The last best hope for the U.S Navy - The voyage of the USS Essex

After the failure of Rodgers expedition to achieve much of anything for great cost it now falls to the USS Essex to do something to redeem the honour of the US navy.
Now we can just replace Essex for Constitution to get an idea for what could be about to happen. The USS Essex though is a completely different ship which will impact upon the mission. The first is that she is almost completely armed with carronades giving her a powerful but short ranged broadside. Second is that her Captain, David Porter does not like her armament thinking it merely an experiment so he is unlikely to be an aggressive commander. But of course the most important issue is can she find the Royal Navy.
Now on a D6 a 1-2 will be no contact a 3-4 will be one ship and 5-6 will be a larger force. Fortunately a three is thrown so a single sail is spotted upon the horizon. Now there will be a bit of irony if it is HMS Guerriere and I am a sucker for irony.
So stay tuned for the battle between the USS Essex and HMS Guerriere.

The adventures of Commordore John Rodgers Pt 6 - The journey home

After the battle our little squadron is stuck in the North Atlantic licking its wounds, what could possibly go wrong. Well to my mind there are three possibilities, bad weather, a Royal Navy patrol or with the assistance of the Gulf Stream they drift into European waters. Now all of these things could happen or none of them. So I will test for each individually by rolling a D6, so there is a 16% of each one happening and about 40% chance of something happening.
If bad weather occurs each damaged ship should test to see if it survives.
A Royal navy patrol will most likely mean another battle.
Arriving in European waters will cause problems but also provide opportunities if they survive.
Fortunately none of these things occur and the squadron returns home to the randomly allocated port of New York.
So what happens now?
At the very least the squadron will not sail again in 1812 except possibly for the the two brigs. With four frigates requiring extensive repairs and reconstruction the Navy Yard will be busy for a while. Certainly while it may also lack the resources on hand to effect these repairs now the Navy Yard will be able to get them as New York is a hard port to blockade. Long Island Sound and a shortage of ships in the area will mean that the Royal Navy can delay but not block the repairs.
That was the good news, now for the rest. The first order of business is the fate of Rodgers himself. With half his crew as casualties his chances of remaining unscathed are low. Using a D6,

• 1-2 unwounded, fit and ready for sea,
• 3-4 lightly wounded will be able to return sea when the squadron is ready.
• 5 Seriously wounded, will have to leave his command may even have to retire.
• 6 Dead

A two means that he is fit for further duty.
Next is the fallout over the actions on the Constitution and its captain, Isaac Hull. At the battle he ignored/missed his chance to join the battle and save Rodger. Now for his fate as she also suffered heavy losses I'll use the above table to see what happens. A six seals his fate. Now that is a pity as I did fancy the chances of duel between Rodgers and Hull.
Oh well at least there is the still the board of inquiry. With the death of Hull there is a fair chance that he will blame will placed firmly his cold shoulders. Considering the fractious nature of the officer corp I am certain Hulls partisans will raise a storm in the papers and history books but there is a good chance( 5 out of 6 ) that is after the war. Of course a six is rolled and the feuding starts at the Board of Inquiry. A further complication Hull's uncle William Hull who is going to have starring roll as the war move onto land actions. Fortunately another 6 is not rolled and all this will have no effect upon the land campaign, though I may reconsider this in 1813.
Now historically, Rodgers sailed before he could receive an order that would have prevented him sailing and restricting him to the defense of the port of New York. This order was rendered moot by the frigate battles that historically occurred but these have not happened, though the Essex may yet change that. But now the squadron has returned to New York and is turmoil as a result of the Board of Inquiry I cannot see any mechanism that exists to fight this order and push for the navy to go to sea. Indeed I would venture that there may be increased support for the gunboat flotillas at this point in the campaign. Another winner could be the lake service as it will be easier to transfer sailors up to the lakes. Well all will be revealed later as first I must venture away from the sea into the wilderness and see how the American invasion of Canada goes.
Oh one final point to think about. The Americans had a strong qualitative edge in terms of their ships crews at the start of war. With access to a large pool of sailors and voluntary enlistment they do deserve the elite ratings most rules give them. But in the battle against the Thalia they took heavy losses and replacing them will be almost impossible. While at New York recruitment is possible but they will have to contend with competition from privateers, lake service and even the gunboats for manpower. Further they will have limited opportunities to train and increase their quality.

