The greatest gaming convention Brookville Maryland has ever seen returned in 2025 returned twice as big and ready to rumble! More to come on the con itself, but thought I would start with a little after action report for the 1941 Raiders of the Malta Convoy game I ran on Saturday.
I’ll do a post with the scenario and rules, but this uses a custom scenario for the Nimitz/Halsey system by Sam Mustafa: https://sammustafa.com/nimitz It makes a solid naval game for a convention- action packed and accessible. The goal here was to give players a sense of the scope and scale of WWII naval warfare while exploring an alternative narrative. Overall, however, I still wanted to create an action-packed and energetic approach to naval wargaming, to contrast with the very nuts-and-bolts approach many systems take.
The year is 1941 – the Italian Regia Marina prowls the Mediterranean sea around the allied base of Malta, seeking to cut supplies to the air and naval forces stationed there. The fleets of the commonwealth, headed by the Royal Navy, have been escorting supply convoys into the island. In this game of WWII naval surface combat, players will take command of either the prowling Italian raiders or the Royal Navy escorts- will the convoy survive?
Three of our admirals took control of the Regia Marina fleet, while two admirals grabbed the Royal Navy. We started on the strategic map, representing the western Mediterranean. For each fleet, one admiral took command of naval aviation assets, while the others commanded surface and submarine assets.
Main strategic map, picture from Historicon 2025.
The players began with the main fleets arrayed and steaming towards a confrontation in Malta. Over two days (four game turns) the players command the escorts (3 destroyers and a cruiser), air assets (based on the HMS Ark Royal for the Brits and two land airstrips for the Italians), and submarines.
The British struck decisively on the Italian escorts, sinking a destroyer in a surface action and crippling the heavy cruiser Pompeo Magno with submarines. Air strikes and combat air patrol from the Ark Royal aimed to slow the Italian naval bombers.
However, the Italian admirals had their eyes on the prize- the convoy ships! Their submarines and torpedo bombers hit and destroyed two of the three merchant ships- the SS Clan McCaully and the SS Orantano! In addition, the bombers hit an escort cruiser.
Through tenacious focus on their mission, the Italians gained the upper hand- in the strategic map they had achieved “Masters of the Air” – most kills from air forces and “Terror Beneath the Waters” for their effective submarine actions. The Royal Navy had maintained their “Master of the Waves Status” due to their effective surface actions.
We then moved on to Phase II! Here, we zoomed into a tactical action as the Royal Navy attempted to slip past the Italian commander. Their efforts on the strategic map gave the Italians +2 for initiative and deployment on the tactical map, and the Royal Navy got only a +1. In addition, both sides brought their additional escort ships to the main battle- including the crippled Pompeo Magno!
The fleets converge!
However, on the tactical map, the British still managed to seize initiative for deployment, despite their downsides. They formed up around the Ark Royal and SS John Brown, the remaining convoy ship, ready to sell themselves dearly.
The tactical situation evolved as battlelines of Italian and British battleships and cruisers closed in on each other. The ensuing gunfire and waves of torpedoes hit and crippled many smaller ships. While the British were losing cruisers and destroyers, the convoy was closing in on its target!
The Italians were unable to closed with the convoy ships, despite their damage to the enemy. On the very last turn, two pivotal events happened- the Ark Royal managed to escape off the board to Malta, and the RMN Battleship Littorio, one of their top of the line battleships, was targeted in a final wave of torpedoes. It all came down to a final die role, and the Littorio barely survived the torpedo assault!
With that we wrapped up and declared a minor Italian Victory! They had sunk two convoy ships, while the British had escaped with the Ark Royal and had one remaining ship (balancing out the victory points). Destroyed ships were evenly matched, although the Littorio would have tilted this to the British favor. Finally the Italians had achieved strategic advantage in Phase I. So in the end, a minor victory to the RMN, with the Royal Navy almost coming to a draw.
At the end of the day, the Royal Navy was savaged, but the Ark Royal and SS John Brown did run critical cargo and planes into Malta to continue the war their and relieve the suffering of the Maltese, at least temporarily. But would it be worth the cost?
A huge thanks to all the players! This is a very ambitious con game, but that is part of the fun. As we refine the scenario, I hope we will continue to explore some interesting aspects of WWII naval combat in the Mediterranean. I hope to run this again at Fall-In, and keep improving the scenario for years to come!
