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PAGE THE GENERA

vaUon Hill Philoeophy Part STHE FIRST NATIONAL

ORIGINS I was a great success in manyways. An estimated 15 00 people attendedincluding many of the top names i n the hobby,and several members of the press who reportedon the nation's 1st national wargamingconvention. It was also a financial success-ifyou define success as anytime you take in moremoney than you spend. But more importantly i twas successful due to the great amount of funhad by those who attended and the chance itprovided for the real wargaming enthusiasts togather in one place to see and visit wit h all thefactions of the industry-both large and small.And lastly it was successful because it provedthat all of wargaming could get together behinda common cause to promote their hobby. Wehope that ORIGINS was just t he start of an evergrowing and more prosperous convention.

All of wh ich is not to claim that everythingworked to perfection. We were caught unpre-pared in more than one instance. The darkesthour was between 4 and 7 Friday evening whe nthe crowd descended upon our unsuspectingregistration crew. A postcard feedback systemhad prepared us for a gradual registrationspread fairly evenly over the three days. Whenthe majority showed up Friday at precisely 4o'clock (don't any of you people work for aliving?) pandemon ium broke loose. Or so itseemed to those of us working the reg line. Amuggy tw o hour wait in the Registration Linewas the first sight to greet the Friday arrivals.Nearly a dozen room mix-ups compounded theproblem. But as the evening wore on the linesgrew shorter and we eventually straightenedout all the room hassles for those people whostuck it out. By midnight Friday we were firml yconvinced of the merits of an all mail pre-registration and higher room costs to allowHopkins officials to man the registration line.

What had looked like a pure disaster earlierin the day began to take on pleasanter tonestoward evening. Even the weather changed forthe better on Saturday and aside from anoccasional gripe about a sold-out tournamentORIGINS I was we ll on its way to being a greatsuccess.

Competition was the key wor d at ORIGINS Iwit h a ll 1 6 tournaments virtually sold out. Youknow the skill level was high whe n such 'names'as Dave Roberts, Bruno Sinigaglio, Rich Chod-nicki, and Joe Angiolillo are knocked out i n the1st round of their respective specialties. Unfor-tunately, due to schedule conflicts (manyplayers had preregistered for more than one.event and had to forfeit if they were still i n therunning in a n earlier event) many tournamentsstarted with less contestants than had regis-tered. As a consequence, only a handful of the16 events started with a full complementalthough virtually every event sold out. Staterivalries were made note of during the awardsceremonies and may be a healthy impetous forfuture national cons. Were you to compareORIGINS I to a type of national gaming Olympicsyou'd find M aryland on top (due primarily toproximity and a sweep in the poorly attendedDiorama competition) with 15% points followedby Connecticut wit h 10, PAwith 9, IL7, VA6 , NY6, OH 5, MI 5, MA 4%,MN4, AL 4, ME 3 Canada3 CA 2 MO 2, NJ 2, W VA 2, TN 2, and RI 1.

rRGAMlNG CONVENTION

Dr Cl~f for d ayre, left, presents Charles Roberts wlthf ~ r s tCharles Roberts Award for starting the hobby of bwargaming.

One of the highlights of the conventioccurred during th e Awards ceremonies whCharles Roberts, the man wh o started it all bain 195 8 when he published TACTICS I1 aGETTYSBURG, was introduced to the crowd agiven the first Charles Roberts Award by DClifford Sayre-chairman forth e annuaIAwarcommittee. Roberts then, in turn, passed oCharleys to Historical Simulations for BAmateur Game (MANASSAS); SPI for BProfessional Magazine (S&T); Avalon Hill Best Professional Game (THIRD REICH); andDon Turnbull for Best Amateur Magaz(ALBION) ande ntran cetot heWargaming HalFame

Tom Shaw, at stage center, is about t o bezapped with aspec~al award. Shaw, backstage w ~ t h h ~ s ink PanAward . .glven annua lly to the biggest loser at the ConvenShaw got the quest~onable onor for lbslng h~sf irs tame InFOOTBALL STRATEGY tournament after a 1st round byesecond round forfelt

Continued on age

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THE GENERAL PAGE

PROB BLEPOSSIBILITIES

What Could Have Bet

More Scenariosby Dean Miller

Photos reprinted with permissionMuseum and provided by Dean Miller.

The story of the naval war in World War 1 s inreality the story of the High Seas Fleet of KaiserWilhelm 11. The very existence of thi s force was oneof the contributing causes of the war. Its creationvirtually guaranteed that Britain would be hostile toGermany. Yet its implementation when the war didcome failed to realize its potentialities. And itsultimate ignominious end in mutiny and mass selfdestruction served to sour the German people onnaval power, a predisposition which was evidencedmarkedly upon several occasions in World War 11.One can only conclude that t he creation of the HighSeas Fleet was a tragic mistake. And still, viewedfrom a completely logical and objective position, itneed not have been so, and might not have been so.And so for that reason, the story of the naval war inWorld War 1 s the story of what the High Seas Fleetcould have done. And that basically is what Jutlandis all about

A complete, accurate and objective history ofthe High Seas Fleet has not been written. There isthe work of Admiral Scheer, the excellent bo ok byvon Hase, gunnery officer of the Derfflinger, thebiography of von Hipper, and some more fragmen-tary individual accounts. There are several morecomplete and revealing German language sources,culminating in the semi-official Krieg Zur See, butthey are neither objective nor completely accurate,and certainly are no fun to struggle with, being forthe most part in the old German type. Yet thereexists in am ple quanti ty the source material for sucha work, in the National Archives in Washington,D.C. There, on microfilm, are the captured Germa nrecords, containing virtually the complete officialrecords of the German navy in World War 1. It is afascinating store of information There are the logsof the ships; the war diar ies of the flag officers; eventhe daily bulletins of the High Seas Fleet. Som e reelscont ain pictures which 1 have never foun d else-where. There is an interesting collection showing thedamage received by many of the ships at Jut land ,plus hit sketches showing impact points and anglesof trajectory of the,dhells. It is from these sourcesthat 1 have drawn an d/ or verified most of mymaterial, and based my conclusions.

At the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 the HighSeas Fleet was a powerful and well trained force.The esprit d e corps of its crews was high. As againstthe British fleet, it was rapidly moving into andthrough a n era of maximum comparable strength.With the delivery of the Koenigs and the Derfflingerat the turn of the year, the numerical dreadnoughtsuperiority of the British was very thin. Further,inasmuch as the British had to keep in constantreadiness, not knowing when the Germ ans mightcome forth, it was necessary that they always havetwo or three capital ships in dock refitting, on arotating basis. Because the German s could pick adate when all their ships were in commission, it waseven possible at this time for them to have numericalsuperiority in an actual meeting.

Of much more importance, the Germansenjoyed qualitative superiority. Their ships werebetter constructed and armored, their marksman-ship was supe rior because of superior range findingequipmen t, and the disparity in big gun size betweenthe two fleets was rendered de minimus because ofthe better quality of the German shells. Thequalitative superiority was ever more pronouncedlyenhanced after the Battle of Dogger Banks. There,through the experience of the Seydli tz , the Germanslearned of the dangers of a hit which penetrates agun turret, igniting the gunpowder in the transportmechanism from the magazine. In that battle, theSqr dlitz received such a hit on the aft turret, whichignited charges of gunpowder. The flames spreadthrough the transport mechanism to the next turret,burnin g it out. The magazine was not affected, butthe G ermans recognized the possibilities, and madeimprovements which would ensure that a turret firewould be confined to the affected turret, and notspread elsewhere. The result was that after theDogger Banks battle the German ships no longerhad the explosion capability (at least from gunfire),if indeed they ever possessed it, that th e British shipsdisplayed s o spectacularly at Jut land . Puristwargamers (and 1 am included in that gr oup) shouldnot utilize the explosion capability results of thecritical hit table for Scenarios after the Battle ofDogger Banks. therefore, for the Germans. In fact. I

only use it for the British in all Scenarios. After the Seydlitz did not explode and th e experienceall the German ships during the war demonstratesuperior ability t o receive punishment.When you ad d u p the foregoing consideratioone can only conclude th at a pitched battle betwthe fleets at this time would likely have resulted decisive German victory. A fort iori , a clash betwa segment of the British fleet and the entire HSeas Fleet would have put the Germans intposition of superiority, unless they muffed

opportunity. This is what happened on Decem16, 1914, and is the subject of Scenario 1. On tdate the Germans attempt ed a "tip and run" raidScarobor ough an d Hartlepool. The plan was forbattlec ruisers to shell the English coastline whilemain body covered them in the middle of the NoSea. Such a raid had already once been carried oon November 3 when Yarmouth was hit. At ttime, the British fleet, fleeing from German suwas at Lough Swilly, in Ireland, an d was complepowerless to intervene. Anticipating another sraid, the Grand Fleet was returned to Scapa FlThis time, armed with the intelligence gained frtheir intercepts of German messages, the Briknew that they were coming. However, they didrealize that the entire High Seas Fleet was out, supposed that it was only the battlecruisers wwhich they would have to deal. Accordingly, Admiralty dispatched only a small forceintercept, under Admiral Warrender. Under comm and were battleships, 4 battlecruiserscruisers and destroyers-probably more tadequate to deal with the German battlecruisebut hopelessly inadequate to meet the entire HSeas Fleet.

