg	1L	3	-	2+	10L
Schleswig	6L	4	-	2	8H

Aircraft Data Table

Name/Victory points	Bomb	Air to air	Movement	Other
Ark Royal Sq. 1 A B C D E		1*	6	Tertiary Guns 1 1 1 1 1
Ark Royal Sq. 2 A B C D E		1*	6	Tertiary Guns 1 1 1 1 1
Ark Royal Sq. 3 A B C D E		1*	6	Tertiary Guns 1 1 1 1 1
386th Bomber Sq. A B C D E	3 3 3 3 3	2	5
Von Der Tann Sq. 1 A B C D E	1 1 1 1 1	1	6
Von Der Tann Sq. 2 A B C D E	1 1 1 1 1	1	6
171st Zeppelin Gunship Sq. A B C D		2*	5	Tertiary Guns 2 2 2 2

Recommended Figures

Aeronef models from Brigade Miniatures:

Royal Navy Forces

• HMS Ark Royal (Albion class carrier, VAN-115) (plus full 3 squadrons (A1D Shinden fixed wing fighters, VAN-613))
• HMS Owen Spencer (Rawalpindi class colonial cruiser, VAN-104)
• HMS Juno (Arethusa class destroyer, VAN-112)
• HMS Hamilton (Steadfast class patrol nef, VAN-108)
• HMS Winnipeg (Steadfast class patrol nef, VAN-108)
• Royal Navy Para-commando flotilla (entire 52nd Regiment)
  • HMS Anson (Engadine class heavy dig cruiser, VAN-116)
  • 4x Heavy assault blimps (Large dig, VAN-904)
  • 2x Light assault blimps (Small dig, VAN-901)
• 386th Bomber Squadron (Fixed-wing bomber, VAN-903)

Deutsche Reichsmars Luftmarine Forces

• SMS Schwarzeradler (Moreno class battleship, VAN-1301)
• SMS Iannenberg (engineering support ship) (Smolensk class aeronef seaplane tender, VAN-507)
• SMS Von Der Tann (Ryujo class carrier, VAN-603) (plus full 2 fighter squadrons (fixed-wing fighter, VAN-902))
• SMS Leipzig (Koln class armoured cruiser, VAN-303)
• SMS Rolfstein (Emden class light cruiser, VAN-306)
• SMS Westfalen (Brandenburg class dig destroyer, VAN-309)
• SMS Hamburg (Brandenburg class dig destroyer, VAN-309)
• SMS Nuremberg (Brandenburg class dig destroyer, VAN-309)
• SMS Schleswig (Schleswig-Holstein class dig battleship, VAN-310)
• 171st Zeppelin Gunship Squadron (Seydlitz class winged dig gunboat x4, VAN-302)