INWarD 2019 - Battle of Pacocha 1877

In honour of International Naval Wargames Day, which was last Tuesday, I was all set to do a recreation of the Battle of Pacocha, when it became obvious that my tatty bits of green felt were a somewhat inadequate representation of the Atacama desert. So I put the ship models aside and set to sploshing paint on some bits of polystyrene coastline that had been sitting in the cupboard for 6 months or so. They're a bit of a rush job, but hopefully are a more fitting tribute to the memory of Fred T Jane than the felt was at least. This meant I was a little late getting the game played, but better late than never.

Background

On 6 May 1877 supporters of the political exile Nicolas de Pierola seized the Peruvian ironclad Huascar at Callao and sailed her south. The aim was to pick up their leader in Chile and return with him to Peru, where they hoped to incite a popular rebellion. This was Pierola's third attempt at a coup, and it wouldn't be his last.

On their way the Pierolistas started interfering with British merchant steamers, boarding them and seizing Peruvian government mail, and 'requisitioned' 69 tons of coal from a British barque at Pisagua. The Peruvian government effectively decreed the rebels to be pirates, and under pressure from British merchants the Royal Navy were called in to deal with the situation.

Rear-Admiral Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey, British C-in-C Pacific Station, aboard the unarmoured iron frigate Shah, in company with the wooden screw corvette Amethyst spotted the Huascar off Punta Coles near the port of Pacocha on the afternoon of 29 May. The Shah's first lieutenant was sent in a cutter with a demand for the ship's surrender. Pierola politely told him where to stick it, and after allowing the British officer to leave and giving his men a rousing speech, the Huascar made a dash for the shallow waters off Pacocha and Ilo.

The Rules

I've been tinkering with a hex-based conversion of Dahlgren and Columbiad. D&C are an excellent set of rules - highly streamlined for fast play, but still retaining the essential characteristics of ironclad-era warfare. The main reason for using hexes is that, while the game works perfectly fine without them, in 1/2400 scale things can get a little fiddly and prone to error. Using hexes removes the need for measuring ranges and arcs, and if you accidentally knock one of the models it's easy to put it back where it was. Also, I had a 2" hex mat that I needed to find a use for!

I've changed the way movement phases work. There are six phases in each turn, and each ship activates one at a time, moving either 0, 1 or 2 hexes depending on their speed, and then immediately conducts gunnery before moving on to the next ship. All ships have a numbered counter displaying their speed at the stern - at some point I'll make up some nice wake effect numbered markers.

I've also re-designed the ship record charts to try and condense the information into a smaller space. I've made them standard playing card size, so I can put them in card sleeves and use a dry erase marker to record damage.

The Ships

Huascar is a British-built ironclad turret ship, with 2x10" muzzle-loading rifles in a turret able to fire to port and starboard, a 40lb smoothbore on each beam, and a 12lb SB aft.

She is well armoured with an AF of 5 and has a reinforced ram bow.

She is undermanned, and is suffering from mechanical issues with the turret. A D6 is rolled at the start of every turn - on a 5,6 the turret is out of action that turn.

Her shallow draught allows her to move within 2 hexes of land without risk of running aground.

Shah is a large unarmoured iron frigate, armed with 2x9" MLRs mounted fore and aft, and 14x7" MLRs in the broadsides. She also had some 64 pdrs which I've not included - they could only fire common shell, and I reckon the 7" are the most important factor in the broadside effect.

She also carries eight Whitehead torpedoes which can be launched from either side of the bow. I didn't get to use these, but historically this battle was the first ever use of a locomotive torpedo.

Very fast with a speed of 16 knots, but lacking protection - she only gets an AF of 1 for the iron hull. She can move within 8 hexes of land without risk.

Amethyst is a wooden screw corvette with seven 64lb MLRs in each broadside. I've probably given her slightly higher gun factors than she deserves, but even so she'll need some very lucky dice to cause any damage.

She can move closer inshore than the Shah, but not quite as close as Huascar - 3 hexes without risk.

 

 

 Setup

A view of the whole table looking south.

Ilo and Pacocha. The British are not allowed to shoot if their line of fire intersects either town. Both towns have garrisons that will take pot shots at the Huascar if she comes close enough.

