My son wanted to play some war game with me. As I had just purchased the supplement (Order of Battle) to Mongoose's Victory at Sea naval rules I decided to take to the sea. Funnily enough it was the first time for both of us to play a Naval war game as well as being the first time my son played any kind of war game.
We played the Battle of the River Plate scenario from the rulebook. I used the rules amendments form Order of Battle where they applied but did not use Special Actions or Aircraft as I did not want to overload my son with too many rules.
I took command of the Royal Navy squadron for the simple reason of it being easier for him to control just one ship.
And so it began...
Turn 1
Initiative: Germans.
Graf Spee turned and steamed at full speed towards Ajax and Achilles while the main turrets turned to point menacingly at Exeter. The Kriegsmarine gunners showed their superb training by managing two critical hits to Exeter. The plunging shells ruptured fuel lines reducing Exeter's speed to half and triggered a magazine explosion crippling the ship before it had fired a shot!
Exeter lost both A and B turrets and was prevented from firing for 2 turns. 6 fires were started on the unlucky British ship.Ajax and Achilles turned their broadsides towards the pocket battleship and prepared for revenge but they were still out of range.
In an astonishing feat of firefighting the Crew of Exeter managed to put all the fires out.
Turn 2
Initiative: Germans
Graf Spee continued to close on Ajax & Achilles. The pocket battleship's turrets swivelled to bear on Ajax causing two hits of which one was critical. The hit triggered multiple explosions causing more damage and killing 3 crew. The secondary weapons then opened fire causing 2 more criticals(!). Ajax' turbines were damaged reducing her speed by one and she suffered a hull breach. Yet another British ship was crippled without firing a shot. Ajax lost three of her four turrets in the exchange. The remaining turret returned fire causing one point of damage to the German ship. Achilles then fired and scored a critical triggering multiple explosions. Graf Spee suffered 6 damage and lost 4 crew and 2 fires were also started. Was the luck finally turning? Exeter put on more speed and bravely tried to join the battle again despite having only one functioning turret.
Graf Spee failed to put out any fires and lost 2 more crew.
Turn 3
Initiative: British (finally!)
Ajax was one hit away from sinking and withdrew from battle with all the speed her damaged engines could muster. Exeter closed on the battle but was unable to fire as her last remaining turret was to the rear. Achilles then fired but the two hits simply bounced off. Graf Spee yet again demonstrated the effectiveness of her main batteries by scoring 2 criticals on Achilles. The shells totaled some secondary guns as well as shredding the engineering section. No more Damage Control for Achilles (Oh my God, they killed Scotty! You B*stards!).
Graf Spee managed to put out only one of the fires and so lost one more crew while Achilles put out the only one started this turn.
Turn 4
Initiative: Germans (again...)
Again the main turrets of Graf Spee spoke with murderous efficiency. Again two criticals on Achilles.
Multiple explosions shook the British ship as she slowly listed and sank beneath the (now) blood red waves, few dazed survivors clinging to bits of wreckage the only trace of her passing.Exeter turned to bring her sole functioning turret to bear on the German ship. Angered by the treatment she had received in hands of the Kriegsmarine guns the turret scored a critical rupturing Graf Spee's fuel lines and reducing her speed by 3 but causing only a disappointing one additional damage point.
Graf Spee finally managed to put out one fire as well as to repair the engine damage she suffered.
Exeter also repaired her engines.
Turn 5
Initiative: Germans
Both sides maneuvered and fire was ineffective. Graf spee closed on Ajax while Exeter tried to hang on.
Turn 6
initiative: British
Realising Ajax was ulikely to escape with damaged engines her captain put on a stiff upper lip and turned to fire on the pocket battleship but the shells bounced off.
Exeter then fired and again managed to get a critical damaging Graf Spee's props and reducing her speed by two. It was not enough. Spee's A turret fired on Ajax while her Y turret fired on Exeter. The shells penetrated Ajax' waterline and she began to sink. With heavy heart her captain ordered all hands to abandon ship. The fire from the Y turret damaged Exeter's props and she began to sink as well.
To add insult to the injury Graf Spee then proceeded to repair the prop damage and sailed off badly damaged but still functional.
Conclusions:
I lost to a 7 year old.
My son definitely is a VERY aggressive commander as he pounced on me like a district attorney. On top of that he has an uncanny ability to roll criticals. In a game lasting six turns he only failed to roll crits on ONE turn.
While I was mainly concentrating on teaching him the rules the fact remains I lost focus. I should have just grit my teeth and closed with both Ajax & Achilles to fire some torpedoes. That way I could have at least taken Spee with me. Of course, practically losing Exeter on the first turn was no pleasant surprise.
I lost to a 7 year old.
Victory at Sea is a very enjoyable set of naval rules. While it certainly isn't a simulation it does its job well enough (IMO) and allowed two first timers play a game within two hours. I'll definitely be getting some ships in the near future.
Did I mention I lost to a 7 year old?
