First Battle:
WW2 Naval Convoy Scenario

The Tirpitz on the Prowl

by Michael Reese


I played this scenario in about 3 hours using General Quarters rules though any naval rules can be used. The technique of this scenario can be applied to any land and naval action, some may note the resemblance to Matrix Games. It is best played as a Role-Playing game with one player being the British Admiralty and one each to play the different British task forces. One German player runs the Tirpitz and another plays the remaining German forces

GERMANS
7 March 1942

Situation: TIRPITZ with three destroyers is searching for Convoys PQ12 and QP8. The weather is foul.

At Start : At sea, Speed 10". Contact will be determined by a random die roll. You will have to answer questions from the judge from time to time . You may split your force into two units if you wish. The first unit would be the TIRPITZ. The second unit would from the three NARVIK (5.9" gun) class destroyers. Please inform the judge before the action begins whether your forces will be split or not. You may also split all of them away as a separate force or have them rejoin TIRPITZ at any time during the operational game. Tell the judge at the beginning of an operational turn. Splitting takes place immediately. Rejoining requires a die roll (1D6) to determine the number of HOURS it takes before the DD can rejoin .

Mission: Locate either convoy and destroy it. You are to keep your losses to a minimum and under no circumstances risk TIRPITZ. You have 12 hours (12 operational turns) to accomplish your mission, then you must return to base.

Each "random die roll" will represent one hour of time and is an operational turn. Each battle turn is 5 minutes long, with twelve battle turns in an hour (1 operational turn = 12 battle turns).

Ships: Battleship TIRPITZ; Destroyers Z23, Z27, Z28.

Weather Effects: DD maximum move is 12"; Smoke lasts 1 turn only; Add +2 to DD or smaller to chance hit when firing. Max visibility 22".

BRITISH
7 March 1942

Situation: The submarine SEAWOLF has notified the Admiralty a heavy German ship has sailed from Norway. It's mission may be to either break out to the north or west and into the North Atlantic sea lanes or to attack the two Russian convoys, PQ12 going to Murmansk or QP8 returning from Murmansk, currently at sea off of Norway.

Orders:

    1. Prevent the German force from breaking out to the Atlantic.
    2. Protect the two convoys at sea
    3. Destroy the German force

At Start: Your force may be broken up and assigned different missions. These are:

    A. Cover the approaches to the North Atlantic.
    B. Protect Convoy PQ12
    C. Protect Convoy QP8
    D. Hunt the Germans

Assign your ships from the list below to each of the four missions and their speed, which must be between 6 and 10 inches. There may be more than one group (task force) assigned to each mission.

Available Ships :

    Battleship KG V
    Battleship Duke of York
    Battlecruiser Renown
    CA Berwick
    4 Tribal DD -Cossack, Maori, Eskimo, Nubian
    4 J Class DD -Jervis, Juno, Jackal, Jaguar
    4 H Class DD -Hotspur, Havock, Hesperus, Hasty
    Carrier Victorious with 12 TB, 4 Fighters

Weather: The weather is bad, with all aircraft grounded at the beginning of operational turn 1.

Weather Effects: DD maximum move is 12"; Smoke lasts 1 turn only; Add +2 to DD or smaller to chance hit when firing. Max visibility 22".

JUDGE

    1. German and British split forces as they wish. German can reform DD with TIRPITZ but they take a D6 number of hours to rejoin. BRITISH can change his task force ships IF they are on the same mission. It will take an hour to do so. Thus, if he has two task forces guarding a convoy, he can make it three task forces taking an hour to do so. During this time, if the convoy is located by the Germans, add +2 to the German roll to sink merchants, and the British ships in the formation change (task forces) cannot "contact" the Germans except on a separate D10 roll of 6+.
    2.  Judge makes a secret die roll on a D10 every operational turn. He rolls for EACH German task force at sea. An operational turn represents 1 hour of the 12 hours of the game. Don't roll for British.
    * Weather clears and night ends. A 9-0= Air Contact. British may make one air attack on group contacted each hour. This is a force of 12 torpedo aircraft split into three groups of 4.
    Run an air attack with the models and using either aircraft models or counters to represent the planes. See GENERAL QUARTERS 2 rules. Track losses. Damaged aircraft cannot attack next hour, but must wait one hour to make repairs. Undamaged planes from last turn attack may attack again if German ships are spotted again.

