Age of Iridium Summary - After Action Report - 5/6

AGE OF IRIDIUM - After Action Report

The following is a turn by turn report of the Battle of New Vladivostok
in
AD 4343. Along with the narrative is an occasional commentary on the
tactics
of both sides. A more general commentary will be sent as a separate
message.
I hope you find the results interesting and entertaining.

The rest of this message assumes that you've read the scenario and
universe
background, sent separately.

TURN 0 - Setup
After much debate as to the size and shape of the Nipponese minefield,
it
was laid in the safe zone just inside the 160 line in two bands of 50
mines
each.  Each mine was 2 inches apart and the second band of mines was 2
inches behind the first. 

What occurred next could best be described as signal confusion. A
suggested
plan was to put one destroyer squadron just "north" of the minefield,
with
all the other Nipponese ships below the south end of the minefield. The
idea
was that the destroyers would be fast enough to escape the Tsarist fleet
if
they were singled out, but could pounce on the Tsarist flank if they
were
ignored. Unfortunately, this plan was misunderstood and the Nipponese
fleet
ended up being disastrously split. To the north lay the two destroyer
squadrons and a cruiser squadron pointed due south. To the south sat the
five capital ships and 4 remaining cruisers aimed north. Before the
battle
had even begun, the Nipponese were in trouble...

The Tsarists dropped through the jump point in a blob (that is an
official
Tsarist fleet formation). Minesweepers covered most of the ships, with
capital ships making up the bulk of the blob's leading edge. The ships
came
through at a nice safe, conservative speed of 10 with a heading of 2 (a
heading of 0 (or 12) was straight north). This, by sheer coincidence,
put
the fleet aimed straight at the northern portion of the minefield and
towards the Nipponese Northern fleet.

COMMENTARY - Both fleets made mistakes in their set up but by far the
Nipponese were in the worst shape. The fleet was split almost exactly in
half, thus running the risk of being defeated piecemeal. Even at top
speed,
the Tsarists -- with their initial speed -- would hit the northern fleet
before the fleet could be reassembled. 

One strategy that was talked about but never followed up had to do with
placing the Nipponese ships in the middle of a square minefield. This
could
have been an interesting strategy, although it would have been somewhat
negated by the Tsarist minesweepers. Another opportunity missed by the
Nipponese was the chance to place their fleet (or part of it) in the 140
to
160 range band, thus giving them a starting velocity. The risk would
have
been a 1 in 6 chance of taking one point of damage, but it would have
allowed the Nipponese to close much quicker with the Tsarists. This
would
also have allowed the Nipponese to sit with the jump point (and the sun)
to
their back. Any attempt to pass through them at high speed would have
forced
the Tsarists to turn around inside the star's corona. Neither side used
the
star in any tactical sense. 

The Tsarists themselves had made a mistake, but it was minor. A quick
check
indicated that it would be impossible for the entire Tsarist fleet --
given
their speed, heading, and position -- to escape the 120 range band in
one
turn. This meant that most of the Tsarist fleet would take one point of
damage due to solar radiation.

TURN 1 - Maneuvers

The Nipponese, realizing that they were caught unawares by the Tsarists,
accelerate from a dead stop in the hope of bringing the fleet back
together.
However, more communications problems occur and the fleet admiral fails
to
issue orders for his own ships. Three Nipponese battleships sit idle as
the
rest of the fleet speeds up. This would have serious repercussions
later.

The Tsarists make the most of their predicament and endeavour to get the
bulk of the fleet out of the 120 band by turn 2. 

COMMENTARY - Communication problems hamper an already difficult
Nipponese
starting position. Two Tsarist players would also miss the turn (one to
give
up by turn 4 due to e-mail problems with only one late order submitted,
the
other never to be heard from). These players were replaced by Scott
Field
and Tom McCarthy, respectively (thanks guys!).

TURN 2 - More Maneuvers

The Nipponese realize that there is no chance to join the two fleets
before
the Tsarists engage, so all but one destroyer squadron on the northern
fleet
angles towards heading 5. This has the impact of confusing the Tsarists.

TURN 3 - Minefield Detected

By this point, active scans by the Tsarists indicate the edge of the
Nipponese minefield. 

Meanwhile, the Nipponese northern fleet turns to port, with most of the
ships now at heading 4 and one destroyer squadron at heading 5. The
truth
sinks in as the the speed of the Tsarist fleet is now evident. The
northern
fleet desperately attempts to outrun the Tsarists in order to preserve
SOMETHING of the northern fleet.

TURN 4 - Achtung, Minen!

The Tsarists hit the minefield. Most of the nearby mines are swept or
attack
the sweepers harmlessly, but a couple do damage. The Volga, the lead
sweeper, is damaged when it accidentally detonates a mine. The
battleship
Borodino also takes damage when it finds itself outside of the
protective
range of the sweepers. The Nipponese are dismayed as their strategy at
least
partially hinged on the protection of the minefield.

