Battle of the Denmark Strait Re-Fight using GQII

The RN Battle-cruiser Force (HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales [RHS-top below]) has intercepted the German Raiding Squadron[bottom left] in the Denmark Straits thanks to the good work of Admiral Wade Walker's cruiser squadron (see below, historical starting conditions as per David Manly's blog post, with the only exception that we could not position HMS Suffolk on table - she is deemed off table to the rear, [HMS Norfolk top-middle]):

A close up of the German Raiding Squadron (see below, the KM Prince Eugen leads the KM Bismarck):

Seeing an advantageous tactical position the German Squadron turns to try and cross the "T" of the RN Battle-cruiser Force (see below, the Prince Eugen leading is in a very exposed position, but she may inadvertently take some of the heat off the Bismarck - shortening the range at this point may be seen as a controversial choice but it intends to make life awkward for the RN and hurt the Hood):

First moves over, broadside firing commences (see below, the German Commander [me] is choosing a very aggressive [too?] tactic of closing the range and is prepared to have a "knife fight in a phone box" - this could be a very quick and bloody affair):

To the shock and horror of the German Commander [me] the RN gunnery is good, the Bismarck takes hull and armament damage and the KM Prince Eugen is straddled by HMS Hood - but no damage, the RN player was going historical in this regards):

The British keep throwing good dice, they must drill very hard (see below), another hit ["0"] and another "roll on the critical hit table, please" (see below, everybody was expecting a magazine explosion at some point in the battle):

The Germans (aka the Bismarck) is giving the Mighty Hood hell, as she looses two flotation boxes and is reduced to 6 cm speed (see below, Vice Admiral Holland (aka Renko) is absorbing the punishment to close the range and then turn his two full broadsides on the Bismarck - [post script] I did forget this was also a critical on the Hood, but nought save an extra flotation box damage came of it [no catastrophic explosion]):

Bismark plays "follow the leader" part way through her actual move (see below). We were playing the GQ Squadron Rules so this could lead to tactical awkwardness - personally I think that the Bismarck would just do her own thing [in the real battle Lutgens ordered the KM Prince Eugen away from the battle rather than waiting on attracting battle damage]. As it happened at the end of teh move Bismarck maintained a full broadside on her target, the mighty HMS Hood (see below, firing is taken at end of movement despite salvos taking place throughout the move - it is just one of those "rule mechanism things"):

HMS Hood is still suffering from accurate early German firing (see below, both British sides are only firing half their broadsides as their rear arcs are covered):

Again the RN hit the KM Bismarck with telling blows (see below, a turret is "abstractly" put out of action, 25% of the big hitting power is gone - it has to be said that HMS Hood is looking a battered ship too):

Another hit (by HMS Prince of Wales) on the Bismarck and this time a "critical hit" that causes a serious fire (see below, the red counter demoting a fire burning out of control and extra half hull box damage):

The Hood then smashes a broadside into the KM Prince Eugen, destroying two full hull boxes and reducing her immediately to 6 cm of speed (see below, both German ships commerce raiding days are over as a lengthy spell in dry dock would be a minimum):

HMS Hood soaks up more damage but I see no "catastrophic exposition" just a steady advance to a point where she can make a turn to expose her full broadside and that of the Prince of Wales (see below, Admiral Holland must have nerves of steel):

At least good German "Damage Control" puts the fire started by the critical hit out (see below, the Germans at this point have received far more critical hits than the British RN ships - fate, fickle fate):

The KM Prince Eugen has to [? - maybe it was as well that I continued for a chance or threat of a torpedo attack] turn away because of the battle damage she has taken (see below, luckily she does not obstruct the Bismarck's shooting for the next round):

Likewise HMS Hood buckles away releasing the PoW, her speed reduces to 6 cm and she has a "turret" missing (see below, as the Prince of Wales is much further back she can still fire "over the Hood"):

Again the British ships fire with telling effect, the Bismarck (at the bottom of the picture) is clearly losing this exchange (see below, the Bismarck really wants to dispatch the Hood with a quick killing blow - this Admiral Holland has done better than his historical counterpart and now can effect a 3/4 killing broadside):

