All Treaty combat group is inviting all Big-gunners to a multi-format event at the Xenia, Ohio battle site on May 23-24. The two formats will take turns battling sortie style battles. So which ever format gets ready first, hits the water first. I will post more info shortly. Mikey
I have been in contact with most of them. No firm commitments as of yet, but a couple/few said that they would get back to me. I will post an up-date this weekend. Mikey
The Treaty/Big-gun event is this weekend. Saturday and Sunday in Xenia, Ohio. Start time is 10am both days. Mikey
All A great day of battling indeed. Roland came down with his Bismarck. Mike D. came in with his Salem. Eric had his Markgraf. Phil had his brabd new Prince of Wales. And I had my brand new Hood. First battle was going to be allies/axis, but the Bismarck had a drive problem, and had to drop out. So Mike D. ran his Salem with Eric's Markgraf, against the two new Brits. In the first sortie, Phil had a bow cannon that was not working. We Brits spent the first sortie figuring out that we couldn't quite catch the Salem (which was pounding on us with stern cannons), and we certainly couldn't turn with the Markgraf (which pounded on us with his well-placed side-mounts, and stern cannon). My Hood was set up with both forward turrets pointing to port ( a 75 round cannon in each), but firing independently. Both aft turrets were pointed to starboard. X turret was either a 90 degree side-mount or a 45 degree (aft) side-mount, and Y turret was positioned between 30-45 degrees (aft) depending on my mood. So I would generally start shooting with only one cannon, but at times bring a second cannon into play. It was very interesting. The Brits got shot up pretty good in the first sortie,the Hood taking most of the damage, but there were no sinks. The second sortie was better as Phil got his bow cannon working, and I was getting the hang of my new gun positions. We Brits got worked over again, but we put some nice damage on the other team, and again nobody sank. The second battle started off just like the first, with the Bismarck dropping out. But Phil had changed over to his Suffren heavy cruiser. In the first sortie, the damage was spread around pretty well, with the capital-ships taking most of the damage (Hood took more than her share again), and the cruisers taking very little. Eric and Mike pulled a fast one on Phil. At the start of the sortie, they exchanged radios, and ran each other's boat. I had overheard what was said, but acted like I was in the dark. It was great fun as anytime someone runs someone else's boat there is always a learning curve, and I was able to do more damage in this sortie than any other, while Mike, and Eric figured out the new set-ups. Anyhow. To make a long story longer. At one point. Mike D. got rammed, and called it. But it happened just as Phil was bringing cannons onto the Salem. Well needless to say, Phil held his fire, and Eric was able to extract the Salem from the pickle he was in. It was too funny. In the last sortie the Bismarck was able to get into the battle, and Roland was looking for some allied blood. I spent most of the sortie chasing the Markgraf, which had a stern cannon that wasn't feeding. That was way fun, as I was able to bring the two port forward chase cannons into play a few times, and got off with fairly light damage in return. Roland was doing a pretty good job of surrounding both allied cruisers, when I re-entered that fight, but he decided that dealing with a battlecruiser that he could both out-run, and out-turn was more profitable, and the sortie ended like all the others with the Hood being the last ship on the water with ammo, and nobody to use it on. No sinks again, but plenty of fun. Hood and Prince of Wales have been ordered to patrol the Denmark Straits in case the Bismark tries to breakout. There are rumors that there is a German cruiser with her now. More later. Mikey
All Today marks the anniversary of the battle of the Denmark Straits. On this date back in 1941, the brand new German battleship Bismarck sank the British battlecruiser Hood. On this date last year, we announced that we were going to re-create that great sea battle. Well today in Xenia, Ohio, we were able to field three of the ships that were present at that historic battle. Phil Agnos had his new Prince of Wales. Roland had his veteran Bismarck. And I had my new Hood. Ray did not get his new Prinz Eugen finished. Josh had his veteran Deutschland class pocket-battleship on hand, so we invited him to fill in for the Prinz Eugen. But before we did the Denmarck Straits battle we decided to get in a fleet battle so that everyone could have some fun. Mike D. had been