Battle Report - Sector 34, Spring 1942

Sector 34, Spring 1942

British Forces:
     HMS Rodney
     HMS Ark Royal

          Martlet Mk.II

          Hurricane Mk.IIC (x2)
     HMS Kent
     HMS Euryalus
     HMS Javelin
     HMS Jarvis
     Submarine (based on Greek Proteus)
     Land-based (4 turn re-arming)

          Sunderland Mk.II (x2)

German Forces:
     Gneisenau
     Blücher
     Köln (x2)
     Karlsruhe x2
     Vainamoinen (Finnish)
     Z20 Karl Galster
     Z18 Hans Ludemann
     Z28
     U-66

     Land-Based (1 turn re-arming)
          FW 190 A4 (x2)
          FW 200 Kondor
          Ju 87E (x2)

     Land-Based (4 turn re-arming)
          He 111 H6 (x2) 

There are two squalls, starting in F4 and F5, but no terrain.  Three 25-point objectives were placed in the standard locations (F2, F5, and F8).

START: The two Kölns start in K1, with the Gneisenau and Blücher below them in K2.  Below them, in K3 are a Karlsruhe and the Galster, with the Vainamoinen and the Z28 in K4.  K5 holds the other Karlsruhe and the Ludemann.  The U-66 starts in G4.  The British submarine starts in E1.  The Ark Royal and Euryalus start in A1 with the Rodney and Kent in A2 and the Javelin and Jervis in A3.  The Kölns move to I1 using their lead the attack ability.

TURN 1: The Germans have a significant initiative advantage and win initiative.  The British submarine moves to F1, the Ark Royal's formation moves to B2, the Rodney's to C2 and the destroyers to C3.  The Ludemann's formation advances to I6 and the Galster's to I4.  The Vainamoinen's moves to J4.  The Gneisenau's formation moves to I3 and the Kölns advances to H3.  The U66 moves to F4.  The Germans send both He111s and a Ju87E, escorted by an FW190 against the British heavy units in C2.  The British deploy tboth Hurricanes to defend against them.  The Kondor goes after the British submarine in F1.  The two Sunderlands, escorted by the Martlet go after the German u-boat in F4, but have to fight through the defending FW190 first.  The British fighters and flak abort the Stuka and one of the He111s while the other bomber misses with its torpedoes.  The FW190 knocks down one of the Sunderland and the remaining one misses with its ASW attack.  The Kondor's ASW also misses.  The squals moves to G3 and E5.

Turn 2: Again losing initiative, the British are forced to move first.  The submarine moves to F2, the Rodney's formation advances to E1 and the Ark Royal's formation follows to D1.  The destroyers move to E3 to threaten the u-boat.  The Ludemann's formation moves to G7, the U66 to G3, the Gneisenau's formation to H5, and the two Kölns move to G4.  The Z28 and Galster combine in H4, while the Vainamoinen and other Karlsruhe combine in I4. All but free from air threat, the British send both Hurricanes, as bombers against the destroyers in H4 while the Sunderland goes after the u-boat in G3.  The German flak aborts one of the Hurricanes, but the other cripples the Z28.  The Sunderland ASW misses.  The Javelin produces a protective smoke screen immediately after the Jervis hits a  Köln with its main guns.  The Kölns attack the Javelin, but only cripple it due to the protective smoke, forcing the Blücher to use its guns to finish off the British destroyer.  The Gneisenau's main guns hit but only cripple the Jervis while the follow-up secondaries are unable to target through the smoke.  The U-66's torpedo attack against the Rodney misses.  The squalls move to F4 and D5.

Turn 3: The Germans win initiative forcing the British to again move first.  The Ark Royal's formation remains n D1 while the Rodney's moves out to G1.  The crippled Jervis combines with the submarine in F3.  The Ludeman's formation moves to capture the objective in F8 while the Kölns move to E4.  The Gneisenau's formation moves to F5, the crippled Z28 to H5 and the Vainamoinen and Karlsruhe to I5.  The U-66 advances to G2 and the Galster charges into F3 to go after the British submarine.  The Sunderland, again escorted by the Martlet go after the u-boat, again having to fight through an FW190.  The Kondor deploys to E1 to act as a Pinpointer while both Ju87E's, escorted by the other FW190 again go after the heavy British units in G1.  The two Hurricanes move to defend the Battleship.  The fighters and the Rodney's flak together abort the Stuka attacks while the Sunderland avoids the German fighter and successfully cripples the u-boat.  The Z28 sinks the Jervis with its main guns while the Galster hits the submarine in a vital area with its ASW attack, destroying it.  In return, the Jervis cripples the Galster while the Rodney's secondaries finish it off, after watching the Kent's main guns miss the destroyer.  The  U-66's torpedo attack misses the Rodney.  The Germans take the objectives in F5 and F8.  The squalls move to F3 and E4.

