Round 12, Match 3 Status Report

Jonathan Lockwood (Allies) vs. George Young (Axis; Bid 0.5)

Allies win by 5 POC at the end of Turn 7.

======================================================================== Turn:             1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Axis POC:        +6     +3     +3     +3     +3     +3     +2      Allied POC:      -3     -3     -4     -3     -6     -6     -3      ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Net POC:         +3     +0     -1     +0     -3     -3     -1      Cumulative POC:  +3     +3     +2     +2     -1     -4     -5      ========================================================================

Turn 1

Allied Setup
Barents: Ark Royal, Hood, Repulse (fails speed roll), Renown, 8 1-1-7s.
North Sea: Glorious, Courageous, 5 4-4-3s
NATL: Barham, Queen Elizabeth, Warspite
SATL: Eagle, Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Valiant

Axis response:
German fleet to NATL (Graf Spee fails speed roll)
LBA to Barents
Italian fleet split evenly between Med and Italy
U-boats stay home
Lutzow to Baltic

Barham and Warspite sunk in NATL, Queen Elizabeth disabled. Allies sink Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper, disable Blucher. Axis LBA misses, Allied LBA sinks Zara. Axis lead is 3 POC after turn 1. No oilers.

Turn 2

Allied Deployment
Barents: Ark Royal, Renown, Repulse, KGV, POW, eight 1-1-7s (all speed rolls succeeded)
North Sea: Glorious, Courageous, 5 4-4-3s, Queen Elizabeth
NATL: Eagle, Formidable
SATL: Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Valiant

Axis response:
German fleet to Baltic
U-boats to SATL
Italian fleet split evenly between Med and Italy

Axis breaks control of SATL, loses 1 U-boat. Axis LBA sinks Ark Royal. Allied LBA sinks Pola. No change in POC after Turn 2. Axis lead is 3 POC.

Turn 3

Allied Deployment
Baltic: Marat activates and deploys
Barents: Victorious, Repulse, Renown, KGV, POW, DOY, eight 1-1-7s
North Sea: Glorious, Courageous, 5 4-4-3s, Queen Elizabeth, Hood
NATL: Convoy 1A, Eagle, Formidable
SATL: Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Valiant

Axis response:
German fleet to Baltic
LBA to Barents
U-boats stay home
Italian fleet split evenly

Marat sunk with no loss to German fleet (disabled Graf Spee) Axis and Allied LBA both miss. Allies gain 1 POC to close Axis lead to 2 POC.

Turn 4

Allied Deployment
Baltic: Okt Rev activates and deploys
Barents: Convoy 1A, Victorious, Hood, Repulse, Renown, KGV, POW, DOY, and 5 1-1-7s (minus Kent, Suffolk, and Norfolk)
North Sea: Glorious, Courageous, Formidable, 5 4-4-3s, Queen Elizabeth, Anson, Kent
NATL: Convoy 2B, Eagle, Washington (activated), Wichita (activated), Suffolk, and Norfolk
SATL: Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Valiant

Axis response:
German fleet to Baltic
LBA to Barents
6 U-boats to SATL
Italians split evenly

Results: Axis LBA disables Convoy 1A, while Allied LBA misses. Allied ASW in SATL sinks 2 U-boats, while suffering no damage from return fire. Okt Rev is sunk in the Baltic, but manages to take the Lutzow with it in a blaze of glory. POC count remains unchanged at end of Turn 4 with an Axis lead of 2 POC.

Turn 5

Allied Deployment
Barents: Convoy 2B, Victorious, Hood, Repulse, Renown, KGV, POW, DOY, 6 1-1-7s (minus Suffolk, Norfolk)
North Sea: Glorious, Courageous, Formidable, 5 4-4-3s, Queen Elizabeth, Anson, Howe, Norfolk
NATL: Convoy 1A, Eagle, Illustrious, Washington, New York (activated), Wichita, Tuscaloosa (activated), Suffolk
SATL: Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Valiant

Axis response:
German fleet to Baltic
LBA to Barents
6 U-boats to SATL
Italians split evenly

Results: LBA misses convoy 2B, which makes it to Russia (3 POC). U-boats break control of SATL again while losing 1 U-boat to ASW, and inflict 2 pts damage on Valiant. Allies gain 3 POC to take a 1 POC lead at end of Turn 5.

Turn 6

Allied Deployment
Barents: Convoy 1A, Victorious, Illustrious, Hood, Repulse, Renown, KGV, POW, DOY, 6 1-1-7s (minus Suffolk, Norfolk)
North Sea: Glorious, Courageous, Formidable, Eagle, 5 4-4-3s, Valiant (-2), Anson, Howe, Norfolk
NATL: Convoy 3C, Washington, New York, Texas (activated), Wichita, Tuscaloosa, Suffolk
SATL: Rodney, Nelson, Malaya, Queen Elizabeth

Axis response:
German fleet to Baltic
LBA to Barents
7 U-boats to NATL
Italians split evenly

Results: Allied ASW killed 2 U-boats, but the 5 surviving U-boats sink Convoy 3C. Axis LBA misses Convoy 1A, which makes it to Russia (3 POC). Turn 6 ends with Allied gain of 3 POC to increase lead to 4 POC.

Turn 7

Allied Deployment:
Barents: Victorious, Formidable, Hood, Repulse, Renown, KGV, POW, DOY, 8 1-1-7s
North Sea: Illustrious, Glorious, Courageous, Eagle, 5 4-4-3s, Valiant (-2), Rodney, Nelson
NATL: Washington, New York, Texas, Wichita, Augusta, Tuscaloosa
SATL: Anson, Howe, Malaya, Queen Elizabeth

Axis Response:
Fiume and Pola to SATL, along with 6 U-boats
LBA to Barents
Entire German fleet to Barents (Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Graf Spee, Prinz Eugen, Blucher, Graf Zeppelin)

Results:
Allied ASW in SATL disables 3 U-boats, leaving 3 to fire at the battleships, which only manage to damage Queen Elizabeth for 1 pt. In ensuing surface combat, Pola is sunk while Fiume is disabled to SATL. Allied LBA misses its targets in the Med.

In the Barents, Allied airstrikes miss their targets, while Axis LBA and the Graf Zeppelin manage to sink the Hood and Repulse and put 2 pts damage on Renown , resulting in a nearly even surface battle (23 Allied shots to 19 Axis with bonus). In the first round, the Allies sink Gneisenau, Graf Spee, and Prinz Eugen, disable the Graf Zeppelin and Blucher (putting 1 pt of damage on the latter), damage the Scharnhorst with 1 pt damage and the Tirpitz with 2, leaving only the Bismarck unscathed. Axis return fire sinks the Renown and KGV, disables the DOY and Suffolk, and sinks the Norfolk.

Round 2 has the POW and the remaining 6 cruisers facing the Bismarck, Scharnhorst (-1), and Tirpitz (-2). The second Allied volley disables the Bismarck with 3 pts damage, disables the Scharnhorst, and puts another 6 pts damage on the Tirpitz (now with 8 pts damage). Axis sinks the POW and Kent, and disables the Sussex.

Round 3 has the remaining four British cruisers facing a heavily damaged Tirpitz. The third Allied volley disables the Tirpitz, while the return volley disables the Exeter. Turn 7 ends with a 1 POC Allied gain to extend the lead to 5 POC overall, after which the Axis resigned.

Final Comments

All in all, that was a very exciting match, with the outcome not really decided until Turn 7, when it became necessary to defeat the Axis fleet in a major surface battle in order to maintain the blockade. Best of luck to George in his future matches. Jonathan Lockwood

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