I've splashed out on a handful of Tumbling Dice Russian battleships and cruiser for the Russo-Japanese War, after reading the latest Osprey on the Imperial Russian Navy. I was planning to get some at Warfare last weekend but was unable to make it, so decided to order them instead. The plan is to do a pre-dreadnought project next year, although what that will involve is still up for grabs, possibly a 'What if?' Anglo-French or Anglo-Russian conflict but most likely involving the Royal Navy's China Station fleet either way.
For naval gaming campaigns are best. Even-handed naval battles can just become a dice throwing contest. I have complete 1:240 Russian and Japanese fleets for the RJW and have gamed David Manley's campaign system and it worked a treat. You get uneven games because of the operational choices you make. It all got written up in the short-lived Wargamer's Notes Quarterly (free online pdf publication).
ReplyDeleteThere must be a gaming bug going about, because I'm now dusting off some part completed 1/2400 scratchbuilt German pre-Dred's.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this project but I'm still pondering the rules of choice and how to base my destroyers? In the longer term I'd love to run a campaign, either in the Baltic (Anglo-Russian 'What if?') or the South China Sea (Anglo-Russian or Russo-Japanese, with some other nations thrown in here and there too)
ReplyDeleteI have WTJ's Quickfire and Battlefleet 1900 rules sets, both of which are free to download. Battlefleet is more complex than the other. I've yet to try them out - waiting on making enough ship models for the purpose. One of these days I plan to run a solo campaign possibly with input from other players as to fleet movements etc.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wtj.com/games/battlefleet_1900/