discussing trying some three sortie battles for a few reasons (which we will address a little later), so we decided to give it a try. Fleet makeup was as follows. Axis Roland in his Bismarck. Eric in his Markgraf. Josh in his Deutschland. Allies Mikey in the Hood. Phil in his Suffren. Mike D. in his Salem. The first sortie started off as a general melee involving everyone, but it wasn't long before I left the two allied cruisers to tie up the axis capitalships so that I could hunt down the pocket-battleship and hopefully sink it. Josh was in a playful mood and gave me the grand-tour pretty much using up a good portion of the pond, and although I was able to get some pretty nice hits on him, the pesky little German was able to carry the damage well, and pounded on me pretty good with his stern cannon. When Josh ran out of ammo and called 5, I found that although I had a slight speed advantage on him, he could out-turn me with ease, so I was not really able to get a telling number of hits on him, so I re-joined the cruisers, in hopes of sinking one of the axis capital-ships. The first sortie ended with nobody being sunk, but I think the axis had a ram penalty against them, which gave the allies a lead.---
Sortie 2 The second sortie started out with Hood chasing the Deutschland around the rest of the ships as they battled. Where the pocket-battleship went, I went. Well, that was the plan anyhow. It didn't take long to figure out that a 72" long, single rudder battlecruiser just can't go places that a 50" long cruiser can go. At one point, Josh went into a smallish cove, and I followed him in to try to trap him. Well he was able to get turned around and by the time I got back out of there, Josh was long gone. The chase was more of the same from the first sortie. I was able to get some hits on him with my forward sidemount, and bow chase gun, but he worked over my bow with his stern gun. Eventually we ran back through the rest of the ships, and the German battleships were able to get me in a sandwich on more than one occasion, and work me over with sidemounts. As the sortie started to wind down, I was pumping pretty good, but then Roland's Bismarck's pump stream tapered off, and the big German sank with a clogged pump screen. I called 5 minutes as we still had a third sortie to go, and I was pretty shot up already, and we had a nice lead. At some point it was decided to get the Denmarck Straits battle started, so we skipped the third sortie, and started patching. A clean victory for the allies.
Darren If you even just thought about it, then in a way, you were there. The distances between us, that keeps us from being able to attend events, and battle with each other, is saddening. We all share an interest, if not a love, or passion for the boats, and the history that surrounds them. Luckily for us all, there is the internet. It gives us the ability to share our photos, and battle reports, and ideas. Thanks you sir, for posting here in our thread. Maintaining an internet pressence is time consuming, and often frustrating, and at times can keep us from the ships that we model and battle. One post such as yours is all that is needed to convince me that it is indeed worth the time and effort that goes into it. Mikey
Battle report for the May 21-22 2011 Xenia, Ohio event. Fleet battle #1 (Saturday morning). Axis fleet. DKM Hindenburg (H-39 class), DKM Bismarck, IJN Kirishima, Viribus Unitis, and IJN Mogami. Allied fleet. FNS Richelieu, USS South Dakota, HMS Hood, and USS Roanoke. Just before battle was declared the Bismarck lost control, and had to be pulled off of the water. So the axis fleet was short one of their fastest battleships. When the battle started, I decided to concentrate on the axis capitalships with my Hood, and avoid the cruiser, as it is fast, and turns really well. So I closed with the brand new Hindenburg, and started exchanging fire. But it wasn't long before I found myself taking fire from all three of the axis heavy units, and the old Hood was soon sitting low in the water, and had a slight list. And it seemed that the pump was having some sort of trouble either priming, or keeping up with the damage. Or both. So I decided to break off my attack, and leave the main battle area so that I could perhaps draw one of the axis ships into a dual. But the axis wouldn't have any of that. And the entire axis fleet fell into hot pursuit, and chased me into the cove. My allied team mates came in as well, and defended me so well, that I was able to pump out to some extent, and call my five minutes, and retire from the battle by running down the length of the pond. The Hindenburg, and V.U. decided to play with the rest of the allied fleet. But