The adventures of Commordore John Rodgers Pt 5 - A stern chase is a long chase

Goodness this is turning into a long saga.
When we left our intrepid hero he had finally caught upto to the Jamaica convoy. After a long stern chase they are just about to enter cannon range.
The game is fought using the Trafalgar set of rules. There will be six merchant ships traveling at half speed representing the convoy, chasing them will the six American ships in between will the two British ships. If the Americans reach a merchant then a new one is placed upon the table though must pass a Die Roll in order to start moving again.
Tactics for the game are that the British will shoot high in order to damage masts and rigging so as to slow down the Americans, while the Americans are under no such restrictions. Any tactical decisions will be made with the help of a D6 with 50% chance of occurring.
Turn 1.
Requiring a one on a d6 for each ship to enter the table the six ships of the U.S squadron all fail to show up. The British take advantage and get an extra turn of sailing done..
Turn 2.
This time requiring a one or two, three ships the United States, Hornet and President arrive and begin the chase.
Turn 3.
Now its the turn of the Constitution and Congress to arrive on a 1-3. First shots are fired with no effect.
Turn 4.
Wind drops slowing everybody down. This will have a greater impact upon the British as drop from 7 to 5. Oh and the Argus finally gets on to the table.
The President is hit with a long range shot from Thalia
Turn 5.
The wind shift a point clockwise.
With the Americans bearing down the captain of Thalia turns to bring his broadside to bear on the President and inflicts another hit. Reindeer fires and hits Congress but it is saved.
The Americans return fire with devastating effect. Hornet got three hits on Thalia and Congress gets one on Reindeer but all hits are saved.
Turn 6.
Thalia and President exchange broadsides. President gets four hits of damage on Thalia, but Thalia's return includes two critical hits amounts to 14 points of damage. This leaves no mast standing and most of crew as casualties.
The Americans get their revenge as Argus fires on Reindeer causing a fire and driving her out of the battle for a while.
Turn 7.
After the dismasting of the President, the Constitution is presented with the option to either battle Thalia or chases after the merchants. Perhaps driven by the thought of the prize-money or just missing the opportunity the Constitution ignores the battle to starboard and presses on towards the prize.
Though the Congress does arrive to continue the battle against the Thalia. Both sides exchange hits, Thalia saves two while Congress does not including a critical fortunately only three points of damage are recorded bringing down a mast. The President still in range of Thalia also fires but misses.
Turn 8.
Wind shift back counter clockwise.
The Argus moves to the assistance of the President.
Meanwhile Thalia and Congress fire at each other again exchanging damage.
Turn 9.
Hornet and the United States finally catch their first merchantmen.
Congress and Thalia continue to blast each other
Turn 10.
Hornet and the United States miss a turn as they process their prizes. They have to roll a 1 on a D6 in order to disengage.
Congress and Thalia continue to exchange damage. Though a critical causes on Thalia causes her to miss the next turn while Congress is down to a single mast.
Turn 11.
Hornet and the United States is still locked together with their prizes. They now require a 1 or 2. Constitution reaches her first prize.
Thalia turns away from Congress to chase down the Constitution. Meanwhile Reindeer which had been quiet for a while re-enters the battle with a broadside upon the hapless Congress reducing her to a single point of mast.
Turn 12.
With the Constitution distracted by her prize, Thalia closes up and opens fires, several critical hits destroy a mast and half crew.
Turn 13.
Not stopping at the Constitution the Thalia moves on to engage the United States who has finally won free of her prize to rejoin the battle. Hornet is also free so she begins moving towards the battle.
Turns 14-16.
The Constitution also joins the battle against the Thalia, so she is now engaged by three ships and over the next few turns is slowly pounded into pieces. Finally striking her colours.
Conclusion
Finally the guns fall silent, while the Americans have won it is no triumph. While they have captured four ships the rest of the convoy has escaped, both Thalia and Reindeer are barely afloat. The President is completely dismasted and half its crew are casualties, Congress has barely any masts left at all, both Constitution and the United States have lost masts and the Constitution has lost half its crew.

Fallschirmjaeger availability in the summer of 1942

After the recent impulse purchase of a Kv-II and painting it as part of Pz Abt Zbv-66 which was part of the German contribution to operation C3 the planned invasion of Malta 1942. I have developed an interest in gaming this operation out or at least exploring the possibilities in conducting this invasion.

