The Ottoman League
has decided to put their naval forces towards securing and reinforcing Thasos
in order to threaten the flanks of the advancing Balkan land forces. Admiral Al Reis is eager to try and relieve
pressure on the ground troops in Europe while more Turkish reinforcements cross
the Dardanelles to relieve them. In the meantime, Admiral Ivanov of the Balkan
League wishes to continue their aggressive push to the Dardanelles and achieve
a key objective in the war effort.
Both commanders of the fleets choose Offensive for their
Strategy. The scenario will be a Raid,
and the Ottoman League rolls the d6 to determine scenario as the attacker. The Ottoman League (since they are leading
the campaign) rolls up a Bombardment scenario.
Forces:
In a bombardment scenario, each side fields up to 25
armor points.
Ottoman League
Ottoman Empire:
Sultan Mehmed II- Fatih Captain:
Seyid Al Reis Command:
3- Flagship
Class: Sultan Osman-I Evvel Category: Battleship Armor: 9
Experience: 5
Trakya Captain: Piri Pasha Command:
2
Class: Midilli Category:
Light Cruiser Armor:
7
Experience: 7
Austro-Hungarian
Empire:
Sankt Georg Captain:
Rudulf Horthy Command:
4
Class: Kaiserin Category:
Armored Cruiser Armor:
8
Experience:
24 Armor Points
Balkan League
Russian Empire:
Imperator Pyotr Captain:
Pavel Ivanov Command:
1- Flagship
Class: Imperatrista Mariya Category: Battleship Armor:
8
Experience:
French:
Brennus Captain:
Theo Aube Command:
4
Class: Charles Martel Category:
Heavy Cruiser Armor:
8
Experience: 4
Greek:
Class: Vettor Pisani Category:
Armored Cruiser Armor:
8
Experience: 5
Ground Target:
Armor 7- Free
24 Armor Points
Mission:
The attacking
Balkan Ground Forces had managed to over-run a radio tower formerly used by the
Turkish Navy. It was behind enemy lines
and would be difficult to assault using conventional means. The Balkan League Admiral Ivanov was using
the tower to broadcast signals to help co-ordinate his fleet in support of the
ground troops. The Ottoman Admiral Al
Reis decided to launch a daring raid to try and destroy the radio tower and its
broadcasting bunker. The radio’s
destruction would hamper the Balkan League fleet’s ability to press the attack
on the Dardanelles and respond to the Ottoman advance in the Aegean.
The Ottoman admiral
thought the raid was so important that he decided to personally lead the attack
with his Flagship along with his only bomb equipped warships. Once the raid was detected by the Balkan land
forces, the only Balkan League forces in a position to respond were the newly
repaired Brennus and Georgios Averoff and Admiral Ivanov’s flagship.
The board is covered by clouds at an altitude level of
4. To represent this, cloud banks have
been added to the board. However, the
whole board is covered at altitude 4.
The Pyotr is the Balkan League Flagship with the Sultan Mehmed- II Fatih
as the Ottoman flagship.
The game is played on a 4 by 4 table. The Ottoman fleet has 6 turns to destroy the
installation. It is located 13inches in
from the Balkan board edge on the West side.
It has an armor of 7. The Ottoman
forces come in from the East at maximum speed and mid-altitude. They are making use of the clouds to cover
their approach. The Russian flagship is
relatively low and looking to cover the radio tower while the two other Balkan
League ships try to cross the T on the attacking Ottoman’s.
Turn 1:
Initiative: Ottoman
Move:
The Sankt Georg and the Trakya turn to the north instead
of heading straight to the target. They
are wary of the approaching Balkan force.
The Battleship steams forward.
The Pyotr steams towards the radio station, while the
Brennus and Georgios Averoff move in on an oblique approach.
Battle:
No one has the range.
Turn 2:
Initiative:
Ottoman’s have two successes to the Balkan 1. They choose to go first.
Move:
The Ottman’s continue their advance. This time the bombers slowdown, looking to
time their approach after the enemy heavies have passed the target area. The Battleship turns in towards the enemy
heavies.
The Balkan forces move forward with the two Balkan
heavies converging near the target. The
Greek armored cruiser cuts behind them to protect the radio tower.
