Continued familiarization of the GQ 3.3 Rules

The aim of this fictional Naval Wargame was to try out/learn/study air-attack rules against ships and night combat. So we had a 1942 Japanese Amphibious Landing scenario on Sumatra (one of the larger Dutch East Indies islands), which flank had to be defended against a small US Taskgroup, looking for it. To add to the expected confusion of fighting at night at close range within a Sea Strait (Gaspar Strait), we used general markers for ship miniatures. They would be replaced by the actual ship miniatures if they were properly detected and acquired, which would be a challenge at night. Damage was to be written down at the ship data cards, but only damage which was visible to the enemy (like fire, etc.) had to be displayed with proper counters at the miniatures.

The fictional scenario

The Japanese Taskgroup consisted this game of a heavy cruiser division and a destroyer division, supported by a (experimental) radar equipped H6K ‘Mavis’ flying boat. 5x G4M ‘Betty’ medium bombers were ‘on call’ to engage Allied interference on the intended landing. The cruiser Div. consisted of IJN Takao and IJN Mikuma (Mogami-class) heavy cruisers, both types equipped with 10 x 8-inch guns and 24-inch torpedo tubes. The destroyer Div. consisted of a 1930s Agano-class light cruiser (6 x 6-inch guns; only Japanese ship with surface search radar), leading 3x 1930s Akutsuki-class destroyers. They were ‘special type’ large 2000 ton destroyers with four 5-inch guns (after their 1941 refit) and nine 24-inch torpedo tubes. The 3 Japanese destroyers had Type 90 ‘standard’ torpedoes (27 tubes in total with some reloads) while the 3 Japanese cruisers had longer range/more damage Type 93 ‘Long Lance’ torpedoes (36 tubes in total).
The US attackers had 1 cruiser Div. consisting of two 8-inch heavy cruisers and a brand-new Atlanta-class light cruiser optimized for air defence (16 x 5-inch). USS Wichita (CA-45) was a 1939 heavy cruiser with 9 x 8-inch guns. The older 8-inch USS Augusta (Northampton-class) was designed within the limits of the Washington 1925 and London 1930 Naval Armament Treaties. USS Augusta was a typical ‘Treaty cruiser’: within the treaty limit of 10,000 ton a fast 8-inch light cruiser. However, her armour could not withstand incoming 8-inch shells. The US destroyer Div. consisted of two brand-new radar equipped Fletcher-class destroyers. The US attackers had only 28 torpedo tubes in total, with the much smaller & shorter range 21-inch torpedo. As reconnaissance asset the US had a modern, radar equipped PBY-5 Catalina flying boat. All US ships were equipped with ‘SC’ surface & air search radar. 
The Japanese combatants had together 24,5 Victory Points and the US fleet 20 VP.

Set up
On a 4 x 6 feet table, both 1:3000 scale ships and 1:600 aircraft. Unknown Japanese ships were red wooden markers; unknown US ships were yellow. Distance scale: 1 cm. = 200 yds. Wind: from EastNortheast, Bf 3, visibility: 35.000 yds (determined by dice; 4,000 yds less during Dusk). Cloudbase at 10,000 yds; density 40%. 
    The 2 US divisions (destroyer Div. front) sailed in line astern formation with 20 kts. towards Gaspar Strait. Course: 045. At start of game their Catalina flying boat operated at flight level 6,000 yds. approx 3 nm. in front of them.
Both Japanese Div. (speed 10-15 kts) guarded the norther entrance of Gaspar Strait (between islands); Their H6K Flying boat operated south of the Strait at flight level 9,000 yds. 

Turn 1

Both Task Groups didn’t see each other, but their patrol aircraft could see their opponent Task Groups. They made their sighting reports. Based on the report, the Japanese Rear Admiral onboard IJN Takao ordered an Airstrike against the reported US Task Group, to be executed by 5 x G4M Betty medium bombers. Each Betty to be armed with 2 x 500 Lbs bombs, which are able to penetrate a heavy cruiser (CA) deck.

Fast forward to ‘Turn 2’
Japanese G4M bombers were briefed, armed, scrambled and appeared above the eastern islands of the Gaspar Strait. They were both visual spotted by the PBY-5 Catalina flying boat during Dusk and some of the SC-radars of US ships. Air warning Red; 5 Bogeys incoming fast; Flight Level 5! Bearing: 050, Range 15,000 yds.

Turn 3 (Air Attack)

The Japanese 'Mavis' Flying boat guided the bomber formation by tactical radio towards the US Taskgroup. All miniatures were now visible. The US cruisers increased speed to 25 kts and both destroyers to 30 kts. The US Catalina dived towards flight level 5,000 m. to avoid a collision with the incoming bombers and cleared the sky for Air Defence. During the 1st Air Phase (Advanced Game Turn Sequence) the bombers overflew the Destroyer Div. All US ships (both divisions) fired at the incoming bombers at long range (due to the Japanese high flight level). No aircraft hit. During the 2nd Air Phase all US ships maneuvered to keep their Air Defense weapon systems aimed at the incoming threat. However USS Fletcher got out of range and couldn’t hit. 5 Bogeys closing fast; Flight Level 5! Bearing: 080, Range 8,000 yds. Atlanta take out southern bogeys, Wichita take out norther bogeys!

One ‘Betty’ was hit and crashed, but 4 Betty’s overflew USS Atlanta & USS Wichita. Four bombs were

dropped at each cruiser, but all missed (due to the heavy Air defense put up by the ships, their high speed and the high flight level of the bombers - to keep out of short range AA). Sitrep: Taskgroup was attacked by 5 Bogeys from the east, one splashed. Units report damage and ammunition status, out!

Fast forward to turn 4 (Gaspar Strait)
After the unsuccessful Japanese air-attack, the scenario moved fast forward from Dusk to the night crossing of the Gaspar Strait. Quarterly Moon. Miniatures have been replaced back to their wooden markers as both sides were not supported anymore by their patrol aircraft. Both US and Japanese Task Group Commanders knew the approx. position, but not the exact composition of their opposing forces.
US Taskgroup consisted of 1 destroyer Div. (upfront; speed 30 kts), followed at close range by the cruiser Div. (speed 25 kts.). Their aggressive high speed was to surprise the enemy and diminish their response time at night. US ships tried their multiple and modern radar systems to detect the Japanese ships. USS Fletcher detected the Japanese destroyer Div. but was unable to identify (‘acquire’) individual ships. The US cruiser Div. was outside range.
Japanese destroyer Div. (only IJN Agano had radar) didn’t get a radar detection on the US ships and the Japanese cruiser Div. didn’t get a visual acquisition at this long range at night. No shots fired. Units also out of star shell range or searchlight range.

