So Graham decided he wanted to try one of the Missions from
the Campaign Book: Hurricane Season.
Unfortunately for him, the only mission we could do was Scenario 3 ‘cause
that’s the only one we both had fleets for!
The mission is based on the actions of the “Baiting Force” –
code named “Battle Group Michael”.
Michael was to distract the English fleet from engaging the main
Prussian Force that was sent to support their Japanese Allies in their attack
on the Caribbean islands. As a result, rather
than rolling for objectives, the scenario states the objectives for each
fleet. The Prussian force, consisting of
2 Naval Forces and an Air Force, was to go from the Western side of the board
across the table and exit one of the 2 Eastern corners. Obviously, the British objective was to stop
them!
The game is played on a standard 4’ X 4’ table, with a 2’
long island or peninsula protruding less than a foot in to the middle of the
southern edge and a smaller 12” long by 6” peninsula poking in on the northern
edge. The Prussians made a secret roll
and noted that the North East corner was “Exit Zone Eins” while the South East
corner became “Exit Zone Zwei”. This
information wasn’t given to the British – forcing them to protect both corners. The importance of this was because Zone Zwei
offered more points per escaping ship than Zone Eins.
Rather than counting Victory Points, we used “Campaign
Points”. For the British, Smalls were
worth 1 CP each and Mediums worth 2 CPs each if “Lost” (sunk, captured or derelict). Large and Massive were worth 3CP if crippled,
6CP if destroyed or derelict and 9CP if captured. Smalls were worth 0CP and Large or Massive
ships were worth 6CP if they escaped off Zone Eins. Smalls were worth 1CP and Large or Massive
ships were worth 12CP if they escaped off Zone Zwei. Mediums were worth 2CP out both zones.
To complicate matters, the scenario specifies the deployment
of each “Force”. The Prussians start the
game with only the Air Force on the table.
The Naval Forces come on the table during Turns 1 & 2. The British have a similar issue, though 1
force coming on the table is just a flight of 4 Tiny Flier Tokens. And if were weren’t confused enough, we
decided to add the Weather rules (also from the same Campaign Book). The game ends at turn 8 – regardless what was
still on the table.
Deployment was easy.
The Prussians deployed their Air Force (Schnellgeschwader
Bruning):
Schnellgeschwader Bruning
- 1 Sky Fortress (with a flight of 5 Fighters leading the Airship)
- 2 Bombers
The British deployed their First Force (1st
Patrol Group, 3rd Battlesquadron):
1st Patrol Group, 3rd Battlesquadron
- 1 Battleship
- 3 Escorts
- 1 flight of 4 Fighters
Turn 1:
We rolled “Storms” for the first turn with a Weather Gauge of
-1 (a modifier used for each turn).
Storms meant that ALL models lost 1” movement, All Tokens
reduce their movement by ½, Drift movement was increased by 1” and Ordinance
Weapons were reduced to ½ dice when attacking Range Band 4!
Per the scenario rules, Prussians start the game with the
initiative!
(Not that I really wanted it!)
Prussian Reinforcements arriving this turn
(Schnellgeschwader Bavaria):
- a Battleship (with Tesla Generator)
- a squadron of 4 Frigates.
British Reinforcements arriving this turn (3rd
Battle Line Group, 3rd Battle Squadron):
- 1 Dreadnought (!!!),
- 2 Cruisers (with Experienced Engineeres) and a Gunship,
- 5 Corvettes
(Graham used Frigates as Proxies as he didn’t have the “real” models).
Graham also rolled for the 2nd
Fighter Squadron (4 Tokens) to arrive this turn as well, beside the Battleship Force.
{Prussian Strategy: I
don’t get any points for sinking anything – I get points for ESCAPING!!! I know which corner gets me the most points,
but with that Dreadnought and its support arriving near the South East corner,
I need to draw them away if possible. I
don’t want to do it, but I decided to sacrifice the Air Force going for the
Northern Corner. Sorry Skyfortress!}
So, Prussian fighters moved forward 4” (1/2 of 1/2 – no fuel
used), to kill an activation. The dang
British spoiled that by moving their fighters a whole 4” towards me.
Knowing that at RB4, the ships should be safe, the Prussian
Frigates moved forward 12” from the West edge.
The British Battleship and its escorts move forward about 5”, staying
hidden from the Skyfortress, behind the island.
