Allied: Taranto Raid

[maho1973]

Beta 2 Version
- Scenario is more challenging now
- The port at hex 8,15 seems to be still upside down.
- All the town hexes and port hexes are without names

[zappel]

Beta2 - Colonel - DV at turn 11

Oops, scenario is much harder than in Beta1, lost two bombers and the others were hard damaged. Again the most challenging task is to refuel all fighters and bombers.

I have added another deployment hex so two of core fighters can enter the battle.

Will it be possible to get the auxiliary fighter from Italian Offensive to deploy it in this scenario?

[uran21]

I have added another deployment hex so two of core fighters can enter the battle.

Will it be possible to get the auxiliary fighter from Italian Offensive to deploy it in this scenario?

You should be able to deploy it as well as 2 core fighters.

[Tarrak]

You should be able to deploy it as well as 2 core fighters.

Yes you definitely can. I deployed my core fighter and the auxiliary one here. Proof: see the replay i attached to my post about the scenario in beta 2.

[Brenmusik]

Italian airforce is more aggressive in beta 2, attacking planes "circling" waiting to reload. Though on several occasions unable finish off 1 strength Swordfish.
A bit of flak from the enemy destroyers would make life tougher (as bis suggested).

[praetorreich36]

Decided to try it out: I think I was on Colonel Level - just regular scenario. All rules, supply, weather etc.

Didn't lose a single Swordfish. All planes were able to regroup with the Carriers. Used some prestige to refit, and send them back in to go again.

I think I made three sorties with a couple of them. They went in fired their torpedoes, then went back to rearm.

Lost one Hurricane but that was due to being on Bingo Fuel (out of petrol!) and it crashed. Italians were sending fighters all over, AA guns too and they even flew out to attack the carriers and escorts. Learned about getting the fleet too close to the harbor. I think one of my cruisers got hammered by those guns, one of the carriers took some damage too. Lesson learned, steer clear, move in to get the planes and get out.

Someone posted about AA on the Strike Fleet. I agree. Especially the Carriers. They should be able to shoot down the incoming fighters.

I managed to sink 5 battleships, 2 destroyers. It's a fun scenario. If you do the Pacific, I could see this set up in a possible Pearl Harbor scenario.
Length of time was pretty good too, 12 turns is plenty.

[ThvN]

A small typo:

Taranto Raid

IDS_SCEN_ALLIED_CAM_OBJECTIVES Sink 6 Battleships.. (remove one of the two periods)

[maho1973]

Beta-3 - colonel level - triumph 10/12 - prestige: 2617 (start) / 2617 (end) + 300 (victory bonus)
purchases: none.
The harbor entrance in hex ​​(8.15) is still in the wrong direction.

[Schildy81]

In the beta I played the selection of the light cruiser in 5,17 would allow selection of docks (9,15;10,16;8,14) without the ship going through the bay entrance.

[nikivdd]

Beta3 , Col

Purchases/Upgrades: none
Both Hur do a great job in fending off some of the italian fighters. Once the battleships are detected, it is a piece of cake to sink them in 2-3 turns.
Losses: 1 Swordfish
DV 10/12, 2202PP

[uran21]

In the beta I played the selection of the light cruiser in 5,17 would allow selection of docks (9,15;10,16;8,14) without the ship going through the bay entrance.

This is indeed inconvenient because those hexes are ports and ship can enter it from any side but enemy forts are placed there and this will prevent such movement. When forts are spotted this move will not be allowed any more.

[JLChamberlain]

Taranto Raid
Level: Colonel

Starting Prestige: 857

Upgrades: overstrengthed my two Hurricanes.

Triumph, turn 12/12
End Experience: 695 (had to reinforce a couple swordfish)

This is a tough scenario to evaluate - on the one hand it's different and clever, on the other it can be frustrating. It's even more puzzle-like than the usual Panzer Corps scenarios - if you don't know where the battleships are, let alone to check the inner harbor for the last two, you just can't get a decisive victory. I would suggest including more hints, either on the map or in the briefing, as to where we can find the BBs. Maybe even include a scout plane (an unarmed bomber, maybe?).

This is one of those scenarios with non-standard victory conditions where some kind of counter would be helpful. It could be simple, just - 4/6 battleships sunk. That way it would be easier to know how many you had left to destroy.

Are the cruisers necessary? When I saw them on my first playthrough, I assumed either they were supposed to be used for scouting, or there would be some kind of naval threat to the carriers. There wasn't any of the latter and when I tried the former, I got my nose bloodied by the harbor defenses. Ouch.