Turn 5

Both Taskgroups turned towards each other. The US ships rushed towards the entrance of the Strait. Between 16,000-12,000 yds distance the US ships were unable to acquire the Japanese ships in the dark. However IJN Takao was able to acquire both Fletcher-class destroyers near the entrance of the Strait at a range of 11,500 yds; just outside max. searchlight distance. Although the US destroyers didn’t realize they were detected themselves, they quickly needed a confirmation of the type of (radar)detected

Japanese ships in the Strait. Otherwise they would loose their range advantage (based on radar). So USS Guest fired with her forward 5-inch gun a starshell behind the nearest radar contact. When 2 Japanese ships were illuminated by this, USS Guest and USS Wichita opened fire on those ships at a range of 11,000 yds, without hitting them.  

Turn 6 (gun duel)

The US rear-admiral realized that the tactical situation could become dangerous very quickly: by opening fire on the Japanese ships in the dark he had exposed both his divisions and the unknown Japanese ships (with their formidable torpedoes) were

dangerously close… So he split up his 2 divisions, ordering a change of course (trying to defeat a possible Japanese torpedo attack and maximize the chance of a gun broadside towards the enemy). His destroyer Div. hugged the eastern coast but his cruiser Div. turned slightly to port. The US cruiser Div. was still unable to visual acquire the second Japanese Div. and therefor unable to open fire on them. The US destroyer Div. closed the Japanese destroyer Div. at 6,000 yds but had no visual on them as well (the star shell illumination was extinguished). To improve the situation USS Wichita fired a star shell towards the un-identified second Japanese Div. and when illuminated, fired a broadside 8-inch salvo towards an illuminated Japanese cruiser. 1 hit, without any visible damage. All Japanese destroyers

activated their superior searchlights and illuminated both US destroyers. Now the Japanese fleet had range advantage! USS Augusta and USS Fletcher opened fire at their nearest Japanese destroyers at close range, without hitting them. Only USS Guest managed to hit the nearest IJN Hibiki, with rapid fire at a range of 6,000 yds, although no damage became visual. Two Japanese destroyers could only aim their forward 5-inch twin turret towards the US destroyers, fired but missed. IJN Agano had no clear field of fire towards the US destroyers at this close range.. The Japanese Cruiser Div. returned fire at USS Wichita (which has exposed herself by gun flashes) and USS August at 12,000 yds, resulting in 1 hit (destroying a 5-inch gun of USS August).

Turn 7 
The US destroyer Div. fired 20 ’standard’ 21-inch torpedoes towards the north, in order to either hit the Japanese destroyer Div. or Cruiser Div. The Japanese destroyer Div. fired 27 Type 90 ‘standard’ heavy torpedo’s towards the west (in the direction of the US cruiser Div.) and 8 Type 93 ‘Long Lance’ heavy torpedo’s (from IJN Agano).

The Japanese destroyer Div. at last visually acquired USS Atlanta and had now a full view on the full US cruiser Div., which maintained their 30 kts. course. The US cruiser Div. maintained radar contact on the 2nd Japanese Div. but had still not visually identified IJN Mikuma. The US destroyer Div. acquired visually at close range in the dark the Japanese destroyer Div. (including the cruiser Agano).  
Again USS Wichita used a star shell to improve understanding of the tactical situation: the star shell illuminated IJN Mikuma. As soon as Mikuma was illuminated at 8,000 yds, Wichita fired her 9 x 8-inch guns and Mikuma was hit 6 times with a 118 

kg. 8-inch shell. USS August fired her 9 x 8-inch guns at IJN Agano, hitting her 3 times, resulting in 3 critical hits! USS Atlanta fired 12 5-inch guns towards IJN Ikazuchi, hitting her 3 times with a 24,5 kg 5-inch shell. And both US destroyers engaged the nearest Japanese destroyers at very close range (2,000 yds), resulting in several hits (rapid 5-inch fire). The Japanese ships were less successful during this gun engagement. Only USS Guest and USS Atlanta were hit. USS Guest was critical hit in one of her aft 5-inch guns but by flooding the magazine quickly could prevent an ammunition explosion. USS Atlanta lost a search light. Both Japanese 8-inch guns missed their targets at 6,000 yds. 

(shortened) turn 8 (torpedo attack) 
Due to real world time constraints, we only looked at the results of the ongoing torpedo-attacks.

The badly hit IJN Mikuma failed her morale test and turned to steer away from the US threat. 
The US Cruiser Div., unaware of the incoming massive torpedo attack, turned slightly to port to keep her (gun) broadside changes to a max. 

    USS Wichita just cleared the incoming torpedo threat, but USS August (the second cruiser in line) came in a spread of Type 90 24-inch torpedoes (with a warhead size of 375 kg.). Resulting in 2 devastating hits. She never knew what hit her as she didn’t see the torpedoes coming in the night (and didn’t apply evasive maneuvering). USS Atlanta at the rear of the formation came in a spread of Type 93 ‘Long Lance’ torpedoes (warhead: 490 kg.), resulting also into 2 devastating hits! Same story: complete surprise… The IJN considered the Type 93 its most important secret weapon. The Type 93, called “Long Lance” by the U.S. Navy, burned ethanol or methanol, using as its oxidizer compressed oxygen rather than compressed air (it is sometimes mistakenly described as “oxygen fueled.”). The combination of very long range, high speed and no visual torpedo-trail was deadly.

    The 20 US 21-inch torpedoes ran out of battery power at a measly 6,000 yds and never reached the Japanese cruiser Div.

Outcome of this devastating night fight:
The 2 torpedo hits at the light armored USS Augusta resulted in 9 destroyed hull boxes (out of 8), all of her forward 8-inch turrets destroyed and an engine room hit. She sank immediately with great loss of crew. 

The 2 'Long Lance' torpedo hits at the lighter cruiser USS Atlanta (only 6 hull boxes) made even more impact as those Type 93 'Long Lance' torpedoes had a heavier warhead than the type 90. The result was similar: she sank immediately with great loss of crew. 

So the US task group lost 2 out of 3 cruisers, had 2 operational destroyers but no US ship had any torpedoes left. Their search & attack for the Japanese Landing Force was basically over.