Bismarck covered the withdrawing Prince Eugen and takes yet another critical hit [black marker] in the process (see below, the Prnce Eugen herself is now being engaged by the British cruiser HMS Norfolk - which thankfully misses):

HMS Norfolk in return is straddled by some very good shooting by the Prince Eugen (see below, this is quite off putting to Vice Admiral Wade Walker, but no real damage is done):

The British have now reached their desired position where both battleship (PoW )and battle-cruiser (Hood) broadsides can be targeted at short range on the Bismarck, this will be the "short and brutal affair but on the wrong side of the statistical line from the German perspective (see below, although very tough the Bismarck cannot this amount of punishment for long):

Especially when the British gunnery is as crack-shot as this (see below, another German battleship  turret disappears and yet another critical hit alongside more flooding): 

Bismarck is a mess. Her bridge is gone, her fire control is gone and she is limping along at 3 cm (see below, credit to her manufacture that she is still afloat at this point):

Both German ships are now engaged in separate duels to the death. The crew of the Prince Eugen are dismayed to see another RM County Class cruiser (HM Suffolk) enter the fray (see below, the German Atlantic Raiding Squadron is racing to a Wagnerian fiery ending (see below, the fighting prowess of both ships are now reduced to a shadow of their former selves):

With only one gun firing defiantly the German battleship with fight on to the last (see below, not even the arrival of a fleet of U-Boats and tug boats would save her now):

The KM Bismarck is now more wreck than fighting warship as all forward propulsion fails (see below, I don't think she will be around long enough for a damage control repair party roll for "impulse power" recovery):

The end is in sight for the German battleship and the KM Prince Eugen has left it too late to make a tactical exit (see below, the Royal Navy gunnery has been excellent):

Gone but not forgotten (see below, the combined weight of broadsides from the "Mighty Hood" and a 100% functional HMS Prince of Wales puts paid to any ambitions of German "Cruiser Warfare" in the North Atlantic):

KM Prince Eugen puts a straddle on HMS Norfolk as it closes the range. This critical hit put takes out the bridge and with it Admiral Wade Walker. This day will not be without loss for the Royal Navy (see below, the two British County class cruisers bar Eugen's exit):

Telling fire including another critical hit puts paid any hope for the escape of the Prince Eugen (see below, this extra damage added to the earlier fore from HMS Hood had doomed her to a watery grave):

The KM Prinz Eugen disappears to the murky depths of Davy Jones Locker, courtesy of a barrage 14" shells from HMS Prince of Wales, 15" shells from HMS Hood and 8" shells from HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk (see below, no independent commerce raiding operation for you - who finally killed her is up for debate as all firing is simultaneous):

The end of the KM Bismarck om close up (see below, 1:1200 scale model diorama succumbing to the might of the Royal Navy bombardment):

The game was tense but ended up with the mathematically expected result. Good game and GQII seems to once again stand the test of time (since 1977) unlike the KM Bismarck in this scenario.

The British Admiralty have also posted a blog post of the re-fight which is well worth a look [savaging the German Admiral somewhat]:
https://twtrb.blogspot.com/2019/06/denmark-straight-some-naval-gazing.html

The Battle of the Denmark Straits as we took it to the show (Battleground 2017 - Part 2)

The early ranging shots and salvos of both sides were traded with limited damage (apart from HMS Hood's opening salvo) to the point where HMS Hood historically had made it past her second 20 degree turn. Importantly this meant that the full broadsides can bear for both British battleships, as X and Y turrets cleared their arcs of fire. At this point HMS Hood had survived for longer than the historical counterpart (see below, RN bottom KM in the distant, with the little hands of Admiral  "Lutjens" [KM Admiral "A"] just visible):

Turn four saw a really effective exchange of heavy fire with HMS Hood having many visible (in the sense of shell bursts on her or in her) "battle scars" but these were mainly of the non-penetrating nature or penetrating but superficial (in GQII you can do the hard part of hitting but still do no damage). "Lady Luck" was holding out and smiling today for the Mighty Hood! Straddled by the KM Bismark she was in 'harm's way' but had escaped with just a slight reduction in speed to 9cm but still firing with all her main armaments (see below, HMS Prince of Wales sails on unmolested in the Hood's wake in the background):

