The first Treaty battle of the season was held on april 28,29 at Versailles Ohio. It was windy,cold and the hail was more danger than the BB's. But as usual the worst day on the pond is better than the best day at work. The French took a beating but" we will be back".
In case you want to know how badly the French were beat, here's the full battle report: Day One Saturday started at a chill 48 degrees and windy. Roland made it before any of the Dayton locals and was waiting at the gate when Matt showed up about 10am with the key. We started setting up, but by 11am we were all huddled under the shelter, waiting out the rain which lasted until 12:30. That’s when we found out that the CO2 bottle was empty and the backup bottle was still at home. So we ate lunch and waited for Mikey to bring his CO2. Teams for the first battle were: Allied: Matt - Michigan Phil - Tourville Mark - Roanoke Axis: Roland - Bismarck Jerry - Roma Xavier - P Cruiser Most of the action during the first sortie centered on the Bismarck. Determined to play the hero, the Michigan got in close and started slugging it out with the big, bad German. Meanwhile, the allied cruisers, both limited to one bow cannon because of mechanical issues, used hit and run tactics to add to the damage. At the end of the battle, the Bismarck was seriously shot up while almost no one else had any holes. In the second sortie, the Bismarck backed away from the action early and was withdrawn from the battle. With the Bismarck out of the action, the Allies concentrated on the Roma. Once again, the combination of the fearless Michigan and the sniping cruisers resulted in the Roma looking like Swiss cheese. The Tourville and the Michigan finished the battle with only one and two holes respectively. The Roanoke was taking on water from an unnoticed ram (fratricide maybe?) but there were no sinks. So with no sinks and no penalties, the first battle ended up in a draw. The Allies however, dished out most of the damage and really dominated the battle. After one battle we called it a day and decided to go home and get warm and dry. For traveling the farthest, Roland was awarded a set of fiberglass drag prop pairs in three diameters. Before leaving, Erica took the kayak out on the pond and took 36 soundings using a depth finder. The resulting depth contours show the pond is fairly flat in the center with a maximum depth of six feet. Day Two Sunday began much better: dry, 50 degrees in the morning and 68 degrees by the afternoon. With slightly different players, we decided to do France against the world: French: Mikey - Jean Bart Vance - Richelieu Phil - Émile Bertin World: Mark - Roanoke Xavier - P Cruiser Jerry - Roma Matt - Arizona The first sortie was fast and furious, with both the French battleships taking a lot of damage and the Roanoke and Roma getting a significant share too. The rude American captain of the Roanoke rammed the Jean Bart, so the French were leading at the end of the first sortie. The second sortie started disastrously for the French. The Richelieu was the first on the water, but without the pump on it was settling lower and lower. Noticing the problem, her captain made for the shore, but unfortunately didn’t make it. Settling stern first, the Richelieu went down 15’ from safety. The remaining ships made it to the water, with the Arizona captain graciously bowing out to keep the side close to even. Once again, the French battleship was the focus of all the action. After several minutes of fighting, the Jean Bart struck her colors and made it shore before going completely under. By this time, the Emile Bertin was off her 5 minutes and the World had nothing to shoot at. With 1/2 full magazines, the World ships returned to port and celebrated their victory. Mikey donned the wetsuit and entered the 53 degree water to recover the Richelieu. Fortunately the pond is only 6’ deep at the deepest, so recovery was relatively straight forward. With the French battleships out and Matt’s clan leaving early, only the Roanoke and Emile Bertin were left to battle. Rather than going mano a mano, we decided to end the contest and enjoy the rest of the day. Mikey was able to get his Strasbourg in the water for sea trials, earning the honor of having the only Battlestations ship at the contest. Overall, I think everyone had a good time, even if we didn’t get in as many battles as planned. The pond in Versailles proved to be a viable battle site that we can use as an alternative to Tom’s pond. The pond is slightly on the small size, approximately 100’ x 200’, but this was big enough to battle and it keeps most the action together. To everyone that participated in the battles, helped with food, and helped setup, thank you! Mark Jenks Contest Director