    What happened to the Japanese Covering Force? The flagship IJN Takao was still operational and had all her torpedoes available (incl. reload capacity). IJN Mikuma (6 hits of 8-inch shells) had 5 of her 8 hull boxes destroyed, her flooding continued due to a destroyed bulkhead and after a negative morale check had decided to leave the scene with a max. speed of 11 kts. IJN Agano had lost 33% of her main 6-inch battery, had to flood her 6-inch magazine (to prevent an ammunition explosion after a 8-inch hit) and was limited to 23 kts. after a critical engine room hit. Her conning tower/bridge was severely hit, so she lost the only Japanese radar capability, her destroyer Div. Commander and was out of radio Comms. 

As the control over the Japanese destroyer Div. was gone, some destroyers were in bad shape as well. IJN Hibiki had been hit by 5-inch shells at very close range (rapid fire) and had lost 5 hull boxes (out of 7). and 50% of her guns. Her bulkhead was damaged (flooding) and her speed was limited to 10 kts. Not very operational anymore... IJN Akatsuki lost during this night fight both 5-inch turrets but could probably reload 2 of her 3 torpedo mounts in the future and because she had all her engine power available, should be considered reasonably operational. IJN Ikazuchi had a nasty critical: a jammed rudder. Conclusion: the Japanese destroyer Div. lost their Div. leader, had in total only 4 x 6-inch and 4 x 5-inch guns and were dangerously close to 2 US reasonably operational destroyers with a total of 9 x 5-inch guns, a speed of 32 kts. and a functional Div. staff. If the Japanese ships of this Div. would make wrong decisions in the near future, they could loose additional ships due to US gunfire.... 

Although we couldn’t finish the game, this remains a tactical and strategic victory for Japan: there is no reason for the remaining 3 US ships to press on their attack as they have run out of torpedoes (no reloads) and don't have a good chance to find and fight the Landing Force. They could only hope to sink additional Japanese ships from the Destroyer Div. Of our 4 games within this 1942 Pacific scenario 3 out of 4 games the Japanese Fleet won. Due to better armament of cruisers & destroyers, clever usage of float planes and torpedo reload capability. But bear in mind that US ships always had to operate further away from their homeland (more crew comforts needed onboard) and limitations on individual US ships (they followed longer the Naval Treaties and took economic measures like no torpedo tubes on cruisers, etc.) wasn't a limiting issue compared against the economic and tactical power to build far more new and potent combatants than Japan ever could.

Verdict

This fictional naval skirmish took us approx. 5-6 hrs play time to conduct those 8 turns (including making pictures & taking notes). Lookin at our aims this game:

Conduct of a Japanese air attack by level bombers. Valuable lessons learned on the amount & types of armament used and available tactics. Medium level bombing (outside close range AA) is very safe but difficult to hit fast moving ships with loads of AA.

Anti Air Warfare Cruiser: Those 16 x 5-inch guns of Atlanta-class light cruiser are very convenient during air attack, but also against Japanese destroyers during close encounters. A lot of firepower! They are fast, they are multi-role (with sonar, radar and torpedoes) but when hit by torpedoes you find out they are just light cruisers...

Night combat: indeed confusing and fast. We tried out non-descript formation markers (red & yellow), star shell (yellow crown counter), search light (yellow), detection of gun flashes, rapid fire, torpedoes (purple launch location & direction), the whole lot. And continued our 'house rule (?)' of not telling your opponent what kind of damage a ship has. Apart from the obvious damage you can see from the outside (at night!): fire, etc. But damage to torpedo tube, searchlight, DCT, amount of hullboxes hit, etc. you don’t know from an opponent at a certain distance. We forgot the former learning point of last game: you must tell your opponent your current speed limit. In reality a warship has a decent assessment of the speed of an opponent (based on radar or bearing plot) but within the game that is quite difficult to determine.

Collecting & painting 'pre-Dreadnought' warships (part 2)

Three months since my first blog on pre-Dreadnought collecting & painting… What are the achievements so far?
My Japanese Navy is build up around 3 pre-Dreadnought battle ships, 2 armoured cruisers, 4 protected cruisers and 10 torpedo boat destroyers. And there are several new ships in the yard… My Russian Navy consists of 7 pre-Dreadnought battle ships, 3 armoured cruisers, 6 protected cruisers, 1 armed merchant cruiser, 5 destroyers and 1 icebreaker. And their yard is also very busy…
        While reading about & collecting participants of the Russian-Japanese naval war of 1904-’05 I got interested as well in the following timeframe in the Mediterranean: the skirmishes between Italy and Türkiye (1911), the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, the skirmishes between Greece and Türkiye (battle of Elli; 1911) and the battles in the Adriatic between the Austrian-Hungary navy and Italy (from 1915 onwards). So many naval clashes! Especially the navy of Austria-Hungary got my attention. They developed and built their own ships, like the Italians. Anyhow, I started to collect them as well..  
        And it was about time to try out a rule system in a Naval Wargame; to figure out if I really liked the Period of pre-Dreadnoughts. So I studied my copy of ‘Broadside & Salvo’ (David Manley; Longface Games) and decided to mimic a Russian break-out of Port Arthur in 1904 with the limited number of ships I had painted so far.

Set up:

The Russian Squadron consisted of a Division of 2 Peresvet battleships (Peresvet & Pobieda), led by the Tsesarevich. The cruiser Division was an armored cruiser (AC) Bayan (4 pipes) and protected cruiser (PC) Askold (5 pipes), supported by 3 torpedo boat destroyers (TBD). The Japanese Squadron (photo) consisted of the battleships Mikasa, Shikishima and Chin Yen. The Japanese cruiser Division consisted of 2 Asama-class armored cruisers (Asana & Tokiwa), supported by 4 TBD.

The ‘Broadside & Salvo’ Rules.

All rules are written down in approx. 20 pages. D6 dice are used and a ruler (in inches). A turn represents 5 minutes of real time; a ship can only fire 1 salvo on 1 target per turn. The suggested ground scale is 500 yds to an inch and the game assumes that at the beginning both sides have each other visual (there is no scout or detection phase). For each ship type (from battleship, armored cruiser, etc. to gunboats and minelayers) there is generic data for attack factor, defense factor, max. gunnery range, cruise and max. speed. There are 6 levels of damage (hit, critical, damage, silenced, crippled and sunk) which can be calculated, based on the result of dice, in combination with some modifiers, attack factor of the attacker and defense factor. You can choose either Gunnery Combat, Torpedo or Mine attacks. There are additional rules on mine laying, mine sweeping, use of smoke screens and night actions (use of searchlights). Although the rules don’t use specific armamant and speed statics of individual ships, there is a system to adapt these generic statistics and take into account older ships (‘obsolete ships’) or brand-new ships (‘superior ships’). So, within the Rules, 2 of the 3 Japanese battleships were considered ‘Superior’; all other ships were ‘standard’. The game also uses ‘Action Points’, which you can use to perform specific tasks with your ships.
A turn consists of the Initiative Phase, Movement Phase, Gunnery Phase, Torpedo Phase, Repair & damage Phase.

