On the spur of the moment, a quick trip was made to attend Fall-In in Lancaster. I played in one naval game friday night - a re-fight of the battle of Tsushima. I was in command of a battleship division of 6 of finest ships in the Czar's navy. I should point out that the Russian fleet roster included 3 "extra" battleships to even things out. The first picture shows the initial fleet set up with the Russians in the lower center, the main Japanese fleet in the upper right and a squadron of Japanese cruisers shadowing the Russians to the left. The Russian objective was to exit the left side of the map.
After a few turns the fleets are closing on one another. We had put a hurt on the Japanese cruisers but were about to feel the weight of the Japanese big guns. By the way, the Japanese admiral in the purple flowered shirt proved to be a most formidable opponent and her trash talking skills were considerable (in a fun and lighted hearted way). The way she was rolling dice we were all thinking of bank rolling her on a trip to Vegas.
The slugfest continued for a number of turns. We played on a 10' by 8' table, which is great for a large scale naval game, but can be a bit dicey for such operations as distance measuring and moving the ships!
The game was called shortly after this picture. You'll notice the fleets are significantly smaller and the Russians gave as good as they got. The Russians managed to exit 10 ships and get a one point victory over the Japanese. It was both a very close and very fun game. We were all especially pleased when a lucky critical hit blew up the Mikasa (the Japanese flag ship). Huzzahh!!!!!!
Here's the tally of sunken ships - the left two rows are Russian and the right side rows are Japanese. This was, indeed, a very bloody engagement.
Many thanks to Brian DeWitt and the
NOVAG gaming club for putting on the game and letting us play with their fabulous miniatures. I had a blast and look forward to the next game brian might put on.
I will save my thoughts about Fall-In for another post. It was a bit of a varied experience.
Looking forward to your comments on Fall-In.
ReplyDeleteFall-in happened already!!!! Sadly another year is passing away.
ReplyDelete"We were all especially pleased when a lucky critical hit blew up the Mikasa (the Japanese flag ship)."
ReplyDeleteMore like.. "The Russian fleet focused the fire of several Battleships' worth of firepower on the Mikasa, hoping to crack the nut of her superior armor (without much success), and eventually she got hit so many times she fell apart from metal fatigue!"
Well yes, it was more like the gradual erosion of armor plating under a torrent of shells, but who wants to spoil a spectacular battle rendition with the melodrama of mere facts!
ReplyDeleteIt still was a fun game and given the superior armor rating of the Mikasa any hit was a lucky hit
Agreed on all points.. The fact that we sank TWO of Japan's modern battleships is a victory in itself. I personally feel the Russian side can claim victory, of course. I was merely being a gentleman about it during the game. :-D
ReplyDelete