The Singapore Sling Volume 2: News From Our PBEM Campaign

 Our naval defence correspondent "Neptune"offers another column from his vantage point at the Empire Lounge, Raffles Hotel (reflecting state of play in our PBEM campaign after two turns, with much information concealed for the purposes of OPSEC - ref).

TSINGTAO A FORTIFIED CAMP

Tsingtao in more pleasant times.

Neptune remembers Tsingtao as having a very pleasant climate, a curious German style rice beer, and some rather shocking Teutonic architecture.  However, he has just spoken to several English families on the last steamer out  before the declaration of hostilities, and they describe that the town and port now resemble an armed camp.   Apparently there has been an influx of young German men from the Fatherland, and much activity in the harbour, which was sealed off by armed naval guards.   The English report that they were taken to their ship at night, so were unable to see much.   We hope that Admiral Jerram will find and destroy what now appears to be a nest of Hun raiders.

OUTRAGE IN THE CAROLINES

Sources in the Telegraph Exchange inform Neptune that an urgent message was overhead from the French colony Tout Compris in the Caroline Islands.   The message, which was incomplete, reported that the harbour was under attack by an enemy warship.  While we are tempted to explain this message by reference to the excitable temperaments of our Gallic friends, it is equally possible that some Hun raiders put to sea before the commencement of hostilities.    Such a possibility is concerning but our faith in the Royal Navy abounds.

The French armoured cruiser Dupleix.

Neptune wonders if finding the guilty party will be the task of the Dupleix.  This fine armoured cruiser is the first French warship to be assigned to the Pacific, and we welcome her contribution.

 SS MATHERAN MISSING

SS Matheran in happier times.

The mercantile community is expressing concerns that a fixture of these coasts, the SS Matheran, is overdue.  Her last reported position was in the Caroline Sea, and there are fears that she may have encountered the same Huns who attacked Tout Compris.  

Neptune welcomes all tips and information, as well as drink offers.  He can be found most days at the Empire Lounge, at his usual table for the 4pm Happy Hour.

The Singapore Sling Volume 1: With News On the Naval Excitement in the Pacific

 Herewith a tongue in cheek narrative of "Swan of the East", the play by email game currently under way. M

From our correspondent "Neptune", from his vantage point in the Empire Lounge, Raffles Hotel, Singapore.

With war now broken out all over the vast globe, our eyes are firmly fixed on the Pacific and the drama being played out here as we await news from the battlefields of Europe.

WHERE IS VON SPEE?

Was it only this spring that Admiral Von Spee and his East Asiatic Squadron made a port visit here?  The belles of Singapore certainly remember with fond recollection his glittering train of young gallant young officers, and the many balls and soirees held in their honour.   Our understanding is that his squadron, now turned foe, are lurking at their base in Tsingtao, and it is hoped that the Royal Navy may soon bottle him up there.

A few other odds and ends are thought to be lurking about, including the light cruiser Koenigsberg, rumoured to be in one of Germany's East Africa ports, but we are told she poses little threat.

DEFENDERS OF THE EMPIRE

Like a naval version of the Round Table, the Royal Navy has a host of paladins who are equal to the task of defending the sea lanes and defeating the Kaiser's pirates.

Senior among them is the bluff old sea-dog, Vice Admiral Martyn Jerram.  His China Squadron is said to be departing Hong Kong as I write this to confront Von Spee in his lair at Tsingtao.

The handsome and experienced Rear Admiral Sir George Edwin Patey has the honour of commanding the Empire's first colonial squadron, the Royal Navy's Australia squadron.

Admiral Patey's flagship, HMAS Australia, is one of the Royal Navy's vaunted battlecruisers.  Fast and deadly, she is more than a match for anything the Kaiser has afloat in the Pacific.

From his base in South Africa, one of the Royal Navy's most seasoned salts, Rear Admiral King Hall commands the Cape Squadron.

While there are rumours that the German navy will try and sneak a ship or two around the Cape and into the Pacific, we have no doubt that Admiral King Hall and his crack squadron will see them off.

