From RCVaughan
Watermarked PDF – $2.99 USD
My object is to surprise and sink transports and enemy warships (before air attack can develop). Objective chosen will depend on air reconnaissance. Intend to arrive at the objective after sunrise tomorrow 10th. If an opportunity to bring KONGO to action occurs this is to take precedence over all other action.
– Admiral Tom Phillips, extract from his orders to Force Z
This is a scenario for my ruleset There's The Effing Scheer, and its expansion Striking Effectively First, which allows you to wargame early- to mid-war WWII naval combat.
On the face of it, an operation involving Force Z in December 1941 should not be that interesting of one to refight. Will the capital ships escape back to port, or will the Japanese land-based bombers find and finish them before they can make it? A scenario where one side is running and the other is trying to catch them felt too much down to just luck.
But as always, I want to put you in the shoes of the commanders. The Japanese might hope that the British will turn away to the south, but can they count on it? What if Phillips accepts the risk of those Nell and Betty bombers and commits to a night attack, how will you defend the slow transports? Which ships are you willing to sacrifice? The British have their own choices: will Phillips decide to keep Prince of Wales and Repulse together or split them up? Will they fight then run for home, or just slip away? There are not a thousand choices but there are definitely some different avenues to take.
Of course, I didn't just want to stick to the history of what happened. The Japanese have the entire Second Fleet, an air flotilla, and more than a score of transports on their side, so which butterflies could flap their wings? Beyond taking more ships out of Singapore with Force Z, we can give the British the carrier Indomitable, or we can change their starting position. What if they had left sooner and could engage the transports and their escorts? Or what if Force Z were already in place before the landings? But I digress…
Can the Japanese keep their vital transports safe on the first night, to vector in their bombers the next morning? Or will Phillips run amok among the separate Japanese task forces before being brought to battle? The choices are yours.
Happy gaming.