Battle of West Hinder

Introduction

Franco-Prussian relations have taken a decidedly precipitous dip recently. Anger over milk product duty and a general perception that the French are simply ärgerlich has led Vice Admiral Graf Johann von Müller to take decisive action. The largest yoghurt factory in Europe, located halfway between Bray-Dunes and Dunkerque and only a mile from the beach, was a prime target. However, to get from Netherlands Protectorate harbours to the landing site without alerting Britannian forces would require the Prussian forces to traverse some dangerous coastal waters.
Rear-Admiral Pierre Danone-Yoplait was aware of the risk posed and sent a significant task force to intercept the Prussians. The Prussians countered with heavy elements of the XIIth Iron Fleet.

The Forces

Republique of France
Rear-Admiral Danone-Yoplait 

• Couronne Battle Carrier (Petits Filou)
• Magenta Mk II Battleship (Taillefine)
• Magenta Mk II Battleship (Entremont)
• 3 x Marseille Cruisers
• 2 x Furieux Scout Ships
• 4 x Lyon Frigates
• 4 x Lyon Frigates 

Prussian Empire
Vice-Admiral Graf von Müller

• Blucher Dreadnought (Karl Franz)
• 2 x Konigsberg Battlecruisers (Köln, Kiel)
• 3 x Pflicht Scout Ships
• 4 x Arminius Frigates
• 4 x Arminius Frigates
• 3 x Wachter Escorts

The French had three full size wings of torpedo bomber TFT’s and a recon wing, while the Prussians had two full size wings of fighter TFT’s.

The Deployment

Hoping to use the large island as cover, the vast majority of the Prussian fleet deployed on the right flank, in hopes that local superiority and terrain cover might help in the coming battle. The French fleet deployed with light vessels covering the larger capital ships and the majority of the air support on the left flank facing the Prussians.

The Battle

Generally, the battle was one sided for two or three turns. The Prussian fleet advanced, with the Arminius frigates rushing forward to attempt to outflank, however they suffered heavily from the Furieux dirigibles and Marseille GNE ships. The two squadrons were quickly whittled down with little in return except a seriously damaged Furieux and a damaged Marseille.
The Konigsberg cruisers opened up as soon as they could and quickly dealt with the Marseille, but not quickly enough to stop the Couronne and Magenta in the French centre from entering the fray. It wasn’t long before one of the Konigsbergs was sunk, and although primary gunnery was telling on the lighter French forces little damage was done to their capital forces.
On the right flank the Pflichts were advancing carefully with a view to presenting a credible boarding threat to either the flanking Marseille or the Couronne, while the Prussian fighters tussled with the French torpedo bombers in an effort to prevent them from damaging Prussian heavy assets. The Pflichts took a bit of a mauling from the Magenta and the Lyon frigates as they moved across the face of the island, with one Scout Ship catching fire and crashing into the North Sea. (I keep forgetting to send my Pflichts into the obscured level).
The end was rapidly approaching with a victory for the French very much in the making. In desperation the Karl Franz activated both Tesla Generators and pushed forward its escorts. The escorts engaged the French frigates and attempted to make themselves massive navigational hazards, while the dreadnought split its turrets between the Couronne and the Magenta. In the last turn the Couronne collided with a Wachter escort, taking a point of damage, while inflicting none on the plucky little ship. The dreadnought and Pflichts moved in for the kill. The remaining Konigsberg fired its speerschleuder at the Couronne, getting a successful hit and making it vulnerable to Tesla fire. The Karl Franz practically won the game on its own, firing on the Couronne (and sinking it) and boarding the Magenta and prizing it, while its escorts continued to damage French frigates. To add insult to injury, the Pflichts descended out of the cloud layer and boarded the other Magenta, prizing it as well. Desultory fire on and from the remaining French frigates had no effect and so victory was won.

The Aftermath

Don’t think Len (as Danone-Yoplait) made any significant errors. Concentrating on the Arminius in the early game and taking shots at the Pflichts at any opportunity shows that he’s definitely learning to avoid or nullify my best boarding threats. Having played a game since this one using Len’s French I’m not convinced that heat lances are all they’re cracked up to be. This was a very rare game where I took my dreadnought, and I think probably the only time (statistically) where the heat lance would be more effective than linked primary fire.
My deployment was off. My frigates should have been inside my dreadnought, rather than out on the flank but in the end sticking to the plan paid off. I intended to use the island as cover and for two turns significant portions of my force were out of sight of the French heavies. We then turned in and pounded and boarded everything in range. Hooray for Prussian tactical doctrine.