Naval Thunder Battle Report: French vs.Italian Navies

I've been playing a good number of miniatures war games and this is just the first time that I'll be writing a battle report. This one's gonna for Naval Thunder, a WWII historical naval war game that me and my buddies were longing to try out.

Good thing my friend's (Roe of Tiny Thingamajigs) minis arrived just on time. We agreed on a French vs. Italian Navy game at 362 points a side. That bought as a couple of cruisers and destroyers a side. Lists are as follows:

French Navy (Roe):
2x CL 'La Galissonniere'  (264 points)
2x DD 'Le Hardi' (98 points) 

Italian Navy (Me):
2x CL 'Abruzzi'  (260points)
2x DD 'Soldati' (102 points) 

We had a 2' x 3' poker mat as our field with both of us on long table edges. Since this is the first time we played Naval Thunder, we used the basic rules set.

The first couple of turns saw both fleets trying to outmaneuver each other: the French sailed ahead on a linear formation with both cruisers in line followed by the destroyers. I had my Italians split up with one of my cruisers (the designated flagship at that) escorted by both destroyers while my other cruiser went on the far starboard side of the board.

Shooting commenced on the 3rd to 5th turn with the French training their guns and bearing all their fire on my flagship. Meanwhile, my Italians split their fire on their flagship (one of the 'La Galissonnieres') and one of the destroyers which is closing in. Turn 6 saw my flagship sunk while one of the 'Le Hardis' on Davey Jones' locker after all the shooting on both side were done. One of the French cruisers didn't see any action during this turn as its Line of Sight (LOS) was blocked by their flagship.

Turn 7 was crucial: seeing that my other cruiser was on the far side of the board, the French bore their fire on my destroyers, one of which survives with just a hairline of its Hit Points remaining. I trained my cruisers's guns on one of his when it was my turn, severely damaging it while my destroyers finally laid on the coup de grace on his flagship while sinking another on of the French destroyers on the same shooting phase.

Turn 8 saw my cruiser flanking the French one, further damaging it. Its fate was sealed when a salvo of torpedoes from my remaining destroyer impacted its starboard sinking it along with the rest. Good game.

As for the game itself, I'd recommend Naval Thunder for experienced war gamers and for those interested in historical one. The game's pace is a bit fast with an hour and a half for small games and more for games with additional optional rules. The only time the game gets clunky is when modifiers come into play, conditions for LOS, range and ship statuses bog down game play so its best that both players have good working knowledge of the rules as well as having the charts as hand.

Oh and if you're interested in the miniatures, Roe has this shop on Shapeways called 'Tiny Thingamajigs' containing his assortment of ships and other, well, thingamajigs. Check it out!