Taking a chance, the Prussian bombers dropped from the clouds and fired
on the Battleship from RB2, but failed to damage the Warship. Worse, neither bomber could climb back into
the Obscured level. The 2nd
fighter squadron flew 4” onto the board.
The Prussian Skyfortress stayed high, moved forward and still managed to
damage one of the Battleship’s Escorts in spite of requiring 6’s to hit.
Next onto the map was the British reinforced Cruiser
Squadron. While their guns were
out-of-range, their torpedoes weren’t.
Fortunately for the Prussians, their torpedoes failed to damage
anything.
On the other side of the table, the Prussian Battleship
activated its Tesla Generator, generating the 1” movement that the ship had
lost to the storm. The Battleship’s
movement forward ended the Prussian’s activations for the turn.
With no further reactions possible from the Prussians, the
British Corvettes charged onto the board at their maximum speed. One Corvette managed to make it within
Maximum Range of its weapons to a Prussian Bomber and in an incredible feat of
rolling single dice, managed to damage the hapless bomber! Good Shot!
Finally, the British Dreadnought entered the board, but had
to turn north as soon as possible to avoid ramming one of their own
Cruisers! From Range Band 4, with ½ dice,
it managed to damage the same bomber that the Corvette had just hit, crippling
the Bomber.
End of Turn 1
In the End Phase, there were no Critical effect to fix, so
we rolled for the change in Weather.
This time we rolled “Fair Weather” (normal conditions) and decreased the
Weather Gauge to -2.
Turn 2:
Once again, the Prussians had the initiative.
All the British were on the board at this point.
Prussian Reserves arriving this turn (Schnellgeschwader
Elbe):
- 2 Cruisers and 1 Gunship
- 4 Destroyers
{Prussian Strategy: The British Dreadnought was pointing in
the right direction. Now I had to
reinforce the belief that I was going for the North East corner. This would be the Critical Turn!}
The Prussian Bombers stayed low and moved forward their
minimum move, each fired at a separate Escort around the Battleship. While an Escort was sunk, only the damaged
bomber was able to climb once more into the clouds.
Bomber Raid
Angered by the Bombers, one of the British Fighter groups
attacked, causing another HP of damage (1HP left) for the loss of 2 of the 4
tokens. The Prussian Skyfortress moved
forward and turned towards the Battleship group, but failed to inflict any
damage on the Escort it fired on. The
Bait was set. Would the British fall for
it?
It appeared that they would.
The British Battleship and Escorts moved towards the Prussian Air Force. AA shot down the damaged bomber with a Crit,
while the Skyfortress took a Crit (Raging Fire), then took another Raging Fire
because of the Carrier’s Fuel Reserves!
2 Fires in one Volley!!!
The British Retaliate!
Prussian Destroyers moved onto the board their full speed
and took a long-range shot at the Battleship’s Escorts, somehow sinking
one! The second flight of British
Fighters attacked and damaged the remaining Prussian Bomber for no losses. The Prussian Fighters attacked the fighters
and shot down 1 for no loss in return.
After completing their attack run, the Fighters landed on the Skyship to
re-arm and re-fuel.
As if the poor Prussian Skyship didn’t have enough to deal
with, the British Dreadnought continued forward and fired all turrets and
broadsides at it! Sadly, the Skyship
took another Crit – ANOTHER Raging Fire.
Fortunately, the Fuel Reserves didn’t make it any worse, but the Skyship
had 3 Fires to put out this end phase!
The Skyfortress Burns!
The Prussian Frigates move forward at maximum speed and
split their fire between 2 of the 5 Corvettes, but only sank 1.
Prussian Frigates Attack!
The British Corvettes decided to return the favour and
charged forward, attacking the Prussian Frigates, sinking 1 and damaging
another!
British Corvettes Counter-Attack!
The Prussian Cruisers moved onto the board, behind the
southern island and out-of-range to everyone.
The British Cruiser squadron turned north and formed a Line
of Battle, then fired on the Skyship, but failed to damage it this time.
In the Final Activation, the Prussian Battleship charged up
the Tesla Generator and gained a full 3” movement – making a 10” full move
straight ahead. Sadly, the Battleship’s weapons
failed to cause any damage.
In the End Phase, I nervously rolled for the Skyfortress –
ALL fires were successfully put out! The
British had no damage to roll for.
End of Turn 2
Rolling for weather, we once more rolled Fair Weather, but
Weather Gauge increased to -1
Campaign Points:
- British: 3 CP (1 Frigate and 1 Bomber. The Skyfortress was not crippled at this time.)
