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Thread: Monitor (part 1)

  1. #1

    Default Monitor (part 1)

    Last night I ran a new scenario at the Cowards wargames club in Hoveton, Norfolk. Here is the scenario description I wrote:

    Monitor.
    The idea for this scenario came from the manager of my local games shop.

    A naval monitor was a ship with a wide beam and narrow draft, which mounted a turret containing large calibre heavy guns usually salvaged from an old pre-dreadnaught, dreadnaught or battleship, for the bombardment of targets on the coast or a few miles inland.. They were the successors to the bomb ketches of Nelson’s navy. The monitors also mounted smaller calibre guns for self-defence. In W.W.1 the Royal Navy used them to bombard German positions in Belgium from the English Channel.

    In game terms, this provides two types of mission: (1) an R.F.C. or R.N.A.S. two-seater, with or without escorts, acts as an artillery observation spotter plane for a monitor shelling an inland target, whilst German fighters try to shoot it down or drive it away: (2) The Germans try to sink the monitor with bombers, with or without escorts, whilst the R.F.C. or R.N.A.S. send out fighters to defend the monitor.

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    The above is a plan view of H.M.S. Erebus. In W.W.1 she mounted a twin 15-inch turret, eight 4-inch guns in single mounts, two 12-pounder A.A. guns (on square platforms) and 4 A.A. machine guns (two singles on the platform below the 15 inch guns and two singles right at the stern).

    In terms of game mats, I plan to use three placed together along their long sides, one countryside, one coast and a sea mat (from Sails of Glory) or some blue cloth.

    The Artillery Observation plane plus any escorts enters play in the lower right hand corner of the middle map. It is immediately spotted by the coastal town and the monitor, which is anchored far enough offshore to be out of range of normal field artillery but within range of the target using its main battery.

    The town officials telephone the local air base for support. The local air base will send fighter aeroplanes, which appear at the centre of the left hand edge of the middle mat at the end of the second turn.

    At the end of the fifth turn German bombers may appear at the same place. Each bomber must be capable of carrying a bomb of at least 100lbs (45kg) to be capable of damaging the monitor. The usual 10kg (22lb) bombs are too small. Two direct hits with the larger bombs will make the monitor withdraw from the scene. [That does not mean it has been sunk.]

    When the bombers intentions become clear to the monitor, i.e. when they are over the town heading towards the monitor, it will radio for fighter assistance. The fighters will appear after an interval of two full turns in the lower right-hand corner of the middle map. They will fly over to defend the monitor.

    Artillery Observation. (Adapted from the rules by Steve ‘Surfimp’ Lange)

    The spotting plane must fly within 1 firing ruler of the target and fly a holding pattern to maintain that distance. At the end of three consecutive movements during which the spotting plane
    (i) has been within 1 ruler of the target;
    (ii) has not performed an Immelman turn;
    (iii) has not been in combat with an enemy aircraft,
    Then an A deck damage card is drawn and placed face up next to the target to simulate the spotting aircraft observing the firing and impact of an artillery shell and radioing back corrections to the monitor. If the conditions are not met, then the monitor is firing blind. If the explosion damage card is drawn, or when the total damaged scored reaches 10 points, then the monitor’s guns are zeroed in on the target and can pound it to pieces. Only damage points and the explosion card count. Other special damage and gun jams are ignored. After each shot the 3 movement count commences from zero again.

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    If after reading the A.A.R., people wish to have a copy of this description, I could submit it to the Files section.


  2. #2

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    I chose to set our game in late 1916/ early 1917 so that we could use some mid-war planes, most of which are still available, and because in part 2 I wanted German two-seaters, which might be capable of carrying a heavier bomb than normal. Clearly the scenario could be set later in the war with other aircraft although in the current Ares range there is a distinct lack of a German two-seaters capable of carrying a heavier bomb.

    I imagined the location to be in the English Channel off the Belgian coast. In reality, the monitor would probably have had a destroyer escort but that would have played no part in the scenario.

