Battle of the Denmark Strait 80th Anniversary

I had finished basing my first War at Sea 1/1800 ships (see here) and it was time to use them in a game. A few months ago I realised it would be the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Denmark Strait that occurred on 24 May 1941 (during the Second World War) between ships of the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine. The British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Hood fought the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were attempting to break out into the North Atlantic to attack Allied merchant shipping (codenamed Operation Rheinübung).

Ara, Jack, Liam, Mike and Nic all were keen for some naval wargaming and I set about in organising the game. The rules were Mongoose Publishing's Victory at Sea, which Warlord Games has recently updated and re-released. They're a simple set of rules, but I like them as they're easy to pick up, have some historical flavour and are able to deal with large fleet actions (Ara, Liam and I have played the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay without issue).

To make things interesting, I also designed a set of 'Captain Cards', for each captain and fleet commander. They would award additional victory point if certain actions were performed during the battle (detailed blog post pending). They are based on historical commanders, and how they behaved during battle or orders they were given. Based on what happened during this battle, e.g. the victory conditions for Lütjens and Lindemann are not compatible.

 The cards were allocated randomly and the players commands were:

• Admiral Lütjens (Bismarck) - Nic
• Kapitän zur See Lindemann (Bismarck) - Mike
• Kapitän zur See Brinkmann (Prinz Eugen) - Jack
• Vice Admiral Holland (HMS Hood) - Ara
• Captain Kerr (HMS Hood) - Ara
• Captain Leach (HMS Prince of Wales) - myself, but later Liam

The ships were set up per the scenario in the rulebook, with the German commander having the option to choose the order the ships were deployed, Mike (Lütjens had deferred decisions to his subordinates at this stage still) electing to keep the faster Prinz Eugen in the front of the line.

I included the optional rules for the guns on the Prince of Wales (i.e. the guns not being fully operational and in part being manned by non-navy technicians), mainly as it added historical flavour. To get into the theme, I also drank an English beer (something I rarely do!).

Opening move had the British ships split to try and envelop the Germans to stop them escaping, while the Prinz Eugen went as fast as she could down the gap that had been created (torpedoes anyone?). After a few rounds of firing (and missing - Victory at Sea doesn't allow pre-measuring), the Prince of Wales already had one barrel out of action.

At this point the battle was paused as all commanders got together for blue cake (it had recently been Ara's birthday), I just love that maniacal look on Liam's face.

After a belly full of the raspberry cake it was back to the sea. Things started getting serious with the Hood receiving a few critical hits, one on her engine slowing her down and a fire breaking out.

Mike, as Captain Lindemann, confidently declared the Bismarck still had a fair bit of armour in response to the Hood's situation. The Prinz Eugen was one hit away from being crippled, while the Prince of Wales was almost undamaged.

Moments later all this changed, Ara scored a critical hit (4+ on a D6), vital systems (12 on 2D6) and a catastrophic explosion (6 on a D6); sinking the Bismarck in spectacular fashion in much the same way the Hood was historically sunk.

If that isn’t a belated birthday present I don’t know what is. Victory points wise it was a clear British victory (the Germans also had very weak overall command with Lindemann shooting before it was optimal for Lütjens' victory conditions to do so. It also made the follow on battle, recreating the last battle of the Bismarck on 26-27 May 1941, redundant. However, I plan on basing these additional ships, as the two battles are a good scenario to introduce people to WWII naval wargaming.

Finally I also picked up a few sets of Irregular Miniatures' 'GWV14 Two explosions and two shell craters' sets, that I will paint as water explosions (so mainly white). They are definitely a candidate for obscure miniature of the week.

Basing War at Sea Ships

So I have over 100 (probably closer to 200) of Wizards of the Coast's 1/1800 Axis & Allies Naval Miniatures: War At Sea ships that I've wanted to base for years but I've been daunted by the size of the task.

I had purchased the 3mm thick basing material (45mm wide MDF for battleships and aircraft carriers and 25mm wide masonite hardboard packer for cruisers and destroyers) during 2020. Now is was just a matter of actually settling on a method that was cheap, easy to replicate and looked good. Not easy.

