The Hunters: U-69 - Sixth Patrol September 1941

For those of you wondering where the Second Actual Play Report for Yakuza 2019 is.  The short answer is real life got in the way.  The long answer is the GM for that particular game had Homework from College to take care of over the holidays.  We've had a College Teachers strike up here in Ontario which has played hell on our ability to get together online to play.  So the game that was promised for the previous Wednesday ended up being postponed.  This coming Wednesday may very well be a coin-toss, so don't call us we'll call you.  With the scheduled game postponed, I ended up sitting down to play The Hunters again.  What follows is the Sixth Patrol of U-69's career.  If you're just joining us you can find the first actual-play here.  If you missed the last two patrols you can find them here.  Hope you enjoy.

The Departure 

U-69's departure from the U-Boat Pen at Brest in September
of 1941.

Kapitan-leutnant Fechner spent the month of refit, once again petitioning the U-Boat command.  To let him partake in a Wolfpack Patrol in the Atlantic.  A request that was once again denied.  They still sent U-69 to patrol the Atlantic, but still held the belief that U-69 was too green to participate in such a patrol.  So once again U-69 returned to patrol the Atlantic departing from the U-Boat Pen at Brest.  For an uneventful journey into the open ocean.  Fechner was in a foul mood determined to sink enough Allied Ships that upon the Boat's return the higher ups would pay him some goddamn attention!

The Convoy!

It didn't take long for Fechner's wish to be granted, almost the first day after reaching their patrol area.  The lookouts spotted a convoy coming right in their direction!  Fechner gave the order to dive below the waves to avoid detection, and began the approach towards the convoy.  Observing through the periscope Fechner saw four freighters, three small and one large come into range.  The smaller City of Oxford (2600), the Pandias (5000) and the Robert L. Holt (3000), accompanied by the larger Fairport (6200).  Fechner gave the order to fire on the largest of the ships, the Pandias and the Fairport.  Two torpedoes apiece.  

The first two torpedoes fired on the Fairport
as observed by Fechner through U-69's
periscope.

Peering through the periscope Fechner watched as two explosions rocked the Fairport!  They had damaged her but the large freighter was still afloat and didn't appear to be sinking anytime soon.  Compared to the smaller Pandias which fell victim to a single explosion that prompted it to begin its descent to its final resting place.  The second torpedo must have missed or failed to detonate, but that didn't matter.  Its twin had picked up the slack where it had failed.  Now it was just a matter of sinking the Fairport.  Which was slowed and smoking but refused to sink.  U-69 managed to slip away undetected from the destroyers escorting the convoy.  Fechner gave the order to continue following the damaged Fairport.  Which the escort saw fit to abandon to the mercy of the German U-Boat.  The large freighter proved to be difficult prey as it took four different salvos from U-69's deck-gun and two aft-fired torpedoes at close range.  To finally sink her.

The Second Convoy

Having stuck around to finish off the Fairport, U-69's crew had lost the opportunity to pursue the convoy further.  Luckily for them they didn't have to go far to encounter a second one!  Upon sighting Fechner order U-69 to dive to periscope depth, they had used all their aft torpedoes on the Fairport.  So there was no real benefit to making a surface attack on this convoy.  Observing through the periscope three small freighters the Ogontz (5000), the Thurso (2700) and the Tuva (4700) were spotted.  Along with the large freighter Corrientes (6900).  That along with the Ogontz would be their target, the biggest of the four spotted.  Two torpedoes apiece.  Only one explosion was seen from the Corrientes, but it was enough.  The torpedo must have hit the boilers as the freighter went up in flames!  Slowly the Corrientes began to sink below the waves.  While the other target the smaller Ogontz was damaged and still afloat!  

That's when an explosion rocked the boat!  The electric lights went out and Fechner along with his crew were standing in the dark!  "Down periscope!  Dive!" shouted Fechner, realizing it before his crew did.  They were being depth-charged!  The men sprang to follow their Kommandant's orders as another explosion rocked U-69!  At that moment there was a sound of shrieking metal and then a the spray of seawater against metal, a flange had burst!  Fechner cried for the someone to get it under control!  He waited for the next depth-charge to come, but it never did.  The crew stood at their posts drenched from the sudden burst of water which was now under control, alone in the dark.  "Status report!" demanded Fechner to his Chief Engineer.  "The batteries are out!" came the reply.  "Get them fixed!" was all that Fechner offered in return.  "They think they've sunk us!  I want to show them just how wrong they are!  Load forward Torpedo tubes!"  (Overall U-69 suffered 3 Hull Damage, 1 Flooding and damaged Batteries from this initial depth charging).  

