The group gathered today at Miniature Market Rock Hill to give Ravi’s rules mods for Nimitz a shakedown cruise using the ships from the Battle of the Java Sea as guinea pigs for this trip across the blue water game mat.
The IJN (Pat, Jay, Kevin & Mark) were restricted to close to their original deployment, but the ABDA (Andrew, DJ & Jules) forces were allowed some more latitude in how they set up. Crew quality was an advantage for the Emperor’s forces as historically the mixed Allied forces had difficulty coordinating their efforts
Markers allowed for noting speed and formation movement along with targeting for the individual ships.
The white poker chips substituted for smoke screens as we had forgotten to pack the cotton balls in our load out for the game. Ravi also dropped the movement by half coming to the conclusion that it was simply too fast in relation to the gun ranges. Turning was along allowed at every half inch up to 45 degrees.
The goal of the ABDA was to get past the IJN screen and intercept the transports off table.
The IJN naturally had some other ideas as to the plans of the ABDA.
Include were rules on collisions and ramming. In this case the USS John Paul Jones came off the worse for making contact with the larger Naka.
Overall a good run though of these mods to bring a little more to the Nimitz rule set. Certainly still a work in progress, but further along the way after the valuable input of the players who offered their thoughts on portions of the effort. Our Thursday Semi Regular Retirees group not only enjoys getting together to share their mutual hobby but also serves the whole group by testing rules, games and scenarios that appear on our Monthly Game Days, our “History Through A Different Lens Initiative” and Conventions both local and regional. This group willingly brings their decades of gaming experience to evaluate the offerings helping each other and the entire community to get better games on the table at our events.
Thanks to Ravi for an interesting afternoon of gaming. Thanks to all the players who pitched in with thoughts and ideas on how to improve the modifications and Thanks to the fine staff at Miniature Market Rock Hill for their continued support.
