At last a use for my 1/3000 WWII Navwar naval collection (huzzah), the Nimitz rule set and its hypothetical introductory scenario, Norway 1940 - Operation Freya a RN v KM battlecruiser clash, let the dice roll and decide history (see below, slowly collected over many decades part of my 1/3000 collection which I consider as an ongoing proect):
I guess the intention in the
scenario (from Sam Mustafa's website download section) is to be a WW2 version of a Dogger Bank 'fast and furious' battlecruiser clash, with one side (RN) having destroyers and one side (KM) having a light cruiser, both sides having something capable of firing torpedoes (see below, the ships were fast out of their starting blocks with the KM hurling caution to the wind and sending in their light cruiser [Nurnberg] for a torpedo attack on the RN Hood and Repulse):
Nurnberg was crippled and sunk, but her sacrifice was not entirely in vain (as the RN battlecruisers paid her some main armament attention) as she allowed the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to deliver painful blows to the Mighty Hood, taking structural points away (see below, one crippled RN destroyer stays attending to the British main force [aka hiding], while the two healthy attack the German battle cruisers [gulp]):
With HMS Hood suffering yet again (and the British return shells bouncing off Krupp armour) t'was "the better part of valour" this time for the British as they retired off table under cover of a threatened or rather attempted torpedo attack (see below, the rules showed the nice premise of a running battle - jumping between tactical and operation game boards was possible - something previously hinted at but not really supported by other tactical rules sets):
I liked the scenario (and the way Nimitz was playing [without cheese]) so much I decided to play it again, this time over at a friend's house who had a much better "sea mat" than me! In a short summary, the British need to get lucky early or the German armour works in the KM's favour over the course of a long range gunnery dual. Note, players don't seem to be the classic missing smoke-screens, not just yet at any rate (see below, in the first run through we forgot about rolling the "dice for advantage" [I like this little tweak] - nothing is equal so KM rolled well enough to "have the advantage2, so they can watch the RN set-up in a limited "floor space" and choose their angle of attack from anywhere in their half of the board (see below, the RN force opt to make a high speed run [hence the yellow counters on their ships]):
The RN strategy is "run fast, shoot with a full broadside and then get lucky" whereas the KM felt an uncontrollable urge to charge at the enemy with the Nurnberg - two separate [unrelated so I don't think it's genetics] German players did this (see below, in the exchange the Scharnhorst suffered light damage [structural] and the KM player learned it pays to "move fast when you can" because you are harder to hit - even if it makes your shooting slightly worse):
The Nurnberg meets a watery grave from a bucket load of torpedoes from the leading RN destroyer (which was crippled in the process - a medal for someone) - Nurnberg's back was broken and she went straight down (see below, he RN's strategy was working for two thirds of their battle plan - keep going fast, shooting away with full broadsides but alas missing with their shooting - whereas the KM just "got lucky" and HMS Hood (that fateful old girl) suffered accordingly, losing lots of structure points and a nice 15" turret to boot):
A RN admiral discussion concluded that whereas the German armour was saving them from serious damage and the Admiralty would like to get HMS Hood back to Scapa to be repaired (see below, the two fresh RN destroyers were able to chase the German battlecruisers away as the RN battlecruisers disengaged):
After seeing what torpedoes can do to KM ships the German admiral was satisfied to claim honours and retire just after the British had retired from the map (see below, the game worked really well, credit to the Germans in both games with sound tactical victories - note in the Halsey campaign this would be set up for a nice running battle over several encounters and other Task Forces trying to intercept [or hide if you were a convoy], all good stuff):
This all bodes well for this rule system methinks and future battles. Nimitz is easy to pick up, fun to play and gives more or less, plausible historical results in a much quicker time than the likes of GQ II (my previous preferred WW2 naval rule set). I can recommend watching the
SaturdayNightFights of the
Armchair Dragoons fame, playthrough of Operation Freya:
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