ALLIED ASSISTANCE

A source in the Russian consulate here in Singapore tells us that a powerful squadron of the Czar's navy has departed its based in Vladivostock to assist the Allied cause.   We hear that these ships are commanded by veterans and boast the latest technology, a surprise to us as we thought the Russian navy was wiped out by the Japanese, whom we also are told will soon be our new allies.   In this strange world, old enemies are new comrades.

If you have news that you would like to share with our correspondent "Neptune", he can usually be found in Raffles Hotel most afternoons starting at the 4pm Happy Hour, and he would be happy to accept your offer of a drink and news.

Mike's Fighting Ships: A Player's Aid for the Swan of the East PBEM Game

Lately my modelling and hobby work has focused on cranking out 1/2400 scale ships for the Great War naval campaign that I'm running.  I'd love to say more about it, but it's all hush hush.   I look forward to telling the story when it's all over.

This blog post shows off the work I've done lately (a mix of Tumbling Dice and GHQ models) and is intended as a player aid to help recognize ships when I send digital photos of what the players might be seeing from their bridges.  I won't identify the ships, I'll just show them photos of what they see.  So in lieu of Jane's Fighting Ships, here is Mike's Fighting Ships.   

German battle cruiser, Moltke class.  Ships in class:  Moltke, Goeben.  10 28cm (11"), 12 15cm (5.9") guns, speed 25.5 knots.

German armoured cruiser, Scharnhorst class.  Ships in class:  Scharnhorst, Gneisnau. 8 21cm (8.3"), 6 15cm (5.9") guns, speed 22.5 knots.

German light cruiser, Magdeburg class.  Ships in class:  Magdeburg, Breslau, Strassburg, Stalsund.  12 10.5 cm (4.1") guns, top speed 27.5 knots.

German light cruiser, Dresden class.  Ships in class:  Dresden, Emden.  10 10.5cm (4.1") guns, top speed 25 knots.

German light cruiser, Koenigsberg class.  Ships in class: Koenigsberg, Stettin, Stuttgart, Nurnberg.   Ten 10.5cm (4.1") guns, top speed 24.1 knots:

British battle cruiser, Indefatigable class.  Ships in class:  Indefatigable, Australia, New Zealand.  8 12" guns, top speed 25.8 knots.

British pre-dreadnought battleship, Swiftsure class.  Ships in class:  Swiftsure, Triumph.  4 10", 14 7.5" guns, top speed 19 knots.

British pre-dreadnought battleship, Canopus class.  Ships in class:  Canopus, Glory, Albion, Ocean, Goliath, Vengeance.  4 12 inch guns, 12 6 inch guns, top speed 18 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Minotaur class.  Ships in class: Minotaur, Shannon, Defence. 4 9.2", 10 7.5" guns, top speed 23 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Monmouth class.  Ships in class:  Monmouth, Bedford, Essex, Kent, Berwick, Cornwall, Cumberland, Donegal, Lancaster, Suffolk.  12 6" guns, top speed 23 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Drake class.  Ships in class:  Drake, Good Hope, King Alfred, Leviathan.  2 9.2", 16 6" guns, top speed 23 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Devonshire Class.  Ships in class: Devonshire, Antrim, Argyll, Hampshire,  Carnarvon, Roxburgh. 4 7.5 inch guns, 6 inch guns, top speed 22 knots.

British  Town class light cruiser.  Various sub-classes, 21 in all.   6-10 6" guns, top speed 25 knots.

Japanese armoured cruiser (arguably a battle cruiser),   Ibuki class.  Ships in class:  Ibuki, Kurama.  4 12", 8 8" guns, speed 21.5 knots.

Japanese protected cruiser,   Chikuma class.  Ships in class:  Chikuma, Yahagi, Hirado.  8 6" guns, speed 26 knots.

Russian protected (light) cruiser Askold, unique design. 12 5" guns, speed 23.8 knots.

Russian Izumrud class protected (light) cruiser.  Ships in class:  Izumrud, Jemtchug.  6 4.7" guns.  Speed 24 knots.

Armed merchant cruisers (converted passenger ships).   Used by both sides.  Varying light armaments and speeds.

A humble and typical merchant ship.

