En Passant again Sunday the 21st

anav

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
129
Reaction score
1
Location
lakeside, CA.
Country
llUnited States
En Passant Round two. 2 players on each side, ACH options both turned OFF this time. AAR from the German Commanders View.


CL/DD forces in the lead combined and scouted to the the North West. The BC's of SG 1 continued North to back them up, While the Konigs of the center column went ahead flank. The intent was for them to take the lead on whatever course the fleet deployed on. The older CL's of SG IV on the left flank turned back to the rear of the fleet.
CL's and later the BC's were soon engaged with RN forces located to the NW of the KM fleet and headed generally NE or E. Soon the BC's of SG 1 turned West and ran into the British Battle line formed up and steaming to cut off the German escape to the North. A bit later the RN BC's appeared to the West on cse 000. Since we were cut off to the North, we turned West in an attempt to take on the RN BC's and the rear of the RN line. Once on West the BL turned NW again by divisions to try and close with the British and take some of the pressure off the German BC's which were at this time taking overwhelming fire from the RN. Soon though these ships turned South to open the range. Von Der Tann took a pounding here and was slowed to a maximum of 21 knots. The view of the KM BC force from Konig at this time was inspiring. Heavily engaged with shell splashes all around it as it came South was a sight be behold.


The KM Battleline was still trying to get in the fight as the KM scouts all returned and tried to get into a single formation. At this time the fleet was in single line ahead on cse 315, with the BC's in the Van. Course was soon changed 15 degrees to the right, but the enemy was still out of range to the North so a right turn to 045 by divisions was conducted to quickly close the range. It was intended to come back to a base course of 330 as soon as possible once within range, but by this time the English were now NE of us and circling around back to the South. So the KM line continued right to course 145 to intercept the British. Within a few minutes a general engagement started between both fleets with tremendous fire on both sides. The RN line on course 160, with the KM line now to the West of them and on course 145. The BC forces of both sides were at this time in the rear of both lines.


The battle did not start off well for the Germans, as battleship Konig blew up, followed a few minutes later by Battleship Thuringen. These were the only two CH of the whole battle, and they occurred within minutes of each other. As the range closed between the two vans though German fire began to tell. Soon Ajax rolled out of line in a sinking condition followed a little later by 3 other RN BB's at moderate or heavy damage. It was the assesment of the RN side that none of these ships would have survived to see England again.


Still the German line was slowing and being taken apart by the heavy fire of a superior force, the Helgolands in particular were getting pounded and 2 of the 3 remaining were down to 17 knots. It was time for the KM to make its escape, so the fleet turned away from the British by divisions, then headed North. At this time the only torpedo attack of the battle was conducted by the KM side against the RN van to try to break up any pursuit. This it did though at the cost of the Rostock and 3 DD's. No torpedos found there mark as far as we knew. however the KM did manage to break off the fight.


So ended a good, hard fought, and very smart battle by both sides.

Regards ANav
 

Von der Tann

Schlachtkreuzer
Joined
Oct 2, 2008
Messages
719
Reaction score
1
Location
Münster
Country
llGermany
Yes, 'twas an epic battle all right. I had the British BL, the CA, a few CL and DD, plus overall command. I kept the distance to the German force in due thought of last weeks engagement, but it seems the CH settings worked this time - an indication that CH settings of the host may not override those of the other players. RN did not shoot well at the start, partly because we had the smoke in our eyes again. Once we went round the back, it blew away from us, a major factor in my planning. When I saw we were getting out of range, I silenced the guns for a while and used the opportunity to let the repairs go on unmolested by weapons fire. Once the range closed again, all ships received firing orders simultaneously, and since I did not have much time left before dinner, I decided to take the opportunity for a regular slugout. By sheer luck, two KM BB were knocked out in a short time. I then had to hand command over to Rich, who did a very good job on escort duty and as BC commander: despite KM nipping at our heels, they all were still in the green when I left.