Through the hours of darkness of December16. the opposing forces converged. The Briproceeded toward the Dogger Banks, outside minefields planted by thk Germans off the Engcoast, and arrived at their stati on a couple of hoafter the German battlecruisers had passed,planned, to t rap th e raiding force. But at this pthey began to become aware that something

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PAGE TH GENERAamiss. In the d a w n mists of December 16, the Britishdestroyers o n the seaward flank encountered thescreening German light ships in the van of theirbattleship force. a n d fought a s h a r p engagement;which left the British destroyers badly scattered.Alerted after some delay, the British capital shipssteamed northeast t o investigate. T h e two fleetswere on a collision course, only minutes apar t

Ge r ma n Battlecrulsers on the Scarborough raldIt was a t this point tha t the G e r m a n oppor tun i tywas lost. Commanding their fleet was Admira lIngehohl. a n unfor tuna te choice, a s later eventswere t o prove. T o be fair t o him, he was under stricto rders f rom the Kaiser no t to take the main bodybeyond a n a r c drawn from Wilhelmshaven, which

did not ex tend much beyond Heligoland, a n d hewas now somewhat beyond it. He was, of course,without Admiral Hipper a n d his battlecruisers,which were a t this moment a b o u t to s ta r t pumpingshells in to the English coast. In any event, uponreceipt of the news of the clash of the light ships, heturned for home, leaving Hipper to shift fo r himself(Hipper 's biographer suggests tha t the Admiral, aBavarian, reacted t o the news tha t he was now aloneand trapped with a most un-teutonic lack of respectfo r his superior ) Reacting quickly, Hipper swung tothe nor th a n d escaped, assisted by the poorvisibility.Admiral Scheer, the bold a n d unflappablestrategist who was to lead the High Seas Fleet a tJutland, was a t tha t time in c o m m a n d of the 2nd

S q u a d r o n , consisting of the pre-dreadnoughts. Onewonders how differently he might have reacted, hadhe been the fleet commander a t this time. Basedupon his subsequent record, it is a fair assumpt ionthat he would have tried t o protect Hipper. At least,Scheer would have s topped a n d waited until thesituation became clearer. P robab ly he would haveproceeded toward the action. Either course wouldhave brought him into contact with the oncomingBritish a r o u n d 8:OO-before they learned of thebattlecruisers' presence off the coast a n d turnedback t o intercept. Scenar io has been drawn topermit the gamer to explore this very possiblecourse of events, representing the position a n dconfiguration of the British ships a t 8:00 a.m., a n dthe probab le dispositions of the Germans .T h e condition of relative equality of strengthwhich the Germans enjoyed a t the end of 1914 wasone which would not long endure, however. T h eBritish had under cons t ruc t ion ten 15" gunnedbattleships, some of which were rapidly nearingcompletion. Five of these were the magnificentQueen Elizabeths, 25 knot oil fired beauties whichwould provide a "fast division" t o lead the fleet. T h eo ther five were the Revenges, t o knots slower,but a s fast a s the German line of battle, nonetheless.This building program was the produc t of the youngand energetic First Lord of the Admiralty, WinstonChurchill . With characteristic decisiveness, hefostered a n d suppor ted t h e decisions t o constructthe 15" guns without the usual development testingprogram, and to build ships t o carry them whichwould be fired by a s yet unavailable oil fuel. Bothdecisions were justified by history. T h e British 15"

guns were a m o n g the best in the history of navalwarfare. T h e advantages gained from the shift to oilneed not be recounted.By contrast, the Germans had only recentlydecided t o go u p t o 15" guns, projecting initially t obuild their Bayern class a t a rate of four ships over athree year period, the first being due to join the fleetin 1916. Unless t h e Grand Fleet were destroyed o rcrippled before the British ships under cons t ruc t ionjoined the fleet, the Germans would find themselves

in a n increasingly worsening position. Obviously,therefore, late 1914 or early 1915 was the time t ostrike. This was not appreciated by the Kaiser or hisnaval high command, however, who insteadimposed the restrictive policy mentioned above o nthe High Seas Fleet. As a result, the Germanbattleships could not proceed far beyond Heligo-land, and no confrontation developed. While thestrategy which was adopted instead, of sending thebattlecruisers o n "tip a n d run" raids on the Englishcoast, suppor ted by the battleships, might well havebeen successful, it was no t well executed bylngenohl. O n December 16, as we have seen, he losta golden opportunity. After the Dogger Banksdisaster (when the battleships remained in port), thestrategy was shelved, until revived in 1916 byScheer.

The Mac ensen at launchT h e Battle of Dogger Banks is described o n page16 of the Instruction Manual as a botched Englishopportunity. F o r the Germans , it was a masterpiece

of leadership incompetence, living u p fully t o thepromise of the 16th of December foul up. As noted,the tip a n d run raid, supported by the main battlefleet, had great promise of success. It failed o nDecember 16 because of the restrictions placed onthe range of the battleship force, a n d the timidity ofIngenohl. If the strategy had been followed o nJanuary 24,1915, it would have succeeded even withthe range restrictions, a s the British battlecruiserspursued their German counterparts well within thepermissable area of activity for the Germanbattleships. However, Ingenohl's incompetenceprevailed again. T h e High Seas Fleet shou ld havebeen in position t o pounce o n the British battlecruis-ers, perhaps t o cut them off. P robab ly this wouldhave resulted in a running fight t o the north t oJellicoe and the Grand Fleet la Jutland, except a tthis point in time the Germans would have beenmuch closer t o the British in numbers a n d strength.In terms of relative strengths, Dogger Banks was thehigh water mark of German opportunity. Butlngenohl failed t o follow the German strategy, a n dfailed to support the battlecruisers. Instead heweakened them by sending the Von d e r Tann intodock , dispatched his strongest Squadron , the Third(now commanded by Scheer), into the Baltic, a n dleft the rest of the fleet in port Among other things,it resulted in his well deserved dismissal.

Scenar io 2 is a modification of the DoggerBanks Scenar io found in the Manual , designed t oenab le the wargamer to explore the Germanpotentialities. The modifications are built upon thefollowing assumptions. First, the Germans support

ed the sortie of the battlecruisers with their enbattleship force. As of this da te they for the first thad all of the new Koenigclass battleships withfleet, as the Markgraf and Kronpr inz Wilhelm wfinally pronounced "war ready." Second, the shwhich were sent into dock a t this time were instkept with the fleet. In addition to the Von der Taalready mentioned, the Helgoland a n d two pdreadnoughts were in dockyard hands o n this dall fo r the performance of repairs o r maintenawhich were desirable, but not essential. The decist o perform the work a t this time was a n arbitr(and bad) one made by lngenohl and the GermHigh Command. Third , the position of the Germmain body is based upon the assumpt ion that thad a competen t leader, such a s Scheer. The GraFleet is in its historic position a t the time contwas made by the battlecruisers.

Even after J a n u a r y 25, 1915, opportuniremained for the Germans. T h e damaged shipboth sides were repaired a n d back in ac t ionApril. Von Pohl, the new German commander ,the High Seas Fleet forth several times dur ing 1on sorties in to the Nor th Sea. Each time, the Bricame forth. However, neither side venturedenough fo r the two fleets to make contact (seecharts fo r three examples). Meanwhile, the sandtime ran out o n the Germans. O n April 13,Warspite joined the Grand Fleet; o n May 29,Queen Elizabeth; o n June 19, the Injlexible;October 2, the Barham; o n October 15, the Canaon February 18, 1916, the Malaya; o n M a r c h 2 ,Valiant; o n March 20, the Revenge; o n May 1,Royal Oak. Dur ing this time only the Lutzowjointhe High Seas Fleet, o n March 31, 1916. The oother significant strengthening was the elevatioScheer t o command the fleet, early in 1916. Scena3, the last pre-Jutland one, allows the gamer t othe waning German possibilities as theyinexorably t o May 31, 1916The British were given t h e G e r m a n code boocaptured by the Russians f r o m the wrecked cruMagdeburg, early in the war in a rare exampleAllied coopera t ion . Using them t o read the Germwireless messages, a n d with the assistance of thdirectional wireless stations, they were awareadvance each time t h e German fleet was a b o umake a sortie, a n d came for th t o intercept. Ttracks of t h e t w o fleets fo r April 17, April 21 aMay 30, 19 15, furnish interesting bases for constr

Missed Opportunities

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THE GENERAL PAGEt ion of a number of what might have beens, whichI have grouped into this one Scenar io 3. Thecap i ta lships involved o n each of the above dates were thesame for the Germans , a n d numerically the same forthe British, s o tha t only one O B will be sufficient.Because the Scenar io requires the making of severalarbitrary assumpt ions , I have not designated thehex in which the con tac t takes place-the averagegamer can d o just a s accurate a job of speculation,given the Scenario 's basic information, a s I a s t owhat course the Germans might have followed ifVon Pohl had determined t o venture farther ou t (o rif Scheer had replaced him sooner, if you will); o rthe British, had Jellicoe, their cau t ious commander ,gone farther south. One can split the difference, a n dhave the fleets meet somewhere a r o u n d the DoggerBanks; o r one can assume tha t the bolder (at thistime, anyway) Beatty was in c o m m a n d of the entireGrand Fleet, instead of only the battlecruisers a n d ,upon learning of the anticipated G e r m a n sortie, lefthis bases in time to intercept, a n d perhaps cu t offthem a t some point a long their actual courses. Thislast is the course I've preferred t o follow in thegames I've played of this Scenario.

The Lutzow under steamThus , the chances of the Germans dimmedprogressively a s the war con t inued . True , theybeefed up their own capital ship building program ina manner which, if carried t o completion, mighthave rectified the situation. T w o more , improved,versions of the 15 gunned Bayern a n d her sister, theBaden were started. In addition, seven battlecruis-ers, improvements of the superlative Derfflingerclass, were laid down. But the exigencies of warproduction required tha t this program be a b a ndoned in 1917. The British thus had profited from.building the bulk of their super-dreadnoughts inpeacetime. Given the indecision a n d blundering ofthe Germans in 1914 a n d 1915, Wins ton Churchill'sships provided the superiority necessary t o ensurcthat England would win the sea war.

SCEN RIOI O R D E R O F B A T T L EBritish G e r m a nBB King George V All ships butBB Ajax BB KonigBB Centur ion BB MarkgrafBB Monarch BC L u t z o wBB O r i o n C L Ag 4 b

I BB C o n q u e r o r D D h l o t 4BC L i o n D D ?h F l o t 5BC Queen Mary D D h F l o t 6BC Tiger D D ?h F l o t 1 8BC New Zealand lusCA A n t r i m BB Konig Alber t hex V 2CA Devonshire B P r h s s e nD D F l o t CA BlucherC L S q 1 CA R o o nCA R o x b u r g h CA Prinz Heinr ichIB N O T E SPurists should a d d 1 hit box t o D D 1 2 Flo ts 1,3,11,12, a n d 14 a t left, with last number in precedingenclosed. Add hit b o x to C L S g 4a with 8 enclosed.S T A R T I N G P O S I T I O N SN o Search Procedure. Play begins with fleets having entered the battle area. Players approx imatesh ip indicated o n the following diagram. Light ships must be within 4,000 yards of capital ships. Capships must remain in format ion indicated until within 10,000 yards of enemy capital ships.

