I've been meaning to post this game I played during the lockdown for months now. Being in lockdown, it was naturally a solo game. I used it as an opportunity to teach myself the Victory At Sea - Age of Dreadnaughts rule set.
The battle I chose was a reenactment of the Battle of Coronel off the coast of Chile on the 1st November 1914. I wasn't too happy with the scenario layout in the Age of Dreadnaughts book as it launches straight into gunnery range on the opening turn. As this was a seek a destroy mission for the Royal Navy, who thought they had located the Scharnhorst (if I remember correctly) on its own via intercepted radio traffic to its collier, I decided it would make for a better scenario to have both fleets on the table according to the above map and to see who spots whom first.
Scenario: both the German and Royal Navy squadrons set up based on the map above, with ships in the configurations shown. Each squadron sets up within 20cm of its own table edge anywhere along the NE quarter of the table for the Germans and the SW quarter for the Royal Navy.
Weather Conditions: Bad (all speeds are reduced by -1, all attacks are at a -1 to hit on the die roll, -1 to all Command Checks)
Scenario Special Rules: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have been at sea for some time and require maintenance. To reflect this, their speed for the scenario is limited to a top speed of 5. Weather Conditions effect this further.
HMS Canopus begins off map and from turn 10 onwards, on a roll of 12 on 2D6, the ship appears with its collier in the SE quadrant of the table not more than 20cm's from the table edge.
Initiative: The Germans have the Initiative for the first turn.
German Fleet: SMS Leipzig, SMS Nurnberg, SMS Dresden, SMS Scharnhorst, SMS Gneisenau
