Broadsides at ShireCon

Broadsides  at ShireCon.

This weekend saw R and I in Sydney to play in the Broadsides: Empires of Steel tournament at ShireCon.
Two matches a day made for a  well paced but  relaxed two games of games.

Game One

Game one for  me was against R's French fleet.

Opening moves. Both fleets engage in long ranged gunnery, while the Royal Navy destroyers swig wide to try to get to the French battleship,  but they are well protected by the cruiser screen.

Coming under ineffective fire, HMS Thunderer finds her range and starts to smash the French fleet with her ten gun 13.5 inch broadsides.

Very quickly  HMS Superb added her 12 inch guns to the onslaught and the French fleet collapsed under the weight of the incoming fire. A win to the Royal Navy!

Game Two

Game two was against B and his Ottoman Empire fleet. The Ottomans had an dated number  of ships, but were supported by a submarine and two fortifications with Very Big guns indeed. The given mission for this game was akin to having to run the Dardanelles...and like the historical events, things did not go well for the Royal Navy.

I tried to run the gauntlet between the two forts (with their very big guns) and got hit by everything B could throw at me. It only sort of worked. I managed to get out with only three ships left. So a loss to me.
Photo- HMS Bristol puts out a smoke screen to shield the armoured cruiser from the big guns of the fort.

Game Three

First game of day two. I had to contend with elements of S and his German High Seas Fleet. Somewhere ahead, there is also a minefield.

I probably stated things poorly, not paying attention and sequencing my activations badly, meaning the HMS Thunderer took a while to get a clear line fire on the enemy battle line.

Things went from bad to worse. The German accurate and heavy guns found range on Superb on tern one and sent her to the bottom the next.

My lead destroyers ran into the minefield and then had to run the gauntlet of German screening ships. Only one fish reached its target but only light damaged the battle cruiser SMS Hindenburg.

HMS Bristol is alone and has no option but to ready the guns and torpedos and charge to her doom.

From there the rest of my fleet was quickly reduced to burning and sinking wreckage, with only two armoured cruisers limping away. This time a total loss to me, having only inflicted some superficial damage on the German battleships.

Game Four

the last game of the event was to be an open sea battle against the French, this time against the very capable C (who joked that it was a Trafalgar rematch, a comparison he may soon regret ).

The two fleets engage. The RN (bottom) dreadnaughts are closely screened by the cruisers while the destroyer flotilla on the left starts their run towards the French battle wagons. The French fleet (top) splits into two  attack  groups. The battleships with a single escort heads left, while the destroyers and cruisers drive directly towards my dreadnaughts.

My destroyer flotilla turns hard to starboard and begins it's run at the French battle line, who are in turn taking fire from the RN dreadnaughts.

The French battleships Paris and Jean Bart, try to take evasive action to throw off the incoming heavy  fire and destroyers. Jean Bart receives a hit to her steering and now cannot maneuver and now is the main target for the incoming torpedo attack.  The French answer with devastating defensive fire, sending all the plucky destroyers to the bottom, but not before they get their fish away. One torpedo finds its mark on the stricken Jean Bart who now is nothing but a burning and sinking wreak. Intime the RN will range in on the remaining Paris and shatter her with repeated 13.5 inch broadsides.

Meanwhile, in the centre, the French destroyers and cruisers closed in towards my dreadnaughts. I hit one of the cruisers in the magazine but do little damage. Curses!

The charge of the French cruisers and destroyers gets increasingly kinetic. Screening the dreadnaughts, armour cruiser HMS Leviathan, starts laying in defensive fire and miraculously dodges multiple torpedoes. She is joined by the other armoured cruiser, HMS Achilles, and send the French destroyers to the bottom. HMS Thunderer and Superb smash the remaining ships with their main guns.

Britannia still rules the waves! (At least for now…)

Aftermath

Broadsides: Empires of Steel is one of my favourite miniatures game. Play goes at a good pace and in both winning and  loosing a great deal of fun was had. Yes  it is a long way to go to Sydney for a few games, but ShireCon was a good event (with super cheep food options). What I should do is see if I can get some more Broadsides games happening in Canberra.