The crew rushed to follow their Kommandant's orders.  The batteries were repaired in no time and the remaining electric torpedoes loaded at record speed.  U-69 managed to follow the convoy that believed her sunk with no delays.  Letting the damaged Ogontz go, Fechner wanted to sink more ships rather than finish off leftovers.  This time they'd get within the midst of the convoy and attack at close range.  (The electric torpedoes aren't much good otherwise).  In order to sink the juiciest of targets.  Fechner peered through the periscope ready to pick his targets.  When he noticed something out of his periphery, a Destroyer coming right for them!  "Down periscope dive!"  They had been spotted, they had to get out of here!  Another round of depth charges rocked U-69 shaking her violently!  Fechner quietly wondered to himself if this was it.  Waiting for a watery death that never came.

Aborting the Patrol

Apparently the Royal Navy crew of the destroyer were very confident in their abilities.  For after the first round of depth-charging there was no second.  They must of thought the boat more damaged than it was and had sunk with that last one.  Fechner called for a status report, the Engineer reported that U-69's dive planes had been damaged.  The Kapitan-leutnant cursed at this news, he cursed even more when the Engineer reported that the damage was irreparable at sea.  Which meant they would have to wait for the convoy to leave the area.  So that they could blow the ballast tank in order to surface.  After that it would be a dangerous exposed, surface trip home.  At the mercy of RAF anti-submarine planes.  None of this was anything that Fechner relished.  Giving up pursuit of the convoy stank of cowardice, while he was still leery of planes.  After the run-in that had killed U-69's last Flak-Crew.  There was no other option though, he ordered the patrol aborted and U-69 headed back for Brest.  A thankfully uneventful, but fearful trip.  They returned once more with 65,300 tons of Allied shipping sunk to their name.  It would December by the time the boat was once again ready for patrol.  The men would not be spending Christmas in Brest as they had hoped.  

Wall of the Fallen

The Greek ship SS Pandias sunk by
U-69 in the Atlantic in September
of '41.

The American freighter SS Fairport
sunk by U-69, part of the same convoy
as the Pandias.

The British SS Corrientes sunk by
U-69 in September of '41 part of a
different convoy than the Pandias
or the Fairport.

Conclusion

I really thought this was the end for Fechner and U-69, this was the first time.  That the boat had ever taken any really significant damage or had been forced to abort a patrol.  Again U-69 returned home with her Electric Torpedoes largely unused, which has become something of a tradition.  One that is annoying to both me and the boat's Commandant, since coming back with torpedoes.  Is something of a mark of shame among German Submariners.  I don't think they can really complain though, since U-69 has sunk just as many ships in six patrols as most Aces have in their whole careers.  (Don't quote me on that though).  If you liked this actual play, be sure to +1, comment down below and follow this blog.  As always have a nice day and may the dice be ever in your favour.

The Hunters: U-69 - Fourth and Fifth Patrols May 1941 & July 1941

So it's here the actual play report for my fourth and fifth patrols of the Hunters: German U-Boats at War 1939-1943.  If you missed the first one you can find it here.  If you missed the second and third ones, you can find them here.

Fourth Patrol

U-69 sinking the Canadian Ship SS-Carbiou.

It was a pleasant May morning when U-69 departed from the U-Boat pens at Brest.  Kapitan-leutnant Josef Fechner the boat's commandant was eager to get back to sinking Allied shipping.  After the nearly disastrous patrol of February earlier that year.  Where the boat's flak gun crew was killed by an attack by an RAF anti-submarine plane.  An episode that was nearly repeated when a plane was spotted overhead!  Fechner gave the order to crash dive without hesitation, the trauma of the last patrol still fresh in his mind.  Other than that minor incident, U-69's return to its preferred hunting-ground of the British Isles was uneventful.  As was the majority of its patrol overall.  Fechner was worried that he would return home without a kill to the boat's name.   A fear that proved unfounded as they spotted a lone ship upon the horizon.  While he was still cautious about being ambushed (he didn't want a repeat of the Thirlby incident, read here if you need clarification) he didn't want let a single British ship escape on his watch.  The small freighter was identified a the SS Caribou weighing in at 2200 tons.   The Kapitan-leutnant order U-69's deck-gun to fire upon the ship.  A task that took more rounds of ammunition than it really should have.  Eventually the ship did sink and U-69 slipped away unharmed.  Returning to Brest with no other ships sunk than the puny Caribou, a fact that Kapitan-leutnant Fechner was not pleased about.  

(I remember being really weirded out when I did some research on the actual Historical SS Caribou.  For those of you that weren't aware, the Hunters includes tables of actual historical ships that were sunk by U-Boats.  Or at least served in the Battle of the Atlantic.  It turns out that ended up sinking a piece of Canadian history!  With the exact same U-Boat that sank it in real life about a year early and on the wrong damn side of the ocean!  For those of you that are interested in reading a little more about the Caribou, you can click this link).

