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#21

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by MengJiao - February 25, 2024, 07:06:22 PM

^For some reason this game seems to me like a good learning tool.  You experimented with pushing the French attack too hard and learned some things.  The other games you've played involving naval war were also good teaching devices. 

  Yes.  This game really tries hard to drive home the weirdness of late-seventeenth -- early eighteenth century warfare in Western Europe.  I'd never heard of the battle of Neerwinden before for that matter.

#22

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by W8taminute - February 25, 2024, 06:36:05 PM

^For some reason this game seems to me like a good learning tool.  You experimented with pushing the French attack too hard and learned some things.  The other games you've played involving naval war were also good teaching devices. 

#23

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by MengJiao - February 25, 2024, 06:13:42 PM

Now this is gaming goodness.   

I'm not much of an attacker against myself (solitaire).  I think I pushed the French too hard cross the board.
Around noon, everything went wrong:  the Guards got thrown out of Neerwinden, one flank was barely holding on and the
the Bavarian Cavalry smashed the whole left wing, which I thought was okay.  But no.  So I am giving up on winning
Neerwinden historically for the French.

#24

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by W8taminute - February 23, 2024, 09:11:10 AM

Now this is gaming goodness.   

#25

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by MengJiao - February 20, 2024, 08:08:22 PM

By 11 am both sides have punched far enough to overrun more artillery:

But a little later and the French have big problems on the flanks because I went along with Luxembourg's
central attack scheme and William III has been rolling well and Lux has rolled well tactically, but really
bad grand tactically.  I might have to shift the huge Guards brigade off to one flank or another.  But with Lux's luck, even that might not do the trick.

#26

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by MengJiao - February 11, 2024, 12:48:06 PM

Okay so, 8am, after an hour of fighting, William III rolls for the first wing activation and well...he's going to try to follow up on some bad French Accidents involving artillery, the Brandenburgers and the Spanish Cavalry.  A large Swiss French Brigade routed and maybe throwing in some Bavarian and Dutch Cavalry will turn the tide:

So by 9am, the French are starting to wear down the defenders, but the defenders still have a lot of punch with their cavalry, though the guns have pulled back in at least one spot.

by 10:30 at that same angle in the line, the French overrun some artillery and things start looking bad for the Allies while in the center Churchill's brigade routed and on the French Left, the Spanish cavalry overran some artillery...So things are slowly falling apart for the allies despite their inflicting heavy losses on the French which is what happened historically.

By 11 am both sides have punched far enough to overrun more artillery:

[July-December 1912]

#27

Digital Gaming AARs / Re: All the colors of the RAIN...

Last post by Tripoli - February 10, 2024, 04:49:19 PM

July-December 1912

Geopolitical
Tensions  with foreign nations, June 1912 
Germany    4
Great Britain    2
France        4
Russia        2
Japan        3
Italy        7
Spain:    2
AH    3

September: Russo-Spanish Alliance expires.
September: The USS SIGOURNEY explodes in Haiti, and Italy is blamed.  See "Other" column below.



USA Political

•    June:  Prestige is 29, Unrest is 3, Fleet Morale: 0
•    December: The socialist party demands a reduction in naval spending. I meet with their leaders to explain the importance of the spending.  This costs 1 prestige
•    December Prestige is 26, Unrest is 3, Fleet Morale: 0

Naval Intelligence

•    July: Japan is reported to have discovered Director firing
•    September: ONI reports the following information on various ship classes:
o    Great Britain: BB GOLIATH has belt armor of 11" and turret armor of 11.3".  The B FORMIDABLE has belt armor of 8.5" and a speed of 17 knots
o    Italy: New construction CL TERSICORE has a speed of 22 knts and belt armor of 2".  CA PARTENOPE has a top speed of 23 knts and belt armor of 3".  (NOTE: These designs are inferior to existing USN ships.)
•    October: Germany is reported to have developed 5+ centerline turrets.
•    October: ONI increases the collection priority of Italy to "High"
•    November: Germany is reported to have stolen armor technology from the US. 
•    November: Japan and Italy begin increasing their naval budget

USN Technical Developments

•    July: Ballistic Cap is developed, giving an increase in AP penetration
•    August: USN develops Ladder shooting, giving a gradual improvement in gunfire accuracy
•    September: The Wet heater engine is developed, increasing torpedo range to 4000 yards at 33 knots.
•    December: The USN develops 5 centerline turrets.
•    December: The USN opens up the research area of heavier than air aircraft.