Turn 1 (initiative: Japan)

Both Russian Divisions collected quite some action points (AP). The Japanese Battleship Div. collected only 1 AP; their cruiser Div 5 AP's.

Movement Phase: The Russian squadron tried to break out of Port Arthur in line astern, with cruising speed '4 inch'. The Japanese Battle ship Div. accelerated to max speed (costing 1 AP) and the cruiser Div. accelerated to max speed and changed course as well (costing 2 AP's). The Japanese units manoeuvred to prevent the Russian break-out.

Gunnery phase: Japanese battleship Mikasa (on the right in this photo) couldn't reach the Russian battleships with her front double 12-inch turret, as they were at 20-inch distance (max. distance 12-inch guns: 18 inch). Instead she opened fire against the modern armoured cruiser Bayan (left in this photo) at range 15 inch. The geometry of the engagement (only her forward 12-inch turret had a good field of view) is not part of the rules. Anyhow, Mikasa missed. Bayan fired back at Mikasa and damaged her (first level of 'damage'). I assumed only 1 engagement per squadron/per turn was allowed, although later on I realized this limitation was on ship level: 1 engagement/per ship/per turn.

Repair phase: Mikasa couldn't repair her damage because it was only the first level of damage and she had run out of action points... 

Turn 2 (initiative: Japan)

Both battleship Div. collected a limited number of AP's; both cruiser Div. collected only 1 AP each.

Movement Phase: the fast sailing Japanese squadron split up: the fast moving destroyers maneuvered for a torpedo attack towards the Russian battleships, while the Japanese battleships manoeuvred for a gunnery broadside towards the Russian cruiser Div. (at a range of 9 inch). The Japanese cruiser Div. tried to outflank the Russian cruiser Div.  The Russian Squadron proceeded with cruise speed, although their destroyers turned towards the Japanese imminent TBD attack. Which triggered a thought with me: 'how to conduct gunnery between 2 torpedo boat formations?'

Gunnery Phase: anyhow, the Japanese (superior) battleship Shikishima opened fire against the Russian flagship Tsesarovich with her 12-inch guns at a range of 14 inch, scoring one hit (without a damage level). I chose Shikishima this turn, as Mikasa was damaged in turn 1 (and I assumed a negative modifier because of her damage). Tsesarovich returned fire not to Shikishima but to Mikasa, resulting into a hit.

And then I run out of real world time to continue...

Verdict

At an engagement range of 18 inches, skirmishes between fleets can be played at tabletop size. Within 5 to 10 turns the skirmish probably comes to a clear result. This Naval Wargame is a little bit more play than realism because of the generic speeds, lack of shooting geometry and lack of a search & detection phase (although you can use the Campaign feature for this). Although the shooting-, damage- and repair rules are simple, it provides realistic decision challenges for players. Look at this game: although Japanese 12-inch battleships are considered superior, within 2 turns Japan already got 2 hits on her flagship Mikasa. Studying afterwards I found that every 'hit' has only negative effects in the turn it occurred. So the first 'damage' on Mikasa (turn 1) had negative effects on her during the whole game (until rectified) but her 'hit' had only effect in turn 2. 

Together with the options for mine warfare, torpedo attacks and night encounters I reckon I still have lots to learn with these Rules. And I still like the pre-Dreadnought Periode (especially the colorfull ships and the technology leaps during that period)! So carry on with collecting & painting...

South Pacific 1942: US ships try to interfere with Japanese landing in Dutch East Indies (GQ3.3 Rules)

A continuation of our South Pacific focus on WW2. The aim of this fictional General Quarters 3.3 Naval Wargame was to try out some aircraft rules and my new sea mat with islands. So we had a (static) Japanese Amphibious Landing Scenario on one of the Dutch East Indies islands, which had to be defended against a (mainly) US Taskgroup, looking for it. We used known 1942 units who mostly participated in the 1942 Java Sea Battle as well. To add to the expected confusion of fighting at close range within a Sea Strait, we used general counters for ship miniatures. They only would be replaced by the actual ship miniatures if they were properly detected and acquired. Damage was written down at the ship data cards, but only damage which was visible to the enemy (fire, list due to flooding, etc.) was displayed with proper counters.

The ‘what if?’ scenario

The Japanese Navy consisted this game of 2 destroyer divisions, each consisted of a 1920s Sendai-class light/scout cruiser (WW1 design), leading 2x 1925s Fubuki-class destroyers or 2x 1930s Akutsuki-class destroyers. These were ‘special type’ large 1700 ton destroyers with six 5-inch guns and nine 24-inch torpedo tubes. The 1930 London Naval Treaty tried to limit the development of this type of warship to 1850 ton. In addition there were two brand new, but underarmed and lightly armoured 6-inch light cruisers, IJN Agano and IJN Oyodo (the latter equipped with several unarmed F1M ‘Pete’ floatplanes). The Landing Force consisted of 1 oiler, 1 troopship and 3 LST’s.

        The US attackers had 1 slightly larger destroyer division (the WW1 design scout cruiser USS Marblehead leading 4 old Clemson-class 1000 ton destroyers [WW1 design 4 stackers]). Their cruiser division was the 8-inch 1920s USS Houston (Northampton-class) and 6-inch 1930s HMAS Perth (UK Modified Leander-class), both within the Washington 1925 and London 1930 Naval Armament Treaty limitations. USS Houston was a typical ‘Treaty cruiser’: within the treaty limit of 10,000 ton a fast 8-inch light cruiser. However, her armour could not withstand incoming 8-inch shells. As reconnaissance asset they had a modern but unarmed PBY-5 Catalina flying boat. 

The Japanese combatants had together 25 Victory Points and the US fleet 18,5 VP. As expected most Japanese combatants had Type 90 ‘Long Lance’ torpedoes (60 tubes in total with some reloads), although IJN Agano & IJN Jintsu had the longer range Type 93. The US attackers had 62 torpedo tubes in total, although much shorter range, less damage and without a reload capacity.
The close vicinity of the islands would hamper radar reception; so this type of sensor was no use in the scenario.