R U L E S1. Suggested opt iona l rules; (a) Both Weather Variable; (b) Smokescreen; (c) all ExtraordinDamage rules, except t h a t G e r m a n ships d o not have explosion capability. Instead, second die rolls of2 a lso result in magazine flash fire for G e r m a n s h ~ p s ;d) Light ships a n d single capital ships may condSearch; (e) German subs may only opera te singly. These rules are recommended for all Scenarios.2. Visibility a t start of this Scenar io is 10,000 yards. Wind is f r o m northwest t o southeast.3. German battlecruiser force is in S 7 a t beginning of Scenario. They c a n be brought in to action a t:arch speed if battle continues long enough . Blucher and C I S g 4a a n d D D Flo ts 1,3 a n d 17 are wattlecruisers.4. If British a n d German ships a r e outside sighting range but with 36,000 yards o r one hex of ether, players resort t o search procedure until sighting is made o r these limits a re exceeded.I M E F R A M ESeenar io begins a t 0800. Darkness is a t 1600. G a m e ends when n o ships of opposing sides are wit36,000 yards o r 1 hex of each other.VICTORY C O N D I T I O N SBritish: British player wins by sinking as many o r more capital ships a s the German player, O Rmaintaining a t least 1-2 ratio of Victory Points a s compared t o the German a t the end of the game, O Rescaping with t w o o r less capital ships sunk.German: G e r m a n player wins by avoiding British victory conditions.

erfflinger and other Battlecru~sers n patrol In the North SeaJutland occurred significantly after the pendu-lum had begun its swing back toward the English.All five Queen Elizabeths and two of the Revengeswere with the Grand Fleet a t the time of the battle(although Queen Elizabeth herself was in dock o nthat date). The swing of the pendulum cont inuedwith accelerated effect thereafter. While the HighSeas Fleet was augmented by the Bayernand Badenand the battlecruiser Hindenberg the last of theDerfflingers this was m a t c h e d - a n d more by thedelivery t o the G r a n d Fleet of the last three

SCEN RIO 2O R D E R O F B A T T L EBritishAll ships butBB Barham BC Queen Maxy BB E m p o r e r of ndiaBB Canada BC &incableBB C o n q u e r o r C A DefenceBB Malaya CA HampshireBB Revenge C A CochraneBB R o y a l O a k CA MinotaurBB S u p e r bBB ValiantBB WarspiteBC IndefatigableB C Inflexible

BB D r e a d n o u g h tB King E d w a r dB Afr icaB BritanniaB D o m i n i o nB HiberniaB Hindus tanB ZealandiaCA AchillesCA Nata l

p usBB Konig AlbertB PruessenB Lothr ingenC A R o o nCA Prinz Heinric

S T A R T I N G P O S I T I O N SS a m e as i n Dogger Banks Scenar io in Manual , except a d d Von Der T a n n t o German battlecruisehips of original scenar io a r e in U 14. All added British forces a r e in J19 xcept the B's, which a r e in 411 additional German forces a r e in W16. G e r m a n battlecruisers a n d suppor t ing ships must procba ward their m a i n body, a n d British battlecruisers a n d suppor t ing ships must follow until within sighrange of G e r m a n main body.R U L E SAs i n Scenar io i n m a n u a l a n d point of Scenar io 1.T I M E F R A M EPlay begins a t 0600 hours. Darkness is a t 1800 hours. G a m e e n d s when a l l ships of one side a r e sunkhave re tu rned to their bases.VICTORY C O N D I T I O N SAs set fo r th o n page 10 of Manual .

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THEGENERAAGE 6ORDER OF B A T T L E SCENARIO 3British G e r m a nUse d l ships but Use all ships including the additional ones fromBB anada Scenario butBB Val ian t BC LutzowBB Malaya CA BlucherBB RevengeBB R o y a l O a kPlusB's listed i n Scenar io 2CA's listed o n p 11o f Manual (3 rd A r m o r e dCruiser Sq.)

OB NOTESI. Dreadnought shou ld be with F o u r t h Battle S q u a d r o2. British BC's. B's a n d Third Armored Cruiser S q u a dSTARTING PROCEDURES RULES TIME FRAMEAt discretion of gamerVICTORY CONDITIONSBritish: British player wins if he has accumula ted a s many o r m o r e Victory Points a n d has lost lesst h a n half a s many capital sh ips a s the German p layer a t the e n d of t h e game.German: German player wins if he has accumula ted twice a s many Victory Points o r sunk twicemany capital ships a s t h e British player a t the end of the game.Note: A d r a w results if none of the above victory conditions a r e met.

SCENARIOORDER O F B A T T L EAllied

BB New Y o r kBB WyomingBB Hercules BB T e x a sBB Flor idaBB DelawareBB Queen El izabe thB B D r e a d n o u g h tBB RamillesBB R o y a l Soverign

OB NOTES1. Britlsh light ships: Add I box with 10 enclosed t o C L Attached: a n d I box with 4 enclosed t o DFlots 4 9-10, I(-), a n d 13; a d d I b o x with 6 enclosed t o D D Flo t 12. No change to German light ship2. Merchangt Ships: M a k e 30 counters. Protection factor 2, movement, 4.STARTING POSITIONSNo search procedure. Play begins with t h e American ships, CL2, D D Flo t 12, the German BC's, C L

2a and 2b a n d D D Flo t I I o n the edge o f the battle area. Players approx imate the sh ip se tup indicatco n the following diagr mat ion indicated until within 24,000 yardsof enemy c a p ~ t a l h ipGerman

2. Visibility is over 40 000 yards. Wind is f r o m northwest t o southeast.3. All remaining G e r m a n ships, except submar ines , a r e in G 26.4. All remaining Allled ships, except submar ines , a r e in K 8 a n d c a n n o t leave until 13 h'ours.5. At s ta r t G e r m a n ships have been a t sea f o r 24 hours.TIME FRAMEScenar io begins a t 0600. Darkness is a t 1800. G a m e ends when all German ships have returned t o base,exited f rom m a p o r been sunk.VICTORY CONDITIONSVictory polnts a r e calculated a s In the advanced game, with 5 points awarded for each merchant sh ipsunk by the Germans. If G e r m a n ships exit through' the Skagerrak , t h e British a r e awarded 20 point-Germon r: G e r m a n player wins by s ink ing a s many o r m o r e capital ships a s the British player, OR tmaintaining a t least a 2-1 ratio of Vlctory Poin ts a s compared t o t h e British a t the end of the game.British: British player wins by avoid ing German victory conditions.

Revenges the battle cruisers Repulse and Renothe light battlecruisers Courageous and Gloriand by the American battleship squadron , consing of two 14" gunned ships, and three of 12" marmament . By this time the possibility of gaininvictory over the Allied fleet had become qremote; yet it was still within the rangepossibilities tha t the High Seas Fleet could gainpropaganda advantages for Germany of a victover a n isolated segment. And under the darleadership of Admiral Scheer, they tried, and carespectably close to succeeding Scenario 4 a t temo recreate this possibility.

No the Derffltnger hasn t been h~t-it s just fbrbbroads~deIn a most courageous move, which has osince been conveniently overlooked by Alhistorians, Scheer t o o k the High Seas Fleet fortApril of 1918 o n a sortie t o a point offNorwegian coast opposite Stavanger T h e objecof this bold thrus t was the interception of"Norwegian convoy," a regular system of convance of trade t o Norway a n d re tu rn occurring ev

3 t o 4 days. After a couple of successful interchad been made by German light forces, the esfor these convoys was augmented t o a squadrocapital ships f rom the Grand Fleet. Quite oftensquadron was the American battleship squadrofact observed by the German submarines and mnote of by Scheer. It was Scheer's aim to interand destroy one of these convoys and its escor

The aden Derfflmger w ~ t h host of destroyersHaving finally become aware of the reasonsthe British ability t o anticipate the sorties ofGerman fleet, Scheer had his operational ord

distributed by hand, and imposed radio silence. Aresult, the High Seas Fleet left its anchorage aproceeded to Norway without the Admirarealizing what was going on . But it was all in vScheer's intelligence was faulty; he missedconvoy by 24 hours. He had relied upon infort ion gathered by U-boats a s t o the sailing intervand it proved inaccurate. Yet the German consulNorway could have provided the correct integence. T h e failure of the Germans t o use this souwas one more high level f lub in the series whcombined t o lose the war for them.Scheer's presence off Norway was discoveredthe British when the Moltke broke down and hadbe towed home, necessitating breaking rad io silein the process. After some delay due t o fog, a

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THEGENERAL PAGEsome, perhaps, to a new fo und caution, Beatty, nowcom man der of the Allied fleet, sailed with afo rce of31 battleships, 4 battlecruisers, 2 cruisers, 24 lightcruisers and 85 destroyers. Yet the Germans eludedhim and m ade it to port. The next t ime they were tosail would be Novem ber 21, 1918-to Sca pa Flowand oblivion. But for chance the final chapters of theHigh Seas Fleet might have been quite different, andthe mettle of the U.S. Navy might have been put totest. This is the "what if ' Scen ario 4 is designed toexplore. On the actual date chosen by Scheer, April24, 1918, the convoys were being escorted by theSecond Battlecruiser Sq uadr on, and the Americansquadron was at Rosyth, the new base for the GrandFleet. Accordingly this Scenario assumes a sortieearlier in the year, when the Americans wereproviding the escort. The OB for the Allied fleetconsists of the numbers of ships which sailed onApril 24, but not the identical ships. The Second~at t l ec ru ise r quadron i s w ith the Grand F leet . Asoublished information does not reveal the actualnames of every one of the ships which sailed withBeatty, this is not taking an undue liberty withhistory, in my opinion. Th e Germ an OB is the actualApril 24 complement. You take it from there

As mentioned above, in addition to the four 15"gunned battleships of the Bayern class, the wartimebuilding pro gram of the G ermans included a l ine ofbattlecruisers. These ships would have outclassedanything the Allies possessed. Construction wasbegun upon four ships of the Mackensen class in19 15. These w ould have been 27 kno t 14 gunnedimprovements of the Derfflingers. Then in 1916,construction was also begun upon 3 ships of theErsatz Yorck class. These would also have had aspeed of 27 knots, but would hav e been armed witheight 15" guns. Armor would have been consistentwith that of the previous ships, so that thesebattlecruisers would have enjoyed a tremendoussuperiority over the British wartime constructiohprojects, the Repulse Renown a n d H o o d . All ofthese ships could have been delivered before theHood class, which becam e some wha t delayed whilethe British pondered how to build battlecruiserswhich did not explode (as the Bismark demonst ra t -ed, they never did resolve the question). As notedabove, these program s were abando ned, and theconstruction was stopped. Yet one wonders whatmight have been if this supe r fleet had been created .Suppose in 1917, instead of going over to unrestrict-ed subma rine warfare, the German s had decided toallocate their resources to th e speedy completion ofthese capital ships, and to await their completionbefore seeking a naval victory. I am convinced tha tit was not beyond G erman capabili t ies to plan an dbuild ships on a n accelerated basis. Suppose theyhad d one so. One might well assume that A mericawould have remained out of the war under thesecircumstances, and that conflict thus might haveextended in to 1919 or even 1920. The return m atchof Jutl and with these supe r ships is the subject ofScenario 5. It requ ires only the creation of thefleets'newer ships. I t remains fo r you t o see how historymight yet have been rewritten