The Nipponese fleet is now almost within range of the Tsarist capital
ships.
It's obvious that while the destroyers might survive, the cruisers are
in
trouble. The "every man for himself" order is given and the destroyers
accelerate to try and out run the Tsarists. A total of two mines are
dropped
from minelaying cruisers this turn and next, but they would prove to be
inconsequential.

COMMENTARY - I'm not sure this is the correct tactic for the Nipponese.
A
better tactic would probably have been to spin the entire Northern fleet
around and rush the Tsarist fleet. More on this next message.

TURN 5 - First Blood

More mines are swept, but Volga and Lena take 1 point of damage from
mines.

The northern cruiser squadron swings to heading 6, presumably to block
for
the Nipponese destroyers, which have only now matched speed with the
Tsarists. The southern cruiser squadron turns to heading 1. The Tsarists
have now cleared the minefield and are pointing towards heading 3 with
the
Nipponese destroyers dead ahead and the Nipponese cruisers off their
port bow.

The Nipponese cruisers are within short range of the Tsarists. The
cruiser
Naniwa hits the destroyer Otchayanny, forcing her to strike her colours.
Osmotritelny takes heavy damage from the cruiser Chiyoda. Idzumi grazes
the
destroyer Otlichnny, but beam and pulse torpedos from Kasagi breach her
hull
and she explodes in a fireball. 

The Tsarists' fire is first concentrated on the cruiser Naniwa. Oleg,
Pallada, Almaz, Ushakov, Svetlana, Donskoy, Novik, and Aurora all fire
at
Naniwa, with only Donskoy and Aurora missing. However, Naniwa does not
explode (her crew does not strike) until she is hit by all four A beams
of
the Borodino. Imperator Alexander VII and Sevastopol split their fire
between the Kasagi and the Chiyoda. The Kasagi explodes in a hail of
debris,
while the Osliabia finishes off Chiyoda. A single submunition pack from
Osliabia damages the Idzumi and causes her to strike. The destroyer
Ariake
is raked by the Khalkin Gol while the Orel fails to hit the Yugure.

The Nipponese managed to destroy one destroyer and cause another to
strike
her colours, but they lose three cruisers to enemy fire and one strikes.
In
one blow, the entire northern cruiser squadron is gone.

COMMENTARY - Combat was conducted sequentially, as per the Full Thrust
rules. If a ship was destroyed before it fired, it lost its fire for the
turn. Theoretically this made the Admiral's order of fire important but
in
this game it had little bearing. The Nipponese tended to fire their
biggest
ships first while the Tsarists fired their smallest. It added to the
complexity of the game, and put more work on the side's Admiral, but it
did
make for an interesting turn result. I'm not sure the interesting result
was
worth the extra work, though.

TURN 6 - Enter the Cavalry

The Nipponese destroyers Ushio, Yugure, and Ariake take long range hits
from
four of the Tsarist battleships. All three lose internal systems but
refuse
to strike. 

More importantly, the Nipponese destroyers continue on a heading of 4.
The
Tsarists swing towards heading five in a single mass of ships, having
effectively kept themselves between the northern and southern fleets.

The Nipponese southern fleet turns towards the enemy. The cruiser
squadron
turns to heading 2 to cross the Tsarist's "T" while the smaller of the
two
battleship squadrons turn to heading 1. The rest of the battleships,
being
one turn behind the rest of the southern fleet, continues due north. In
the
rush to regroup the entire task force, the southern fleet has guaranteed
that it will engage the enemy one squadron at a time.

A new ship, the Osaka, heads towards the southern fleet. She's one of
the
new, advanced Kyoto Class Battleships. With a mass of 50 and speed of 5,
she
has the same gun configuration as the Fuji but includes enhanced
sensors.

The destroyer Osmotritelny breaks from the fleet in order to place a
prize
crew onboard the Idzumi. The struck destroyer Otchayanny continues to
follow
the Nipponese destroyer fleet as per the orders of her new "owners."

TURN 7 - The Giants Clash

The Tsarist fleet turns to heading 4 to catch the second cruiser
squadron in
a broadside, but this maneuver puts the battlehships Asama and
Shikishima in
their rear arc. Nasty fire hits the cruiser Akashi and she strikes her
colours. Horrendous fire from the Tsarist cruisers rain down on the
Suma.
The Khalkin Gol assists with fire from her A batteries. 

The battleship Asama returns fire on the Khalkin Gol, hitting her with
both
pulse torpedoes. The Tsarist battleship strikes her colours! The
Shikishima
fires on the Osliabia. 