Battle:
The enemy ships are at maximum range, but the cloud cover
has limited visibility to short range.
This is going to be a knife fight.
Turn 3:
Initiative: No
successes, so the Ottoman’s elect to have the Balkans go first.
Move:
The Ottoman bomb equipped cruisers try to stay away from
the Russian battleship and French Heavy Cruiser as they move in front of the
target area. The Russian battleship is
hovering below the cloud line as a threat.
Meanwhile the Greek ship covers the rear. The Sultan Mehmed Il-Fatih drops below the
cloud bank to 3 to challenge the Russian admiral to a duel.
Battle:
The Pyotr was ready for the Ottoman battleship to show
itself, and unloads an effective broadside the lands 5 bursts! However, none manage to burst the armored
belt of the Turkish vessel. The return
fire is enough to inflict one true hit on the Russian ship!
No other ships have the range due to the cloud
cover.
End:
Apply Damage- The Pyotr loses 1 armor from the Ottoman
fire.
All bursts are cleared.
Turn 4:
Initiative: Ottoman’s 2, and Balkans 1. Ottoman’s choose to go second again.
Move:
The Pyotr signals the Brennus to drop from the clouds and
engage the Ottoman Battleship.
Meanwhile, it moves up back into the clouds to try and hunt down the
bombers. The Greek cruiser drops to
three and waits for the bombers to emerge out of the cloud bank low.
The Sankt Georg and the Trakya both move out of the cloud
bank, risking the guns of the Georgios Averoff instead of the Pyotr. Meanwhile, Admiral Seyid Al-Reis commits to a
dangerous plan and orders his ship to crash dive below the cloud banks. He drops to altitude one rapidly and prepares
to bombard the enemy radio station with his guns. That was unexpected!
Battle:
The Broadside of the waiting Greek ship manages to land
two bursts on the Austrian Armored Cruiser, but no damage. The Brennus manages a stern shot on the
Mehmed Il-Fatih, and lands a burst.
The Ottoman’s return fire on the Greek ship lands 5
bursts, with no damage. In addition, the
Ottoman Battleship’s attack on the Radio Tower fails to hit anything
vital. However, the crew does head for
the bombardment shelters.
End:
Burst Removal: Both sides manage to remove all bursts on the
board with some solid rolling.
Turn 5:
Initiative: Both score 1, and this time the Ottoman’s
choose to go first since they have a higher Command rating.
Move:
The Ottoman bomber ships race for the target area, but
fall short. The Ottoman Battleship
begins to circle the radio tower at low altitude.
The Greek Armored Cruiser slows and prepares her
broadsides for another salvo. The Pyotr
comes from the cloud bank, and targets the Sankt Georg. The Brennus tries to come about, but turns
towards the north and a potential broadside shot at the Ottoman cruisers.
Battle:
The Trakya fires her weapons at the nearby Georgios
Averoff, and causes 3 bursts.
The Sankt Georg opens fire with her stern guns on the
Pyotr and inflicts a burst and 1 hit! Her
bow and port guns fire on the Brennus and causes 3 bursts. Finally, her air torpedoes race into the
target and cause 3 hits!
The Ottoman flagship opens fire on the radio tower, and
causes another two hits and 3 bursts.
The radio tower is taking a beating this turn.
The Balkan forces strike back! The Georgios Averoff fires a broadside on the
little Trakya and gives her fours bursts and 1 hit.
The Pyotr gives the Sankt Georg a broadside and causes 3
bursts and 1 hit. The Brennus also fires
ont eh Sankt Georg and causes two more bursts.
End:
Damage- The Pyotr loses its bow Heavy battery to fire-
Ouch!. The Sankt Georg and trakya both
lose an armor point.
Bursts- The Ottoman’s take one off the Sankt Georg, and
the Balkans take all three off the Brennus.
Turn 6- Final Turn
Initiative: The Balkan forces score 1, and that is enough
to win. They choose to go first.
