Game Report: Sand and Fish 22nd October 1904

Aboard the Borodino, 0545 local time

The Admiral had been very clear, no vessels of any sort were to get among the fleet. After being shadowed for days by enemy cruisers, and dodging a minefield just before dusk, it was clear the Japanese were here, and that an attack was inevitable. Even one torpedo could send any ship in the 2nd Pacific Squadron to the bottom of the ocean. The mood on board was tense, the crew surly. Rumours and minor acts of insubordination were running rampant, and the Captain was concerned how he was going to keep morale up for the rest of their journey. 

He was just about to leave the bridge and get a few hours sleep when he saw a signal lamp flashing. "Sir, the Kamchatka is reporting she's being attacked!" the rating manning the signal station shouted. "Torpedo boats!" 

So it had begun.

The Setup

This game saw part of the Russian fleet, 10 warships and 2 supply ships, facing an attack by unknown numbers of Japanese torpedo boats during their long voyage from their bases in the Baltic to join the fight in the Pacific theatre, in the hours before dawn in an area littered with sandbanks and minefields. Their objective was simple, survive until dawn when visibility would improve sufficiently to allow them to drive off the attackers. Sinking any of the enemy would clearly be beneficial too. 

To complicate matters, each Captain had to roll on a table of potential traits, and each vessel had to roll on a quirk table, most of the effects were at least inconvenient, if not outright unhelpful. Each vessel had a panic statistic, high panic levels leading to various unpleasant effects, which was impacted by events on the table, traits of the ship or captain and random event cards that each turn each vessel had to draw. These had various possible effects, from simple shifts in panic levels to rumours on board to malfunctions of various levels of severity. Players also had to plot their movement orders in advance, by a single turn by default, but traits and cards could increase that, just to add further fog of war to the game. 

We used the Perfidious Albion rules from A&A Game Engineering (with some tweaks), and the models used are from Tumbling Dice's Age of Battleships range.

The Russian fleet consisted of:

Borodino - Captain trait: Precise (+10% chance to hit for any turret commanded by captain), Ship trait: "My father shall hear of this" - Noble first officer (increased chance of order misinterpretation)

Imperator Nikolai I - Captain trait: Fine Mustache (No effect), Ship trait: "My father shall hear of this"

Aurora - Captain trait: Heartless (decreased chance of quelling shipboard unrest), Ship trait: Jittery crew (chance of increased panic level increase under any panic circumstance) 

Retvisan - Captain trait: Calm under fire (chance to ignore panic level increases), Ship trait: Doom merchant (Minimum panic level increased by 1)

Sissoi Veliki - Captain trait - Fine mustache, Ship trait: Steering issues (small chance to end up stuck travelling in a particular direction)

Imperator Alexander III - Captain trait - Veteran (need to plot orders a further turn ahead), Ship trait: Doom merchant

Admiral Seniavin - Captain trait: Calm under fire, Ship trait Telegraph Issues (must plot orders an additional turn ahead)

Tsesarevich - Captain trait: Veteran, Ship trait: "My father shall hear of this"

Oslyabya - Captain trait: Calm under fire, Ship trait: Gunnery issues (Chance of turret failing randomly each turn)

Zhemchug - Captain trait: Precise, Ship trait: Unreliable searchlight (Chance of searchlight failing each turn)

SS Mersey - Captain trait: Fine mustache, Ship trait: Doom merchant

San Pablo - Captain trait: Heir to nobility (must plot orders an additional turn in advance), Ship trait: This thing works how? (random modification to any ranging estimates)

The Game

The Russian fleet steaming along as the attack begins

The Russians began in a loose line abreast, with the unarmed merchant vessels, being deemed of least value by the players, forming the flanks. In the first turn the Russians put great efforts into spotting potential incoming threats, soon identifying a minefield in their path. For some of the ships, especially those who needed to plot orders several turns in advance, this caused a degree of consternation. To further complicate matters, the Sissoi Veliki's steering failed, putting her into a slow port turn for the next few turns.

