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Post subject: Battle of the Java Sea (playtested and w/ pics)
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Howdy Everybody!
I'm a new WAS player and member of this forum, though I've been lurking here for a long time (well over a year now). I've finally decided to come out of the closest and post a scenario about - wait, wait, it's a surprise - the Battle of the Java Sea.
Before I jump into the rules however, here is a short preface outlining my five goals for this scenario. Feel free to offer any comments, criticisms or suggestions as you see fit, and to judge my scenario's success based on the criteria listed below.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Yipe
PREFACE
In order of importance, my five goals for this scenario are:
1. Balanced
The scenario should be equally challenging for both players, and allow either side to win up to the last turn. In addition to being balanced, it should create tension, forcing difficult choices upon both players from beginning to end.
2. Fast
The scenario should take under an hour to play, and preferably last 30 minutes or less.
3. Simple
The scenario should use as few house rules as possible.
4. Unique
The scenario should include ships that are rarely played.
5. Evocative
The scenario should capture the historical flavor of the Battle of the Java Sea without being a simulation.
Last edited by Yipe on Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:41 am; edited 1 time in total |
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 Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:18 am |
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Posts: 33
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Here are the two fleets for this scenario. The ship and class information listed in parentheses is given for historical context.
ALLIED FLEET ABDA COMBINED STRIKE FORCE
Eastern Strike Force
Exeter
Salt Lake City (Houston/Northampton-class)
De Ruyter
De Ruyter (Java/Java-class)
Sydney (Perth/)
American Destroyer Group
John C Butler (John D Edwards/Clemson-class)
John C Butler (John D Ford/Clemson-class)
British Destroyer Group
Javelin (Electra/E Class)
Javelin (Jupiter/)
Dutch Destroyer Group
Van Galen (Kortenaer/)
Van Galen (Witte De With/)
AXIS FLEET OPERATION J
Eastern Attack Force
Jintsu (Naka/)
Isokaze (Asagumo/)
Yukikaze (Minegumo/)
Eastern Covering Force
Myoko (Haguro/)
Nachi
Jintsu
Isokaze (Amatsukaze/)
Yukikaze
Last edited by Yipe on Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:18 am |
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Posts: 33
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BATTLE OF THE JAVA SEA
Late February, 1942. The South Pacific.
Japan launches Operation J the invasion of Java to cement their hold over the Dutch East Indies and cut off Australia from her allies.
Sailing somewhere in the waters off Indonesia is a massive convoy of Japanese cruisers, destroyers and transports carrying nearly 40,000 soldiers. Led by Admiral Takagi aboard the heavy cruiser Nachi, the Japanese silently close in on their objective, all the while hoping for a decisive engagement with the ABDA navy.
Opposing this force is a mish-mash of American, British, Dutch, and Australian ships led by Admiral Doorman. With little time to train or coordinate their plans, the ADBA Combined Strike Force sets out to find the invaders. Their target? Break through the IJN escort and sink the vulnerable Japanese transports. It's an aggressive gambit the ABDA force is outnumbered, outgunned and facing a fearless opponent but if they fail, Java will surely fall.
The clock is ticking.
OBJECTIVE
Allies The Allied player is trying to move his ships into row G.
Axis The Axis player is trying to destroy the Allied cruisers.
SET-UP and TERRAIN
This scenario uses the "Open Sea" map. Place islands in the following sectors:
C3, D6, E2, F7 and G4
Allies The Allied player deploys first, placing his ships on row A.
Axis The Axis player deploys second, placing his ships on row K.
INITIATIVE
To determine initiative, roll 1D6 + Flagship bonus.
TURN LIMIT
This scenario lasts 5 turns. If at any time the Allied player has no ships left in play, the game ends.
DARKNESS
Use the rules for night fighting at the start of turn 4.