[okiemcguire]

Taranto Raid - Beta 3

Level: general
Prestige Begin: 2621 End: 2449 Victory: +300
Results: Triumph 8/12

First time I had played this scenario. Fairly easy. Use the two fighters for spotting and support. Relay your Torpedo bombers. Stay away from the entrance and AA batteries. Watch your fuel.

[Raven_427]

I really loved this one. Reminded me of Pacific Admiral

But .. it's also been my first non-triumph. Logistical problems in having all those bombers supplied, not finding the last 2 battleships in time and perhaps some misunderstandings in the usage of those bombers.
That's my fault. On the games side, i'm wondering, why those ships do not try to get into the reach of AA? Of course, it may be to difficult than, but at first look, it seems strange. Destroyers had been some kind of distraction to me. Of course, they have to be there for a real look and feel .. but i'm sure, lot's of new players will waste their torpedoes on them .. perhaps some hint in the mission briefing could help.

Having the opening heavily guarded works well from keeping my ships out of the harbor. Lesson learned

Option: could those ships have names? The italians did not have that much battleships .. so having a real name might improve the feeling compared to "battleship 1".

Best Regards
Tom

[MajorVictory]

Played this scenario on Field Marshall. I like the torpedo bomber raid concept...creates a cool change of pace and strategy.

Possible bug: When I clicked on the purchase screen to enter that menu the screen flashed white for a 1/2 second before the purchase screen appeared. I thought the game was gonna crash each time I tried it...it did not crash, but seems a little weird. This happen every time I clicked on the purchase icon.

Gameplay: I waited a few turns then decided to try and push my fleet into the harbor. I was able to move my 2 cruisers and 1 carrier into harbor w/o much problem in 2 turns. The overstrength (20) carrier made it through the naval fortifications w/ (8) remaining (all 4 batteries fired on the carrier, the 2 cruisers came through w/o damage). I was able to place all those ships safely outta range of the enemy shore guns on the next turn.
Once I successfully moved the initial 3 ships through, I then moved the remaining carrier into the harbor by hugging the eastern shoreline so that only 2 of the shore batteries would be in range. Both of these batteries fired on the carrier knocking it down from (20) to (14). The 2 enemy destroyers that I 'spotted' that were within striking distance of this unprotected carrier did not attack it. On the following turn I was able to link this carrier up w/ the rest of the fleet. I successfully moved my entire fleet into the harbor w/ minimal damage.

I have read some of the other posts and I see that they too experienced difficulty with resupply of air units. I believe carriers should act like a regular ground based airfield. Or better yet, perhaps the carriers could have hanger bays that could be used to land/hold a set number of planes (2-4?). An icon could be displayed showing how many planes were currently occupying the hanger bays. The carrier could "carry" these planes inside them and lunch them when fully resupplied and at a desired location. One turn in a hanger bay would completely resupply that particular aircraft.

I also agree w/ another post suggesting a scout plane. This could be an aux unit just for this scenario. I don't know how historically accurate this would be, but it would be really useful in spotting the BB objectives.

[Delta66]

Refreshing scenario,

Triumph on turn 11 at FM, not very hard one you understand what's going on.

I find't it a bit weird that when a boat is selected, movement "across" the entrance pier hexside is highlighted as possible, i.e moving directly from 14,19 to 15,18.
Well if you try it you'll be ambushed by the Fort.
However making those 6 pier hexs, regular land hex instead of port hex, would feel more natural.

[uran21]

However making those 6 pier hexs, regular land hex instead of port hex, would feel more natural.

Good point, Italian ships are not going to try to enter it anyway.

[Delta66]

Moreover it might work well visualy, as this particular map use a much zoomed in scale compared to most other maps.

[Tschemo]

Taranto Raid - Beta 4

Quite nice mission. Few things are bothering me though:
- Map visual. Some hexes are visually not correct as 8,15 (south side and the connection to 8,16), then the sea at 10,15, or hex 14,17
- "Annonymous ships" - I would personally prefer to have names of the ships both on Allied side and also the Italian side. I have checked the wikipedia and on the Allied side it should be carrier HMS Illustrious and HMS Eagle (although in reality it was only the Illustrious was attending the raid). I haven´t find the names of the Light cruisers, but I might look furhter. The Italian battleships should be: Cavour, Littorio, Duilio, Vittorio Veneto, Giulio Cesare and Andrea Doria. I think that this would add more depth to the scenario.

[RobertCL]

Beta 4
Standalone scenario
Leutnant level

* Ships unnamed
* I made the mistake and entered the harbor with my navy, a massacre, I returned at sea as quick as I could...
* I did not think there were 2 battleships further in the north east. I think you can add one to the extreme east
* I lost one Swordfish because I was not able to refuel, shouldn't we add a 3rd carrier in the North West of the map I mean in the direction of reinforcements ?

All in all a very original scenario quite funny to play.