• Sponsor '17 '13 '11 '10

    Anybody have some Naval Scenarios from WW1 to WW2 that they would like to see in a HBG Naval game?
    We are developing a new game for 2014 and really need some Naval guru’s to help out. Alternate History real battles, etc are welcome.
    let me know if you are interested.


  • Leyte Gulf and Jutland would be good candidates for a game.  A number of ‘what if’ rules could be added

  • Sponsor '17 '13 '11 '10

    @Imperious:

    Leyte Gulf and Jutland would be good candidates for a game.  A number of ‘what if’ rules could be added

    Yes I agree to both, both are very large battles.
    I am wanting some Plan Orange or Plan Black Scenarios, those would be really neat.

  • Sponsor '17 '13 '11 '10

    @rjpeters70:

    Agree, Rainbow series of plans would be great for alt history scenarios.

    Anybody have any for Axis and Allies style game playing?


  • @coachofmany:

    Anybody have some Naval Scenarios from WW1 to WW2 that they would like to see in a HBG Naval game? We are developing a new game for 2014 and really need some Naval guru’s to help out. Alternate History real battles, etc are welcome. let me know if you are interested.

    I can already picture myself taking this question home with me tonight and drooling over my WWII naval history reference books to think of some suggestions.  Can you give me an idea of the size of scenario you’re contemplating?  By which I mean a size range: no bigger than such-and-such an operation and no smaller than such-and-such an engagement.  I’m assuming that what you have in mind ranges from a theatre-level campaign (like the Guadacanal campaign) at its upper extremity to a large battle (like Jutland) at its lower extremity.


  • I really like that game called “Flattop” which has one large map and you need to send out planes to scout for the enemy and you plot movement on a separate log pad.

    That would work quite well for Leyte Gulf. Midway by Avalon Hill also had a similar system.  Either system would require a grid map.


  • Here’s an idea for a WWII naval scenario: a game based on the early surface-raiding phase of the war, lasting from September 1939 (the invasion of Poland) to April 1940 (the invasion of Norway, which involved sizable naval forces on both sides).  The Axis side would consist of Germany, and the Allied side would consist of Britain and France.

    The major assets on the German side would be the five heaviest units of the Kriegsmarine, all of which were involved in Atlantic raiding operations during this time: the three “pocket battleships” Deutschland, Scheer, and Graf Spee (which operated individually) and the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (which operated as a pair, with a few escorting ships).  The major assets on the Allied side would be the eight anti-raider hunting groups which Britain and France set up, consisting of various combinations of carriers, battlecruisers and cruisers: Forces F, G, H, I and K (British), Forces L and M (Anglo-French), and Force N (French).

    The other assets on the German side would be: a) the supply ships (like Altmark) which kept the raiders replenished at sea; b) the U-boats which were in service at that time (their operational range was quite limited because, prior to being based on the Atlantic coast following the capitulation of France, they had to make their way to and from their bases in the Baltic); and c) small mine-laying craft (to deploy in British waters the magnetic mines which were introduced around that time).  Germany did not have any operational auxiliary cruisers until March 1940, so they’re not part of this scenario.

    The other assets on the Allied side would be: a) the Allied convoys themselves (plus merchant ships sailing independently), constituting the primary targets of the German raiders; b) the Allied close-support escort ships (such as corvettes, destroyers and armed merchant cruisers) which accompanied the convoys; and c) the Allied distant-support ships (including battleships) operating out of bases such as Halifax, Scapa Flow and Brest.

    Victory conditions would be determined by points.  On the German side, the primary objective would be to choke off as much as possible the flow of shipping to Britain, with victory points allocated for: a) sinking merchant tonnage; b) disrupting merchant traffic; c) tying down Anglo-French naval assets; and d) sinking British and French warships.  On the Allied side, the primary objective would be (to quote a wartime phrase) the “safe and timely arrival” of shipping to Britain, with victory points allocated for: a) delivering tonnage to its destinations ports; b) sinking German raiders; c) disrupting raider operations by sinking their supply ships; and d) sinking U-boats.


  • An Plan Orange battle game would be great and very even game.

  • Sponsor '17 '13 '11 '10

    @ABWorsham:

    An Plan Orange battle game would be great and very even game.

    I agree, I need to find someone who is willing to help design scenarios for the Plan orange game then.

  • Sponsor '17 '13 '11 '10

    @rjpeters70:

    I’m sorry, what do you mean by “develop scenarios”.  Isn’t Plan Orange (and the variants therein) the scenarios themselves?  Entire books have been written on War Plan Orange (see:  http://www.amazon.com/War-Plan-Orange-Strategy-1897-1945/dp/1591145007) and even games (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4918/great-war-at-sea-u-s-navy-plan-orange).Â

    What specifically are you looking for?  The scenarios are there.  Are you looking for game design?  Story boards?  Units?

    I am looking for different smaller scenarios within the “Plan Orange”


  • If you’re building a scenario around the interwar American War Plan Orange, you should also look into the interwar Japanese doctrine of Kantai Kessen.  Orange and Kantai Kessen reflected each other nicely, in that both envisioned the US fleet sailing west into Japanese waters, where the two fleets would engage in a Mahan-style decisive battle…which, however, each side expected to win.  Japanese plans envisioned significant attrition of the US fleet along the way (chiefly by submarines, I think), prior to the main event (an old-fashioned slugging match between battleships).

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