Fifth Patrol 

After refitting in Brest U-69 was once again ready for another patrol in July of 1941.  Kapitan-leutnant had petitioned up the chain of command for U-69 to be assigned to a Wolfpack Patrol in the Atlantic.  (I almost made the roll to missing by rolling a 2 instead of the 1 that I needed).  The U-Boat command carefully considered the prolific Kommandant's request, but ultimately decided that he was still too green for such an assignment.  U-69 didn't end up being sent back to the British Isles like Fechner had thought however.  They'd still be going to the Atlantic just not with a Wolfpack like he had hoped.  The trip to the Atlantic was uneventful and at first it appeared that the entire patrol would be that way as well.  Until a Convoy was spotted on the horizon!

It was night-time so Fechner gave the order to dive, surfacing once they were within the convoy's midst.  Which gave U-69 its pick of four different targets.  The large freighter Thomas McKean (7200 tons), the tanker La Brea (6700) and the small freighters Stonepool (5000) & the Tweed (2700, as a side-note the Tweed is like a bad penny, I ran into it last patrol as well).  Fechner ordered torpedoes from the forward tubes fired on the Thomas McKean and the La Brea, two apiece.  While the aft torpedo was fired on the Stonepool.  Of all of these only found its target in the La Brea damaging her motive capabilities but not sinking her.  U-69 slipped away undetected by the convoy's escort of destroyers, only resurfacing after they'd abandoned the La Brea.  (This was the first time since I started playing the Hunters that an escort that ever abandoned a damaged ship.  I thought myself particularly lucky).  U-69 finished off the damaged La Brea with a torpedo fired from its aft, sending the damaged tanker to the depths.  Though honestly Fechner would rather it had been the fatter freighter the Thomas McKean, but he wouldn't look a gift-horse in the mouth.  

Weather Reporting Duty, U-69's assignment for the rest of
their fifth patrol.

Fechner was eager to find another target, when an order came over the U-Boat's radio.  U-69 was being reassigned to weather reporting duty for the rest of the patrol!  An assignment that left Fechner in a foul mood, they'd barely sunk a ship this patrol and the higher-ups were ordering him to report the weather!  Needless to say he was pissed when U-69 docked once more into Brest.  At which point he busied himself drinking and filing reports.  Which insulted the brass' lack of strategic thinking without outright insulting them.  (You know those kind of reports that have "With all due respect..." and the like?) U-69 wouldn't be ready for duty again until September of 1941.  The boat now had five patrols under its belt and 47,200 tons of Allied Shipping sunk to its name.  

Wall of the Fallen

In terms of ships sunk this was one of U-69's more unsuccessful patrols.  With only one ship sunk to a patrol, usually U-69 averages 2 or 3 ships sunk.  Putting them in a very special 3% minority among U-Boats in actual history were lucky to damage a single ship, let alone sink it.

SS-La Brea sunk by U-69 in July of
1941

SS-Caribou sunk by U-69 in May of
1941

Conclusions

Overall these were two of the more boring of U-69's patrols so far.  With only two ships sunk between the two, on the bright side both of them were counted as successes.  So that won't interfere with Kapitan-leutnant Fechner's chances of getting promoted.  If you liked this actual play report be sure to +1, comment and follow this blog.  As always have a good day and may the dice be ever in your favour.  

The Hunters: U-69 - Second & Third Patrols: December 1940 & February 1941

U-69's second Patrol probably looked a lot like this,
sitting around waiting to run into some action.
That never really came.

My second actual play report of The Hunters: 

German U-Boats at War 1939-1943.  You can find the first one here.  Without further ado let's dive right in.

The Second Patrol

U-69's second patrol was by and large uneventful with no large ships sunk.  The U-Boat had been assigned the task of dropping off an Abwehr (German Intelligence for those of you not in the know) agent off the shore of Ireland.  Before continuing with their primary mission of sinking Allied shipping around the British Isles.  Other than having to crash dive to avoid an anti-submarine plane on their first attempt to put the agent ashore.  The mission was largely a success.  The actual sinking of ships left something to be desired consisting of two small freighters.  The Bassano weighing in at 4800 tons and the destroyer escorted Soloy weighing in at 4400 tons.  U-69 sank the Bassano at close range using the boat's deck-gun.  While the Soloy was sunk in a submerged night-time approach, using all four of the forward torpedoes.  (Both Kapitan-leutnant Fechner and myself the player have a policy of not returning to port with Torpedoes, which we haven't been successful in upholding due to a lack of targets).  The Soloy's escort was thrown into disarray after their charge was sunk.  Allowing U-69 to slip away undetected.  The boat then docked back in Brest for refitting. A total of 9200 tons sunk on its second patrol, bringing its overall total up to 20,000 tons.  Just two patrols and Kommandant Fechner is a fifth of the way towards earning himself a Knight's Cross.

