LTL Mom Goes to Sea

Well what can I say?  Anytime Mom sits in for a game it is a big day.  Mom has a bit of a thing for naval history.  Although her main interest is age of sail we managed to get her to play some War at Sea WWII stuff.  War at Sea is that game from the Axis and Allies series.  I really do like this game a lot.  It is easy to play but it still captures the drama of carrier and battle groups slugging it out and is just like watching a documentary.  Here are a few pics of the engagement.

Once again due to miniatures availability, we have another match between the Japanese and the German/Italians.  We split in two teams; Mom and Dad as Japanese while Jil and Nick commanded the German/Italians.  Mom and I went heavy on air power while Jil and Nick were more balanced with plenty of surface ships.  Right off the bat the lads came with all their bombers and escorts.  We had a couple of fighter groups helping out in defense (grey Zeros on right and green Georges on left) and along with heavy air defense from the vessels we managed to repulse the initial attack and inflict some pretty nice losses to the bombers.

While the lads were trying to bomb our carriers we were up to the same game on their end, but we were after their cruisers.  Mom sent a horde of Vals, Kates, and Judys to wreak havoc.

And she sent Emily and Betty out on submarine duty. 

Mom's first kill.  Her swamping of the cruisers pays off with a Hipper class cruiser going to the bottom.

As the ships from both sides steam ahead towards the objectives the air war continues.  This turn the Georges (fighters) are absent because they are land based and rearming.  Nick is back with his bombers but Mom beats him off again with the added support from her Zeros.

Mom is relentlessly going after more blood.  She has everything she can muster in the air and dropping bombs on the German/Italians.

Doh!  Bad picture.  Nick gets trough and scores a critical hit and sends the smallest Japanese carrier to the bottom.  Luckily for Mom only one air group is based on her and so it will not be a total tradegy.

Mom has been doing a lot of damage to the boys, but not really managing to sink anything.  She sends her Battleship Haguro up to contest the objective while both sides steam ahead.  The next turn will be critical.
Those grey puffs are smoke screens that Jil has been laying to help him survive some of the gunnery from Mom's big battleship.

A couple of Jil's Italian cruisers sneaking around grabbing an objective.

A busy turn.  Mom gets through AD and fighter defense with some air casualties and sinks the other Hipper class cruiser.  Her patrol bombers and Battleship are all over the Italian battleship (far left) but simply cannot manage to sink it.  On the right, Nick's last big air attempt on the Akagi carrier group is in full swing but Mom's N1K1 Georges are back and they are vicious fighters.

Now it is just a messy slugging match.  Fortunately for Mom, Jil's submarine is not scoring any hits.

After losing more planes and having to re-base their fighters to a land base, Jil and Nick are in the unenviable position of having Mom on the loose with complete air superiority.  The Italian cruisers out on the perimeter are no longer safe.  One goes to the bottom.

And so does the Italian BB.  Finally!  Jil's sub is still refusing to score any hits which is really killing him.  But who can blame the sub with all those ASW equipped planes swarming overhead.

It is not long before the Italian destroyers go to the bottom as well.  The gunnery from the BB and the CV's are just too intense.

Mom's BB cruise in to seize the objective while Jil's last cruiser and plane-less carrier jockey for position but this action is over.  The Imperial Japanese Navy triumphs again.


A fun game!  Best part is that Mom indicated she will be playing again.