Socially Distanced Gaming

 So, at the beginning of the month, word went out that the naval gaming group would be holding a socially distanced naval game.

I was intrigued.

So how does one safely wargame while maintaining a safe 2 metres apart? The answer is to hold a game outdoors and to extend the ranges significantly.

(I'm the shadow in the middle on the right. This was the perspective from the Dunkerque at the start of the game. )

We met at a concreted reservoir. I was given the USS South Dakota (I think). The scenario started with a group of 4 Japanese battleships. Their goal was to break out and they would win if any of their ships did. The surrounding battleships were broken into two sides and spaced out individually surrounding the Japanese ships in a gigantic circle about 50 feet in diameter. Each ship was given a specific enemy to sink to win. Mine was the HMS Hood.

I faced an immediate problem. The two ships that were closest to me were on the other side. Additionally, one of those ships, an Italian BB, had my ship as its target. Worse, I would have to get past the Dunkerque to get to the Hood. The cherry on the trouble sundae was that the Japanese ships immediately headed in my direction.

My only real option was to sail away from the Italian ship and from the Japanese ships, so I turned tail and ran. My plan worked as well as could be expected. Because I ran away, the Japanese ships instead concentrated on the Dunkerque and Hood. The Japanese players struggled to get the range right but they did some pretty significant damage to the Dunkerque, knocking her out for three turns.

But the Japanese ships were taking a pounding from all of the other ships and this played a role in keeping the Dunkerque afloat. I had turned around to get ready to take out the Dunkerque but she came back to life.

At this point we called the game. It was an interesting experience to play and I would do it again.

Gaming at Craig's

I had enjoyed playing in a naval game at the May Trumpeter. I was happy that they invited me to join them in their regular gaming every Friday. So off I went the following weekend to yet another naval game. This time, it was WW2 with a semi-home brew set of rules call (I believe) Steel Fleets.

Once again, I took the van but being a little smarter, I choose to try to keep the distance open a bit since we were outgunning our opponents. (Unfortunately, our second division seemed to have missed the briefing on when to turn.)

This shot was reasonably early in the game. Eventually, I was able to cross the T (although it's really not a huge advantage to do so in these rules). Some of our ships were pounded but opposing fleet got hammered.

These rules are interesting but the gunnery seems pretty fiddly and the torpedo rules especially so. If I were to compare them (and I haven't played that much naval gaming), I'd say that the rules strongly resemble Avalon Hill's Bismark, especially the special damage chart.

I enjoy them but I think there's an over-emphasis on the number of guns. I'm not so sure that a ship with 4x3 guns should be more than twice as effective than one with 3x2 and it is in these rules. The advantage really comes into play at the longer ranges where there's a reward for having hit your opponent in the previous turn. The 12 tubes have a much greater chance of picking up that advantage and that's why the number of tubes rules.

Trumpeter in May

When I arrived in Vancouver, one of the first things I did game-wise was to check out whether there was a convention. Well, yes there is and I had just missed it. But there's a club that runs the con and they meet the first weekend-ish of every month.

So come May, I went to check it out. There were some interesting games but there didn't seem to be much in the way of openings. I found a naval game going on in the corner and asked if I could join in. They were all very welcoming and I took over a couple of British battle cruisers.

The game was a Harry Turtledove-style alternative history with the British fleet fighting against the Americans in the early 20s. I got the Repulse and the Renown (I think).

On the first turn, the Renown took a hit that jammed her rudder to the left and it basically took her out of the fight. My die rolls were so hopeless that she didn't hit a thing until the last turn where the enemy was so close that she couldn't miss. Here you don't see her because she's off the bottom of the shot.

The Repulse, on the other hand, got off a lucky shot that temporarily knocked the stuffing out of the first American ship. I should have turned right early in the game but I went with the original plan of sailing hard and fast to the left.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize how slow the other ships on my side were. Plus they really weren't doing all that much damage. That left me with a bit of a dilemma so I decided to try to burst past the American fleet, lay smoke, and go for the convoy the Americans were protecting. My plan failed miserably as I became the centre of attention.

Cue the Ride of the Valkyries music...