February 1941 - Third Patrol

Once U-69's refitting was finished in February the boat once again departed from Brest.  Returning to its favoured hunting grounds of the British Isles.  The voyage from the Bay of Biscay to the North Channel was safe and uneventful.  The action started when the watch spotted a convoy coming right towards the boat, not that far out from Belfast!  Kapitan-leutant Fechner quickly gave the order to dive to avoid detection in broad daylight.  Then ordered a submerged approach towards the convoy.  They came upon two small freighters the Thorstrand at 3000 tons, and the Dalcroy at 4600 tons.  There was also the large freighter Bronte at 5300 tons and the tanker Casanare weighing 5400 tons.  Ignoring the two small freighters, Fechner gave the order to fire on the larger Bronte and the tanker Casanare.  Two torpedoes from the forward tubes apiece.  Both salvos hit their marks, doing just enough damage to sink the two ships.  The escorts taken completely by surprise were unable to locate U-69.

The aftermath of U-69's first attack on the convoy.

Kapitänleutnant Fechner gave the order to continue following the convoy.  Who knew if they'd have another opportunity to use their torpedoes for the rest of the patrol.  He had prey within his sights and he intended to sink as much of the convoy as he could.  Approaching the British ships from another direction he ordered the boat to surface within their midst.  Once again the officers scrambled out the hatch of U-69 and into the conning tower.  Examining their surroundings through their binoculars, scanning for the right target.  Behind them was small freighter The Royal Sceptre weighing 4800 tons.  To their bow there were another two small freighters the Scoresby at 3800 tons and the Tweed at 2700 tons.  The juiciest prize however was the tanker Havbor weighing in at 7600 tons.  To date the largest ship that U-69 had ever encountered.  Fechner made his decision in no time at all, the forward torpedoes would all be fired at the Havbor.  He wanted to sink that tanker no matter what!  Meanwhile the aft torpedo would be fired at the Royal Sceptre.  Why settle for sinking one ship when he had an opportunity to sink two!  They hit Havbor no problem (with such a large target how could they miss?) but they didn't sink her.  She was smoking, damaged and on fire in some places but she was still mobile, if somewhat slowed.  The aft torpedo failed to make contact with the Royal Sceptre. A disappointment, but Kapitanleutnant Fechner shrugged it off.  The Sceptre was small potatoes it was the Havbor he wanted!

Miraculously U-69 managed to remain undetected by the convoy's destroyer escort.  They continued to follow the limping Havbor and surfaced later that same night.  Coming up in front of the tanker and firing another torpedo at close range!  It was the straw that broke the camel's back as the Havbor went up in flames and began to sink below the surface.  Of course there were consequences to U-69's finishing blow on the Havbor as for the first time in the boat's illustrious career.  They were detected by escorting destroyers!  While the depth charge barrage proved to be short, for the crew it seemed like an eternity.  Before they were able to escape the destroyers.  At which point Fechner called off pursuit of the convoy, they were down to their last four torpedoes.  They'd already used ten on this one convoy and who knew if they'd run into another.  The escort had already detected them and might do it again.  Best to use the better part of valour, Fechner was a daring commander, but he wasn't suicidal!

Alarm! Enemy Aircraft!

A B-24 attacks U-69, ignore the US markings the one that
attacked U-69 was most definitely a RAF plane.

The crew of U-69 quickly found their next target in the form of the small freighter Thirlby.  Weighing in at 4900, they came upon her in broad daylight.  Kapitanleutnant ordered the deck-gun to fire on her at close range, their first volley of shells going wide.  Their second volley connected with the freighter, though not doing enough damage to the ship to sink her.  Fechner ordered the deck-gun's crew to reload for a finishing salvo, when out of nowhere there came the droning of airplane propellers!  There was no time to crash dive!  U-69's Kommandant yelled at his Second Watch Officer to get the Flak crew into position.  It was a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his days.  The plane dropped it's cargo of bombs, Fechner ducked his head behind the conning tower!  Seawater sprayed up from where the payload landed and then was a loud sound like thunder at close range!  Fechner was just turning to order the Flak-gun to fire on the aircraft.  When he saw them blow to pieces, men went flying into the sea!  Some barely recognizable as the shrapnel turned them into hamburger!  

The Kommandant screamed "Everyone below deck, move it, dive, dive!" The Second Watch Officer protested "We have wounded!"

"They're dead!  If you don't want to join them, get below deck now!" retorted Fechner as he pushed his protesting subordinate towards the hatch.  The pair of them jumped down, there was no time for climbing.  Fechner barely fastened the hatch behind him and ordered the helmsman to dive as fast as he could.  He quickly checked himself for wounds, there was some distance between himself and the Flak-gun when the bomb dropped.  He had to be sure though, he sighed in relief when he found himself unharmed.  Then came the guilt.  The whole thing stank of cowardice, eight (in game terms it was more like ten) of his men were dead.  And what had he done?  He'd run with his tail between his legs without even giving them a proper burial at sea.  Without a sunken freighter to offer their souls as a justification for their deaths.  He could feel the Second Watch Officer's eyes on him.  The lower-ranked man thought Fechner a coward and Fechner knew he was right.

