Finally got it to the table with a friend today.
We played operation scenario #3, (Self Abuse) which covered convoy PQ 13's attempt to run supplies from Hvalfjordur, Iceland to Murmansk, USSR (as well as PQ 9's return to Iceland after offloading supplies at Murmansk) light cruiser
Kenya is tasked with bringing lend-lease gold payments from Murmansk to Scapa Flow. It takes place from Mar 12-31, 1942. Pack ice covers much of the map so there's only a narrow corridor through which the Brits must run the gauntlet. The Germans have several Z-class destroyers out raiding and a large fleet comprising the
Tirptiz, the
Adm. Hipper, the Adm. Scheer, and several destroyers which are at anchor in Norway but can be sent out should the raiders find any juicy targets. There are also bucketloads of U-boats and
Luftwaffe planes on call. The Brits have thinly stretched escorts guarding the convoys (destroyers and a few light cruisers), scant air cover in Iceland, and a large reaction force comprising the carrier
Victorious, the BB's
King George V and
Duke of York as well as the BC
Renown and a dozen destroyers. The Soviets have a few destroyers patrolling around Murmansk and some land based fighters and bombers. There are a handful of RN and Soviet subs available too.
Pack ice. Everywhere north and east of the white markers is covered in pack ice and is impassible to task forces without an icebreaker (Neither side has access to ice breakers in this scenario).
PQ13's start point in Iceland.
Crappy pic of PQ9's start point at Murmansk.
Luftwaffe air groups (not yet assigned to bases. Bombers along the top, recon along right, fighters along the bottom)
Allied task forces and air groups.
It was a tense and fun game. PQ 13 left Iceland and was immediately set up by wolfpacks. The merchant marine captains in this convoy were a poorly disciplined lot and were constantly breaking off from the convoy in an attempt to go it alone. The U-boats managed to sink 5 while losing one sub to a Sunderland basked in Akureyri, Iceland. PQ 9 waited until the cover of night before slipping out of Murmansk. They managed to evade the raiding German destroyers but had bad luck as there was a brief clear patch of weather in the morning. The convoy was spotted by the Luftwaffe and attacked by long range bombers a few hours later. Two transports were severely damaged and were subsequently scuttled as they could barely make 5 knots headway. A third was also hit but damage was light.
The weather played a huge factor in the game. Lots of snow squalls and short days make spotting extremely difficult. A German raider (Z25) stumbled into the Soviet destroyer patrol. The snow prevented the German from taking advantage of its better guns and spotting equipment. It was sunk from a combination of torpedoes and gunfire.
The RN managed to get very lucky when the Tirpitz's task force came within range. The subs penetrated to the centre of the task force and managed to get 2 torpedoes into the Tirpitz. It inflicted a fair amount of damage but sadly, nothing critical.
The game came to a head when the Adm Hipper and Scheer managed to close into gun range with PQ 9. The main Brit reaction force was out of position as its destroyers were having trouble in the heavy weather and were going through fuel and an alarming rate. They were forced to slow down and conduct underway refuelling which meant the Fulmars and Albacores from the HMS Victorious didn't have the range to give PQ 9 cover. It all came down to a game of cat and mouse in the snow and fog. Radar allowed the RN to detect the Kriesmarine and stay outside of visual range. (this cause a fair amount of rage against RNG from the German player and sighs of relief and chuckles from me.)
The Germans decided to call it a day and return to port rather than give chase as it would've brought them within range of the Victorious and the British battleships.
We'd played for about 4.5 hours by that point and decided to call it a day.
Fun game but the weather made successful detection very chancy and I can see how frustrating it must've been for my opponent to spend 4 hours developing and implementing a good plan only to have it fall apart from 3 missed die rolls.