Mimi and Toutou Go Forth*....Lake Tanganyika, 26th December 1915, Game Number 77

It is hard to believe that this is in actual fact the first game I have fought this year! I started one in February - an ACW naval test game - but never got around to completing it. So we are where we are, seven months on and gaming something entirely different!

Steamer Wars: Hexed

The following action was fought using the soon to be available hexed version of David Manley's excellent rules Steamer Wars which are designed for use with warships at the lower end of the scale so gunboats and the like are the main combatants rather than battleships and cruisers etc. Having said that I shall be featuring some cruisers in due course within this system for use in my planned African/Arabian/Madasahatta style campaign, more of which will feature in a later post. For now though, back to Lake Tanganyika where battle is about to be joined - after a few points about the rules.

This is a small action, even by the standards of Steamer Wars as it consists of a pair of Royal Navy motorboats (Mimi and Toutou) and a small gunboat (Kingani) and this has an impact on some of the rule mechanics, entirely intentionally naturally!

Rule Observations

Ships movement is determined by their size in the first instance and then by the player’s initiative. For this action this can be ignored as the largest ship - the Kingani (size 2) - will always move first followed by Mimi and Toutou (size 3). 

Spicer-Simson, as a personality, can be both a blessing and a curse to the Royal Navy but in this case his command ability is satisfactory as his roll of 3 equals no effect. 1 or 2 would have helped with initiative (not relevant for the reasons above) whilst 6 has a negative effect on morale and stops the Royal Navy from getting too close to the opposition.

Fundi, the engineer on the Kingani has the ability to increase the acceleration of the Kingani or with any engine damage however there is a risk of injury in the case of the former.

The starting positions. Kingani at the top of the picture being stalked by Mimi (left - Spicer-Simson commanding) and Toutou.

Lake Tanganyika, 26th December 1915

Action at last! The steamer Kingani appeared on its regular patrol route, oblivious to any obvious danger. Little did she know that she was about to be engaged by two small motorboats of the Royal Navy - even in this unlikely part of the world.

“It is both the duty and the tradition of the Royal Navy to engage the enemy wherever there is water to float a ship” Admiral Sir Henry Jackson, First Sea Lord

 Turn 1. The commander of the Kingani, currently cruising along at 8 knots had spotted the fast approaching Royal Navy motorboats and immediately knew that they could be in trouble. The only meaningful artillery they carried was deployed forward so the enemy could hang off his stern and engage the ship with impunity. The Kingani could not outrun them so she would have to turn to fight. She increased her speed to 9 knots and threw her helm over to port.

Mimi and Toutou immediately accelerated to their maximum speed of fourteen knots with Toutou attempting to get to the stern of the German vessel. Mimi however, went straight towards the enemy.

Turn 1 after movement. Toutou is poised to get behind the Kingani whilst Mimi has gotten uncomfortably close to the Kingani. Fortunately for Mimi, her headlong rush at the enemy vessel has positioned her bow just out of the firing arc of the enemy vessel (in rule speak Mimi’s bow is technically in the aft firing arc as the hex is bisected).

The Kingani is unable to fire at present due to restriction of her firing arc whilst Toutou is just out of range  - light guns have a range of 4 hexes whilst Kingani is 5 hexes away. Mimi rolls a D10 to hit with the following modifiers being applicable: -1 for the target being size 2, -2 for the target travelling greater than 6 knots, -1 for the firer moving greater than 7 knots (2 hexes) making -4 overall. The roll comes up as a magnificent 9! This is reduced to 5 which equals the minimum score of 5 required. A further roll of a D10 is required to potentially inflict damage. At this stage the only modifier is a -1 from the D10 roll as the firing weapon is a light gun. This time the roll is a 6, minus 1 making 5 overall. Against a size 2 target the effect is Light Damage which affects gunnery next turn, has a morale impact and requires a roll on the damage table. 

This is a 10! Royal Navy gunnery seems to be in fine fettle! This is a critical hit which requires the roll of a D6. The roll of 2 equals Heavy Suppression so next turn the Kingani, should it be able to fire, does so at a minus 2 alongside any other applicable modifiers.

As the Kingani has been suppressed she is required to check her morale. There are no applicable modifiers so it is a straight D10 roll which comes up as a 9 so her morale is unaffected.

Turn 2. The Kingani increases speed to her maximum of 10 knots (3 hexes). Mimi and Toutou, already at their respective maximum speed of 14 knots swing around on the Kingani who is unable to outmanoeuvre her harrying assailants.

Turn 2 after movement. With her helm hard over and at maximum speed Mimi positions herself at point blank range off the stern of the Kingani whilst Toutou approaches in a more measured way.

Once again the Kingani is unable to fire but now both of the Royal Navy gunboats are able to do so. Mimi fires first at a range of 1 hex. Her firing modifiers are as follows: size 2 target -1, target 6 knots or more -2, firer 7 knots or more -1, firer turned more than one hex side -1 making -5 in total. The roll is a miserable 1! Clearly the high speed manoeuvring of Mimi was sufficient to put the gunner off his aim! Toutou opens fire with the following modifiers: target size 2 -1, target speed 6 knots or more -2, firer 7 knots or more -1 making -4 in total. The roll is a 6 which is reduced to 2 which is a miss at that range (a minimum of 5 is required.