When they resurfaced to check the damage the Lead Engineer told Fechner that the Flak-gun was inoperable and unrepairable.  Something that Fechner could tell just by looking.  He should have aborted the mission then and there without a Flak-gun they were sitting ducks.  Waiting to be ambushed by the next Allied plane that came along.  He couldn't make peace with himself though.  He couldn't go home without sinking another ship to make up for the Flak-crew's deaths.  He gave some speech about honouring their deaths as justification to his crew.  The words felt as hollow to him as they probably did to the crew, but they followed his orders regardless.  The search for new targets proved fruitless, he only found himself scanning the skies whenever he came above deck.  More frightened of another plane than he was of British Destroyers.  U-69 pulled back into Brest, based on the numbers it was a victory to the men it was a sobering defeat.  One that they smoked their first after-patrol cigarette and drank their beer to forget.  In another two months the boat would be refitted and they would have to go back on patrol.

The Wall of the Fallen

I decided to do a little collection of ships sunk by U-69 this game.  (Where I could find photographs). The Soloy was especially difficult to track down a photo of.

The Norwegian M/S
Soloy after the Bassano
in December 1940.

The British SS Bassano sunk by
U-69 in December of 1940.

The British Tanker SS Casanare sunk
by U-69 in February of 1941. 

        

The Norwegian Tanker M/S Havbor
part of the same convoy as the Casanare
and the Bronte.  Sunk the following night.

The British SS Bronte sunk by U-69
the same night as the Casanare.

Conclusion

U-69's second patrol was largely straightforward with nothing incredibly exciting happening in retrospect.  (Don't get me wrong I was still sweating bullets whenever I rolled a Escort's detection roll or to see if a torpedo hit).  Things really got really exciting on the third patrol though.  I rolled a convoy result straight off the bat and a particularly juicy one at that.  Starting off with the a Large Freighter and a Tanker.  Then another Tanker when I decided to continue following the convoy!  (I like to think of it as making up for failing to sink the Lincoln Ellsworth last session).  I'm honestly amazed that my luck has held out for this long, usually when I play Roleplaying or any other type of game.  I get such lousy rolls, not with the Hunters though, it's been nothing but success after success.  (Except when for a few rolls to hit or to determine duds here or there).  The first taste of U-69's mortality came when I was detected by the Havbor's escort after sinking it.  I really thought it was game over then.

Roughly the emotional breakdown I had when U-69 was
nearly sunk by depth-charging and later that plane.

     

It was even worse when we were attacked while trying to sink the Thirlby.  The whole time I was hoping against hope that I wouldn't roll Kommandant when damage indicated a crew hit.  The game would have automatically ended if that were the case.  I was so glad when it turned out to be just generic crew.  (I had three more to spare).  Unlike Kapitan-Leutnant Fechner who appears to be incredibly haunted by the deaths of his men.  I've mentioned it before but I really love how The Hunters forces you to mentally make up a narrative as you play it.  The damage to the Flak-gun and the KIA Crew were just perfect.  You couldn't have written a better story.  So now the boat has made port in Brest safely (for the most part) for the third time in its career.  With a total of 38,300 tonnage sunk to its name, U-69 has been very prolific in its short time at sea.  Since this was the third patrol the Crew also gets promoted to Veteran status.  Which makes sense since they've engaged two convoys, sunk a number of ships, escaped depth charging and an air attack on their boat.  They're no longer the fresh-faced boys that left on their first patrol five months ago.  They're the bearded Wolves of the depths that Royal Navy sailors live in fear of!  

So there's my actual-play report of my second and third sessions of The Hunters.  So far the game has been very exciting and a lot of fun.  I definitely see this having a lot of replay value as you never really know what's going to happen next.  Until next time be sure to +1, comment and follow this blog.  As always may the dice be ever in your favour and have a nice day.

The Hunters: U-69 - First Patrol: October 1940

The cover of the The Hunters Rulebook.

So this isn't really a Roleplaying Game like a usually play.  I only really discovered The Hunters yesterday and decided to run a game of it since my Cyberpunk 2020 Yakuza game got called off last minute.  For those of you that don't know The Hunters is a solitaire Wargame of U-Boat warfare from 1939 to 1943.  Where the player takes on the role of a German U-Boat commander.  The objective is to sink as much tonnage of Allied shipping as possible.  If any of what I just said appeals to you, you can read more about the game by pressing the following link.  I you have a problem with playing Germans there is also a sister game called Silent Victory, where you play American Submariners in the Pacific.  So I ran myself through the maiden voyage of a Type VII C U-Boat and honestly had quite a bit of fun.  I decided to write up something resembling an actual play report in narrative form.

