Shipwreck - Dutch Sub Hunting!

James and I got together for a game of Shipwreck  Sunday afternoon. He had a 1960's era scenario he wanted to try out, and it doesn't take much convincing to get me to play.

I ended up in command of a Dutch ASW task force consisting of the Karel Doorman (CVL), two Holland-class DDs, two Friesland-class DDs, the Zeven Provincen (CLG) and the Poolster (AOR). My orders were, in short, to seek out and destroy Soviet submarines. The scenario was set in 1965 in the North Atlantic.

James had a Tu-95 Bear recon plane flying in circles and two Foxtrot-class subs sneaking about. I had two S-2 maritime patrol aircraft (orange circles) in the air as well as two helos to begin with.

With no surface vessels about, radar was activated on all of my vessels. The S-2s dropped some sonobuoys to make finding those subs a bit easier. My ships had not trouble picking up the Soviet plane.

A very fortunate detection right off the bat - one of the subs is located.

I send all four available S-2s over to it as a greeting party. The torpedoes fail to make an impression.

Turn 3 - The other sub, which has had a nice string of luck closing on the carrier looses two torpedoes at the Doorman. It is swiftly set upon by ASW aircraft.

But at the same time, three Tu-16 bombers arrived. Two F-4 Phantoms moved to intercept but were unsuccessful. The bombers each released two AS-1 missiles. A Terrier SAM killed one of the incoming missiles, as did a 57mm gun.

Moments later, more gunfire kills two more missiles. One small gun accidentally hits the AOR and two six-inch shells from the cruiser hit the carrier as they miss their intended targets. Damage was minor. One of the two massive rockets hits the waves a hundred meters short of the carrier but the other slams low into the hull, causing a massive eruption that splits the mighty ship in half.

The Karel Doorman sinks quickly. The torpedoes at least have no target!

A small consolation - the ASW aircraft get a torpedo on the first sub and sink it.

What happens to ship readouts when boats go bang.

The following turn, the aircraft converge on the remaining submarine and kill it with another torpedo hit. The F-4s pursue the Tu-95 and chase it off with a close AIM-7 shot. 

With that, the Dutch turned back south. I landed three helicopters on the AOR. The other would have to ditch.

 
James was unfortunate to not have his surface vessels available until turn 6 - the game was done by turn 5. Still, he got the win for sinking the carrier. I got a positive draw for sinking two subs (my primary objective) but failed to keep the CV operable. It was a neat game - crappy old technology and submarines make for an interesting pair. I know most people collect more modern ships but old gunships make for a very worthwhile game, I certainly recommend them!

Thanks for reading!