Red Sea Gazette Issue 4 The Forces gather...

The Red Sea Gazette Issue 3

Carry on Up the Narrows

 The four Captains of the E Class submarine's gathered in the ward room of the depot ship Adamant in April 1915 would all attempt the passage of the Dardanelles.  One would be killed, one would spend years in a Turkish gaol, and the remaining two would each win the Victoria cross.  My game of penetrating the narrows should therefore have a 50% chance of success, but luck would have to play it's part.  

The Commodore and Chief Artificer Quilp discuss the control panel of an E Class Submarine

Of the three Captains gathered in Durham Wargames Club, one would charge a minefield and explode himself and his submarine in fine reckless fashion, one would perform with a heroism and luck that would see his submarine past the narrows in the nick of time, and one would have the poorest luck, yet still manage to pass the narrows whilst his crew were down to their last gasp.

The prevailing currents of the Dardanelles were unknown in 1915.  The fact that the main current in the straits ran towards the Aegean Sea had been known since antiquity, but the submarines were to encounter thermoclines dividing different saline layers that ran counter to the surface, as well as eddy currents that could lift or drop the submarine in the water column and veer it's course in widely different directions.  Theodore Brodie's E15 encountered these water layers and ran aground under the guns of Fort Dardanus.   Courtney Brodie (Theodore ' s twin brother) in E14 had similar difficulties but made it through riding the deeper saline layer running towards the Sea of Marmora.

My Submarine Captains would have to be unaware of their position, beyond being vaguely aware that the boat wasn't behaving itself in terms of navigation.  I decided on a simple dice roll, 1 slower by 6", 2 for 6" port, 3 for 6" Starboard, and 4,5,6 for a current drag based on the water layer the submarine was in.
To give the idea that the submarine was off course I relied on my own complete lack of poker skills, with much rolling of eyes and a few groans as I rolled the dice etc...  As it was one sub almost ran aground in the same location as E15.

The game opened with myself as Commodore Farthingdale in the Submarine E-XXL attempting to display his superior Submariners skills.  Remembering to close the main hatch before I dived was a nice touch, but it went downhill from there.  As Umpire I was aware of the first line of mines... It was on my chart, but I went through them demonstrating my sub driving.  A roll of 2 or 3 on 2d6 was the danger, good odds, but I chose to be at Periscope depth, a -1 on the dice due to the level the mines were moored at.
E-XXL blew up...  demonstration over, bold (or over-bold) Captain dead.
With that demonstration over I handed over to the other Captains.  Quilp had E9 better modelled with railings and a gun; Quincy in E11, a rougher model, without a deck gun ( this was a transitional period.  For his second run into the narrows Naismith's E11 had been fitted with a gun.  Not much use in the narrows but invaluable when he made it into the Sea of Marmora.)

E-9 eludes the searchlights.

The E-class submarine attack was lead by E11.  Aware of the minefield he headed into the deep water of the main channel, effected a turn and ran forward.  Having dived to 70 ft E11 gained a forward drag.  She slipped left once but almost immediately slipped back right, maintaining her course.
Behind E11 came E9.  Captain Quilp turned his bows for the narrows to avoid the minefield to the west.  Here he hit currents that dragged him back and to port, he was within an ace of going aground.  He also picked up a stray mine, but I rolled high on a single d6 and it broke free 1 or 2 were the numbers to avoid here.  Much bewilderment as to position when I told E9's Captain he could hear a  explosion on the bearing of his bow.

E11 avoiding the submarine nets.

The E11 meanwhile had been in action.  Hearing a warship's fast moving propellers forward and to Starboard Captain Quincy rose majestically to periscope depth to see a (German built) Turkish Destroyer moving quickly.  He calculated the aim point (for the vessel's bow instead of amidships) loosed a torpedo and ducked back down.  The torpedo ran true, striking the destroyer and exploding it (a 6!)

I developed the torpedo rules to reflect my reading on the subject.  Naismith's was highly critical of the number of "duds" he took into the Sea of Marmora.  On 2d6 the player dices for each 6" the torpedo runs.  On 12 -6 it runs true, but on lower rolls the torpedo may wobble or circle, and 1d6 is rolled.   In extremes you can end up shooting into your own sub. 

E9 had taken this time to fish up another two stray mines, and discovered that the minefield was much wider than expected. When a mine layer appeared it became clear where the stray mines were coming from.  With E9 wrong footed E11 once again came to periscope depth and snap shotted a torpedo through the minefield hitting the mine layer midships.

E11 braves the nets with searchlights sweeping overhead

 The next obstacle was to be the anti-submarine nets, but before E9 could get near them a troopship appeared, heading for the battlefield at Gallipoli. 

 Quincy, in E11, and hearing the heavy screws of the merchant man came to periscope depth, and then realised that once again the current had pulled him forwards.  The bows of a heavy merchant ship turned towards the periscope.  E11 went down express, in a crash dive that only just saved the boat from being rammed. Close one!
E9 came to periscope depth and used a snap shot at the troopship  the torpedo ran true and the impact act was perfect, but a roll of 1 on the d6 meant that this was a Dud. 
E11 waited until the troopship had gone over him, came up and fired his stern tube into the troopship at almost point blanc range.  The impact was a 3, a slow sinker, blocking the gap in the net for E9. 

