Incident over Merano

[Old Dwarf]

I was interested in the concept of flying battlships & the late 19th/early 20th Century time frame of Leviathans
but Catalyst was never able to add to the core game & interest stalled out (at least for me).I still on & off
worked on some home rules for a WWI Game based on Leviathans including a simplified ground combat component.

Catalyst has indicated they are coming out with a WWI Leviathans KS but I'll believe it when I see it but their
announcement got me thinking about my home brew stuff. So I pulled my notes out & worked on the Air campaign.

The following is a test of Air Combat modified Leviathans sequence.The Ships are actual battleships that
were part of the Navies involved & their commanders were named after WWI Acses of Austria-Hungry & Italy.

March 1913- 10AM

Contrammiraglio Baracca was taking the 2nd Division of the 4th Squadron on a training mission from its
base at Venice to Milan.The early Spring weather had not cooperated as a solid blanket of fog & rain
had obscured the ground below. Baracca watched from his flagship the Roma as the rest of the Division
emerged from the fog,the Napoli followed by the Bene.Brin & the R.Margherita .He had taken the ships
down beneath the fog barrier to confirm their course route which followed the Po River Valley & now
seeing the river had taken the Division back into the clear sky above & the late morning sun.

10:30 AM-Konteradmiral Arigi had left Trent with the Austria-Hungarian 3 Squadron's 1st Division
as soon as the report came in that Italian Leviathans had crossed the border into the Welschtiro.
Arigi was puzzled at the blatant violation of the border, small incursions by both sides' Cruisers
& Destroyers testing each other's defenses happened, but these were Capitol Ships & heading straight
into the Empire

11:30 AM-The Italian Division had outrun the bad weather & as the fog dissipated Baracca looked down
on the city but something was wrong it couldn't be Milan it was too small.Taking out his Binoculars
he focused on Flag flying above the largest building,it was the Double Eagle of Austria-Hungry & a
secondary banner displayed the Red Tyrolean Eagle...my God! he was over Merano deep in Trentino.
Somehow he had mistaken the Adige River for the Poe & had blindly sailed into a neighboring
& not very friendly country.The Roma immediately signaled the Division to turn South back to
Italian Territory.

Noon-Arigi had sailed the 1st Division Southward looking for the Italian Ships but not finding them had
turned his ships back North when they suddenly appeared heading back toward Italy. Arigi hesitated if
the Italians were leaving he could just let them go but this violation of the sacred airspace of
Austria-Hungary must be avenged. His flagship the Radetsky signaled the E.F.Ferdinand,Zrinyi & Wien
to battle stations & to close on the Italian ships.

Baracca saw the Austria-Hungary Ships approaching & knew he would have to fight his way back to Italy
& Signaled his ships to prepare for battle.

12:30PM- The Battlelines of both Navies erupted in fire.

-The Radetsky & Roma exchange volleys & both overshoot

-The E.F.Ferdinand volley on the Napoli falls short but the Napoli's shells smash into the E.F.Ferdinand's
Guns on its Fore Port & its Aft Starboard crew is decimated.

-The Zrinyi guns hit the Bene Brin's Fore Starboard Tesla Coil causing the ship to drop out of Line.
The Bene Brin's volley falls short.

- The Wien shells fall on the R.Margeheria's Aft Port Guns & another shell takes out it's Stern Telsa Coil
forcing the ship out of Line. The R. Margeheria's Volley pounds the Wien's Aft Starboard,Stern,Fore Starboard
& Fore Ports Guns leaving the ship a smoking ruin falling from the sky.

12:45- Break Off

Contrammiraglio Baracca has half his Division unable to continue battle & undercover of the fighting have limped
back to Italy .The Roma & Napoli are undamaged but to prolong the fight would only make the incident worst for
Italy in public opinion. As both his ships are faster than the Austria-Hungarian ships he orders a break off
& heads home.

Konteradmiral Arigi sees the remaining Italian Levitans retreating but is unable to match their speed .He has
lost the Wien & the E.F. Ferdinand is barely airworthy. Satisfied to have driven the Italians off he sets
about trying to see if the Wien had any survivors.

Epilogue-Both Governments exchanged Protest Austria-Hungry over the incursion into their territory & the
Italians over their ships being attacked while they were leaving territory they had entered by mistake.
The Kaiser Franz Joseph pinned a medal on Arigi & the Italian Navy secretly pleased with the destruction
of an Austrian-Hungarian Levithan took no action on Baracca.

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Things held together fairly well for a test run. In my rules I have criteria for ending a battle by a side
breaking off (basically a die roll with modifiers each side uses after each round) so after the 1st round
Italy got a break off result & as both the remaining Italian Leviathans were faster than any of the 3 remaining
Austria-Hungry Leviathans they got away without a pursuit.

OD


PS-a couple of hours after I wrote this up I got an email from Catalyst about the KS so I guess it may see the
light of day. I'll be interested to see how they handle this compared to my rules. I note that the basic ship
block is 4 Leviathans which is what I'm using( basically doing WWI 4 ships made up a Division).I don't see
any Land combat tie in the KS Info so far.I'm using an Air Superiority mission that gives the Armies with it
a slight edge in combat.