By way of contrast the KM Bismarck bears the full force of 18 RN naval barrels (8 x 15" from HMS Hood and 10 x 14" [which if looked at closely had the better penetration power] from HMS Prince of Wales). The KM Prince Eugen by this time had suffered by too much attention from HMS Hood. Initially slowed to 6cm, she was then again hit and slowed to a creeping 3cm. Her main armament was also savaged and reduced to half. At the start of play KM Price Eugen would be hard pressed to hurt a battleship, now it was a sliding mathematical scale towards the impossible. Her torpedoes were now her only real threat and there was no way she could get in range to use them. After a few distracting shots to HMS Prince of Wales she tried to retire under smoke away from the 'battleship only' arena. Unfortunately HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk were well placed to make that escape infeasible (see below):

The meat grinder phase of the battle showed that the ratio of 2:1 in RN firepower (when exotic statistical outlier results do not creep in) are brutally unforgiving. There was a steady attrition of straddling and hit (after hit) accumulation began to take its toll on the KM Bismarck's statistics. Before long her batteries were falling silent one by one and her speed slowing down (see below):

There was a brief phase when both sides seemed to throw bad dice but then at the end there was a maelstrom of violence directed at the KM Bismarck. In the exchange HMS Hood had lost half her armament and survived an interesting critical hit but the KM Bismarck was left travelling at 3cm with a lonely solo turret firing. Her end was in clearly sight (see below, "the flashes" indicated critical hits which resulted in extra hull and armament boxes being lost):

In the end it was the HMS Prince of Wales (even with an extra dice roll to see if all her guns worked) that provided the "coup de grace" with a final massive hull critical which that wiped out the KM Bismarck's flotation and then some. The battle ended how the RN Admiralty had intended the historical version to end. No German 'swan-song' on this occasion. Both player admirals shook hands at the end and departed still "best of friends"! It was a good participation/demonstration game, plenty of spectator comment and nice to see the scenario played through to the end.

Second re-fight (without pictures): As the traders were starting the long process of packing up, myself (Admiral "M" RN) and one of the other game organisers (Admiral "I" KM) decided to do another quick replay, not as tied to the historical event, with more latitude of action shall we say. Here HMS Hood decided to concentrate on hitting and dispatching the KM Prince Eugen who seemed to be intent to close to torpedo distance. This meant taking several hits from the KM Bismarck, leaving HMS Prince of Wales to fight her battle for her. HMS Hood was thus reduced to 6cm but thankfully nothing worse. HMS Prince of Wales sadly did not even scratch the paintwork on the KM Bismarck. Admiral "I" KM was happy to play a long distant gunnery duel game with the British battleships. The speed advantage was in his favour (HMS Prince of Wales 11cm and HMS Hood 6cm to KM Bismarck's 12cm). As the range lengthened Admiral "M" RN (me) deemed it prudent to disengage and resume shadowing with the cruisers (HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk) and regain contact with her "lost or misplaced" RN destroyer screen (the four escorting destroyers that could not keep pace with the battleships in the bad weather). This would also give the British time to organise a Swordfish torpedo attack from HMS Victorious (as historically happened) and allow perhaps a damaged KM Bismarck to be re-engaged by the combined force of one battleship (HMS Prince of Wales), two cruisers (HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk) and three destroyers (assuming that one is left to escort the damaged HMS Hood). In addition there were the additional heavy units of the Home Fleet (HMS King George V and HMS Repulse with Tovey) closing in "with all haste" or even those heavier ships still on convoy escort duty (the battleships HMS Rodney, HMS Ramillies and HMS Revenge, plus the cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Edinburgh) that could come into play. Force H from Gibraltar may or may not be needed (probably used as insurance a policy). If not they may have been on hand strategically to help out (or be sunk) in the Mediterranean, as the invasion of Greece and Crete was in full swing at this point.