One problem I have had is in tracking down the what German forces are actually were to be involved in the operation. Most resources mention either the 7th Flieger division or Brigade Ramcke and one suggest both. The idea behind this post is to clarify what fallschrirmjaeger resources are available in the summer of 1942 that are avilable to participate in this action and not just those expected to take part. Now Operation C3 did not take place so there is unlikely to ever be a definitive order of battle for the attackers rather there likely to be several different possible order of battles. These will reflect the development of the planning over time as well as the various debates that are occurring behind the scene.So there may exist different plans, some calling for 7th Flieger division and others using smaller forces such as Brigade Ramcke.

Now it is also generally agreed to that Hitler was at best ambivalent about this operation. This is generally assumed to be due to the losses suffered in the air assault on Crete as well as doubts about the Italians ability to carry out the operation. What this article will show is that while the Germans officially had a division of Fallschirmjaeger. it's readiness as a division to conduct an operation that was expected to be tougher than the airdrop on Crete is open to doubt. While this does not mean that the attack can't go in, it does make it easier to put off.

One thing beyond the scope of this article is the movement of individual Fallschirmhaeger as I am only tracking battalions and above. But there are several points worth noting, none of which improve the readiness of the Fallschrimjaeger. The first point worth making is that at this time the Luftwaffe was in the process of creating 20 divisions of Jaegers as part of Gorings boastful posturing to Hitler and any trained soldier such as the Fallschirmjaeger would be useful for these raw recruits as a cadre but have a negative impact on the Fallschrimjaeger readiness. Some of these Fallschrimjaeger are also being diverted South to assist the Italians in creating their own parachute units.

The largest unit of Fallschrimjaeger in the summer of 1942 was the 7th Flieger division, though it would appear that there plans to create a second division even then as several new regiments were established around this time. The division was composed of four regiments, the Sturm regiment and the 1st - 3rd Fallschirmjaeger(FJR1 - FJR3). The division had conducted no operations since Crete though all its major sub-units had been detached off to various tasks.

The Sturm regiment had four battalions was in a state of flux and would eventually be re-badged. The regimental headquarters was in Russia acting as the headquarters for a kampgruppe of Luftwaffe grenadiers under the title of Division Miendal. Of its four battalions, two the II & III were to become part of the the new FJR-5. Of the other two the IV battalion was detached to FJR-2 in order to bring it up to strength when they were sent off to Russia, the I battalion also joining them. Overall the regiment was inoperative buts its sub-units were scattered around the place and their fate is tied to those they are serving with.

Fallschirmjaeger regiment 1 had three battalions. From October 1941 the regiment less II battalion but with I battalion of the Sturm regiment replacing it had served in Russia. They all returned to base in January 1942 so by the summer should be fully operational. The II battalion had meanwhile been detached from the regiment and had become a Lehr battalion and a new battalion had replaced it. This new II battalion will most likely be operational by the summer.

Fallschirmjaeger regiment 2 also had three battalions. The I & II battalions had served in Russia with regimental headquarters and the I & IV battalions of the Sturm regiment. They had only from the Eastern front returned in the autumn. Meanwhile the III battalion was detached to form part of the new FJR-4. Soon after its return the I battalion was detached to Brigade Ramcke. Now this is speculative but I think it it reasonable to assume that the I battalion of FJR-2 attached to Ramcke includes combat ready elements from the II battalion and possibly though elements of the Sturm regiment that had served with it in Russia. So this regiment is pretty much out of action for the summer.

Fallschirmjaeger regiment 3 had four battalions but it was not operating as such. Rather it would appear that there were plans to convert the I battalion to a second Lehr battalion, though it would appear that it was not formally designated as such. Like the other two it had also spent time time Russia returning in January. Upon its return it raised the IV battalion to replace the detached I battalion. With six months back at base this was possibly the best trained and most ready unit of Fallschirmjaegeer the Germans had.