Move:
The Pyotr, Brennus, and Georgios Averoff begin the form a
half-circle around the Austrian Sankt Georg, who is slowed to a crawl by the
bursts around her. Meanwhile, the Trakya
has anough steam to power to the target area and prepare to drop her bomb
load. The Mehmed il-Fatih positions
itself for another bombardment broadside against the weakened target.
Battle:
The Brennus locks-on to the Sankt Georg determined to
make the armored cruiser suffer! Wow,
when the smoke clears, the Sankt Georg
had 15 strikes and was easily reduced to 0 armor. WOW!
The Pyotr managed to put 3 more bursts on the
Trakya. The Georgios Averoff hit the
Sankt Georg for one more hit.
In her death throes, the Sankt Georg fired a full
broadside on the Georgios Averoff for 1 hit, and 1 burst. The Trakya was too shaken by burts and was
unable to drop her bomb load, but still manages to fire her stern guns on the
Greek cruiser causing two more good hits!
The Ottoman flagship fires its broadside at the heavily
damaged radio tower. It is enough to
turn the Radio Tower into a pit of death and destruction. It is no longer usable by the Balkan troops.
End:
Damage- On the Last hit from the Georgios Averoff, the
Sankt Georg exploded, killing all hands!
The blast also snags the Trakya, causing 2 more bursts but no damage.
Georgios Averoff- Loses 3 armor, bringing her to 5.
The Radio Station is destroyed.
Conclusion
The Ottoman League wins, but at a heavy cost. The Balkan Radio Tower is destroyed, but the
Sankt Georg was destroyed by the Brennus in the operation.
The Mehmed Il-Fatih
signaled for the remaining ships to take cover in the cloud bank and withdraw
back to the Aegean. There had been no
sign of survivors from the Sankt Georg and her smoldering wreckage covered the
countryside. In addition, a billowing
column of black smoke rose from the sight of the radio tower.
With the loss of
the Radio Tower, Balkan air and ground forces began to have trouble
coordinating their maneuvers. Soon, the
Turks were able to isolate Balkan units and destroy them or force them to
surrender. The Balkan Leagues drive
towards the Dardanelles was halted…. for the moment.
Well, that worked sort of like I planned. I hoped the bombers would draw the main
force, but I intended to use the Battleship to drop in low and bombard the
station to wreckage. It worked, thanks
to an amazing air torpedo barrage from the Sankt Georg.
The cruisers with the bombers paid a heavier toll than I
expected, however the Brennus rolled remarkably good and pasted the Sankt
Georg. He barely even needed Command to
re-roll misses because the dice didn’t really miss. It was an epic hammering. It barely felt like a win after the Austrian
ship exploded in the last moments of the game.
Oh well. Now I know how the
Balkan League feels. At least it wasn’t
my command ship.
Campaign:
The Ottoman League wins the raid by destroying the
bombardment target. However, they lost
10 armor to 5 armor. This leaves the
campaign at 4 points to 1 in the Ottoman’s favor. They are 1 decisive battle away from
victory.
Damage:
The Trakya manages to repair its lost armor point with
crew.
Pyotr- The crew gets the Heavy Battery in the bow working
again. However, it takes a strategic Asset
to repair the rest of the damage.
Georgios Averoff- The crew repairs 1 armor, and strategic
assets to cover the rest.
The Ottoman’s bank their Assets for 11 value to 2 by the
Balkan forces. No one loses a Strategic
asset, and the Balkans have 3 while the Ottoman’s have 4.
Experience:
Mehmed Il-Fatih- +7 (12)
Trakya- +3 (10)
Pyotr- +3 (4)
Brennus- +10 (14)
Georgios Averoff- +3
(8)
Mehmed Il-Fetih earns the Disciplined Crew advance
Brennus earns the Blow
Smoke experience advance
The Balkan League
advance has finally been halted thanks to the arrival of new Turkish troops
from Asia. In addition, coordination
between the rival Balkan allies has begun to breakdown and petty squabbling has
started. Admiral Ivanov’s grand plan to
storm the Dardanelles seems to have been stalled.
Meanwhile, the
Ottoman High Commands move on Thasos was a success. Now from their new positions they can
pressure the Balkan invaders on multiple fronts. Their next goal is to try an push back the
multi-pronged Balkan attack back in Greek territory.
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