October 1st, 1940 - Brest France

Our story begins at the U-Boat Pen at Brest, where the newly promoted Kapitan-leutnant Josef Fechner.  (When you first start a game of The Hunters you are required to choose a Boat Model.  Give it a name and then name it's Kommandant.  I chose the name Fechner because it was a nice simple name that I could pronounce and because it sounds like a familiar four-letter word).  Has been given command of a brand new Type VII C U-Boat, number U-69 by the Kriegsmarine.  (I chose U-69 because who wouldn't?)  Which the crew has wasted no time in graffitiing with the German phrase "Er kann mich im Arsche lecken!" directed at their British enemies.  After cutting his teeth as a First Watch Officer aboard a Typer VII A, Kaleun Fechner eagerly awaits his first assignment as a U-Boat commander is his own right.  So much so that the night before departure he buys his entire crew a round in celebration at the local cabaret!

The U-Boat Pens at Brest, not built until 1941.  But we'll
ignore that fact for the sake of the narrative.

The crew's high spirits are somewhat dampened by their assignment however.  While they'll still be taking the fight to Tommies around the British Isles, they'll be doing it with a lot less torpedoes.  As their forward and aft torpedo tubes have initially been loaded with mines.  U-69 must deliver the mines before continuing on their main mission of sinking Allied ships.  A mission that neither the crew or their Kommandant relish.  Kapitan-leutnant Fechner was so against the mine-laying mission that he tried to petition up the chain of command to get U-69 reassigned.  The U-Bootwaffe command is having none of it though.  So our intrepid commander has to settle for the lesser load of torpedoes.  You can't rack up any tonnage to the boat's name with mines.  (Since you're not around to see if they sink any ships).  So their morale still high even if they're less than enthusiastic about their mission, U-69 sets out from Brest.

First Leg of the Journey

The trip to the British Isles is uneventful (and safe) as U-69 runs into no Allied Anti-Sub planes.  They also don't run into any lone ships, much to the disappointment of the crew.  Even with their torpedo tubes carrying mines, they could still sink a ship on its own with the 8.8 cm deck-gun.  Alas the Second Watch-Officer and his crew of deck-gunners have to go without the target practice.  U-69 sails into the Irish Sea unopposed and drops its load of mines.  In a position in the centre of a triangle between the Irish ports of Dublin and Belfast, and the English ports of Liverpool and Manchester.  Having completed their unwelcome mission U-69 makes way through the North Channel.  From their heading a ways out into the Atlantic off the Northwestern coast of Ireland.  Kapitan-leutnant is eager to make up for lost time and find a British convoy to sink.  U-69 spends some time patrolling this Northwestern approach to Ireland, before finding their quarry a British Convoy headed right for them!

The Convoy

Upon the Night-time sighting of the Convoy, Kapitan-leutnant Fechner ordered the boat to dive.  He planned to get in the middle of the Convoy itself and then resurface.  Upon surfacing he would order the firing of all torpedo tubes, both forward and aft.  (All of this was a very dangerous way of going about things.  Attacking at Close Range in The Hunters means that an Escort has chance to detect you before you can even take a single shot.  Firing from both Bow and Aft tubes also made it more likely that the Escort will detect you after you fire.  While making a Night Surface Attack means that they're  more likely to damage your U-Boat in the first round of depth-charging.  All of this was balanced out by making it easier to hit ships with a larger amount of tonnage).  U-69 slipped in among the ships of the convoy and brought itself up to periscope depth.  Absolutely sure that the coast was clear, Fechner gave the order to surface.  Before climbing out the hatch into the boat's conning tower.  The other officers right at his heels, eager to pick out their prize.  

Probably what it looked like ordering the attack on the
Sarita, Lincoln Ellsworth and the Manuela.

Looking through his binoculars Fechner scanned the horizon.  To their bow were two fat tankers, both over 5000 tons if not 6000 tons.  (The Sarita and the Lincoln Ellsworth, 5800 tons and 5600 tons respectively).  To their aft were two smaller freighters 5000 tons and below.  (The Manuela at 5000 tons and the Leonidas M at 4600 tons).  He gave the order torpedoes 1&2 at the Sarita, torpedoes 3&4 at the Lincoln Ellsworth and the aft torpedo was to be fired at the Manuela.  All officers except himself and the First Watch Officer were to go below deck.  First the forward tubes would be fired while the aft would be fired at the last minute before they dove to make their escape. Fechner watched eagerly as the forward torpedoes raced towards their respective targets.  The tanker Sarita was the first to go, bursting into a brilliant orange flame.  As a torpedo struck its side, Fechner theorized that the explosion had set the Sarita's cargo of oil ablaze!  By comparison the Sarita's sister tanker's hit was less impressive.  U-69 had damaged her of that Fechner was sure.  To what extent?  He couldn't say.  The attack on the Manuela was a hurried one as Fechner didn't want to stick around long enough, for the destroyers to figure what had happened.  U-69 dove after firing their last loaded torpedo, rushing to get out of the midst of the convoy.  

