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I have recently been playing the Coastal Patrol rules, which are part of the Too Fat Lardies stable (and can be found in their Summer 2011 Special). The umpire was in Canada, and the rest of us were playing via Zoom in the UK, US, and Germany. Because it was a “remote” game (ie none of us were present in the room with the table and models), he was able to dim the lights to the point where it was very difficult to see anything. All vessels were initially hidden by “blinds” (which had to be “double-spotted” ie once for general location, then again for specific targets); firing, explosions and star shells were represented with tea-lights. Once a vessel ceased firing, the lights were removed, so it was possible to “lose track” of it. I’m sure such rules and playing mechanisms could be transferred to the Cruel Seas rules.
We played two different scenarios – one was an early-war S-boat attack on a British east coast convoy (the umpire generating the merchant ships and escorts, the rest of us each controlling a pair of S-Boats – all S-30/S-40 series); the other was a prospective attack on the D-Day beachead on the night of June 6/7 – four S-boats from Le Havre (one with radar) trying to slip past a defensive screen to the east of Sword Beach, comprising a Hunt II Class destroyer and two MGB/MTBs, and exit the western edge of the board to reek havoc among the supply vessels etc. The first scenario ended up being a “turkey shoot” with all merchant ships and most of the escorts being sunk (German loss was two S-boats that crashed into each other!); the other was much harder, not least because each MGB had more firepower than all four S-boats put together!
Once again, very nice modesls.
Actually, I’d like your thoughts on the minimum size playing area you would want in order to include a Hunt Class ship in this scale, as I’ve just had a mate print off a Hunt II from the Wargaming 3D site – and it’s a genuine 1:300 size, so almost a foot long (28 cm). I’m going to use another mate’s D-Day+1 scenario in which four S-boats (one with radar) try to slip past the eastern picket line of the DD (HMS Calpe) and two heavily-armed MGBs (605 and 608). I’ve played it in 1:600 via Zoom, umpired by the scenario designer, who darkened the room and used tea-lights to represent firing and burning vessels/wreckage (the only time we actually saw our vessels was at the end of the game!), on a 6′ (180 cm) x 5′ (150 cm) table, which allowed the Germans just enough room to outflank the Dog boats to the north, and we got one of the four S-boats off the western edge of the table to disrupt the landings. Potentially, we have up to a 12′ x 6′ playing area – I think 6′ (180 cm) is the minimum width given the the DD must for a vessel this long – what do you think, use all of it, or maybe just 9′ (270 cm) or 8′ (240 cm) length?
Hi,
I’m always fascinated by your Cruel Seas posts and very impressed by the extra detailing work you do to even the smallest vessels.
Could I ask you a general question, please? Starting with S-Boats, and working through R-Boats etc up to destroyers, could you just outline (a) what were the prime functions of each class of German vessel, (b) how many crew they usually had, and (c) what armament they typically carried? If you would prefer, we could transfer this question to a new thread, as I suspect I am not the only person on here who is slightly overwhelmed by the KM (I do read a little German, but it has mostly been honed researching AWI German Auxiliaries (not mercenaries!), and Napoleonic Bavarians and Brunswickers, and hence is not “modern”.
Thank you.
(And I agree with you wholeheartedly – it is a great shame that Warlord appears to have stopped making new models for this genre!!!)
Hi Steven, Sorry for the delay in replying – not long joined the forum and only just found this. The answer is “it depends”. If you take the 30 figures as a full-strength battalion (about 450-650 men according to which period of the war you are covering), then Invisible Officer is spot on – 3 grenadiers and 3 light infantry. However, if you take the 30 figures as representing a battalion that has been “in theatre” for a year or so without having received any replacements, then the “box figure” of 6 of each type, plus 18 centre company men, would also be an accurate representation (albeit at a different figure:man ratio). Whilst the flank companies were – with very rare exceptions – siphoned off into separate grenadier and light battalions, every effort was usually made to keep them up to strength at the expense of the centre or “hat” companies (in fact, this was a growing argument against the creation of such battalions in this era), so having the centre companies look a bit understrength would in fact be perfectly accurate.
The reason for the different battalion strengths (450-650) is that the numbers of men in a company changed quite frequently during the war. At the kick-off, it was 477 all ranks (the peacetime establishment) of which some – usually three per company – were “warrant men” who did not actually exist but whose pay went into the regimental funds to pay for extra clothing, bandsmen (as opposed to fifers and drummers), etc etc. In the early Autumn of 1775, there was an official augmentation of a sergeant, a drummer (two for the grenadiers) and 18 rank-and-file per company, but obviously this did not start to appear until well into the 1776 campaigning season – and many regiments already serving in North America did not receive it for several years. Special regiments, such as Highlanders and the Composite Brigade of Foot Guards were larger and contained companies of 100 all ranks (sometimes more), and these could be split into two battalions, like the 42nd Foot (Black Watch) and the CBoFG, or if they were already in 1,000-strong battalions (eg the 1/71st and 2/71st)) then each battalion was split into two wings. The idea was that a given number of men would cover a specific distance within the line of battle and a commander would therefore know how much of the battlefield his army could realistically occupy.
Hope that helps – I’m actually the author of several of the Osprey campaign books on the AWI, so don’t be afraid to come back if you have more questions.