USN Budget

•    July: $552,080
•    December: $589,920 (Increase of 6.8%)

USN Construction

•    July: The pre-dreadnoughts of the COLORADO class are all taken into the yards to upgrade their 12 inch guns and Fire Control to Director firing. See notes below
•    July: Private shipbuilding increases dock capacity by 500 tons to 36,000 tons. Airship base in the Middle Congo is completed.
•    September: The pre-dreadnoughts of the DELAWARE class are all taken into the yards to upgrade their 12 inch guns and Fire Control to Director firing. See notes below
•    October: Private shipbuilding increases dock capacity by 1000 tons to 37,000 tons
•    October: Two medium range submarines are commissioned.  The last of the BARRY class destroyers receive their upgraded dual-torpedo mounts.
•    October: The 700-ton STARLING-class corvette is designed. Intended to quickly build up ASW capability, it is a cheap, quickly built design.
•    November: Private shipbuilding increases dock capacity by 1000 tons to 38,000 tons
•    November: Ten STARLING class KE are ordered.  An airship base and 6" coastal battery is begun on Djibouti
•    December: Private shipbuilding increases dock capacity by 1000 tons to 38,500 tons.  B OHIO, MONTANA and COLORADO finish their rebuilds and rejoin the fleet

STARLING-class Corvette
   



USN Operations

November: The Pacific Squadron sends a cruiser fleet to the Indian Ocean to defend the region against any Italian moves.  Elements of the Pacific Fleet forward deploys to the Philippines, to prepare for operations in the Indian Ocean.  BATDIV 2 (USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB-1) and pre-dreadnoughts USS COLORADO and USS OHIO along with supporting vessels deploy to the Indian Ocean.

Other

The USS SIGOURNEY incident

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

In September, the USS SIGOURNEY, a 600-ton TUCKER-class destroyer, explodes in Haiti with the loss of all hands.  Some newspapers blame the  explosion on Italian saboteurs.  Intense public pressure is immediately brought to declare war.  While I am not adverse to war, I'm not sure now is the right time.

My options are: 1) call for war, increasing tensions and budget or;  2) call for an investigation, increasing my budget and tensions an equal amount, but costing me significant prestige.  The game seems to indicate the only difference between the choices is the prestige cost.  While war appears to be inevitable,  I would like to delay it as long as possible.  This is for several reasons: 1) While the US is superior to the Italian fleet, it lacks destroyers and ASW corvettes, while the Italian navy has a significant number of submarines (see Naval Almanac below); 2) The USN has several pre-dreadnaughts finishing up rebuilds.  I would like to get them back from the yards; 3) The naval base in Africa has not been sufficiently upgraded, making long-term blockade of logistically impossible and the base at Djibouti is all but undefended; 4) The idea of going to war without a clear cause is inimical to the American self-image and to its aspirations for global leadership.  Further, with internal unrest already at level "3", I don't want to increase it any more with a war that may be preventable, or more quickly winnable with increased preparation.  Arguing against delay is that the war appears to be inevitable, and delay would give Italy the opportunity to seek an alliance with another power.  Currently, Italy lacks allies but has relatively good relations with most nations.  Particularly concerning is Japan, for which Italy has a relationship score of 2.  This means that a delay in war with Italy would give it the opportunity to ally with Japan, making a relatively easy war much more difficult and dangerous for the US.

    After a series of late-night meetings with ONI, the decision is made to ask for an investigation, while preparing US forces for war.  The naval staff was almost evenly balanced between the dangers of engaging in war, or waiting with the risk of Italy obtaining allies that would make victory much less likely.  The Naval War College is tasked with upgrading RAINBOW GREY, while the fleet is readied for a probable war with Italy in the next 12 months.

September 1912 Naval Almanac

[January-June 1912]

#28

Digital Gaming AARs / Re: All the colors of the RAIN...

Last post by Tripoli - February 10, 2024, 12:44:03 PM

January-June 1912

Geopolitical
Tensions  with foreign nations, January 1912 
Germany   3
Great Britain   3
France      3
Russia      2
Japan      3
Italy      7

Spain:   1
AH   3
 


Naval Balance December 1911:
 


USA Political
•   January:  Prestige is 29, Unrest is 2, Fleet Morale: 0
•   In March, unrest increased to 3 (NOTE: I'm going to have to watch this unrest carefully.  It is partially driven by the high naval expenditures, so political pressure for the USN to reduce costs is likely to increase)

Naval Intelligence

•   January: Germany is building a 7-in coastal battery in the Caroline Islands.  The BB Thuringen has a top speed of 20 knots, and the new construction BC MacKensen has a top speed of 25 knts
•   January: The Royal Navy's CL Comus has a top speed of 22 knots and a belt armor of 2"
•   May: Germany develops the 12' rangefinder.  UK develops All or Nothing armor.

