All Sorry that I have not found the time to post anything earlier about the conference until now. It is a long story that I will touch on at a later time. But to give you all an idea of what we have experienced so far. Thursday, we had three battlers in attendence. Tom (site owner) was there as well, but did not battle. Roland had his Bismarck. Phil had his Montcalm, and Tourville. And I had Strasbourg, Hood, and Prinz Eugen. Fleet battle #1 Bismarck against Montcalm, and Strasbourg. No sinks, or penalties. So the battle ended in a tie. Fleet battle #2 Hood against Bismarck, and Tourville. No sinks, or penalties. So the battle ended in a tie. We were thinking about having a third fleet battle, but I was working on the Lutzow, while Phil, and Roland worked on Roland's PBY Catalina flying boat. They eventually got it on the water, and taxied it around. It was very cool. Mark dropped in with his brand new Roanoke light cruiser, and ran some sea trials with her. That is one great looking ship. The weather was great (although a little warm), and we all had a great time running, and battling the boats. And also working on a few new boats, and the Catalina. I will post on Friday's stuff soon. Mikey
Friday (morning battle). I decided to run the Prinz Eugen on Friday. Roland was running his Bismarck. And Phil was running his French heavy cruiser Tourville. We discussed a free-for-all. Which sounded fun to me. But in the end Phil took on the two Germans with his Frenchie. It was great fun chasing the Tourville around. I still had a pair of 75 round bow cannons in the P.E. (as I had not found the time to make any changes to the original set-up), and she turns really well for a cruiser of that size, so the cannons come around nicely in a turn. I have one cannon set up for fairly long range (perhaps 12 feet), and the other cannon set up somewhat closer (perhaps 8 feet). So I was able to just chase the Tourville around take whatever shots he was willing to give me. Late in the first sortie, the Tourvilles drive, and pump battery started to drop off, and she started slowing down, and the two Germans were able to actually catch the wiley Frenchie, and work her over pretty good. But Phil had already been on five-minutes for a while, and we were not able to sink him. In the second sortie, Phil appeared to try to get rid of his ammo rather quickly, so that he could call 5. Probably because he was carrying around a lot of damage from the first sortie. And although the two Germans chased him around, and added some more damage to him, we were not really able to come to grips with him and finish him off, as he was slightly faster than both of us. But it was great fun shooting him up. Especially after all of the frustration he has cause us in the past battles when he has been able to serve up lots of damage on us, while taking very little. After the battle was over, Phil asked us (Germans) if we were happy with ourselves for shooting his cruiser up. And we both agreed that we were. So the battle ended as a tie. Mark showed up with his Roanoke as the battle was winding down, and was able to see Phil being chased all over the pond. Mikey
Friday (afternoon battle). Mark put his brand new Roanoke on the water for some short sea trials, and decided to send his new warship in harm's way. So we now had Bismarck, Tourville, Roanoke, and Prinz Eugen. We decided to have the Roanoke run with the Bismarck against the Tourville, and P.E. Bismarck has all of his cannons off of the sides. Tourville has one cannon in the bow, and one in the stern. Roanoke has a pair of stern cannons. And P.E. has a pair of bow cannons. This all made for a very interesting, and fun battle. Our game plan was to concentrate on the Bismarck for the most part, and simply fend off the Roanoke, so that we could plaster the big German. This seemed to work out pretty well, as anytime the Roanoke came snooping around, one of us would turn to engage her. At which point, she would either cut through the middle of the battle in hopes of enticing one of us to give chase, so that she could utilize her twin stern guns, or she would turn away and present us with a solid stern to shoot at. I took the bait as often as not, as I like a good challenge. But it was for the most part an exercise in futility, as Mark didn't give me much to shoot at very often, and if I got too aggresive, or sloppy, I was facing a pair of stern cannons. It was kinda like having a tiger by the tail. When you were finally able to get ahold of him, you weren't sure just how to let go. After a few rather unsuccesful attempts at chasing him off, I decided to keep off the grass (so to speak), and only try to engage him when he didn't see me coming. So it was back to shooting at the Bismarck, which was much more profitable, as we almost couldn't miss him. I could almost say that I probably hit the Bismarck more by accident, than I hit the Roanoke on purpose. The Tourville seemed to do well against the Roanoke, but he has cannons on both ends. Towards the end of the second sortie, my P.E. was pretty shot up, and was pumping steadily, and running seemed to make it worse. So I called my 5-minutes, and tried to sit still over by the cove. Bismarck kept coming in after me, which would then draw in the Tourville, which was trying to protect me. Then Phil got in too close to shore, and it looked like the Tourville was going to get hung up on some reeds. Bismarck came swooping in for the kill, and ran firmly aground. The