Preparing for DANG 2019

We finished up voting for my yearly naval game: DANG (Dave's Annual Naval Game) and for this year's game the voters selected The King’s Ships were at Sea (the game title is based on James Goldrick's book title). The mini campaign will cover naval operations in the North Sea from November 1914 through January 1915. This basically covers the timeframe of German raids on the British coast through the Battle of Dogger Bank.

German battlecruisers at the Battle Dogger Bank by Willie Stoewer (from britishbattles.com)

Each side will have missions to complete each month and some options for arranging their forces. I will make up my own operational rules covering the different missions, random events, and set up for tactical battles (which I often do for DANG games). I haven’t decided which rules to use for the tactical battles yet. I’m thinking about GQ3 Fleet Action Imminent, which would be more interested if there are fewer battles, and David Manley’s Si Vis Pacem, which would provide for quicker resolution of battles. I’ll talk it over with a few people to see what they think.

For the ships, I looked around at several options, include Navwar (1/3000), Panzerschiffe (1/2400), and War Times Journal (1/3000 or 1/2400). War Times Journal ships are 3D printed and while there is a decent selection of ships, they did not have all the ships I wanted for the game. Navwar seemed like a good option, having all the ships needed, but I didn’t want to take the time to mail in my order (or deal with setting up a fax), so I decided to pass. That left me with Panzerschiffe and the order was made through their website. The ships arrived in a timely manner and I've started painting them up.

ship painting in progress

I'll post more ship photos when I finish them.

I think it will be a pretty interesting game with two or three good battles. But the players often have their own ideas about things should play out. I’m sure we will get at least one good battle.

DANG started in 2002 and this is DANG XVIII (eighteen). Here are links to recaps of DANG from before 2010, the 2010 Lepanto game, the 2011 American Civil War river game, the 2012 War of 1812 Lake Ontario game, the 2013 Operation Landcrab game, the 2014 Cogs of War game, 2015 The Shores of Tripoli game, 2016 The Big Stick game, 2017 Seastrike game, and last year's Siege of Charleston game.