Von der Tann
Schlachtkreuzer
After pausing for one week, we met again on the cold North Sea. This time, we played "Sortie of June 19th": elements of HSF and GF clash in the mouth of the English Channel, the Germans steam on a NW course from Antwerpen, while the British, coming from the mouth of river Thames, meet them head on. While the Grand Fleet is superior in terms of dreadnought battleships (15 vs. 10), the Germans have all their BC present, while the British have to make do with three tin cans only. By request the ACH settings were Poor ammo handling ON and fragile AP grenades OFF. Tanyrhiew, Admiral Hipper and Derfflinger commanded the Brits, while the Germs were led by Bolitho and myself.
As I was hosting, I was German commander and had the battle wagons with their escorts, while bolitho commanded the BCF. We assorted our forces on a N course, and the BCF sped forth to engage the British CA and BC. I decided to close the range to the enemy battleships while they were still forming the line, and ran towards them head-on. The greater range and calibre of their weapons proved to be devastating, as several of my BB lost turrets before even firing a shot, and a DD attack prevented me from closing the range for a while. As my BB had no other targets in range, they busied themselves by perforating the DD and sank them all, but their demise was not in vain, as the heavy shells kept showering them from outside their own range. Kaiserin caught one of them and blew up, but then, the path was clear, and we began closing towards the enemy BL.
In the mean time the BCF had engaged with the enemy BC, sent them limping and was now engaged with the tip of the enemy BL. Lützow and Derfflinger both suffered under the 15" hail and lost several turrets, but Royal Oak went down to a magazine explosion. As my own BB caught up with the enemy rear, they came within range and started to score hits. Superb left the line with a jammed rudder and was eventually sunk, Bellerophon suffered the same damage, but was able to stay with the battle line. The British fleet now retreated towards NW in the falling dark, but not before Von der Tann blew up, and with the real life clocks being past 11pm, we decided to call it a day and bury our dead.
Each side lost two capital ships: Superb and Royal Oak vs. Kaiserin and Von der Tann. On the whole, it can be declared a draw, with a slight advantage on the British side.
As I was hosting, I was German commander and had the battle wagons with their escorts, while bolitho commanded the BCF. We assorted our forces on a N course, and the BCF sped forth to engage the British CA and BC. I decided to close the range to the enemy battleships while they were still forming the line, and ran towards them head-on. The greater range and calibre of their weapons proved to be devastating, as several of my BB lost turrets before even firing a shot, and a DD attack prevented me from closing the range for a while. As my BB had no other targets in range, they busied themselves by perforating the DD and sank them all, but their demise was not in vain, as the heavy shells kept showering them from outside their own range. Kaiserin caught one of them and blew up, but then, the path was clear, and we began closing towards the enemy BL.
In the mean time the BCF had engaged with the enemy BC, sent them limping and was now engaged with the tip of the enemy BL. Lützow and Derfflinger both suffered under the 15" hail and lost several turrets, but Royal Oak went down to a magazine explosion. As my own BB caught up with the enemy rear, they came within range and started to score hits. Superb left the line with a jammed rudder and was eventually sunk, Bellerophon suffered the same damage, but was able to stay with the battle line. The British fleet now retreated towards NW in the falling dark, but not before Von der Tann blew up, and with the real life clocks being past 11pm, we decided to call it a day and bury our dead.
Each side lost two capital ships: Superb and Royal Oak vs. Kaiserin and Von der Tann. On the whole, it can be declared a draw, with a slight advantage on the British side.