Attack on an Empress - A Gridded Naval Game Summary

 
After painting up the Pre-Dreadnought fleets, I had to put them into action. As mentioned earlier, I am interested in the Jeune Ecole ideas around using torpedo boats against ships of the line. so I set up the following forces:
 

Imperial Fleet

Battleship Empress Beatrice classed as a modern Pre-Dreadnought 
Cruiser Lady Jane classed as a protected cruiser
Destroyer T. Horton classed as a torpedo boat destroyer

Republican Fleet

Cruiser Mousketon classed as a protected cruiser 
6  Pistolet class Torpedo boats. 

The objective was for the Republicans to sink the Beatrice.


I have a big map so it took awhile for the opposing forces to close to fighting range.

Things Get Interesting

A flurry of gunfire and a brace of torpedoes sent the Horton limping off the board.  

First Blood to the Republicans

The TBs could have sunk her but needed to keep their fish for larger prey.  In these rules, torpedo boats have no guns - well none that can do any damage to an actual ship.

Tally Ho!

With the Horton rendered Hortons de combat (sorry), the Republican small ships surge towards the Empress while the Lady Jane tries to intervene. Shots are exchanged between her and the Mousqueton, chipping paint initially to no great effect.

Another One Bites the Dust

Unfortunately the Lady Jane strays a little too close to the sea borne gnats and a brace of torpedoes sends her limping off the table as well.  The Republican fleet pushes on with proletarian determination, their approach to the Empress allowing the big ship to bring her equally big guns into action. The Empress'  gunners haven't had time to warm up and their shooting goes astray leaving one Pistolet afloat but also heading off table. 

Death to the Peasants!

Under the Gridded Naval Game rules, all ships fire simultaneously at the start of the turn then roll for initiative, the loser moving first. Throughout the game, the Republicans have rolled poorly allowing the Imperial ships to better unmask their batteries.  In this case, the Empress unloaded a full broadside of main and secondary guns into the Mousqueton sending her to the bottom in very small pieces.

Pour la Republique!

Though the loss of the Mousqueton is a severe blow, the remaining republican boats press home their attacks using their higher agility to stay out of the deadly Imperial broadside. Main armament fires at half strength in the bow or stern arcs and secondary guns can only fire to starboard or port. TB torpedos fire into the side arcs, with a range of 3 hexes and rolling 3d6 for damage. For comparison, a modern Dreadnought fires at 9d6 losing 1 dice for every hex of range.



 

Last Gasp for the Republic!

In the whirl of melée, the remaining  Pistolets land several of their fish, bringing the Empress almost to the critical point but her devastating firepower smashes the tiny boats. End result: Republicans blown out of the water, Imperials left with three heavily damaged ships, including Beatrice, pride of the fleet.

It was a useful test game to try out the rules, though admittedly I made errors early on. I think it captures the period well, like Nelson you want to cross the T to maximize firepower but unlike Nelson you don't want to get too close, or the secondaries will come into play. You can also appreciate why the Dreadnought design with more guns bearing at a greater range came to dominate later conflicts.  The torpedo boats were tricky to handle. They need to work to achieve that 3 hex bow or stern sweet spot to survive. If you keep failing initiative for movement that can be very difficult. 

I will be playing more of this in the future.