This Scenario assumes that the Germ anscompleted their wartime building program, an d theBritish did not, at least a t the time of theconfrontatio n. Thus, only the Repulse a n d Renown(dubbed Refit and Repair by the British crewmenbecause of their proclivity to be in dockyard handsfor long periods) are in the British OB. Anglophilegamers can add the Hood class battlecruise rs if theywish, however, using op tional O B note 4. Alsoincluded, for what they are worth, are the Coura-geous (Outrageous, some called them) class ships.For the German diehards, this is the last chance

SCENARIOORDER OF BATTLEBritish GermanSame as Scenario 4 except Same as Scenario plusAmerican ships BB Markgraf BC Graf SpeePlus BB Rhein land BC Furs t BismarBC R e n o w n BB Sachen BC YorckBB W u r t t e n b e r g BC GneisenauBC Mackensen BC Scharnhors t

BC Prinz Eitel Freder ickOB NOTESIf you wish to assume that Britain was able t o match the German building program, add the HoAnson Howe and Rodney: Use spare counters. Protection factor 6; movement, 14.STARTING POSITIONSince this Scenario is of a n extremely hypothetical nature, a n d 1 am not very good a t fiction, mostthe details a re left t o the gamer. I have played it under the assumpt ion that the meeting took place a tsame location and in the same manner as Jutland: and under the assumpt ion tha t the Germans went foa n d showed themselves off Rosyth, and engaged the English as they sailed out. I'm sure that others ccome up with some equally good possibilities.RULES TIME FRAMEAt the discretion of the gamer.VICTORY CONDITIONSS a m e as Scenario 3

GERMAN HIT RECORD SUPPLEMENBB BadenBB Bayern

BB Konig Albert 1SachenWurttenbergLothringenPreussenFurst BismarckGneisenauGraf SpeeHindenburgMackensen 4 ~ ~Prinz Eitel Frederick 44 I IScharnhorst 4 ~IIE IIFYorck

CA Blucher

CA Prinz HeinrichCA Roon FLEET M KEUPTask orce

No. of Ships No. of columns Ships Columns Ships Columns Ships ~o lumns

Yard intervals between columns Yard intervals Yard intervals Yard intervalsL

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PAGE THEGENERA

DOGGER BANKS and ITS IMPACTO N J U T L A N Dand a revision or two.by Jerold Thomas

This battle. in its course, its indecisiveness, andin the mistakes made. so mirrors the course of thewar in the North Sea that it can serve as a startingpoint for discussion on many aspects of that w ar, aswell as providing some historical backgrou nd to theDogger Bank scenario.The Actual battle began at jus t before 8:00 A.M.on Janua ry 23rd. 1915. It began as a triplerendezvous between Beatty's British Battle Cruiserforce, the Harwich Force under CommodoreTyrwhit t, and Hipper's unsuspecting ScoutingGroup I . The British. with their wireless intercep-tion. had arranged the rendezvous. though Beattyhad hoped to be to the east of Hipper, so as to forcehim to fight, but knew he could overhau l him in anycase with his faster ships. Hipper for his part,immediately put abo ut and fled-he was in nostrength to attack, with the Von Der Tann beingworked on; a nd the High Seas Fleet was in ShillingRoads at anchor , and not likely to come out with itsstrongest squadron, the Illrd, in the Baltic forgunnery practice. This was the paradox of hismission; he was sent out understrength andunsupported, because the Kaiser could not bear torisk his precious fleet of BB's, but wished t o placatethe action gro up of edmiral s in the Germ an Navy.Beatty, foll ow~n g is aggressive nature, chargedahead, and by 9:00 had come within extreme gunrange of the fleeing Germ ans, who were held backby the slower Blucher. Both sidescommenced firingat maximum elevation.

Almost at once the BLUCHER, last in line,slowest, and weakest of the German ships, was hit.With her weak armor, the shells penetrated to herengineering spaces, and she slowed and fell back.Meanwhile, the British had succeeded in scoringonly three hits on the Germ an BC's. One fr eak hit onthe SEY DLIT Z, however, nearly did her in when ajoint in the armor failed. Two turrents in the bowwere put out of action, crews killed, and the foremagazine nearly went up before it was flooded, fro mpowder fires which started in the shell-handlingrooms.Meanwhile, in the two hours since 9:00. theGermans had scored 12 hits on Beatty's flagship,LION, and she could no longer hold her place inline. Beatty signaled the other ships to Attack theenemy's rear, and Stay close to the enemyM-unfortunately, the second message was missed

altogether, and the Admiral second-in-commandtook the rear of the Enemy to mean the unluckyBLUCHER, which was far behind the otherGerman BC's.Accordingly, the British concentrated on thisship while Hipper steamed off. The BLUCHER,hopelessly outgunned and attacked from closerange, lasted another hour, a nd was still firing whenshe rolled over at noon.The battle was made much of by the Britishpress, and was taken to demonstrate BritishMastery of the Seas . Beatty became a popularhero, and a dramatic picture of the sinkingBLUCHER received much press play. On theGerman side, the fleet commander, Ingenohl, wasrelieved, and the Battle Cruiser raids were sus-pended.

Since they won, the British ignored the problemswhich Dogger Bank showed up. The defects in thesignalling apparatus were to cost Beatty dearly atJutland, when he would leave the fast BB's farbehind him through missed signals. The weaknessesin the shell-handling rooms would cost him twoBattle Cruisers to magazine detonations. Also theBritish greatly over estimated the dam age they hadcfone to the Germa n BC's. In actuality, for the 1,000or so rounds each side fired at long range, theGermans scored 15 hits to the British 5.The ill-fated BLUCHER's presence at DoggerBank, where she did not belong, could be traced toher origins. She had been conceived a s an answer tothe first British BC (INVINCIBLE), when little wasknown except t hat the British were building a newand more powerful kind of cruiser. The BLUCH-ER, a new and more powerful cruiser. was no matchfor the Dreadno ught BC's, b ut there she was, so shewas sent out.Since the Germans lost , they took carefulnotice of the weakness in the shell-handling roomsthat nearly destroyed SEYDLITZ, and correctedthis in all their ships. At Jutland, though severalturrets were penetrated, and powder fires ignited,no magazines deto nated. Th e weakness, which theBritish would begin to correct only after Jutland,related to the path that shells and powder chargestravelled, up through the barbettes, from themagazines to the Turrets. The doors whichtheoretically kept the two areas isolated failed to doso in reality, and all too often the shell-handling

room. down in the barbette, caught fire when theturret was hit. The corrections needed were not thatextensive in terms of further insulating the maga-zines from the turrets. but the difference was crucial.So, in their overestimation of their gunnery'seffectiveness, in their ignor ing of the fatal flaw in theshell-handling rooms, and in their failure toimprove signals, the British. and Beatty, set thestage for the most one-sided action in the Jutlandbattle-the Battle Cruiser run to the Sout h, wherethe British lost two BC's, and had three badlydamaged, while seriously hitting only one Ger manBC.This leads, ever so indirectly, to a series ofvariants/optional rules,which add some realism tothe game, improve its balance, and correct a few

errors. The first three apply only to the DoggBank Scenario, while the rest can apply to ascenario, or to the campaign game, (for which sTHE GENERAL, Vol. 9. No. 6)The Blucher-Using the Black Prince counfor the Blucher, while simplifying matters, does tBlucher an unjustice. While still only a CA, tBlucher, at 15,500 tons , was larger , better protecteand far better armed than a ny other CA. She hadbrand new (M'12) 8.2 guns to 6 older M'04 9guns for the Black Prince, with fire control at eaturret. Her speed, just over 25 knots, wasalso betthan the usual CA's 23. Therefore, the Bluchshould have the following factors and hitboxeBasic Gunnery Factors 1-2-1, Movement 1Protection Factor 6. Her hit boxes can approximated by checking off one box from eagroup of a POSEN-class BB (remember that sremains a CA as regards maximum range, however).Addi tion al Forces-these units, eliminatefro m the Dogger Banks scenario for simplicity, weactually present, they are-German; DD X Flot DD Flot 14; British: DD Flot 13Variations-Dogger Bank-Add the Von DTann to the G erman OB. This makes for a very evand interesting game, but the British no longer neea 2-1 edge, they just need t o match t he Germans win.The variations below may be used separately together, though certain of them, notably thcounter changes, are recommended for use in asituations. One omission in the Victory point chais in the Value of the German KAISER Class BB'If the modified 14 protection factor is used fthese ships, their Victory 'point Value woulincrease to 56 pts.

Some of the more speculative variations includthe following simple changes increasing the Gemans effective force:I. Consider all of the KONlG Class BB's to bLUTZOW Class BC's2. Add 5 addition al B's to the Ger man O.B.Critica l Hits-the current critical hit is somewhat inequitable in assigning equal vulnerability oGerman ships to such events as Magazine FireThis equality only existed before Dogger Bankand even the relatively greater protection of thGerman BC's would reduce the od ds. Critical hi

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THE GENERAL PAGEbecome more important to the British, since they are detonate a ~~~~~i~~ readily, ~h~~ the change in thedependent only on the numb er of attacks made, and FLOT ATION HIT TABLE. There was no chancethe ~ ri ti sh , i th many more ships, is usually making of a flash fire, either the m agazine went up, o r it wasmore attacks (ships fire die rolls) . Thus have set up flooded, since the torpedo was its own floodinga new Critical Hit Table, which requires tw dice, mechanism, The German s took m ost of their lossesand elim inates doub le die rolling (Let's face it, in (the B Pommern, the Light Cruisers Restock a n dJutland Y O U roll enough dice already) It also lends Frauenlob ) to to rpedos striking magazines.itself more to differential critical hit results.

