“How to die without wasting anyone's time….” — Capt. Ericson, HMS Compass Rose (The Cruel Seas)

Operation Torch, November 11, 1942.

A Liberty Ship assigned to provide munitions and supplies to the Eastern Task Force has lost steerage and ran aground off the coast of Algeria. An astute Luftwaffe bomber crew noticed this and reported back to headquarters the location of the ship. Immediately, and combined force of German E-boats and Italian MAS boats is dispatched to sink the transport. Aware of the situation, British torpedo boats scramble to intercept the Axis naval attack and ensure the safety of the Liberty Ship!

Using Warlord’s Cruel Seas rules, club member Rick set up a table for 10 players to control 2 ships apiece for the scenario. One of the highlights, beyond the exquisitely painted miniatures, was the handcrafted piece of terrain that he crafted which looked so realistic that players were legitimately fearful their ships would run aground! After a quick review of the rules (it had been a couple of years since the club last played them), players rung up commands for full speed ahead and the battle commenced.

Running at combat speed, the Axis forces attempted to close and launch torpedoes at the Liberty ship. Though they were able to get several off, it came at a cost - the British Fairmille’s did an impressive job of gunning the Italian boats led by Captains Dominic DeCocco (Wade) and Antonio Margheritti (Rick) and began sinking them with regularity, along with the flagship of Commodore Enzo Gorlami (Rene, and pardons in advance to Quentin Taratnino for stealing his characters!).

Perhaps the two highlights of the evening were the ramming of a MAS boat by Bill’s Fairmille, and the torpedo hit on the Liberty Ship. In the ensuing carnage, each of the torpedo boat was reduced to a single hull point remaining, and the 16d6 that Rick rolled for the Liberty Ship did an incredible amount of damage!

While we ran out of time to complete the scenario, it was agreed that the Liberty Ship probably would not have survived, but it was likely a tactical draw due to the losses suffered by the Axis forces. All in all, a great time and we’ll be playing another round of Cruel Seas in June!