Steam and Iron AAR

[cv60]

With the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland coming up, I'm started a Grand Campaign as the British, with the idea of demonstrating how games such as Steam and Iron can be used to teach history.  The AAR is at the Grogheads forum:

grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=16935.0

Comments are welcome

[randomizer]

Will be following this but there's a long war ahead, good luck.

[vonfriedman]

I just got a signal form HMS Galatea: enemy in sight - 2 24 pm May 31th

[cv60]

May 31, 2016 6:28:48 GMT -6 vonfriedman said:

I just got a signal form HMS Galatea: enemy in sight - 2 24 pm May 31th

Yep-100 years ago today. 

[andyhall]

I played through Jutland on Tuesday evening, the 100th anniversary of the battle, using Steam and Iron. I played as Jellicoe, and Scheer and Hipper handed me my head in coal sack. It was a disaster for the British, who lost six (!) battleships and battlecruisers to none (!!) from the High Seas Fleet. In the role of Jellicoe, I left Beatty’s battlecruisers under AI control. I actually could have taken direct control of them, but wanted to play it out with Beatty off doing his own thing, which proved to be a fundamental mistake.

Beatty intercepts the German battlecruisers as in the actual event. They turn and begin leading Beatty south, into the path of the main German fleet. Beatty takes the bait and continues to run south, slugging it out with the Germans, and moving away from the British main force, which is making a loooong stern chase to catch up. Eventually Beatty’s force comes under fire from the German main body, and he eventually breaks off, not turning back north toward Jellicoe, but WSW, toward Old Blighty. The main body of the British fleet gets close enough to open fire just at dusk, and then the hammering really starts. I made a huge mistake not breaking off right then, because in the growing dark the ships ended up not recognizing each other until almost at point-blank range. The destroyers on both sides swarmed in with torpedo attacks, and I lost three BBs/BCs within the space of a few minutes to either torpedoes or German gunfire. Jellicoe’s Iron Duke went up like a Roman candle after a turret hit. (I think I lost four of the six that way.) Eventually the main British force broke off to the NW, leaving Scheer and his ships to make their way home again unmolested.

Situation at nightfall, May 31:



The outcome of the real Jutland was sufficiently mixed that both sides could point to it as a victory. Not so this time; the British got thumped hard. It was a debacle. The only good thing, from Jellicoe's perspective, is that he bought it when Iron Duke blew up, and didn't have to deal with the fallout of the battle, including his decision to press forward against the Germans in the dark. (The real Jellicoe likely would not have done this.) In this game, Beatty ended up the focus of the blame and recriminations, not entirely unreasonably, for failing to try to lure the German battlecruisers, and the main body of the High Seas Fleet behind them, north into the guns of Jellicoe's main force. Had Beatty been able to do that, then Jellicoe's Grand Fleet might have been able to take on Hipper's battlecruisers and Scheer's main body in succession, with a very different outcome for all concerned.

[vonfriedman]

I would bet that AI-controlled Beatty would sail towards the bulk of the Grand Fleet. Also in this case there was something wrong in his bloody ships.

[vonfriedman]

I am puzzled by the correct simulation of AI-Hipper behavior vs wrong simulation of AI-Beatty overall behaviour. It seems to me that AI-Beatty sails to WSW because he behaves "aggressively" even when he should have become "cautious" after meeting the Hochseeflotte.
This may possibly point out to a fault in AI programming in SAI.

[andyhall]

Jun 3, 2016 0:56:48 GMT -6 vonfriedman said:

I would bet that AI-controlled Beatty would sail towards the bulk of the Grand Fleet. Also in this case there was something wrong in his bloody ships.

In my game, the AI Beatty followed Hipper right into the guns of the High Seas Fleet, leaving Jellicoe miles away to the north, scrambling to catch up.

[vonfriedman]

I read your reply about this matter in the other thread.
I am persuaded that AI programming should be modified in such a way as to avoid such strange things as the action of AI Beatty in your game. Without this, it is useless to play SAI in Admiral mode.

[andyhall]

Jun 5, 2016 1:43:10 GMT -6 vonfriedman said:

I read your reply about this matter in the other thread.
I am persuaded that AI programming should be modified in such a way as to avoid such strange things as the action of AI Beatty in your game. Without this, it is useless to play SAI in Admiral mode.

At this point I doubt it's an issue that requires getting into the code. In my (unmodified) Jutland scenario, Beatty and Jellicoe are both designated "Normal," while Hipper is "Cautious" and Scheer is "Normal." Adjusting one or more of these might produce significantly different gameplay.

[vonfriedman]

I am eager to read the AAR, after you have adjusted in some way the settings.
However I remain persuaded that real life admirals changed their attitude following advice from higher command or under the pressure of the events.