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GNBSCEN1.ZIP -- Replacement Scenarios for GREAT NAVAL
BATTLES OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC: 1939-1943
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Copyright(C)1994 By: Steven L. Hildebrand, Esq.
All World Rights Reserved By Author
**NOT FOR UPLOAD TO COMPUSERVE**
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Requirements:
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GREAT NAVAL BATTLES OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC, by SSI
(Version 1.0 or Greater)
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GNBNA is a way-cool naval battle simulation, but some the of stock
scenarios really suck, and there's only 12 of them. Frustrated by my
inability to find a copy of the scenario editor anywhere, I decided to
hack around a bit and figger out the format of the scenario files for the
purpose of changing some of these scenarios to suit myself. And that's
what these are -- hex-edited scenario files. I changed the types of ships
around to make some of these scenarios a bit more interesting. See the
descriptions below.
HOW TO USE THESE FILES:
-----------------------
Each of the file descriptions starts by telling you the Name and
Description of the file it is intended to replace, followed by the name of
the altered file and new description, if any.
|---- Original File Description
\|/
"Gunnery Practice" (SCENARIO.000) <-- Original File Name
---------------------------------
GUNPRACT.000 -- [Further Info Here]
^ ^
^ ^------New File Name
^
^----New File Description, If Any.
So, in this example, you would back up the original scenario file:
REN SCENARIO.000 SCEN-000.BAK
Then, rename the new scenario file:
REN GUNPRACT.000 SCENARIO.000
Reverse entire procedure to restore original files.
Since these are altered original files, they should work no matter which
version of GNBNA you have & do not require you to have the Scenario-Editor
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"Gunnery Practice" (SCENARIO.000)
---------------------------------
GUNPRACT.001 -- This originally was BISMARK vs PRINCE OF WALES, but I
changed it to a cruiser-duel, the German SEYDLITZ vs HMS SUFFOLK. The duel
begins with both cruisers on a parallel course, range 30,000 yards, no
wind. Both ships have eight 8" naval rifles in four turrets, but the German
naval rifles had a higher muzzle velocity and better range, so the Brits
are at a small disadvantage here.
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"Cruiser Action" (SCENARIO.002)
-------------------------------
"Cruiser Action #2" (CRUISER.001) -- Two British light cruisers, HMS
SHEFFIELD & JAMAICA, rumble with heavy cruiser HIPPER and 2 German
destroyers. What I've done here is to substitute Z-class destroyers, the
Z-24 & Z-25, which have heavier guns (5.9" instead of 5"). This, coupled
with their torpedoes, makes them a more credible threat to the Brit 6"
cruisers. Odds still favour the Brits overall.
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"Davids vs Goliath" (SCENARIO.003)
----------------------------------
"Davids vs Goliath Round 2" (DAVIDS.001) -- Three Brit destroyers with 4"
popguns rumble with LUTZOW at 10,000 yards. I've never managed to win this
one before, despite causing considerable damage to LUTZOW at close range. I
switched the Brit destroyers to the type with 4.7" guns in all four
turrets, increasing their firepower. This combined with the close starting
range of the engagement makes it possible for the DD's to disable the
LUTZOW's gun directors, destroy her funnels and them come in close and
finish her off with torpedoes -- which is what I did.
"Davids vs Goliath Round 3" (DAVIDS.002) -- Same deal, but this time, the
destroyers (HMS SOMALI, GURKHA & MOHAWK) have dual 4.7" guns in four
turrets -- eight guns and four torpedoes per ship. LUTZOW is in definite
trouble here. Panzerschiffen, my ass! <GrIn>
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"River Platte" (SCENARIO.005)
-----------------------------
"River Plate Revisited" (PLATE.001) -- On December 13th, 1939, the German
Pocket-Battleship ("Panzerschiffen") GRAF SPEE rumbled with three British
cruisers off the coast of Rio De Janeiro in what became known as the Battle
of the River Plate. "Panzerschiffen" were fast, heavily armed & armoured
cruisers -- not quite Battle-Cruisers but half a step above a Heavy
Cruiser. (Three were built: GRAF SPEE, LUTZOW and SCHEER)
The three British cruisers -- HMS EXETER, AJAX and ACHILLES outnumbered
GRAF SPEE, but GRAF SPEE heavily outgunned all three:
"The vulnerable parts of her hull and superstructure were protected by 5.5
inches of armour, and she had six 11-inch guns in two turrets. Each of her
11-inch guns fired a 670-pound shell and had a range of 17 miles; even her
secondary armament of 5.9 inch guns compared favourably with the main
armament of Ajax and Achilles, each of which had 6-inch guns firing 112-
pound shells and with a range of under 10 miles. It would require a lucky
shot for a shell of this size to do much damage to the Graf Spee's armour.