Fallschirmjaeger regiments 4 & 5 were formed during the summer. Rather than being recruited from scratch several battalions were allocated to these regiments and were allocated new ID's as a result. So III/FJR-2 formed the III battalion of Fallschirmjaeger regiment 4. While II & III battalions of the Sturm regiment become part of Fallschirmjaeger regiment 5. II/FJR-5 would be transferred to the Ramcke brigade

The final unit, I am discussing is the Ramcke brigade. It's original structure was only of three battalions each drawn from a different regiment the I/FJR-2, I/FJR-3 and II/FJR-5. As such the brigade is the equivalent a Fallschrirmjaeger regiment. This gives gives the Germans enough troops to bring the 7th Flieger division upto three full regiments each of three battalions or the flexibility to drop it as independent brigade. So within the objectives of this article, it is almost irrelevant whether the Ramcke brigade or 7th Flieger division is the unit going to make the drop on Malta. What is worth important to note is that the creation of the Ramcke brigade gives the Germans the option to drop a division sized force of three regiments onto Malta.

Yet while on paper the Germans had access to a division the actual situation is more complex. Of the six regiments and one brigade discussed here, two regiments are inoperative, two are brand new and only two are operational but they have each raised a new battalion. Thought they also have only had six months to recover and retrain after a tour in Russia. The Ramcke brigade consists of three veteran battalions, one of which has recently returned from Russia. So of the nine battalions that comprise the three regiments and brigades of the 7th Flieger division force to attack Malta. Six are older battalions hopefully fit, rejuvenated and ready for operation, two are new and one older battalion recently back from Russia. To push this reasoning to its extreme conclusion only six battalions may be fully 100% ready for an airborne assault. Though doubts maybe raised about even this number as I suggested earlier if you consider the movement of individuals.

I have also been vague on dates referring only to the summer of 1942. This has been deliberate on my part as in most part the data just does no exist. Even when it has, I have chosen to refer only to the season inpart because everything is not set in stone and could change at anytime from the end of the Gazala battles to when the Folgore division is sent to North Africa. As everything could still change, much of what I have outlined here is only relatively true. With availability being even lower at the start of summer and higher at the end.

So in conclusion. If Operation C3/Herkules is dependent upon having a division of German Fallschrimjaeger there does exist grounds for delaying the mission. Time is required to get the division fully operational or acceptance of a higher risk of failure or greater losses. A smaller force requirement is a far to get into the field.

Now for a note on sources.

Tessin's, Deutsche Verbände und Truppen 1918–1939 got me started on this.

Bruce Quarries, German Airborne Divisions: Mediterranean Theatre 1942-45 was useful in tracking the movement of the various units.

Then of course there is the web.

http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de

http://www.ww2.dk/

http://www.feldgrau.net

The adventures of Commordore John Rodgers Pt4 - The Jamaica convoy

Now, exactly what have I got myself into here.
The British force as per this extract from James consists of two ships.
"The first object of Commodore Rodgers was to get possession of a fleet of about 100 sail of homeward-bound Jamaica-men, known to be not far from the coast, under the protection of so comparatively small a force as the British 18-pounder 36-gun frigate Thalia, Captain James G. Vashon, and 18-gun brig-sloop Reindeer, Captain William Manners. This fleet had sailed from Negril bay, Jamaica, on the 20th of May, under the additional convoy, as far as Cape Antonio, of the 64-gun ship Polyphemus, Captain Cornelius Quinton, and had passed Havana on the 4th of June. On the 23d, at 3 a.m., the commodore spoke an American brig, bound from Madeira to New York, and was informed by her that, four days before, in latitude 36°, longitude 67°, she had passed the Jamaica fleet, steering to the eastward. In that direction the American commodore immediately steered."
The American squadron as it sailed has six.

• President
• United States
• Congress
• Hornet
• Argus
• Constitution

So there is doubt of American victory in terms of defeating the two British ships. What will make it interesting as a game is can the Americans avoid getting distracted into fighting the British and can the British buy enough time for the convoy to escape.
Now for the set-up. The original idea for the campaign was to be a solitaire game and I think this than can also work as a solitaire game as the British to defending the convoy.
The Americans should have the wind gauge as the action is taking place in gulf stream and they are in pursuit of the convoy.
You should play this down the length of your playing area. The convoy starts about a third of the way down the table and they are at full sail. The two thirds mark should be the point where the Americans will reach the convoy. This should be adjusted according to the rules you play with and your experience.
The British warships start between the convoy and the American edge just outside extreme cannon range off the table edge. At this stage the British have pretty much their only strategic choice in the game and that is where the Americans will intercept them. Up close to edge or as far away as possible. For myself I am going to try the long chase first up.
Roll a d6 for each American ship to signify on which turn it will arrive. It being assumed that the squadron has put on full sail for the pursuit, otherwise you can arrive as a squadron when it is the time for the last ship to arrive.
Now it is time to drag out my naval rules and see if this works.

