Leffrinckoucke Beach Landing

Introduction

Humiliatingly, Rear-Admiral Danone-Yoplait sailed into Dunkerque harbour in his pinnace. The defeat at West Hinder preyed heavily on his mind as he radio-graphed to Legion headquarters to report the predicament he and his command found themselves in. The beaches between Dunkerque and Bray Dunes had some Marteau Bombard batteries and a couple of small fortifications dating back to the Napoleonic era. Along with two regiments of local infantry this was all he could call upon to see off the huge invasion fleet Müller was bringing along the coast. Headquarters, at once both despairing and desperate, had no choice but to send elements of the GNE 12e fleet and a whole armoured regiment from the 9e Legion “Singes Capitulards” to shore up the landward defences and attempt to interdict any Prussian landing.

Deployment

The scenario was effectively Operation Takeda from the Hurricane Season Campaign, scaled up for a large (3000 MFV) game.
The French (commanded once again by Rear-Admiral Danone-Yoplait) had a large number of skimming ships (including a Mk I Magenta, a squadron of Marseille cruisers, a squadron of Alma frigates and a Tourbillon) with some water-bound support (a Couronne and a squadron of Lyon frigates) coming from the west, but only a light scout formation (just a squadron of Lyon frigates and an understrength squadron of Furieux) coming from the east. On the beaches were two shield towers, two regiments of infantry, a squadron of Hotch FT-12 light tanks and two squadrons of Marteau. Reinforcements were a Bastille with L’Aman attachments, three squadron of Focault tanks, another squadron of Marteau and a squadron of Hotch FT-12 light tanks.
The Prussians (now commanded by Kommandatur-General Heinrich von Önken) had a Medium Panzer Regiment (an armoured starter box) on landing barges with two Metzgers and masses of aerial support (an Imperium, two Aufsehers and two squadrons of Pflichts) and an equally heavy naval presence to protect it (two Emperor battleships, a squadron of Konigsberg battle-cruisers, a squadron of Hussar gunships, two squadrons of Arminius frigates, two squadrons of allied Korsor Minelayer and two independent Skagerrak gunships). The French were slightly outnumbered (as the scenario required) by around 200 points.
Actual deployment was determined by the scenario.
French land forces deployed in zone C, reinforcements entered from area 1 on Turn 1 (the Bastille) and from area 2 on Turn 4 (the rest of the 9e Legion).
French naval forces could enter from areas 3 and 4 on Turn 1 (all the naval assets and the Tourbillon were in area 4, the Furieux and some Lyon were in area 3).
The Prussian naval assets deployed in zone B and the landing assets deployed in zone A. Prussian deployment for naval assets was to place the Arminius as close to the French as possible, with some air support. Then the Danish minelayers would lay mines across the landing zone to try to prevent French intervention. Konigsberg and Emperor heavy ships would pound the beaches and any French ships that got through the frigate cordon. The landing force and most of the aerial support were deployed in zone A (all the barges and the Imperium and Ausehers).

The Battle

This was a shockingly one sided affair. The Tourbillon, Alma squadron and Marseille squadron all turned inland and headed for the yoghurt factory objective. The Couronne and Lyon frigates gamely battled the left flank of the Prussian forces. Within two turns though, all the Arminius and most of the Lyon were wrecks, along with one of the Skagerrak gunships, but a quick thrust by the Pflichts got in an unopposed boarding attack against the Couronne, capturing it unscathed. The Furieux fared no better, the first came within range of a UPG generator and suffered the maximum result and then a critical from the main armament which left it critically damaged, with no systems, no defences and very few marines and a temporary reactor leak caused it to flare all the way back to the board edge. The Magenta then had no choice but to turn back out to sea to attempt to rescue something from the debacle. In subsequent turns the Prussians downed a Furieux and captured the other. They also sank the Magenta, wrecking it just off the Bray-Dunes headland in shallow water but not before it had sank a Konigsberg, a Pflicht and damaged a Metzger and the Imperium.
The landward conflict fared little better for the French, long range fire from the bombard squadrons and the towers did little damage until they started concentrating fire on the Metzgers being towed by the Prussian battleships (with Tesla generator assistance). In the end the Bastille land ship crested the dune line just as the battleships released their tow lines and between the combined heat lances and more concentrated fire from the bombards both Metzgers were lost and sank into the mud and soft sand just off-shore. At this point the red mist descended and the battleships both opened up against the Bastille. A critical effect on the Bastille caused a magazine explosion, that proceeded to destroy both L’Aman heavy tanks, but not before one of them flared into the middle of the bombard’s position and exploded there, damaging another three vehicles (the Combustible Cargo MAR is literally da bomb). With one broadside the whole game changed. It was looking as though significant parts of the armoured force would not get ashore in the face of combined artillery and heat lance attacks, but with the Bastille’s destruction and the rest of the “Singes Capitulards” only just entering the table there was now little to stop them.

The view onto the beach from the Aufseher Landing Ship "Hochmeister von Rusdorf"

The Aftermath

I would argue that this time Len (again as Danone-Yoplait) did everything wrong. Concentrating his force, sending significant elements of it ashore and not attacking the landing force (except the Metzgers) specifically were all instrumental in allowing the Prussians ashore. Len’s plan had been to fight them hard on the beaches with both armoured and naval assets, hence the GNE heavy fleet.
My deployment left a lot to be desired again. Even though the French deployed first I didn’t support the left flank enough to prevent a breakthrough if that had been the tactic Len had taken (luckily he didn’t). If he had gone for it I would have probably lost half my landing force! I also totally made a mess of mine-laying… In the end my Korsors were just gunboats taking pot-shots at targets of opportunity (or the towers if there were no targets). I’ll need to practice a bit more.
We ran out of time for the landing element of the game so as we packed up, we made a note of what each of us had left in terms of forces available to play on land and opted to play out the game at the next club night.