Swan of the East: A Great War Naval PBEM Game - Players Needed

 

Hello friends:

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I've been thinking about a Play By Email naval campaign loosely based on the exploits of the German raider Emden in the first year of the Great War.

I'm happy to say that I have some campaign rules, a map, and some models.   I already have some players, but I could use a few more.  If you'd like to be one of the Kaiser's pirates and command a swashbuckling commerce raider, or if you want to run with the hounds as a dogged Royal Navy squadron commander, please let me know.    I might even have a role for someone who wants to be Winston Churchill, First Sea Lord, so they can hector and annoy the other British players.

Have a look at the campaign rules (Dropbox link here) and if you like what you say leave a message in the comments with your command preference.   You can also email me at madpadre (at) gmail (dot) com.  Please be aware that while I will try to keep the game moving, it will not be for those needing instant gratification.

I hope to have the spots full and the players briefed by mid-June, and play start in July when I'm back from two weeks holidays.

Cheers,

Michael

Back to the Denmark Straits: Some GHQ WW2 Famous Adversaries

 The naval minded among you will know that today, 27 May, is the anniversary of the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.  It seems like a fortuitous day to show off these recently completed 1/2400 naval models from GHQ.

Bismarck and Prinz Eugen:

Hard to tell which is which from this angle.   You can see how the British were confused at Denmark Strait and mistook Prinz Eugen for Bismarck, as the silhouettes are very similar.

Easier to tell them apart in this shot.  That's Bismarck on the left.

And of course their brave adversaries, including the poor doomed Hood and Prince of Wales beside her, though for some reason steaming in the opposite direction!

There's something rather sad about the fact that of these four ships, only one would survive the war.

Not much to say about the painting of these models, I start with a medium gray (Americana craft paint), then cover it with Army Painter Dark Tone wash, then a light drybrush with a light gray.    I paint the decks using Tamiya Deck Tan, and then give it a wash with Army Painter Light Tone.  The Light Tone has the added benefit of adding hints of rust to the hulls.   The bases are handcut polystyrene painted with Americana Navy Blue, drybrushed with Americana True Blue, and then stippled with light grey to give the wave effects.  The bow waves and wakes are a mixture of white craft glue and light grey paint.

Hopefully I'll find time to do a Denmark Strait matchup using the Naval Thunder WW2 rules, though in my heart I know who I want to win!   

Cheers and thanks for looking.  Blessings to your die rolls.

MP+

Some More Thoughts About a Great War Naval Campaign

Kapitän zur See Karl Von Muller, Emden's captain.

Grateful to Thomas Brandsetter, a reader of this blog, and with a cracking good blog of his own, for suggesting that I look at a YouTube video of a fantastic naval campaign, The Hunt for the Goeben,  which was great fun to watch and chock full of ideas worth stealing.  I especially liked how the GM focused it on the Goeben, but added friction between allied (French and English) forces, and also included the Austrian navy as a player.  I also admired how requiring that French troop convoys be escorted from N Africa to France added strategic constraints for the allies and possible targets for the German and Austrian players.

The 1914 campaign I'm contemplating is a little more abstract (area movement vs hex movement in the Goeben campaign) but there are allied navies (the French and Russians have several ships in the N Pacific and the Japanese may enter the war - think of the language problems), there are also allied troop convoys to be escorted, and adding Von Spee's squadron as a possible threat would keep the allies honest and give the star of the show, the Emden, some potential cover and helpful diversions of enemy hunters.

As an example of the area movement system I'm contemplating, here's a portion of the map from Avalanche Press' Cruiser Warfare, showing dispositions at the end of the Aug I turn (turns will be biweekly, two a month).  Ships can move one area a turn.

Here Emden has slipped out of Tsingtao at the start of hostilities, leaving ahead of a French and English fleet which are now blockading the German-held port; Emden's goal is to unite with Von Spee's squadron at a pre-arranged location and receive further orders.  Meanwhile, the rest of Admiral Jerram's China Squadron is keeping station in the South China Sea in case Emden tried to head south.  Unlike the Goeben game where ships move through specific hexes, the mechanic I am taking from Cruiser Warfare allows a ship or group of ships to search within an area each turn, with success after applied modifiers on a 5 or 6 on 1d6.  A "6" means that the searchers achieve surprise, rather like HMAS Sydney surprising Emden at the Cocos Islands.  I'm considering changing the mechanic slightly and using a d8 or even a d10, just to give the raiders more of a chance.