Turn 3. Kingani tries a new tactic. She decelerates at her maximum rate down to 8 knots (2 hexes) whilst putting the helm hard over. She is banking on the high speed of her opponents working against them as they frantically try to avoid coming into range of her artillery. Mimi has to take drastic action to avoid doing exactly that and so decreases her speed down to 12 knots (3 hexes) in order to maintain her advantage. Toutou, once again adopts a more thoughtful approach - keeping her speed up but avoiding excessive manoeuvring - and gets her reward by appearing of the port aft quarter of the enemy vessel. Kingani is in deep trouble.

Turn 3 after movement. Kingani slammed on the brakes and turned as tightly as she could but to no avail as Mimi, by dint of some braking and swerving of her own, managed to stay on the enemy ship’s stern. Meanwhile Toutou has nefarious designs of her own as she prepares to open fire at point blank range.

Once again Kingani is unable to fire and once again, both Mimi and Toutou are able to and at point blank range! Mimi fires first and the modifiers are as follows: target size -1, target speed greater than 6 knots -2, firer speed greater than 7 knots -1, firer turned more than one hex side -1 so minus 5 in all. The roll of 7 was not enough as with a whopping minus 5 in modifiers leaves a score of 2. This is 3 below the minimum required to score a hit.

Toutou has a number of modifiers of her own but has only turned a single hex side so hers are -4 in all. Again the roll of 2 is not enough. 

Thoughts so far.

Excessive speed and manoeuvring certainly wreak havoc with gunnery - even when you are able to fire!

Turn 4. Kingani drops her speed to 7 knots and continues her attempt to at least get in a firing position. Mimi decelerates to 9 knots and closes on the aft port quarter of the enemy ship. Toutou similarly slows - 12 knots in her case - but needs to turn rather more than Mimi which will affect her gunnery.   

Turn 4 after movement. Kingani continues in her attempt to shake off her dogged pursuers to at least cause one of them to overshoot her. Thus far this has been unsuccessful. Mimi is on her aft port quarter whilst Toutou is now positioned off her stern. All three vessels have slowed down.

Kingani is still unable to open fire but as ever, both Mimi and Toutou are able to do so. This time Mimi only has -4 in modifiers whilst Toutou has a -5. Both need to score high to hit - 9 and 10 respectively. The scores are 3 and 8 which is not enough in either case, a minimum of 5 being required.

Turn 5. Kingani slows even more - this time down to 5 knots (2 hexes) meaning that she will be an easier target to hit but there is a plan of sorts. Mimi slows even more - now at 7 knots (2 hexes) - whilst Toutou carries on at 12 knots (3 hexes).

Turn 5 after movement. Kingani still has both Mimi and Toutou dogging her every move and preventing her from engaging either. Her captain is becoming increasingly anxious as he can see no successful outcome to this action unless….

Kingani is still unable to open fire but as ever, both Mimi and Toutou are able to do so. This time Mimi only has -4 in modifiers whilst Toutou has a -5. Once again, both need to score high to hit - 9 and 10 respectively. Mimi rolls a miserable 3 and misses whilst Toutou scores a truly magnificent 10! Her damage roll is -1 due to having a light gun. The roll is an equally impressive 9 which drops to 8. This is heavy damage so she is suppressed for next turn and has three rolls on the damage table. 

The first roll is a 1 which is a heavy suppression next turn (-2 gunnery modifier). The second is a 4 which knocks out a randomly determined gun - Kingani only has a light gun forward so this has been knocked out! The next roll is an 8 which is engine damage. Her speed is reduced by 1D6 knots - the roll is a 4 which takes her speed down to 3 knots. Fundi, the engineer, adds a modifier to any non-critical hit engine damage repair attempts starting next turn.

Kingani requires a morale check due to being suppressed and damaged. The D10 roll has two modifiers each of -1 - the first is for sustaining actual damage (the loss of the gun) and the second is because she is now disarmed. The roll is a 1.

As the adjusted score is now -2 which is a ‘Flee’ result. The vessel must turn away from the enemy and attempt to leave the table. If the vessel is unable to move it surrenders.

Endgame

I decided to call it there as the likelihood of Kingani getting away at 3 knots - even if Fundi works his magic - was pretty remote. All Mimi and Toutou had to do would be to hold station and batter the Kingani into scrap so a fluttering white handkerchief would doubtless have been seen as she surrendered (her only option really).There would have been a chance of the Toutou colliding with the Kingani but the outcome would have been the same. Spicer-Simson had secured his place in naval history although not in quite the same way as historically - the gunnery was abject to start with although rendering Kingani’s gun hors de combat was historical!

The rules worked really well and are suitably manic. Gunnery and high speed manoeuvring do not go together comfortably and so once Mimi and Toutou had gotten into Kingani’s aft and stern and more importantly out of her forward firing arc it was only going to be a matter of time - especially as Kingani obligingly slowed down.

This was a lot of fun to fight despite the skewed initiative due to the differing ship sizes. The next action will feature five ships and initiative will certainly play its part. In the meantime though, I need to think about some more ships for Lake Tanganyika - Belgians and assorted odds and ends oh, and a gun barge….

It is good to be back!

Available really cheaply secondhand and a great companion to Peter Shankland’s The Phantom Flotilla

*Mimi and Toutou Go Forth: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika by Giles Foden - an excellent account of the expedition and battle and a constant source of inspiration.