Retun to Ulsan - 14 August 1904

My favourite pre-dreadnought action is the clash of Vice Admiral Karl Jessen Vladivostok Independent Cruiser Squadron (armored cruisers: Rossia, Rurik, and Gromoboi) and Japanese 2nd Fleet under Admiral Kamimura (four armored cruisers Izumo, Azuma, Tokiwa, Iwate, and two protected cruisers Naniwa and Takachih) off Ulsan in the Korean Strait on 14 August 1904.

The Imperial Japanese Navy close in on the Vladivostok Cruiser Squadron on my newly made
naval gaming mat.

It's a great scenario for a relatively quick game (although pretty challenging for the Russian player) and a good one for testing out new rules. For me, it highlights the great range of outcomes possible in naval gaming. I've played it about eight times now and each game has been quite different. Only one or two, by memory, have see the Imperial Russian Navy prevail, alas!

Now, to get yourself in the pre-dred mindset I can always recommend watching the clip from Turning Point (that you all know so well, I'm sure) if you can put up wth the soundtrack:

Not being a devotee of the rivet-counting end of naval wargaming rules, my go-to rules for a fun game (especially when playing solo) are Coaling Stations by Twylight Games. What I like most is the card-based order mechanism where each squadron allocated a series of individual orders (move, turn, fire, make smoke, evade etc) by placing the cards in the order you wish to enact them, and then the player rolls against their allocated command rating (7 inferior commander, 8 average commander, 9 superior commander) using 2d6 and if the roll is equal to or less than the command rating, that number of orders are put in place.

In this case the IJN protected cruiser squadron (command of 9) had rolled a 6 and were able to put all four orders into action. They have to be performed int he order they are laid out in (L to R in this picture).

Alas, in this case, the shift to flank speed meant they steamed right past the Russians (top of picture) before being able to launch their torpedoes!

So, if you have a command rating of 8 for your squadron and you lay out five orders (eg. cruise speed, fire main guns, fire secondary guns, turn 90 degrees and make smoke), a roll of 7 means you get to move forward at cruising speed, then for your main guns only that turn.

It's an interesting and easy to use mechanism. I place my cards for each squadron face down in order (top to bottom) before rolling against the commend. Sometimes I accidentally mix up the order which I put down to fog of war style mistakes by the crew. As you will see below, sometimes this has devastating consequences.

So, here's a photo-story of how the game played out.

The fleets sight each other

First IJN salvo mostly straddles the Russian cruisers, but one shot finds its mark.

Naniwa and Takachih swing to port to close on the Russians.

The second IJN salvo bites hard at the Russian cruisers

Vice Admiral Jessen steers to port to try and distance himself from Admiral Kamimura's heavy guns.

Another IJN salvo starts to slow the Russian cruisers. Naniwa and Takachih close on the rear of the Russian line of battle in the hope of coming within torpedo range.

Naniwa and Takachih pull within range of their primary guns and start to hammer the
tail end of the Russian line.

The effect of the furious salvos from the IJN must have interrupted communications - no Russian orders are passed on this turn.

Jessen's gunnery officers finally receive the command to open fire as the stokers shovel coal for all they are worth. The Russian armored cruisers swing back parallel tot he IJN and open fire. Alas, to little effect.

Another salvo from the Japanese takes out a forward turret on the Gromoboi.

Rurik receives more hot stuff from the protected cruisers. The Russian fleet is badly damaged and
only limping along.

Lines of command in Admiral Kamimura's division are winning the day for the IJN, four orders are executed in one turn!

Jessen orders a punishing salvo - with several shots penetrating the Japanese armour.
But, it is too little, too late?

Fore form the main and secondary guns of the IJN protected cruisers hits home with devastating
effect on the Rurik.

Five hits and the Rurik is slowly sinking from the damage.

Steaming past the Russian line, the Takachih bring her starboard side torpedo tubes into action.

Jessen orders his crippled ships to make smoke in a last ditch attempt to avoid destruction.

