Raid on the Blücher

After having placed the asteroids and secretly determined the location of the Blucher and the jump-in point of the Romanov ships the defending NSL squadrons were deployed.

The NSL admiral intended to have a relatively conservative deployment with the close protection squadron in proximity to the hidden battleship at low velocity and the two patrolling squadrons moving at a moderate pace back towards the same zone.

'A' Patrol Squadron moves back towards asteroids.



'B' Patrol Squadron makes contact with the close protection squadron.



Close Protection Squadron threads its way through asteroids.



Close Support Squadron.



Romanov squadron jumps in right on top of them. This threw the cat amongst the pigeons. With the opening Romanov salvo destroying a frigate and a light cruiser outright, and crippling the other two vessels in the close protection squadron with little effective reply, there seemed to be little hope for the NSL battleship to hold out before relief would arrive.



Despite the slow crawl of the asteroid the Blucher is anchored to away from the Romanov squadron their sensor sweep reveals its position. Bringing on its systems online as quickly as possible doesn't seem quick enough. Only a single '3' Battery, FTL and the engines response to the feverish attentions of the damage control parties.



Romanov squadron swarms as Blucher gets engines online. The Blucher pulls away at a snail's pace from the asteroid to bear its weapons on its attackers. Their fire severely damages its armour and super-structure.



Despite the urgency of the situation the patrolling squadrons keep their steady pace through the asteroid field, and the heavy cruisers' concerted fire on the Romanov battleship "Sevastopol" tears it apart before she can open up again on the Blucher. Fire from the accompanying destroyers knocks two of the Romanov cruisers out of action. The remainder flee.



A short, sharp battle. It's difficult to assess exactly how the scenario might be balanced better, given the deployment rules give an awful lot of scope for hugely different plays. We both felt that maybe downgrading the heavy cruisers with escort cruisers and swapping them with the light cruisers would go a long way to evening things out.

Raid on the Blucher - Teaser/Scenario

Our annual birthday gaming fest quickly approaches, and this year as well as a Memoir '44 campaign set during the Normandy Campaign, I'm going to run a Full Thrust scenario.
I've written it so that deployment is relatively free but also secret.

Raid on the Blücher

The NSL Battleship Blücher was damaged during a battle against the Romanov Hegemony deep in the Nu Phoenicis system. It’s been hidden in the asteroid belt to undergo repairs before it can return to the undeclared border war.

A raid has been launched by a newly-detailed Romanov squadron to destroy the Blücher. But this raid finds the Blücher hidden off-radar and attached to an asteroid, with strong patrols surrounding it.



Forces Involved

Neu Swabian League

[Maria von Burgund BB]
Blücher - Anchored to asteroid
[Markgraf CH]
Brandenburg - On Patrol A
Prussia - On Patrol B
[Kronprinz Wilhelm CL]
Roon - On Close-Defence
Yorck - On Close-Defence
[Waldburg DD]
Mainz - On Patrol A
Köln - On Patrol B
Augsburg - On Patrol A
Hamburg - On Patrol B
[Ehrenhold FF]
Bussard - On Close-Defence
Seeadler - On Close-Defence

Romanov Hegemony

[Crimea BB]
Sevastopol
[Nakhimov CL]
Makarov
Eberhart
Kolchak
Ushakov

Sector Map & Deployment



Players alternately place 5 asteroids on the board, starting with NSL player. These must go in the marked Asteroid Zones, with no more than two in any one of the zones. These asteroids move 2” per turn in a D1-A4 direction.

Romanov Hegemony player chooses Jump Point secretly, along with their initial heading and velocity.

Neu Swabian League player places Patrol A vessels in any Patrol Zone, deciding on initial heading and velocity.

Neu Swabian League player randomly determines which of asteroids in Asteroid Zones the Blücher is anchored to.
This is kept secret until:
a) Blücher detaches from asteroid
b) Blücher’s Firecon is successfully brought online
c) A Romanov vessel comes within 6” of the asteroid

Neu Swabian League player randomly places Patrol B vessels in any Patrol Zone, deciding on initial heading and velocity.

Neu Swabian League player deploys Close-Defence vessels in any Asteroid Zone, deciding on initial heading and velocity.

Romanov Hegemony vessels jump in…

The Blücher

The Blücher begins the game anchored to an asteroid, and moves with it until it detaches.

No systems are functional at the beginning of the game.
Some systems are damaged and some were taken offline for safety purposes.

Damaged Systems
1 Firecon
FTL
Pulse Torpedo
1 Beam-1
1 Beam-2 (L)
2 Beam-3s (R)(F)

At the end of each turn the systems can be brought back online. There is a further chance of damaged systems failing.

Damaged Operational
Bring online Roll 6 Roll 5 or 6

In cases where damaged systems are used, the system will fail again on a 1 or 2. A “1” means that the system fails before use, and a “2” means it fails after use.