big German was hung up on a rock, and had a pretty good list to one side, and although the pump was working. It acted as if it couldn't draw up a good flow. So the Bismarck settled deeper in the water. All three cruiser were on 5, but Roland was pretty sure that he could get the Bismarck un-stuck, so he wouldn't call 5. He eventually was able to back off the rock after a couple/few minutes, but stayed in the cove after all of the other ships were off of their 5, and as several of the spectator gathered around to witness the death throws of the pride of the German navy, he allowed her to sink by the shore-line to their amazement. A very fun battle with lots of bitter fighting. We had another brand new ship enter the combat. Mark was able to not only survive his first battle with his new ship, but did quite a lot of damage to both enemy cruisers. All of the battlers had lots of fun. And the spectators were tickled as well. What more can one ask for? How about another new ship on the water for the first time, running sea trials. Phil launched his P-cruiser, and ran some sea trials. It was indeed a great day. Mikey
Saturday (morning battle). When I got to the battle site on Saturday morning, I was tickled to see that Jeff C. (an old hand from our MBG days), and his cousin Kevin had arrived. The Lutzow was not battle ready yet, so Kevin ran the trusty old Strasbourg, and Jeff ran the Hood. The P.E. is just finicky enough still that I am hesitant to loan her out at this point. So I would be running her again. Eric (NO-BULL) Noble was present, with his German battleship Markgraf. Roland had had to head out towards Toledo for a family wedding after the battling on Friday. I had informed him that as a ship's captain, he had the power to marry folks himself, but it appears that his family members were not impressed, so I dropped it at that. Oh well. I had to try. So anyhow. On to the battle. There were two German ships. P.E., and Markgraf. There were two allied ships. Hood, and Roanoke. And there were two frenchies. Strasbourg, and Tourville. So the teams were allies against axis, with a Frenchie on both sides. Hood, and Roanoke, would get the Tourville (Phil). Markgraf, and P.E. would get the Strasbourg (Kevin). At the very start of the battle the Strasbourg and the Hood tore into each other as the meat of the battle, with the Markgraf following that melee (by cutting the corners), and the cruisers picking up the scraps that fell off that table, on the one hand, and chasing each other around taking shots of opportunity, on the other. After several minutes of very brutal fighting, the Hood was getting low in the water, with a slight list, and not pumping out a lot of water. It was suggested to Jeff that he should bring the Hood closer to shore, which he did, with a close escort comprised of the Strasbourg, and Markgraf. There was not need to call 5, as it was obvious that the Hood was going to sink very shortly, and so the cannons on all three ships kept up a steady and withering fire until the Hood's stern went under. The Hood was retrieved, and the battle continued, but at a different pace, as the two allied cruisers could out-run the Markgraf, Strasbourg, and P.E, and faught a running-gun battle. The sortie ended with all of the remaining ships surviving. Upon inspection. It was found that the nihm pack for the auto-turn-on circuit in the Hood was bad. I had not been able to find the time before the event to cycle all of my batteries, and time them (which is my standard practice). So a replacement battery was installed. The on, and below the waterline hits were patched, and the Hood was allowed back in for the second sortie. The battling in the second sortie was totally different. It seemed like the allied cruisers stayed closer to the Hood in the early stages of the sortie, and concentrated on the Strasbourg mainly, and the P.E., while trying to avoid letting the Markgraf keep up with the battle. I took several glancing hits in the extreme bow, that were just above the water-line, from the Roanoke, and Tourville, fairly early in the sortie, and had to be content with the occasional pot-shot after that, as I was not able to keep up with the pace of the battle, and was only able to take part when the battle came to me. As the sortie started to wind down, the Markgraf lost control, and called 5 (out of control), and the Hood was able to extract at least some revenge on her. But all of the ships survived their 5 minutes. So the axis team had scored a decisive victory by sinking the Hood. A very fast-paced, and fun battle indeed. Mikey
Saturday (after-noon battle). Phil had been able to get his P-cruiser ready for combat, so he decided to throw her into the after-noon battle. So now we had three German ships. Markgraf, P-cruiser, and P.E. So the Germans decided to take on the world fleet, made up of the Hood, Roanoke, and Strasbourg. Phil and I decided to opperate as a fast cruiser squadron, independently of the Markgraf, but in support of her, if the situation required us to stay close by. So at the start of the sortie, we concentrated on the two allied capitalships, in order to soften them up so that the Markgraf would have a better chance of dealing with them. The Roanoke kept running interference for them, and on quite a few occasions I found myself breaking off from the main objective, and having to migrate back to the main battle. It was like having a mosquito buzzing around your head. You can ignore if for a