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.

Dystopian Wars - Prussians vs British

Second ever game of Dystopian Wars. 1000 points a side. Naval Core.
I played Prussians. Dave played Kingdom of Britannia (KoB).

Prussian Fleet

• Emperor Battleship - Tesla Generator
• 1 Squadron of 3 Reiver Cruisers
• 3 Squadrons of 3 Arminius Frigates
• 1 Squadron of 3 Stolz Destroyers
• 1 Squadron of 2 Metzgers
• 1 Squadron of 2 Geier bombers
• 2 Tiny Flyer Fighter Wings of 5 tokens each.

Britannian Fleet

• 2 Ruler Battleships with 3 Bastion Escorts each
• 1 Squadron of 3 Agincourt Class Gunships
• 1 Squadron of 2 Hawk War Rotors
• 1 Squadron of 2 Vanguard Submarines
• 1 Tiny Flyer Fighter Wing of 5 tokens
• 1 Tiny Flyer Torpedo Bomber Wing of 5 tokens

The terrain rolls were rubbish. A couple of small area, medium height islands around the centre in the KoB half of the board and a large area, massive height mountainous island on the left flank of the KoB half of the board.

Highlights of the game:

Turn 1: Jockeying and manoeuvring. The Vanguards went down the KoB left flank between the table edge and the big island and I diverted a Metzger, a frigate squadron and the destroyers to intercept. The Britannians stayed broadside on moving from right flank to left flank across their deployment area, while the Agincourts manoeuvred between the small islands. Prussian came head on across the table activating Tesla Schnellen Boosten and Sturginium powered engines where they could (neither of the Metzgers succeeded in activating their Boosts at all).
What firing there was turned out to be insignificant with a couple of points of damage on the nearest Rotor and a dead frigate.
Turn 2: Achtung Minen! The rotors had dropped mines but forgot to move them and when the Reivers moved up and opened fire on the nearest Rotor immediate action was taken. Dropping a mine and moving off as quickly as possible the most damaged Rotor blew up another frigate. The least damaged rotor dropped it's mine right in the middle of a frigate squadron taking out two when it dropped bombs and shot at RB1. In retaliation the Prussians returned fire inflicting significant damage to both Rotors.
On the flank one of the Vanguards went off the table when it didn't have enough room to manoeuvre. The other Vanguard got jumped by frigates and destroyers and blew up on an Magazine Explosion critical taking two of the frigates with it.
In the middle, one of the Agincourts started taking damage from combined battleship, bomber and Metzger damage leaving it at half movement.
Turn 3: The Rotors had to be finished off, so we jumped them with a fighter wing, then the remnants of two frigate squadrons and then the cruisers. Both crashed and burned with surprisingly little damage in return, although the handful of mine markers they left behind would in fact prove critical later on.
The trailing Britannian battleship turned head on towards the Prussian Battleship and bombers and inflicted some minor damage. Ignoring the threat for the moment the bombers and battleship concentrated on the Agincourt squadron inflicting a Fusion leak critical and leaving the centre ship massively damaged.
Some dogfighting in the middle and the judicious use of offensive Ack Ack crippled both of the Brittanian tiny flyer wings and one of the Prussians.
Turn 4: Things get critical! We both played Flash Fire cards on each other. The Britannians played there's on the Prussian battleship when it activated the Tesla Schnellen Boosten. The Prussians played their card when we poured fire on the Britannian battleship and it used it's Guardian generator. We still managed a prodigious critical and put another Raging fire on board.
The Agincourts didn't fare well. The centre vessel was quickly dispatched, and some fire started to knock superstructure of the trailing gunship.
The small ships and the cruisers started to turn in towards the gap in the islands to concentrate fire on the lead Britannian battleship and the lead Agincourt. Torpedoes crippled and sank a damaged cruiser, while various fire tried to deal with the two loose frigates but failed.
Turn 5: Achtung Minen again! With no way to avoid it one of the remaining cruisers hit a mine, and suffered a Magazine explosion critical. The last cruiser plowed through the mines avoiding triggering any to deliver some fire on the Britannian lead battleship. Various small ships (including loose frigates and the Stolz squadron) attempted to engage the battleship or it's escorts with minor results sinking an escort and delivering some hull damage to the battleship.
On the other flank, the Prussian battleship closed with the blazing Britannian battleship and delivered 28 points of damage to a ship already suffering a Fusion leak! The Guardian generator saw off enough damage to reduce it to 3 criticals but a magazine explosion ensured the job was done. The Prussian battleship then unleashed it's starboard broadsides and Tesla coils against the trailing Agincourt and after activating the Tesla Generator, again caused a magazine explosion.
With only a battleship, a gunship and two escorts on the table against two frigates, three destroyers, two Metzgers, two bombers, a cruiser and a battleship; the Britannians conceded defeat...

Good game. Mixture of dice, but I got the right dice at the right moment generating 28 hits from 13 dice against the battleship and 18 hits from 7 or 8 dice against one of the gunships. Dave's dice were average at best.
Post battle I would say that I might have done better with maxed out frigate squadrons and using spare points for some escorts or corvettes. The Metzgers were slow, but did have some long range AD, but with no small targets on the Britannian side they didn't really count for much. For the second game running, God bless the Stolz!! They did a splendid job in hunting down the last submerged Vanguard, and had we gone to Turn 6 might have scored some telling damage on the remaining battleship. On the Britannian side, more Hawk rotors and small squadrons rather than escorts I would say.