The scene has been set; the protagonists revealed, the dispositions of the two forces have been plotted, the paperwork is in place and all the myriad last minute ‘tweaks’ attended to. Nothing remains but to fight (with apologies to Ian Knight). The two ‘scene setters’ posted previously were very much an indulgence on my part for which I offer no apologies – I like to add some flavour text to a game – as these add to the overall experience in my opinion and serve to set the fictional engagement within some degree of historical perspective.
I will now detail the fleets taking part in the forthcoming action – together with their game ‘stats’ which will follow the format thus: Name, type, hit points, speed, main combat dice, secondary combat dice and torpedoes. All the destroyers and torpedo boats in use are on multiple bases in pairs and so their names appear seperated by a dash.
Turkish
Yavuz Sultan Selim, BC, 9, 3/4, 8, 4 and 1
Midilli, LC, 4, 3/4, 3, N/A and 1
Turgud Reis, PB, 6, 1/2, 5, 2 and 1
Hayreddin Barbarossa, PB, 6, 1/2, 5, 2 and 1
Hamidiye, PC, 3, 3, 3, N/A and 1
Mecidiye, PC, 3, 3, 3, N/A and 1
Muavenet-i Milliye/Yadighar-i Millet, DD, 4, 3/4, 2 x 1, N/A and 2 x 2
Samsun/Yarhisar, TB, 2, 3, 2 x 1, N/A and 2 x 1
Tasoz/Basra, TB, 2, 3, 2 x 1, N/A and 2 x 1
Russian
Evstafi, PB, 6, 2/3, 6, 4 and 1
Ioann Zlatoust, PB, 6, 2/3, 6, 4 and 1
Pantelejmon, PB, 6, 2/3, 5, 4 and 1
Tri Sviatitelia, PB, 6, 2/3, 5, 3 and 1
Rostislav, PB, 5, 2, 4, 3 and 1
Pamiat Merkurija, PC, 3, 4, N/A and 1
Kagul, PC, 3, 4, N/A and 1
Bespokoinyi/Gnevnyi, DD, 6, 4/5, 2 x 2, N/A and 2 x 3
Gromkiy/Popeshnyi, DD, 6, 4/5, 2 x 2, N/A and 2 x 3
Leitenant Pushchin/Zavetnyi, TB, 4, 3, 2 x 2, N/A and 2 x 2
Zavidnyi/Zhivoy, TB, 4, 3, 2 x 2, N/A and 2 x 2
As can be seen from the above the forces involved are quite different although on balance if the fight turns into a long drawn out affair then the advantage lies with the Russians. They have little to fear from most of the Turkish navy excepting the Yavuz and the dilemma there is does the Turk risk his best ship to be sure of a victory or does he 'tip and run'? This course of action is problematic given the slow speed of the Turkish battleships and the threat of the Russian Bespokoinyi (Novik) class destroyers. In effect the Turk needs to use the Yavuz to cover the retreat of her slower companions.
Whilst working on this scenario I also took the opportunity to refine the rules slightly and correct a few typographical errors as well as rethinking the ship specification charts. This probably sounded like a large undertaking but it was largely cosmetic in nature and therefore nothing major.
The waiting is nearly over and I am looking forward to getting the game underway at long last!
Excellent post, I know a little of and like this scenario background.
ReplyDelete:)
Historically the (ex)Goeban got a nasty surprise from the Russian pre-dreadnoughts!
Hi Geordie,
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right, this is historically based although in this case there are rather a lot more of our Turkish friends than in the original!
Goeben was unpleastantly surprised as you correctly point out and it will be interesting to see how the game unfolds as most of the Turkish force does not have the advantage of speed to beat a hasty retreat if need be.
All the best,
DC
Hi David, have been really enjoying the build-up to this battle, with your excellent literary scene-setting - can't wait to see more.
ReplyDeleteThis is a conflict I have wondered about dipping my toe into, as it involves a necessarily limited number of ships - looking through things, it can be complicated to see which Navwar 1/3000th codes fit with which historical ships, Torgud Reis = Worth etc, but I was definitely stumped when it came to the available TBDs and torpedo boats - any insight into what to use for what would be appreciated!
Hi SoS,
ReplyDeleteCheers for the comments -it makes it all so much more worthwhile! I will check back through some of my early naval posts as I am sure I listed the Navwar codes and equivalents. I certainly did for the Balkan Wars fleets. I will look this evening and let you know - its a little tricky on a blackberry!
All the best,
DC
Thanks David, yes, I think it was in your Turks vs Greeks posts, you mentioned the Pek-I-Sevket and the Durandel clas, but it was more those pesky Russians that I was finding confusing - also most accounts mention a number of minelayers - but it is hard to track down what to use for these - I had the N7708 Almaz in mind for one of them at least....
ReplyDeleteHi SoS,
ReplyDeleteI will see what I can find out re the minelayers. I know I had difficulty over this very subject. I am sure I did a post on the Black Sea Russians and at the time the only model needing a substitute was the Leitenant Pushchin TBDs. Ican tell you what I used later.
All the best,
DC