The adventures of Commordore John Rodgers Pt3 - Run through

This article will be a combination of playtest and campaign outcome as I go through what I outlined in part 2.
I will be navigating through the paragraphs with the assistance of a D6. Now rather than weigh each decision equally I will initially test to see if we follow the historical path on a roll of 1-5 or deviate from history on a 6. Then I will roll to figure out which direction the squadron sails towards.
Now as this is a playtest so I if I get stuck I may edit part 2 to get around my obstacle. So do not be surprised if there are changes happening.
So onto our little voyage.
Naturally we start at Paragraph 1 and check to see if the fleet is ready for sea. With some good rolling only the Essex is not ready for sea. So its off to sea and Paragraph 2 we go.
So we set sail from New York and seatime goes upto 1. It is time find out what is going on. So it is off Paragraph 6.
Questioning merchants lets us know that the Jamaica convoy has just sailed past, but before we can react a sail is spotted on the horizon. Now feeling aggressive Rodgers sets sail towards the sail and enters hull range and observes a merchant. Hoping for an easy prize, it unfortunately turns out to be a neutral merchant. Back to the business of war, seatime is now 2 and we are off to Paragraph 11.
Realizing that the convoy is not far away, Rodgers set off in pursuit to Paragraph 13.
Sailing across the Atlantic is quiet and uneventful as seatime goes upto 3. At the end of this round sails are sighted on the horizon. It is the Jamaica convoy at Paragraph 9 and your author is caught unawares as this part needs more work.
So stay tuned to Part 4 as your intrepid author attempts to dig himself out of his hole.

Cambrai 1917 -Organising the units: the infantry battalion

My preferred set of rules is Command Decision by Frank Chadwick and published by TestofBattle.com, but for me it presents a few problems in representing the period.

The basic unit represents a platoon which is fine most of the time except for representing units in the Great War. The next unit up from the platoon is the company and at the start of the war literally everybody is organized into 240-250 man companies. The majority of those consist of four platoons the Germans are in three platoons and in games tuns this means four stands versus three. This gives the Germans a significant reduction in combat power compared to everybody else. Within the context of a game where you can have upto a full corp on each side it is a trivial boost to the allies but it is one of those things that annoy the anal retentive in me.

Next there is the great increase in firepower that occurs during the course of the war. Initially through direct fire with machine guns and later through indirect fire.

At the start of the war the standard is two machine guns per battalion by the end of the war it is upto two per section overall a very big increase in firepower. To put it another way an infantry stand in command decision has a ROF of 1 or 1 Machine gun per section. A company of 250 rifles has roughly the same firepower as 1-2 machine guns. This equates to a firepower value of 5, 1 per company plus 1 for the machine gun section in 1914, by 1918 a platoon with with sections each with two light machine guns has a firepower value of 4. So during the course there is a considerable changes in how the infantry is organised. For the Hundred Days campaign of 1918 on the Western Front its World War II in all but name. In 1914 you it could almost be Napoleonic in nature.

So how to represent it all. My first suggestion is to use company level stands instead of platoons. This has the advantage of compatibility with great war spearhead, but it is not not the primary reason. I think it fits well with the mobile battles of 1914 with masses of troops manoeuvring in close proximity. The same logic fits well for the Eastern front and anywhere mobile operations are occurring. On the Western front it can also apply to the attacker as they are essentially trying to fit a lot of troops into a small area. Now for some special rules, a company stand will have a reduced ROF compared to 3-4 platoon stands so a ROF of 2 should work except in close assaults when the companies full ROF of 3-4 should apply. As a target one hit will kill but it should be more robust than a platoon so a -1 on the hit result table will make tougher but not too much.

The defender in his trenches can still break down into platoons as per traditional Command Decision. This gives the defender a chance to thin out so as to garrison more trench lines. As well as a small increase in firepower to represent the bonus of defending fixed positions.

