Awhile back we discussed Lions, Tigers, and Bears. No, we didn’t talk about the Wizard of Oz…really. Lions, Tigers, and Bears: The Battle at the North Cape is a War at Sea Scenario depicting The Battle at the North Cape. This time we have another official scenario to share with all you War at Sea fans. The scenario is titled Action Deferred: The Battle of Cape Teulada and it is the first of, hopefully, many official War at Sea scenarios.
We found this, and the second, scenario in response to a comment made by Dane in the Lions, Tigers, and Bears article. For a long time we’ve said that reader participation makes this blog excel and Dane’s comment is yet another example. He prompted us to do the legwork resulting in our sharing two more great War at Sea scenarios. Firstly, there are some required equipment that you will need to play this scenario. Take a gander at the list below to make sure you have everything.
- Maps. Use the all-sea maps from the Starter Box
- Scenario Rules. Download them, read them (you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader), and print them.
- Ships and Planes. Allies take 2 HMS Hood, 9 HMS Javelin (both as reinforcements), 1 HMS Exeter, 4 HMS Ajax, and 1 Swordfish Mk. II. Axis take 1 Vittorio Veneto, 1 USS Tennessee (replace with Guilio Cesare because that model is released in Task Force), 7 Luca Tarigo (all three are reinforcements), 4 Bolzano, and 7 more Luca Tarigo.
- Dice, tokens, and other standard accouterments.
The scenario depicts two convoys, one Axis and one Ally, crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Players score 5 VPs per hit on each damaged or crippled ship. They score VPs equal to the point value of sunk ships. Lastly, they receive VPs for occupying enemy’s entry rows. Each turn a British ship occupies a spot in Row A they earn 10 VPs or 20 if the occupying ship is the Hood. Each turn an Italian ship occupies a spot in Row K they earn 10 VPs or 20 if the occupying ship is the Vittorio Veneto or Guilio Cesare. Whichever player has the highest VPs at the game’s end is the winner.
There are other special rules dealing with Limited Opportunity (game ends in 1 turn if modified DR is 9 or more) and suggestions for house rules. Looking at the house rules we advise against using them because the official WAS Rules Clarifications and special abilities for models in Task Force adopt some of those house rules.
The scenario officially calls for the Axis player to use a USS Tennessee to represent the Giulio Cesare. But now that Task Force has been officially released the Axis player can use the actual Giulio Cesare model. This is our recommended course of action but there are some important notes. First the Cesare costs 9pts less than the Tennessee. Secod the Cesare has weaker main guns (13 12 11 10) compared to the Tennessse (15 15 15 11). Its secondary guns are more powerful, which is a plus (6 5 5) than the Tennessee (5 5 4).
It has two more major differences. It has weaker armor and hull points (7 13 4) than the Tennessee (8 14 5). But, unlike the Tennessee the Cesare is not slow. The Tennessee suffers from Slow 2 as a special ability. Avoiding that negative ability does prop the Cesare up a bit. We do not see this severely unbalancing the scenario. However, it does not seem to be a problem if players wish to give the Italians a handicap such as an extra Luca Tarigo (9pts) for Admiral Campioni’s Task Force.
Be sure to check back for the second War at Sea Scenario. It is
In Harm’s Way: The Battle of Sunda Strait featuring a combined Allied force of US, British, Dutch, and Australians versus the Imperial Japanese Navy.
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