Using the CRI TIC AL HIT TABLE-The tableis used just as before, except When rolling forGerman Dreadnought Battleships or Battle Cruis-ers, one is added to the Die Roll; When rollingforGerman or British Pre-Dreadnought Battleships(B's) or British BC's or CA's, one is subtractedfrom the roll of the dice.Flotation Hits-One of the reasons that bothsides dreaded torp edo attack s was that they struckwhere the armor was weakest, and they could

H O W DO Y O U P O I N T T H I S T H I N GGunnery At Ju t land

What Jutland was all about was gunnery,shooting at and hitt ing the other guy faster andharder than he hit you. This usually involved twothings; fire contro l, which was the process of aimingthe guns, based on computed effects of changingtheir positions, and spotting, which told where theshells actually hit.The German advantages, aside from superiorcrew training, were two:

CRITICAL HIT TABLEDie Roll Damage Sustained

Magazine Explosion Ship SUNK

Magazine Flash Fire Mark off ALL Hit boxes on the largest remainigroup. Remaining Gunnery Factors halved nexM F TurnMagazine Flooded Mark off 3 Gunnery Boxes, roll die for Fwd./AftDistribution, and mark as flotation hits if notenough Gun Boxes leftGun Director Hit Gunnery Factors Halved for remainder of Game(round factors Up) No P. . nvno hn t AFire Control Disrupted British ship cannot fire for next two consecu-tive M F Turns, German ship cannot firenext turn onlvSteering Jammed Ship may not turn for next three M F Turns, itmay change speed, or stop, a nd m ay leave forma-tion~ m m u n ~ r i o nellvery Ljamagea Gunnery ractors nalvea Ior rne nexr

three M F Turns (round IJPSteering Hit Ship becomes Dead in the Water (DIW) for the next tw

Engineering Hit Ship becomes Dead in the Water for the number ofI F Turns ind' ed b roll

Engineering Hit Ship becomes D I W permanentlyFlotation Hit Table

Same as Before, exce pt for a die rolf of 2Magazine Hit - Roll Die Again 1 , 2 , ~ a ~ a z i n explodes, ShipSUNK 4, 5, Magazine Flooded, treat as in CriticalHit Table

I. Their range-finding equipment was far superto the British. This meant that their spotters needto make smaller corrections to get onto theenemships. Th e British rang e finders were often so farthat the sp otter s could not tell the relative distanthus delaying their finally getting onto thtargets.2. They used brass casings for their powder chargThis grea tly increased the uniformity of the chargpower, though it slowed the rate of fire marginabecause the casing had to be disposed of. Greauniformity meant that corrections for chavariance were m inimized. Also significant were special wooden rammers used, with sprung facesseat the projectiles better.

The British had one adva ntage, which let thhit harder, and keep onto an enemy ship once thhad hit it. This was their secret gun Directosystem. T he system had all guns controlled from oroom in the sh ip, where all shellfall was plotted,corrections sent to the gunlayers, and whethro ugh a special electric key, all the guns in a sawere fired at precisely the same instant. This kthe projectiles spaced just as they were fired, aincreased the chanc es of at least one hit. TGer man s had each crew chief fire his gu na t a signfrom front to rear. This tended to produce qutight salvos, which either hit or missed entirely.Both fleets fired their main turr et guns alternaly. Max imu m rat e of norm al fire was one salvo ea20 seconds, with one gun from each turret. Acrisis, this rate could be doubled, but this ofcaused the guns to overheat and jam after a frounds. The secondary batteries had their own fcontrol system, and usually fired two salvos (guns in each) f or every turret salvo. Though eagun had between 80 and 100 rounds, which cotheoretically be fired off in one hour, this was usually the case. Firing was usually intermittesince ships would not fire without some info on enemy ships, and often either the firers or the targwere obscured by shell splashes, funnel smopowder fire smoke, etc.; also, even the 20 secosalvo rate would eventually overheat the gun tubso this was additional inducement to fire at a mmeasured rate.Seconda ry Batteries-the Ger man s built thsecondary batteries rather differently than tBritish. Right from the start, they used six in(actually 5.9 ) guns in their secondary casematwhile the British turned t o 6 guns o nly in their laships, and not at all on their BC's. The Germ an 5gun was conceived a s a secondary weapon, ablefire at either enemy capital ships or approachilight craft, while the British 4 gun was conceivsolely as a weap on to use against enemy Destroyor torpedo boats.Also, in view of this dual role, the Germcasemates allowed for a greater elevation of guns, to allow th em to util ize their maxim um ranThis played a significant role at Jut lan d, whewhen t he range had closed do wn to 14,000 yards, Ger man Second ary batteries opened up, with effeon the British BC's, while the British secondbatteries lacked both the range and the penetratpower to retu rn the fire. Also, the Germa n 5.9 gwas an outstanding weapon, which would see actwith the Pocket Battleships and the ismarkW W 11.

The positive effect of the British secondarmament was in torpedo defense. On seveoccasions in the battle , German DD's were unato get within effective torpedo range due to heavy British fire.

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THEGENERAL PAGE

CAPITAL SHIPS British GunsType Name (s) Displm't Length Armor Main Ba tt Sec Bat tBB Belleropho n, Superb, Temeraire 18,600 520 11 l o x 1 2 16 x 4St. Vincent, Collingwood, Vanguard 19,250 530 9% 10 x 12 18 x 4Neptune, Colossus, Hercules 20,000 540 10 1 0 x 1 2 16 x 4Orion, Monarch, Conqueror, 22,500 550 12 10 x 13.5 16 x 4Thundererk i n g Geo. V, Ajax, Centurion 2 3, 00 0 5 70 1 2 l o x 1 3.5 1 6 x 431ron Duke, Benbow, Marlborough 25,000 620 12 10 x 13.5 12 x 64~ ar ha m, aliant, Malaya, Warspite 28,000 650 13 8 x 15 12 x 6

Revenge, Roayl Oak 26,000 610 13 8 x 15 1 2 x 6wa gin court6 27,500 635 9 14 x 12 20 x 6Erln 23,000 560 12 10 x 13.5 16 x 6'Canada 28,000 625 9 1 0 x 1 4 1 6 x 6B (all in addit'l forces) 16,230 439 9-'12 4x12 , 4x9.2 , 10x6BC Invincible, Inflexibl e, Indo mita ble 17,250 560 7 8 x 1 2 6 x 4'~nde fati ~abl e, ew Zealand 18,750 580 8 8 x 12 16 x 4Lion, Princess Royal, Queen Mary 26, 350 675 9 8 ~ 1 3 . 5 1 6 x4Tiger 28,500 720 9 8 ~ 1 3 . 5 1 6 x 4CA Minotaur, Defense, Shan non 14,600 520 6 4 x 9.2 10 x 7.5Cochrane, Warrior 13,550 500 6 6 ~ 9 . 2 4 x 7 .5CA Duke of Edinb', Black Prince 13,550 500 6 6 x 9.2 10 x cHampshire, Antrim, Roxbur gh 10,850 465 6 4 x 7.5 6 x 6DevonshireGERMAN CAPITAL SHIPSBB Posen, Nassau, Westfalen, 18,900 470' 11.5 12 x 11 1 2 x 6RheinlandOstfriesland, Oldenburg, 21,000 546' 11.5 12 x 12 1 4 x 6Helgoland, Thuringe n

'O~aiser,Kaiserin, Freiderich Der 2 4,7 00 5 64 ' 1 4 1 0 x 1 2 1 4 x 6Grosse, Prinz Regent LiutpoldKonig, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Markgraf 26,000 575' 14 10 x 12 1 4 x 6Grosser KurfurstB All Deutschlands 13,200 410 9%' 4 x 11 14 x 6.7BC Von Der Tann 19,400 5 58 1 0 8 x 1 1 1 0 x 6' ~ o l t k e 23,000 5 90 1 1 l o x 1 1 1 2 x 6Seydlitz 25,000 648 11 10 x 11 1 2 x 6Lutzow, Derfflinger 28,000 675 12 8 x 1 2 1 2 x 6CA Blucher 15,500 489 7 12 x 8.2 8 x 6

T H E S H I P S A T J U T L A N DThis is basically an expa nsio n and correc tion ofa sect ion which appeared in the orig inal JUT LA N DBattle Manual, but was left out of the new one.

Included are notes on the ship types, and more dat aon the l ighter sh ips , as well as informa tion on shipswhich appear in the addit ional forces , or in theCampaign Game (The General , Vol. 9, No. 6).

The numbers are se lf expla in ing, except for:Displacement, th is is Sta nda rd Displacement; a t fu llload, ships would run about 10% heavier than this.--this is wa terlin e leng th; the ma xim umlength would exceed th is, and the deck length wouldbe somewhat less.Arm4_r-This is the maxim um thickness of the mainbelt-it was effectively reduced somew hat in Britishships because all that was needed was a turretpenetration to set off a magazine.

Capita l Ship NotesI . Dreadno ught a lso of th is c lass2. Audacious of this class, sunk, 19143 Emperor of India also of this class4. Queen Elizabeth also of this class5. Built for B razil as Rio de Jane ro, sold whilebuild ing to Turkey as Sutan Osman 1 . All threeships appropria ted for the Grand Fleet a t theoutbreak of the war.6 . Built for Turkey as R eshadieyeh7. B uilt for Chile as Almirante Lat orre8. Australia also of this class9. These guns unusable in heavier seas10. Konig Albert also of this class

I I. Five other boats of this class available12. Goeben (in the Black Sea) also of this class

Light ShipsThe British had two types of CL's; the olderones, of the 2nd and 3rd Squad 's , were abou t 5 ,000tons d isplacement, and carr ied 8 or 9 6 guns, andold style (submerged) torpedo tubes. The new CL'swere lighter (3,000+ tons), faster, and c arried 2-3x6guns, 6x4 , and 4 Torpedo tubes in dual mounts .Th e Germ an CL's w ereall heavier, 4500-5000+ tons ,and carr ied I0 (o lder) or 12 (newer) 4 . l guns, again ,the newer ships were markedly faster.

All the DD's in act ion a t Ju t land were around800-l@ons. The Brit ish Boats had 2- 3x 4 guns,with 4 Torpedo tubes in two pairs . The Germanboats had 2x3.5 guns with 5 or 4To rpedo Tub es,mostly in s ingle mounts . Thus the Germ ans had theedge in torpedoes, while the British have the edge ingunnery .

Notes on the ShipsMolrke-this ship should be an I I M F s hi p;even the Seydlitz, Lutzow , and Derfflinger were notas fast as the British Lion and Tiger classes.Kaiser-the Protection Fa ctor of this classshould be 14 , as these ships were armore dsubstantially as the Konig class.Kaiser, Invincible C lasses. In bo th these classes,the far-side wing turrets could actually fire acrossthe ship , but they are not so noted because their arcof fire to the fa r side was very limited, more so in theInvincibles. Therefore, where. the target ship isdirectly to the broadside o f these ships, they may useall of their guns. To determine this, lay a straight-edge a long the l ine of the column to which the shipbelongs (this provides less chance of erro r) ignoringany ships which have turned re la t ive to the shipfiring. If a perpendicular f rom th is line at the pointof the f ir ing ship passes through the defending

(target) sh ip counter , a l l guns may f ire . For tKaiser class, if the perpendicular line places ttarget ship to the rear of full broadside, but withtwo shiplengths, all guns may fire, also.