The first step was cutting the bases into the right lengths, adding an extra 10mm on the front and 20mm to the back, which would accommodate a 10mm long label with ship name, class and nationality, etc. As i was planning to host the Battle of the Denmark Strait in a few weeks I tested the basing solution on the HMS Hood, HMS Prince of Wales, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen miniatures in my collection.

After gluing the ships down with PVA (so if I change my mind in the future they're easily removable) I proceeded to cover the base in pre-mixed plaster (Uni-Pro's multi-purpose interior filler) and move it around while still quite wet with a smooth flat needle file to create waves, bow and propeller wakes.

Once this was completely dry (i.e. leaving it overnight), I painted the whole base (leaving about a 1mm unpainted next to the ship) in Kaisercraft's navy blue craft paint. I did two coats to ensure an even coverage.

This was followed by a heavy dry brush of 3 parts navy blue to 1 part cool grey (a mid grey tone) and then followed by a slightly lighter dry brush of 1 part navy blue to 1 part cool grey.

I was following Yarkshire Gamer's YouTube guide on basing, and so I painted the tips of the wakes in a 1 part white to 1 part cool grey mix to take the brightness down a little. Problem was it looked too fake.

So I dappled a 1 part navy blue to 1 part white to try to blend them in with the rest of the base. That looked even worse in my opinion.

After searching for images of battleships during WWII online, and noting that ships aren't usually moving at their full speed (even during a battle), I went back a few steps (leaving the light grey on the propeller wakes). Much better.

The final step involved sealing the bases with a gloss varnish (also from Kaisercraft) and designing labels for every ship. The ones on the rear of the base were mounted on card and had their edge painted in grey. They're kept in place with Blutac so I can swap out for other ships in the same class. The label underneath is the ship that War at Sea states the ship is and was glued in place with PVA.

I am happy with the outcome - cheap, will be easy to replicate and looks good. In the first instance I will do the other historical battle sets I have all the ships for, namely the Battle of the River Plate and the Battle of the Java Sea. I still imagine it will take years to complete the whole collection.

PBEM - Battle of the River Plate Turn 6

"Achilles is burning from bow to stern, Sir! She is listing heavily."

"Thank you Midshipmen Graham... I can see!" 

"Helm – Hold your course, now port rudder and full ahead." 

"Lieutenant Burton, begin firing!"

The Exeter had managed to close in on the Spee, and readied the guns that had been out of range for the majority of the battle.

The earlier damage sustained and the engines running at full capacity had caused havoc to the gun sights calibration, the salvo was a bitter disappointment.

The Ajax fared little better, having the same level of success with the main guns and torpedoes.

The Spee meanwhile had no such failures, the main guns found their mark on the Exeter, crippling her.

And the secondaries against the Ajax were even more successful...

...leaving very little left. (Note this photo is the HMS Barnam exploding after a U-Boot attack.)

A (very) marginal victory to Ara and the Germans. Most likely the Spee would limp to Montevideo and history would repeat itself (though this time it was a tactical victory but a strategic loss).

Months later, the Führer was still pleased with the effort of the Spee, and had the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Culture Chamber) commission a painting to deride the efforts of the War Artists' Advisory Committee. The result was 'Revenge for Falklands', a reference to Maximilian von Spee's defeat at the Falkland Islands in 1914.

In the silent ocean under a cool midday sun the Exeter moved through the flotsam of the Achilles and Ajax, picking up the few survivors before turning back slowly to the Falklands.

PBEM - Battle of the River Plate Turn 5

“Achilles has take a pounding.. Sir!”

“I can see that, midshipman, Graham.”

“Helm – Port rudder, full ahead.”

While over on the command deck of the Graf Spee, Captain Langsdorff shook his fist across the waves at the allied ships;

"Bah, those lucky Englisch Schweinehünde! They have damaged my beautiful ship! They will pay for that!"

The Achilles was still belching smoke, but Parry aligned his ship with the course Woodhouse had steered the Ajax. Both were closing in, with Exeter still trailing some distance behind.

The Achilles opened fire, scoring only one hit (remembering that 4s don't count when crippled). Not enough to cause any damage. (It's worth noting that these photos would be the first time the players would see the results.)

