Von der Tann
Schlachtkreuzer
Yesterday, we met for yet another Sunday battle, the resaved variant of En Passant with a different distribution of the ship. Three people on either side: RN was present with Anav, RBrook and Invincible, KM had Hipper, myself and - for the first time in multiplayer - Otto Weddigen. I was in charge of the battle fleet, while Hipper was driving the battlecruisers and Otto was handling his escorts. ACH settings were fragile AP shells OFF, poor ammo handling ON.
Initially, we were on a NE course and trying to bypass the RN towards Wilhelmshaven, while the battlecruisers were engaging their opposite numbers on a WNW course. Since the RN was directly on our line of retreat, this was going to become difficult. Due to the good quality of the RN AP shells, the BCs were suffering under the fire from the RN BCF with the 5th BS attached, and pretty soon Von der Tann was hit very hard and lost contact with the fleet. Her propulsion was severely damaged, but she kept sailing and firing until she finally went down. Meanwhile, our BC had temporarily disengaged and were sailing behind the BL, which had closed in to engage the Royal Navy. Derfflinger had taken heavy damage as well, lost several turrets and suffered from severe fires, but she could be saved in the end. On the other side, Lion had taken a hit in her steering and was circling for some time until it could be fixed.
Meanwhile, the BL had formed up and sailed closer to the approaching Grand Fleet on course 015°, suffering some damage in advance due to the superior enemy range. One by one, however, they engaged in a running battle, which raged for quite some time. Both battle lines were taking heavy fire, on our side, Großer Kurfürst went up in a magazine explosion, followed by Kaiser some time later, and Kronprinz had acquired so many holes that she could not be saved. Most of the other ships were shaking under the impacts of enemy shells as well, but they were also hitting back, as the unstable cordite was taking its toll. Marlborough was the first to light up, and while the battle went on, she was followed by several others, and a few more were being heavily damaged in more conventional ways. But RN succeeded in keeping us in check close to the Dutch coast and was starting a massive DD run to cut us off, which was countered by a TB run of our own, which was regrettably chewed up in heavy defensive fire. In order to avoid beaching on the Dutch coast, we changed on a W course.
At this time, we decided to call it a day, as it was getting pretty late over here, and I ended the game to count our losses. The result was a draw, with RN suffering heavy losses but keeping the Germans in check.
Well fought, gentlemen, and congratulations to Otto for his first successful MP battle!
Initially, we were on a NE course and trying to bypass the RN towards Wilhelmshaven, while the battlecruisers were engaging their opposite numbers on a WNW course. Since the RN was directly on our line of retreat, this was going to become difficult. Due to the good quality of the RN AP shells, the BCs were suffering under the fire from the RN BCF with the 5th BS attached, and pretty soon Von der Tann was hit very hard and lost contact with the fleet. Her propulsion was severely damaged, but she kept sailing and firing until she finally went down. Meanwhile, our BC had temporarily disengaged and were sailing behind the BL, which had closed in to engage the Royal Navy. Derfflinger had taken heavy damage as well, lost several turrets and suffered from severe fires, but she could be saved in the end. On the other side, Lion had taken a hit in her steering and was circling for some time until it could be fixed.
Meanwhile, the BL had formed up and sailed closer to the approaching Grand Fleet on course 015°, suffering some damage in advance due to the superior enemy range. One by one, however, they engaged in a running battle, which raged for quite some time. Both battle lines were taking heavy fire, on our side, Großer Kurfürst went up in a magazine explosion, followed by Kaiser some time later, and Kronprinz had acquired so many holes that she could not be saved. Most of the other ships were shaking under the impacts of enemy shells as well, but they were also hitting back, as the unstable cordite was taking its toll. Marlborough was the first to light up, and while the battle went on, she was followed by several others, and a few more were being heavily damaged in more conventional ways. But RN succeeded in keeping us in check close to the Dutch coast and was starting a massive DD run to cut us off, which was countered by a TB run of our own, which was regrettably chewed up in heavy defensive fire. In order to avoid beaching on the Dutch coast, we changed on a W course.
At this time, we decided to call it a day, as it was getting pretty late over here, and I ended the game to count our losses. The result was a draw, with RN suffering heavy losses but keeping the Germans in check.
Well fought, gentlemen, and congratulations to Otto for his first successful MP battle!
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