USN Technical Developments

•   January: 1100-ton DDs are developed
•   February: 12' rangefinder developed.
•   May: All or Nothing armor layout is developed.
 
USN Budget

•   December: $538,880
•   June: 552,080 (increase of 2.4%)

USN Construction

•   January: USS Minnesota is commissioned. An airship base at Norfolk, VA is begun
•   January: WYOMING-class ships NEW MEXICO and CONNECTICUT go to the yards to receive oil-fired engineering plants.
•   February: NORTH CAROLINA completes her reconstruction.
•   March: BURROWS-class DD is designed.  This is a 1100-ton destroyer, armed with 2x5", 4x3", 3x2 TT, 32-knot max speed. See notes in "OTHER" section
•   April: Three BURROWS-class DDs are ordered. The airship base in Norfolk is completed. One SPRINGFIELD-class CA ordered.
•   May: USS OREGON is commissioned. An airship base is ordered in Middle Congo.
•   June: MOBILE-class commerce raiding CL is designed.  See below  and in the "OTHER" section for a description of the class. An single medium range submarine is ordered.

BURROWS-class DD



MOBILE-class CL

 
 
USN Operations

•   The USN is beginning a reorganization of its battlefleet to better integrate the two forces, and in preparation for the next Fleet Battle problem.

Other

The USN is significantly behind the major European powers in destroyers, so the BURROWS class is developed to further add to the torpedo capability of the main battlefleet.  The good news is that ONI estimates that the US ships are generally superior in speed and equal in armament to German and British ships under construction.

Design Study: The MOBILE-class CL (1912)

In 1911, the expanding USN faced a budget crisis. Its High-Low fleet strategy was based on building a two-ocean capable battlefleet equal in size with its most probable adversary, while simultaneously building a cheaper "Juene Ecole"-style "low-end" fleet capable of inflicting disproportionate losses against the superior Royal Navy. This strategy required significant resources to create the expensive battlefleet, leaving few resources for the low-end part of the fleet. Further, the American budget was at its maximum, the high naval expenses driving an increase in domestic unrest and preventing additional resources being allocated to the navy. Building  the low-end portion of the fleet required cheaper alternatives. A case in point was the large 7,800-ton CHARLESTON-class light cruiser. Intended to fill the commerce raiding role, these  vessels were too large and expensive to build in the numbers needed for a successful global raiding strategy. A cheaper alternative was required. BUSHIP's solution to this problem was the MOBILE-class light cruiser.

The MOBILE-class shared the same oil-fired engineering plant and extreme range of the CHARLESTON-class, but its 5300-ton displacement was two-thirds the displacement and cost of its predecessor. While its 27-knot max speed was only a knot slower than the CHARLESTON, it was still capable of outrunning most contemporary  light cruisers. However, this speed and range came at the cost of armor and armament. Equipped with only four centerline-mounted five" guns and six three" guns, it was incapable of engaging vessels larger than a destroyer without undue risk of damage and loss. But as a commerce raider, it was vastly superior to the merchant ships which were its intended prey, and its speed and range meant that it was likely to  evade any commerce protection patrols.

#29

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by MengJiao - February 10, 2024, 10:03:49 AM

Okay so, 8am, after an hour of fighting, William III rolls for the first wing activation and well...he's going to try to follow up on some bad French Accidents involving artillery, the Brandenburgers and the Spanish Cavalry.  A large Swiss French Brigade routed and maybe throwing in some Bavarian and Dutch Cavalry will turn the tide:

So by 9am, the French are starting to wear down the defenders, but the defenders still have a lot of punch with their cavalry, though the guns have pulled back in at least one spot.

by 10:30 at that same angle in the line, the French overrun some artillery and things start looking bad for the Allies while in the center Churchill's brigade routed and on the French Left, the Spanish cavalry overran some artillery...So things are slowly falling apart for the allies despite their inflicting heavy losses on the French which is what happened historically.

#30

Tabletop AARs / Re: Just Plain Goodness: Neerw...

Last post by MengJiao - February 02, 2024, 11:52:03 AM

Okay so, 8am, after an hour of fighting, William III rolls for the first wing activation and well...he's going to try to follow up on some bad French Accidents involving artillery, the Brandenburgers and the Spanish Cavalry.  A large Swiss French Brigade routed and maybe throwing in some Bavarian and Dutch Cavalry will turn the tide:

So by 9am, the French are starting to wear down the defenders, but the defenders still have a lot of punch with thier cavalry, though the guns have pulled back in at least one spot.