Wow. All good fun and a very, very enjoyable day out. In between battles I managed to pick up a few other bits and pieces, but more of them later. Also a huge thank you to Renko for kindly lending me the dark blue North Atlantic playing surface and those very useful plastic hit (orange 3D explosion) and critical (red exploding star) markers. The very effective looking smoke came from tumble-dryer belly button fluff! With three kids I seem to have an endless supply of the stuff ;)

Sitting back with a relaxing cup of "RN Cocoa" I was thinking on what the "lessons learned" were for the whole day/experience (but that is for another post).

:)

The Battle of the Denmark Straits as we took it to the show (Battleground 2017 - Part 1)

I have to confess that I got a huge buzz from Battleground 2017 (Stockton, UK) today as for the first time I was involved in a demonstration game (The Battle of the Denmark Straits 1941). Normally when I go to a Wargames Convention I spend most of my time circulating around the traders and "Bring and Buy" looking for essential purchases and bargains, trying desperately to stick to a "budget". My conversations with other wargamers are very restricted to comments to other shoppers and the 'talkative' stall owners. I scan the demonstration games (huge battlefields crammed with excellently painted figures ranging from 28mm to 6mm), consume the vista and move on. I have never as yet really participated in any of the participation games being more keen to move onto the essential shopping and get back to the family before it is too late. This year was different as I had babysitters (although my kids are now not babies) arranged and a full afternoon pass (the wife was also away enjoying herself on a University reunion).

So I spent a whole afternoon "virtually" in the Denmark Straits or talking about the battle and other other naval stories. I was amazed by the level of detail other people had on the subject and also some fascinating anecdotes and personal connections (in particular with HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales). After we set the game up I was called upon to start the General Quarters II (GQII) demonstration. To help me I had two young admirals rolling the dice. We'll call them "P" for the RN and "A" for the KM. The forces were placed on the table (see below, the Germans on the 1/3000 plot approaching at bearing 300 degrees to North):

We also had a 1/1200 representation of the local tactical arrangement, whereby most of the markers would be placed to keep the 1/3000 plot clear of unnecessary 'clutter' (see below, KM Prince Eugen leading the KM Bismarck):

Admiral "P" leads the RN in on their historical 220 degrees to North bearing (see below, both sides have pink "Post-It" notes close to the respective ships with their GQII characteristics on so damage can be easily marked off. Also note the small flag denoting nationality):

Standing back and the table area revealed the 1/3000 'battle area' (middle), the top section of the table with a laptop running various videos and also 1941 facsimile documents [something I discovered in a "remnants shop" one day while I was mooching] and the "messy bottom" area with the GQII rules and also the two 1/1200 tactical areas (see below, you can just see the 1/1200 model of HMS Hood bottom right):

History was immediately rewritten as RN Admiral "P" hit the Prince Eugen with a salvo from HMS Hood (10% chance, don't leave 'dice' in the hands of small children as they can do the impossible) causing a massive two hull box damage and immediate reduction in speed to 6cm. As the KM Prince Eugen slowed and veered away the KM Bismarck passed her and masked her from additional RN shots. It was now a stand up fight between two RN battleships (one old 'The Mighty Hood' and one [too] new the 'PoW') and a KM one at the peak of its efficiency (see below):

The KM held a brief advantage in penetration capability at this long range but the RN battle line was closing fast. The "battle royale" was about to begin!

Next: Let the "big guns" speak!

Denmark Strait Scenario Notes: 24th May 1941 (Wargame) - Quite a big post

Scenario specific details/notes to self on playing The Battle of the Denmark Strait:

Contact: Set-up: 05:35 24/5/41
KM Bismarck and Prince Eugen sailing at 28 knots on course bearing 220 degrees

The German lead in (see below, but not quite the final set-up, PE leading Bismarck following):

Range between RN and KM when smoke first detected: 34,000 yards (17 nautical miles)

Note: German hydrophones on the KM Prince Eugen picked up the approach of two ships while "over the horizon". Lutjens believed them to be additional shadowing cruisers and was amazed to discover two RN capitol ships bearing down on them. One identified as HMS Hood. This was the worst case scenario wargamed by the Germans as despite her age they knew they could not out run the Hood. In fact Admiral Holland in HMS Hood had asked Captain Leach in HMS Prince of Wales if she could make more speed. To which the reply was, "not without damaging her", The crew report HMS Prince of Wales was "rattling herself to pieces" as it was while she tried to keep up with the Hood (28knots). In effect HMS Prince of Wales was still very much "working up" (with civilian contractors and dockyard hands aboard).

HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales sailing at 28 knots on course bearing 240 degrees
At 05:38 turn of 40 degrees to 280 degrees course heading
At 05:49 turn of 20 degrees to 300 degrees course heading

The British set-up (see below):

Both fleets are on converging courses. The KM are moving away from the Greenland ice shelf being shadowed by HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk under the command of Vice Admiral Wade Walker RN. The HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales under the command of Admiral Holland are intercepting. The screen force of four destroyers are still to the east of the BCF (Battle Cruiser Force).

Note [Other RN Forces, HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk, plus the BCF screening destroyers (4)]: In this scenario both the shadowing cruisers and destroyers play no active part other than after a certain time limit they would have to be factored in as ready to engage. The Germans (KM) needs to have "won" by that point.

At 05:53 HMS Hood opens fire on Prince Eugen at extreme range, historically 26,500 yards, nearly over the horizon shooting.

The range is converted from inches to cm is 106 (so4cm per 1000 yards) due to the constrained playing area (this makes the ships appear overly large in context - maybe 1/6000 would be a better representation?)

HMS Hood (leading) and HMS Prince of Wales (astern at 80 degrees) are in a quartered formation (see below, given the large size of the ship in proportion to sea space this is done more for visual effect than simulation accuracy):

Because X and Y turrets on HMS Hood and Y turret on HMS Prince of Wales historically could not bear the German fleet is pushed some 12" in from the 'table edge' (apologies for mixing imperial and metric measurements) placing it slightly ahead of the British BCF (Battle Cruiser Force). The angle between the two fleets should be 80 degrees with the Germans slightly ahead, enough to mask the British rear turrets from firing.

Note [British Erroneous Targeting]: Historically HMS Hood fired first and she was targeting the wrong ship (KM Prince Eugen). The reason for this being that the shadowing cruisers had last seen KM Bismarck leading the German formation and it was assumed that this was still the case. However Bismarck had discharged her main battery at the cruisers and in so doing so "knocked out" her own radar. The KM Prince Eugen therefore took the lead.

Note [German Command and Control "Freeze" and Poor British Gunnery Mechanism on HMS Hood]: The British fire from HMS Hood is a freebie as historically Lutjens froze giving no orders to return fire. owever given the antiquated WWI Dreyer fire control system on HMS Hood only a roll of "0" on a d10 would hit (GQII WWI Gunnery Rule). The first opening salvo from HMS Hood misses much to the consternation or relief to the crew of the KM Prince Eugen. In fact Holland (in the Hood realised by observation of the Prince of Wales he was shooting at the wrong ship and ordered "shift to second ship" but this order historically did not come into effect as the Hood blew up. To simulate this lag HMS Hood has to fire on the Prince Eugen  for the first three turns. If Hood makes a radical turn of 45 degrees or more her Dreyer gunnery tables need time to recompute, so she suffers -10% chance of hitting for that turn (as the Dreyer tables were poor when the rate of change varies greatly, strictly speaking this could apply if the target was changing course and speed to but I am trying to keep it 'relatively' simple).

Note: [The "Weather Gauge" disadvantages the British.] HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales were running into a heavy sea and the light advantage was to the German favour (dark horizon and silhouetting the RN). In particular HMS Prince of Wales (and all KGV class ships) were very "green" and took in lots of water over their forecastle. "A" turret was ankle deep in icy water for the whole battle. Hence British Gunnery is reduced by 10% in its chance to hit.   

Note: ["Crack" German Gunnery] "Until" the first successful straddle the Germans gain a 10% modifier chance to hit a British ship. This is to reflect the initial sharpness of the German guns on the day of the battle as they straddles their targets almost immediately.

