Prologue

Port Stanely, Falkland Islands

The days dragged, it had been a month since the Falklands incident.  The pain had dulled, but the memory of his failure was still sharp.

“I’m not a prisoner here, but this isn’t exactly the Park Hotel.  I know the Brits love their tea, but considering the amount I’ve seen flow through here, they blew that whole Boston thing way out of proportion…” 

His thoughts were interrupted by a rapping at the door.

“Enter.”

A well-dressed orderly entered, with a roll of parchment in his hand. “Good Afternoon Captain,” he said, in the unfailingly courteous tone all of the Brittanians seemed to use around him.  “I have some good news for you, you’ll be heading up to Florida within a week.  RADM MacCannon sent you a correspondence.” The orderly then handed him the parchment. He unrolled it, recognizing the message as having come  from the wireless station on the island,  and began to read:

Over the past few months Matthias had become more concerned with the way things were going in the war effort, and now the FSA was down a Battleship.  Luckily, his superiors were more concerned with results rather than how he got them.  It was time to call in a favor.

 North Atlantic, aboard Deathbringer Submarine Reaper’s Touch

“Captain, comm received, and they using your personal encryption.  A friend of yours?”

“About as close as one can get these days.  He saved my brother’s life at Charleston when he had no cause to.  A few favors are the least I can offer.”

Holliday was an honorable man, and a friendly rival of Matthias when they were at Annapolis, but loyalties put them on opposite sides of the war.  For all of his ability, pride was a tough one for him to keep in check.  After the Civil war ended, Holliday found his way into the company of the Black Wolf.  For better or worse, he excelled at his new career and found himself in command of a Deathbringer shortly after joining Nikonov’s band.

Henry found favors to be pretty inconvenient as the last few called in had been half way across the globe.  However, this one brightened his day.  The Prussians had been a thorn in their side for quite a while, and he relished the opportunity to bite back…

Bahamas, on board the Prussian Airship SZ8

From his command seat in the control gondola of SZ8, Oberst Ewald Bruning looked down to observe the Prussian naval forces steaming hundreds of meters below. Those ships belonged to Schnellgeschwader Elbe, a portion of  the large Prussian force that had been sent to the Caribbean in support of the Blazing Sun advance there. The SZ8, a massive Imperium-class sky fortress, was there to provide air cover for the Schnellgescwader as it pushed south through the Bahamas.  The officer of the deck noticed the direction of his gaze, stating “An impressive sight, is it not, Herr Oberst?” Bruning nodded his head, replying, “Indeed, it is Leutnant.” To be sure, the battleship, cruisers, and frigates steaming far below them did look impressive. However, inwardly Bruning reflected on  how they would likely be no match for what the Americans had waiting.

Officially, their mission was to break through the American naval cordon and link up with the Blazing Sun forces advancing north after their victory in the Falklands. However, Vizeadmiral Hans Von Koester had taken Bruning into his confidence and provided him with the real objective of their southern advance; to divert as much American strength as possible away from their coast, to allow the bulk of Koester’s forces to strike a blow at the homeland of the Federated States. As such, the entire Schnellgescwader was to be considered expendable. All, except, for the SZ8; “Your luft fortress is vital to our later offensive efforts!” Koester had admonished him during their private briefing. “If the Americans show up in force, which I suspect they will, preserve the SZ8 at all costs!” Bruning didn’t much like the prospect of abandoning his comrades on the ships below to their fate, but orders were orders…

Introduction

After having eluded Brittanian pursuit and enduring weeks of transit across the expanse of the Atlantic, the Prussian air and naval forces under the command of Vizeadmiral Koester are finally poised to strike a blow on behalf of their Blazing Sun allies! Koester has developed a cunning plan to draw the Americans off guard and leave the coast of Florida undefended. That plan is a feint southwards through the Bahamas with a portion of his forces, while the main body of the Prussian taskforce strikes east at Miami. While that would likely mean the destruction of most if not all of the Prussian forces sent into the Bahamas, that was a price Koester was willing to pay.

Forces

FSA (Matt)

• Group 1:
  • FSS Antietam, Heavy Battleship
  • 3x Escorts
  • 1 x 4, SAS Fighters
• Group 2:
  • 1x Deathbringer
  • Mixed Cruiser Squadron (2x Cruisers +1 Gunship)
  • 4x Frigates
  • 1 x 4, SAS Fighters (entering turn 2)

PE (Andy)

• Schnellgescwader Elbe-Eins (Entering Turn 2)
  • 3x Light Cruisers
  • 4x Frigates
• Schnellgescwader Elbe-Zwei (Entering Turn 1)
  • Battleship
  • 4x Frigates
• Aerial Support (Deployed on the table before Turn 1)
  • Sky Fortress
  • 2x Frigates
  • 3x Frigates

Deployment

Thanks to the Blazing Sun victory in Scenario 2, Group 2 of the American force would be delayed until Turn 2. Group 1 would be deployed on the table. The The only forces starting on the table for the Prussians was the aerial support, with Elbe-2 driving on in Turn 1 and Elbe-1 arriving on Turn 2.

Turn 1

Initiative: Andy

Andy: With their objective clear, the Prussians set course for the other side of the board and ordered full steam ahead! Some harassing attacks were made on the American forces on the horizon. In the process, though, one of the Prussian Bombers got just low enough to be caught by fire from the American battleship.

Matt: Andy had the initiative and began his journey to the other side of the board.  Gunner Jenkins had apparently loaded tracer rounds in the Antietam’s primary turrets, luckily it was enough to enable the broadsides to crit one of the Prussian bombers. Mistakes were made and Flight Officer Rodney ‘Jam’ Hartley would not be welcoming The Orkney air squadron home.