The Follow-Up Attack

After waiting a couple hours Fechner ordered the boat back up to periscope depth.  He couldn't believe their luck so far!  The destroyers had been taken completely by surprise and hadn't even come close to finding U-69.  Clearly the Escort hadn't been expecting such a bold and daring attack right in their midst.  As he scanned the horizon he could see the Lincoln Ellsworth limping from the damage their torpedo had done.  Kapitan-leutnant Fechner was less than pleased to see that their aft torpedo had not connected with its target of the Manuela.  He gave the order to load the last four torpedoes aboard the boat.  The Lincoln Ellsworth was damaged and Fechner intended to finish the job!  Another opportunity like this might never present itself.  He gave the order to follow the convoy at a distance, hoping that the escort would abandon the damaged Tanker.  They followed the convoy as the sun came up as the day passed and as a new night fell.  In hopes that the convoy would leave the Lincoln Ellsworth to it's fate.  No such luck.

The destroyers and the small freighters had slowed their speed, to keep pace with the wounded ship.  Like a herd of cattle staying with a pregnant cow, while a wolf nips at their heels.  There would be no surfacing to break the Lincoln Ellsworth's back with the deck-gun.  While he would have liked to save torpedoes, U-69's Kommandant drooled at the prospect of a second shot at multiple targets.  This time it would be a submerged approach at close range.  (The boat only had G7e Electric torpedoes left, which were harder to land a hit with at medium and long range.  I wanted to hedge my bets to actually land a hit on my targets).  They couldn't make a surface attack in the midst of the enemy's ranks again.  The destroyers would be on the lookout for such a maneuver.  They didn't have a torpedo to fire from the aft tube anyways.  They approached undetected by the escort.  Torpedoes 1&2 would be aimed at the Lincoln Ellsworth, while Torpedoes 3&4 would target the Manuela.  Fechner was a little miffed about their aft torpedo missing the small Freighter on their first approach.  He also didn't want to put all his eggs in one basket, why sink one ship when he could sink two?  The torpedoes fired on the Lincoln Ellsworth didn't go off, either they missed or were duds.  (I hit the tanker I just ended up rolling a Dud on both torpedoes).  While at least one of the torpedoes aimed at the Manuela connected putting a hole in the small freighter.  Which Fechner knew from his experience as a First Watch Officer, would sink a freighter of that size eventually.  (I rolled a miss with the first torpedo and hit with the second).  

The Voyage Home

Fechner decided to cut his losses and run.  There were no more torpedoes and the British Destroyers weren't going to abandon the Lincoln Ellsworth after losing a second ship.  So he gave the order to break contact with the convoy, somewhat bitter that he'd sunk the small-fry freighter rather than his original target, of the fat oil tanker.  That prize, it seemed was a luxury that he'd have to forgo.  (That didn't mean he had to be happy about it though).  He was angry the entire voyage home, venting most of his frustration by berating his hapless First Watch Officer.  Blaming him and the torpedo crew for the failed sinking of the Lincoln Ellsworth.  The crew learned to live somewhat in fear of their Kommandant's temper that voyage.  His mood only soured further when off the southern Irish Coast towards Cornwall, they came upon a single-ship escorted by Destroyers.  This time the targets of his wrath were high command, for saddling him with a Mine-laying mission. that deprived him of the torpedoes necessary to make an attack on the escorted ship.  If the destroyers hadn't been there he could have attacked the ship with the deck-gun.  With the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth, he gave the order to let the ship go.  The words were like poison in his mouth, as U-69 slinked back to Brest with their tails between their legs.  Fechner took to throwing his coffee mug, pencils and whatever else seemed like it'd withstand the throw.  Whenever they received word of another boat's successful patrol over the radio.

Due to the patrol not being a complete failure, (they managed to sink two ships, in one patrol) Fechner kept his initial promise upon leaving Brest.  Of buying a round at the local cabaret for the whole crew.  He drank his beer in silent fury as he waited for their boat to be refitted.  A task that wouldn't be complete until December, at which point he'd make up for what he viewed as a sub-standard (no pun intended) patrol on his part.

The Norwegian Tanker Sarita.
Formerly the British Melania, sunk
by U-69 off the North West coast of
Ireland.

The American Manuela, sunk by U-69
the night after it sank the Sarita.

