Battle Cruiser Hood:
Scenarios, Part One
By James Stear
February 2014

Editor’s Note: This series of Great War at Sea scenarios by Jim “Captain Terror” Stear focus on the British battle cruiser Hood. We hope you enjoy them.

Battle Scenario One
Kronstadt Demonstration
June 1920
Hood’s goodwill cruise to Scandinavia in the summer of 1920 had the dual purpose of letting the Russian Bolshevik leaders know that the Royal Navy was still watching the Baltic, and that Britain would take a dim view of aggression against the new Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Had the Reds not gotten the message, Hood might have been tasked with covering a demonstration against the naval base at Kronstadt, in order to drive home the point.  

Note: This scenario uses warship pieces from Jutland.

Time Frame: Daylight
Weather Condition: 1 (Clear)

Central Powers (Bolshevik) Forces
BB06 Petropavlovsk
BB08 Sevastopol
PC08 Aurora
4 x Ilin-class DD
4 x Ukraina-class DD

Allied (British) Forces
Battle Cruisers:
Leader Keyes
BC09 Tiger
BC16 Hood

Light Forces:
CL24 Cordelia
CL35 Castor
CL43 Caledon
CL46 Curacao
DL07 Spenser
8 x W-class DD
8 x Admiralty-class DD
6 x Hunt-class MS

Special Rules
Map of Neva Bay: Use the graphic provided to determine which hexes on the tactical map ships can enter. The olive hexes are land, the white hexes deep water, and the blue hexes shallow water. The gray hexes denote special map features (A = Koltin Island, B = fortress of Krasnaya Gorka, C = Petrograd). The dotted hex sides denote minefields, while the dashed line from Kotlin Island to Petrograd marks the Morskoi Kanal (channel) between the base of Kronstadt on Kotlin Island and the city of Petrograd.

You can download the Neva Bay map here.

Setup: The Allied player has initiative; the Allied force enters from the left edge of the map. The battle cruiser and light forces fleets must set up in adjacent hexes per 5.2; they may not start stacked together. The Allied player is not required to place all ships on the map at the start of the first impulse; those held off map may enter as starting forces vacate hexes on the left edge. The Central Powers ships start in the hex SE from Kotlin Island (Hex A). The Central Powers may organize these ships into up to four separate groups for movement purposes.
Bolshevik Squadron: Use the Russian ships from Jutland to represent the Bolshevik ships. The Central Powers player may organize these ships as described under setup, however they are moved secretly on the tactical map by the Central Powers player under they move within visual range of an Allied ship.
CMB Courage and Accuracy, August 1919: The Central Powers player secretly rolls one die; on a 4-6, remove Petropavlovsk from starting forces.
Too Many Revolutionaries, Not Enough Crewmen: The Central Powers player secretly rolls one die each for Sevastopol and Aurora; on a result of 6, remove the ship from starting forces. In addition, all Central Powers warships move at a speed one level less that that indicated on the counter (2 is treated as 1, 1 as 1s, 1s as coastal defense ship or slow transport).
Minefields: The dotted hex sides indicate 4-strength minefields. Allied minesweepers that move adjacent to these minefields, and remain adjacent for an entire round of combat, may attempt to sweep them. Designate a target hex side and roll one die for each minesweeper; on a result of 6, one minefield is swept.
Kronstadt: Hex A contains Kotlin Island, which includes the fortresses of the city of Kronstadt and the naval base there. The fortresses have six secondary guns and six tertiary guns, all protected by light armor.
Krasnaya Gorka: Hex B contains the fortress of Krasnaya Gorka (“Red Hill”). The fortress has four primary guns protected by heavy armor, and four secondary guns protected by light armor. These guns may engage all targets in range, providing a straight line from the fortress to the target crosses the W, NW, NW, or E sides of Hex B. Likewise, these guns may only be targeted if incoming fire crosses the W, NW, NE or E sides of Hex B.
Petrograd: Hex C contains the port of Petrograd.
The Shallows of Neva Bay: Ships moving into the hexes denoted as “shallow” run the risk of grounding. Roll one die for each ship which moves into a shallow hex (or moves more than two hexes in one round, transiting the Morskoi Kanal), on a result of 3 through 6 for capital ships, and 4 through 6 for light ships, the ship has run aground per 7.42, and remains grounded for the duration of the scenario. Add one to the grounding roll for each Allied ship.
Morskoi Kanal: Ships of either side may advance one hex per round along the Morskoi Kanal, without risk of grounding (effective speed is 1s).
Revolutionary Fervor vs. Accuracy: For each hit scored by Central Powers guns or torpedoes, the Central Powers player must make a second die roll to confirm the hit. Each fortress gun hit needs a second result of 6 to confirm the hit, while each ship’s gun or torpedo needs a second result of 5 or 6. Add one to the result if the target is a capital ship.
Behind Concrete and Steel: Fortress guns require two hits to destroy completely. The first hit on a fortress gun disables it until the start of the next round (it may resume firing at the start of the next round).
Big Target: Central Powers fortresses and ships must direct their primary guns at any Allied capital ships in range, in preference to other targets (exception: ships may direct their primary guns at Allied cruisers or destroyers if closer).
Length of Battle: The game continues for eight rounds, or until all ships of one side have been sunk or have exited the map per 7.33.

Victory Conditions
The Allied Player scores two VPs for each primary fortress gun, and one VP for each secondary or tertiary gun, completely destroyed. The Allied player also scores five VPs for each minefield swept, and 10 VPs for each primary gun hit scored on Petrograd (Hex C, treat as bombardment). The player with the most VPs at the end of play wins.

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