Another Japanese salvo (not pictured) sends the Rurik, and Gromoboi to the icy depths. But then disaster strikes the IJN. After exercising excellent command under fire, Admiral Kamimura's orders are misinterpreted and his armoured cruisers are ordered to steer hard to port and slice through the Naniwa sending her to the bottom with all hands.

Admiral Kamimura reels with the shame of ramming his own ship as the IJN prepares to
annihilate the Russians.

Takachih avenges the loss of her sister ship by dealing a fatal blow to the Rossia.

As always, Coaling Stations and the Battle off Ulsan gives exciting results! However, a Russian victory seems always just beyond reach in this scenario.

Ulsan again!

Having last night tested a new set of simple, quick play rules with the Russo-Japanese War scenario, Battle off Ulsan, I felt inspired to give another ruleset a go tonight. This time I used Rob Heath's Coaling Stations  – rules for pre-dreadnougt naval wargaming.

I'll skip the preamble as that's covered in my previous post, the order of battle is as follows:

Russia

Vladivostok cruiser force
Rear Admiral Karl Iessen

Armoured cruisers:
• Rossia (flag)
• Gromoboi
• Rurik

Japan

2nd Squadron
Vice Admiral Hikonojo Kamimura

2nd Unit: armoured cruisers:
• Izumo (flag)
• Azuma
• Tokiwa
• Iwate

4th Unit: protected cruisers:
• Naniwa
• Takachiho

The action opened at 06:00 with the Admiral Iessen's squadron on a north-west heading in the Sea of Japan, off Ulsan, spotting four Japanese armoured cruisers around 2 nautical miles to the east. It was a clear morning with good visibility and light seas.

Iessen and Kamimura both ordered their squadrons to open fire with the Iwate scoring a single hit on the Rossia although no significant damage was caused. Kamimura ordered his cruisers to 'make smoke' as the lines of cruisers continued to close on one another.

The Rossia is hit but makes its 'armour save' so records no damage

Kamimura's cruisers 'make smoke' providing a +1 to to hit rolls in the next round

 Admiral Iessen takes the initiative and orders his squadron to 'flank speed' (the fastest speed of which a warship is capable) while a second salvo form the Russian guns sees the Rossia score a hit (but no damage) on the Izumo and the Gromoboi hits and scores a point of damage on the Azuma. Iessen orders his squadron to make smoke in preparation for the next Japanese salvo.

As Kamimura's 2nd unit attempts to catch up and close on the Russians, a quick change in weather sees a light mist form in the sea of Japan reducing visibility down to 1 nautical mile. Iessen sees an opportunity to break contact from his foe and make for Vladivostok.

Hoping to disable his opponents flagship before making for port, Iessen seeks to cross the T and disable the Izumo with a broadside, but the visibility is too poor for gunnery at that range. 

Crossing the T

Kamimura's evasive manoeuvres in the mist pay off as he avoids the deadly trap being set by the Russians.

Iessen orders his squadron onto a north-westerly heading while just managing to stay our of range in the early morning mist. Despite a close encounter in the final turn, the Russians succeed in exiting all three cruisers from the board un-damaged. Kamimura's 2nd Unit only managed two salvos before the mist settled in and the protected cruisers of his 4th Unit never managed to engage the enemy at all. 

The Vladivostok cruisers live to fight another day!

Coaling Stations performed really well in this scenario (my second use of these rules). Playing solo, the uncertainty built in by the command rules made for an interesting action. More comments about the game mechanics will follow.

A 'quick' battle off Ulsan (14 August 1904)

At dawn on the 14 August 1904, returning from a patrol, Vice Admiral Hikonojo Kamimura of the 2nd Squadron of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sighted the three heavy cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy's Vladivostok Squadron off Ulsan (on the Korean peninsular) in the Sea of Japan, just north of the Tsushima Strait.

Rear Admiral Karl Iessen, commanding the armoured cruisers Rossia, Gromoboi and Rurik, had sortied out of Vladivostok to try and meet up with the Port Arthur Squadron which the Russian High Command believed would be able to break out of the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur into the Sea of Japan.