It seemed a simple matter now for E11 to reach the narrows and exit the table, except that three times in a row I rolled a 6 and a 5, generating a random net blocking the exit at the narrows.  With air almost gone (no thanks to AB Hardy breaking wind and causing an air pont loss) E11 made it off table as a Turkish Battleship passed overhead.

E9 meanwhile was struggling to get off table, having run shallower and had drag issues from the current.  With his last gasp of air Captain Quilp dove under the net, broke through and made it off table as his last hour of air dwindled away.

Great game, and a learning curve for my rules.  There was a LOT of action in this, far more than I expected. As Umpire I nominate Captain Quincy for the Victor's Cross, and will henceforth refer to him as Capt, the Hon, Q W VC.  We will have to revisit the Dardanelles!

Smarting from defeat and an unforgiving saddle Quilpius hopes to find solace in a letter from home.

Dux Bellorum: a Close End

The Great Battle for Mount Hardon continued this week with Quilpius Lamus and Iammius Gittus facing off against the Picts of Norris of the McWhirters and King Tugga of the Vanking Saxons.  This was looking more and more like the culminating game of the campaign.

The Pictish King faces off against Tribune Iammius on the flank.  Just before Iammius runs away.

The cataphracts finally manage a charge, into the centre of the Pictish line.  

On the Saxon flank the Vankings get stuck into the Romans. 

Jarl Skvirt attacks the Jazz Hands again.  The Manus Gothica hold out in an extraordinary fight that lasts almost the whole game.  They are renamed the Fortis Manus Gothica.

The Cataphracts kill off the Pictish warband opposing them, but once again are reduced to a pitiful few cohesion points, making them virtually useless for further action.

  

The Pictish Monks prayers to Vectron are more powerful since they are nude.  Vectron smiles on a naked supplicant!

Jarl Skvirt struggles to make any impact on the Jazz Hands

The Claws of Quilpius are shown on table, with some Roman anguish.  The Roman left is gone, but the Picts are in tatters. 

The Fortis Manus Gothica are shot down by Pictish archers.  Shame!   Jarl Skvirt storms up the hill ready to descend on the Romans beyond.

The Saxons have lost heavily too.  With only two units left from their original six they are on 66%, but with the Vankguard of the King and Jarl Skvirt still on table they are still powerful.

The end game.  The Pictish King in Combat with Quilpius, Iammius Gittus dead, and King Tugga about to attack again.  Both sides were over the 80% and it came down to cohesion points remaining.  With the VankGuard still pretty much fresh the Conspiracy of Barbarians had won the day.

Dux Bellorum: The Battle of Mount Hardon

The Roman General Quilpius Claudus, named Lame Quilpius after his unfortunate encounter with Pictish chariotry, fought the next rung of the ladder campaign on Ermine Street.  Seeing yet another hilltop defence in progress, and as the resident Saxon Warlord, I enquired of our Roman adversaries if this was Mount Badon.  Turns out I got one syllable wrong!

The Romans had attempted to ambush us.  They had also entrusted some of their precious points to fielding a unit of mercenary fanatics.  These were the new Pictish King's brother and his warband, and to be quite honest, they looked unhappy, lurking behind a Roman army.

The Pictish Saxon Alliance tried using Monks as our strategem.  Given that the Picts had a larger and more mixed force, the Pictish King, Norris Dewar McWhirter took the extra Leadership Points (or cows as he quaintly calls them.)


As a Saxon my tactics are restricted to punching the enemy on the nose, so probably not too useful for me. 

The Saxon line advances as the Romans repeat that hilltop trick.

On the crest line, they look pretty impressive.

Behind that hill there is some Roman dithering going on.

The Picts see that big marsh and have the urge to get muddy.  The Romans actually begin to reverse

Those Picts look pretty snazzy.

I do have some questions about where the Pictish Commander was off to in that chariot. 

Jarl Skvirt read the rules wrong again, got too close to the Romans hilltop trick (again) and launched himself against that hill.  Those shields lead me to believe that this unit is the Manus Gothica or "Jazz hands."

Iammius Gittus attempts to move the Britannia Hesitatus down the hill, nearer to the Saxons.  They refuse!  

The Saxons begin infiltrating through the woods

The Picts join the fight at the hill.

Once again I must ask, where was old Norris going in that chariot?

The Romans day begins to go badly.  The Picts use those extra LPS to manoeuvre on the flank.

The Saxons come raging out of the woods in high dudgeon because I mis-read the rules again and my trickery tactics failed.   Pushed back by the X rated legion. 

The claw of Quilpius lays an LPS down.  Interestingly "The Claw of Quilpius" is the name of a novel by English Mystery Writer Agatha Marbles.   Turns out the Butler did it.

The Saxon Revenge begins!  The fanatics are destroyed by the Vankguard in one round of fighting.  The Pictish King's rival is killed.  King Tossa leads his warbands through the woods to get at the Romans.

And the centre is unmoved, still a points soak.

The Saxons play "Ignore the Huns."  Here we also have the arm of Quilpius.  Interestingly this too was an Agatha Marbles novel, but failed to sell, mainly due to the fact that the butler did it this time too.  

The Jazz Hands manage a push back, and the Hesitatus get into a fight.

The Picts begin to swarm the right flank.

And here we must pause, for a trip to the pub, and a "how's it going" discussion.  The troops were left in situ.  
If the forces of Barbarism win there has been some discussion of burning the Quilpius Miniature in an on table wicker man, and damn the fire regulations!