All We had a great time at the battle this weekend. Great folks, with great boats, having great fun. And the weather was great also (again). Tom (the site owner) got the old grill out on Saturday, and did up some burgers, and chicken. So we had some great chow as well. I ate so much that I didn't feel like getting up afterwards. I had some serious thoughts about taking a nooner, but was afraid I would miss something. I will post a short report for now. and will try to post something a little more involving when I get a chance. Saturday Oct. 10 Fleet battle #1 The world fleet decided to take on the Frenchies, which is saying something, as this was the largest collection of French ships that we have seen so far in Treaty. Here is a run-down. World fleet. DKM Bismarck....Roland HMS Hood........Doug SMS Markgraf....Eric (No-Bull) Noble DKM Lutzow......Ben French fleet. Jean Bart.......Vance Bearn...........Phil Dunkerque.......Bat Strasbourg......Jacob Tourville.......Mikey Tourville was having the (new-ship-blues), and had to withdraw, but Phil let me run his trusty Suffren in the second sortie. When the smoke had settled, the world team had won a great victory against the odds, as the Jean Bart sank due to a bad battery on the pump turn-on circuit, in the second sortie. Fleet battle #2 World fleet Bismarck.......Roland Hood...........Doug Markgraf.......Eric Lutzow.........Ben Tourville......Mikey French fleet Jean Bart......Vance Dunkerque......Bat Strasbourg.....Jacob Suffren........Phil The French fleet scored a victory in this battle when they sank the Hood. The two French battlecruisers, and the Suffren concentrated on the big Brit, with only a little help from the Bart, and the Mighty Hood went to Davey Jone's locker. Some of the folks had to head for the old homestead early, but we had a few others drop in late as well, so we put a third battle together. Jeff S. brought up his Cavour class battleship, but was not able to get her into combat. Fleet battle #3 World fleet Hood.......Jeff S. Markgraf...Eric Suffren....Phil French fleet Bart........Vance Dunkerque...Bat Strasbourg..Dave The two French battlecruisers went after the Hood, and although they put some pretty good damage on her, she held her own, and her teammates did rather well at staying in the battle to support her. There were no sinks, and no penalties, so this battle was a draw. Plenty of action. Lots of fun. Sunday Oct 11 As most of the folks could only attend on Saturday, we scheduled Sunday as a day of battling to show the new folks that were interested in the combat that we had recently met at some of the various shows we attended (if they showed up to see what we do). Otherwise it would be a build-session-at-the-lake, with a possibility of battling. As none of the new interests showed up, the locals worked on boats early on, and then had some battles in the afternoon. Battle # 1 Suffren (Phil) vs Tourville (Mikey) A fun cruiser battle. No sinks, or penalties. Battle #2 Suffren (Phil) vs Tourville (Tom) Another fun cruiser battle. This was also cool, as Tom ran a boat in combat for the first time (I think). Again, there were no sinks, or penalties. Battle #3 Eric (NO-BULL) Noble decided to take on a pair of French cruisers, with his Markgraf. Markgraf (Eric) vs Suffren (Phil), and Tourville (Mikey) I personally thought Phil and I would tear the slow German dreadnaught apart, and we did get some nice hits on it, but we never had it anywhere near to sinking, and we got pounded on pretty good in return. It didn't help matters, that Phil seemed to be experiancing some trouble with ship identification, and landed more hits on my Tourville than I was comfortable with. Eventually, my patience ran out with the Vichy scoundrel, and I started to shoot back at him. At some point it degraded into pretty much a free-for-all, and it became more fun than a giggling contest. No sinks, or penalties. But lots of fun was had. Thanks to all that made the event all that it was. It was a special event for me, as the French navy was out in force, and took on the world fleet. I only wish the other French skippers could have made it for our France vs the world battles. But there will be more opportunities in the future for that. I had a great time. I can't wait till next time we get together. Mikey
It was very cool finally getting to see the Suffren get another cruiser to run with. Although we didn't get to run together a lot this time around, as the two got split up at least one battle, and with the Tourville being brand new, and experiencing some teething troubles. But now that all of the bugs have been worked out, I would anticipate these two little ships being a real pain for some opposing capitalships at future events. After seeing them run together, I would probably have to say that the Suffren turns slightly tighter (because of her three shafts and twin parallel rudders), but I think the Tourville keeps her speed in a turn better (because of her four shafts and tandem rudders. So they really don't have a noticable advantage over each other, but they will both give most other cruisers a run for their money, when it comes to speed, and turning. Add to that, the fact that they are hard to tell apart during combat, and it will be great fun tag-teaming opposing capitalships. All and all. A very nice addition to the French fleet. Mikey