Set up
On a 4 x 6 feet table, both 1:3000 scale ships and 1:600 aircraft. Unknown Japanese ships were yellow wooden counters; unknown US ships were red. Distance scale: 1 cm. = 200 m. Wind: from Northeast, Bf 3, visibility: 22.000 yds (determined by dice). Cloudbase at 7,000 yds; density 40%. 

Each Japanese Div. (speed 10 kts) guarded 1 Sea Strait (between islands); DD Div 1 the Southeastern Strait, DD Div 2 the Southwestern Strait and the Cruiser Div. the Northwestern Strait. 

The 2 US divisions sailed in line astern formation with 15 kts. towards the Southeastern Strait. At start of game their Catalina flying boat had just made rendez-vous with them. IJN Oyodo was about to launch 1 ‘Pete’ floatplane into the NE wind.

Turn 1
Japanese Amphibious ships at anchor near the beach. 3 LST’s were used for ferrying troops and supplies towards the undefended beach. All Sea Straits leading towards this beach were guarded by a Japanese DD- or cruiser-division. 

        US Catalina at level 5 (5,000 m.) had eyes on the Southeastern Strait and detected the Japanese 1st DD Div. at approx. 8,000 yds. Her enemy report was not completely accurate: she reported 3 DD’s and 1 CL. As she closed to 5,000 yds IJN Sendai was unable to engage her (her 1917-design old 5,5-inch guns had no AA capacity!) but the more modern destroyer IJN Ushio (Fubuki class) destroyed the flying boat with a lucky salvo from her forward twin 5-inch gun at max. elevation. 

In the meantime IJN Oyodo launched 1 ‘Pete’ floatplane into the NE wind, which climbed to flight level 3 (3,000 m.). Both Japanese DD Div 1 and all US ships became visible & acquired each other. Both sides fired at each other at ranges of 5,000 - 8,000 yds, resulting in several hits. USS Pope and USS Marblehead on fire, as well as IJN Ushio.
The US Taskgroup Commander got word that a fresh reconnaissance plane could not provided within 1,5 hrs. There was no ‘plan B’ as the Allied ships left their float planes at the Dutch Naval Base of Surabaja, because of the fire risk during a naval battle (and the promise from the Allied Air Commander that air cover would be provided during this Raid….).

Turn 2

Japanese Amphibious ships (still undetected) kept unloading their cargo. IJN Commanding officer of DD Div 1 had reported US enemy towards Japanese Taskgroup Commander (onboard light cruiser IJN Agano). Both (undetected) Japanese light cruisers were ordered to help DD Div 1; Undetected DD Div 2 had to expand their cover of the Southwestern Strait into the Northwestern Straits as well. The ‘Pete’ floatplane first flew East (check the Northern direction for any further Allied threats) to turn later towards south towards the incoming known US attackers.
IJN Ushio managed to exterminate her fire, but both US ships were less lucky. Both the US and the Japanese ships accelerated towards each other into the Southeastern Strait. 

The Japanese ‘Pete’ floatplane turned southwest eventually, dived to flight level 1 (1000 m.) and kept a 1800 m. mountain between herself and the US line of ships (right picture). 

        The US and Japanese ships kept firing at each other: IJN Sendai had been hit 6 times at very short range (2,000 yds) but was able to hit the nearby USS Parrott 5 times. However, both ships didn’t show visible damage, like fire, smoke or a severe listing. During the close encounter between the US and Japanese DD Divisions in the 4,000 yds narrow Strait, US and Japanese cruisers in the rear (like USS Houston, HMAS Perth and approaching IJN Jintsu) were unable to engage some enemy targets as they were obscured by ‘own units’ closer by.

Turn 3
The brave crew of the leading IJN Sendai had been able to repair the bulkhead damage and stopped the flooding but the 3 ships of the 1st Japanese DD Division were now very close to the 5 ships of the US DD Division and there was insufficient water space in this narrow Strait to turn around and lure the enemy towards the other Japanese (undetected) cruisers… So the Japanese Div. Commander ordered a torpedo-attack on the enemy and hope for the best. As you would expect, the US destroyers were also preparing a torpedo-attack!

        Suddenly the ‘Pete’ floatplane became visible and turned towards the bigger Allied cruisers with a speed of 350 km/hrs. Most of the US warships opened fire on the floatplane, but all missed! Due to the heavy AA fire the Japanese floatplane turned North finally and left the scene.
        Both IJN Agano and Oyodo cruisers were turning and accelerating towards the incoming enemy, but starting at a very slow speed of 10 kts. that maneuver took a lot of time. Same with DD Div 2: they had to make a great turn with insufficient speed…

In the meantime in the Southeastern Strait both sides fired torpedoes at each other at close range. IJN Fubuki fired 9 torpedoes and did hit USS Paul Jones with 1, which was devastating to her. IJN Sendai was only able to fire 2 torpedoes from port side (the other mount was destroyed during the gun duel), but USS Pope was able to evade those. The 6 torpedoes fired from IJN Ushio missed their target completely as the US destroyers Div. had slowed its speed in response. [after game end I discovered that 50% of the US DD Div. was at that stage limited to 15-20 kts. speed due to battle damage]. 

IJN Sendai was hit by a US 21-inch torpedo which she didn’t see coming and didn’t evade. As the lead ship of DD Div 1 she had accumulated a lot of damage and this torpedo hit finished her off. Both Japanese destroyers were able to evade the rest of the US torpedoes. 

However during the following gunnery exchange both Japanese destroyers were hit badly, resulting in bulkhead damage, severe listing and speed limitations (max speed 10 kts.). All gun turrets of IJN Ushio were destroyed as well, so DD Div 1 was not a fighting force anymore (Div. leader sinking and both destroyers crippled). 

The US DD Div. lost 1 destroyer (USS Paul Jones) and had 2 ships on fire but 2 destroyers didn’t show much damage… Both Allied cruisers were also fully available and the Japanese Taskgroup Commander feared an US attack through the Southeastern Strait on the (still) undetected but now almost undefended Japanese Landing Force…

Turn 4

The Japanese Taskgroup Commander ordered every Japanese unit to come to the rescue. DD Div. 2 accelerated to 25 kts, fired 2 spreads of type 90 ‘Long Lance’ torpedo’s towards the Southeastern Strait and followed these torpedoes in a Line abreast formation in order to be able to fire with the max. amount of front guns (5,5- and 5-inch guns) on the enemy. 

