Jutland campaign AAR

[Tamas]

Okay I have to tell you about this huge-ass sea battle I had.

I have been playing the campaign of Jutland as Germans, with the option of historical British code-braking.

First two weeks were mostly about me sweeping away the light patrols of SE England.

On the evening of 22nd of January 1916, however, my Scout Fleet (4 BCs and accompanying light ships) was about to sail out and bombard Blyth on the eastern coast. My plan was the original German one: to trigger a response by a British force inferior to my High Fleet, and lure it into the hands of my dreadnoughts.

Early next morning, while my zeppelins were already slighty in front of Scout Fleet to well, scout for it, a german merchant ship reported a big British force near  Blyth before it was sunk by them - the formation was IDed as the British Battlecruiser Force. Spotting the opportunity for the desired battle, I immediately ordered the High Fleet (which kas kept in ready status) out to intercept, hoping that the BC Force would be out alone.

It was not.  The zeppelins spotted the Grand Fleet. By that time my Scout Fleet was quite near. A cat and mouse game ensued. By early afternoon I knew I was risking a lot, the 4 fleets tried to locate each other in favorable terms.

Then, just after sunset, my High Fleet, moving west, spotted some light cruisers and an armored cruiser. The Scout Fleet was also travelling by not far, with a SE direction,  from the north. Like this:



One thing was sure: I would let the Scouts just move out of the battle, I did not want to risk my BCs. So the question was: did I encounter the British BCs, or their main fleet? The AC pointed toward the former, so while the british cruisers wreaked havoc among my scattered CLs. I kept the western course with my main fleet, except for a division of destroyers whom I sent speeding for the at-that-time lonely British AC, the Antrim.

Before getting torpedo range however, they also spotted the British Battle Cruisers! The Lion, the Princess Royal, the Queen Mary and the Tiger were in one division, going east straight toward my BBs!

My DDs fired their torpedo salvos but all they achieved was light damage on the P. Royal. Then the British BCs seemingly tried to avoid my battleships by turning to the south. My BBs were in one long line in several divisions. So as a reaction, I sent the second division to the south while the rest went on westward.

However, the Brit BCs turned back north! They passed my 2nd BB division trading indecisive fire, then crossed the line of my first BB division. Of course this was their death, but much to my shock, not only they caused big damage, they also launched a totally devastating close range torpedo salvo, very fastly sinking my two dreadnoughts, König (my flagship, FFS!) and Grosser Kurfürst. Here is a screenshot with three dying mighty ships, one already under the water level (a black circle indicates a ship beyond repair, but the actual time it takes to sink may vary dramatically and of course will keep fighting until the crew abandones it). Also notice the rain which kept coming and going during the entire battle:



So it costed me two dreandoughts and some others damaged but I thought the battle was over. I knew the Brits had more BC's, but the big number of escort vessels my cruisers saw closing in decided to flee eastward, so I assumed those other BCs were running as well.

So started what I thought to be a mop up of the various British Armored Cruisers who followed their ill-fated big brothers.

Long storty short, a smaller half of my BBs went north-west, the rest made a U turn toward the north while hunting smaller ships. Somewhat like this (should have made screens of the battlemap, meh)





At north, it so happened that a single dreadnought of mine, the Markgrat was way ahead of the others, and in the dark nearly ran into 4 British ones, the Orion, the Monarch, the Conqueror, and the Thunderer. Needless to say poor Markgrat met a quick end but caused moderate damage to the Orion before that, and the Brits were in big trouble as, probably unkown to them, 8 German BBs were going for them at full speed to avenge the Markgrat.

So at this point, I was a bit puzzled. 4 BBs? Why? Did the AI joined dreandoughts to the BC fleet? Why? If not and their main fleet joined the battle like mine did, why are they sending just where is the rest?

It did not take long to spot them: they were coming from the north-east, and met my main BB force!

Of course this was still in pitch dark conditions with rain so by the time they met each other (sporting the seamanship of my dual-monarchy ancestors, I did not take the clue from the sporadicly incoming light cruisers), they were well, well in firing range. So there we were, close range night battle between dreadnoughts! But it was no question: I had to run.

I was HAMMERED, but fought back viciously while turning around, and after losing 2 or 3 BBs, the AI seemed to disengage as well.
And while it did seem to change its mind, mostly it was too late, the rate of causalities decreased (for half an hour or so, BBs were going down left and right as both sub-battles raged on), then the battle ended:




The final list of causalities (I had to open a battlelog txt file in excel to get this btw) is rather sad. I think my main fleet is as good as gone.

British BBs: Queen Elizabeth, Barham, Warspite, Orion, Conqueror, Monarch, Thunderer, and the BCs Queen Mary, Lion, Princess Royal, Tiger. Also a total of 13 ACs

German BBs: Kaiserin, Friedrich Der Grosse, König Albert, Prinzregent Luitpold, König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, Preussen, Deutschland, Pommern, Schlesien, Scleswig-Holstein
And of course a big bunch of escorts.

But still, it was an awesome battle.

[Alcibiades]

Nice, do another.  How complicated is it to run by the way?

