WWI Naval Battle

Clash of Dreadnoughts

On Saturday I joined Posties Rejects for a WWI Naval game. I've never played a naval wargame before (unless you count the CSG Pirates of the Cursed Seas) so this was always going to be an interesting and enjoyable experience for me. The game did not disappoint and neither did the usual good company of the other Rejects.

The rules were a home grown system devised by John, one of the Rejects. He also supplied all the models for this game and umpired while the rest of us battled it out on the high seas. Movement and direction (degrees Port or Starboard ) were determined before moving so players had to be careful about collisions between their own vessels. I think everyone found planning movement more than a couple of turns ahead quite difficult.

The Iron Duke takes a pounding

I had the dubious privilege of being the Commander in Chief for the German fleet and frankly our plan went to pot pretty quickly. Our force was divided into three commands with one Battlegroup starting the game close to shore and caught in a pincer between with a British destroyer fleet on its tail and a group of Capital ships approaching from ahead. The remaining vessels of the German High Seas Battlefleet were quite a long way out to sea and we started the game trying to decide whether to head to Port and tackle the British Destroyers before the Capital ships arrived. Or to head to Starboard and tackle the Capitals first. We chose the latter course of action but in retrospect I'm not not sure that either option would have resulted in success

The British destroyers were faster than we planned for and soon the German Battlefleet found itself divided and being destroyed piecemeal. My four Capital ships spent most of the game in a long range duel with the British Battleship Iron Duke. This vessel took a real pounding during the course of the game but refused to sink. The end result was a victory for the British with the Germans limping back to port for extensive repairs.

This was a great game, with deceptively simple rules. Thanks to John for running the game, supplying the miniatures and umpiring. Here are a few more pictures from the game.

The Angry Lurker snaps a picture

BigLee with Umpire John in Background

The German Flagship Bayern is targeted by the British