The Port Arthur Squadron had failed to break out of Port Arthur after an unsuccessful engagement with Admiral Togo in the Yellow Sea just 4 days prior. Admiral Iessen had ordered his squadron back to Vladivostok but found himself cut off from his base by Admiral Kamimura who commanded the more modern armored cruisers: Izumo, Azuma, Tokiwa, Iwate, and two protected cruisers Naniwa and Takachiho.

The lightening day clarified the two columns of warships, whose converging tracks gradually closed the range. At 0520 hrs the range was down to 8,500 yards, and both Admirals checked with opening salvos. Soon the 8-inch batteries were ablaze and, as the range shrank further, the 6-inch rifles joined in. 

(Source: http://www.russojapanesewar.com/ulsan.html)

In the engagement that followed, Admiral Iessen lost the Rurik and the Rossia, Gromoboi were heavily damaged. Admiral Kamimura's squadron, despite having a full summer's day ahead of them to pursue Iessen, broke off from the engagement after three hours. He retuned to Busan to a hero's welcome despite having let two of the Russian heavy cruisers escape.

Wargaming the Battle off Ulsan

Having assembled the two squadrons for this scenario using 1:2400 Panzerschiffe models, I have been trying a few rule sets. I've not got the time to play more detailed naval wargaming rules so have been trying our some simple rulesets. I've had an initial trial of Rob Heath's Coaling Stations which I quite enjoyed - particularly the no record keeping and interesting command rules - but this time, I'm using an even simpler set by Konstantinos Travlos – FAST RULES FOR SMALL SHIPS AND BIG MINDS.

I started the scenario with the Russians and Japanese steaming in parallel, but with converging headings, at about 05:20 when the first ranging shots were fired by both commanders. For simplicity (and because of the table size) I left the protected cruisers Naniwa and Takachiho out of the scenario.

These rules allow for three ship types – battleship, armoured cruiser or torpedo boat. All the ships for this scenario were classified as armoured cruisers. These had a maximum movement rate of 6 inches and they used four D6 for 'to hit' dice. Armoured cruisers will sink if they take four 'hull points' of damage (battleship = 6 hull points; torpedo boat = 2 hull points).

Unfortunately, I got my bearings mixed up and reversed the historical positions of the Russians and Japanese on deployment - oh well! For the purposes of testing these rule it makes no difference at all.

During the first movement phase both squadrons steamed strait ahead for their full movement rate of 6 inches (battleship = 4 inches; torpedo boat = 8 inches). The movement system allows ships to do anything from remain stationary to move their entire movement range in a turn. A ship may pivot up to 45 degrees only at the end of its move – even if it remained stationary.

Both squadrons opened fire at maximum range. In these rules there are no modifiers for range – my understanding is that for 1:2400 scale all guns have a 24 inch range for this ruleset. However, I did find the rules are slightly ambiguous about this. They state:

All guns have a 24 inch range if the largest ship is 3 inches and above and 12 inches if the largest ship is 2 inches and below. 

The Panzerschiffe models I used saw the largest ship measure 2.5 inches! Falling right in that no-man's land between 2 and 3 inches. So I leant towards 24 inch maximum range.

A ship may use its 'hit dice' on one target or divide it between a number of ships that are within range – although may only fire within one arc in a turn. The arcs of fire are not defined by the rules so I just used a line from the centre of the model to each corner of the base to define forward, aft and port/starboard arcs. Armoured cruisers shoot with 4 'to hit' D6 - hitting another armoured cruiser on a 5 or above.

The first salvo by Iessen's cruisers was deadly in its accuracy with the Izumo, Azuma and Tokiwa each receiving a single hit and the Iwate, two hits. Kamimura's gunnery failed to find its mark with only one hit on the Rossia from the salvos of 4 cruisers! It was only 05:30 and already the decks of the Japanese squadron were awash with blood and the fire crews were busy!

The Russians sensed that victory could be within their grasp and Iessen ordered his squadron to close on the Japanese line. Unfortunately, by this stage the Japanese rangefinders had found their mark and the next salvo saw a hit on each of the Russian cruisers. The Russian gunnery was inaccurate with only a single hit on the Tokiwa (now with 2 hits).