    The Artillery Observation would be carried out by the crew of a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter escorted by a B firing Sopwith Triplane. The strutter's observer would be operating the radio transmitter.
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    Two Albatross D.III's were sent up to intercept these intruders and would arrive shortly.
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    The monitor waited off the coast.
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    The unsuspecting target lay peacefully not knowing what was coming.
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    There were four players. I was merely the umpire. I gave the most experienced player the task of flying the Strutter as he would have to maintain a tight holding pattern over the target.

  3. #3

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    By the end of the first turn the Strutter was heading for the target and I was surprised to see the escorting Sopwith Triplane flying off on its own.
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    At the end of the second turn, the Triplane had moved further from the Strutter, which had continued towards the target and the two Albatros D.III's appeared at the edge of the mat.
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  4. #4

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    The Triplane pilot bravely turned towards the Albatros D.III's.
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    He managed to slip past them.
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    Meanwhile, the Strutter flew on towards the target.
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    The Germans nearly collided.
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    The Strutter got within sight of the target.
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    Last edited by Naharaht; 07-21-2018 at 01:24.

  5. #5

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    The Germans and the Triplane turned to fly towards the Strutter.
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    They closed in on the Strutter, which had entered effective spotting range (1 ruler length).
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    The Triplane turned and attacked the blue Albatros, whilst the Strutter began to circle the target.
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    Next the Triplane attacked the green Albatros, although his gun was jammed!
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    Meanwhile, the blue Albatros pursued the Strutter, which had now been circling the target for three consecutive moves and it observed a shell landing quite close to the target (scoring 2 points)..

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    The Triplane got into a perfect attacking position behind the green Albatros but to no avail because of the gun jam. The blue Albatros was still trying to close with the Strutter.
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    Last edited by Naharaht; 07-21-2018 at 16:02.

  6. #6

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    I am sorry. I do not understand why the attachments work perfectly well one minute and then go wrong later.
    Last edited by Naharaht; 07-21-2018 at 15:50.

  7. #7

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    It is an interesting fact that a Royal Navy Monitor, whose name I can't at the moment remember, fired at a bridge in Belgium at 36,000 yards which is believed to be the longest ranged target ever engaged by the RN. See D.K.Brown 'The Grand Fleet'.

    It has come to my poor old brain that it must have been the 18" Gun (ex,. Furious) fitted to one of the Lord Clive class
    Last edited by Rebel; 07-21-2018 at 04:03. Reason: Clarification.

  8. #8

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    The attachment fairy strikes again Dave.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    The attachment fairy strikes again Dave.
    Rob.
    Damn that fairy anyway ...

    Looking forward to the continuation.
    Interesting scenario concept, David.

  10. #10

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    Nice story and pictures.

  11. #11

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    Nice looking engagement David. Looking forward to more of the battle. As said, your last set of photos are not visible as the attachment fairy has interfered.

  12. #12

    matt56's Avatar May you forever fly in blue skies.
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    Default

    This looks splendid, David! I love the idea of ships off the coast (or in canals and rivers) as targets for planes. Wonderful ideas that can easily be adapted to all sorts of scenarios. This will be the impetus for me to run something similar at Origins next year...

    I look forward to the continuation.

    All the best,
    Matt

  13. #13

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    Thank you all for your kind remarks.

    The Strutter continued to circle the target pursued by the blue Albatros. The green Albatros tried to evade thetriplane knowing that the gun jam would not last forever. The grey object is the lid of a plastic box holding a damage deck.
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    The green Albatros pulled away from the Triplane. The circling of the target and pursuit by the blue Albatros continued. The Strutter observed the fall of another shell from the monitor. It was not so good this time ( 0 points scored).
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    The Triplane with a freshly unjammed gun attacked the blue Albatros. The Strutter continued its circling whilst offscreen the green Albatros turned to meet it head on and they exchanged fire at long range. (So no more spotting for a while). The Strutter's forward gun jammed.
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    That did not matter, however, because even worse happened. The Strutter blew up! Offshore, the monitor would have been unaware of that fact.
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    Now could the Triplane escape and report the tragedy?
    Last edited by Naharaht; 07-23-2018 at 20:16.

  14. #14

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    The Triplane turned left, whilst the two Germans machines flew straight ahead.
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    The Triplane then turned right whilst the Germans flew on.
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    The protagonists turned to face each other. The green Albatros fired at the Triplane, who shot back.
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    The green Albatros and the Triplane collided. Both were damaged but they survived.
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    The Triplane had managed to get past the German machines. Would the pilot now run for home?
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    Last edited by Naharaht; 07-21-2018 at 19:08.