while. But sooner (or later), you have just gotta take a swat at it. This was a two sortie battle, and there no sinks. All of the capital-ships got shot up pretty good. The cruisers less-so. There were no sinks or penalties. So the battle ended in a tie. But it was great seeing the P-cruiser out there on the water, and in a battle for the first time ever. And having her as a running-mate was nice too. She is fast, and turns well for a ship her size. And she has lots of survivability, room, and weight. Scott and his father-in-law (Gary) made it in from Indiana. Scott brought the V.U., and although it was not battle-ready, he was able to get it on the water for some sea-trials, and photos. He had it looking really nice, and he also had a very interesting pump installed in her as well as a new auto-pump circuit. I look forward to seeing how this build progresses. We also had some of the local folks that are interested in seeing what we do drop in and hang out discussing the combat, and boats in general. Some of the kids were able to drive some of the boats around the pond, and they seemed tickled by that. Gary was feeling somewhat under-the-weather, and he and Scott had to head back to Indiana. Tom got the grill out and soon there was hotdogs, and burgers being devoured by all. We had a couple/few short rain showers, but the bad weather held out, and we got the boats turned around for another battle. Mikey
Saturday (late after-noon battle). We had a one-sortie battle this time. The teams were the same as the last battle. Hood, Roanoke, and Strasbourg, against Markgraf, P.E., and P-cruiser. I spent most of the sortie chasing after the Roanoke, without a lot to show for it, except for some nasty glancing damage in the bow of the Prinz Eugen. I was able to get some nice hits on the pesky American cruiser when he seemed occupied with one of my running mates though, so that was nice. The P-cruiser was everywhere, but seemed as comfortable taking part in the capitalship dual, as he was in chasing down the Roanoke. The Hood and Strasbourg kept the Markgraf pretty busy, but were not able to cripple her, and the sortie ended with the Hood being the last ship on the water with ammo. Nobody sank. So the battle was a tie. But it sure was fun. Bat was able to drop in for a while to lend a hand getting ships in (and out) of the water, and pal around with everyone. Sadly enough though. His Dunkerque was not battle ready. Some of the folks brought out some of their planes, and Tom and a couple others helped get them in the air. So it was really nice watching the airplanes fly around. Karen (my wife) was able to bring Marina and Vance out late in the day. They found a surprise waiting for them when they arrived. Tom's dogs had a litter of 11 puppies, and they are absolutely adhorable. I am not sure what they are. Border collies, or something like that. But they always come out to greet us when we arrive. And some of us (I won't mention any names), (ROLAND), always brings them treats. They have pretty much become our groups mascots. The family was able to get in a little fishing in between sorties, and Marina caught a really nice bass. The girls had to head back to the old homestead, but Vance decided to hang out with the boaters. We started getting his Hood turned around for the battles on Sunday, but he decided that he wanted to take the Prinz Eugen out instead. It sure was a great day for a R/C event. Mikey
Sunday (morning battle). The first battle was allies against the axis. I was running the Hood, with Mark's Roanoke. We were up against Eric's Markgraf, Phil's P-cruiser, and Vance in the Prinz Eugen. My strategy was to stay away from the Markgraf, simply because although I could out-run her, that little German battleship is very hard to hit. She turns very well, and just doesn't show a lot of target area. I planned to fend off the Prinz Eugen, as this was Vance's first time running a non-capital-ship, and I know from experience, that bow cannons would probably not sink either of us. Unless one of us went out of control, or something like that. Now Phil's P-cruiser was something different. Even though I could out-run, or out-turn it. I did feel that I would be able to obtain hits on it fairly well. And if I could get enough hits to hurt it, I might be able to slow it down and sink it. I would opperate independently of the Roanoke unless one of us needed assistance. So although I lost track of what the Roanoke was up to for the most part. It appears that she also concentrated on the P-cruiser mainly, and the Prinz Eugen a little. I went after the P-cruiser right from the beginning, and tried to avoid getting anywhere near the Markgraf, but the Prinz Eugen followed the Hood around like a trusty old hound dog, and Vance wasn't excercising any ammo management. So I was getting pounded by the stern cannon on the P-cruiser on the one hand, and by the twin bow cannons on the Prinz Eugen on the other. But I tried to keep up the pressure on the P-cruiser, while taking only the occasional shots at P.E., just to try to keep him at arm's length. I think the P.E. was possibly the first ship out of ammo. So now I didn't have Vance hot on my heels. But as the sortie went on, Phil seemed to stay closer to the Markgraf, so now Eric was always following me around, trying to bring his bow side-mount into play. When the P-cruiser went on 5, she was not in any noticable danger of sinking, so I decided to let her go, and deal with the Markgraf. It