Airship Strategy in Great War at Sea
November 2011

Great War at Sea: Zeppelins breathes new life into every Great War at Sea game. Sure, it has more scenarios and adds big, beautiful, fully-tricked-out airship counters to the GWAS counter mix. But the new advanced airship rules in Zeppelins let the airships in all GWAS games break out of the largely non-combatant reconnaissance role they’ve played until now. From this day forward, any GWAS fleet that is escorted by airships has powerful offensive and defensive advantages over unescorted fleets, and can do things no other fleet has ever been able to do before, like actively hunting and killing submarines.

And with lots of new airship missions available plus a roster of airships with widely-varying speed, endurance and combat capabilities, players will be able to revisit all the GWAS scenarios they’ve played before and explore the brand new strategic options which airships bring to the game.

To help players start exploring all this, here’s a brief summary of the possibilities which the Zeppelins airships bring to each Great War at Sea game.

U.S. Navy Plan Gold

French Strategy

As I mentioned in my article series “Strategy in U.S. Navy Plan Gold,” the French navy of the 1920s is equal to the U.S. Navy in gunnery strength, but is significantly hampered by low fuel capacity. The worst example of this is the French destroyers, many of which have only four fuel boxes each.

This isn’t a problem in the titular Scenario 2, “Plan Gold,” where the French are protecting their two Caribbean naval bases at Port-Louis and Fort-de-France against incoming American invaders. But in scenarios where the French are on the offensive, the fact that their only two bases are far to the east of most of their invasion objectives makes low fuel capacity a big problem. Most French invasion fleets will lose their destroyer screens before reaching their targets, and that exposes French transports to attacks by American submarines and the wickedly powerful (but hard to hit) Wickes-class American destroyers.

American patrol fleets can force French battleships on escort duty to burn more fuel by mounting hit-and-run attacks against them, and that can force those French battleships to turn back for port before shepherding their charges all the way to a long-range invasion target. French ships that wish to intercept American invasion fleets heading for remote targets like Haiti and Venezuela (in Operational Scenarios 4 and 5) will have a hard time catching them, since most French capital ships can only travel at Speed 2 for 15 turns or so before turning back for port.

And finally, most French ships don’t have the fuel capacity to sail far west from their bases and then make extended patrols of the rich French merchant shipping lanes near the Panama Canal. That gives American and Weimar German raiders a nearly free hand to sink French merchant shipping there, unless French submarines get lucky and sink the raiders before they can do much damage.

For all these reasons, the new advanced airship rules turn the French airship Dixmude (Z02) into a huge asset for the French. Dixmude appears in all the operational scenarios except “Plan Gold.” Dixmude is a top-of-the-line airship, with a range of 7, an endurance of 18, a bomb load of 3 and a circled protection rating of 2.

This makes her an ideal offensive weapon: She can skirt the range of American fighter aircraft out of Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, move quickly to intercept American invasion fleets long before they reach their targets, and bomb American transports from high altitude with little chance of damage from anti-aircraft fire. She can go on Scout missions to locate enemy raiders, then shadow them so that French subs and patrol ships can slowly converge on the raiders and box them in or force them to flee to port.

Dixmude can also escort French fleets, increasing French initiative against enemy fleets and hunting and killing American subs. If she’s escorting a French battlefleet that intercepts an American battlefleet or invasion fleet, she can spot for French naval gunnery and double the number of hits scored on one American ship or multi-ship counter (e.g., transports) each gunnery impulse.

Finally, in Operational Scenario 9 (“Le Tip and Run”), Dixmude can take one or two bomb factors, fly all the way to Florida and bomb U.S. ports and coastal zones to invoke the Political Meddling and Shock and Awe rules and put confusion on American naval operations.

American Strategy

The U.S. has several key advantages over the French in Plan Gold, but her airship capabilities are not one of them. The Italian-built airship Roma (AS01) is the U.S. Army’s only airship, and with a range of 4, an endurance of 9, a bomb load of 1 and an uncircled protection rating of 1, she’s good for little except coast-watching.

She’d be well used as an escort to an American destroyer fleet patrolling the Panama Canal area, since her presence would let the destroyers hunt and kill French subs. On the other hand, the U.S. Navy’s airships Shenandoah, Niagara and Los Angeles (ZR01 – ZR03) are far better, with ranges of 5 or 6, endurances of 12 and extremely good circled protection ratings of 3 or 4. Still, they don’t carry bombs, so their best option is to either go on Scout missions in search of enemy subs and raiders, or to escort American fleets and provide ASW capability and spot for American gunnery.

Weimar German Strategy

Zeppelin technology is superior to that of all other airships, and the late-model Zeppelins available in the 1920s have ranges of 6 or 7, endurances running all the way up to 27, bomb loads of 3 or 4 and circled protection ratings of 2 or 3. This makes them a formidable threat to enemy shipping.

