Dystopian Wars

The Gulf of Siam, February 25, 1871

The Z and I got in a game of DW Saturday evening. He'd just picked up some Vanguard subs and  some Agincourt War Cruisers (I think the name "Gunship" was a bad choice by Spartan) and was thirsty for blood after the whooping he took in last weekend's game. I finished up some Jap Cruisers during the week and wanted to give those a go. We did a 500-point ships only game (plus tiny planes) which is really unusual for us. I took: 1 BB, 3 CA, 2 DD, 3FF, 5 Torpedo Bombers and 5 Fighters. Ziggy took 1 BB, 2 CW, 2 SS, 5 Dive Bombers and 5 Fighters.

As you may observe from that picture, we both had Recon planes to begin with. That lasted about a full turn when we decided how relatively useless they were in this scenario. We magically turned our Recon planes into fifth members of our four-plane wings somewhere around turn 2.

The HMS Hood steamed forward, leading the swarthy pack of Brits into battle to secure the landing strip on the island here. She spotted one of the Imperial Cruisers, still a long way off and fired her forward guns, connecting and causing some damage. The Agincourts did the same, firing at one of the Japanese Destroyers, sinking it in one quick volley.

Things were not looking good. The two Fighter wings mixed it up far to the right flank and the British pilots got the better of their Japanese counterparts, causing one kill and one abort.

The second turn began with the Her Heavenly Majesty's Cruisers tried to get in a few licks before they were obliterated. One fired a broadside at the Hood but failed to harm her. The Battleship struck back with a vengeance, doing three damage to the cruiser that was already damaged, sinking it outright and another three damage to another of the squadron, fouling its running gear and slowing it down.

 Boom. Tragic.

After that, time to switch from coffee to something more appropriate.

The Japanese Frigates, desperate to try to stop the bleeding flew forward and made their battle run at the War Cruisers. Many guns were fired but none made any impact. It was the Agincourt's turn now. They swatted at the Frigates damaging one and blasted the heavily damaged Nakatsu under the waves. Scratch two Cruisers.

Shit getting real.

The bloodbath that was turn two continued unabated with the British Fighters pouncing on the Blazing Suns fighters yet again. This time, two of the British fighters were shot down to no Imperial losses. The Blazing Suns Fighters then swooped in on the Dive Bombers killing four of their number, again to no losses. BANZAI! At least something was going right. My free TFTs killing his free TFTs. The submarines made an appearance and surfaced - torpedoes lanced out at both my Battleship and my last Cruiser. The Battleship's shields saved it from harm but the Cruiser took a crit and lost two boarding parties. This was getting unbelievable. With no better targets and eager for some kind of retribution, my Torpedo Bombers began an attack run against the submarines which had failed to get back under the waves. One of the Bombers was taken out by AA fire but the remaining Torpedo Bombers got an amazing 20 hits on one of the Vanguards, widowing quite a few lassies in a matter of seconds. With that, turn two drew to a close.

Turn three began with the War Cruisers firing at my Battleship and launching torpedoes at my last Destroyer. The Battleship was not damaged but the Destroyer ate this:

My injured Cruiser, managed a low-speed broadside on the remaining submarine, causing a point of damage, and the Japanese Battleship which had been pretty quiet thusfar hit the sub for another point. The blasted Guardian Generator did a very good job protecting the Hood and the Agincourts. Speaking of the Hood, it finished off one of the Frigates, the other shots at my Battleship were off-mark or stopped by the shields. The Frigates managed another very good barrage against His Majesty's ship but just couldn't get past the blasted shields. Ten hits, five blocked! The Vanguard attempted a ram against my cruiser but neither ship was damaged.

Turn five was more misery for the Japanese - the Hood slowly turned about and wrecked both Frigates easily, finishing them off entirely. One War Cruiser had no choice but to collide with my Battleship, causing itself a point of damage. The Imperial Battleship pushed its way free of the British ship and blasted away at it, causing just one damage. Rockets were fired at the submarine but the AA gunners on that U-Boat earned their keep, preventing any damage.

The remaining sub lined up nicely and got shots at both my Battleship and Cruiser, getting a point of damage on the Battleship with its torpedoes. 

Turn six was mop-up for the British. With only two enemy ships to deal with it would be quick. The Hood caused a crit on my Battleship, a Hard Pounding and did one more damage to my cruiser with its torpedoes. My Torpedo Bombers which had finished re-arming swooped upon the last Vanguard and sent it to the bottom! The joy was short-lived as the Agincourts sent the last of my Cruisers to the bottom to join the submarines and the other cruisers of its squadron. With that, Japanese ran up the white flag and retreated.

What a beating! Although it looks like a miserable game from my side of the table, I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a blast. Gunships may be undercosted and Cruisers may be overcosted. Whatever, it was fun. Now I just need to convince him to throw some paint on those ships!