  15. #15

    Thumbs up

    I do like that scenario David especially as you can plan multiple games using the same basic mat & ship.

    Rep Inbound.

  16. #16

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    Thank you, Barry.

    Surprisingly, the Triplane performed an Immelmann turn and the Germans turned in his direction.
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    The Triplane attacked the blue Albatros, whilst the green Albatros turned to get behind him.
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    The blue Albatros and the Triplane both turned to the right whilst the green machine flew straight ahead.
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    The blue Albatros flew on and the turning Triplane squeezed in a shot at long range. The green Albatros performed an Immelmann turn and nearly collided with his compatriot.
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  17. #17

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    However, the green Albatros did collide with the Triplane. Amazingly they both survived, again! The blue Albatros flew on.
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    The blue Albatros flew straight on. (His rudder was jammed). The Triplane pursued and fired again. The green Albatros flew straight ahead.
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    Both Germans performed Immelmann turns and the Triplane almost managed to avoid the blue one by slipping off to the right. However, the blue managed to squeeze in a shot.
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    All three planes flew straight ahead. What would happen now?
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    Last edited by Naharaht; 07-21-2018 at 19:06.

  18. #18

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    The green Albatros turned to the right. The blue one flew straight ahead and the Triplane turned left and headed for home.
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    The Germans turned to pursue the British machine but by then the pilot had opened up a substantial lead.
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    As the British pilot crossed the coastline, the Germans realised that they would not catch him and the pursuit was abandoned.
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    The main damage to the green Albatros came from its first collision, hence the absence of smoke.
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    The Triplane had escaped both collisions unscathed but suffered from enemy fire.
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    The blue Albatros had received remarkably little damage considering how many times it had been fired at.
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  19. #19

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    The Germans had ended the shelling by shooting down the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter without loss to themselves, so it was a clear victory for them. The Sopwith Triplane managed to escape and the pilot could report what had happened. The British could send out another spotting plane later in the day, perhaps with a heavier escort. Things might have gone very differently had the Strutter not blown up when it did.


    Whilst the players had a coffee break the table was prepared for the second round.
    Last edited by Naharaht; 07-23-2018 at 20:06.

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    I am sorry. I do not understand why the attachments work perfectly well one minute and then go wrong later.
    Great scenario David, well worthy of a drop of REP.
    I will PM some suggestions re the photos to see if I can help rather than post on here & detract from the thread,

    And rather than interrupt the part 2 thread, as an alternate to bombing you could play similar game to this using the German machine as a spotter for the FL Boat (Fernlenkboot, literally "remote controlled boat") packed with 1500lb of HE. It was wire guided from the shore & aircraft could be used to signal directions to the shore station by radio.
    On 28 October 1917 one hit the Royal Navy monitor HMS Erebus and suffered the loss of 50 ft (15 m) of anti-torpedo bulge.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FL-boat -
    Last edited by flash; 07-22-2018 at 01:27.

    "He is wise who watches"

  21. #21

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    Thank you for the information and suggestion about the Fernlenkboot, Dave. That is an interesting and appropriate alternative considering that one was used successfully against H.M.S. Erebus. Working out some rules for that will be quite challenging. There are the comparatively slow speed of the boat and defensive naval gunfire to consider in addition to the radio messages from the spotter plane.

  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    .. Working out some rules for that will be quite challenging. There are the comparatively slow speed of the boat and defensive naval gunfire to consider in addition to the radio messages from the spotter plane.
    I'd keep it simple and give the x amount of game turns to knock out the eye in the sky - they wouldn't necessarily know what it was doing.
    The FL boats went at a fair clip of 30knots even with all explosive and the weight of the control cable (20km) it would be a relatively small & fast target from the ship. If you use the defensive guns in the same way a solitaire AAA you may get a reasonably playable solution..?

    "He is wise who watches"

  23. #23

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    I like the scenario idea-something different.

  24. #24

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    Thank you for those suggestions, Dave. They should simplify the situation quite a bit.



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