Turn 4: The British surprisingly win initiative and for once can watch the Germans movement before committing.  The Z28 and Vainamoinen move to H6.  One Karlsruhe moves to G6 while the other one and the Ludemann move to E6.  The U66, with no destroyer threat remaining, moves into the smoke in F3, the Kölns to C5, and Gneisenau and  Blücher to D6.  The Ark Royal's formation moves away to F1 while the Rodney and Kent advance to H3.  Both Hurricanes go after the Kölns again in C5 while the Sunderland goes after the Karlsruhe in E6.  The German flak aborts one Hurricane, but the other cripples the damaged  Köln.  The Sunderland avoids the flak but misses with its attack.  The Kent scores a vital hit on the  Z28, blowing it up while using Escort Killer to land a hit on the Finnish cruiser.   The Rodney scores a vital hit on the Karlsruhe with its main guns, sinking it immediately, and cripples the Vainamoinen with its secondaries.  The Z28 lands a hit on the Kent but the Finnish cruiser's bigger guns misses. The torpedoes from the crippled U-66 again miss the Rodney.  The squalls move to E3 and F4.

Turn 5: The Germans regain initiative.  The Ark royal's formation moves to G1 while the Rodney's moves to H4.  The U66 moves to G3 and the Vainamoinen to H5.  The Gneisenau's formation moves to C4, the Kölns to C5, and the remaining Karlsruhe and the Ludemann to D4.   Again both Stukas, escorted by an FW190 face 2 Hurricanes over the Rodney while the Sunderland, escorted by the Martlet are again met by the other German fighter.  The Kondor deploys to H3 to act as a Pinpointer.  The Hurricanes and flak from the Kent abort the Ju87Es. The FW190 misses Sund, which in turn again misses the U-66. The Vainemoinen cripples the Kent which sinks it in return.  The torpedoes from the U-66 finally land a hit on the Rodney.  The squalls move to D4 and E4.

Turn 6: The Germans win initiative...again.  The Ark Royal's formation backs away to I1 while the Rodney, now alone, moves to G4.  The U66 follows to F4.  The Gneisenau's formation moves to C3, the Kölns to D5, and the Karlsruhe and Ludemann to D4.  The Sunderland goes after the u-boat while both Hurricanes go after the Kölns  The German flak is ineffective while the same cannot be said for the British air attacks.  One Hurricane sinks the crippled Köln while the other is hit by the other and the Sunderland finally sinks the u-boat.   Lining up its long range shot, the Gneisenau's main guns fire at the Ark Royal and manage to score a vital hit, blowing up the carrier.  The three planes manage to survive to return to land.  The squalls move to E4 and E5. 

Turn 7.  The Germans, despite losing much of their advantage retain initiative.  The Rodney advances to E4, the crippled Kent to F4 and the Euryalus to G1.  The Köln and Ludemann move to E4 for point blank torpedo attacks.  The Karlsruhe moves to D2, the Gneisenau to A3, and the Blücher to D3.  Both Stukas and both He111s go after the Rodney in E4 while the FW190s move in to strafe the Kent.  The Kondor readies its anti-ship missile from F5.  The Rodney's flak is put off by the weather, so all four torpedo planes get through, but amazingly all miss with their torpedoes and the missile also misses.  The Rodney scores a vital hits on both the Köln and the Ludemann, sinking them both while taking no damage from the ships in return.  The Gneisenau is unable to target the Rodney with its main guns through the squall but the Blücher and Karlsruhe are able to gang up on the Euryalus, crippling it.  The squalls move to F3 and F5.

Turn 8. The British win initiative.  The Blücher and Karlsruhe move to F3 and the Gneisenau moves to A1.  The Rodney advances to C3 while the Euryalus moves to F2.  The Rodney's main guns hit the Gneisenau and its secondaries hit the Karlsruhe.  The Euryalus's main guns cripple the Karlsruhe but is unable to target the Blücher with its torpedo attack.  The Gneisenau's main guns score a hit on the Rodney, but the guns and torpedoes of the Blücher and Karlsruhe are unable to target the British light cruiser through the squall.  The squalls move to E2 and E5.

Turn 9:  The British again win initiative.  The Gneisenau moves to C1 while the German cruisers move to E2.  The Euryalus makes a suicide run on the cruisers in E2 while the Rodney moves to A3.  Both Stukas and the Kondor go after the Rodney with torpedoes while the German fighters go after the cruiser.  One Ju87E is damaged by flak from the Rodney, but is determined to get its attack off.  Unfortunately, both its attack and those of the other two planes all miss.  The German fighters are, however, able to sink the crippled Euryalus.  The Rodney hits the Gneisenau with its main guns and gets missed by the return fire. 

Turn 10.  The Rodney retreats off map.

Surviving British Forces:

HMS Rodney (2 damage)

Surviving German Forces:

Gneisenau (2 damage)

Blücher

Karlsruhe (crippled)

FW 190 (x2)

He111 H6 (x2)

Ju 87E (x2)

FW 200 Kondor

After Action (UK): It was a chance to capture a German base and was a very close game.  If it hadn't been for the range 6 vital hit on my carrier, I think I might have pulled it out; I think another turn or two of air would've been enough.  Admittedly, I was helped out by poor German torpedo attacks, but overall a worthy effort to capture important German territory.

After Action (GE): Losses were heavy on both sides.  The squalls helped hide German forces for quite a long time.  My main objectives were the destruction of the carrier and battleship.  Gneisenau's Long Shot vital of Ark Royal was a huge help.  I was very disappointed in my planes inability to put damage on the Rodney.  Though it is damaged and won't be able to use its extended range next turn, I would have rather sent her to the bottom.  I am sure I will get another shot at her and her sisters next turn.