Location: Territorial waters surrounding the South Seas island kingdom of Oz. Time is 0900 local, July 24, 1919. Operational Situation: The eternal struggle for control of the mystical island of Oz continues. The Slippery Weasels have cast forth the gauntlet and the Sea Lords have picked it up. Tactical Situation: The Sea Lords and Slippery Weasels will approach from separate halves of the fog bank. Each force composition and location other than within their own half is unknown. Hostilities have broken out, so when an enemy ship is sighted, it may be engaged immediately. Environment: Within the circular fog bank that surrounds Oz, visibility is limited to 5%, with a wind of zero and sea state of 1. Inside of the fog bank, visibility is 75%, with a wind from 270° at 10 knots and a sea state of 2. The fog bank encircles Oz with a radius of 33 kyds from the shores of Oz. Sea Lords Sea Lord Orders: Destroy all enemy ships. Sea Lord Forces: Group Jellicoe Warspite (Queen Elizabeth BB) Barham (Queen Elizabeth BB) Valiant (Queen Elizabeth BB) Malaya (Queen Elizabeth BB) (2192 pts) Birkenhead (Birkenhead CL) Acheron (Acheron DD) Ariel (Acheron DD) Defender (Acheron DD) Attack (Acheron DD) (302 pts) Group Beatty Renown (Renown BC) Repulse (Renown BC) (880 pts) Matchless (M class DD) Moorsom (M class DD) Morris (M class DD) Mastiff (M class DD) (232 pts) (Total 3606 pts) Weasels Slippery Weasels Orders: Destroy all enemy ships. Slippery Weasels Forces: Battleship Group Baden (Bayern BB) Bayern (Bayern BB) (1064 pts) Battle Cruiser Group Lutzow (Derf. inger BC) Derf. inger (Derf. inger BC) Hindenberg (Hindenberg BC) (1338 pts) Left Group Strassburg (Magdeberg CL) (126 pts) Destroyer Division 1 V. 1 (V. 1 class DD) V. 2 (V. 1 class DD) V. 3 (V. 1 class DD) V. 4 (V. 1 class DD) V. 5 (V. 1 class DD) (285 pts) Center Group Rostock (Karlsruhe CL) (123 pts) Destroyer Division 2 B. 97 (B. 97 class DD) B. 98 (B. 97 class DD) B. 99 (B. 97 class DD) B. 100 (B. 97 class DD) (352 pts) Right Group Stralsund (Magdeberg CL) (126 pts) Destroyer Division 5 G. 7 (G. 7 class DD) G. 8 (G. 7 class DD) G. 9 (G. 7 class DD) G. 10 (G. 7 class DD) G. 11 (G. 7 class DD) (285 pts) (Total 3699) Victory Conditions: The winners are the team with the highest SCVE point value remaining, with initial points minus own force losses or damage (ship’s SCVE point value x percent damaged) plus enemy ships sunk (ship’s SCVE point value). NOTE: For our battle with the Weasels, we didn't bother with a final SVCE point count. The final ending was more than obvious as to who had won. Setup: Each team starts anywhere within its half sector of the fog bank. Formation, course and speed is at the players' discretion.. (For this scenario, the Sea Lords approached from the south and the Weasels from the north.) As a postscript to the battle and the subsequent analysis and ‘hot washup', the Slippery Weasels developed “10 Lessons Learned from Historicon” that deserved to be shared as part of this article. Please note that while Chris and I don't necessarily agree with all of these lessons, they are just too funny not to pass on. Enjoy. Lesson 1) Use big ships that can take lots of damage. Little ships just get in the way and are killed by the secondaries too quickly. Lesson 2) When you make a plan, stick to it. Lesson 3) The more complicated the plan, the more likely someone won't stick to it. Lesson 4) Gamers like complicated plans even when they don't have the support structure to ensure any plan gets followed. Lesson 5) The more you try to be historical, the more you realize you can't be historical and win the game. Lesson 6) The old saying about too many cooks in the kitchen is multiplied by 10 when dealing with gamers. Lesson 7) Historical knowledge only gets in the way of winning the game. Lesson 8) It is better to win and be accused of being non-historical than getting historically reamed in the stern. Lesson 9) There is such a thing as too much preparation. and finally. .. Lesson 10) No game, no matter how well you set it up, ever gets played to completion. Weasel Debrief – SCVE and Force Selection The game we played with the Sea Lords showed us the danger and advantages of setting up scenarios using the SCVE system. The system is wonderful for maintaining the uncertainty operational commanders face regarding their opponents’ order of battle, without requiring a referee or third party to set up the scenario. However, not all SCVE points are created equal and some serious thinking must go into the force selection process. We've found that an abbreviated version of the METT-T (the Marine Corps version of Mission, Enemy, Terrain and Weather, Troops and support, and Time) system works best for building your force. Mission: What are the scenario objectives? Fleet battle? Amphibious landing? Convoy protection? Will you have to sweep mines? Search neutrals? Determining what you are trying to accomplish to win the scenario will push your choices in the right direction. Enemy: Given what you know about the setting for the scenario and any tidbits the scenario designers provide, what forces are you likely to face? For example, in our match with the Sea Lords we were sure we would be facing at least four and possible all. ve of the QE -class dreadnoughts. Given the inability of the German High Seas Fleet to match force on force versus the 5th Battle Squadron, we decided to focus on the weapons traditionally used by the weaker navy, the torpedo. So our force selection was simple. We took the. ve best capital ships the German navy had to offer and spent the rest of our points on a hi-low mix of destroyers to maximize what we hoped would be our game-winning weapons. Terrain and Weather: Weather, terrain and visibility should also be a factor in choosing your forces. Daylight and unlimited visibility would lead to a preference for more heavy guns with a minimal screen. Poor visibility would swing the balance back toward more scouting and light escorts as the battleships face the danger of sudden torpedo attacks from unspotted TBD/DDs. Troops and Support: What are the forces available for your selection given your navy and the date/setting of the scenario? As always, you should try to play to the strengths of your fleet. In our case, we chose to take the two 15” gun dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet and the three best German BCs with their 12” guns.. However, even with the best five capital ships in the High Seas Fleet, we were still outgunned forty-four 15” guns to sixteen 15” and twenty-four 12” on slower hulls. Rather than focus on more (and inferior) capital ships, we tried to maximize the torpedo firepower of our forces while having a solid core of capital ships to shoot in the assault. As it happened, our torpedo assault failed spectacularly in face of poor coordination and outstanding shooting and screening by the Sea Lords, but the concept was sound. Time: The least important of the factors, but something to be considered. How many turns do you have to achieve your objectives? Do you need survivability to ensure that your forces will last the length of the scenario or more speed and firepower to seek an early decision? Often one side or the other in the scenario is under time constraints that will force them to seek a decisive engagement. In our case, we hoped for a decisive torpedo attack by light forces rather than a drawn-out gunnery match we were destined to lose. Determining what effect scenario duration will have on your selection can be another variable in the puzzle of trying to determine what forces to pick. Operation Gamekeeper Wargame Recap BT Back to The Naval Sitrep # 26 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List & copy Copyright 2004 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history and related articles are available at http://www.magweb.com