Wednesday, 13 July 2011

COW 2011 - Part 2 - Saturday morning

On Saturday morning I decided that of the several sessions available, I would attend John Curry's presentation about the Fletcher Pratt Naval Wargame.  Pratt, for those of you unfamiliar with the name, was a pioneer US wargamer in the 1930s.  The presentation was followed by a game which featured a Japanese naval and air attack on a British convoy.
John Curry takes us through the history of the FP wargame.
Japanese naval units included three destroyers - alarmingly of the 'Kamakazie' class...
...and a battlecruiser 'Kirishima'.
The paper strips on stands were used to represent squadrons of aircraft.
The first air attack goes in on the convoy.
Kirishima gets a hit on a light cruiser.
A firing arrow is placed for a firther salvo.
Rather unsportingly, the Brits responded with a swarm of torpedo bombers which bore down on Kirishima.  Due to skillful ship handling (and blind luck) they all missed.
Hits are scored on a second light cruiser, thus proving that big guns still have their place in naval warfare!
Readers may like to know that the full Fletcher-Pratt rules are available as part of the History of Wargaming project.
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6 comments:

  1. Paul13 July 2011 at 12:31

    I love the idea about the aircraft stands.

    This looks good all over!

    Nice post.

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  2. Tim Gow13 July 2011 at 12:39

    Paul
    I initially thought (rather uncharitably) that the stands were just badly made, but they were actually built with varying heights and angles on purpose, as estimating ranges is an essential part of the game.

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  3. Geordie an Exiled FoG23 July 2011 at 22:27

    Looks a corker of a game

    One day I hope to see CoW in the flesh

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  4. Tim Gow23 July 2011 at 23:18

    Geordie
    You'd be made most welcome. My only regret is delaying my own attendance for as long as I did.

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  5. Geordie an Exiled FoG23 July 2011 at 23:55

    I will have to first brush up my contemporary dance steps so as not to be confused with a Walrus instead of a Swordfish

    I assume most people took a tipple for Dutch courage before their performance given there were a profusion of camera's to hand and the Internet/Bloggersphere but a click away ;)

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  6. Tim Gow24 July 2011 at 10:58

    Geordie
    Inspiring bold John Barleycorn was certainly in use, but the beauty of COW is that unless you are actually presenting a session no preparation is necessary.

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