Conclusions

I had a lot fun playing The Hunters.  One thing I found myself doing while playing was making up a narrative about the random encounters rolled.  Making up something of a personality for the boat's Kommandant and what his reactions to certain events would be.  I was playing with a very aggressive (and perhaps not that smart) style of play, which involved taking a lot of risks.  In exchange for a lot of payoff in the form of bigger ships and a better chance of hitting them.  I decided that the Kommandant of U-69 should have a very gung-ho, aggressive personality to go along with this style of play.  Which led to him being something of a tyrant aboard his boat, when things didn't go the way he planned.  I think he's sort of what would happen if Niedermeyer from Animal House, tried to be A Father to His Men and kept failing at it.  10,800 tonnage on your first patrol is nothing to sneeze at.  Yet he couldn't just settle for it he wanted the Lincoln Ellsworth and couldn't get it.  (I really wanted to sink that tanker as well as the Manuela, 16,400 tons on U-69's first Patrol would've been awesome!)  A few more patrols like this one and Kapitan-leutnant Josef Fechner will earn himself a Knight's Cross by December of 1941.  As you can no doubt tell by my enthusiasm in writing The Hunters is intense.  I was sweating bullets whenever I rolled to see if the convoy's escort detected me.  I can't believe the amount of luck I had, if any of those rolls had failed I would've been a goner.  Anyways if you liked this post be sure to +1, comment and follow this Blog.  As always may the dice be ever in your favour and have a nice day.   

Silly Campaigns I'll Probably Never Get to Run: High School Tankery

So it's been more than a week, since my last post.  I've spent most of that time writing, then deleting my next post.  Those of you that have been following this blog, probably know that most of them have been rather serious.  That's what I had been trying to write, another serious post.  The problem was that I'm sick of writing serious posts.  I just don't find them fun to write at the moment.  The blog is called Stories and Other Such Distractions, right?  So why don't I distract myself from serious posts; by writing a silly post?  After I had this little conversation with myself I had the perfect thing to write about.

Essentially the thought process that led up to this post.

So for those of you that aren't aware of the fact.  I'm something of an otaku (that's Japanese for someone who's obsessed with something, when used in English conversation it  usually refers to a fan of anime).  I am also a history buff, one of my specialties being World War 2.  As such one of my guilty pleasure Anime Series is the show Girls und Panzer.  If I'm honest with myself it's a money-grab series.  Regardless the concept is so out of left field as to have grabbed my attention.  Before watching this series I never really had an interest in Tank Warfare.  It just didn't interest me.  After watching Girls und Panzer, a few of Lindybeige's videos on Tanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger's escapades in his M-47 Patton and Extra Credits History's videos on the Battle of Kursk, I've become something of a Tank nut.  Now you may be thinking, why don't I just run a straight World War 2 campaign?  Simply put?  I want this to be more for fun, than for story.  More like Steve Jackson's Car Wars, with tanks, than Fury.  Good clean fun, not a horrifyingly gritty War Story.  It's like playing with your toy trucks, when you were a kid, only a little more structured.

The Campaign (If you can call it that) 

So this campaign would take place in essentially the world that Girls und Panzer, takes place in.  A world where World War Two tank warfare has become a high school sport.  (If it had been offered at my school, I might actually have had an extracurricular, other than theatre on my transcripts).  Why?  Does it really require an explanation?  It's just cool alright.  Two things that I'd change about the setting would be as follows.  

• The sport (hereon referred to as Tankery) would be uni-sex.  (I found the explanation for why it was all-female in the Anime was unsatisfactory). 
• The schools aren't on old Aircraft Carriers.  (Again one of those things about the series, that just didn't work for me).

For a system I would either use Mutants and Masterminds (The Mecha and Manga sourcebook as well as the Golden Age sourcebook, would make great resources) or GURPS.  For GURPS I would use a variant of the Armour Crewman Template from GURPS WW2.  Dropping certain skills, advantages and disadvantages, that might be appropriate for a Soldiers, but not for High School athletes.  The Motor Pool sourcebook in particular would be especially useful for such a game.  I would handle tank on tank combat by ruling that any hit that would ordinarily injure the crew.  Would instead just take the tank out of combat (the show hand-waved this away as them using special shells), so no one actually gets injured (except maybe getting knocked unconscious in the most serious cases).

The players would be from a school that's starting out in Tankery.  Equipped with a mishmash of Tanks from various different countries.  (This way the players can choose whatever kind of tank they want to crew).  Each player (hopefully about five total) would be responsible for the creation of a tank's crew.  The one restriction I would put on the selection of tanks would be that they can't be ridiculously rare or overpowered.  (A school just starting out isn't going to be able to get their hands on a Tiger).  

So there you have it a silly campaign that I'll probably never get to run.  Hope you enjoyed reading this, after my long break from writing.  I hope to get back to some more serious posts later on down the line.  Until then, have a nice day and may the dice always be in your favour.