Note: [HMS Prince of Wales erratic gunnery, "teething problems"] Due to her status of "reporting for duty" but in fact was not fully yet worked up HMS Prince of Wales has gunnery problems. At the time of the battle she had never initiated a full broadside. Something always broke. The quadruple 14" gun turrets were the problem. The RN did not solve these problems in KGV class battleships until mid 1943. Hence when HMS Prince of Wales hits a d6 is rolled:

1: 50% of armament boxes
2: 100% of armament boxes
3: 100% of armament boxes
4: 100% of armament boxes
5: 100% of armament boxes
6: 100% of armament boxes

On reflection this might be actually "too" generous?

Firing begins and something of interest almost immediately happens. HMS Hood is straddled by the Bismarck losing a turret and a hull box plus a "critical" is rolled (see below, will history come alive"?):

With bated breath we see extensive boiler room damage and she is reduced to half speed (6cm) becoming an annoying blocking hazard to HMS Prince of Wales (see below)

More smoke is added for aesthetic purposes (see below):

Heavy blows indeed against the RN on the first turn. No hits were landed on Germans in return. Holland (in HMS Hood) performs a radical turn towards the enemy to allow HMS Prince of Wales to fire this turn and pass by her next turn. This allows HMS Hoods "T" to be crossed by both the KM Eugen and KM Bismarck (see below):

The Germans look Teutonic and menacing, while in the distance smoke is belching from HMS Hood (see below):

The ships move and fire again. HMS Hood this time lays into the KM Eugen, despite the adverse weather gauge and her old RN 15" gun she takes two hull boxes and halves her speed in return (down to 6cm). KM Bismarck suffers from good gunnery from HMS Prince of Wales, losing a turret and a hull box (see below, note RED indicates visible damage to the enemy [such as a destroyed turret], BLACK not so obvious damage that is not disclosed to the enemy or simple no damage but a straddle):

Hoods "T"has been well and truly crossed. She is punished losing another turret [A] and taking another hill damage reducing her speed further (3cm). HMS Prince of Wales however is cleared for action (see below):

More damage on the KM Prince Eugen sees HMS Hood take out an eight inch turret (see below, note both German ships have been reduced to 6cm and HMS Prince of Wales is making steady progress to cross the Germans "T" in the not so distant future):

HMS Hood is hammered. More critical damage to her boilers stops her in the water and she is reduced to a single forward turret firing. The German battle line however has been hammered. KM Prince Eugen is really only a threat with respect to her torpedoes and Bismarck has just to say got two functioning main turrets. The (erratic) gunnery from the Prince of Wales is hurting (see below, the poor battered Hood):

HMS Prince of Wales finally bring the KM Bismark to her knees reducing her to 3cm speed. There is no way she can either become a commerce raider or even realistically escape additional units of the RN. Especially as HMS Prince of Wales is untouched (albeit with implicit gunnery problems). KM Eugen cannot escape either. The game is called a RN victory. The German ships do not have enough umpf left (see below, the broken and battered HMS Hood lies to the top left, but the unbroken HMS Prince of Wales steams off to the right ready to administer the "coup de grace"):

Additional smoke is now seem from HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk closing. The KM Prince Eugen is their target. Admiral Holland issues a visual lamp order to the destroyer escort which now arrives on the scene: "Execute torpedo attack on German Battleship Bismarck". Her fate is sealed.

An enjoyable play test. A few things were played wrong on the night but corrected in hindsight. Nothing that would have changed the outcome of the above.

Final Rule Notes:
Basic GQII: Multiple ships firing at same target, 2nd+ ships -10% to hit target
House Rule: If your ship is straddled then it is -10% chance to hit (being put off by shell splashes)

Result: Comprehensive RN Victory

HMS Hood should be "salvageable" although perhaps a constructive loss
The KM Bismarck and KM Prince Eugen look "doomed" their loss of speed being the biggest factor that weighs against them. They are now targets for destroyers, cruisers, submarines, swordfish and that is not to mention the fully functioning HMS Prince of Wales. In addition HMS King George V in accompaniment of  HMS Repulse with HMS Victorious will soon be within striking range.

It makes the events of the battle all the more fascinating and thought provoking given the catastrophic loss of HMS Hood.