- Prussia: 0 CP
Turn 3:
Neither side gains reinforcements for the rest of the game.
PE won the initiative again.
Prussian Frigates started things off to the tune of “Use It
or Lose It!” Charging between the
British Corvettes, the Frigates Crit a Cruiser (Fusion Leak) and damaged 1
Corvette, then successfully left another Corvette as a Derelict.
Prussian Frigates Break Through the Line!
The larger of the British Fighter Groups attacked and
damaged the Skyfortress, finally crippling the Great Airship! The Prussian battleship turned slightly to
Starboard, hugging the Island on the south.
The Battleship’s turrets critted the British Gunship (Fusion Leak) and
sank 2 Corvettes using broadsides and Tesla Weapons.
Prussian Battleship makes its presence KNOWN!
The British Battleship steamed straight south towards the
Prussian Battleship. The British AA
caused a Crit on the remaining Bomber (Raging Fire – what is it with Raging
Fires today???) and caused another HP damage on the Skyfortress, but British
torpedoes failed to damage the Prussian Battleship.
British Battleship tries to cut off the Prussian Escape!
Prussian Destroyers moved forward and commenced a Pack
Attack on the British Battleship and managed a Crit (Hard Pounding – 5AP left).
British Cruisers commenced a hard turn to Port. In a single round of shooting, the Cruiser
Squadron sank 1 Destroyer, damaged another, shot down the last Bomber and
crippled a Frigate! OUCH!!!
The British Cruisers strike EVERYWHERE!
The Prussian Cruiser Squadron advanced and turned around the end of
the island, heading East and fired on the Battleship but failed to damage the
British ship.
The British Dreadnought activated. Graham wanted to turn to starboard, but I
pointed out to him that he wouldn’t complete a 180 in 1 turn and the 2” minimum
movement would probably take the British Monster off the table, so he was
forced to turn to Port instead. All
turrets and broadsides fired on the Skyfortress and the airship suffered a Crit
(Nav Lock + Raging Fire due to Fuel Reserves) followed by another HP loss –
leaving the Skyfortress with only 1HP left!
Knowing they were doomed, the Prussian Skyfortress launched
their Tiny Fliers rearmed as Dive Bombers, and moved forward at maximum speed
at the Obscured level (though the Raging fires ensured that the airship was not
obscured). Greedy British fighters
immediately pounced on the Skyfortress but failed to damage the brave
airship. As the final activation, the lone
British Corvette moved towards the Skyfortress and successfully sank a
Destroyer, but failed to damage the Skyfortress.
The Skyfortress survived the turn with only 1 HP left!
Skyfortress - Damaged, Burning, but ALIVE!!!
In the End Phase, the Skyship fixed their Navigation Lock,
but gained another Raging Fire token! (As
I typed this report and compared photos, I realized I hadn’t been taking off AP
due to Raging Fire Crits! Only when I
failed the Raging Fire Rolls! Ooops!)
On the British end, the Gunship failed to repair its Fusion
Leak but the Cruiser repaired its Engine Damage.
End of Turn 3
Once again, we rolled Fair Weather for the next turn, and
the Weather Gauge was again -2
Campaign Points:
British: 7 CP (1 Frigate, 1 Destroyer,1 Bomber destroyed. The Skyfortress was crippled.)
Prussia: 0 CP
British: 7 CP (1 Frigate, 1 Destroyer,1 Bomber destroyed. The Skyfortress was crippled.)
Prussia: 0 CP
Turn 4:
Once again, the Prussians won initiative! British weren’t doing well at all with
initiative!
The Prussian Battleship activated its Tesla generator and
again, got a Maximum Boost of speed.
Racing down the island coast, the Battleship managed to damage a British
Cruiser as it sailed past.
The British Battleship turned and fired on the Cruiser
Squadron, Critting the Gunship (Systems Failure) and damaging 1 Cruiser.
British Battleship targets the Prussian Cruiser Squadron
The Prussian Cruiser Squadron formed a Line Of Battle as
they sailed around the corner of the southern island, turning their guns on the
British Gunship and sinking it!
The British Cruisers attempted to repeat their performance
from last turn. When the smoke cleared,
the Cruisers had failed to damage the Battleship or the Skyfortress, but did
succeed in critting a Cruiser (Hard Pounding – 2 AP left), plus an extra HP
damage to the same Cruiser.
It was time to run for the gold! The Prussian Frigates steamed at full speed
towards Exit Zone Zwei, falling short by only 3”. Next turn they would be off the table for 3 CP!
