Round 1, Game 14: Lockwood vs. Monnin

TURN ONE ALLIED DEPLOYMENT:

Barents: Ark Royal, Hood, Renown (SR), Repulse (SR), 7 1-1-7s (minus Norfolk)

North Sea: Glorious, 5 4-4-3s

NATL: Courageous, Queen Liz, Barham, Warspite, Norfolk

SATL: Eagle, Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Valiant

Renown fails speed roll.

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

German fleet to Barents with LBA

3 U-boats in North Sea

Italians split evenly between Italy and Med

 

RESULTS: Allied airstrikes and LBA sink Adm Scheer and Gorizia. U-boats break control in North Sea and sink the Glorious with no losses. Axis LBA disables the Hood and sinks the Repulse. Allies cruisers retreat after all miss their shots in first round of surface combat. Axis return fire sinks 1 cruiser and disables two more as Allies retreat and Axis pursues with Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Blucher, and Adm Hipper. Axis sinks 3 more cruisers and the Ark Royal in the pursuit while the Allies manage to put 4 points of damage on the Scharnhorst.

 

Axis gains 2 POC to take a 2 POC initial lead (4.5 POC with handicap applied).

TURN TWO ALLIED DEPLOYMENT:

Barents: None

North Sea: Courageous, 5 4-4-3s, Hood, Renown

NATL: Formidable, Queen Liz, Barham, Warspite, Exeter, Devonshire, KGV, POW

SATL: Eagle, Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Valiant, Kent, Norfolk

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

GERMANY: Scharnhorst repairs all damage

BARENTS: Bismarck, Gneisenau, Graf Spee, Lutzow, LBA

BALTIC: Blucher, Adm Hipper, 4 U-boats

Italians evenly split between Italy and Med.

 

RESULTS: Allies concede Barents to Axis on Turn 2 while regrouping in three areas. Allied LBA hits the newly repaired Scharnhorst in port for 3 damage.

 

Axis gains 2 POC to increase its lead to 4 POC (6.5 POC with handicap applied).

ALLIED TURN THREE DEPLOYMENT:

Barents: Victorious, Hood, Renown (SR), KGV (SR), POW (SR), DOY (SR), Kent, Norfolk, Exeter, Devonshire

North Sea: Formidable, Courageous, 5 4-4-3s

NATL: Convoy 1A, Eagle, Rodney, Nelson, Valiant, Malaya

SATL: Queen Liz, Barham, Warspite

Allies make all speed rolls.

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

BARENTS: LBA

BALTIC: German fleet

NORTH SEA: 5 U-boats

Italians split evenly between Italy and Med.

 

RESULTS: Allied LBA misses Scharnhorst, but Allied ASW sinks one U-boat and disables the remaining 4 to reestablish the blockade and gain 1 POC for the Allies. Axis LBA hits the Renown for 2 points damage.

 

Allies trim the Axis cumulative lead to 3 POC (5.5 POC with handicap applied).

ALLIED TURN 4 US/RUSSIAN REINFORCEMENTS: Washington

 

ALLIED TURN 4 DEPLOYMENT:

Barents: Convoy 1A, Victorious, Hood, Renown (-2), KGV, POW, DOY, Anson (SR), Kent, Norfolk, Exeter, Devonshire

North Sea: Formidable, Courageous, 5 4-4-3s, Barham, Warspite, Valiant, Malaya

NATL: Convoy 2B, Eagle, Washington

SATL: Queen Liz, Rodney, Nelson

Anson makes speed roll.

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

Baltic: German fleet

Barents: LBA

NATL: 6 U-boats

Italians evenly split between Italy and Med.

 

RESULTS: Allied LBA misses in Italy, but Allied ASW sinks 2 U-boats and disables 2 more in the NATL. Remaining U-boats sink Convoy 2B. Axis LBA misses in the Barents, allowing Convoy 1A to put in at Murmansk for 3 POC.

 

Allies gain 3 POC to reduce Axis lead to 0 POC (2.5 Axis POC lead with handicap applied).

ALLIED TURN 5 US/RUSSIAN REINFORCEMENTS: Wichita

 

ALLIED TURN 5 DEPLOYMENT:

Barents: Victorious, Hood, Renown (-2), KGV, POW, DOY, Anson, Howe (SR), Kent, Norfolk, Exeter, Devonshire

North Sea: Formidable, Courageous, 5 4-4-3s, Barham, Warspite, Rodney, Nelson

NATL: Illustrious, Washington, Wichita

SATL: Eagle, Queen Liz, Valiant, Malaya

Howe makes speed roll.

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

Baltic: German fleet

Barents: LBA

NATL: 3 U-boats

SATL: 3 U-boats

Italians split evenly between Italy and Med.

 

RESULTS: Allied LBA misses in Italy. Allied ASW disables 1 U-boat in NATL allowing U-boats to break control. Allied ASW disables all three U-boats in SATL to maintain control and cause a POC standoff for Turn 5. Allied LBA has no effect.

 

POC remains at 0 POC at end of Turn 5 (2.5 POC Axis lead with handicap applied).

ALLIED TURN 6 US/RUSSIAN REINFORCEMENTS: Marat, Okt Rev, New York, Texas, Augusta

 

ALLIED TURN 6 DEPLOYMENT:

Baltic: Marat, Okt Rev

Barents: Victorious, Hood, Renown (-2), KGV, POW, DOY, Anson, Howe, Kent, Norfolk, Exeter, Devonshire

North Sea: Formidable, Courageous, Eagle, 5 4-4-3s, Barham, Rodney, Nelson

NATL: Convoy 3C, Illustrious, Washington, New York, Texas, Wichita, Augusta

SATL: Queen Liz, Valiant, Malaya, Warspite

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

Baltic: German fleet

Barents: LBA

North Sea: 7 U-boats

Italian fleet split evenly between Italy and Med.

