After the Ottoman
League’s victory destroying the Balkan Leagues main radio relay, the Ottoman
attack on Thasos proceeded as planned.
The Balkan League fleet was unable to coordinate a counter-attack and
the landing went in unopposed. Thasos
fell quickly back into the hands of the Ottoman forces.
With the loss of
Thasos in the Aegean and so close to the mainland, this essentially put
pressure on the frontlines as the Balkan forces attempted to break through to
the Dardanelles and push the Ottoman’s out of Europe. However, Admiral Ivanov was still
aggressively pushing eagerly trying to achieve Russia’s goal of access to the
Mediterranean. The Ottoman League
Admiral Al Reis was also buoyed by their recent victory. Both Admiral’s decided now was the time to go
on the Offensive.
Both Admirals chose their orders, and revealed them to be
Offensive. Admiral Al Reis rolled the
dice and found that the next scenario would be a Raid, with the Ottoman’s again
attacking. They rolled up a scenario and
it was to be a Raid, and Admiral Al Reis coordinates his attack to occur during
a storm again.
Forces:
Ottoman League- 21 Armor Points
Sultan Mehmed II- Fatih Captain:
Seyid Al Reis Command:
3- Flagship
Class: Sultan Osman-I Evvel Category: Battleship Armor: 9
Experience: 15- Disciplined Crew
Barbaros Captain: Murat Pasha Command:
2
Class: Berk Efsan Category:
Torpedo Boat Armor:
4
Experience: 7
Italians:
San Bartolomeo Captain:
Paolo Revel Command:
1
Class: Vettor Pisani Category:
Armored Cruiser Armor:
8
Experience: 12- Airship Handling
Balkan League
Imperator Pyotr Captain:
Pavel Ivanov Command:
Flagship- 1
Class: Imperatrista Mariya Category: Battleship Armor:
8
Experience: 6
Pallada Captain:
Matija Yumashez Command: 1
Class: Bayan Category:
Cruiser Armor:
7
Experience: 2
Albatros Captain:
Feliks Golokov Command: 3
Class: Krasnoye Category:
Gunboat Armor: 5
Experience: 5
Kondor Captain:
Nikolay Konovalov Command: 3
Class: Krasnoye Category:
Gunboat Armor: 5
Experience: 3
Sova Captain:
Vladimir Greig Command: 1
Class: Krasnoye Category:
Gunboat Armor: 5
Experience: 6
French:
Brennus Captain:
Theo Aube Command:
4
Class: Charles Martel Category:
Heavy Cruiser Armor:
8
Experience: 14- Blow Smoke
Primauguet Captain:
Jean de Vienne Command:
4
Class: D’iberville Category:
Cruiser Armor:
7
Experience: 13- Marksmen
Mission:
After the success
of the Ottoman Raid on the Balkan radio tower Admiral Al Reis wished to keep
the pressure up on his enemy. He
received word that the Balkan Fleet was beginning to amass near Salonika in
order to begin their own operations.
Admiral Al Reis quickly assembled a strike force of nearby craft in
order to launch a Raid to disrupt the Balkan plans to assist operations near
the front.
The Ottoman Forces
skirted the Aegean at low altitude to avoid detection. They then loitered over the horizon until a
forecasted storm rolled into the region.
They simply followed the storm in and began their attack. The Ottoman Forces would be out-numbered but
they put their faith in surprise and a quick strike.
The Ottoman’s must
do more damage than they take.
Set-up:
A storm is raging across the board at Altitude 5.
The Balkan League is placed in column heading towards one
of the short board edges. The Russian
Flagship leads the way with the French Heavy Cruiser acting as the
rearguard. Between these two solid pillars
is the rest of the fleet. Therefore they
form a rough line:
·
Imperator Pyotr
·
Albatross
·
Palada
·
Sova
·
Primauguet
·
Kondor
·
Brennus
They are travelling at speed 3 and altitudes of 6. This puts them above the storm.
The Ottomans are approaching from the rear of the Balkan
column at Altitude 5, through the clouds.
They are closing at Speed 6.
Their column is:
·
Sultan Mehmed Il-Fatih
·
San Bartolomeo
·
Barbaros
Turn 1:
The Ottoman League wins Initiative with one success for 1
potential command.