"The Exeter had 8-inch guns with a range of 15.5 miles but, owing to
Treaty (of Versailles) limitations, had been built with only six, instead
of the eight for which her class was designed. [Stuff Deleted] So if he met
the three ships, (Captain) Langsdorff had on the face of it little to fear;
he could engage effectively at 17 miles while the Ajax and Achilles were
helpless beyond 9, though the Exeter's guns had a greater range and a lucky
shot might damage the pocket-battleship."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Excerpted from: _History of the Second World War_, Part 2; "The Battle of
* the River Plate" by Dudley Pope. (C)1973 by: Marshall Cavendish USA Ltd.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AJAX and ACHILLES took a pounding, AJAX losing six of her eight guns.
EXETER was all but sunk, left burning with all turrets knocked out and
listing badly. EXETER made repairs in the Falkland Islands and survived to
be crippled 2 years later (2/27/42) in the Battle of the Java Sea by the
Japanese, then sunk 2 days later (3/1/42) in the Battle of Bali Strait.
This alleged recreation of the Battle of the River Plate begins at 20,000
yards (just under 10 nautical miles), well within the range of EXETER's 8"
guns and just outside those of AJAX and ACHILLES -- fact is, it never
happened that way, but you're not supposed to know that. GRAF SPEE stayed
well out of range of AJAX and ACHILLES most of the time, pounding the
unholy shit out of EXETER first, before closing to engage the smaller light
cruisers, finally coming as close as 4nm -- so close that GRAF SPEE was
firing her 3.5" AA guns with time-delay fused shells at the Brits!
Since this scenario starts you out at fairly close quarters to the British
**with EXETER still intact**, I decided to see what would happen if it were
the battle-cruiser GNEISENAU instead of GRAF SPEE that the Brit cruisers
rumbled with. GNEISENAU was better armored, had nine 11-inch guns to Graf
Spee's six 11-inchers, and a dozen 5.9 inch secondary guns to Graf Spee's
eight. Run PLATE.001 and find out for yourself.
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"Carrier Strike" (SCENARIO.006)
-------------------------------
CARRIER.001 -- In the original scenario, the German battlecruisers
SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU stumble onto the carrier HMS GLORIOUS and two
dinky little DD's. Well, I've never failed to win playing the German side,
so I changed things a bit....now GLORIOUS has two RN Heavy Cruisers
alongside, HMS NORFOLK and SUSSEX. Granted, it still ain't a fair fight,
the 8" cruiser guns vs the 11" naval rifles of the German battlecruisers,
but now it's interesting, and those 8 inchers can tear up a battlecruiser
if it gets too close. The whole point is to keep GLORIOUS afloat and
undamaged long enuff to arm and launch her torpedo planes so they can go
and sink those nasty battlecruisers. This is also more realistic, since
any carrier is going to guarded by more than two lousy DD's.
Winable from either side.
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"Best Tradition of the Service" (SCENARIO.007)
----------------------------------------------
On the morning of April 8th, 1940, during the nazi invasion of Norway, HMS
GLOWWORM (DD) met her fate in point-blank combat with the German heavy
cruiser HIPPER off the coast of Trondheim, Norway. Chasing a German
destroyer during a gale, GLOWWORM came out of a fogbank to find itself face
to face with HIPPER. The action that followed was quick and brutal:
"Then the two destroyers, exchanging gunfire in the storm, met the Hipper
coming back to aid the German destroyers. For a moment, both mistook her
(HIPPER) for British; then she opened fire, hitting the Glowworm with her
first salvo."
"The Glowworm made smoke and appeared to turn away; the Hipper followed
her into the smoke. But Lt-Cmndr. Roope, in command of the Glowworm, had
decided to ram, and as the Hipper came through the smoke cloud she saw the
Glowworm at close range on her starboard bow. Now the Hipper too decided
to ram, fearing torpedoes, but she answered her help slowly, and the
Glowworm's bow struck her side, tearing away 120-feet of armour. Then the
Glowworm passed astern, on fire and sinking. There was an explosion, and
she disappeared. The Hipper stopped to pick up oil-covered survivors, but
Roope, as he was being hauled on board, fell back into the sea exhausted,
and was lost. Later, when the story became known in Britain, he was
awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Excerpted from: _History of the Second World War_, Part 3; "Hitler
* Strikes North" by Major-General J.L. Moulton, CB, DSO, OBE. (C)1973 by
* Marshall Cavendish USA Ltd.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pardon me for the history lesson, but that's the true story behind this
scenario in GNBNA, and now you know it. There you are with four 4.7" guns
on a tin can, 1000 yards and closing on HIPPER with her eight 8" naval
rifles. It's cool if you play it from the German team; otherwise, it ends
badly, and the best I've ever managed to do was to scratch the paint on the
HIPPER with a single salvo before getting torn apart and sinking.
These three alternate scenarios explore the question of, "What if HIPPER
had come thru that fogbank and found herself face to face with something
more her size -- or BIGGER?? (Boy Howdy!)
"Point Blank #1" (PBLANK.001) -- HIPPER (CA) versus HMS NORFOLK (CA). With
each ship sporting eight 8" naval rifles, two in each of four turrets, this
is an near-even match, though HIPPER has more torpedoes.