wasn't long before Eric had exhausted all of his ammo (mostly into the Hood), and I had used up most of the ammo in my front turrets (mostly shooting big holes in the water near the Markgraf), and Eric decided to call 5, and run for it. So I gave chase. And when I was just about to bring a cannon into play, the Markgraf would turn out from under it, and head off into the sunset. And the chase would start anew. Not very profitable all in all. The second sortie went pretty much the same. Although it seems like both allies were the last ships to have ammo, and we both gave chase to the wiley German battleship. After the second sortie, we took stock of the damage all around, and decided to have a third sortie just to get back on the water quicker. I was hoping that the damage that everyone was carrying around could generate a sink (preferably not an allied ship), (of course). But the only ship that was really having trouble dealing with damage control was the P.E. And I didn't want to sink my own son. After all. He would do the same for me. Well. At least I would like to think that he would. Perhaps not. So I concentrated my efforts on trying to sink the Markgraf. When the smoke settled, the German was still there, and the Hood was pumping a lot more water. So you know how it goes from here. Markgraf runs. Hood chases. Markgraf turns. Hood turns. I think I can. I think I can. Hood chases again. No sinks. No penalties. Battle ends. But we decide to have another battle. Mikey
Sunday (afternoon battle). I think that Mark damaged the rudder on his Roanoke. So he was not able to have another battle. Phil was running his Tourville. Eric had the Margraf. I had Hood. And Vance had the Prinz Eugen. But Vance wanted to be on my team this time. So we had the Markgraf, and Tourville as the axis. And we re-named the Prinz Eugen the Tallin. Turns out the Germans sold one of the Hipper class heavy cruisers to the Russians. So the allied plan was to concentrate on the Tourville, and avoid the Markgraf. Phils seemed pretty game, and played along really well, except that he was also chewing us both up pretty good with his stern cannon. So we changed our plan to trying to work over the Markgraf, at which point the Tourville was able to chew us both up with his bow cannon. But we got some nice damage on both axis ships, and it was indeed great fun running with my son on the same team. At the end of the sortie, none of the ships were in trouble, and there were no penalties on either team. So we decided to call it a day, and pack up and head for home. So the battle ended in a draw. And so ended the battling at the 2010 Treaty conference. Mikey
Door-prizes. So the battling was over, and we all headed back to the comfort of the awning to get out of the sun. We have been discussing awarding trophies for quite some time now. But we have not gotten to that point just yet, so we moved on to handing out door prizes for those that battled at the event. We not only had the support of the R/C warship combat vendors this year. But also some of the local bookstores, electronics warehouses, hobby shops, and founders contributed. Strikemodels donated one of their new fixed-pressure regulators, a new solenoid valve, and a roll of their masking tape. Battler's Connection donated a 50.00 gift certificate. Alan Brierly donated three sets of matching (counter-rotating) props. All are 1.25" diameter. 3-blades. 25 pitch. Roland donated a T-shirt with a photo of our big France against the world battle last fall on the front of it. Roland also donated one of these shirts for the most spectacular sink. News-Readers bookstore donated two books. One on aircraft-carriers. And one on mine-hunters, and patrol-boats. Vance donated a book (from dad's collection) about the battle of Jutland. Marina donated a book (from dad's collection) about the channel dash. Mark donated two glue bottle/knife holders that he made. I donated a pump-kit. Here is a list of who won what. In no particular order.. Strikemodels regulator...........................Mark Battler's Connection gift-certificate (50.00)....Eric N. Brierly prop set.................................Roland Strikemodels solenoid............................Jeff C. Brierly prop set.................................Kevin Mark's glue/knife holder.........................Phil A. Brierly prop set.................................Vance Mikey pump kit...................................Mikey Strikemodels 3/8" masking tape...................Eric N. Mark's glue/knife holder.........................Phil A. Marina book (channel dash).......................Mikey News Readers bookstore (mine-hunters/P.C.).......Kevin News Readers bookstore (aircraft-carriers).......Roland Vance book (battle of Jutland)...................Mark Roland's shirt...................................Phil A. I am sorry if I left anyone, or anything out on the door-prizes. If you won one of the door-prizes, perhaps you could post a little something about it, so that the rest of the group can enjoy it as well. The shirt from Roland for the most spectacular sink went to Jeff C. for the sinking of the HMS Hood in the first battle on Saturday. Sorry about that Jeff. My bad.. Mikey
Phil's Tourville (top). Beached. Roland's Bismarck (sinking). Mikey's Prinz Eugen (right) getting leaked on by Bismarck's pump. Mark's Roanoke (bottom). Tourville got hung up first. Bismarck came in to pound on the Frenchie. Roanoke came in. Prinz Eugen just wanted to be in the photo.
