WW1 Naval with 'When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Seas' ...and paper ships...

A quick game of these superb little ww1 naval rules with Steve. I have had WW2 and modern ship lying gathering dust for ages, but now WW1 - so I purchased a handy download of 'top-down' ships from 'Topside Minis' - which are excellent, and nicely detailed.

 

The Scharnhorst would not last long thanks to a '12' on the torpedo roll

 I based everything, including ship cards on 5mm black foam-board, and used pins as markers on the cards. All worked well. We used Coronel 1914 for this one, but larger games with multiple players should be straightforward enough.

 

 

The rules 'When Dreadnoughts ruled the seas" were originally released by Brian Dewitt in 2010 and then re-jigged by Battlebox Studios / the great guys at Little Wars TV more recently. 

 

There is also a Russo-Japanese version, which the LWTV guys have played and reviewed/presented on you-tube (below)

 

For the 270 degree arc of fire on turrets, we simply used the 'reverse' - as finding 90 degrees and sticking it on the 'back' of the turret to gauge firing arc seemed easier. Guns were mainly CS/Cruiser main guns and secondaries - the 2ndrys only ever do hull damage - but quite well as it turned out. A great little game - and very cost effective when combined with printed miniatures.

'Jazz Hands'

 

The turn sequence is elegant, such that:

• Initiative
• Side A move 1/2
• B move full
• A second 1/2
• B fire
• A fire
• Torpedoes (simultaneous - and rarely hit - but when they do!!! oh boy!)
• etc. 

Now if this reminds you of the X-Wing turn sequence - yep, I thought so too, and funny enough X-Wing came out 2 years later. The turning arcs (sized by ship class) are also a little reminiscent of X-wing, except internal rather than external arcs. I am sure any similarity is purely coincidental..although of course opposing move/firing mechanisms, and turning/flying arcs like this go right back to 1970s SPI stuff, so who knows?

Getting closer...

 

German light cruisers - who managed to be both annoying and deadly (one torpedo shot each) throughout the game.

GAHHH!!! as torpedoes take down the Scharnhorst before it gets a shot off...

 

Heavy cruisers - lethal at close range - to each other at least - but hull boxes and turn sequence choices (if you get initiative) have a beautiful game-play element all their own. The German ships had better firepower, whilst the British vessels could take more hits. A nice trade-off for a great scenario.

   

German heavy cruisers get..too close...

  

More deadly torpedo action...this time in the Germans' favour, but altogether too late for their fleet

 

Last stand of the Gniesenau

 Of course, this has prompted me to start reading some of the stuff that gathers dust on the bookshelf...  

Purchased in 1999; opened today ...what a great looking set of rules.

 

...with a fantastic scenario book so far...

also of course...Nimitz is in the pipeline

  

 

1914 Battle

 Some action with the ww1 version of 'Iron Cross' and 'Seven Days to the River Rhine'.

'1914' is early war stuff, so cavalry and not tanks. We did not get to try the cavalry rules here, though they have nice mechanisms surrounding elements which have to be 'reconned' before establishing where the main force is vs scouting elements, which is a nice touch, and might see some hacking if this scale (units are battalions) were used for a ww2 version in terms of armour.

Other differences (as noted) include the scale - where a stand is a company and moves as part of a battalion sized 'line' unit, as opposed to 'Iron Cross' and 'Seven Days' which are tank to tank.

Now in the past, great fun has been had with WW2, WW3 and Arab-Israeli War versions for these rule-sets.

Advantages there have been very obvious, in terms of act / counter-act for tokens and general excitement, and despite a lot of play and refinement of the ww2 version, we have found that ww3 play - with tokens, and nail-biting action - actually 'feels' like fast moving action in 1980s West Germany (absence of artillery notwithstanding). 

Bekaa Valley 1982 action in 20mm with 'Seven Days'. This one was particularly 'down to the wire'.

Action in West Germany 1985 - in 1/200 with 'Seven Days'

 

20mm WW2 Eastern Front with 'Iron Cross'

 Therein lies the problem for ww1; the units are battalions with MGs - moving essentially in lines, and though we still have the move - counter-move etc, there is nothing like a large Main Battle Tank to break the monotony of an advance or defence. Obviously, those are absent here, and so I did question the validity of the 'game' mechanism for this type of confrontation. It does make for drab gameplay as it becomes a game of numbers, odds, and staying awake.

Little nuances like the activation chit, and the d6 conversion for d10 hits, become a chore rather than a nail-biting line in the narrative. 

'Seven Days to the River Rhine' for me, was the pinnacle of this design mechanism - it rocks along and is exciting - moving tanks, or revealing armour on the crestline, helicopter popups, infantry assaults at the infantryman level view...First World War feels regressive in nature due to the absence of same. 

That said, there is still a game here, but with lots of add-ons for ww1 'fun', such as MG proclivities and large calibre guns, and battalion upgrades etc.- perhaps a stretch. For ww1, perhaps 'Field of Battle' might be a more viable option, with that system's degree of battlefield chaos lending credence to the difficulties of command, rather than attempting to graft a system based on 'gamey excitement' onto a level and period of conflict where it can not exist in the same context as the previous offerings of this system. 

German MGs

The objective - guarded by French units

 

  

The French right flank, would fall to superior numbers

  

Red trousers

 

The German Assault

 

The last French company - more red trousers

Lots of command chits

Excellent 10mm units on both sides