the Mogami, and Kirishima kept me on the run for a while before they too turned around to rejoin the main battle. I felt that I had only a fair chance of surviving my five minutes, and that was only if I could avoid further damage. So I was more than a little concerned when I closed with my two U.S. team mates in order to allow them to engage the axis ships that were chasing me, so that I could make good my escape, only to have those yanks open fire on me as well. So as it turned out. I was able to survive my five minutes. The first sortie ended with no sinks, or penalties. We found out that even with Phill's help between sorties, the Bismarck was not able to enter the second sortie. So Phill offered to sit out the second sortie in order to help get the German ship going. So the allies would be down a Richelieu. At the very start of the second sortie, I considered calling my five minutes, and trying to make a run for it in order to avoid the sink points. But I decided to try to sit in place, and stay in the battle. Mainly due to the fact that I had only been in the battle for a few minutes in the first sortie. And I wanted to shoot at someone. So I tried just sitting for the first few minutes, and defending myself, but it wasn't long before the old Hood was sitting low in the water, and obviously trying to sink. And I remembered from years past that some damage on the bulges on the boat can be kept above water if you stay moving. So I decided to call my five minutes, and make a run for it again. I didn't get a lot of attention from the Hindenburg, as he seemed content playing with the South Dakota, and Roanoke. But the Mogami to some extent, and the Kirishima kept up the chase, and added a little more damage, so that the old pump just barely was able to keep me afloat. So I survived my five minutes again. But didn't spend much time in the fight. Although there were no sinks, or penalties in the second sortie, the brand new Hindenburg was carrying a lot of water around for most of the sortie, and it did appear that he might sink.
Mikey, I think you're up a bit too late, and posted the recap in the wrong thread. That said, I'm up too late as well, considering my alarm goes off in four hours so I can make my flight.
Fleet battle #2 (Saturday afternoon). Sortie #1 I decided to sit out this battle with the Hood in order to help with some of the new boats. I thought that I had some sort of issue with my pump auto-turn-on circuit, or the pump itself. The Bismarck was out of action as well. But we had picked up the HMS Abercrombie, which was set up for big-gun combat, with a rotating twin 1/4" ball bearing cannon. So the team make-up was.. Axis fleet. DKM Hindenburg, IJN Kirishima, V.U., IJN Mogami, and the French heavy cruiser Tourville. Allied fleet. USS South Dakota, USS Roanoke, and the British monitor HMS Abercrombie (big-gun). It seems like the Hindenburg and South Dakota spent most of the time working each other over. The Sodak making good use of her great turning, and triple stern cannons, while the big German turned extremely well for a ship that is over 75 inches long, due to the triple shafts, and triple rudders, and had the dual sidemounted cannons, and the ability to take huge amounts of damage without sinking. The V.U. pretty much stuck with the battleships during the sortie, and proved very hard to hit, due to the small target area, and great turning. The Roanoke, and Abercrombie spent most of the sortie dealing with the Kirishima, Mogami, and Tourville, but on occasion exchanged fire with the battleships in passing. At the end of the sortie the V.U. was beached and in a sinking state. But I am not sure if she actually sank or not. Sortie #2 In the second sotie of this fleet battle, the Hindenburg, V.U., and I think the Kirishima were all out due to some sort of system trouble. The Hindenburg driver (Matt) was called away. And it appears that Phill withdrew the Tourville, and ran the Emile Bertin instead. So the axis cruisers took on the allies. Axis. IJN Mogami, and FNS Emile Bertin. Allies. USS South Dakota, USS Roanoke, and HMS Abercrombie. Although the axis cruisers did a great job of harrasing the allies, they also took some damage in return. I am not sure if this battle ended after the second sortie, or if the last sortie of the day was a third sortie in this fleet battle. But in any case, I think the allies won this battle due to axis boats being withdrawn from the battle. But I am not certain. For the last sortie of the day. Axis. IJN Kirishima, IJN Mogami, V.U., and Emile Bertin. Allies. USS South Dakota, USS Roanoke, and HMS Abercrombie. Everyone got shot up to some extent, and I do not recall any sinks or ram penalties.
