Tough scenario for the French. Not seen teh rules obviously but the Torpedoes seem to be very (too?) effective. For the period they were a notoriously inaccurate weapon without having to contend with the 3rd dimension.
How do you allocate Command points?
As the guy controlling the French, I totally agree! I really needed some escorts of my own!
This scenario was a test to see if Escorts were of any value, or it they would just get dominated by Cruisers and larger ships. I think this proved their value compared to Cruisers. I was attempting to recreating a bit of the Paper, Rock, Scissors of the WWI Naval warfare similar to this:
Escorts < Cruisers < Battleships < Escorts
You can see how it is a circular approach. Battleships are the "best" but they can not be immune to Escorts. It is the age old problem of Naval wargaming. Why take escorts? I tried to make a lot of compelling reasons to do so such as maneuver, speed, and a stand-off capability.
Torpedoes have two major downsides to Cannons. 1. They can be thwarted by Point Defense weapons. 2. They need to re-loaded once fired. However, they also have some advantages such as a set engagement envelope, can attack multiple targets if they miss the first in line, cause friction, and decent power. Plus, very few ships have a strong compliment of both cannons and torpedoes. It is usually one or the other.
regarding Commands, it is very simple. When you roll for Initiative you roll your Admiral's Command rating +1 for each escort in the force. You gain a success on 4+. The player with the most successes can choose to go first or second in Alternate Activation by phase. In addition, each success nets the player 1 Command that they can issue at anytime during the phase. These have benefits and drawbacks. In addition, when a Command is issued, the Captain of the ship must also make a successful Command check to implement it.
So, let's say the French score 2 successes. Later, they decide to Crash Dive to try and drop out of range with their Cruiser. They use 1 Command and issue the order. They 1 Command left for later. Now the Cruiser's Captain must make a successful command check for his ship to receive and implement the Command in a timely manner.
The Captain's command rating represents his abilities, the crew's training level, the skill of his officer corps, and even communication within the ship. There were many times in Naval battles where a small thing like not closing the magazine's bulkhead door, how the powder was loaded into a turret, or not being able to fix a critical piece of damage, led to decisive results. This was to help try and capture that C&C piece.
I hope my rambling made some sense!