Engagement in the Coral Seas

The French put to sea again, seeking out new and interesting opponents to fight against! This time, they came up against the Austro-Hungarian forces of Than. Rather than using what I had at Southcon, I instead opted for something (as yet) totally unique in Christchurch, I brought no battleships, no dreadnoughts. Instead, I brought two Aircraft Carriers! The full fleet looked like this... Couronne Carrier Couronne Carrier 3 Ecuyer Support Cruisers 3 Frigates 3 Destroyers 3 Epaulard Submarines 3 Frelon Small Flyers 2 Voltaire Interceptors So, the plan was to see just how good Air Power was at sinking enemy fleets! John was running his Dreadnought, the Szent Istvan (spelling is probably wrong), along with 8 destroyers, 3 Pflict blimps and two cruisers. The plan was simple, engage the enemy! My goal was to sink the enemy fleet, saving the Dreadnought for last. The Austro-Hungarians, wary of the incredibly large numbers of the French were in a defensive mindset with the Dreadnought and Cruisers, preferring to send their smaller vessels out to engage and inflict damage on the enemy. Two squadrons of destroyers sallied forth, inflicting serious damage onto the Aircraft Carrier Orleans , which combined with the firepower of the Dreadnought left the carrier one one HP! The life of the destroyers was sadly short lived, the entire French fleet took offense to their large guns and the whole "setting fire to the aircraft carrier" thing, so promptly sent them to the bottom of the ocean. Meanwhile, the Voltaire interceptors on the left flank attempted to screen my waves of tiny Torpedo Bombers by shooting down the enemy Fighters that were screaming ahead to destroy them. However it was not to be for the Interceptors, they themselves came under fire from the enemy Pflict blimps, who, with their Air Hunter Teslacoils made short work of the hapless interceptors. The Ecuyer support cruisers took revenge upon both the tiny tokens and the Pflicts, over successive turns the ships first shot down all of the enemy fighters, then followed that up by downing two Pflict blimps! Sadly, the third blimp was able to board and destroy the Orleans before it too succumbed to the firepower of the Ecuyers. By this time, the enemy fleet was becoming depleted. Long range fire from the Epaulard submarines and the Destroyers began engaging and destroying the enemy cruisers. The final Cruiser fell to the Frelon small flyers, who instigated a carefully calculated bombing run. Once the cruisers were disposed of, all the French firepower was directed upon the enemy Dreadnought. Once a couple of damage points were inflicted (by Frigates no less!). It was time to send in my waves of torpedo bombers. The first wave was defeated by Ack-Ack, the second got through, inflicting a damage point. The third wave came through, inflicting crippling damage to the enemy dreadnoughts systems, the fourth and final wave inflicting further damage onto the isolated vessel. It was at this point, with his Dreadnought with just 3 HP remaining, we agreed to call the game. The French lost both Carriers, but were able to destroy the entire enemy fleet. Two carriers was... Interesting. The French Carrier is tough, but the fleet has no real gunnery ability, very reliant on the Epaulards and Destroyers doing enough damage to the enemy, reliant on the Frelons, Ecuyers and the Voltaires destroying the enemy fighter screens to allow the Tiny Tokens to mass on one enemy target. An interesting fleet, not sure If I am sold on it just yet. Might need a bit more thought. Plenty of things on the painting table, hopefully I might actually get something finished too.... CP