A minefield is sighted ahead, the first sure sign of enemy activity

In the gloom a Japanese torpedo boat was sighted, and every vessel able to do so opened fire on her, but even the concentrated firepower of the fleet was unable to prevent their adversary launching a spread of torpedoes. 

Waterspouts from falling shells surround the enemy vessel, as the ominous trails of torpedoes are sighted

Having launched its deadly payload, the torpedo boat slunk back into the fog bank, unfortunately for her, the prying eyes of Russian searchlights soon found her, even as vessels frantically maneuvered to avoid the incoming torpedoes. Their efforts were rewarded as no hits were achieved.

The enemy slinks away as the Russian vessels struggle to escape the spread of fish heading toward them

With the torpedo boat once again sighted, the Russian fleet again opened fire. Unfortunately, the Borodino's range finder had malfunctioned (thanks to an unlucky card draw), and instead of bracketing the torpedo boat, the guns of one of the most powerful Russian vessels in the game instead found themselves aiming at the Oslyabya, which rapidly lost one of her funnels, one of her turrets and a couple of minor guns, narrowly avoiding a catastrophic magazine explosion, while a small fire broke out on board.

The Borodino's mighty armament smashes into her sister at point blank range

As this drama played out, another torpedo boat was sighted, and took fire from several warships at point blank range, with several hits being claimed. Again, however, the vessel was able to discharge its torpedo tubes. 

The spread, however, proved poorly judged and missed all the Russian vessels in the area as the torpedo boat slunk away. In the next turn, Russian crews sighted several small areas of mines and at least one more spread of torpedoes heading their way, with vessels criss-crossing one another's wakes, collision being only narrowly avoided in some cases. To compound their difficulties, many vessels were struck with additional malfunctions, or rumours spreading onboard, ranging from torpedo strikes to Japanese boarding parties. Several vessels also faced crew strikes or outbreaks of revolutionary fervour, the Captain of the Aurora in particular making a particularly brutal example of the would be revolutionaries.

Mines and torpedoes from unseen assailants dog the Russian fleet, as confusion abounds.

Once again, the torpedo spreads proved unable to hit their targets, whether through frantic Russian maneuvering or poor dice rolls, and Russian persistence in sweeping the seas for targets was rewarded when another vessel was spotted, and moments after she launched her torpedoes she received the attention of all Russian vessels able to see her, virtually vanishing behind a wall of shell splashes.

The Japanese vessel is pummeled with fire, the Russian fleet determined to survive the night giving everything they have

Once again the Japanese torpedoes appeared cursed, but the presence of the weapons, the proximity of the enemy and some unlucky card draws led the crew of the Retvisan to panic, opening fire at random in all directions, hitting the Borodino, the SS Mersey and the enemy torpedo boat, which was also under fire from other Russian ships. 

As the Retvisan fires at anything it can sight, the majority of the Russian fleet concentrates on the Japanese torpedo boat

In the last turn, the Japanese vessels managed to slink out of sight, and the game was drawn to an end with dawn. The Russians were left to lick their wounds, and wonder how effective their attacks on the Japanese had been, but overall they were clearly pleased to have not lost a single vessel, with only a handful damaged, and only one to any serious degree.

It was at this point, that the players were informed that their efforts had resulted in the deaths of at least 2 fishermen, and wounding several more, which caused perhaps the greatest level of confusion of the game. For the reality was, there were no foes, no minefields and no torpedoes, all game the Russians had been firing at British fishing vessels, sinking one, crippling another and damaging a third. 

This game was inspired by the Dogger Bank Incident where the Russian fleet sailing to the Pacific opened fire on British fishing vessels. While less dramatic in reality (and killing only two Russians rather than the 20-35 who died in this game), the confusion levels and chaos felt true to reality. I did have to promise the players that the next game would include two sides consisting of actual combatants. Perhaps I'll even actually deliver.