The first weapon to influence the Great War is the machine gun, most armies start the war with two tripod mounted heavy machine guns per battalion. This is represented by one machine gun stand with a ROF of 1 which rises to 2 in 1915, then depending upon your army the ROF went up or you got more stands or even both. The addition on concrete would morph the defenders into static pillboxes while the attackers would have move his forward to secure any gains. An interesting feature of both Great War Spearhead and Over the Top was how machine gun units increased in firepower during the war. This idea can extended at least for the defender into a pool arrangement of machine guns to be allocated as required, so a battalion with 16 machine guns with a ROF of 8 can divided them into 8 separate machine guns nests, 4 larger strong points or almost every other combination they need.

In the middle of the war the light machine gun appears. At first they are used interchangeably with the heavies but they do offer the possibility of improved mobility so new tactics evolve. This linked with increasing numbers of them led to their eventual allocation to infantry companies and modern platoons are created but more on that later. The heavies in some armies as a result migrate to specialist units such as the British machine gun corp. This enabled the combination of artillery tactics with machine guns moves us outside the self-imposed limits of this article which is the infantry battalion.

With everybody hiding in trenches the bullets used by all of the above weapons lose a lot of their effectiveness, though they do help keep every-bodies head down. What was required was an indirect fire weapon that could get out of your trench and into the enemies without the firer getting shot at.. Grenades had existed prior to the start of the war and were quickly manufactured and put into service. Indeed they were among the first specialist platoons to appear in the infantry company. But the grenade is a short ranged weapon dependent upon the throwers arm for range. So the grenade is soon being propelled by a variety of home made launchers that are straight out of the middle ages and before. Soon the boffin's get involved and official responses appear. Rifle grenades are attached to the end of rifles and propelled by a blank charge into the enemy lines. Larger grenade launchers appear such as the Granatwerfer appear that provide greater range to the humble grenade. Mortars expand the principle both by range and explosive effect.

Grenadier platoons are specialist close assault platoons which would gives them a higher ROF in close assaults. Now because of their emphasis on the close assault they may not have any ranged combat values. Some troops carried all sorts of close combat weapons such as cudgeols and clubs others such as German storm troopers usually carried lighter weapons such as carbines and eventually SMG's or the Americans with shotguns. There is a certain overlap with trench raiders and storm troopers and in most armies each battalion had a platoon dedicated to this function that was formed as required or function as a battalion reserve. In an offensive situation they would be more common at about one per company. The defender perhaps one per battalion, though a reserve counter attack group would look similar to the attacker in their organization.

Rifle grenade platoons also appear to be a purely offensive weapon allowing a single indirect shot out to 300 metres. It would be tempting to make the player call fire with them as they appear to be sort of weapon you use when you have nothing else to get at the enemy.Though I will freely admit that I need to know more about them before making too many pronouncements about them.

Grenade throwers and mortars soldier carry on into the Second World War so I won't carry on about them. Though if you can't find them look at the Italian 45mm Mortar as an example of a grenade thrower.


Finally there are a couple of different supporting troop types that maybe useful on the battlefield. The first are porters, the British several times converted follow-up battalions to porters so that supplies could be brought forward into captured trenches. I am not certain if other nations adopted similar measures but if you were attacking you all had the problem of getting supplies forward. From a game perspective it does open up a can of worms of tracking supplies. Now the mechanism used in command decision are quite simple but apply only to tanks and artillery. With the right numbers it should work for infantry weapons, though I would restrict it to Machine gun and grenadier stands as they are the larger users of ammunition that move forward in the attack. Supply checks should only to those troop that the attacker is moving into the enemy lines as you can assume that the trenches are acting as a supply source. Porters once they get their supplies forward convert to normal infantry.

The final troop type that you could introduce is an outpost stand. Think of a patrol stand that cannot move and can barely fight. Though it does have one important ability as it is armed with signal rockets that call down artillery fire. This gives the defender the chance to provide a garrison for the empty zone before his main line of resistance.

The biggest problem with all this is the requirement to that the same unit can be structured differently whether it is attacking or defending. Thereby increasing the number of figures that need to collected, not good if you are on a budget.

Now that's about it for the moment. All I need to do now is rebase some of my figures based on my current plan which is Cambrai and see if it all works. But that is another article and another time.