Background on the battle can be read on Wikipedia here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Empress_Augusta_Bay
While the US Navy Action Report Film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJfwtv9e1EQ
And the interrogation of Vice Admiral Omori:
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS/IJO/IJO-78.html
Were useful in setting up the game and terrain.
Fleet compositions were as follows:
Imperial Japanese Navy
Cruiser Squadron
Myōkō (Myōkō-class heavy cruiser)
Haguro (Myōkō-class heavy cruiser)
10th Cruiser Squadron
Agano (Agano-class light cruiser)
Naganami (Yūgumo-class destroyer)
Hatsukaze (Kagerō-class destroyer)
Wakatsuki (Akizuki-class destroyer)
3rd Destroyer Squadron
Sendai (Sendai-class light cruiser)
Shigure (Shiratsuyu-class destroyer)
Samidare (Shiratsuyu-class destroyer)
Shiratsuyu (Shiratsuyu-class destroyer)
United States Navy
CruDiv 12
USS Montpelier (Cleveland-class light cruiser)
USS Cleveland (Cleveland-class light cruiser)
USS Columbia (Cleveland-class light cruiser)
USS Denver (Cleveland-class light cruiser)
DesDiv 45
USS Charles Ausburne (Fletcher-class destroyer)
USS Dyson (Fletcher-class destroyer)
USS Stanley (Fletcher-class destroyer)
USS Claxton (Fletcher-class destroyer)
DesDiv 46
USS Spence (Fletcher-class destroyer)
USS Thatcher (Fletcher-class destroyer)
USS Converse (Fletcher-class destroyer)
USS Foote (Fletcher-class destroyer)
The set up followed the situation from the point Admiral Merril ordered DesDiv 46 to attack with the USS Foote misinterpreting the commandand continuing on south. Game play was streamlined by having the destroyer squadrons' movement and shooting worked out together, and pairs of cruisers (though as the game went on we allowed independent activation for the cruisers) doing the same. The photo below is turn two or three, with the rain clouds (acting as cover) at the bottom of the photo. These would play an important part in the battle.
As it was a night battle, another element we used was flares that two Japenese snooper aircraft could drop over an enemy aircraft that would negate the negative to hit modifers for spotting at night under the rules. The aircraft cound move 15" at the start of each turn when the Japanese players activated their first squadron. The flare marker would then stay with the ship before being removed at the end of the turn. Normal spotting and night fighting rules (as per main rulebook and the OOB supplement) were also used, though I muddled them a little in the heat of the battle.
Ara and I fudged the defensive of the tranport ships (worth 3 victory points each), allowing the 10th Cruiser Squadron to slip through the rain clouds and launch torpedos without any opposition. We called the game when it was clear the ships would've all sunk before the remnants of the US Navy could have returned to protect the transports (none sank as I had made them too resilient). The Americans had only saved some honour in sinking more enemy crusiers (worth 3 victory points each) and detroyers (worth 1 victory point each).
Reflections on the game had us thinking that the torpedos for the Fletcher-class destroyers definitely seemed to be too powerful, so we're going to reread the rules to see if we missed something. I also made the transport ships too powerful (i.e. too many hull boxes), so for the next game I'll make them easier to sink.
Finally, there were too many ships on the table. Our previous games have been refights of River Plate, Cape Spada and the Bismarck with only a handful of ships on the table. For this battle there were a total of 22 ships, plus another 5 transport ships. The 6' x 4' table felt too crowded. Simple solution though - less ships or a bigger table. We'll play smaller actions in the next few months, but the squadron activation certainly allows for larger actions.
Rules: Mongoose Publishing 'Victory at Sea'
Scale: 1/1800 ships and 1/900 aircraft
Miniatures: Wizards of the Coast's 'War at Sea'
Table size: 6' x 4'
