Murmansk Run

IJN Fuso · Murmansk Run

Winter 1942 The Allies are desperate to keep Russia in the fight. They send a convoy of 12 merchantmen to Murmansk The convoy is composed of

5 small cargo vessels (represented by Kinai Maru)

5 medium vessels (represented by JOB) with the following armor, vital, hull stats: 1|6|2 - All other JOB Stats)

2 Large vessels (represented by Nordmark, with the following stats:
Armor, Vital, Hull: 2|8|3
Speed: 1
Gunnery: 3|3|2|0
No Repair SA.
All Other Nordmark Stats

All Convoy ships gain the "Close Escort" SA

This convoy MUST make it through the treacherous route across the arctic sea to Murmansk!

The Allied player must get at least 7 convoy ships from the west side of the map to the east side to win. Once off the map, the ships reach Murmansk. The Axis Player must sink at least 6 merchant ships to win.

Setup:
Arrange your map so that Axis and Allies points North to South. The side with "Axis" is North. No Islands.

The Allied player must deploy his convoy fleet on the western edge of the North side of the map. The small 1/2 squares are in play for deployment - but ARE NOT in play on the eastern edge of the map.

In addition the convoy, the Allied player must deploy 2 Haidas, and 1 Sammy B (representing a typical escort force) + 100 additional points worth of UK + commonwealth units. The UK player May NOT deploy any subs.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the Allied player may deploy warships anywhere on the north side of the map.

The UK Player MUST set up first.

The German Player gets 3 free U510s + 2 free Land Based Stukas, and 2 free Galsters. In addition the German Player gets an additional 100 points.

Night rules apply except land based Stukas act as patrol bombers for search / recovery checks

The German player sets up after the UK player. Uboats may be deployed anywhere on the map. Uboats may attack on Turn 1. German surface ships must be deployed along the Southern Edge of the map.

If the UK gets at least 7 ships to safety(Off the eastern edge of the map), the UK wins. If the German fleet sinks at least 6 convoy ships, the Germans win.

Greyh Seer

hmmmmm...VERY interesting. I've been waiting to see some new convoy varients. I will definetly try this out!

IJN Fuso

Let me know how it goes. So far I haven't added in alternate victory conditions.

Also - convoy composition could be changed as well. Say add 5 more ships of the various types + alter the allowable fleet points...

Greyh Seer

I've started getting everything togeather for this one and I ran into one small problem: the deployment area isn't big enough for the convoy.

Thumbnail shows deployment? Did I get it right?

Anyways, we decided to flip the map using the Allies side as North and It gave us one more deployment spot.

Alternativly, I suppose we could deploy on the airbase or in the center row. What was your intention?

Greyh Seer

Battle Report:

A battle started in the fridged north with the dispatch of Her Majesty's fleet to escort a very important convoy on its way to Murmansk! Steaming through the fog came an extreamly large destroyer flotilla led by the Jamaica, DeRuyter and Kent. The fleet was preparing to take on the reported Wolf-Pack in the area.

As the German Fleet steamed to battle though, things looked bad. The Scharnhorst and Bismark steamed forward with barley an escort intent on sinking the convoy.

The British Admiral Dunlevy radioed this report about the early battle:

"Our hearts sank to see the German Beast poised against us. Our orders are clear, however, and this convoy must get through. The Germans had air support though our own Hurricanes kept them from our charges. Two wings of Halifax bombers on training exercises were re-roughted to us, but they were unable to land their bombs. I gave the order to rush the German big ships and unload our torpedoes at close range."

After the Admiral's order was given, hope came to the defenders as multiple torpedoes found thier mark. Two large explosions blosmed beside the Bismark as cheers from every allied ship rang out. The celebreation was short lived however as one surviving merchant sailor recounts:

"Our cheers quickly subsided as the German guns answered the destroyer rush. Ship after ship fell under the wieght of the combined guns of the German jugernaughts"

German Admiral Krüger's report explained the final moments to the Führer:

"I am happy to report that after the failed British destroyer attack, our guns made quick work of their surface fleet. Thier cruisers followed soon after as we chased them down. Their defenders destroyed, the convoy scattered and we confirmed every ship that escaped our guns was killed by our U-boats."

While the German fleet did not recover quickly (A final bombing run from the Halifax crews crippled the Bismark) and spent the next 4 months in dock, the supplies failed to reach the Russians and is attributed to the loss of Moscow two months later.

-----------------

Well, as you can see, my thought that my enemy would bring a sub heavy fleet was wrong and I paid for it dearly. I had hoped that rushing my destroyers in could cause enough damage for me to get a lucky cruiser shot in. My plan failed and every transport was lost.

This scenario was lots of fun, but I need to run more games to be sure that this result was the cause of fleet composition and not the scenario it self.

More to come.

IJN Fuso

IJN Fuso

I've played this out a few more times and I have revised the rules a bit to balance things out:

1. Merchant ships may deploy in Greyh Seer's shaded area OR in the squares 1 to the left of the shaded Area. (The 2 spots on the North West side of the map) Use the descriptions in the 1st post for Merchant stats.

2. UK gets 2 Free Haidas, 3 Free DEs (Any Combo of Sammy B and Butler) and 1 cruiser 13 points or less. Then build any 100 point fleet using Commonwealth units. PBYs and additional DEs may be used from the US.

3. GE gets 2 Free Stukas, 2 Free DDs (Galster or Ludemann), and 3 Free U510. Then build any 100 point fleet.

4. Night Rules - Stukas count as Patrol Bombers if land based.

5. UK sets up 1st

6. UK Warships may deploy anywhere on the North side of the map

7. German surface vessels deploy in the "normal" deployment area on the south side of the map.

8. Uboats deploy AFTER turn 1 movement and may deploy anywhere on the map. Sub Hunter DDs may then use the Sub Hunter SA. Uboats may attack during the sub phase of turn 1.

9. The Fuhrer has ordered German Capital Ships (Heavy Cruisers and BBs) to retreat when crippled. Retreating ships CANNOT fire on Merchant Ships, but may fire on warships chasing them. If a retreating ships extends the range to 3 or move off the southern edge of the map, it has retreated.

10. 5 or more Merchants must make it across the map for the UK to win. Germany must sink at least 8 to win.

11. If a German BB is sunk, the German Player must sink 10 Merchants to win.

Greyh Seer

Ok, back to it...

So, if I'm getting what you're saying correctly, what you're saying for deployment is to do something like this:

My thought is by using the side without the airbase, you can do something like this (and avoid using "non-sea sectors":

So,

1. Did I get your modified deployment zone correct?
-If not, please correct me
-If I did, have you playtested it yet with the new deployment rules?

2. I have playtested the above version (second post). What do you think of the idea of switching sides of the map in order to open up another sea zone?

Ultimately, I have only playtested the map I show above and not your modified map, so I am currious to know how it works.

Let me know!

IJN Fuso

Not quite.

Allied fleet deployment is ANYWHERE on the Allied side of the map

Greyh Seer

Ok, so like this?:

IJN Fuso

Remove the center row for Allied Fleet - and add the airstrip for Convoy and you've got it!