The Ajax added to the thunder of guns, scoring a hit! The Spee was crippled! Cheers went up amongst the crews on all ships. (Her torpedo attack however missed its mark.)

As the noise died down the silence was broken as the Spee's shells whistled through the air. Heavy heavy shells crippled the Ajax, while the 15cm secondaries managed to rip through to the aft ammunition store of the Achilles to break her in half. She sank in less than 10 minutes.

In commemoration to the sinking of the Achilles, Harrison Reginald St Normanby was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee to paint a tribute to the men that served with her. His piece 'Achilles' Return to the Styx' has received praise for its sombre tone.

The Graf Spee was bleeding, could the Exeter and Ajax exact revenge?

Next post, turn 6.

PBEM - Battle of the River Plate Turn 4

"Helm – Starboard, full ahead."

"The Scheer is engaging both Ajax and Achilles now... Achilles has been hit!"

"Those big guns of the Scheer are a damn advantage we sorely need. Give me a battlecruiser any day!"

As the allied ships continued to pursue the German pocket battleship, the Spee turned to port to allow her front battery an arc on the Achilles.

What would follow would be a (relatively) lucky round for the Commonwealth forces.

Rolling a total of 4 on 3 dice (with a 13% chance of success), the Ajax landed a hit on the Graf Spee while firing at half capacity with her main guns. Her lone torpedo attack was ineffectual.

This damage meant that she wouldn't now have the extended range that she had been enjoying all battle.

Achilles attempted to add to this damage (firing for the first time), but wasn't quite able to get enough to cause damage.

In return the Spee split her fire between the Ajax and Achilles.

The Spee's main guns got 8 hits on the Achilles (a 9 would’ve been an automatic sinking). However the Achilles is now crippled. This means her Movement is reduced to 1, armour is weaker (by 1) and guns need a 5 or 6 to hit (with a 6 still counting as two hits). This was clearly showing the potential of the 28 cm guns.

Meanwhile in frustration Captain Bell (Hookie to his friends), launched one of the ship's Supermarine Walrus seaplanes to get a better idea of what was happening (or was it to get closer so he could hit the Spee with his sword?). Historical note: with her third salvo the German ship straddled the Exeter; shrapnel from the near misses killed the crew of the starboard torpedo tubes, started fires amidships and damaged both the Supermarine Walrus seaplanes.

A photo from the air crew showed that the Achilles wasn't faring well,

Things were starting to heat up.

I need to iron out that mat, as the photos aren't as great (or maybe I even just use my dark blue map for photos and add more hexes to the virtual map). We'll see, I haven't got as much time as I would like as work is actually pretty busy, so I shouldn't complain.

Next post, turn 5.

PBEM - Battle of the River Plate Turn 3

"She is turning, Sir! Could she be running for it?"

"She won’t want to get between  Ajax and Achilles... or us."

"Helm – Full stream ahead. Engine room – Give me everything she has. Got to shorten this range."

"Gunnery Officer – Engage the Scheer, as soon as you are able. Fire at will!"

"Signalman – Signal Ajax and Achilles – I am pressing my attack. Can you slow her down or turn her?"

"The Scheer is firing on Ajax... She has her range... Geez... Ajax has taken one in her midships, Sir!"

The Graf Spee turned again in an attempt to thwart her pursuers. Would she turn to face them or flee? (We had decided not to have a floating map, meaning that if any ship moved off the edge they would be considered as have fled the battle.)

The Ajax found herself out of arc, but in turn out of arc too, to the Graf Spee. Her main guns unsurprisingly only caused superficial damage, while the Graf Spee returned fire with her secondaries and while good rolling (getting a total of three), was not enough to cause further damage on the Ajax.

In an effort to spread the damage around the Royal Navy taskforce, The Graf Spee now switched her main guns to the Achilles, that had not taken an active role but was also closing in. The batteries opened fire, and a hit landed on the New Zealand ship.

Each of the Commonwealth ships had now taken damage, while the Graf Spee had managed to avoid being hit. While technically a heavy cruiser because of the calibre of her guns, the Exeter was a scaled-down version of the County class, designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and wasn't as robust as the two Leander class ships accompanying her.

The Graf Spee in 1936

Where would the Graf Spee turn to next?

Next post, turn 4.