“ATTENTION: Captain to the bridge!” I’m looking for two commodores and 8 ship captains for the upcoming Snapshot, “Form Battleline!” to take place on 15 September. This event is loosely based on the battle cruiser actions the precipitated the Battle of Jutland back in 1916. It is the first AH Snapshot that focuses on ship-to-ship, big gun surface action. Hearken back to the days when the battleship was the queen of battle and aircraft merely the eyes of the fleet! This event pits two cruiser squadrons against each other; each supported by motor-torpedo boats (PT’s) and a handful of scout planes (with no air-to-ground ordnance, but with defensive guns).
Each cruiser squadron will be made up of four or five “mini-fleets” (here after referred to as “sections”
, each consisting of one cruiser and two destroyer escorts. Each section will be required to stay within visual range of the squadron flagship. The sections will be created by taking the cruiser fleets (3xCA, 4xDE) in the Philippine terrain and selectively sinking two CA’s and two DE’s (leaving a single CA and two DE’s). The CM will then jump the sections into a line-abreast or line-astern formation (commodore’s choice), somewhere within approximately 25 miles of the enemy fleet. Neither side will know the enemy squadron’s location, heading, or formation. Each side will also have a CV fleet within one grid of their cruiser squadron. Each side will be allowed a one-time launch of two to four scout planes (TBM’s for one side, IL-2 for the other). These scout planes will not have air-to-ground ordnance or cannon (the IL-2’s will be required to fire all cannon rounds upon launch). Once the scout planes have launched, the CV’s will be jumped at least 75 miles away, and will play no further part. Each side will also be able to spawn a like number of PT boats in the first five minutes of the event, at which time PT’s will be disabled. PT boat skippers and scout plane pilots will be free to any guns in the fleet (ship, PT, or scout planes) after their own PT is sunk or plane is shot down.
I need volunteers to command the individual ship sections, as well as a volunteer to act as commodore for each side (German High Seas Fleet = Knight, British Grand Fleet = Bishop). Everyone else that shows up will be assigned to fly scout planes, drive PT’s, or man guns. Everyone besides the commodores and section captains will get a PT or scout plane; once they lose it, they may man guns at will. Victory will go to the side that does the best job of keeping their fleet together and concentrating their firepower. Radar will be totally disabled, and the time of day will be sunrise. Please post here if you wish to volunteer as a commodore (who will also captain the flagship section) or a ship captain (state your preference regarding which side you would like).
NOTE: If you plan to captain a section, please practice offline with the ship command interface. It will be helpful (though not mandatory) that you be familiar with such terms as “line-abreast”, “line-astern”, “crossing the T”, etc. Commodores and captains will of course be allowed to man the guns, if they so choose. Commodores will have to be very clear when issuing maneuver commands to their captains, and should use a two-step command sequence. By that, I mean you first issue a preparatory command, followed 20-30 seconds later by the word “Execute.” Example: “90-degree left-flank turn to 090…<and 20 seconds later> Execute!”
