Straights of Sicily - May 1941
Setup: The British are running a convoy through the Mediterranean to their base at Alexandria. In this alternate history scenario the Vichy French have committed strong forces to stopping them. The main fleet has sortied from Toulon whilst the bases at Tunis and Bizerte are brimming with aircraft. 
Day 1 Morning: The RAF launch an airstrike from Malta with a strong force of Hudson and Beaufighter bombers escorted by Hurricane fighter. The French send up some Dewoitine interceptors but they can do little against such an overwhelming wave and the base at Bizerte is heavily damaged.
The British reveal a mighty escort force made up of four aircraft carriers! They conduct a huge bombing raid to try and knock Bizerte out of the action. The Dewoitine's get the best of the dogfight and shoot down many Fulmar fighters. The Skua's press the attack hard, losing three of their number to defending AA but destroying five French Vindicators on the ground.
The British aircraft from Malta have returned, refueled, and come straight out for another sortie. The exhausted French fighters struggle on, but fresh bombing craters the runways and Bizerte is very nearly rendered inoperable as a base.
Finally as the morning draws to a close there is some respite and damage control teams effect hasty repairs to keep the airbase functional. Meanwhile The French fleet slips south past Sardinia.
Day 1 Afternoon: At the worst possible moment the British carrier wing returns, and the French fail to get any fighters in the air before they're on top of them. Three more aircraft are destroyed on the ground, leaving Bizerte with precious little defensive or offensive capability.
As the British pilots fly back to land, they are dismayed to see a French taskforce heading straight for the convoy and closing fast!
Battle off Sardinia
Deployment: The British have ten destroyers and four battleships in the lead group; Warspite, Barham, Malaya and Nelson, as well as the light cruiser Belfast. In the second group they have their four aircraft carriers; Eagle, Courageous, Illustrious and Ark Royal, alongside the majority of the merchantmen. The French speed south in two divisions. The first is made up of five destroyers. The second has the state of the art battleship Richelieu and the two battlecruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg.
Turn 1: The majority of the convoy and escort turn south west to escape, whilst the battleships turn north east to intercept the French.
Firing at long range, the British fail to score any hits. Strasbourg straddle's Ark Royal and Richelieu sink's a cargo ship before the convoy can escape through the smoke screen.
Turn 2: The British Battleships and destroyers turn east. An alarming salvo crashes down into the French fleet as Barham straddles Strasbourg, knocking out one of her main turrets. The French hastily lay their own smoke and slip away.
Day 1 Afternoon: The British race to rearm and refuel their carrier wing, whilst the French task force circles around for another attack on the convoy.
Battle off Sardinia
Deployment: The British lead division concentrates all of their warships and a detachment of small merchantmen, whilst all the heavy cargo ships shelter behind them. The French approach with four destroyers from the north east, and their capitol ships with a destroyer from the north west.
Turn 1: The British Admiral daringly orders his ships to sail northeast to try and break past the thin destroyer screen. The French commander seizes his chance and circles his destroyers round to attack the convoy, whilst the battleships steam in line ahead straight for the enemy aircraft carriers!
The French display superb gunnery. Dunkerque scores a direct hit on Illustrious whilst the destroyers cripple two more large cargo ships. Richelieu has a lucky escape, as torpedoes fill the water one bounces strikes her hull, but the poor angle results in only superficial damage.
Turn 2: The carriers make all speed to the north east whilst the British battleships turn to slug it out with their French counterparts. Richelieu concentrates her fire on the retreating Ark Royal, striking her engine room. But in return Warspite and Barham unleash a devastating combined barrage that cripples Richelieu. Meanwhile Belfast hunts down the remaining French destroyers, but not before their torpedo's sink two more merchant ships.
Turn 3: Richelieu lists to the north east, and the British battleships surround her and close in for the kill, reducing her to a lifeless hulk.
Meanwhile the battlecruisers Strasbourg and Dunkerque turn south east in pursuit of the convoy.
Turn 3: The battlecruisers keep up their pursuit of the convoy to the east and two more merchant ships are sunk. The British battleships turn south east to engage and Warspite scores a lucky hit, plunging through Dunkerque's deck armor and crippling her.
Turn 4: The French turn south east to escape, but the slowed Dunkerque is caught within range of Nelson's powerful forward battery. With massive damage and casualties her remaining crew strike her colour's.
Turn 5: With the rest of the fleet gone and his own ship having sustained moderate, the captain of Strasbourg lays smoke and escapes.
Day 1 Afternoon: As the British begin to regroup the scattered convoy, lookouts spy an attack wing of French vindicators flying from Tunis. Hurricanes and Skua's are scrambled to intercept and badly maul the French, but a handful of dive bombers make it through. In the chaos of battle damage and launching fighters, the crew of Illustrious leave fuel lines on the deck, and she is engulfed in an almighty explosion.
Day 1 Night: The convoy finally gains some respite and sails on through the night. Frantic repair crews try to bring Ark Royal's flight deck back into operation, but as the dawn rises they are still have a lot to do. Meanwhile Strasbourg skirts round Sardinia making for her home port. A British submarine spies an opportunity and torpedoes her, but unluckily fails to cause any real damage.
Day 2 Morning: Malta empties it's arifields, desperately trying to thin down the Armee de l'Air's reserves before they can strike the convoy again. The rested Dewoitine pilots easily out dogfight their adversaries.
The French pilots hastily refuel before making another attack run at the convoy. The Fulmar interceptors are easily brushed aside allowing a clear attack run at Ark Royal. Bombs rain down and the crew abandon ship, leaving her to slowly slip beneath the waves.
Having lost two carriers and most of its aircraft, the convoy is now dangerously exposed. The French aircraft from Tunis once again rearm, refuel and sally out, this time inflicting devastating losses on the remaining merchantmen and sinking several destroyers.
Day 2 Afternoon and Night: The French air wings run of success is curtailed as storms sweep in across the Mediterranean, blanketing the Tunisian coast and making it too dangerous to fly. The convoy breathe a sigh of release and the survivors make steady progress towards malta.
Day 3: All day adverse weather keeps the French airmen grounded. When at last they can send out scout aircraft again the convoy has disappeared into more storms off the east coast of Sicily.
Day 4: Finally with clear weather, the French airmen waste a morning scouring the Sicilian coast for any sign of the French convoy. In the afternoon they find them and launch a final big attack which sinks the last of the large cargo ships.
As night falls the convoy slips into the clear waters of the eastern Mediterranean beyond the range of the French air force. The French have paid a high price, losing two battleships, five destroyers and dozens of aircraft. The British too have been given a bloody nose, losing even more aircraft, five destroyers and two carriers. But the convoy has suffered worst of all, with 4/5 of its cargo now on the ocean floor. All told the French win 240 to 141 points!
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