USN vs. Kriegsmarine

 After a long lay-off, we returned to the unfriendly seas to stage a combat between the German Navy and an intercepting US force.  Game system is Naval Thunder, which I find to be the perfect balance between playability and a sense of realism.  For surface combat at least.  Air and submarine operations need tweaking IMHO.  

Not a many pictures as usual, we played out the whole action in two hours, which is another plus for the system.  Click the pictures to enlarge, comments are always welcome.

The Kriegsmarine: clockwise from the left, three Karl Galster destroyers, the light cruiser Nurnberg, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, the "pocket battleship" Lutzow, and the Bismarck.  The breakout attempt would see the destroyers and Nurnberg return to port after seeing the squadron off, with the three big ships splitting up for commerce raiding.

Determined to stop them are two Fletcher-class destroyers, the light cruiser Brooklyn, the heavy cruisers Pensacola and Wichita, and the new, fast battleship Massachusetts.  They are to stop the Germans from reaching the shipping lanes at whatever the cost.

Since all the large US ships are equipped with radar, Admiral Rondou decided to lay smoke to start.  Unfortunately the Brooklyn was juuuuuuust beyond the smoke and attracted the Bismarck's attention right away.

The "Big Mammie" scored a penetrating hit on the Bismarck which in turn led to secondary ammo explosions and another fire.  Elsewhere, the Brooklyn lashed out at the Z21 with her buzzsaw 6" batteries.

A signalling glitch created a traffic jam among the Americans, while the battered (or so she claimed) O'Bannon fled for the table edge.  Damage control took care of Bismarck's fires and bridge hit.

As the range inevitably closed, damage was given and taken.  The Brooklyn continued to attract unwanted attention, as did the Pensacola.  The 11" guns of the Lutzow were small in number, but were ripping gaping holes in the cruisers.  The Z22 went down, which left the Nurnberg and Prinz Eugen to face the heavy cruisers and Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn must now break off, reduced to just 5 floatation points.  The heroic O'Bannon will exit this turn.  The Nurnberg and Fletcher will succumb to cumulative damage this turn.

Top to bottom: the Bismarck, Lutzow and Z20 start a general pursuit.  The Z20 is particularly fixated on finishing off the Brooklyn.

All alone now, the Prinz Eugen is determined to go down in the best tradition of blue-water sailors.  Planning a torpedo attack on the Wichita and a ram on the Massachusetts.  A staggering broadside from the Wichita put an end to their plan.  It was not all American though, a lucky hit from the Z20 ended a promising career for the Brooklyn, sending her under.  Secondary fire from the Massachusetts made the Z20 pay the ultimate price.

Sadly, the damage control ops aboard the Massachusetts kept creating ready ammunition explosions and more fires.  Such that the "Big Mammie" succumbed to her damage, just as the Bismarck was in similar dire straits.  The Lutzow had been sunk by the Pensacola so the Bismarck was all alone with her 5 flotation points so the engagement ended as the three surviving ships (of 13 starting with both sides) headed for badly needed repair.  Of course, some of those could have just been mission kills and not sunk, but sinking is so much more dramatic.

Some bizarre dice rolls and joking among friends kept the bloody brawl light hearted and filled with laughter.  Next time the British will try their hand against the Italians in the Mediterranean.  Till then, fair winds by with you.