Co u n te r Ch an g es Ge rm an -A l l th e sh ip sthe K ONIG Class should have a Movem ent Factof 9 -in the actu al battle at Jutland, these shibecame separated from the G erman m ain body, anearly overhauled the British Fast BB's, becauof their supe rior speed , hitting 24 kts. British-theBC's LI ON an d P RIN CE SS ROYA Lsh o uld h avmovem ent facto r of 12'-these ships wereac tualmarginally faster than the Germ an BC's .Hi t Box Chan ges -Th e COL OSS US sh o uhave h it boxes l ike the NEPTUNE, the middturret can also fire to the rear. The Goeben-thisship helped to bring Turke y in to the war, but mighave been better used with the High Seas Fleet. Scan be added to any OB, she is identical to tMoltke .Canad a, Erin, Agincourt-all three of theships were being built for other countries-Canadafor Chile , and the o th er two for Turkey. They coupossibly be deleted from the B ritish O.B.'s assum ithat they were turned over to their rightful owne(who had a lready paid for them).

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2 THEGENERALPROTECTION FACTORS WHO SAY S THESE THINGS WON T S

DERFFLINGER IN THE DEA TH RIDE1

For those garners who believe tha t th e edge g ivend protect ion factorsfied, we offer the recor d of the Derfflingerbest a l l aro un d capita l sh ips of their" the Derfflinger an d her sister ship the Lutz owd the Germ an van in magnificent fashion duringg h t p o r t io n o f th e b a t t l e . On th e ru n to th eh, Derfflinger destroye d Queen Mary , an dLutzow cam e with in an eyelash of accomplishingion. At t he conclusion of the run

o the north , Lutzow blasted the Defense out of theapid fire, the Derfflingers teamed u p to prove thecy of the nam e of the Invincib le . S o much forhe gunnery factor .During th is las t s tage, the Lutzow came underhe f ire of the entire G rand Fleet . Hit by 24 heavyhells, she had to leave the act ion a t th is point . (Sheinally was scuttled by the Germans hours later,ur ing the n ight . But for a freak fa i lure of herorward pumps, she probably would have beenableo make port . ) A t th is point , while Admiral Hipp eras on a destroyer transferr ing h is f lag to theMoltke , the lead of the German batt lecruiserspassed to Derfflinger. It was the crisis of the battleo r th e Germ an s . Fo r th e seco n d t ime Je ll i coe an dthe Grand Fleet had crossed the T o n them. Th e

German line was faced by a semi-circle of gunflashes, the only sight which could be discerned oftheir tormentors , who had the advantage offavorable v is ibi l ity . T he only hope for the G ermans ,wh o n eed ed t ime to se t u p an o th e r b a t t le tu rn away ,was a torpedo boat a t tack . But th is too wouldrequire t ime for the f lo t i l las to get in to posi t ion .Admiral Scheer 's decis ion was prompt andcharacteristic-if necessary, the battlecrui sers mustbe sacrificed to save the fleet. Th e order was flashedto them: "Rein in den Fiend. Ran." Liberal lytranslated , this meant-all out attack-ram ifnecessary . Without hesi ta t ion , Captain Hartog ofthe Derfflinger obeyed. T o the remaining battle-ruisers, the visual signal "full speed ahe ad, courseS.E." was made. S o began the "death r ide" of thebattlecruisers. Led by the Derfflinger, they plun gedstraight a t the van of the semi-circle of British ships

T o this point, the Derfflinger was relativelyundamaged. In short ord er th is s ituat ion changed,as she became the focal point of the f ire of the GrandFleet. A 38 cm shell h it C turre t , putt ing i t out ofaction . A few m oments la ter the same fa te befel l Dturre t . As th e range fe ll t o 7500 yards , h i t af ter h i ts truck the ship . The f irs t four 15cm casemate gunson t he port s ide were put out of ac t ion . Several h i tswere received on the s ide armor, causing l i t t ledestruction . Then a 12" shell h i t the conning tower,once again fa i l ing to p ierce the armor. Short lythereafter ano ther shell of heavy calibre h it underthe bridge, causing widespread d ama ge and s tar t inga ser ious f ire . Finally , the destroyers were able tolaunch their attack on the British line. Jellicoeimmediate ly turned aw ay, and the High S eas Fleetwas able to extricate itself. The battlecruisers, stillled by the Derfflinger, turn ed to the south an dgradually lost sight of the British in the failingdaylight . At this point , Derfflinger received her lasth i ts , which temporari ly put A tu rre t out of ac t ion .Dur ing the night action, Derfflinger an d Vond e r Tan n to o k s ta t io n a t th ee n d o f th e German l in e ,and were specta tors to the act ions with the Bri tishdestroyers ahead of them. W ith only A and B turre t ,8 guns of th e secondary battery and one searchlightin tact , she was not in good shap e for a n ight ac t ion .Accordingly, she held h er fire when the only Englishdestroyer was s ighted , an d i t in turn d id not a t tack .At da wn, the ship again c leared for act ion . But theenemy were not in s ight . At 4 :30 that af ternoon,carry ing 3 ,000 ton s of water , she sropped anch or inWilhelmshaven R oads. S o rests the case for theprotect ion factor .

Of a l l the drea dnoughts of the High Seas Fleetwhich fought a t Ju t lan d, only Derff linger was af loatduring World War 11. Having beenscutt led a t S capaFlow with the res t of the Germ an Fleet in 1919, shewas raised by the British in 1939. War being thenimminent, she remained moored a t Scapa Flow-for a t ime adjacent to Je l l icoe's f lagship , the IronDuke-until the cessation of hostilities. In 1946 shewas scrapped. Her f inal chapter ended in 1965 whenher sh ip 's bell a nd seal were re turned t o German y bythe British.

COMPILATION OF HITS RECEIVED BYSMS DERFFLINGER ON 31 May 1916AND THEIR EFFECTS.I Apparent underwater hit on the port inboard propellecausing the loss of the cap, the covering plate of the bladfasteni ng screws being damage d. Prob ably caused by a showhich fell short. No effect on the turning of the machinerresulted.2. Hit by a 10.2 cm shell coming from port aft. Pen etratethe skylight of thecab in, with the result that thedeck at thipoint leaked when water flowed over the deck.3. Hit by a 38 cm shell at frame 22 on port side, close undethe quarter deck. Destroyed an officer's living room ancommandant's cupboard, having pierced the outer plating4. Hit by 38 cm shell which pierced outer plating at fram27% on port side close under the quarterdeck. Sheexploded a few meters from the ship's side, rending ameter hole in the lower deck and quarter deck and causinmuch devastation. The watertight bulkheads 27 and 39werdestroyed, and each watertight subdivision in the aftershifrom frame 59 back were disabled.5 Hit by 30.5 cm shell com ing from port beam. Pierced thskylight at frame40in the starboa rd quarterdeck, rendinghole 3 meters across, then exploded in the officers' livindeck, putting many compartments in ruins. The safe in throom of the ship's paymaster was destroyed.6. Hit of undeterm ined size on port armo r belt at frame 61one meter under the quarterdeck. The armor plate wasomewhat bent in, some rivets popped loose, some of thbracing angles bent slightly. Some leakage resulted, and thnets and net cases from frames 50 to 70 were damaged.7. One of the biggies. There are several pages of text andiagrams of the destruction caused by this hit. In summaryit was a 38cm shell hit which penetrated turret D on thseam between the slanted and the horizontal plates over thright gun. The turret, which had been bearing at about 230degrees was thrown around to hard right port forwarposition by the impact. The shell detonated on the righcartridg e hoi st, and ignited much of the powder of the shellin that tur ret. T he whole turret was filled with a jet offlamand poisonous gases, the latter of which travelled as far athe aft gunnery control station through the speaking tubesand required the temporary donning of gas masks andabandonment of the latter. While little damage wasdone tthe guns, the transpo rt mechanism was wrecked, and alcombustible material destroyed. 74 men, including transferred to this turret when their 8.8 cm gun wasdisabled, were killed. One escaped through the cartridgejection port.

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THE GENERAL PAGE 8. A heavy shel l hi t on the ar mo r bel t on the port s ide atframe 88, meters below the quarterdec k. It knocked apiece of the s ide arm or ou t , which pierced the s ide spl interwall and the metal walls of the works hop and a ir shafts ofthe port aft engine.9. Hit by a shel l of unspecified size on arm or bel t at fram e94 ,2 % meters under the quar t erdeck . The armor p l a t e wasbent in, outside plat ing under the a rm or dented a nd severalrivets popped. T he net cases and nets from frame s 90 o 110were damaged, a s well as a net spa r.10. This was an othe r of the m ost destruct ive hi ts . Insumm ary, i t was a 38 cm shel l hi t, fro m a n angle of 229degrees, which penetrated the ba rbet te arm or of turretabou t 1% meters under the upper edge and exp loded on theupper part of the turntable between the guns under the gunmaster's s tand. This igni ted numerous cartridges, bo th inthe turret and ,on the t ransport mechanism, resul t ingin aje tof flame and poisonous gases. The turret rotat ingmechanism, the cartridge loading mechanism, the t ransportmechanism a nd the deck plates were destroyed. 68 men-al lbut from the right gun and 5 from the left -were ki l led.The survivors escaped from the left entrance and leftcartridge eject ion port . Several adjacent comp artm ents inthe lower deck had to be evacuated fo r a few minutesbecause of the gas. It is to be noted that nei ther fi re fromturrets or spread to other areas, or even igni ted al l theshells in the turrets.1 . 10.2cm shell hi t which penetrated an ai r shaft on portaf t upper deck a nd came to rest , unexp loded , i n the roombehind the officers' mess.12. A heavy shell hi t on the seam of the arm or plate atframe 124 on the port s ide. A piece of the armo r was broken

in and thrown against the s ide spl inter bulkhead betweenthe inner and outer coal bunkers, causing some damage .The nets and net cases were also ripped an d two net sparsripped loose.13. A hit by a 38 cm shel l coming from port aft whichpenetrated the rear funnel at the height of the boat dec kan ddamaged the drain pipe of the rear s i ren, but did notexp lode .14. A hit by a 38 cm shel l which penetrate d the aft funneland funnel casing, and the funnel of the officers' ki tchen atthe height of the searchl ights , also dam aging tw o barrels ofthe s team escape pipes of the boi ler.15. A hit by a 15 cm shell which crossed the aft funne lmeters from i ts upper edge.16. A hit by a 38 cm shel l which penetrate d the fore funnel Imeter u nder the edge. A spl inter damaged on e barrel of thesteam escape pipe from the boi ler.

