VSF STOP PRESS: Black Dragon Tong Sink Royal Naval Vessel

Colin came over and we tried a different game to get all our boats onto the table. We played a variation  of the Recovery scenario from IHMN 2nd Edition.

ISLAND RECOVERY SCENARIO

 Layout: Water with a scattering of small islands, jetties etc.

 Place 3 counters of contraband along the centre line on islands or jetties. They are valued at 10, 20 and 30 VPs each (the Tong player can look at the values).

Up to half the Tong may be placed any where up to the centre line. The remainder, including all boats start on their table edge. All Royal Navy start on their table edge.

600 point companies.

The Tong score VPs for enemy killed and contraband that is on an un-boarded boat or removed from table. Royal Navy score VPs for enemy killed and contraband still on the table.

Game Length 8 turns.

The initial table set up. 

And a view from the Royal Naval side. The Tong have a light cannon set up on the centre island.

HM Gunboat Superfluous, mounting a light field gun and a machine gun.

The Tong flagship, a heavily manned junk with a second light cannon.

And their secret weapon....A Yeti!

After a couple of turns, things start hotting up. Having put two of the boarding party on the smaller island, the gunboats fires on the Tong cannon.

The steam launch lands it's boarding party (heavily armoured Chief petty Officer and a seaman), but comes under fire from both light cannon.

A shot from the gunboat dismasts the sailboat and kills the crewman. The yeti easily swims to the shore but the Dragon Lady dithers.

The gunboat moves up to land the second boarding party, but the Yeti rushes up and leaps on board. By now the field gun was out of shells and when the machine gunner fired at the beast, his weapon promptly jammed! (Cursed double Ones!!!)

At the bottom left of the picture you can see one of the boarding party, having cleared the island of enemies, has leapt onto the prow of a Tong boat.

But after a heroic duel, the Yeti is felled by the dashing Lieutenant-Commander.

Hit repeatedly by both Tong cannon, the steam launch catches fire and starts to sink. The crewmen survive and leap into the water, where one promptly drowns! The Brass Dragon Dog can be seen climbing onto the jetty (as it was metal we decided it would sink rather than swim, but without the need for oxygen it could walk along the seabed at swimming rate).

The end of turn 8.  At the bottom of the picture you can just see the Chief Petty officer after he split the head of the Brass Dragon Dog with a single blow of his cutlass! Apart from the  Dragon Lady on the central island, engaged in combat with the Lieutenant-Commander, the only Tong remaining are on board the |junk and they have already taken casualties from naval small arms fire. With 2 contraband under RN control and the third contested, there was no way they could win now, A Royal Navy Victory!