Turn 2

Initiative: Matt

Andy: The Prussians didn’t have a lot of time to loose, so their dash for the exit zones continued. My bombers continued to be punished by the American forces, though between them and the Sky Fortress they were able to peel off some of the escorts from the American battleship. The Sky Fortress remained at Stratospheric height, in order to avoid as much sThe rest of my forces and Matt’s arrived this turn, and the battle was fully joined!

Matt: A turret shot from the Liberty knocked out one of Andy’s Frigates and the reinforced cruiser squadron managed to land a double-crit (maybe?).   I lost 2 escorts and the other half of the SAS left their bullets at home.

Turn 3

Initiative: Matt

Andy: Due to the delayed arrival of our forces, this was the first turn where a good portion of our fleets were within effective firing range of each other. My frigates suffered worst of all, since I had left them over exposed in an attempt to cross the board faster. The bombers were also finished off this turn, and I took some damage on my battleship. The dive bombers from my Sky Fortress made an attack run on the American battleship, but due to losses from AA was unable to make much of an impression on the heavily armored behemoth. While the Prussians were causing some damage to the American forces, it was not as much as they were receiving!

Matt: This round had the fleets engaging proper.  I knocked out 3 frigates via the combined ramming of the Heavy BB and reinforced cruiser squadron.  Guns knocked out another HP or 2 from the Prussian BB, dropped 1 of the Giers and the other flew off of the board.  I lost a frigate, and a Sturginium Flare sent a 2nd about 12” left of his squad mates.

Turn 4

Initiative: Matt

Andy: While Turn 3 didn’t go well for the Prussians, Turn 4 was pretty well disastrous! The Americans, with the aid of their Black Wolf hired guns, brought down my battleship and a good portion of my frigates and cruisers. My light cruisers attempted a daring boarding attack on the American battleship, but their Luft-lancers were killed to a man by the intense AA barrage thrown up by the Liberty and its escort. Only the Imperium, still at Stratospheric height, remained unscathed.

Matt: This turn the Deathbringer sunk the Battleship and the rest of the fleet knocking out a Riever.  I lost the last escort on my Heavy BB, and my last 3 FFs, but they went out like champs, their AA doing a number on the marines from the Prussian CLs.

Turn 5

Initiative: Matt

Andy: At this point, there wasn’t much left to do but continue my Sky Fortress’s transit across the board to safety. My lighter units were left to fend for themselves, but were no match for the amount of fire that Matt’s Americans could throw at them.

Matt: This was more or less a clean-up round.  The Imperium left the table, but I was able to sink the remainder of Andy’s FFs and CLs.

Result

With a final tally of 24 CP for Matt and 12 CP for Andy, this was a Crushing Triumph for the FSA! While the Prussians lost the majority of their forces, the scenario rules granted Andy 12 CP just for getting his Sky Fortress off the table. This made the final disparity in CP a lot less severe for the Prussians than it could have been.

Post-Battle Thoughts

Andy: This game pretty much went as I expected, with my Sky Fortress escaping and the rest of my forces getting sunk. Even though I had a slight points advantage (900 to 800), the fact that I was obliged to keep a good chunk of it at Stratospheric height made the game much closer. On top of that, when building my list I had decided to try and focus on lighter forces (the old Emperor BB, light cruisers, frigates, and bombers), and I felt like these turned out to be at a disadvantage against their more advanced American counterparts. I would probably switch these units up for something more robust if I were to play the scenario again. I found myself getting a little frustrated towards the end of the game; it wasn’t so much that I was getting pounded pretty hard (though that didn’t help), it was more that the scenario was set up such that I didn’t have a lot of tactical flexibility in how I moved and deployed my forces, which made the outcome fairly predictable. The Escape the Table Edge victory condition essentially left me with only one option: Charge the enemy in a head-long rush!

Matt: I stayed focused on the strategy I had decided going in, and the rolls (especially initiative) really went my way.  I’m sure Andy will be bringing the pain next game.

Conclusion

The first action between the Americans and the Prussians resulted in a convincing American victory! MacCannon’s fleet, with the aid of the aptly named and mysterious mercenary war submersible IReaper’s Touch, completely eradicated the surface forces that Koester had tried to slip past them through the Bahamas. Little did they know, however, that they were playing into the foxy Vizeadmiral’s hands!

Epilogue

FSS Antietam, Bahamas

MacCannon was impressed with what the scientists had come up with.  The Liberty class was heavier, but nearly as agile as the Independence, and there was a marked improvement in the turrets’ rate of fire.  It was nice to work with Holliday again.  He was a loyal friend, but knew he must tread carefully with that company lest he find himself on the receiving end of a Black Wolf volley.  Not all of Nikonov’s compatriots were as discriminating as Henry was.

He had done his part, and could only hope the rest of the Fleet could do theirs.

SZ8, Bahamas

The mood in the control gondola of the SZ8 was grim. The plumes of smoke that marked the passing of what, until recently, had been a dozen of the Emperor’s warships were still visible in the airship’s wake, just over the horizon. As tragic as their loss was, Bruning new that now was not the time to mourn; now was the time to seize the opportunity that had been bought with their sacrifice. “Helmsman,” he ordered, “Set course northeast, 030. The Vizedadmiral will be waiting for us there, and once we join him we will make the Americans pay for what they have just done.” As the nose of the great airship began to swing, a cheer went up amongst the crew in the gondola.

Gallery