Luckily for the Allies there is only one scenario in Plan Gold where the Germans have a port that can base airships. That’s the three-player Scenario 7, “Liberal Bias,” and any Zeppelins based at St. Thomas can take Scout missions to locate and bomb enemy raiders, Ground Strike missions to bomb enemy ports for VPs, and Naval Strike missions to hit enemy fleets that try to bombard St. Thomas. Since the French and American players have to score at least double the VPs scored by the Weimar German player to win, late-model Zeppelins are a powerful weapon for German victory.

U.S. Navy Plan Red

British Strategy

The British get the late-model R33 – R38 airships, each of which carries two bomb factors, has a range of 5 or 6, and an endurance of 15 or 21. The 21-endurance R36 and R37 airships are a particular threat to the Americans, as they can escort British fleets for long distances and fly long-range Naval Strike missions against American invasion fleets.

But all British airships can provide the vital service of naval gunnery spotting for British fleets out of Nova Scotia. This is crucial because most American battleships outgun most British battleships on a per capita basis. If the Brits can assign airship escorts to their intercept fleets, they can double the gunnery hits scored against American battleships.

American Strategy

Unlike Plan Gold, Plan Red gives the rickety old Roma a chance to take the fight to the enemy. This is because the distances in Plan Red are much shorter. Roma can make it from Boston to the British ports of Yarmouth or Halifax in just three or four turns, and then bomb British fleets and aircraft there.

Nevertheless, Roma will take a back seat to the three U.S. Navy airships Shenandoah, Niagara and Los Angeles, whose high range and endurance make them ideal escorts for American invasion fleets heading for Nova Scotia. Bermuda is also within all three airships’ movement radius from the U.S. mainland, but only if they’re moving at full-speed. They won’t be able to make it there while escorting a slow invasion fleet, so their best role in support of a Bermuda invasion will be to scout ahead in search of enemy fleets and subs, and to escort faster-moving American destroyer groups so they can hunt and kill British subs guarding the approaches to Bermuda.

As mentioned previously, the U.S. Navy airships don’t carry bombs, so they won’t be able to attack enemy targets on their own. However, each of them has an air-to-air factor and all of them have high, circled protection factors, so they can even hunt British airships effectively. Late-model British airships have roughly the same range and endurance as the U.S. Navy airships, but they carry bombs and are thus a threat to American shipping. But the British airships have low protection ratings, so the U.S. Navy airships can go out on Airship Strike missions against them with a reasonable chance to shoot them down and little chance of getting shot down in return.

Alternatively, they can escort fast-moving American intercept fleets in search of British fleets, many of which will be escorted by British airships since the Brits need the gunnery spotting help to make up for their lower gunnery strength per ship. The U.S. Navy airships can then engage the British airships with air-to-air fire on the battle board with little danger to themselves. This is an excellent way of neutralizing the bombing threat from British airships, and after downing the British airships the U.S. Navy airships can spot for American naval gunnery.

Sailor’s Warning

Treacherous North Atlantic weather is crucial here for both sides. Scenarios taking place in November through June often see Gale conditions, which will destroy all airships that are not at their bases at the time. So to avoid losing their airships, both players will need to be careful not to send them too far from base if the weather is turning gloomy. In the summer and early fall months the weather is more moderate, so airships can operate at long range with less worry.

Mediterranean

Austrian and Italian airships get into the game here, but none are particularly threatening as offensive weapons in and of themselves. Several carry no bombs, and those that do have just one bomb factor. They all have low range and endurance numbers, but in the close confines of the Mediterranean that’s less of a concern. All of them are suitable for Scout and Escort missions, and are best employed for naval gunnery spotting, bombardment spotting, and hunter-killer work in tandem with friendly destroyers. Since subs are a particular danger in the Med, ASW is an excellent role for these airships to play.

Jutland

Here the true Zeppelin gets its moment in the sun, and players can watch Zeppelin technology evolve over the course of the war. The first military Zeppelin, L3, makes her appearance in Operational Scenario 9, “Helgoland Bight,” at the end of August 1914. She carries no bombs and has Range and Endurance of 4 and 6, so she’ll be limited to Scout and short-range Escort work. But as the war in the North Sea and Baltic progresses, the Allies and the Central Powers get “mine-happy,” laying larger and more extensive minefields as time goes along. Early-model German, British and Russian airships will soon get work helping friendly fleets spot, negotiate and sweep minefields.

The Brits and Russians never got very far with airship construction during the war, while Zeppelins start carrying bombs in 1915, have decent range and endurance numbers by the time of the Battle of Jutland itself, and have high-altitude capability, a range of 6 and an endurance of 23 by the end of the war. This means that German airship mission options will increase as the war progresses, and so will the boost that the advanced airship rules give the German war effort in Jutland.

Conclusion

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Zeppelins will expand the horizons of many more Avalanche Press games to come. U.S. Navy Plan Black will return in book form before long, giving the late-model Zeppelins included here a chance to take on the U.S. Navy with full support from the High Seas Fleet. Other Rainbow Plan games will follow, and any Great War in the Air game wouldn’t be complete without zeppelin combat. And the really weird alternative history possibilities are endless (think Sky Captain . . . ).

But that’s a subject for another day. Have fun with all the new gaming options that Zeppelins brings to Great War at Sea!

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