Jutland Scenario AAR: Two Rookies Tackle Each Other

[FDRLincoln]

I am going to assess the state of my fleet this evening.

Currently, I know I have struck a severe blow at the British fleet. I believe that currently only their squadron of R-class battleships, which I have yet to encounter, is in battle condition, as well as the battlecruisers Lion, Tiger, and Princess Royal. They have also suffered very few losses among their light cruiser squadrons. Although I am winning the war right now, my fleet probably can't stand up to a squadron battle with the Rs directly. My thinking is that i need to harrass them and avoid a major squadron battle until I whittle their strength down further.

[FDRLincoln]

Lots of submarine action the last few turns. Only surface combat was a quick strike by my IJN light forces at Brunei, where I successfully torpedoed and sunk one of the old Dutch coastal battleships.

Submarine recon shows that the British are gathering the remnants of their fleet at Hong Kong, including the R-class squadron and the battlecruiser Lion. Accordingly, I intend to "hit them where they ain't" and am planning an amphibious invasion of Brunei, supported by light forces and a heavy cruiser squadron. Hopefully this will draw their fleet out over submarine-infested waters for further whittling down.

[String]

Wow, a nice victory, but don't get overconfident yet. The brits enjoy a 3:1 advantage in dreadnoughts and BC's in this scenario.

Besides the R class they also have the Queen Elizabeth class BB's available, which are dynamite.

[FDRLincoln]

The Queen Elizabeths have all been confirmed sunk. All he has left are the Rs, Agincourt, Erin, and Canada in BBs, Lion, Tiger, and Princess Royal in BCs.

[String]

ORIGINAL: FDRLincoln

The Queen Elizabeths have all been confirmed sunk. All he has left are the Rs, Agincourt, Erin, and Canada in BBs, Lion, Tiger, and Princess Royal in BCs.

Oh and Iron Duke, Benbow, Marlborough, Empress of India, Ajax, King George V, Centurion, Orion, Thunderer, Conqueror, Monarch, New Zealand and Indomitable

[FDRLincoln]

Those are all sunk, too, at the Battle of Hong Kong or afterward. According to the sunk ship screen.

[Terminus]

Quite the little massacre you guys have going there...

[Tankerace]

SO much for the Brit guns being too accurate [;)]

[FDRLincoln]

next time I load it up I will get a screen shot of the sunk ships.

[FDRLincoln]

BC Indomitable also lost.

[Alikchi2]

Good God [X(]

Well.. uh.. nice job [:D]

A lot of WPO victories are going to depend on the "little things" that didn't seem as important in WitP, I think. Captains and TF commanders, TF size, etc..

[FDRLincoln]

The war isn't over yet. He still has his R-squadron, and at least two battlecruisers afloat.

Of my ships, although none of my currently-damaged ships will sink from current damage, I only have three functional battlecruisers, and one functional dreadnought. The others are laid up with 50+ system damage. So I'm trying to make due with my force of pre-dreadnoughts and armored cruisers.

He seems to have figured out that I will be landing in Borneo, so I may cancel that operation.

[FDRLincoln]

His R-squadron has been located in Hong Kong. I have a carpet of submarines between there and Borneo, so if he moves the big boys to interefere with the Brunei landing, I can whittle him down.

In the meantime, we've had a couple of skirmish turns on the way to Brunei, a squadron led by Courageous and Glorious is harrassing my armored cruiser covering force, with inconclusive results thus far. So far my battlecruiser and pre-dreadnought squadrons escorting the troop convoy have not been detected, to my knowledge.

[FDRLincoln]

Well, the landing at Brunei begins. The Dutch coastal defense naval force and some supporting British destroyers have been destroyed, with the loss of only two destroyers for me and no serious damage to capital ships. I did have a transport badly damaged by a submarine torpedo...hopefully the troops can get off before the ship sinks.

I have lost touch with his main British naval forces. I can only assume they are on the way to Brunei to repel the invasion, but my submarines can't find them right now. Hmm.

[FDRLincoln]

Interesting battle near Brunei.

Japanese battle force led by Fuso, Kongo, and Haruna surprises a British force led by Courageous at 2,000 yards in the middle of the night. The Japanese launch a huge torpedo barrage, but all miss. The Brits respond with a 15-inch gun salvo from Courageous, which hits and penetrates Fuso's armor, causing severe damage.

The battle proceeds with the both sides losing some destroyers before breaking off. Fuso comes out of the turn with 99 SYS damage, 93 FLT damage. I had to scuttle her. As far as i could tell, Courageous had only light damage.

I'm now down to Kongo and Haruna as my operational modern capital ships. All others are sunk or too badly damaged to fight. My pre-dreadnought force and my armored cruiser force is mostly intact, but it will be hard to whittle down his R-squadron now, and the Brunei landing is probably doomed to failure.

[FDRLincoln]

Three quiet turns now, not much fighting. Even submarine sightings have tailed off. Brunei landing a failure thus far, my troops are there but pinned down and low on supplies. Reinforcement via fast transport will carry additional troops and supplies, but my initial hopes for a quick success there are over.

Small scouting force landed via submarine at Jesselton. No opposition.

[FDRLincoln]

After several quiet turns, things have heated up again.

I landed some troops at Jesselton and dispatched more reinforcements to my troops bogged down at Brunei. However i inteded this as a distraction. As I hoped, he moved his main fleet away from Hong Kong towards Borneo, enabling me to land a large amphibious force at HK.

I used my remaining capital ships to cover the landing. Most of them are at 30-40 SYS damage with reduced speed, but their weapons work and I felt that they coudl defend the landing zone well. It worked! Although I lost the Settsu and several destroyers, I sank four of his R-class battleships, as well as the Agincourt and the Thunderer. As far as I can tell, he is now down to Tiger and Princess Royal as functional capital ships. I still have Kongo and Haruna operational. I should have enough ground troops and supplies at Hong Kong to tackle the garrison soon.

[FDRLincoln]

Well, as we approach the end of April game time, both sides are bogged down. Most of his capital ships are sunk. Many of mine are, and the ones that are not are badly damaged and sitting in port. Both of us seem mostly to have assorted cruisers and destroyers left undamaged, plus submarines.

I have captured Jesselton and invaded Hong Kong and Brunei, although my ground forces are bogged down and I don't think I will be able to break the stalemate before the game ends.

[FDRLincoln]

We are about 5 turns away from the end of the game. I'm about 1,000 points ahead on VP. Land forces are bogged down at Hong Kong and Brunei, but the battlefleets on both sides are mostly destroyed.

[FDRLincoln]

The game ends with a Draw, although the Japanese side has about 1000 points more than the British.