Starting positions. Huascar and Shah start at speed 2, Amethyst at speed 4. Ships may accelerate/decelerate 2/4 at the start of each turn, and may also lose speed during turn due to tight manoeuvres or damage effects. There are 20 turns till nightfall.

Victory Conditions

Rebels win if:
Huascar survives with less than Severe damage for 20 turns.
Shah suffers Severe damage.

British win if:
Huascar suffers Severe damage.
Huascar leaves the table.

The game is a draw if the Amethyst is wrecked and the British player would otherwise have won. When I say 'draw' I mean for the purposes of this game only. I'm pretty sure the Admiralty wouldn't have considered the loss of one of their ships a 'draw'. 'Both sides lose' is probably a better term than 'draw'!

The Game

Turns 1&2: Huascar makes a dash for the shallows, with Shah in pursuit and Amethyst closing in. Shah opens fire at the Huascar, hitting but causing no damage. Huascar's turret is out of action for most of the early turns.

Turn 3: Amethyst engages Huascar at close range while Shah stays in deeper water.

Turns 4&5: The Pierolistas try to keep the port behind them to force the British to check their fire. On Turn 4 Shah's aft 9" hits the Huascar causing temporary steering loss, forcing her to move down the coast towards Ilo.

Turn 6: As Huascar steams close to the shore, the Ilo garrison shoots at her from the beach

Turn 7: Huascar's aft 12 pdr damages Amethyst causing temporary steering loss.

Turns 7-9: Shah and Huascar score several hits on each other during this period, but fail to inflict any significant damage. Both British ships are occasionally forced to check their fire to avoid hitting the town.

Not only was this battle the first use of a torpedo, it was also the first use of the Laser Death Ray.

Turn 10: The Shah is hit by Huascar's 10" MLRs resulting in hull damage. Although this has no immediate effect on her fighting ability, it makes her significantly easier to damage from now on, and her lack of armour could prove to be problematic.

Turns 10-12: Emboldened by their success, and noticing that the Shah has reduced her speed in order to manoeuvre, the rebels break from the cover of the shallows and try to set up a ram. Shah evades easily and hits the Huascar with her port 7" guns, jamming her rudder once again. Huascar retreats back towards the shore.

Turn 13: Huascar swings round, pursued by Amethyst, and once again the Ilo garrison lends their support from the beach. Their enthusiasm is admirable, but the effect is negligible.

Turns 14&15: Irritated by the the Amethyst's constant harassment, the Pierolistas try to line up for a ram. As they close, Amethyst's decks are swept by gatling fire, supressing the gunners. Huascar mistimes the ram, and both ships bump and scrape suffering no ill effects.

Turn 16: Shah takes another 10" hit, further weakening her hull and reducing her DF to only 2. It's now de Horsey, rather than Pierola, who is praying for nightfall.

Shah about to receive a face-full of 10" MLR

Turn 17: Huascar comes out fighting again, and de Horsey signals to Amethyst to withdraw. Shah gets a critical hit on Huascar, permanently damaging her steering. Too little, too late.

Turn 18: As Amethyst attempts to extricate herself, Huascar hits her at point blank range with the port 40lb smoothbore, damaging her hull.

Turns 19&20: As de Horsey withdraws his damaged ships, Huascar hits the vulnerable Shah twice with her smoothbores, reducing her speed and damaging the aft 9". The Pierolistas slip away into the shallows as darkness falls.

Outcome

Both British warships will be out of operation for some time, while the Huascar has escaped relatively unscathed. If the rebels can fix her steering they'll be able to operate with impunity, at least for a while. More importantly, the locals have witnessed a warship proudly flying Peruvian colours beating off an attack by British Imperialist aggressors, and word will spread fast. Nicolas de Pierola's revolution now looks much more likely to succeed.

I was going to do a summary of the historical outcome and aftermath, and suggest some improvements to the scenario that could be made, but to be honest I've already spent far more time on this little project than I'd intended. I'm afraid I've run out of steam, if you'll pardon the pun.

If you're interested in reading more, I heartily recommend Ironclads at War by Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani.