Age of Iridium Summary - After Action Report - 5/6

AGE OF IRIDIUM - After Action Report

The following is a turn by turn report of the Battle of New Vladivostok in AD
4343. Along with the narrative is an occasional commentary on the tactics of
both sides. A more general commentary will be sent as a separate message. I
hope you find the results interesting and entertaining.

The rest of this message assumes that you've read the scenario and universe
background, sent separately.

TURN 0 - Setup
After much debate as to the size and shape of the Nipponese minefield, it was
laid in the safe zone just inside the 160 line in two bands of 50 mines each.
Each mine was 2 inches apart and the second band of mines was 2 inches behind
the first.

What occurred next could best be described as signal confusion. A suggested
plan was to put one destroyer squadron just "north" of the minefield, with all
the other Nipponese ships below the south end of the minefield. The idea was
that the destroyers would be fast enough to escape the Tsarist fleet if they
were singled out, but could pounce on the Tsarist flank if they were ignored.
Unfortunately, this plan was misunderstood and the Nipponese fleet ended up
being disastrously split. To the north lay the two destroyer squadrons and a
cruiser squadron pointed due south. To the south sat the five capital ships
and 4 remaining cruisers aimed north. Before the battle had even begun, the
Nipponese were in trouble...

The Tsarists dropped through the jump point in a blob (that is an official
Tsarist fleet formation). Minesweepers covered most of the ships, with capital
ships making up the bulk of the blob's leading edge. The ships came through at
a nice safe, conservative speed of 10 with a heading of 2 (a heading of 0 (or
12) was straight north). This, by sheer coincidence, put the fleet aimed
straight at the northern portion of the minefield and towards the Nipponese
Northern fleet.

COMMENTARY - Both fleets made mistakes in their set up but by far the
Nipponese were in the worst shape. The fleet was split almost exactly in half,
thus running the risk of being defeated piecemeal. Even at top speed,
the Tsarists -- with their initial speed -- would hit the northern fleet
before the fleet could be reassembled.

One strategy that was talked about but never followed up had to do with
placing the Nipponese ships in the middle of a square minefield. This could
have been an interesting strategy, although it would have been somewhat
negated by the Tsarist minesweepers. Another opportunity missed by the
Nipponese was the chance to place their fleet (or part of it) in the 140 to
160 range band, thus giving them a starting velocity. The risk would have been
a 1 in 6 chance of taking one point of damage, but it would have allowed the
Nipponese to close much quicker with the Tsarists. This would also have
allowed the Nipponese to sit with the jump point (and the sun) to their back.
Any attempt to pass through them at high speed would have forced the Tsarists
to turn around inside the star's corona. Neither side used the star in any
tactical sense.

The Tsarists themselves had made a mistake, but it was minor. A quick check
indicated that it would be impossible for the entire Tsarist fleet --
given
their speed, heading, and position -- to escape the 120 range band in
one turn. This meant that most of the Tsarist fleet would take one point of
damage due to solar radiation.

TURN 1 - Maneuvers

The Nipponese, realizing that they were caught unawares by the Tsarists,
accelerate from a dead stop in the hope of bringing the fleet back together.
However, more communications problems occur and the fleet admiral fails to
issue orders for his own ships. Three Nipponese battleships sit idle as the
rest of the fleet speeds up. This would have serious repercussions later.

The Tsarists make the most of their predicament and endeavour to get the bulk
of the fleet out of the 120 band by turn 2.

COMMENTARY - Communication problems hamper an already difficult
Nipponese starting position. Two Tsarist players would also miss the turn (one
to give
up by turn 4 due to e-mail problems with only one late order submitted,
the other never to be heard from). These players were replaced by Scott Field
and Tom McCarthy, respectively (thanks guys!).

TURN 2 - More Maneuvers

The Nipponese realize that there is no chance to join the two fleets before
the Tsarists engage, so all but one destroyer squadron on the northern fleet
angles towards heading 5. This has the impact of confusing the Tsarists.

TURN 3 - Minefield Detected

By this point, active scans by the Tsarists indicate the edge of the Nipponese
minefield.

Meanwhile, the Nipponese northern fleet turns to port, with most of the ships
now at heading 4 and one destroyer squadron at heading 5. The truth sinks in
as the the speed of the Tsarist fleet is now evident. The northern fleet
desperately attempts to outrun the Tsarists in order to preserve SOMETHING of
the northern fleet.

TURN 4 - Achtung, Minen!

The Tsarists hit the minefield. Most of the nearby mines are swept or attack
the sweepers harmlessly, but a couple do damage. The Volga, the lead sweeper,
is damaged when it accidentally detonates a mine. The battleship Borodino also
takes damage when it finds itself outside of the protective range of the
sweepers. The Nipponese are dismayed as their strategy at least partially
hinged on the protection of the minefield.

The Nipponese fleet is now almost within range of the Tsarist capital ships.
It's obvious that while the destroyers might survive, the cruisers are in
trouble. The "every man for himself" order is given and the destroyers
accelerate to try and out run the Tsarists. A total of two mines are dropped
from minelaying cruisers this turn and next, but they would prove to be
inconsequential.

COMMENTARY - I'm not sure this is the correct tactic for the Nipponese.
A better tactic would probably have been to spin the entire Northern fleet
around and rush the Tsarist fleet. More on this next message.

TURN 5 - First Blood

More mines are swept, but Volga and Lena take 1 point of damage from mines.

The northern cruiser squadron swings to heading 6, presumably to block for the
Nipponese destroyers, which have only now matched speed with the Tsarists. The
southern cruiser squadron turns to heading 1. The Tsarists have now cleared
the minefield and are pointing towards heading 3 with the Nipponese destroyers
dead ahead and the Nipponese cruisers off their port bow.

The Nipponese cruisers are within short range of the Tsarists. The cruiser
Naniwa hits the destroyer Otchayanny, forcing her to strike her colours.
Osmotritelny takes heavy damage from the cruiser Chiyoda. Idzumi grazes the
destroyer Otlichnny, but beam and pulse torpedos from Kasagi breach her hull
and she explodes in a fireball.

The Tsarists' fire is first concentrated on the cruiser Naniwa. Oleg, Pallada,
Almaz, Ushakov, Svetlana, Donskoy, Novik, and Aurora all fire at Naniwa, with
only Donskoy and Aurora missing. However, Naniwa does not explode (her crew
does not strike) until she is hit by all four A beams of the Borodino.
Imperator Alexander VII and Sevastopol split their fire between the Kasagi and
the Chiyoda. The Kasagi explodes in a hail of debris, while the Osliabia
finishes off Chiyoda. A single submunition pack from Osliabia damages the
Idzumi and causes her to strike. The destroyer Ariake is raked by the Khalkin
Gol while the Orel fails to hit the Yugure.

The Nipponese managed to destroy one destroyer and cause another to strike her
colours, but they lose three cruisers to enemy fire and one strikes. In one
blow, the entire northern cruiser squadron is gone.

COMMENTARY - Combat was conducted sequentially, as per the Full Thrust
rules. If a ship was destroyed before it fired, it lost its fire for the turn.
Theoretically this made the Admiral's order of fire important but in this game
it had little bearing. The Nipponese tended to fire their biggest ships first
while the Tsarists fired their smallest. It added to the complexity of the
game, and put more work on the side's Admiral, but it did make for an
interesting turn result. I'm not sure the interesting result was worth the
extra work, though.

TURN 6 - Enter the Cavalry

The Nipponese destroyers Ushio, Yugure, and Ariake take long range hits from
four of the Tsarist battleships. All three lose internal systems but refuse to
strike.

More importantly, the Nipponese destroyers continue on a heading of 4. The
Tsarists swing towards heading five in a single mass of ships, having
effectively kept themselves between the northern and southern fleets.

The Nipponese southern fleet turns towards the enemy. The cruiser squadron
turns to heading 2 to cross the Tsarist's "T" while the smaller of the two
battleship squadrons turn to heading 1. The rest of the battleships, being one
turn behind the rest of the southern fleet, continues due north. In the rush
to regroup the entire task force, the southern fleet has guaranteed that it
will engage the enemy one squadron at a time.

A new ship, the Osaka, heads towards the southern fleet. She's one of the new,
advanced Kyoto Class Battleships. With a mass of 50 and speed of 5, she has
the same gun configuration as the Fuji but includes enhanced sensors.

The destroyer Osmotritelny breaks from the fleet in order to place a prize
crew onboard the Idzumi. The struck destroyer Otchayanny continues to follow
the Nipponese destroyer fleet as per the orders of her new "owners."

TURN 7 - The Giants Clash

The Tsarist fleet turns to heading 4 to catch the second cruiser squadron in a
broadside, but this maneuver puts the battlehships Asama and Shikishima in
their rear arc. Nasty fire hits the cruiser Akashi and she strikes her
colours. Horrendous fire from the Tsarist cruisers rain down on the Suma. The
Khalkin Gol assists with fire from her A batteries.

The battleship Asama returns fire on the Khalkin Gol, hitting her with both
pulse torpedoes. The Tsarist battleship strikes her colours! The Shikishima
fires on the Osliabia.

The remaining Tsarist cruisers concentrate on the cruiser Takachiho. Her hull
collapses after taking additional fire from the Borodino and Imperator
Alexander VII. The other Tsarist battleships fire on the Yoshino, causing her
drive to explode, killing all onboard. The Nipponese have now lost all of
their cruisers either to damage or striking.

COMMENTARY - This is when the Admiral's missing orders from turn 1
affect the Nipponese. Asama and Shikishima engage the Tsarists while the other
three battleships are one turn behind. If they had been together, damage to
the Tsarists would have been greater and might have been decisive.

TURN 8 - The Tsarists Split

The bulk of the Tsarist fleet continues on a course of 4, but the destroyers
break off and turn towards heading 1. The Asama and Shikishima follow the main
Tsarist force on heading 4 but the Nipponese destroyers break away to heading
7. The rest of the Nipponese battleships turn to heading 3. The struck
battleship Khalkin Gol makes her ponderous turn to port, one heading point at
a time. Idzumi becomes an official part of the Tsarist fleet with the boarding
of a prize crew.

Both sides fire their battleships first. The Tsarists concentrate on the
destroyers and battleship Asama while the Nipponese continue to work on the
Osliabia. The destroyer Shirakumo is destroyed by the Orel, Borodino causes
the Sazanami to strike.

Fire from the Fuji, Asama, and Shikishima cause the battleship Osliabia to
strike, but not before all of the Tsarist battleships except for the Kursk
heavily damage the Asama. She strikes her colours.

The destroyer Shinome explodes only after being shot at by all of the Tsarist
battleships and cruisers, defeating the odds and drawing fire away from other
ships. It was one point of damage from the final cruiser, Svetlana, that did
her in. Most of the ships firing on the Shinome also fired on the battleship
Shikishima, damaging her badly but not causing her to strike.

COMMENTARY - At this point the writing was most assuredly on the wall in
indelible ink. The Nipponese had four battleships unscathed to the Tsarists'
five, but they had no cruisers and only some of their destroyers.
Interestingly, the cruisers in this battle were proving to be decisive.

TURN 9 - New Arrivals

Another Nipponese reinforcing squadron arrives, consisting of two Hokkaido
class cruisers and four Taira class frigates. These are fast ships, each with
beams and pulse torpedoes, but they would have no real effect on the battle.

The Tsarist main body turned to heading five. The Tsarist destroyers angled
back to heading four. The Nipponese battleships continued straight ahead, but
the destroyers were finally in a position of relative security behind the
battleships and on a heading of 10.

Unfortunately, the Shikishima was now well out in front of ALL the other
Nipponese ships and paid the price. Combined fire from the rear guns of all of
the Tsarist battleships destroyed her. Fuji managed to destroy the destroyer
Osmotritelny.

TURN 10 - Insult to Injury

The Nipponese destroyers -- apparently not having learned their lesson
--
split up, with half going to heading 1 and the others going to heading
7.
The battleships continued on towards heading 3.

The Tsarist main body continues to loop around, turning to heading 7, but the
escorts continue on heading 4.

The Nipponese ships Asama, Akashi, and Sazanami are all boarded and now fly
the Tsarist colours. To add insult to injury, now that there are no longer any
Nipponese ships within range, the Khalkin Gol and Osliabia refly their
colours, though morale on both ships is low (the are now more prone to
striking). All ships were out of weapon range this turn.

COMMENTARY - Once again, the split battleship problem haunts the
Nipponese. No ships are within range of the struck Tsarists, so they refly
their
colours and re-enter the battle.

TURN 11 - The Better Part of Valour

The Tsarist ships continue their clockwise loop. The destroyers swing to
heading 7 while the rest of the fleet turns to heading 9.

With the Khalkin Gol and Osliabia now part of the fleet, the Nipponese lose
all hope of victory and decide to attempt an orderly withdrawal. The
battleships turn to heading 1, half the destroyers turn to heading 12 and the
remaining destroyers turn to heading 10. The new mixed squadron turns to
heading 1 on the other side of the minefield. The Fuji fires on the destroyer
Bystry with three points of damage being the final damage of the battle.

TURN 12 - Disengage

The Tsarists continue to loop around behind the Nipponese, who are now fleeing
on heading 12 (except for the new squadron which continues on an intercept
course of heading 1 as it clears the 140 range band).

Tsarist reinforcements show up as a mixed cruiser/frigate squadron
clears the 120 range band. The Nipponese disengage from enemy weapon range. By
mutual consent, the battle is over.