Back to the Narrow Seas

I'm still trying to take advantage of the good weather for some outdoor lawn gaming. On Saturday a small group of us had the chance to get together to play a coastal forces action. We used David Manley's Narrow Seas rules (available on Wargame Vault) with the 1/300 scale ships (from Warlord Games Cruel Seas line). This gave me a chance to get my Kriegsfischkutters (KFKs) and Räumbootes (R-boats) on the table. On the other side were Bill's six Vosper Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs).  

Bill's nicely painted 73' Vospers (with 4 torpedo tubes) and 72.5' Vospers

The scenario was a basic convoy attack by the six British MTBs. The convoy had three small merchants escorted by two KFKs and two R-boats.

British target for tonight

I was the only person that had played the rules before, so things started out a little slow as the players got their sea legs. We used the spotting rules, but didn't hide the ships at the start of the game (that will change your playing experience, but I like having the miniatures out at the start). Once the British spotted the merchants, they increased speed and began launching torpedoes.

The Vosper launches torpedoes (this is after the boat movement, but before torpedo movement)

The convoy began to take evasive action, while the escorts moved to engage the MTBs.

Merchants trying to comb the torpedo wake

Torpedo hit!

The Royal Navy had some success early on, getting a torpedo hit on a merchant (stopping it dead in the water, but not sinking it) and a bridge hit on an R-boot that would force it to head off the map. 

The MTBs enjoying their early success

But then things went a little cold for them. The German merchants continued to maneuver to dodge torpedoes and move around the damaged merchant. 

Merchants maneuvering

The little KFKs then got into action and started to make an impact with their 37mm guns and, in a lucky case, ramming and sinking an MTB.

a KFK blasting away at an MTB

Once their torpedoes were gone, the MTBs broke off the action. With the sides disengaged, we looked at the damage done. Most of the MTBs and escorts had taken some damage. The Germans had one merchant wrecked and dead in the water and the British lost three MTBs. So we gave the Germans the edge in the battle.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and liked how the rules played out. I expect we'll see more coastal force actions in the future.