We will battle on Labor Day, Monday, September 5th, at Swan Creek in Tacoma. Please arrive to setup and prep ships at 10am. Spectators and guests are welcome so long as they will wear safety glasses. Volunteers to captain merchant vessels in battle are always appreciated. Folk who will not be travelling with captains should be encouraged to arrive at 11am or later so they don't feel bored by the setup and prep period - unless they want to help / ask questions / etc.
RE: Labor Day Battle (Monday, Sept 5th) Well, the labor day battle was.. interesting.. Our pond was really more of a mud hole as they were prepping to dredge and had diverted the waterflow upstream and broken out the dam that builds up the pond itself. As such it turned into a bit of a knife fight in shallow water and tight quarters. We had the Warspite, Richelieu, North Carolina, Scharnhorst, Inconcievable and Derfflinger on the water, Blue team was warspite, i-boat and Richelieu, red team was North Carolina, Derfflinger and Scharnhorst. We also had a photographer from the News Tribune out. His gallery is here, the associated article is here. The first sortie the Warspite grounded almost immediately in an area we thought was deeper and was punished harshly as the red team swooped in like vultures and let loose a barrage of bbs until the Richelieu could come interpose itself. Near the end of the sortie I managed to impressively ground the Derf in a nearby location and took some hits in my now exposed red area that would nearly sink me next sortie before it even began (forgot to turn the pump on, looked over and was almost to decks awash). I dropped my radio in the water while being unintelligent and has to swap with the Maru's, which led to having a reversed rudder channel for the rest of the day. In later sorties... The I-boat sank itself on a rock, somehow finding the only spot deep enough that her masts didn't poke out of the water to sink. The Richelieu also sank as we perforated her grey area before she developed a list and plunged to the bottom, also in the one deep spot. The sink traumatized her aging radio box and she was done for the day. The Derf ram-sank the Warspite, for which I apologized profusely. I'll get some pictures up later, hopefully today.
RE: Labor Day Battle (Monday, Sept 5th) - Now with Minor Recap Sounds like folks had a lot of fun. Thanks for the battle report. Even just a short report can go a long way. I look forward to the photos. Mikey
RE: Labor Day Battle (Monday, Sept 5th) - Now with Minor Recap Onwards, to the photos! - there are 48 of them, and they may take a little bit to load.. I really hope no one is on dialup these days!
Thanks. After walking out into it and sinking 2 feet deep into the bottom muck (in water only a foot deep) I think it should be more appropriately called 'sandal-sucking-deeply-unpleasant-mud-bottom-sound'. I also found an arrow in it, an assortment of pointy sticks (with my feet) and since I know people occasionally fish in it I'm sure there are hooks as well, wading in that muck seems more unpleasant the more I think about it.