Moving:
The Ottoman forces press forward, with the Torpedo Boat
accelerating to speed 9. Meanwhile, the
Balkan League forces speed up to 4 and stay in formation. They are blissfully unaware of the approaching
enemy ships through the storm.
Shooting:
None, no one has the range.
Turn 2:
The Ottoman’s again win with 2 successes and the Balkans
with 1 Command success.
Moving:
The Ottoman’s elect to allow the Balkan forces to go
first. The Ottoman’s continue to close
the gap, they are in Long range, but decide to stay in the storm to get even
closer. It is a risk that they will not
be able to hit the enemy ships enough before they can escape.
Shooting:
The ships in the storm only allow Close Range shooting of
0-8 inches. Therefore, no shots are
fired as Line-of-sight does not exist.
Turn 3:
This time, the Balkans win the roll-off with 1 Command
success. They opt to go second so they
can respond to an Ottoman attack.
Moving:
The Ottoman Torpedo Boat maneuvers to stay out of
sight. Meanwhile, the larger Ottoman
ships continue to move in, and do not reveal themselves.
Shooting:
None still as the Raiding fleet stalks closer to her prey
for a devastating alpha strike.
Turn 4:
This time, the Ottoman’s get what they were looking for,
and win Initiative with 3 Orders. The
Balkan ships get 0.
Moving:
The Ottoman burst up out of the cloud bank and press in
on the Balkan forces! The Battleship and
Cruiser come to height 6, while the Torpedo Boat goes to 8. The Balkan ships continue to move
forward. Next turn the lead elements
will leave the edge of the storm and off the board. It is now or never for the Ottoman fleet.
Shooting:
The forward guns of the Ottoman Flagship roar as the
battle ensign is unfurled. The shells
burst against the hull of the Pallada.
The San Bartolomeo joins in with a spread of air torpedoes that crash
into the Russian cruiser. Two are
destroyed by Point Defense guns, but two burst in weak points in the ships
armor. Finally, the Barbaros fires and the
PD gunners on the Kondor take out the torpedo.
The Balkan fleet is quick to respond! The Brennus fires on the Sultan Mehmed
Il-Fatih and causes a burst against her hull.
The Pallada returns fire on the Italian ship and manages two bursts on
the hull. Finally, the Primauguet
surprises the Turkish torpedo Boat by being equipped with side firing Air
Torpedoes of her own, and blasts into the smaller vessel with 2 hits!
End:
Apply Damage- The Barbaros has her Rudder jammed, and a
fire has started on board. The crew rush
to put it out. The Pallada loses two
armor from the opening salvo.
All Friction is removed as both admiral’s roll a 6 to
remove friction.
Turn 5:
The Ottoman Admiral wins with 3 command successes to
1.
Moving:
The Sultan and San Bartolomeo move to try to parallel the
Balkan fleet and use their broadsides to good effect on the Pallada or other
weaker ships.
The Russian flagship manages to break through the edge of
the storm and leave the battle.
Meanwhile, the Kondor and Pallada try to dive into the storm and out of
danger. The Albatros and Sova go up to
try and catch the damaged Turkish torpedo Boat.
Finally, the French ships move to engage the enemy. The Primauguet uses the 1 Balkan command to
re-load her torpedoes.
Shooting:
The Sultan can no longer get a read on the Pallada as the
storm is blocking their vision. Instead,
Admiral Al-Reis orders his men to lock-on to the Brennus. However, they are slow to react to his
commands. The Brennus takes a pasting
with 10 friction markers from Heavy and Light batteries, but non-managed to
cause damage. The San Bartolomeo manages
to Lock-on and hits the French Primaugaet cruiser with 6 bursts from various
guns.
The shots leave the French ships in tough shape, but they
return fire. However, the French cruiser
can not return fire with her torpedoes due to friction. The Brennus blasts the Sultan back with 8
friction bursts of various calibers in a short range slugfest. 1 hit manages to penetrate.
The Albatross and Sova need to gain 1 more altitude to be
able to get the range on the Barbaros.
End:
Apply Damage- The Sultan loses 1 armor point.
Repair- The Barbaros fails to put out the fire, and loses
1 more point of armor.
Friction- The Ottoman’s can remove 1 from the Sultan and
the Balkan ships remove 6 friction from the Primauguet.
Turn 6- Final
Turn:
The Ottoman’s win with 2 command successes to 0.
