I wrote this up for an email discussion in the WWCC, but I think everyone here will enjoy reading it. First sortie Allies: Joe, Iowa; Sparky, Iowa; Neal, Scipione Africanus; Eric, Luigi Cadorna; Ben, Cossack; Randy, Mehoshi Maru; Dave Seibel, Shore Battery Axis: John, Dunkerque; Carl Bitondo, Spahkreuzer; Dave Solomon, Magno; Carl Bolton, Giussano; Bob, Giussano; Jim, Z-boat; Brett, Shore Battery Carl Bolton's Giussano sank Randy's Mehoshi Maru with a pair of holes deep below the waterline. Then, Joe's Iowa pushed Spahkreuzer into the shore and began pounding away. Ben came sauntering up in his Cossack, expecting a free lunch, but was hit with a heavy bill when Carl returned fire, and sank several feet away (I got some excellent video of the shot and of it going down nice and slow). Joe took revenge and was able to put the Spahkreuzer down before it could return to port. Axis won 160 to 167. Second sortie Allies: Joe, Iowa; Sparky, Iowa; Neal, Scipione; Eric, Cadorna; Randy, Mehoshi; Dave Seibel, Shore Battery Axis: John, Dunkerque; Dave Solomon, Magno; Carl Bolton, Giussano; Bob, Giussano; Jim, Z-boat; Brett, Shore Battery Spahkreuzer sat this battle out because the servos weren't done drying out yet. I'm not sure which side Ben's Cossack was on, because it is listed on both teams, and I can't tell if it was crossed out. This sortie, I ran with Randy, using my minefield to help protect his transport. Carl Bolton came to dance for a bit, but soon backed off and didn't come to boogie again. Mehoshi ran into radio trouble (due to a hastily repaired antenna wire) lost control and sailed into the bushes near the Axis convoy buoy. Cadorna got caught in weeds while trying to free Mehoshi. Joe used the hook launcher on his Iowa to try and help Cadorna back, but was not successful. I think Dunkerque got mined, so Mehoshi, Cadorna, and Dunkerque all got DNRs. After the sortie was over, and other ships had been recovered, Sparky sent out his Iowa for sea trials without patching the holes, and it sank outside the Allied port. I got some excellent video and photos, but it was not scored. Axis won 73 to 137. Third Sortie Allies: Joe, Iowa; Neal, Scipione; James, Magno; Bob, Giussano, Joe Blondo (Joe's friend), Normandie; Dave Seibel, Shore Battery Axis: John, Dunkerque; Carl Bitondo, Spahkreuzer; Carl Bolton, Giussano; Eric, Cadorna; Sparky, Mia Maru (previously known as the Queen Olga); Brett, Shore Battery I had some trouble with my mine laying mechanism after Joe's Iowa got caught in the opening seconds of battle. I got dragged around by the more powerful battleship for a while until the mines were finally released. Sparky also got caught in mines and stopped near the Allied convoy buoy. John's Dunkerque gave the Normandie a good working over, and the torpedo boats had a field day with the French liner and the mined Iowa. Nobody came near Sparky for fear of being caught in the same mines. Rookie Jame Mickelson ran Dave Solomon's Magno to learn the basics of battle before completing his Scharnhorst. Joe's Iowa, Bob's Giussano, and Sparky's Mia Maru were unable to return after the battle, and received DNRs. The Axis won, 73 to 168. Fourth Sortie Allies:Joe, Iowa; Carl Bolton, Giussano; Bob, Giussano; Eric, Cadorna Axis: John, Dunkerque; Carl Bitondo, Spahkreuzer; Dave Solomon, Magno; James, Scipione This sortie, Neal lent James his Scipione to try. The first thing he did was blast a massive hole in the port bow of my poor Cadorna. While I spent the rest of the sortie struggling to stay afloat, Carl Bolton stuck back at the Spahkreuzer and sent it to the bottom just after the end of the sortie. There was some confusion for how to score this, so Ben made a ruling in the field that ships sunk after the end of a sortie, but before returning to port would be scored as DNR. The Axis won 43 to 47. Eric
I got it in the WWCC newsletter, which came out just this weekend, as well as an article about the first sink I ever saw. Kenny, if you're reading this, feel free to put it in your newsletter. I need to stop writing articles and start making movies again...
