Another week of lockdown passes, and it was my turn to run the remote game.
After mentioning it, the others were keen to try some torpedo clash action. So Cruel Seas by Warlord Games it was.
Our heroes had three Vickers Mk1 torpedo boats, and in the tradition of naming torpedo boats (they were numbered, not named) the gents called named HMS Boaty-Mc-***face/BMFF (Mark), HMS Gladys Ormrod/GO (Clive), and HMS Hook, Line and Sinker/HLS (Ralph), out on patrol, it was dark, cold and miserable, coffee was running short, and grog had not been issued yet today, but the enemy was up to something and HQ was determined to stop it by putting thezse three out on patrol...
Mark had an armoured cockpit, Clive had a lucky boat, and Ralph had a speed burst.
The table, my new sea cloth is still in transit, so Imi's spare sheet did instead! Nothing much out there, yet...
Out the murk, a mast, then a hull appears, HLS accelerates to investigate.
Initially it was assumed to be a trawler, but soon a second hull was spotted (the camera was shaken by the speed of the boats).
GO moves to investigate, while BMFF surges ahead.
End of second turn, and HLS reovertakes BMFF. Spotting reveals a tanker escorted by an S100 class S-boat.
The water next to HLS starts to surge and boil. The plucky fast torpedo boat is going too fast to investiagte.
GO opens up on the tanker, 20mm cannon shells spewing up her side.
The S-boat is rightly miffed at this action, and turns to engage. A few MG hits, but nothing serious.
Amazing how crowded it gets, the whole wide ocean and you end up all aiming for the same spot! 😁
Yeah, that spot, right there! It's going to get busy! Ralph's shots from HLS silence the bow gun on the S-Boat with his first blast.
Really can't get tighter here, it's all about who gets the next pick (it's a random order each turn in Cruel Seas), or we could have a three way pile up...
The disturbance was a MkVII sub surfacing. It's 20mm AA immediately causes hits on BMFF, but nothing serious.
With masterful steering, HLS nips through the crash zone without issue, splashing Clie on the bridge of GO. BMFF orders his crew to arm his torpedoes.
BMFF puts her eels into the water, at the same time slamming 20mm and Lewis gun tracer shells into the tanker.
A glory shot of BMFF.
Next up, the S-Boat activates, and chases after HLS, I think he was annoyed about losing his gun. HLS starts taking damage.
GO sweves past teh S-Boat, and takes a rear attack on the tanker, hoping to liberally spray her with all sorts of lead.
Except this is what my daughter rolled to hit (he needed at higher than a 4 large target, point blank range). 8 year-olds shouldn't miss!
The tanker moves, but being a slow beast, it doesn't go far. It shoots, but Clive in GO had sneakily moved inside it's deck gun's minimum range and teh shot falls long! Ralph and the S-Boat end up in a 1-on-1 duel at the top of the sheet, which, even with one gun out of action, is never a good idea for a plywood Vickers.
The S-Boat's quad 20mm ripped HLS to pieces, leaving it with only a few damage points left. (30 out of 45 in one shot, extra damage critical too. OUCH!)
The sub pounded away at Mark with both it's 20mm AA and it's 3" deck gun, and missed, much to his releif, as he sent in his plan of action...
He needn't have bothered with a a plan. The tanker moved, but it's only course would take it straight into the perfectly laid out path of Mark's torpedoes (yes, torpedoes move first, but this was more dramatic).
But not close enough to avoid arming range.
And without enough rudder to get bow on to the eels. One misses, but the other smashes in. Would it be a dud?
Not in the slightest! The night sky is illuminated as the tanker, hit in the bow, lights up, petro-chemicals ignite and she turns turtle (enough hits had been caused by Mark preiously that 18d6 damage was enough to tear her to pieces).
Mark
Mark and Clive jubilently cruise past, to turn about and assist Ralph. (At this point rum bottles were being compared on line to, well deserved).
Meanwhile, in the North, Ralph and the S-Boat continue trading blows, while the Sub wonders what it has got itself into.
But the S-Boat's greater speed and massive rear armamant is starting to tell, HLS is down to 1 damage point!
And has been left no room to manoevure...
HLS slams into the side of the SBoat, tearing a huge gash in her side and crumpling her own bows like tissue paper. HLS crew man the life rafts and wait out the game, although they did get the rum off, so were relieved.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the world, Mark and Clive pull a series of handbreak turns to get back in the action.
Not a bad turning circle really.
The kraken awakes! Rach on dice rolling duties.
Mark spins his tub round, as the S-Boat limps around to protect the U-boat.
Rach's roll are impressive, from long range the 3" gun on the sub, bounces a shell off BMFF's armoured bridge, damage is wrought, but Mark's crew is unscathed.
The chase is on as Mark quickly reels in the wounded sub, causing more damage while dodging 20mm quad fire from the S-boat.
Not forgetting Clive, who peppers the S-Boat from range, not causing a great deal of damage, but it silences the the 3" gun as the crew are spread in a one molecule thin layer across the deck. This is enough to worry the boat.
A couple of glory shots. S100.
Das Boot
Boaty Mc****face
Mark really has got the bit between his teeth! Practically scrapeing his propellers along the sub's hull, he sets a time on the depth charge and his crew shove it off his stren and hang on for dear life. Meanwhile, his 20mm cannon rings out at the S-Boat.
Which is the end of her!
Clive in GO closes on the sub too, why hasn't it submerged? His shots rip into the conning tower and ballast tank.
The depth charge was set at the wrong depth! It erupts beneath the sub, badly shaking the boat and as BMFF swings around the bow of the sub. The sub, stricken of steering, bouyancy and bridge crew, strikes her colours and Mark launches a boarding action!
The German mission had been to escort the tanker to a stricken U-boat that needed refueling. The boys certainly put a stop to that!
A massive win for the British, but most especially Mark! Tanker and S-Boat sunk and a sub boarded (although Clive and Ralph can both claim damage on all three craft), he's off for promotion, tea, buns and medals while Clive gave Ralph a lift home to his waiting wife, mistress, girlfriend, girlfriend's girlfriend, girlfriend girlfriend's mistress...
Superb stuff, Will.
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