"Point Blank #2" (PBLANK.002) -- HIPPER versus HMS SHEFFIELD (CL). Not a
fair fight, but SHEFFIELD, a light cruiser, sports twelve 6" naval rifles
in four turrets. An interesting matchup.
"Point Blank #3" (PBLANK.003) -- HIPPER meets the 300-pound gorilla -- HMS
HOOD (BB), with eight 15" naval rifles in four turrets. Definitely NOT a
fair fight, but neither was HIPPER vs GLOWWORM.
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"Old vs New" (SCENARIO.008)
---------------------------
"Battlecruiser Bingo" (BINGO.001) -- In the original scenario, HMS RENOWN,
a WWI battlecruiser (and 3 DD's) meets GNEISENAU and SCHARNHORST, WW2
battlecruisers that're swifter, more agile, heavily armoured and have more
guns which also load faster. I never liked the way this one turned out
when I played the Brit side, so I turned one of those DD's into HMS
REPULSE, sister to RENOWN. It still isn't a fair fight, but since when
does the enemy play nice?? Now, it's at least interesting. <BG>
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"Jutland II" (SCENARIO.009)
---------------------------
CLASH.001 -- An interesting "what-if?" scenario, but the Germans are pretty
badly outgunned, and my best results with this scenario were never very
impressive. The German forces are split into two groups, the British into
three. I changed things a bit to give the German side a more even
disposition, swapping out two Z-class DD's and the heavy cruiser HIPPER for
3 "Panzerschiffen" or Pocket-Battleships (PB). The Germans are still
outnumbered and outgunned, but it's a closer match now. British forces are
unchanged.
If you're playing the German side, whatever you do, stay the heck away
from Brit Group 1!! And remember that pocket-battleships are nothing more
than glorified heavy cruisers, and won't survive against Royal Navy
battleships and battlecruisers for very long. The armor just isn't there,
and 11-inch naval rifles seem rather puny compared to the 14" & 15" guns
found in RN Group 1, though it should be said that the 11" guns found in
German PB's and BC's had higher muzzle velocity and a range equal to that
of RN battleship guns. Penetration was almost equal.
German Imperial Fleet
---------------------
Group 1 Group 2
----------------------------------
Bismark (BB) Gneisenau (BC)
Tirpitz (BB) Scharnhorst (BC)
Graf Spee (PB) Scheer (PB)
Pr. Eugen (CA) Lutzow (PB)
Royal Navy
----------
Group 1 Group2 Group 3
-----------------------------------------------------------
King George V (BB) Prince of Wales (BB) Rodney (BB)
Warspite (BB) Hood (BB) Dorsetshire (CA)
Repulse (BC) Norfolk (CA) Somali (DD)
Kenya (CL)
Acasta (DD)
Echo (DD)
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"Convoy HX106" (SCENARIO.011)
-----------------------------
"PANZERSCHIFFEN!" (RAIDERS.001) -- The original scenario had the
battlecruisers GNEISENAU and SCHARNHORST raiding a Brit convoy guarded by
HMS RAMILLES (BB) and two small DD's. While I never had any problem
winning from the German side, I'd also never really won from the Brit side.
I mean, would you consider it a win if you sank one of the enemy raiders or
badly damaged both but they sank the entire convoy you were escorting?? I
don't -- so I changed things a bit.
I swapped the two battlecruisers for the pocket-battleships LUTZOW and
SCHEER -- which were designed as surface raiders -- and changed the Brit
lineup to the heavy cruiser HMS SUSSEX and light cruisers HMS AJAX and
AURORA. Now it's winable from either side -- and not easy either.
LUTZOW and SCHEER each have six 11-inch naval rifles in two turrets (2x3),
eight 5.9" secondary guns, 4 to a side in single turrets, and 6 torpedoes.
HMS SUSSEX (CA): Eight 8" guns in four turrets (4x2) and 8 torpedoes.
HMS AJAX (CL): Eight 6" guns in four turrets (4x2) and 8 torpedoes.
HMS AURORA (CL) Six 6" guns in three turrets (3x2) and 6 torpedoes.
Have fun with this one! <GrIn>
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I can be reached at:
INTERNET: steven.hildebrand@midas.com
RIME-Net: WARGAMES and FLIGHTSIM Conferences, Node ->887
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| Special THANX! to Bill "Berserker" Waldheim for starting the STRATEGIC |
| WARGAMES Conference on RIME-Net, and for hosting it as well. (Dude!) |
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LEGAL STUFF: This scenery archive is Copyright 1994 by Steven L. Hildebrand
and released unto an unsuspecting world as Stever-Ware. You may use it free
of charge and distribute it, intact, via BBS's and Computer Networks EXCEPT
COMPUSERVE. All commercial use of this file is utterly prohibited. You may
not charge money for my work. The author makes no claims, implied or other-
wise, that these files will work on your computer, or that no ill effects
will result from their use. Deal with it.
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# TLAM-[N]: Don't Leave Home-Port Without It! #
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Version 1.0 -- 11/28/94