CONTACT RESULTS TABLE

Contact Roll Table
RollResult
1-2No Contact
3Contact Group B: PQ12. If more than one TF, roll to see which contacts.
4Contact Group C: PQ8. If more than one TF, roll to see which contacts.
5-6Contact Group D: British "Hunter" (Convoy Escort).
If more than one TF, roll to see which contacts.
Roll to see which escort: 1-5: PQ12, 6-0: PQ8.
7-8Go to Convoy Atack Table
9-0No Contact: After turn 10, this is a British Air Contact.
Roll: 1-6: Tirpitz Detected; 7-0 DD Detected.
If DD with Tirpitz, all detected.

1. If the German has split his force into two, then each separate task force may be in contact, but not necessarily with the same enemy group. Roll for each. If German force not split then TIRPITZ & DD's make only one roll to make contact.

2.  Always roll first on the RADAR and VISIBILITY tables below to determine who has greater radar range and how far you can see when contact is made. Roll for every ship with radar and use best result. Start with whomever has greater radar range. Roll only once for visibility. If Germans and it is a Convoy by itself roll visibility and radar ranges below and tell Germans he has a radar contact and does he wish to close or if in sight, he sights Convoy. Go to CONVOY ATTACK TABLE. You roll on RADAR and VISIBILITY tables every time there is a contact in an operational turn. The visibility and radar ranges are then used for that "hours" operational turn, and are rerolled at the end of the operational turn and the beginning of the next operational turn (even if ships are still in a tactical combat action).

3.  If the Germans are in contact with an escorted convoy or with British warships and the British radar has greater range ask the British if they want to close. If German radar range is greater than visibility notify the Germans of the contact and ask if he wants to close. If yes, do battle. If no inform British radar target has turned away, increased speed, and broke contact. (note: If DD their maximum speed is 12" and they have no radar). If the British are closing on the Germans, inform the German when the British come within German radar range of closing ships.

This is pretty fluid. The British, if in radar contact, and state they will shadow the contacts (remain within British radar range but hopefully out of German). They can then move other task forces on the same mission around the German radar contact. Roll a D10x2 to determine how long this takes. If the operational turn ends, but no battle takes place (the British aren't in position), then roll for RADAR and VISIBILITY RANGES again, and replot. For example, if the British range drops below the range they are shadowing or the radar stops working, contact is lost. If the German radar range increases to where the German's can detect the British shadowing ships, inform the German. The key is to tell each player ONLY what that player can know from his contacts - either radar or visible.

VISIBILITY TABLE

(D10) Double distances after Turn 10 (daylight)
DIE ROLL 01-23-45-67-89
RESULTS8"12"16"18"20"22"

RADAR RANGE TABLE (D10)

Roll for each Capital Ship and CA in contact
British:  Radar works if D6 result is 1-4. Roll per ship.
Germans:  Radar works if D6 result is 1-3. Roll for TIRPITZ.

Range of radar is:
British: 1=15", 2-3=30",4-5=60", 6=90" Cannot fire blind.
German: 1=10", 2-3=20",4-5=40", 6=60" Cannot fire blind.

Neither the German nor the British destroyers have radar, so all contacts will be located at the visible ranges. Models are put out ONLY when they are visible, otherwise use counters. If two groups of ships are going to be in contact, then each side will have to sketch their formation showing where the ships are in relation to each other, and provide the speed they will close (in inches is OK). Remember, only the CA and BC/BB have radar, so when closing the first ships to sight each other may likely be the destroyers.

CONVOY ATTACK TABLE

German rolls a D6. Add 1 if both TIRPITZ and DD are together. Subtract 1 if the Germans had to defeat an escort first. The result is the number of merchants sunk. If a "6" is rolled, you have sunk that number of merchants, and you can roll again. German uses up one salvo of gun ammunition (5.9", Mxd, or 15" - German choice) or one torpedo per ship sunk.

Ammunition: German and British ammunition is 18 turns of fire for main and secondaries. Have both sides keep track. The Narvik DD have one reload of torpedoes.

Player Communication: When making contact it may be necessary to communicate with a player. It is recommended that the players either be outside of hearing range of each other, or use notes passed back and forth so neither side knows exactly what is happening. It is also necessary for the judge to not let either side know what the tables are you are using in determining the random searches. Also note that any ships the British puts on break-out are wasted. He isn't to know that. You might throw a "false" sighting or a U-boat attack in once in a while to hinder him from realizing all of his contacts are either the hunter killer groups or the convoys.

It may also be necessary for the players to sketch the positions of their ships in formations so that you can determine which ships see each other. Place out ONLY the models that are seen. This game can be run on a 4 x 4 foot table because of the limited night sighting distance and the fact that neither side has radar which allows firing blind at a radar target.

Turns: Turns 1-9 are Night turns. Turns 10-12 are Day turns. Mark them off after every operational turn.


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