VICTORY POINTS
Allies To earn Victory Points, an Allied ship must enter row G (or beyond) and then remain there until the end of the turn. If the ship has not been destroyed by the end of that turn, remove it from play and score VPs according to the chart below:
30 VPs for each cruiser
10 VPs for each destroyer
Once a ship is removed from play it cannot return and its Flagship bonus or special abilities have no further impact on the game.
Axis The Axis player scores 30 Victory Points for each Allied cruiser that is destroyed at the end of the game.
WINNING
The player with the most Victory Points at the end of the game wins.
SPECIAL RULES ALLIES
"There Can Be Only One" Choose one De Ruyter and place a counter next to it. This ship is now the historical De Ruyter. The other De Ruyter is a proxy for the Java and loses its Flagship 1 and Cruiser Leader special ability.
"Follow Me" Every turn the De Ruyter remains in row G, all the Allied Player's ships receive +1 to their Speed score. The De Ruyter may remain in row G until the Allied player declares he is moving it off the map, at which point it is removed from play at the end of the current turn.
"Recon" Both Javelins deploy using the rules for submarines. The remainder of the Allied fleet deploys as normal.
"Type 284 Radar" The Exeter gains the Radar Fire Control special ability. To summarize:
Radar Fire Control While undamaged, this unit rolls one extra attack die when making Main Gunnery attacks.
SPECIAL RULES AXIS
"First Contact" At the beginning of the game, the Axis player deploys the following ships using the normal set-up rules:
Jintsu, Isokaze and Yukikaze
"Increasing Threat" During the Sea Movement Phase of turns 2, 3 and 4 the Axis player receives the following reinforcements:
Turn 2 Jintsu, Isokaze and Yukikaze
Turn 3 Nachi
Turn 4 Myoko
Ships deployed on turns 2, 3 and 4 must enter play from the Axis player's deployment edge. Moving onto the map costs 1 movement point.
"Takagi's Flaghip" The Myoko loses its Flagship bonus and the Nachi gains Flagship 1.
Last edited by Yipe on Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:14 am; edited 2 times in total |
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:19 am |
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Posts: 33
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Here are a few photos from one of our playtests:
This was the ABDA player's initial deployment for most of our games.
The ABDA Combined Strike Force advances under the cover of smoke.
Things get up close and personal.
Can Admiral Doorman break through the Japanese escorts? |
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:19 am |
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Forum Administrator
Posts: 6928
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Those pictures are great. The Litko tokens really make them work.
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:45 pm |
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USS OKLAHOMA BB-37
Posts: 6666
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Yes I agree the token's make a big differance but tell me, What are the cone shaped token's in the background of the first picture?? Look's like a good senario too, I'll have to try it! Okie
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 4:03 pm |
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I'm just guessing here, Okie, but to me those look like the Litko water spout tokens a lot of people use to represent misses.
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 4:12 pm |
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| Okie wrote: | | Yes I agree the token's make a big differance but tell me, What are the cone shaped token's in the background of the first picture?? Look's like a good senario too, I'll have to try it! Okie |
Thanks for the compliment. I had fun designing and testing this scenario, and hope someone else has fun playing it.
As for the tokens, they are Litko's Mini Splash Markers. They come in a set of 10 for $4.99. We use them to represent missed attacks and ASW penalties. While these markers look cool (they remind me of all those old WWII naval movies with exploding depth charges), they aren't really necessary. We've gotten a lot more mileage out of the Smoke Screen and Flaming Wreckage markers. Still, I'm a sucker for adding anything to the game that encourages making silly sound effects.
Here are two close up pics:
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 4:40 pm |
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Posts: 33
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Regarding the ABDA and IJN fleet compositions...
For those who are familiar with the Battle of the Java Sea (February 27-28 1942), the fleet lists for this scenario are not accurate. They are a condensed version of the real forces that took part in this engagement.
My initial fleets included more ships, primarily Japanese destroyers, but after several playtests I pared it down to just 11 ships for the Allies and 8 for the Axis. Why? I discovered that more ships didn't really add anything to this scenario, other than make it take longer to play.