 

RESULTS: Allied LBA sinks Zara. Allied ASW maintains the blockade by sinking 5 U-boats and disabling the remaining 2 to gain 1 POC for the Allies and the lead for the first time in the game. Axis air in the Barents has no effect. Axis air in the Baltic disables the Marat before surface combat. Okt Rev sinks the Graf Spee before being destroyed by German fleet return fire.

 

Allies take a 1 POC lead at end of Turn 6 (1.5 POC Axis lead with handicap applied).

ALLIED TURN 7 US REINFORCEMENTS: Tuscaloosa

 

ALLIED TURN 7 DEPLOYMENT:

Baltic: None

Barents: Convoy 3C, Victorious, Illustrious, Hood, Renown (-2), KGV, POW, DOY, Anson, Howe, Kent, Norfolk, Exeter, Devonshire

North Sea: Formidable, Courageous, 5 4-4-3s, Queen Liz, Barham, Rodney, Nelson

NATL: US fleet (6 ships)

SATL: Eagle, Valiant, Malaya, Warspite

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

Baltic: None

Barents: German fleet (9 ships), LBA

SATL: 3 U-boats

Italian fleet split evenly between Italy and the Med.

 

RESULTS: Axis U-boats break control in the SATL while sinking the Eagle. Allied LBA has no effect, but Allied airstrikes sink the Lutzow and disable the Prinz Eugen in the Barents before surface combat. Axis air sinks the Renown and hits the Anson for 5 damage, reducing it to a 1-0-1 before surface combat. Allied surface combat disables five of seven German ships in the first round, additionally damaging Tirpitz, Gneisenau, and Graf Zeppelin for 6, 3, and 1 points respectively. This left Blucher and Adm Hipper to face the remainder of the British fleet after Axis return fire. Axis return fire sank NO Allied ships, but disabled 2 and put maximum damage on the Hood, Howe, and Duke of York. In addition, KGV took 2 points and Prince of Wales took 4 points of damage while being disabled. Two remaining Axis cruisers retreated at speed 7, and the Allies declined to pursue, instead putting in at Murmansk to gain 4 POC overall for the Allies and increase the Allied lead to 5 POC (2.5 POC Allied lead with handicap applied).

ALLIED TURN 8 RUSSIAN REINFORCEMENTS: None

 

ALLIED TURN 8 DEPLOYMENT:

Baltic: None

Barents: Victorious, Illustrious, Hood (-4), KGV (-2), POW (-4), DOY (-5), Anson (-5), Howe (-5), Queen Liz (SR), Barham (SR), Kent, Norfolk, Exeter, Devonshire

North Sea: Formidable, 5 4-4-3s, Rodney, Nelson

NATL: US fleet (6 ships)

SATL: Courageous, Valiant, Malaya, Warspite

Queen Liz makes speed roll, Barham fails to Russia.

 

AXIS RESPONSE:

Baltic: Prinz Eugen

Barents: Bismarck, Tirpitz (-6), Scharnhorst, Gneisenau (-3), Blucher, Adm Hipper, Graf Zeppelin (-1)

SATL: Fiume, Pola, 4 U-boats

Italian fleet split evenly between Italy and Med.

 

RESULTS:

Allied ASW disables 2 U-boats in the SATL, enabling the 2 remaining U-boats to break control and disable the Valiant and hit the Warspite for 1 damage before surface combat. Allied airstrikes miss, but the British battleships sink the Fiume and Pola to end the threat of Italian takeover of the SATL. In the Barents, all four Allied airstrikes missed, while Axis air disables the Prince of Wales to give the Axis nominal surface superiority in the Barents.

 

Round One: Allies spread their shots as evenly as possible to take maximum advantage of any disabled results. Allied initial volley takes four of seven German ships out of action, leaving Tirpitz (-8), Scharnhorst (-1), and Blucher. Axis return fire leaves five Allied ships for Round Two: Queen Liz (-3), Hood (-4), Exeter, Kent, and Norfolk

 

Round Two: Allies disable the Tirpitz, sink the Blucher, and put two points of damage on the Scharnhorst (now -3). Axis return fire disables the Queen Liz and sinks the Hood and Exeter, leaving the Kent and Norfolk to face Scharnhorst (-3) while screening the two Allied aircraft carriers

 

Round Three: Kent and Norfolk miss the Scharnhorst (-3), while Axis return fire disables the Kent to leave the Norfolk to face Scharnhorst (-3) in Round 4 for control of the Barents and victory in the game.

 

Round Four: Norfolk disables the Scharnhorst, enabling Allied control of the Barents regardless of the result of Axis return fire. Allies finish Turn 8 with a POC standoff to claim a 5 POC victory (2.5 POC with handicap applied)

 

COMMENTS: Above average Allied ASW performance in this game was crucial in enabling the Allies to climb back into contention and eventually win after sustaining heavy losses on Turn 1 and having to concede the Barents on Turn 2 in order to consolidate the defense. Significant Russian and US reinforcements on Turn 6 were also important to the Allied victory. The most crucial decision by the Axis was its attempt to break the North Sea blockade on Turn 6 (guarded by 17 ASW) rather than go after Convoy 3C in the NATL (guarded by 11 ASW). As it was, my first 11 die rolls would have removed only 3 U-boats, which would have left 4 U-boats to fire at the convoy. Instead, sinking 5 U-boats and disabling the remaining 2 with 17 ASW enabled the Allies to maintain the blockade and force the two surface combats on Turn 7 and 8 that would lead to the eventual Allied victory.