British fighters attacked the Prussian Dive Bombers, but
lost 2 of their own tokens while shooting down only 1 Dive Bomber.
The Prussian Dive Bombers took the opportunity to attack the
last undamaged British Cruiser, successfully critting it (Engine Damage) for
the loss of only 1 token.
The lone British Cruiser attempted to sink the Prussian
Destroyer, but failed to damage it.
The Prussian Destroyers then turned and placed themselves beside
the Prussian Cruiser squadron in an attempt to screen the Cruisers from more
incoming fire next turn.
The 2nd squadron of British fighters attempted to
shoot down the Skyfortress, but instead lost another token instead.
The Prussian Skyfortress turned to starboard, towards the
British Dreadnought, hoping to distract the enemy fire. Sadly, it succeeded.
The British Dreadnought unleashed heck and the Skyship
finally succumbed to a double-crit, crashing into the sea in a blaze of glory…
Death of the Heroic Skyfortress
In the End Phase, the British failed to repair any damage
though the Prussians were able to repair their Cruisers.
Campaign Points:
British: 10 CP (1 Frigate, 1 Destroyer,1 Bomber and the Skyfortress (FINALLY!) destroyed.)
Prussia: 0 CP
British: 10 CP (1 Frigate, 1 Destroyer,1 Bomber and the Skyfortress (FINALLY!) destroyed.)
Prussia: 0 CP
At this point, Graham realized he had maneuvered himself
into a fix. We still had 3 turns to play
but the Prussian Frigates and the Battleship were likely to escape next turn
for full points (15CP). That left the
Prussian Cruiser Squadron. They were
screened by the Prussian Destroyers so the British Cruisers had no line of
sight to Prussian Cruisers. The British
Battleship was being blocked by their own cruisers and would not be able to
turn to present all turrets against the Cruisers; the Battleship would be
limited to a trailing game with only 2 turrets able to fire. Both the Cruisers and Battleship had suffered
damage so none of them would be able to put out the firepower Graham figured he
needed to stop anything from escaping. Finally
the Dreadnought, fully functional, was too far away and couldn’t fire over
their own ships to full effect as their line of sight was completely blocked by
the Cruisers AND the Battleship!
I expected to get at least 2 of the 3 Mediums off the table
in 2-3 turns, but Graham figured he wouldn’t be able to stop any of them and conceded
the game at this point, acknowledging Prussian Victory!
Wow! Great game! It’s nice to play a non-standard game once in
a while.
So, what did I think of the Scenario?
As to the need to escape off the board, I think this is one
of those missions that wouldn’t have worked with another fleet. Can you imagine trying to get the Russians
across the table in 8 turns from board edge to board edge???
At first, I was intimidated by the fact that the British had
a Dreadnought and I didn’t. I knew I had
to redirect that firepower where I wanted it to go, but if the British had been
a little luckier, that Skyfortress would have been gone by turn 3 and the Dread
might have been able to get into a better position to help with the end the
game. I was lucky the Skyfortress lasted
as long as it did – pure and simple.
Overall, the game proceeded pretty much as I think we both
expected. Prussians put the pedal to the
metal and tried to reduce enemy fire rather than concentrate on sinking
anything while the British formed Line Of Battle and shelled everything they
could. While they did get into a “Traffic
Jam” at the end of turn 4, I don’t think there was much that the British could
have done to prevent it. The Prussians
were piercing the line at that point so it’s unavoidable to have ships get in
each other’s way. If there was anything
the British did wrong, I think it was just moving the Dreadnought too far North,
but I was baiting him with a Skyfortress there.
If the North corner had been Zone Zwei, I would have gotten 12CP for
getting the airship off that corner and still gotten 6CP for the Battleship if
it went through Zone Eins. The only
thing I could see that Graham might have done was to park the Dreadnought
facing North-South and use it as a stationary fire base. Doing that would also reduce the total
firepower in most instances as well as it would have spent most of the game outside RB1, so it really is a judgment call.
Using the weather rules, both Graham and I were concerned we
were give the advantage to the other.
Reality, it only affected 1 turn during the entire game and that turn,
it really wasn’t a factor as it was the 1st turn. I would have to play a few more missions
using the weather rules to see if they are something I would want to use more
often.
Hope you all enjoyed reading this. Has anyone else tried playing any of the
missions in Hurricane Season? I'd be interested in hearing your experiences.
