Pacific Duel!

[brigman]

My buddy Decker and I are hoping to get together this weekend to play a Pacific battle - 1942. We've already laid out our fleets according to the "Scratch Buy" rules on Page 7 of Naval Thunder:

IJN:
Name (NT: IJN vs USN 1942) Class Nation PV
Junyo CV IJN 525
Kongo BC IJN 440
Aoba CA IJN 118
Nachi CA IJN 198
Nachi CA IJN 198
Agano CL IJN 114
Akitsuki DD IJN 66
Akitsuki DD IJN 66
Asashio DD IJN 72
Kagero DD IJN 68
Kagero DD IJN 68
Shiratsuyu DD IJN 67
2000

USN:
BB-36 Nevada - 655
CA-34 Astoria (New Orleans) - 156
CA-38 San Francisco (New Orleans) - 156
CV-7 Wasp - 657
DE-57 Fogg - 37
DE-153 Reuben James - 37
DD-475 Hudson (Fletcher) - 81
DD-643 Sigourney (Fletcher) - 81
DD-381 Somers - 70
DD-383 Warrington (Somers) - 70
2000!

Details to follow the action!

[TheDreadnought]

Can't wait to see the outcome of this! Get some pics if you can! I like that you each included a carrier to get some air action into the game.

[brigman]

Thanks - will do! We'll be using 1/1800 "War at Sea" minis. I'll get some good shots.

We each built our fleets blind, but knew we wanted to include air (and subs will be in play). This will be our first swipe at "the full monty" of air, surface and submarines in one battle. I chose 2000 points before ever attempting a build - and quickly wished I'd gone to 3000.

My big "waffle" points were Junyo vs Ryujo, and Kongo vs. Fuso. Seeing my buddy's battle line, I wish I'd gone with Ryujo and Fuso...

[brigman]

Played the battle today and it was a lot of fun. Took a bit of fiddling to figure out the air rules as we'd never done them before but it was actually pretty simple. Unfortunately the IJN rolled terrible and the air result, combined with the sub result, threatened to unbalance the surface action pretty badly. But it turned out to be fairly even in the end.

The IJN battle formation around CVL Junyo:



USN formation protecting Wasp:



After the air strikes knocked out two of Junyo's batteries and left her with only 1 Flight Ops, Hiei took minor damage as well. But most telling was the USN shooting down every IJN plane.

The sub phase likewise saw the IJN fail to stop a single sub, allowing the USN to make two attacks. Aoba was badly damaged but functional, but Nachi took heavy flooding, developed a severe list, and had lost too much speed. She would be out of the battle before it even began.

IJN battle formation at the beginning of the surface engagement:





Undamaged American battle line... Nevada took one non-penetrating torp hit from sub attack, but no criticals.



The engagement begins:



As the Japanese approached, everything went evasive except Hiei.



Meanwhile, only the USN DDs went evasive, all closing the range.



Early fire managed to knock out one of Nevada's turrets, and the IJN cut a swath across their line:



The USN tried to screen Nevada with their cruisers and destroyers.





Hiei continues to pound on Nevada, while Nevada starts picking on IJN cruisers. The DDs meanwhile get into Long Lance range...





From there, San Francisco and Astoria took a heavy pounding from Long Lances, while Haguro was mangled and eventually failed a command check and disengaged. Destroyers started going 'pop' about now also.





In the end, Hiei was outranging and outgunning Nevada, but too many light units had been sunk, which allowed the US to make a mid-game sub attack against Hiei. It took her to 50% integrity, and with only 1 destroyer left, the IJN chose the better part of valor and limped off the field. The Astoria would eventually sink to flooding.

[fluorophil]

Great AAR, superb photos. Sounds like you enjoyed yourselves!

[warchariot]

Thanks, we needed a new AAR around here. Great pics too.

[TheDreadnought]

Sounds like an awesome game! Great pics too. Thanks for sharing!

What are your impressions having played it?

[brigman]

Well, my first concern was that a bad string of dice in the air and sub phase had made the surface battle not worth playing. The IJN put a mild dent in Nevada, while in return, they effectively lost Nachi, and Aoba was steaming into battle with 1/3 of her hull points and Hiei had taken a ding too.

But on the table, the luck swung the other way as Hiei was able to pound Nevada at range and Nevada wasn't able to score hits. So the IJN were definitely still in it. I learned some important lessons on maneuver as well. And then the mid-game sub attack confirmed what I'd already decided once my destroyers were sunk, that it was time for the Hiei to retreat.

Overall it was a very fun experience, just the usual stumbles of learning something new or doing it for the first time. I really did enjoy the depth the air and sub phases added.

We used the suggested update on target numbers - 10 for DDs, 9 for CLs - which I think made the game more fun also.

[decker]

Brigman was able to make good use of Hiei's superior maneuverability and weapon range vs. Nevada - I didn't even make him work hard at it. That plus some fairly effective torpedo strikes from his ships kept him in the game.

The pre-battle air/sub attacks, plus my devotion to killing his DD's won the battle for me, I think. We both had our share of good and bad luck - although mine coming early definitely tipped the overall odds in my favor.

Fun game!

[TheDreadnought]

Can't wait for you guys to do another one!

[brigman]

We're gonna go up to 3000 next time and see how it does.

With no "generic scenario" in the book, we were just pulling a number out of our hats with 2000.

[dan]

Where do you play brigman. Sure would like to get involved. My Man Cave garage is open for your use also.

[brigman]

Usually, in my man cave garage.

Sadly have been so busy that we've yet to play again, but hope springs eternal.

Where are you located?