Once a ship is sighted, the next step is to determine time of day.   I think merchant ships will automatically be sighted during the day, but for encounters between hostile warships I'm thought of a d6 to determine AM or PM and a d12 to determine the hour of contact.   The next step would be a mechanism to determine the distance of the contact (close, medium, far) and that might be up to the player, eg "You see smoke of [# of ships] on the horizon, do you wish to investigate or to steer away from the smoke?".  After that it would be a matter of the relative speed of the ships, possibly limited by damage from a previous encounter or coal supplies, to see whether a fight happens.

Thinking about the time of day a fight might occur led me to investigate night-fighting according to Naval Thunder: Clash of Dreadnoughts (NTCD), the rules I will be using for this campaign.  The German Navy put great stock in night fighting, and you may recall that at Jutland several British ships were mauled when they got caught in searchlights and gunfire.  In NTCD, the German player enjoys a first salvo at night, which means that a German raider might have a better chance to survive a combat if at night.

To test that proposition, I introduced two likely opponents, SMS Koenigsberg, sortieing from her starting position in East Africa, and the HMS Weymouth (below).

Both ships are light cruisers, but Weymouth has superior guns (6 inch vs 4 inch) and can take more damage (22 damage points to the German 14).  Both ships are lightly armoured, so any hit had a good chance of penetrating and causing critical damage.   Since I was pressed for time, I used the mapboard from the old Avalon Hill game Wooden Ships and Iron Men, and the counters from Avalanche's Cruiser Warfare.  I used the stats and rules from NTCD.

I played three encounters, starting at medium or close range and in all three fights the German first salvo was a definite advantage.  In the first fight, Weymouth obligingly exploded from a magazine hit before it could return fire.  In the second and third, Weymouth returned fire but also lost, though not before causing enough damage to Koenigsberg to make her future raiding career precarious.  The lesson is that while the German player should avoid battle whenever possible, a night fight offers the best chance of survival.

Next steps:  

1) keep play testing

2) write a simple set of rules and briefings for players (reach out if you're interested in a slow PBEM campaign)

3) recruit some players for a June start

4) build more model ships!

Thanks for reading and always grateful for your ideas and suggestions.

Cheers and blessings,

MP+

Mustering Into Service: Rostovski Regiment (SYW Foundry Figs)

Marching out of the basing depot and mustering into the Czar's service is this new regiment for my Russian Seven Years War army.  These are 28mm Foundry figures, Russian infantry in red waistcoats, and they fly the banner of the Rostovski Regiment (flags by Adolfo Ramos).   They are mostly painted using the Foundry tri-tone system.

The Rostovski Regiment was formed under Peter the Great and fought in several of the big battles in Eastern Prussia, including Gros-Jagsersdorf and Zorndorf.

I always try to add Foundry's character packs to my large units and there are some tucked into these bases.  On the left below, Fyodor still wears his servant's wig that he felt privileged to wear as valet to young Sasha Grigorevich Solovev.  Now that the master is a lieutenant commanding the colour party, Fyodor is his self-appointed bodyguard. 

Private Gervasi Stepanov is mindlessly cheerful and always does his best to improve morale.

Private Morozov is getting a bollocking from his corporal for picking his nose in ranks.

Isaak Osipov is boasting about the rabbit he shot while on picket duty, "Clean through the skull, like that Jager I potted at Gros-Jagersdorf, remember?"  Looks like I need to revisit Isaak's bayonet with some silver paint!

Captain Sergei Kovalev inspects his men before they go on parade.   The good captain is on a single base for games using Sharp Practice.  I like how the Foundry Russian officers in this set all carry carbines, it gives them a business-like look.

Father Mikhail Mikhailovich blesses the regiment's colours.

Good opportunity to put all of my Russian SYW army on parade.  I definitely need more light cavalry!

Many thanks for looking, and blessings to your brushes!  Happy Easter.MP+