17. A heavy hi t , probably a 30.5 cm shell , which struck themuzzle of the port 111 15 cm gun, knociting off about 2.3meters of the barrel , and exploding o n the gun shield. Thebarrel broke open, the breech block jamm ed in so that the

gun could not be unloaded. Inside the casemate severalframes an d bulkhead faces were damaged. T he blast l iftedthe port 11 15 cm gun l i ft ing the barrel a nd bending manypieces. The height adjust ing and swivel l ing machinery werebadly twisted. The gun was no t fi red again as a resul t . Netcases from frame s 175 to 180 and the nets from frames 175to the front were ripped loose.18. A hit by a 10.2 cm shel l throu gh the aft ma st at theheight of the edge of the funnel.19. Hit by a 10.2 cm shel l on port fram e 195, penetrat ing abu lkhead face in the supers t ruc tu re deck an d exp lod ingunder the bridge.20. Hit by a heavy shel l coming from the po rt beam, whichdestroyed the s ick bay, rent the bat tery deck, upper deckand supers t ruc tu re deck, a nd to re ap ar t t he char t house.Shel l fragments damaged the rigging considerably penetrat-ing the voice tube a nd cable to the spot t ing stand anddamaging the foremast . A metal piece from the bridgestuckto the bot tom of the spot t ing stand. A spl inter penetratedthe lower deck. A bund le o f t he armo red g ra t ing in thefunnel neck a t the level of the s ick bay was ripped out , an dthe exhaust shaft for the turb o vent ilator for the port I Vfurnace room was damaged. This is labeled 21 on the photosand d iag rams .

21. A direct hi t, pro bably 15 cm, against the spa r foot atframe 210, knock ingoff bo th i t and th espa r. This is labeled20 on the diagrams.22. Hit by a 30.5 cm shell (fragme nt with the markin g 12in was found) coming from a bearing of 240degrees on thefo rward conn ing tower a t t he af t s eam o n the por t s ide p la t eabou t meter under thea ft s ide observat ion sl it , detonat ingon impact . Small pieces of the plate were broken out inabou t the circumference of the shel l, and the bridge deck ina circumference of abo ut 2 meters was torn up. Th e sealplates between some of the armor were protruding, butotherwise there was no dam age, nei ther inside nor outsidethe conning tower. Several l ight shell fragments , and aquanti ty of yel low gas, cam e through the observat ion sl i ts ,tne lat ter requiring the donning of gas m asks for a fewminutes. However the ship direct ion, a nd tha t of the guns,were not interrupted. A shel l fragmen t destroyed the rangefinder of turret B.23. A heavy shel l, probab ly of 23.5 cm, coming from abearing of 270 degrees, grazed the barbet te of turret A, then

struck the deck of the s tarboard side without penetrat ingexploding. In the revolving turret of turret A, a vioshock was fel t , and the crew in the rear part of the tuwere severly thrown around. A circui t breaker for revolving mechcanism popped out , requiring use of anstat ion for a brief period.24. A heavy shell , probably 30.5 cm, coming from a bearof 240, s t ruck the barbet te armor of turret A abou t meter below the edge on the port s ide and detonatleaving a shal low depression with two largecrac ks, and rthe upper deck of the barbet te in a circumference of abtwo meters . The turret rai l was bent , and the turret jammtemporari ly. T he turret was severly shaken and the elecrotat ing m achinery fai led temporari ly. Som e small frments came through an observat ion sl i t of the turret .25. A 10.2 cm shel l , or fragments therof, damaged outside skin on the port s ide at frame 261 under forecastle.26. A 10.2cm shel l penetrated the outer skin on the pside at frame 263 and exploded in compartment X V onlower deck.27. A hit by a 38 cm shel l penetrated the ou ter skin abthe armor on the port s ide at frame 284, exploded in lower deck on the po rt s ide, rent both the upper and lodeck, caused much damage in the warrant officers ' roocrewmens ' ro om and general magazine. A spl inter destred the s team pipe of the bow capstan machine in armored deck. Water from high waves entered into armore d deck from fra mes 262 to 303, and the lower dfrom frame 249 to 303. A fire was s ta rted in the seamand warrant officers ' rooms, and in the canteen, caussevere sm oke and gas peri l unt i l dispersed through uscompressed a i r f rom por t and s t arboard fu rnace roomsSeveral holes were made in the forecast le by fragment

28. shell s t ruck between frames 316 and 321 on the s ide above the waterl ine, knocking off the 4 and 5 arplates . T he impa ct also dented the outer skin, and to rethe upper a nd lower decks . The bow to rpedo lock room the 4 reserve heat ing oi l cells between frames 270 and 3both por t and star boar d, were damage d and fi lled wwater. The por t fo rward anchor hause pipe was torn up, the upper deck adjacent was warped upwards. Water aentered the bow lock rooms, carpenter 's s tore room crew rooms. Th e impact threw a torpedo in the bow torproom which was si t t ing in the tube abou t meter hrendering inoperable the mechanism.29. A 15 cm shel l penetrated the ant i-roll tank on the psuperstructure deck, passed on into the deck officers ' roand mess. and exploded.30. A shel l fel l short and hi t or exploded under wateframe 215 on the port s ide. The resul t ing hydraul ic presbent in the outside skin under the arm or from frame 19215. The compartment cel l and guard bunker from fr195 to 218 o n the port s ide fil led with water.31. A hit , probably by a 10.2cm shell onthe starb oard at frame 252 on the upper edge of the armor, s l ighdamaging the outer skin.

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14 THEGENER LMathematical etermination

A PLAYING AID OoOFOR PANZERBLITZby Andrew C KatsampesMathematics has been a part of war games

their creation. The most famillar aspect isbut for games such as PanzerBlitzPanzerLeader there exlsts yet anotherUnlike other games where combat

when unlts are In adjacent hexes, thealn method of attack IS d~rectire across more1 or 2 hexes. Hexsides block the line of~ghtLOS),also the line of flre LOF),~f hey aret the approprlate elevation and Intersect theOS. The LOS 1s a llne from the center of theex to the center of the target hex. Evenhen using thread s a straight edge, situations 00rlse where the obstruct~on f the LOS IS InBy superlmposlng a set of x,y coordlnatesn the board, graphical analysls can answer

questions.The x,y coordinates are s~tuated uch thatcond~tionsare satisfied. First, the or ig~n0.0) isat the center of thefirlng hex. Second, tKeaxls blsects every hexslde and passes through OoOhe center of each hex In one row. Flnally,the yxis is coincident w ~ t hhe hexs~def everyotherhex. Thls 1sobv~ousn he example provided.Thequatlons of the I~nesconnectinghe or lg~n ith If M isodd,he center of the target hex LOS) and thextreme ends of the blocking hexside In ques-ion, are of the form y=mx, where m equals the x = ( N -0.5) (sin 60 )lope of the llne If the slope of the LOS has a 5000alue betweenthose slopevalues of the extremends of the blocking hexs~de,hen the LOS isbstructed, provlded the hexside IS at the properlevat~on.To calculate the coordlnates of the center ofhe target hex ~t1s necessary to first determinehe M and N values for the target hex. M is thenumber of hexes n heve rt~ca l irection andN 1s OoO x = (N -0.5) (sin 60 )he number of hexes In he horizontaldirection.he f ~ i ~ n gex, whose center is located at therlgln has M = l and N=l. The hexjust tothe rightr left would be M=l, N=2 In our example, thelrlng hex 1s 1 Y-2 and the target hex 1s 1 N-5M=12, N=3) S~nceM 1s even we use the x = (N -1.5) (sin 60quatlons, y=0.75 4f-1) 1.5) and x= N-0.5)sln 60), to calculate the coordinates of the 3000center of the target hex. When dealing wlth

situationswhere the target is located In he firstuadrant, as In he example, ignore the fact thatelther M or N should be negatlve, becausebothhe target hex and the hexslde n questlon areboth in he same quadrant, which ellminates theapparent error.The hexs~dehat may obstruct the LOS, In he 000example, is common to both hexes 1 V-3 and 1W-2. After determining the M,N values of thlshex 1 -V-3 In thls case), ~t1s a s~mplematter to Equations for coordinates of hex centercalculate the coord~nates f the SIX polnts that M = No. of hexes verticaldeflne the hex uslng the equations supplledand N No. of hexes horizontal If M is odd,notlng whether M 1s even or odd. In actualpractlce, ~t1s sufflclent to calculate the coordl-nates for the two polnts hat are the endpointsofthe hexside in question. Note that depending onwhlch quadrant both the target hexandblockinghexslde are In affects the labellng of the SIXpolnts that define the hex For demonstrativepurposes all SIX sets of coordlnates are calculat- >ed In the example.At thls point we have the coordinates for thehexs~de ndpoints and the center of the target ohex. The llne connecting each of these polnts o 000 2 000 3 000 00with the orlgln has a slope equal to the value of x axls

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THEGENER L P GE 1t h e y c o o r d i n a t e divided by t h e v a l u e of t h e xc o o r d i n a t e . If t h e s l o p e of t h e LOS i s g r e a t e r t h a nt h e s l o p e of o n e e n d of t h e h e x s i d e a n d less t h a nt h e s l o p e of t h e o t h e r , t h e n t h e LOS a n d t h ehexs ide in t e rsec t . In t h e e x a m p l e , t h e LOSc r o s s e s AB a n d CD (A(6.351PLOS(3.811)B(2.887) a n d (C(2.309)

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6 THEGENERAL

ersonalitie

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THEGENERAL PAG

o arade@

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PAGE 8 THE GENERA

This Series Replay game was played by mail wellover a year ago. Dave Roberts is a well knownplayer among experienced gamers, having wonnumerous tournaments in past years. In fact, hisbrother Tom recently won the PWA-AH 500 atORIGINS 1 over a field of 127 other gamers. Mr.Anton, whose neutral commentary is shown initalics, was the judge for that event and handles thesame chores here. A graduate student in NapoleonicHistory, Mr. Anton is widely recognized as one ofthe leading authorities on the game.Set-UpOn the left of my set-up the Corps Infantry andFoot Artillery are placed to move to TT18, and

U U 17, and from there up the road into the center.This is the fastest way to get these units into action,much more effective than sending them towardNivelles. Jaquinot and Horse Artillery will go toNivelles. Units in LL20 and LL21 will move toKK25 and 3525 as the fastest way to bring pressureon Nivelles.IV and VI Foot Artillery in 0016 are placed toattack AA27 at 1-2 on the second turn. These 4-4'sare probably the least valuable French units, andusing them this way is just about the best thing theycan conceivably do for their country. On the PBMtables they have4 chances for glory, weighed against3 chances for elimination. The Heavy Cavalry andHorse Artillery in 0016 will probably move towardNivelles.

