[Mike Wolfe]

So was the Brewster Buffalo at Midway.  Everybody says how bad the aircraft was and yet they fail to mention that VMF-221 was composed of mostly green pilots, fresh out of training with little operational experience.  Throw in the little fact that they were outnumbered and facing veteran Japanese fighter pilots with extensive combat experience in China, is it any wonder the Marines did not do so well?  Also, I seem to recall that the Finns claimed 477 kills against Soviet pilots in return for 19 Buffalos being shot down.

[Mike Wolfe]

I agree with the US Navy replacing the TBD with the TBF as the Devastator being obsolete.  That said, how much of the TBD’s problem at Midway was due to the fact that they went in without fighter escort.  I seem to recall the Kates also took heavy losses from American fighters when attacking without fighter cover as well.  By the time of Midway, the TBF-1 was entering service and was in the process of replacing the TBD in front line squadrons.  In fact, Torpedo 8 was the first squadron to get the Avenger and at the time of Midway a detachment was flown from Midway Island during the battle.  Of course only one of the six made it back to the island with a dead gunner.

[Mike Wolfe]

Here are some other pics from the first day.

 

Two Italian torpedo boats attempt to head off the American Elco and Higgins boats, only to have one lose 33 hull points for it’s troubles.

 

 

 

[Mike Wolfe]

I also noticed some problems with the ship stats in the rulebook:

1)  Fletcher class destroyers:  The game gives her five 4″ guns.  The last American destroyer class to have 4″ guns(http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_4-50_mk9.php)  were the Clemsons that were built from 1919 to 1921.  These were the ships transferred to the Royal Navy and known in Britain as the Town class.  Every American destroyer class starting from the Farraguts (Com> 1934-35) were armed with 5″ 38s in single open/turrets or twin turrets.  The Fletchers were launched with five 5″38 Mark 12s.

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-38_mk12.php

2) Flower Class Corvette:  This is a ‘face palm’ mistake since the Flowers were Royal Navy form the start.  The game gives them one 3″ gun.  In fact, the Flowers had a 4″45 BL Mark IX or X forward of the bridge (http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_4-45_mk9.php)

3.  Bronekater:  All three versions are listed as having 1-2 6-pdrs.  Considering that the 6-pdr is a 57mm weapon as shown by the British anti-tank gun being designated as 57mm in US service, this is a problem.  In fact, these gunboats had T-34/76 tank turrets or a T-28 (or T-35) fitted.  The T-34/76 had a 76mmF-34 tank gun and the T-28/35 turrets had a 76mm KT-28 howitzer so the Bronekater should have 76mms instead of six pounders.  If you look at the models themselves, the turrets are definitely T-28 and T-34/76 turrets.

[Mike Wolfe]

I picked up Cruel Seas just as Covid was heating when I saw in my Local Hobby Shop, in Marietta, Georgia, and thought it would be a good game for the students at the Middle School where I teach.  The kids loved it and I do enjoy seeing the 6th and 7th graders playing it.  That said, being a history teacher and model builder with AMS (Advanced Modeler Syndrome), I saw some issues with the aircraft stats in the game.

 

1.  In particular, the SBD Dauntless and TBM Avenger are underarmed.with no machine guns and only 1 bomb.  In comparison, the Blackburn Skua has machine guns and 1 bomb.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the Skua and the 1/72 MPM release has a honored place right next to it’s sister, the Blackburn Roc (also by MPM).  But, the Skua has four .303 Brownings in the wings and one Vickers K gun by the gunner.  All models of the SBD 2/3/4/5/6 that saw combat have two .50cal Brownings firing through the propeller arc and SBDs were used to strafe and engage enemy aircraft.  In fact, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, SBDs were used for anti-torpedo Combat Air Patrols.  SBD pilot, Swede Vejtasa shot down two A6M2 Zeros and cut the wing off a third with his wingtip on a head on pass.  Even the RAF recognized the advantage of two .50 cals over four .303s when they replaced the four .303s on the Spitfire Mk.IXc with two .50cals on the Spitfire Mk.IXe and Mk.XVI,

In addition, the SBD could carry up to 2,250lbs of bombs whereas the Swordfish was limited to 1,500lbs of bombs yet the Swordfish can carry two bombs and the Dauntless only one?  By you own figures, the SBD should have 2 bombs.  Also, the Skua carried but one 500lb SAP bomb, the Dauntless double that and was in front line use from December 7, 1941 to August 1945.

2.  The TBM Avenger also has no machine guns, yet the TBM-3 had two .50cals in the wingroots firing forward.  In addition, you have the aircraft only having one bomb, making it less capable than the Swordfish.  However, it can carry 2,000lbs of bombs, 500 more than the Swordfish.  Using your own figures, it should have 2 bombs.

Don’t forget that from 1942, the Swordfish and Albacores were replaced on the fleet carriers with Avengers and Fairy Barracudas.  The British Pacific Fleet ended the war with Avengers on the aircraft carriers.

3.  The F6F Hellcat may have had the capability to carry a torpedo, it never used it in combat.  The Carrier Air Wings had VT squadrons with TBM Avengers to make torpedo attacks.  So, the 1 torpedo factor should be in parenthesis.

4.  The B-25 has one torpedo and was tested with carrying it,  it never used it in actual combat operations so should have parentheses around it.  The only American medium bomber to actually drop torpedoes in combat were the B-26 Marauders that flew out of Midway Island during the battle.  In the South Pacific, B-25s used  ‘Skip Bombing’ to great effect against Japanese shipping.

As for machine guns,  the B-25s operated by the 5th Air Force in the South Pacific modified their B-25 C/Ds by adding four .50cals where the bombardier sat and four more in gun packs under the cockpit for a total of eight.  The B-25Js were armed with a eight gun nose for a total of 12 fifty cals.  In addition, the B-25 Gs and Hs had a single 75mm canon in the nose.  One could argue that 8-12 fifty cals could cause as much damage as 4 20mms on naval targets.

[Mike Wolfe]

Hello Ian:

It was good to hear from you.  As a fellow Alexander Kent/Douglas Reeman fan, I was thinking about converting some of the “Wooden Ships and Iron Men” scenarios to Black Seas games.  How would you feel about bringing “A King’s Officer, The Battles of Richard Bolitho” to light?   The first scenario comes from “In Gallant Company”, titled “No More Pretense”.   The scenario has HMS Trojan (80 gun SOL) with Bolitho as Second Lieutenant, engaging the Argonaute (a French 74) 30 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina in August 1777.

[Mike Wolfe]

Hello:

I’m Mike and I just picked up copies of Black Seas and Cruel Seas starter kits from my local hobby shop last Saturday.  While new to both games, I am not new to wargaming, having cut my teeth on Avalon Hill’s “Wooden Ships & Iron Men” and “Advanced Squad Leader”.  It was an article in Avalon Hill’s in-house magazine4 “The General” that turned me towards Alerxander Kent’s chronicle of his character Richard Bolitho from the American Revolution to his Nelsonian death at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.  The article presented a batch of scenarios from the books that were well played.  I also sponsor a historical gaming club at the middle school in Georgia where I teach.  This year the kids played Dirtside II, Samurai, Axis & Allies 1914, and History of the World.  The club proved to be so popular that we will continue in the 2020-21 school year and meetings increased to two hours each week.  When I saw Black Seas and Cruel Seas, it came to mind that the students would love both games.  Guess what the kids will be playing next year !

[Author]

Posts