Kamimura ordered his squadron to port to execute the classic 'crossing the T' manoeuvre. The superior Japanese range-finders (although, differences in gunnery abilities are not represented in these rules) saw a deadly salvo smash into the Rossia with three hits brining her total to 5, leaving Admiral Issen's smashed flagship burning, and dead in the water. The Gromoboi also received a hit. Despite the fury of the Japanese salvo, Russian gunnery was not without impact – with one hit each to the Tokiwa (now with 2 hits) and Iwate (now with 3 hits).

The Russian flag was transferred to the Gromoboi and an order given to turn to starboard to ensure a full broadside could be directed towards the Japanese line that was now almost dead ahead. It is hard to know if the Russian sailors had a moment to ponder the fate of the Rossia as the manoeuvred around its smoking wreckage as at that moment the full force of the Japanese gunnery smashed into the Gromoboi – three hits sending it to the bottom. Gromoboi's broadside was ineffective as was the salvo from Rurik, using only 3 to hit dice as she was firing out of her forward arc.

Now alone, Rurik swung to starboard seeking cover from the smoke of its burning comrades. While no line of sight rules are suggested by these rules, it was decided that the smoke blocked the line of sight for the three rear Japanese cruisers leaving the Izumo and Rurik to exchange fire. Izumo's guns scored a single hit on the Rurik (now 2 points) while the Rurik's gunners found their mark with two hits on Kamimura's flagship (now 2 hits).

But the fate of sole remaining Vladivostok cruiser was sealed, as the Rurik cleared the smoke she lay in range of the full broadside of the Japanese squadron. A massive salvo hit with full force with five hits causing the cruiser to erupt in a sheet of flame and quickly sink into the icy depths. But the Rurik fought to the bitter end with her gunners, still valiantly manning their stations amidst the destruction, sent a final salvo in return that smashed into the Tokiwa and left her a mangled wreck. Perhaps some Russian pride was maintained – cold comfort for the few lucky Russian sailors who shivered in life-rafts in the early morning light.

Final results:

Imperial Japanese Navy

• Izumo (Flag) – 3 hits
• Azuma – undamaged
• Tokiwa – 4 hits, sunk
• Iwate – 3 hits

Imperial Russian Navy

• Rossia (Flag) – 5 hits, sunk
• Gromoboi – 5 hits, sunk
• Rurik – 7 hits, sunk

In conclusion

At the outset its appropriate to note that some poor decisions by the Russian commander aided the Japanese victory in this re-fight of the Battle off Ulsan. If the initial Russian salvo was followed up with some accurate shooting, and the Russian commander had of manoeuvred to keep as many guns as possible trained on the Japanese, there was sufficient damage on either side that the end result could have gone either way.

Overall, the rules performed well. Although, they did require some interpretation (gunnery range, arcs of fire) and at times the situation invited the player to interpret the situation and make some 'sensible' interventions (eg. like limiting line of sight in some circumstances).

My main concern is the number of hit points a ship can sustain are small so the encounters are very deadly. I wonder if there is a case for expanding on these a bit and allowing two stages in receiving damage – maybe for an armoured cruiser it could be 6 points of damage with the first three being taken with no effect on movement or gunnery and the second three reducing gunnery by 1 hit dice and speed to a suitable fraction of the maximum.

It would also be interesting to trial a scenario with the other ship types and test the torpedo rules. 

It's important to remember that the author notes that this is a set of rules that is 'not intended as a simulation of naval tactics but just as a very simple system of rules for fun fast games.' To my mind they do that quite well. I make no claim to being an experienced rule reviewer or naval wargamer (as some of my actions above will indicate!). 

The author notes on his blog that these rules may receive a 'tweaking' in the future – I look forward to that and hope these few comments are of some assistance. Thanks for making these rules freely available.

Next, I plan to refight this engagement having a second go with Rob Heath's Coaling Stations ruleset.