[The Brain]

BB König

LOL, did he bring Lucille?

[Tamas]

Nice, do another.  How complicated is it to run by the way?

Well I figured it out reasonably fast without checking the manual but I played with their previous game, and did make some mistakes while learning. Like most strategy game interfaces, it needs time to get used to but than works.

As for running the campaign it is easy-peazy, except that it switches to battle view for every merchant caught then you click end battle you click yes you watch the 2d map autoresolving the battle then you click ok on the battle report then click back to campaign button.

otherwise it is fine.

[Cecil]

So basically you got pasted?

[jimmy olsen]

The final list of causalities (I had to open a battlelog txt file in excel to get this btw) is rather sad. I think my main fleet is as good as gone.

British BBs: Queen Elizabeth, Barham, Warspite, Orion, Conqueror, Monarch, Thunderer, and the BCs Queen Mary, Lion, Princess Royal, Tiger. Also a total of 13 ACs

German BBs: Kaiserin, Friedrich Der Grosse, König Albert, Prinzregent Luitpold, König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, Preussen, Deutschland, Pommern, Schlesien, Scleswig-Holstein
And of course a big bunch of escorts.

But still, it was an awesome battle.

Wow, the Kaiser probably hanged himself after he got that list.

[Tamas]

So basically you got pasted?

Sort of, altough I disengaged before I could be wiped out.

It was my inexperience: by not spotting any of the British BBs while I was busy killing off their BCs (I deliberately left my forward light cruisers just going in a few directions so I could spot those guys), I grew complacent and thought I had it safe and easy. Then out of the night and rain appeared the entire British fleet, all guns blazing, at close range.
Have to respect limited visibility more.

[Neil]

The final list of causalities (I had to open a battlelog txt file in excel to get this btw) is rather sad. I think my main fleet is as good as gone.

British BBs: Queen Elizabeth, Barham, Warspite, Orion, Conqueror, Monarch, Thunderer, and the BCs Queen Mary, Lion, Princess Royal, Tiger. Also a total of 13 ACs

German BBs: Kaiserin, Friedrich Der Grosse, König Albert, Prinzregent Luitpold, König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, Preussen, Deutschland, Pommern, Schlesien, Scleswig-Holstein
And of course a big bunch of escorts.

But still, it was an awesome battle.

Wow, the Kaiser probably hanged himself after he got that list.

Why?  The Germans didn't do badly, considering the conditions.  Seven dreadnoughts for seven dreadnoughts and the entire modern RN battlecruiser fleet.  It's a German tactical victory that leaves the strategic situation unchanged.  Actually, the best of both fleets were lost.

[Ed Anger]

I so wanted their Russo-Japanese War. Then the DRM details came out, and suddenly, I'd rather have a nail jammed into my penis than buy their game.

[CountDeMoney]

I so wanted their Russo-Japanese War. Then the DRM details came out, and suddenly, I'd rather have a nail jammed into my penis than buy their game.

Explain.

[Ed Anger]

I so wanted their Russo-Japanese War. Then the DRM details came out, and suddenly, I'd rather have a nail jammed into my penis than buy their game.

Explain.

if you don't play the game after a period of time  you have to re-activate the game.

Considering I'll not touch a game for a month, seems like a pain in the ass.

Q. Does an SES Product require Internet access?
A. An SES Product only requires Internet access for Installation, Updates, and once per License check period (currently 7 Days). If your License has not been validated during the License Check period, your game will cease to function until it is able to connect to Storm Eagle Studios server to re-validate the install.
By using this feature, Storm Eagle Studios enables the end user to move an SES Product License at will to any PC that can connect to the internet for validation, after the License Check Period has expired (Currently 7 Days). The 7 day period also allows for an end user to take an SES Product on vacation or a business trip.

And this from their FAQ:

Q. What happens if my PC crashes?
A. In this event, you wait the remainder of an SES Product's License check period (currently 7 Days) and you can Re-Activate your License on any PC that has Internet access. This is accomplished totally without the need to contact Storm Eagle Studios.

[Warspite]

British BBs: Queen Elizabeth, Barham, Warspite, Orion, Conqueror, Monarch, Thunderer, and the BCs Queen Mary, Lion, Princess Royal, Tiger.

[Neil]

British BBs: Queen Elizabeth, Barham, Warspite, Orion, Conqueror, Monarch, Thunderer, and the BCs Queen Mary, Lion, Princess Royal, Tiger.

It would certainly have interesting results on WWII, given that 3 of the 5 best battleships in the RN at the start of the war aren't there anymore.  Then again, maybe they'd build 3 more mediocre Rodneys.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm considering downloading this today.  Anyone else have it? Any other reviews?

[Tamas]

I'm considering downloading this today.  Anyone else have it? Any other reviews?

There is a demo. To be precise, you can (need) to download the full thing then you can evaluate it. You can play most of the scenarios for 10 minutes or The Duel (dreadnought one on one) for full time. Also includes the demo scens for the US expansion. BTW if you purchase soon you might be lucky enough to get the expansion for free as I did.

But, the DRM is way too assholish for me to recommend the game. Decide for yourself.