Norman Smith - 10:04am Jan 1, 2003 PST (#12 of 12) 

REPLAY - Escape of the Goeben. 

Had a go of the introductory scenario to get a feel for the system, here
are some notes of the first two turns. 

Set-up: CENTRAL POWERS (CP) Prinz Eugen, Tegetthoff, Veribus Unitis and
Szent Istvan, are in single column (line ahead formation) travelling
northwards. ALLIES (A)Duilio, Andrea Doria, C.Di Cavour and G.Gesare,
are in a single column (line a head formation) moving South East.This
puts both squadrons on a collision course, but they can't see each other
yet. 

GT1 - Rolled on the variable visibility table, resulting in a visibility
of 18000 yds. (CP) move full speed (7 inches or 7000 yds) dead ahead.
(A) move full speed (7 inches) dead ahead, this brings the lead vessels
within visibility of each other but the range makes any fire
ineffective. (visibility check phase) roll a 5, visibility now decreases
by 2000 yds (to 16000 yds). 

GT2 - both squadrons pass their 'Fleet Command' tests. (CP), though the
visibilty has dropped and put the two forces out of sight of each other
again, each is aware of the others presence due to sighting being made
in GT 1. The CP decide to slow down, they drop their speed from 7 to 5
(max change of speed is 4" per turn) and manoeuvre 'line ahead turn'
right, this move of 45 degrees right is intended to allow the CP to
present their Broadside to the enemy (for better firepower) when they
appear. (A) decide to continue to move ahead at full speed (still 7),
which brings the ships back into visibility range. (CP) (joint fire
phase) Prinz Eugen and Togetthoff fire a broadside at Duilio which is
the lead allied ship. The Broadside gives the attacker odds of 1-1 but
the fire from both ships is innefective. the 3rd shiop in the line,
Veribus Unitis has not moved into the broadside position yet so only
fires her forward guns. The odds are 1-2 but she is further away and the
additional range provides a chance of plunging fire to occure. The fire
is ineffective BUT does result in plunging fire. A die is rolled (score
'6') on the plunging fire table, giving a critical hit. A die is then
rolled on the 'critical hit' table and the modified result produces a
'Movement Damage' result. This means that the Duilio has lost 3 movement
points from it max movement allowance for the rest of play. This will
substantially slow the rest of the squadron down. (A) the Duilio
responds by firing her forward guns, the fire is innefective but the
attack table shows that the firer must test against the 'Gun
performance' table. Unfortunately, for the Duilio, a '6' is rolled
meaning that the Duilio cannot fire next turn. The opening engagement
has not favoured the Duilio. (Visibility test phse) a '4' is rolled so
visibilty does not change (remains 16000 yds). 

Just out of interest, on GT -3, the allies turned 45 degrees right to
engage the central powers but the now slowly moving allies could not get
their guns into the firing line quickly enought, 3 CP battleships were
already in broadside positions and they concentrated their fire on
Duilio - which not surprisingly, sank. The Allies decided to continue
dead ahead at max speed to break contact. 

Overall, an enjoyable introduction to a system that highlights
playability but still give a none naval buff such as myself, what I
perceive to be, the essential elements of naval warfare. Those wanting
more could easily bolt on extra rules to personalise their rule set. 

I bought a dark blue/grey cloth to give a sea area, which I think
visually enhanced the game. I will probably make some fire markers by
glueing a bit of cotton wool to a card base and run some watered down
black / red paint into it to represent flames / explosion. Now to have a
go at Bataan.