I've now played a full solitaire game of Torpedoes and Tides, using the Campaign Rules. I used all my Fairmille models to give me a flotilla of three MTBs and two MGBs. The lead character was Lt. "Dusty" Rhodes but he didn't do so well so another boat commander ended up being my main character.
I gave all the dogboats Q3, so the flotilla isn't green, but it's fairly new to the war, so just barely Competent I rolled a Convoy Attack mission. We pick up the action in front of the Senior Naval Officer.
***
Lt John Miller, RCNVR, "Dusty" to his friends, stood uneasily in front of the desk of Commander Jennings, referred to soto voce in the flotilla as "The Dragon". Jennings had been a year from retirement when the war began, and although he had been a dashing torpedo boat skipper in the last war, his approach was by the book and he did not like undisciplined Canadians.
Jennings put down the after action report and pointed his pipe stem at Miller. "Well, you did well, at least, but it was a damned poor show all around."
Miller, still short of sleep, struggled to recall the events of last night. The convoy had been there on its reported route, and had first been spotted by Lt Harry "The Hammer" Fields in his MGB. "It's hammering time!" Fields had shouted over the radio as his guns unleashed on a small German escort, an R-boat at close range.
The Canadian flotilla approaches in darkness under blinds. The white cotton depicts a fog bank. Harry's MGB is close enough to the Raum-botte and a freighter behind it that they come off blinds. Harry fires, but to no effect.
"I don't know what Rhodes was thinking, having you all charging in pell-mell like that. What was he thinking?"
"We were all eager, sir, it was our first show." Miller recalled their flotilla skipper, Peter "Rocky" Rhodes, ordering them to "get stuck in, full throttle" and Miller suddenly finding himself within spitting distance of the small escort, it's tracers flying overhead and chewing up his Fairmille's woodwork.
Miller's boat takes a point of damage and is now operating on one red dice. Because the German now has initiative, and the R-boat must move at least a short move forward before turning, it bashes into the MTF of Lt Rouleau. Both the British and German boats take damage.
The German R-boat skipper is undergunned but gamely hangs in, happy to play bumper boats and spoil the British attack. Meanwhile, the other MGB in the flotilla, under Bruce "Fairway" McGregor, lights up the German freighter but doesn't do any real damage. The red chits are for the optional muzzle flash rules, meaning that a boat that fires is easier to hit.
"There's a difference between eager and stupid," Jennings growled. "I'd say getting your boat cut in half is just plain stupid."
Rhodes is too close to the oncoming German minesweeper, the large escort. It was a hard way to learn the collision rules, especially as the British lost the initiative at this point and the Large German ship cuts through the MTB like a knife through butter.
"Yes, sir. I hope my report made it clear that Lt. McGregor was able to rescue Rhodes and his crew while under fire."
Miller recalled glancing at the minesweeper, her secondary armament lashing the water as McGregor's men cooly plucked their mates from the sea.
"That was a good show, McGregor showed guts. Good sort of man to have in a gunboat."
Jennings allowed himself a flinty smile. "And you managed to redeem this dog's breakfast of a show."
"It was hard to miss at that range, sir. Got the last freighter amidships and she broke in two. We were able to get out in the confusion."
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Miller fires two fish at close range, if he was any closer there wouldn't have been enough time for the torpedoes to arm. He's rewarded with one hit, which does catastrophic damage to the freighter.
Jennings sat back in his seat and relit his pipe before looking up at Miller from under his bushy eyebrows. "The MO is looking over Rhodes and his lot. I can't produce dog boats from thin air, so you're down a boat and I'm giving you the flotilla. Do better than Rhodes and you might keep it. Go get some rest, you'll need it. Dismissed."
***
At the dockyard, the base chief engineer says he's busy and shorthanded. I roll a 5 on 2d6, and since I have one boat with two damage (Rouleau's MTB) and two boats with 1 damage (McGregor's MGB and Miller's MTB), I decide to fix one point on Rouleau's boat and one on Miller's. The MTB's take precedence.
All the crews in the flotilla get an experience point for being in a battle. McGregor's crew gets an experience point for rescuing Rhodes and his crew. Miller's crew gets three points for sinking an enemy freighter.
Rhode's reputation is not enhanced by losing his boat and two of his MTBs not firing any fish. Rhodes' reputation goes down by 1 and is now -1.
I now check for an event and Miller is awakened the next day to the unwelcome news that the base is getting a surprise visit from an Admiral. There's enough time to make and mend and clear away last night's empty gin bottles. The flotilla makes a good showing and the Admiral is pleased with his fighting Canadians.
I now need a personality for Lt Miller so I roll up the following stats for him:
Stamina: 3; Charisma: 3; Tactics: 4
We'll see if Dusty Miller has what it takes to keep the flotilla and do better than poor Rhodes.
A note about the ship models:
The R-boat is a 3D print of a file from Thingverse (do a search there under Cruel Seas and you'll find all manner of helpful files). The minesweeper and the three merchant ships are from Skytrex, and may get properly painted before their next outing.
Cheers and blessings to your die rolls!
MP+
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