        The Japanese cruiser Div. rushed forward as well but the incoming Allied fleet was obscured by a mountainous island. In the meantime the 2 surviving Japanese destroyers of DD Div 1 tried to turn starboard towards the nearest rocks and beach their crippled ships.

        USS Ford tried to rescue the crew of sinking sister ship USS Paul Jones. As both sides were still very close to each other in the Strait, guns kept firing. IJN Fubuki aft 5-inch guns did hit USS Marblehead a devastating 3 times. The dated US scout cruiser had accumulated a lot of damage during this battle and the crew was exhausted. Morale check: her commanding officer decided to leave the Strait. A couple of officers of the Division Staff onboard USS Marblehead embarked on USS Ford, which was stationary, as she was picking up survivors of USS Paul Jones. USS Ford became DD Div. Commander. 

        The whole US DD Div. slowed down, as they acquired the incoming Japanese DD Div. 2 in the west and apparently expected an incoming Japanese long range torpedo attack. [based on their damage logs, the Div. couldn’t sail faster as 10 kts. I discovered after the game]. The US DD Div. did hit the nearby IJN Fubuki and IJN Ushio with gunfire, resulting in the sinking of IJN Ushio! 

At this long range the Japanese 5-inch guns of the closing DD Div. 2 didn’t hit the US ships. But USS Marblehead did hit IJN Jintsu (flag ship DD Div. 2) at longer range. The slow sinking of IJN Ushio prevented the 8-inch salvo from USS Houston towards IJN Fubuki (at 6,000 yds) to hit her; instead the wreck of IJN Ushio was hit twice.

Turn 5

The devastated crew onboard the battered USS Marblehead was able to repair the bulkhead damage and so they stopped the ongoing flooding. They even managed to repair 1 of the engines. Finally they could leave the Strait to the east… All fires onboard US ships stopped (last one was USS Pope). 

The sole remaining IJN Fubuki was still floating and she crawled with a speed of 5 kts. towards the rocks in order to disembark her remaining crew… 

USS Ford was still stationary next to the sinking wreck of USS Paul Jones. Because no ship from the US DD Div. came round the corner of the Strait, the Japanese Landing Force was still undetected and continued offloading their precious cargo and troops.

The Japanese cruiser Div. finally cleared the island and got full view on the slow moving US DD Div. and Allied Cruisers in the rear. The Japanese DD Div 2 closed in at 30 kts. as well. So the full Japanese Force could engage the closest enemy (and by doing this, protecting the Landing Force). 
        USS Houston saw the danger and fired her nine 8-inch guns at 21,000 yds at IJN Agano but missed. HMAS Perth fired her eight 6-inch guns at IJN Hibiki and destroyed with 2 hits her remaining guns! USS Pope did sunk IJN Fubuki with 3 hits at close range. That was the official end of DD Div. 1. However, during that gun duel, IJN Fubuki managed to hit the shaken USS Marblehead, resulting to (again!) engineering damage!
        All Japanese units focused on the most forward US destroyers, as they could be the first opponents to detect and fire on the Landing Force. IJN Agano hit with her six 6-inch guns USS Parrott 3 times. IJN Oyodo fired her six 6-inch guns as well but missed USS Pope at a range of 15,000 yds. IJN Jintsu did hit USS Ford (Div. Commander) once.
                                        And then reality took over: dinner time!
[After the game I learned that those three 6-inch shells (each 45 kg.) did some serious damage to USS Parrott, resulting in a speed limit of 10 kts., a shattered bulkhead and gunmount. The damage to USS Ford (one 6-inch hit) was less; she was probably the only surviving US destroyer with sufficient speed (23 kts. limit) and all 4-inch guns operational, which could pose a quick threat to the Japanese Landing Force.]

Outcome of this devastating fight:

Although we couldn’t finish the game, this looked a tactical Allied victory (Japan lost more ships) but a Strategic victory for Japan (as the Japanese Amphibious landing was not detected, not interfered with and apparently no Allied plan was expected to prioritize finding these Landing ships). 

Japan lost 1 complete DD Div. (8 VP) and IJN Hibiki lost all her gun mounts (1,5 VP?). 

The US lost 1 Catalina flying boat (1 VP), USS Paul Jones (1,5 VP) and USS Marblehead fled the scene to fight another day (Remark: the rules don’t give VP’s for this?). Looking later at the damage at the end of the game, I noticed that 2 other US destroyers lost quite some fighting value, so USS Parrott and USS Pope lost 0,5 to 1 VP each as well? However on points USA still had a clear tactical win.

        Problem for the US Taskgroup Commander was that he probably didn’t have many torpedoes left and therefor had to send his 2 remaining un-damaged gun-cruisers in the direction of the Landing Force to finish them off. The guns of these 6- and 8-inch cruisers were more numerous and capable compared to the 2 remaining (undamaged) Japanese cruisers (each with only six 6-inch guns), but the Japanese Taskgroup had a better situational awareness (they had visual on all ships), had a simple task (keep the Southeastern Strait closed) and still had dangerous ‘Long Lance’ torpedoes…  So the chance that the Amphibious Landing continued was big.

Verdict
This fictional naval skirmish took us approx. 5 hrs play time to conduct those 5 turns (including making pictures & taking notes). We are still impressed with the Rule Set. So many tactics & scenario’s are possible!
        Lookin at our aims this game: the sea mat with islands was fun. If some Islands influence the game too much in the future, we could use a blue cloth to let some of them ‘disappear’ (so we have more water and less earth).  Hopefully not all games use the tactic of closing the 3 Straits and try to survive (?). Time will tell. 
        In this game we just scratched the surface of Air Operations; only reconnaissance; not even gun splash spotting. Still lots of room of experimenting with air attacks or dogfighting…
        Using the general counters helped realism in the game. In that way an opponent doesn’t know instantly where the big enemy ships are or the biggest threat is, until he actual detected it. 

        We also experimented with not telling your opponent what kind of damage a ship has. Apart from the obvious damage you can see from the outside: fire, severe listing, etc. But damage to torpedo tube, searchlight, DCT, amount of hullboxes hit, etc. you don’t know from an opponent at a certain distance. One learning point: you must tell your opponent your current speed limit. In reality a warship has a decent assessment of the speed of an opponent (based on radar or bearing plot) but within the game that is quite difficult to determine.