The remaining Tsarist cruisers concentrate on the cruiser Takachiho. Her
hull collapses after taking additional fire from the Borodino and
Imperator
Alexander VII. The other Tsarist battleships fire on the Yoshino,
causing
her drive to explode, killing all onboard. The Nipponese have now lost
all
of their cruisers either to damage or striking.

COMMENTARY - This is when the Admiral's missing orders from turn 1
affect
the Nipponese. Asama and Shikishima engage the Tsarists while the other
three battleships are one turn behind. If they had been together, damage
to
the Tsarists would have been greater and might have been decisive.

TURN 8 - The Tsarists Split

The bulk of the Tsarist fleet continues on a course of 4, but the
destroyers
break off and turn towards heading 1. The Asama and Shikishima follow
the
main Tsarist force on heading 4 but the Nipponese destroyers break away
to
heading 7. The rest of the Nipponese battleships turn to heading 3. The
struck battleship Khalkin Gol makes her ponderous turn to port, one
heading
point at a time. Idzumi becomes an official part of the Tsarist fleet
with
the boarding of a prize crew.

Both sides fire their battleships first. The Tsarists concentrate on the
destroyers and battleship Asama while the Nipponese continue to work on
the
Osliabia. The destroyer Shirakumo is destroyed by the Orel, Borodino
causes
the Sazanami to strike. 

Fire from the Fuji, Asama, and Shikishima cause the battleship Osliabia
to
strike, but not before all of the Tsarist battleships except for the
Kursk
heavily damage the Asama. She strikes her colours.

The destroyer Shinome explodes only after being shot at by all of the
Tsarist battleships and cruisers, defeating the odds and drawing fire
away
from other ships. It was one point of damage from the final cruiser,
Svetlana, that did her in. Most of the ships firing on the Shinome also
fired on the battleship Shikishima, damaging her badly but not causing
her
to strike.

COMMENTARY - At this point the writing was most assuredly on the wall in
indelible ink. The Nipponese had four battleships unscathed to the
Tsarists'
five, but they had no cruisers and only some of their destroyers.
Interestingly, the cruisers in this battle were proving to be decisive.

TURN 9 - New Arrivals

Another Nipponese reinforcing squadron arrives, consisting of two
Hokkaido
class cruisers and four Taira class frigates. These are fast ships, each
with beams and pulse torpedoes, but they would have no real effect on
the
battle. 

The Tsarist main body turned to heading five. The Tsarist destroyers
angled
back to heading four. The Nipponese battleships continued straight
ahead,
but the destroyers were finally in a position of relative security
behind
the battleships and on a heading of 10. 

Unfortunately, the Shikishima was now well out in front of ALL the other
Nipponese ships and paid the price. Combined fire from the rear guns of
all
of the Tsarist battleships destroyed her. Fuji managed to destroy the
destroyer Osmotritelny.

TURN 10 - Insult to Injury

The Nipponese destroyers -- apparently not having learned their lesson
--
split up, with half going to heading 1 and the others going to heading
7.
The battleships continued on towards heading 3.

The Tsarist main body continues to loop around, turning to heading 7,
but
the escorts continue on heading 4.

The Nipponese ships Asama, Akashi, and Sazanami are all boarded and now
fly
the Tsarist colours. To add insult to injury, now that there are no
longer
any Nipponese ships within range, the Khalkin Gol and Osliabia refly
their
colours, though morale on both ships is low (the are now more prone to
striking). All ships were out of weapon range this turn.

COMMENTARY - Once again, the split battleship problem haunts the
Nipponese.
No ships are within range of the struck Tsarists, so they refly their
colours and re-enter the battle.

TURN 11 - The Better Part of Valour

The Tsarist ships continue their clockwise loop. The destroyers swing to
heading 7 while the rest of the fleet turns to heading 9. 

With the Khalkin Gol and Osliabia now part of the fleet, the Nipponese
lose
all hope of victory and decide to attempt an orderly withdrawal. The
battleships turn to heading 1, half the destroyers turn to heading 12
and
the remaining destroyers turn to heading 10. The new mixed squadron
turns to
heading 1 on the other side of the minefield. The Fuji fires on the
destroyer Bystry with three points of damage being the final damage of
the
battle.

TURN 12 - Disengage

The Tsarists continue to loop around behind the Nipponese, who are now
fleeing on heading 12 (except for the new squadron which continues on an
intercept course of heading 1 as it clears the 140 range band).

Tsarist reinforcements show up as a mixed cruiser/frigate squadron
clears
the 120 range band. The Nipponese disengage from enemy weapon range. By
mutual consent, the battle is over.

Allan Goodall:	agoodall@sympatico.ca 
"You'll want to hear about my new obsession.
 I'm riding high upon a deep depression. 
 I'm only happy when it rains."    - Garbage