However, if you're interested in using the scenario's basic framework with larger and historically correct fleet compositions, here is the OOB for the Battle of the Java Sea:
ABDA COMBINED STRIKE FORCE
Eastern Strike Force
Rear Admiral Karel Doorman
Exeter (CA/York-class)
Houston (CA/Northamption-class)
De Ruyter (CL/De Ruyter-class) F Doorman
Java (CL/Java-class)
Perth (CL/Leander-class)
American Destroyer Group
Commander Thomas Binford
Commander Edward Parker
Alden (DD/Clemson-class)
John D Edwards (DD/Clemson-class) F Binford
Paul Jones (DD/Clemson-class)
John D Ford (DD/Clemson-class) F Parker
Pope (DD/Clemson-class)
British Destroyer Group
Commander Cecil May
Electra (DD/E-class) F May
Encounter (DD/E-class)
Jupiter (DD/J-class)
Dutch Destroyer Group
Lt. Commander FJE Krips
Eversten (DD/Admiralen-class)
Korentaer (DD/Admiralen-class)
Witte De With (DD/Admiralen class) F Krips
OPERATION J
Eastern Attack Force
Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura
Naka (CL/Sendai-class) F Nishimura
Harusame (DD/Shiratsuyu-class)
Murasame (DD/Shiratsuyu-class)
Samidare (DD/Shiratsuyu-class)
Yudachi (DD/Shiratsuyu-class)
Asagumo (DD/Asashio-class)
Minegumo (DD/Asashio-lclass)
Eastern Covering Force
Rear Admiral Takeo Takagi
Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka (Second-in-Command)
Haguro (CA/Myoko-class)
Nachi (CA/Myoko-class) F Takagi
Kawakaze (DD/Shiratsuyu-class)
Yamakaze (DD/Shiratsuyu-class)
Ushio (DD/Fubuki-class)
Sazanami (DD/Fubuki-class)
Jintsu (CL/Sendai-class) F Tanaka
Amatsukaze (Kagero-class)
Hatsukaze (Kagero-class)
Tokitsukaze (Kagero-class)
Yukikaze (Kagero-class)
A note about these lists and my general knowledge of WWII - I am not a historian. In fact, I didn't even know about the Battle of the Java Sea until a month ago. I tried to use at least two sources to verify each ship before adding them to this OOB, but knowing the internet I can't attest that this information is 100% accurate. |
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| Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:03 pm |
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Nice scenario - A suggestion would be to use th SF mini with the Salt Lake stats to represent Houston. The SF is a New Orleans Class which is closer to the Northamptons in appearance.
Also - for added spice - Use Exeter's Main Gunnery dice for Houston. By Java Sea, One of her turrets (I think the rear one) was completely knocked out. So Houston only had six workable 8' guns.
Finally - for a really haunting account of the survivers of Java Sea - read Ship of Ghosts by James Hornfischer
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TimK
IJN FUSO
www.modelwarshipcombat.com |
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| Wed Aug 12, 2009 2:44 am |
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Nerd on the Prairie
Posts: 3052
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| IJN Fuso wrote: | Nice scenario - A suggestion would be to use th SF mini with the Salt Lake stats to represent Houston. The SF is a New Orleans Class which is closer to the Northamptons in appearance.
Also - for added spice - Use Exeter's Main Gunnery dice for Houston. By Java Sea, One of her turrets (I think the rear one) was completely knocked out. So Houston only had six workable 8' guns.
Finally - for a really haunting account of the survivers of Java Sea - read Ship of Ghosts by James Hornfischer |
Yep, rear turret OoA and great book!
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| Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:42 pm |
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Muahahaha!
AHF Silver-Rated Trader
Posts: 1493
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Very nice scenario! Nice pics too! 
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-Greyh
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| Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:47 am |
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