Allied future ships against Japanese (Java Sea revisited…; GQ3.3)

As you recall from our ‘what if?’ scenario we played 30th Dec. 2025 (separate BLOG-entry), the Royal Netherlands Navy envisaged early 1940 the development of Battle Cruisers for the defense of her colonies in Asia. In December we tried to find out if such a fictional battle cruiser (BC) had any chance against a Japanese battleship… We ended that game after 6 turns with the question how she would be able to fight the potent Japanese 8-inch cruisers, like Myoko-, Takao- and Mogami-class? So this game we put up a Dutch battlecruiser, together with 1 x US Northampton-class 8-inch cruiser and 3 destroyers (2 x US Fletcher-class and 1 x NL ‘Callenburgh’-class) against 1 x Mogami-class (IJN Mikuma), IJN Takao, 1 x Myoko-class (IJN Nachi) and 3 ‘Kagero’-class destroyers.

‘what if?’ scenario

Initially I tried to compose both fleets as fair as possible; hence the amount of cruisers and destroyers. The Japanese had together 27,5 Victory Points and the NL/US fleet 28,5 VP. However, because the Dutch BC and US cruiser had no torpedo tubes, the Japanese fleet had 68 x 24-inch long range torpedoes (Type 93 ‘Long Lance’) and the 3 Allied destroyers only 28 x 21-inch…Spoiler-alert!
Scenario as last time (comparable with 1942 ‘Java Sea’): Dutch/US modern Taskgroup, consisting of 1 BC (HNLMS Amsterdam; 9 x 11-inch; flag), 1 CA (USS Augusta CA-31; 9 x 8-inch) and 3 destroyers (HNLMS Callenburg, USS Fletcher & USS Guest) with each 5 guns would search for the Japanese covering force of the Japanese landing fleet around 1943/’44. Assuming the war in Asia didn’t start in 1937-’38, but in 1943…. so 3 Japanese heavy cruisers (IJN Nachi, Takao & Mikuma (in total: 30 x 8-inch) and 3 x 1940s Kagero-class destroyers (IJN Kagero, Isokaze & Amatsukaze) each with six 5-inch guns.

Set up

On a 4 x 6 feet table, both 1:3000 scale task groups were approx. 30,000 yds. apart. Distance scale: 1 cm. = 200 m. Wind: from North, Bf 4, visibility: 21.000 yds (determined by dice); Each Taskgroup had 1 gunnery division (battlecruiser and/or cruisers) and 1 destroyer div. At the start of the game those ships sailed towards each other at 15 kts (NL/US from the SE) or 10 kts. (Japan from the NW).

Turn 1 & 2
Japanese fleet consisted of a division cruisers in quarter line with a division destroyers (line abreast) all maintaining 10 kts.; NL/US fleet pushed their destroyer screen (line abreast) further in front of BC (blue flag), to improve warning/scouting possibilities. Allied destroyers (DD) increased to 20 kts. 

Turn 3
All destroyers visual detected each other at about 21,000 yds. IJN Mikuma detected the Allied DD’s as well. Allied major combatants and most Japanese major combatants were not detected yet. IJN Mikuma fired with ‘A’ & ‘C’ 8-inch turret at USS Guest at > 20,000 yds: miss. The large splashes around the US destroyer provided the Dutch rear-admiral information that at least 1 Japanese cruiser (or battleship) was getting into range…

Turn 4

Based on the conclusion that at least part of the Japanese covering force was detected, all NL/US combatants increased speed in order to detect the full threat. The Allied destroyers turned to a westerly intercept course (line astern formation) with 30 kts; the BC & CA (line astern) increased speed to 20 kts. As both task groups came closer the majority of units saw each other. IJN Mikuma had now the full picture of the incoming Allied threat. The 3 Japanese cruisers opened fire at the 3 Allied destroyers (at 18,000 yds) as they assumed their 8-inch guns couldn’t penetrate the armor of the

Dutch BC. Only IJN Nachi scored hits at USS Fletcher. Unfortunately 1 critical hit (out of 4 hits!), resulting in a jammed rudder, resulting in a slow but permanent port turn of the destroyer. The Allied guns (11-inch, 8-inch and 5-inch) did only hit IJN Kagero lightly at 15,000 yds (and none of the cruisers!). 

Turn 5

USS Fletcher managed to stop the flooding of her damaged bulkhead but her jammed rudder forced her out of the destroyer division… The remaining Allied destroyers made smoke to cover her manoeuvre and repairs. Both remaining destroyers however maintained their intercept course towards the Japanese fleet; now with full speed. The Dutch BC and US cruiser increased speed to improve hitting chances towards the Japanese cruisers. The Japanese fleet increased speed as well and deployed their destroyers in such a clever way that deployed smoke from their destroyers did hide their vulnerable cruisers from the BC. So the Dutch BC and US cruiser lost sight of the majority of the Japanese fleet!

HNLMS Amsterdam was only able to hit IJN Kagero at 15,000 yds. (once) but it was very difficult to hit those fast and agile destroyers by the other allied units. The Japanese returned fire (only possible from the Japanese DD’s, only possible against Allied DD’s) but missed completely. The hit of a 11-inch salvo at IJN Kagero did hurt: she was hit in her boiler room, she lost a torpedo mount, a fire started and she lost her depth charges. All resulted in a speed limit of 28 kts.

Turn 6
USS Fletcher was unable to repair her jammed rudder and maintained her forced circle and couldn’t participate in the fight. IJN Kagero was unable to put out the fire.

Both allied destroyers maintained their intercept course at full speed; still making smoke to cover USS Fletcher. Due to windspeed (4 Bft), smoke lasted only 1 turn at the time. The Allied major combatants changed course slightly towards the Japanese main force, while maintaining broadside chances. Both sides planned a torpedo-attack: the 3 Japanese destroyers launched a large volley of 24-inch torpedoes to the West at 15.10h; USS Guest launched 10 x 21-inch torpedoes at 15.05h. in NW direction in order to prevent any Japanese (destroyer) manoeuvre towards the Allied major combatants. 

The Japanese DD’s maintained their smokescreen on a Southern course. Possibly to a combination of the speedlimit of IJN Kagero, the maneuvering of IJN Takao and the slight course change of HNLMS Amsterdam, IJN Takao became visible between the smoke screens.. HNLMS Amsterdam fired at her with 2 forward 11-inch turrets at once at 15,000 yds but missed again! USS Augusta didn’t hit IJN Isokaze but either USS Guest or HNLMS Callenburgh did hit the already damaged IJN Kagero, resulting in additional damage. The return fire from IJN Takao (2 fwd 8-inch turrets) towards the BC missed as well. The only Japanese hits were from IJN Amatsukaze towards HNLMS Callenburgh, resulting in a critical hit: her fire control director was damaged (degrading her gunnery hitting chances).