Keri I considered starting a new thread for this battle report, but decided to post it here in the Xenia spring regionals thread from a year or two back. That way we will keep our pages to a minimum over time, but keep adding stuff to the existing threads for the various event locations. Perhaps not the best way to go about it. But having too many different threads might be counter-productive. Just because I am up, doesn't mean that I am awake though. So you may be right. Mikey
Sunday's battles. Fleet battle #3 (Sunday morning). Axis. FS Richelieu, and V.U. Allies. HMS Hood, and USS Roanoke. In this first sortie I went in after the big Frenchie because Phill doesn't generally run capitalships. And he also isn't used to using sidemounts. So I went after the Richelieu, and tried to avoid the V.U. which was hard to hit. As it turned out the V.U. pretty much stayed close enough to the Richelieu to be involved in our fight, which also kept the Roanoke fairly close to the old Hood, so that we could work together. At the end of the sortie, I felt like we had worked over the axis pretty good, and although neither of them were in a sinking state, the V.U. was pumping some, and the Richelieu had some larger than normal damage, and might eventually lead to a sink. For the second sortie of this battle, Scott and his family had to depart, but Josh had his brand new Von Der Tann ready. So the battlecruiser took the place of the battleship. Axis. Richelieu, and Von Der Tann. Allies. Hood, and Roanoke. Early in this sortie, I exchanged fire with both of the axis ships, but took mostly a defensive posture due to the damage that I had. I was pumping pretty steady. I was hoping the VDT would come in close and slug it out, but the little German was experiencing some trouble with his cannons, and stood off so that he could take shots at me, without actually exchanging shots. So eventually I started chasing him, and eventually he called his five minutes. So then the chase was really on. The Roanoke was keeping the Richelieu pretty busy, as long as the sea chase was on-going. But the VDT wasn't pumping much at all, and could keep up a steady pace. The old Hood on the other hand was carrying a lot of water around in her, and was starting to list in the hard turns. If I had called my five at that point, I would probably have been alright. But I was hoping that the VDT would take on enough water to have to stop, so that I could catch her, so we ran down the length of the pond away from the other two ships. But on the way back down the pond the old Hood started getting lower in the water. She was sinking, and I was not yet on five. Josh let it be known that the Hood was in trouble, and that caught the attention of Phill, who turned the big Frenchie around and closed in on Hood to make sure she wouldn't survive. But I am not sure that he knew that I had not called five. So as the two closed in on each other the Hood's port deck went awash aft of the step, and I kept the throttle wide open. The water was now swirling around the after barbettes, but the starboard side was still just above the water, so I turned hard to port, and threw the throttle into reverse. Some of the water in the old girl ran forward, and her stern quarterdeck came up just a little. And then the big Frenchie was beside me, and we opened fire on each other at the same time. There was no doubt that the Hood was going down. But if only I could take the big Frog down with me, it would be worth it. The port quarterdeck was awash again, and the list to port was increasing rapidly. We were so close to each other that the French cannons were eventually firing over me, but I was shooting him low in the hull, forward of the front turret. Then the Mighty Hood rolled over so far that the cannon was under water. The last shot made a huge bubble in the water, and the stern finally went under, and she was gone. The big Frenchie went on five, and I was so hoping that she would sink. But it was not the case.. The old Hood sank alone. But what a ride it was. To go down with the cannons shooting. An axis victory.
After the battling on Saturday, I was able to discover what was causing my problems with the Hood's pumping system. It wasn't the pump itself. It also wasn't the turn-on circuit. It was the 19 belows, and 8 ons that was causing the old girl problems staying afloat. It would appear that I picked up most of this damage in the first 3-5 minutes of the first sortie. Mikey
On the Sunday afternoon battle, we ran our first convoy missions. My daughter Erica ran the HMS Queen carrier for the first time. All the axis captains thought it would be a good idea to take on the slow ship with the inexperience captain, so the battle got very interesting. The carrier was easy to catch, so the allied ships had to run interference, which really changed up tactics. In the end, the Queen was able to last the required 10 minutes and score some convoy points. On the second sortie, I ran the Queen because Erica wanted to play with the other kids. This time, the carrier was mostly ignored, maybe because Eric was running my Roanoke and really getting the Axis' attention. Other than my gun failing - a result of the rush installation job - the second sortie was pretty relaxing for me. Driving a heavy, slow ship with only a class 1 rudder is certainly different from driving the cruiser around. But I think the carrier proved itself, and was definitely neat to see out on the water.