Moving:
The Barbaros tries to flee as fast as she can. Meanwhile, the Sultan and San Bartolomeo get
ready to light up the Brennus one more time.
The Breenus is immobilized by Friction. Meanwhile, the Primauguet and the Kondor
escape fromt eh storm and the battle.
The Sova and the Albatross continue to pursue the burning Ottoman
torpedo boat, and look set to finish her off.
The Pallada continues to flee in the shelter of the storm.
Shooting:
This time, Admiral Al-Reis gets his men to lock-on to the
Brennus. The Italians also lock-on. A barrage of fire hits the Brennus, and racks
up 20 total friction points, but only causes 2 damage!
The Albatross and Sova fire on the Ottoman torpedo Boat
and annihilate the ship, causing it to explode spectacularly with all hands due
to overkill. The Sova gets the credit for
the kill.
The Brennus pastes the Sultan with return fire, and lands
another friction storm but fails to penetrate her armor. Both ships are essentially immobilized by
friction.
End:
Apply Damage- The Brennus had her Rudder jammed and lost
an armor point.
Friction- The Ottoman’s take three off the Sultan, while
the French remove 1 from the Brennus.
They still have combined friction of 30 tokens!
Conclusion:
The Balkan forces win this round of the Campaign, earning
another campaign point. The Ottoman
forces took 5 hits, while the Balkan League took 4. This is another battle where the attackers in
the Raid mission lose. I think I will
need to re-work this scenario.
I also am not satisfied with how Friction is
working. It is stacking up to too high
of numbers on the ships and making them useless. This is stagnating play instead of leading to
tactical considerations and choice. I
will need to revisit this mechanic as well. Perhaps only 1 Friction marker per attacking ship or battery no matter the number of hits? So, a Heavy Battery with 8 shots where 6 hit, the ship would only take 1 Friction.
Lastly, in the last few battles the small ships have been
completely useless. In fact, they have
caused players to lose the battle. Why
would a player take anything other than a Battleship in this current environment? These are some core issues I will need to
address as I continue to re-work these rules.
Feel free to give me any ideas in comments below.
In this battle, I should not have used the Torpedo Boat so aggressively and kept it back until there was a damaged ship to finish off with the Air Torps. It is a challenge with the fast ships to not rush out and instead to hold them back for when their shots can count. Other than that, the storm really helped me get close before launching my attack.
Campaign:
The Balkan League wins the Raid by damaging 5 armor points
to the Ottoman’s 4. The Ottoman’s needed
to outperform the Balkan League in this battle.
These leave the Campaign Points at 4 to 2 for the Ottoman’s still in the
lead in a first to seven race. The
Ottoman’s are 1 decisive victory away.
Damage:
The Pallada’s crew repairs 1 point of armor.
The Sultan Mehmed il-Fatih repairs 1 point of armor
damage back to full
The Brennus also manages to fully repair herself
The Ottoman’s have strategic assets for a value of 14, however
they use 8 to call in reinforcements which leaves them with 6. The Balkan League uses one to completely repair
the Pallada and banks the last 1 to bring them to 4. No one loses any Strategic Assets in this
battle.
The Ottoman’s call
in Reinforcements using their Strategic Assets in the form of an older model of battleship that had been guarding the Dardenelles in case of a Balkan
breakthrough. With the Balkan forces
pushed back Ottoman High Command feels like they can release the Resadiye class ship
the Turgut Reis into action with Admiral Al-Reis forces.
Experience:
All ships gain experience but only the following
levelled.
San Bartolomeo +3 (12)- Airship Handling
Primauguet +5 (13)- Marksmen
With night fall,
the two fleets eventually lose each other in the darkness over the edge of
Greece. The Ottoman’s are unable to
search for any survivors from their lost torpedo boat, and a glum mood hangs
over the crew and officers as they make their way back over the Aegean.
Meanwhile, the Balkan
fleet continues its withdrawal back to Salonica as the Balkan forces on the
ground begin to stiffen their resistance to the new Ottoman reinforcements. The Brennus has again seen the worst of the
enemy fire and is shaken by it. Captain Aube is convinced that Admiral Ivanov
is an idiot and a madman. Tension grows
between the two officers and the coalition but the war has stabilized into
another stalemate.
You can see all the Balkan Uprising Campaign reports here:
Enjoy!
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