Turn 7
USS Fletcher was stil not able to repair her jammed rudder but IJN Kagero managed to put out her fires.

The Dutch rear-admiral signaled both Allied destroyers (only one with a full load of torpedoes) to change course to north and lay a smokescreen south to north. The plan was to let the Allied major combatants change course west and close the distance towards the Japanese fleet quickly. And then break through the fresh smokescreen and fight the Japanese cruisers at close range (as the long range results of the 11-inch guns of the BC proved disappointing this battle). While this order was processed, the Japanese cruisers all launched long range 24-inch torpedoes at 16.30h. in NE direction (assuming the Allied major combatants maintained their NW course). During the actual maneuvering the Japanese cruisers became suddenly all visible as the Japanese destroyers stopped making smoke and the Japanese cruisers were also ordered to close the range. 

Now the major combatants of both fleets steered with high speed directly at each other (and the torpedo salvo of the Japanese cruisers was aimed wrong). However with her recent course change to West, HNLMS Amsterdam ran into 2 spreads of 24-inch torpedoes launched in turn 6 (from the Japanese DD’s). The Type 93 torpedo is oxygen powered and very difficult to see (and thus to evade!). One spread did miss the BC but the second spread did hit, resulting in major damage and a speed limit of 22 kts. HNLMS Amsterdam fired with her fwd 11-inch turrets at IJN Takao at 8,000 yds but missed again! USS Augusto missed again at IJN Nachi (at 12,000 yds). Only USS Guest was able to score hits at the already damaged Japanese destroyer IJN Kagero. Two 5-inch hits at 3000 yds, resulting a quite some additional damage at the ship (bulkhead, torpedo mounts, etc.). HNLMS Callenburgh was unable to fire her guns or launch torpedoes as she was inside the smokescreen. The Japanese shooting however was more accurate: IJN Takao (8-inch guns) and IJN Kagero (5-inch guns) fired both on USS Guest, resulting in heavy damage (torpedo mounts, several hull boxes). IJN Amatsukaze did hit poor USS Fletcher once (still circling around, not protected by smoke anymore). Her damaged bulkhead was hit a second time! Both remaining Japanese cruisers missed against HNLMS Amsterdam and USS Houston.
 
Turn 8
The unexpected severe under-water damage to HNLMS Amsterdam triggered a morale check of the crew, but her crew fought the damage bravely and stayed in the fight. However IJN Kagero was so battered that she steered away, trying to flee the scene.
The Japanese fleet was in a better shape than the Allies: the 3 cruisers were all operational and both remaining destroyers could still fight and were busy reloading their torpedoes. The only undamaged and fit Allied ships were cruiser USS Augusto and destroyer HNLMS Callenburgh… USS Fletcher was hopeless; USS Guest was damaged (and out of torpedoes) and HNLMS Amsterdam had a severe speed limitation of 10 kts.!
USS Guest managed to extinguish her fires but poor USS Fletcher was unable to repair her damaged bulkhead or jammed rudder and maintained her useless circling… So the Dutch rear-Admiral signaled his force to escort HNLMS Amsterdam towards Australia and disengage from the enemy.
However, behind the devastating Japanese torpedo spread there was another one… HNLMS Amsterdam, with her limited speed of 10 kts, was unable to evade this spread at all and took another 2 hits of 24-inch torpedoes! Out of 2 remaining hull boxes she got 7 hull boxes damaged, including her fwd 11-inch turret and engineering (again). She sunk very quickly with a lot of personnel loss… The commanding officer of USS Augusto took over command over the remaining Allied ships.  
Based on the last signals of the Dutch rear-admiral, USS Guest and HNLMS Callenburgh tried to maintain their northerly course. However, they ran into the Japanese cruiser force at very close range.

All fired at each other, except that HNLMS Callenburgh and IJN Mikuma were within 200 yds from each other so it was impossible to fire at each other. IJN Takao took two 8-inch hits from USS Augusto. Her return fire was far more deadly: she hit the lightly armored USS Augusto 4 times (6 damage points), resulting in damage to her engine room, to one 8-inch turret and damage to secondary armament. IJN Mikuma took two 5-inch hits at 1000 yds from USS Guest but her devastating return fire from her multiple 8-inch guns and AA-guns resulted in 14 hits (while USS Guest had at that stage 6 remaining hull boxes). The change that USS Guest became crippled/sunk was very likely… The 2 remaining Japanese destroyers fired at the circling and damaged USS Fletcher and did hit her twice. 2 undamaged hull boxes remained after this engagement. However USS Fletcher managed to return fire with her 4 remaining 5-inch guns and hit IJN Isokaze 3 times!

Outcome of this devastating fight:
The allies had lost 1 BC (16 VP), probably one destroyer (USS Guest; 2,5 VP) and were probably about to lose the continuously circling USS Fletcher (2,5 VP) and the remaining HNLMS Callenburgh (surrounded by 3 enemy cruisers at close range; 2,5 VP). Only USS Augusto had a small chance to escape the remaining Japanese force…  
All Japanese ships had some damage (and 1 destroyer had left the battle) but if they would decide to finish off the remaining Allied destroyers and let USS Augusto escape, they had probably sufficient time to reload their torpedoes, repair some of the damage and be still a reasonable covering force of the Japanese Landing Force. A major Japanese victory!

Verdict
This fictional naval skirmish took us approx. 5 hrs play time to conduct 8 turns (with making pictures & taking notes). As we saw last time, the first conclusion is that the game uses very realistic & fast shooting tables (Combat Rating Tables). If you use those CRT’s you can see at once which guns/torpedo’s have which range. The torpedo rules work also very well.
I started this game with the question would a Dutch battlecruiser make a difference? Unfortunately, this particular game resembled too much the actual 1942 Java Sea battle. In Feb. 1942 the Allied force was badly hit by Japanese Long Lance torpedoes. Same here: the most potent warship (the Dutch BC) was sunk by 3 Long Lance torpedoes (out of 16 launched by Japanese destroyers). In addition, there were 4 unpleasant surprises: first the hitting chances of the 11-inch turrets of HNLMS Amsterdam was much worse than the former game. Two: HNLMS Amsterdam had only 7 hull boxes total. Although this matches the German Scharnhorst-class, it didn’t give much chance against Type 93 torpedoes… Three: USS Augusto was too lightly armored for a heavy cruiser (compared to the Japanese heavy cruisers) and Four: the Japanese made clever use of distance and smoke screens. Next time we need to use spotter float planes or radar to overcome this.