Concerning the CH settings, we should try a few different settings the next few weeks to try out the results. Like, perhaps, with fragile AP grenades ON but cordite OFF.

Good game, everyone!
 
Last edited:

Raptor1

Pre-Dreadnought
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
172
Reaction score
0
Location
SMS Deutschland
Country
llIsrael
I see that the Germans got the beating they deserved since the last game...Well, okay, maybe the revenge wasn't as good as I would've liked...
 

anav

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
129
Reaction score
1
Location
lakeside, CA.
Country
llUnited States
The ACH settings are a puzzle. They were first put in the game to give some historically based advantages to the otherwise always outnumbered Germans. However with change after change the selection of either one of these options now seems to give the Germans so much advantage that the RN might as well stay in port.

This battle was fought with the ACH options OFF and seemed to be the best one in terms of balance. The RN in this scenario has a 4 BB advantage, and a 1 BC disadvantage verses the KM. All in all it was a fairly even fight. With two lost KM BB's and one lost RN BB with another three so damaged that they might not make it back.

Moreover many of the ships on both sides sustained the kind of damage one reads about in the history books for a line of battle engagement. In engagements of the recent past, with the Fragile ammo ACH option ON. The KM side was hardly damaged at all. While with the Cordite Option ON, it was as if Nuclear tipped shells were raining down on the RN.

The last two battles also strongly suggest that all the players must have the same ACH options selected.

More battles are necessary of course, but as things stand now I would say if you want a good fight, then leave the ACH both OFF.

ANav
 

rgreat

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
1,003
Reaction score
0
Location
Moscow
Country
llRussia
Hmm,.. without "ACH - fragile ammo" KM thoughness advantage will be nullified, as RN usually have much bigger shells.

Can be too much.
 

gascan

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
255
Reaction score
1
Location
California
I tend to agree that having both ACH options off gives a fairly even battle when the sides have fairly even numbers. British have big guns, Germans have tough ships to counteract the bigger guns. ACH is an extra disadvantage for the British to counteract a numerical advantage. I recall a round of Stormy Tuesday with both ACH on. With a very strong (2-1) numerical advantage and Fragile Shells, the British gave the Germans an even fight once they closed to around 10km, but then Unstable Cordite caught up with the Brits and forced them to disengage.

I figure that in En Passant and scenarios with even numbers of ships, ACH should be turned off (be careful to not allow the British to fire from outside German range, that's no fun for the Germans). With a 2-1 advantage in numbers, Fragile AP should be turned on. Unstable Cordite should never be turned on in multiplayer because it is so unpredictable. "Random" might be interesting, forcing players to try and find out what they got and adjust their tactics accordingly.
 

anav

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
129
Reaction score
1
Location
lakeside, CA.
Country
llUnited States
There is the Rub. Should ACH be adjusted to "alter" a numerical advantage on one side or the other, Or should we work to establish a norm and use it for all scenario's no matter what the OOB on either side. In my view the former lets us in for sorts of headaches as "numerical advantage" will be defined differently (then argued about) by every person who has the game.
There is an example in gascan's note to Illustrate my point. The BCF only has a raw 2 to 1 advantage in "Stormy Tuesday" by ship count. In fact the battle probably favors the Germans when you factor in the poorer shooting of British BC's, the significantly poorer protection when compared to the Germans, (especially so for the 12" RN BC's), and the RN slower Rate of Fire. To play this scenario with both ACH ON virtually compels the RN side to fight at extreme long range and don't allow the Germans as much as single shot if you can prevent it. A good tactic but not a very satisfying fight, nor a very realistic one. Plus in the end almost no damage on either side.
It seems to me that SES has already factored in the German advantages in gunnery and protection without the need for either CH option. Without them ships still explode just often enough to be a surprise and not something either side can count on. While damage is done to both sides at least to the degree that they have something to fear from the other. Put another way players are pretty much in the same spot as the original commanders were with the ACH options left OFF.

ANav
 
Top