When we last saw SMS Emden, she was tied up in a Thai cove when three British warships were sighted. Here's the rough sketch map that I received from our GM, with my proposed response in red. As you can see Mike spares no expense in providing high quality game aids! Most of our crew was busy hefting coal from Sophie while a prize crew tended to civilian prisoners on the captured liner St Osmond. FYI, St. Osmond was William the Conqueror's chancellor (which I would've thought eliminated him from sainthood) and a patron saint of the insane.
How the heck did we escape this bottleneck, I still have no idea but it was mostly luck possibly aided by a large tot of scotch sacrificed to Poseidon. I'll let Mike tell the story.
Well Peter you were unfortunate. And then fortunate. I rolled 4d6 to determine how many minutes it would take for Emden could get under way (the enemy would be on you in 25 minutes) and the result was ten! Your crack crew came through for you. Anyone who was free ran down to the engine room to shovel coal. Two ensigns, your clerk, and a rating got the anchor up. As you got under way you saw your Torpedo officer and two cooks tearing the canvas off the port torpedo tube in case they had a shot. Your Royal Navy prisoners, who were lounging under guard on the fantail, were rushed below, but one of the midshipman took the opportunity to leap over the side and swim for shore.
The guard aimed his rifle briefly, then shrugged and pushed the others below. Just before you left the cove you saw your two lookouts stumbling out of the trees, still with their red flag, and a launch putting off from St Osmund.
As you leave the cove, you see to port the menacing shape of a Town class cruiser approaching at full speed, her battle ensign flying. You know she is well out of range of your 4.1” guns. As you turn hard to starboard, she fires her bow gun and the splash is astern, but uncomfortably close. A few more shots, both misses, and you realize she is out of range also.
By now you’re at full revs. Your navigator has his head in the charts, which aren’t terribly detailed, but they do warn of reefs in the area. The English cruiser is at flank speed and you order the same. The deck is shaking, smoke and sparks pouring out of your funnels.
After an hour of chasing, it begins to rain and the visibility thickens. You order more sea room in case of the damned reefs, and as it begins to get dark, you realize that you’ve shaken the Englishman.
That night in the wardroom, your Second Officer and an ensign are missing, among the dozen men of the prize crew.
You toast their absence. Your Leutnant Georg smiles sadly. “Will the show go on, Herr Kapitan? It’s only that Ensign Moller, whose absence we have toasted tonight, had a lovely falsetto.”
I did a quick Google and found out that the Kingdom of Siam was neutral in 1914, before joining the allies in 1917 and sending a contingent to the Western Front in 1918. I had signalled my prize and shore crews to go ashore and take their changes with the Siam authorities. I hope that they got a ship to Manilla and then to the Americas.
That’s two escapes for Emden. At least you have your grandfather clock.
I burned a point of your coal escaping the cruiser, leaving you with 11 of 18 remaining.
The light cruiser appeared to be accompanied by an armoured cruiser and an armed merchant cruiser.
So having had a second close shave, we decided to put some distance between ourselves and the Allies. Turn eight was spent moving from the Gulf of Thailand to the Dutch East Indies, where we spotted an American merchantman that we let sail on. Sparks told us that there was wireless chatter nearby in RN code. Therefore, on nine we moved from the Dutch East Indies to the Philippine Sea, meeting only local fishermen.
Also on turn nine we received the following signals from SMS Scharnhorst.
Engaging at least three enemy warships in Strait of Macassar, position follows. Will do our duty. The Makassar Strait lies in the Dutch East Indies, southwest of Borneo and east of Sulawesi. There was a WW2 air naval battle here in 1942.
Scharnhorst sinking. Have fought the good fight. God save Kaiser and Fatherland.
By the end of turn nine, things were looking grim for the Emden. We had lost three prizes and two prize crews, and our coal was at 7 out of 18 max. We'd had two close scapes with Allied ships, and had news that another of our squadron mates was sunk, possibly by the ships that nearly caught us in the Gulf of Thailand.
Hopefully, things turn around on turn 10.
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