1942.02.11 - Operation Cerebus: Channel Dash Scenario!

Snippersly · 1942.02.11 - Operation Cerebus: Channel Dash Scenario!

Operation Cerberus

(German: Zerberus after Cerberus the three-headed dog of Greek mythology who guards the gate to Hades) was the name given to major naval operation during World War II in which a German Kriegsmarine fleet consisting of Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Prinz Eugen, supported by a number of smaller ships sailed from Brest, France to their home bases in Germany via the English Channel.
On 11 February 1942, the ships left Brest at 21:15 and escaped detection for more than twelve hours, approaching the Straits of Dover without check. Despite British attacks by the Royal Air Force, the Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Artillery, by 13 February all the ships had completed their transit. The action has entered history as the "Channel Dash".

Map Setup: Use the island side fo the map to simualte the English Channel.

Kriegsmarine Victory Condition: The two battleships of the Kriegsmarine must make it across the map and off the other side.

Royal Navy Victory Condition: Must sink the battleships, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

German Kriegsmarine
German ships are deployed on the German players side of the map, per the rules. Stacking limits do not apply for aircraft.

Scharnhorst 38 pts
Gneisenau 38 pts
Prinz Eugen (Graf Spee) 21 pts
Karl Galster X2 16 pts
E-Boats X2 (Sub Chaser- Use ASW value for Torpedo Attack at range 0 and Torp 2 at range 1, Speed increase to 3) 14 pts ((Increased Pt Cost))
Motor Torp Boats X4 28 pts
JU-87 Stuka X2 Bombers 14 pts
JU-87 Stuka X4 Fighters (Stand in for ME-109- AA of 7 - No bomb attack.) 28 pts
Total: 197

Royal Navy
Royal navy ships are deployed anywhere on the 1/2 of the map nearest the Royal Navy player. Stacking limits do not apply for aircraft.

Sea Hurricane X5 (Land Based) 25 pts
Swordfish X5 (Land Based and gain Press the Attack SA) 50 pts
HMS Javelin X6 54 pts
Samuel B Roberts X6 (Destroyer Escort Equivalent) 36 pts
Motor Torp Boats (PT Boats) X4 24 pts.
Total: 190

Sea Mines: During the actual Channel Dash, the two German Battleships sustained damage from mines. It was the only damage received during the daring maneuver and below are the rules I devised to simulate the historical use of mines.

The Royal Navy player is given 15 Objective markers that they can distribute anywhere in the English Channel. On the back of the markers they are to label half of them with the letter "M" in pencil. The markers are placed face up on the board and if an enemy ship passes over the marker it is flipped. If the marker is blank, the ship takes no damage and passes through the square without penalty. If a marker is flipped and the letter "M" is revealed, roll a die. One a 1-3 the ship takes 1 hull point damage, on a roll of 4-6 the ship takes 2 hull points. Royal Navy ships can also be hit by their own mines...so be careful.

Aquarius

It's good to see you here, Snippersly!!!! I will be sure to try this out sometime.

NeuralDream

Fantastic scenario! I'll make its individual custom cards.

Aquarius

I just thought of something. Wouldn't it be better to use Zeros as stand-ins for ME 109s, just without the surprise SA?

swarbs

The_lucky_Y

Now we have real Bf 109 and Admiral Hipper as sister for the Prinz Eugen.
as E boats we can use the S boats now.

Greyh Seer

Admiral_Scharnhorst

Very cool scenario.

Greyh and I played a hastily constructed channel dash scenario once when our fleet builds made for such an opportunity. Not as well thought out as this one though.

I had started work on one but it would be more generic and fall in the "what if" category instead of being an actual historical scenario.

Greyh Seer

Snippersly

Wow...I forgot I wrote this. It's been a while I guess. lol

Glad you guys enjoyed it. I had a whole bunch of WaS scenarios I posted when I first driftred from the Wizards of the Cash boards over to here. Prolly buried in the archives.

Snippersly