HMS HOOD

For the fourth in our series of Bag the Hun games I wanted to introduce ships. Some time ago (2005 in fact) we put on a BTH game of which I still have many fond memories and which was notable for the sheer amount of laughter around the table. Yes, for those in the know, I’m speaking of the infamous Stuka attack on Capt. Geest’s banana convoy. If I recall correctly, the earlier version of the rules did not contain any actual ship rules and we just used static ship markers as targets. So with that in mind I was keen to see how the latest version dealt with ships and it just so happens that, a few years ago, I was given a small collection of 1/1200^th ship models by another club member (thanks Stan!).

The premise of the game was that a German high altitude reconnaissance plane had spotted a British warship (HMS Hood – or so the label on the bottom of the model tells me) moving into the Channel. So the German objective was obviously to sink the said warship.

Rather than predetermine the opposing forces I wanted to include a measure of planning for both sides. Hence the Germans were given a list of available units from which they could select three (although at least two units had to consist of bombers). Units consisted of 6 bombers, four fighter-bombers or four fighters. If truth be told, the scenario is really about bombing ships but I included the fighters as a comfort blanket for those who needed it. Each of the bomber units was also pre-assigned a mode of attack, taken from the bombing options in the rules:

He 111 – may ‘level’ bomb

Do 17 (in this scenario, a unit of low level attack specialists) – may ‘skip’ bomb

Ju 88 – may ‘level’ bomb OR dive bomb (bombing type must be chosen before the game)

Ju 87 – may dive bomb

Me 110 – equipped as fighter bomber – may ‘level’ bomb

Me 109 – fighters only

The Germans were also required to predetermine their entry point (from the south or south-west), their altitude and their turn of entry. As predicted, the Axis side chose the comfort blanket option and added the Me 109s to their bomber force of dive bombing Ju 88s and skip bombing Do 17s. The plan was for the ‘fast’ Ju 88s to enter at altitude level 4 from the South West, followed by the Do 17s on move two. The fighters would appear from the South on move three. The Axis missed a trick here as if the Dornier low flying specialists had stayed down at altitude level one they would have escaped detection by the Chain Home RDF stations.

The British started the game with a patrol of 3 Blenheim 1Fs on patrol and already on the table. Surprisingly, with the whole table to deploy on, the 3 Blenheims and 3 dummy bogies were deployed at the table edge and in close vics. The British were then informed of the altitude and direction of the hostile raids representing forewarning from the Chain Home stations. They could then scramble a further section of 3 fighters with which to reinforce the Blenheims. These were to be chosen from Defiants, Hurricanes or Spitfires. Defiants, if chosen, would arrive on turn one and Hurricanes on turn two. If Spitfires were chosen there would be a chance that they would arrive on turn two but there was also the chance that they would not arrive until turn three.

Disregarding the wonder that is the Defiant (ahem), the British instead chose to scramble a section of 3 Hurricanes choosing to enter from the north at the maximum altitude of six.

Ju 88 Bogeys enter from SW, yellow ship Bogeys and red RAF patrol Bogeys in the distance

HMS Hood was soon spotted by the forward Ju88s which in turn were themselves spotted by Bomber Braddock’s Blenheim patrol.

HMS Hood spotted

Bomber Braddock’s Blenheims cleverly used an intervening cloud to get around behind the leading kette of Ju 88s. Unfortunately, German defensive fire was heavier than expected and the rear of the bomber formation was a distinctly unhealthy place to be. There followed a tense few moves in which the Blenheims were subjected to either air gunner fire or their own flak from HMS Hood.

Braddock's hidden Blenheims circle the lead bombers

Eventually the inevitable happened and Braddock’s Blenheim exploded in a ball of flame.

The small central cloud is actually Braddock’s exploding Blenheim

By now Charlie Foxtrot’s unspotted section of Hurricanes were swinging around the flank of the bomber formation. Too late to stop the Heinrich Winkler’s lead kette of Ju88s dive bombing the Hood though. Two out of three bombs hit but did little damage.

The Hood under attack

Bravely the remaining 2 Blenheims commenced a head on attack to break up the remaining bomber formations whilst Charlie Foxtrot’s Hurricanes attacked from the rear. Unfortunately, Dieter Hasselhof and a schwarm of 109s had been waiting for that very moment sweeping down and bouncing the unsuspecting Hurricanes.

Charlie Foxtrot bounced

Within seconds, two of the Hurricanes, including Charlie Foxtrot’s were spinning down into the channel. In the distance one of the remaining Blenheims was also now on fire.

British fighters in trouble

Back at the ship Heinrich Winkler’s Ju 88s were driven off by the weight of very heavy flak from HMS Hood. The Hood then swung about to present a harder target for the remaining  dive bombers. Unfortunately they were now beam on to Wolfgang Fokker’s low attacking Dorniers – a perfect target for the Dornier’s skip bombing attack.

The Hood beam on

Meanwhile back at the rear, with one Hurricane gone and Charlie Foxtrot spinning out of control, Dieter Hasselhof led his pair of 109s in pursuit of the remaining Blenheims. However, with perfect timing, the sole remaining Hurricane latched onto his tail and with a long burst the 109 exploded – it seems that having a character card is akin to a death warrant in this game!

Hasselhof's demise

With the table edge in sight, the Hood had once again changed course and  headed for safety, or maybe she was actually weaving to avoid the bombers. In response the 2^nd wave of Ju 88s changed formation into line ahead in preparation for their bombing run in front of the Dorniers which had now dropped to wave top level.

Ju 88s in line ahead

While the Ju 88s struggled to find the best line of attack, the Dorniers commenced their bombing run. Both formations were, however, subjected to a veritable storm of flak

Bombs versus flak

Although two Dorniers did achieve hits on the Hood, causing minor damage, several were driven off and two plummeted out of control into the drink.

Time to deploy the dinghies boys! 

It was now left to the remaining Ju 88s to finish the job but the next card turned out to be ‘Ships Move’ and the Hood sailed over the table edge to end the game.
A Victory for the British then but this was always going to be a tough target. Maybe the Axis should have gone for more bombers after all?