A M June 16: A standard opening move. The Prussian has Note that the French I Corps infantry and artillery are sent eastsacrificed Lutzow units shown in gray have been eliminated across the Pieton River rather than directly north to Nivelles.during the course of the turn) to block the Gosselies-QB road.

In answer to the question of whetherto put For Horse units in Fleurus, 1answer, "Both " Thfactors of Horse can pick up any delaying 1-6's. athe 8-4 is the best unit to have a chance to push intforward position and seize some ground while be3-1 proof.My game plan is to keep my options open, buplay for gradual attrition for the first 20 turns orand then have a grand slaughter in the last 1 tuwhen he is outnumbered and in the open. To achiefavorable attrition I intend to apply maximpressure all along the front, forcing him to depand lose every possible 1-6, or 1-4, until he hasgive me bigger units. As part of my strategyflexibility, am going to try to tempt Brianexpose himself by pushing my 2-6's into vulnerapositions, but positions where to get them he hasrisk heavy counterattacks. My first move is carefudisguised to tempt him in this way, and hopegive you a chance to see how it can work.A final option will be the use of selected loodds attacks against particularly vulnerable poiin his line, such as AA27, points whereimplications of victory will have long range effeon the game that justify the immediate disadvantaof unfavorable probable attrition.Set-UpBoth of the opening set-ups are relativstandard fare. feel the French stack on M Mshould be started at RR15. Since Dave apparenplans a cautious advance anyway they canfarther on turn 2 by way of the main road than thcan be by way of Fleurus.The P A A set -up should be slightly moaggressive with orces at EE14 and EE16. Brian hchosen to play cautiously until he feels Dave ou7 AM-June 161 thought Brian's set-up was a little passive.more resolute PAA player would I think) have6-4's in EE 14 and EE 16, and other complementpositions. He may be trying to lull my warinessmaking less than precise early moves. note soself-deprecating propanganda (which I didn't tatoo seriously) in his first cordial letter. Soimpetuous French might rush full tilt intoterrain Brian has given up, and let Brian blootheir nose. think my move is the best way to dwith this. If Brian wants to screen with 1-6's. he whave to pull back to row CC. But if he wants to figand pick off Morin and Soult, he will have to expohimself to most of my army. The tactic is to pushlightest possible screen as far forward as possiband mass the big stick behind it.On my left flank am maneuvering to brmaximum pressure to bear against Nivelles and wof there as soon as possible.PAA 7 16 JuneThe French movement is routine. The ointeresting aspect is the maneuvers of 1and 11corApparently the enemy intends only to uselatter-plus some cavalry/horse artillery;doubt-to mark Nivelles, rather than attemptin

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THE GENERAL PAGE

A.M. June 16: The French take an early gamble losing the IVand VI Art~ller yn a 1-2attack vs Steinmetz on the hills south ofQuatre Bras. It is a good gamble because a DB2 would eliminateStelnmetz while an exchange would eliminate the only PAAbreakthr ough there. But it's still too early t o tell;next turn should more clearly reveal the enemy'sintentions.My own move is also unremar kable. I have leftthe divisions of Brause and Langen in a positionwhere they can be attacked. If the enemy does so, itwill reveal him as a bold and dari ng foe (I would notattack them, were the French).

7 AMThe French 7 A M move is bold as he trys totempt the PAA to attack his cavalry screen. Thereare several tactical errors and one strategic error inthe French move. Strategically his Nivelles attackwill either be too weak or will be delayed inunfolding. Tactically I feel that Dave should strikebold ly for Nivelles with his FF22 stack, instead ofcentralizing it t o await the o utcome of his centeraction. Further, Ife el the men on GGI I and GG13are wasted. Not only that but they also help tip thePAA that to attack the cavalry is a trap.The PAA move is good, but the2-6 s committed(or at least apparently so) to Tilly are a waste. The 2-6 s should be.kept together near W31 as the heart ofa mobile counterattacking force. Already Briantakes advantage of the weakldelayed FrenchNivelles thrust by sending little that way. The PAAare giving up a lot o f ground early in the game. Thiscould be a decisive factor later in the contest. Weshall see.

9 AMWell. Brian knows how to conserve his 1-6's. butthink he's giving up more ground t han he has to.The 1-2 against Steinmetz can have importanteffects on the game. If get eliminated willprobably wait about two turns to see how thingsdevelop elsewhere before I risk more factors here.assume he will offer no 1-6's at Nivelles,probab ly put his 5-4 in 238. 1 expect t o see a 1-6 inAA21. If he didn't take my 2-6 bait last turn, thisturn is very unlikely. But note my units in GG18,FF19, and EE19; a centralized reserve ready tosupport either flank in case he tries anythin g sharp.The units in Gossellies will probably move to EE22and DD22 to perform this reserve function nextturn.

strength unlt and w ~ t h t he PAA ability to make the hill 3-1proof. The Pruss~ansespond by moving in the 1st Artillery toAA26 to at least force soak-off should the French attem ptthesame attack again.PAA 9The 1:2 attack on Steinmetz was one of thosethings which, had it succeeded, would be called a"daring tr iumph" while a failure might be labelled astupid blunder . 1 would call it merely a calculatedrisk which was unsuccessful. However, in myopinion, such assaults should never be attemptedexcept in grave circumstances, since the odds areheavily against them and th e majority will end up indisaster.The French army is still very dispersed. Itremains to be seen whether the cavalry force atDD27 will be sent to Nivelles. I bet it will. But, if theenemy sends infantry there, no more than the 4divisions now underway, believe 1 can hold thearea indenfinitely. We shall see.On the main (i.e., left) flank, now begins a seriesof sacrifices. doub t there will be any more attackson the hill at bad odds.

9 A MDave makes a nice 1-2 surrounded on Steinmet z,but unfortunately throws an A-Elim and is thusalready 7 actors down. My argument against earlychance attacks has always been that strategyshouldbe tried first, then go t o chance. Doing it this wayaround limits French strategy and forces more lowodds attacks. Dave has done well against me withhis 1-2S, however, so cannot fault him too much .The PAA move contains a glaring error.Reinforcements are brought in the wrong road.Since it will take them just as long to be a actor Iassume bo th players let this stand t o save time. ThePAA move this time is weak. I would definitelyattack th e stack at AA 35 at the best possible oddsfor attrition. To lose those 6 PAA factors of 1-6units this early in the game would be a disaster. Iwould also think Brause and Langen to bevulnerable next turn.11 AMBrian's note for the tur n had a sketch of Snoopyon his riddled dog house with an i mmorta l, "Rats "An immortality that consoles my IV and VI FootArtillery. "Curse you, Red Baron " Well. let's seehow my luck develops elsewhere, before risking amore valuable 5-4 and 3-6 combinatio n here. I wassurprised that having seen me try the 1-2 here, Brian

didn't place two 6-4's in AA26 to force me to sooff if try it agai n. wonder if he values what'sstake here, and what he could do about it.think his placement in AA35 was a mistaand hope to make him pay for it. could try anand 1-3 which is the most favorable immedattrition, but it will be worth a lot more later in game to kill the one factor units now. My cavareserve in AA33 posi tions itself to support a possvictory here.On the Tilly fro nt think he should have beeAA21 (a s I said ) instead of AA20. This gives m4.213.2 favorable a ttriti on attac k and doesn't hany more terrain. In fact he holds less; if he moall his units here one squa re west, probawouldn't be in 88 21 , since it would require sacrificing a 5-4 in a soak-off without a ret(through the woods) in BB22.Notice retain the potential for a majorco unattack against any attempt on his part to move and pick off my IllCav Horse Artillery.PAA 11The enemy's persistance in 1:1 att acks interesting; 1 do not know why he does it. HowevI hope he continues.The French are apparently going to makemajor effort at Nivelles. I shall hold the arhowever, and with a bit of luck inflict a defeat him there.On the QB front, I shall delay this turn anext-then the battle will begin. If he moves iBB23-as he will-I may counter att ack since cannot retreat through woods.On the whole I am pleased with things so fTwo matters worry me. First, I do not lsacrificing 4 factors this turn. My I-factor unmust not be used up too fast-the enemy realithis, I'm sure (probably why he attacked of themI:1 this t urn). Se cond, I may have left the Tilly atoo weak.11 AMI liked Dave s attacks this turn. Once again French had little luck. I do eel the move to AAwas unwise. A good P AA mo ve at this point woube to shift factors to Nivelles in order to stymie AA33 rtack. f it continues through the woodsshould be chopped up at surrounded odds.The P AA corrected the reinforcements this tuAs I indicatedabove steps were taken to shift actoto Nivelles. Also key positions are being strenthened in anticipation o f further low-odds attacSo ar the PA A remain in command of this gam1 PMWell, there's not much to say this turn. He off lightly in combat again, but these easkirmishes are relatively unimpor tant attritionwIf he continues to play thi s carefully and consertively. it will be a long game which will be decidedmassive low odd battle s late in the game. MaWaterloo circles abhor low odds tactics by French, but it is a mistake to allow distaste for ttactic to cloud the strategic objective. the destrtion of the P-A-A Army. The situation isvery mulike that in Grant's final campaign in Virginwhich he won with one direct and bloody assaafter another. If the French wait for 3-1 or betattacks a competent P-A-A player will deforever. The French must get the P-A-A in the opand then hit him with all he's got.

PAA 13THE FOE: Well, with all my sacrifices couldn't have done much differently. His dispotions a re very good. There's a (slight) chance he m

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11 A M June 16: The French make 6 attacks Including Berthezene. Lefol. and Frtant attack Brause at 4-1 only to get a 1 by Guyot and P~ r en an attempt to fell 4 PAA delay units inautomattcs vs Schulenburg and Marwitz and a suicidal 1-10 DB2. To the west. Desnouettes and the II Horse Art~llery swoop falls and the French cavalry is retreated. The PAA msoak-off by Soult vs Langen Jagow and Pirch II Habert eliminate Brunsw~ckat 1 securlng the woods at AA36 buta 1 fall back leavtng 4 delaying units to protect their rearrun ou