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.

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

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