Santiago de Cuba 1898 AAR

 

Last week I got my newly painted 1:2400 scale pre dreadnoughts on table for an action based f Santiago in 1898, giving the Spanish a bit more to play with .  Rule were Broadside and Salvo from Long Face games (also check out LFG's campaign sets for the Spanish American, Russo Japanese and Balkan Wars).

At the start, Jeremy in grey and Sylvain in green were the Yanks.  Curt (behind lens) took the Spanish and I was the  GM.

Curt's forces emerge from the harbour between the two freshly painted batteries.

Curt had

• Admiral Cervera's squadron of 4 armoured cruisers (Maria Teresa, Oquendo, Vicaya and Colon) and a torpedo boat flotilla
• Local forces of one old cruiser (Reina Mercedes), a flotilla of old torpedo boats and two forts.  The fort to the right of the entrance had a torpedo battery and an electrically controlled minefield in case the USN got too close.

The blockading Yanks were dispersed, including one flagship and attending TBs off table en route to meet with the Army General.

The US forces were

• Jeremy's Flying Squadron of the armoured cruiser Brooklyn and the obsolete AC Texas.  The battleship Massachusetts was off getting coal and unavailable. 
• Sylvain's Atlantic fleet with the battleships Oregon, Iowa and Indiana and two armed yachts.  His flagship the AC New York and a torpedo boat flotilla were off table.

The local ships are the first to leave to provide distraction. 

The USN reacts.

An armoured yacht got too close to shore and comes under fire.  She also narrowly missed running into the minefield.

Cervera emerges

Jeremy was close to crossing Curt's T and then Curt did a 90 degree turn to starboard to go behind the yanks.

The US squadron's got in each other's way a lot and there were some tense moments.

One of Curt's cruisers rams and sinks JP Morgan's yacht!

In the background a Spanish cruiser attempts to ram a US battleship with much less success, taking damage in the process.

Things were getting chaotic here.  The Spanish have yellow labels and the US light blue which helps a bit, but it was a wild scrum.

Curt had to get two cruisers off table and he is getting close to doing this.

And they've made it!

It was a fun game.  The rules worked well, were really quick to learn and fast to play.  And they gave reasonably realistic results.  I'll have more a review at a later point. 

Santiago Light an After Action Report

 My visit to USS Olympia rekindled my interest in the Spanish American War, so I now have fleets ordered from Tumbling Dive in 1:2400.  However, this week we had a test game using Broadside and Salvo (B&S) from Long Face Games and my 25 year old 1:1200 scratch builds.  Long story short, it was great fun!  The rules played fast, worked well, gave reasonably historical results and were easy to pick up.

It was aa scaled down version of Santiago.  Two Spanish armoured cruisers and a destroyer group were trying to break out past a dispersed US squadron of two battleships and an armoured cruiser.

Sylvain contemplates his moves as he inspects the US fleet blocking his squadron.

US Admiral Curt

Spanish breakout in the background.  USS Indiana moving to counter.  The green mat to the right side is land.

 

Cristobal Colon followed by Vizcaya

TBDs lead the Spanish line while Indiana steams into close range, New York gets closer and Iowa chugs along in the background.

An attempted torpedo run driven off by quick firers!.

A second attempt foiled!

The Colon begins to suffer from the Indiana's big guns.

Vizcaya tries to run but New York moves to counter while the Colon is crippled.