International Naval Wargaming Day 2024

Holiday Napoleonic Naval Wargaming

           

We're on holiday in Brittany again for a couple of weeks, so I've brought along my 1/2400th scale French and British Napoleonic fleets and a couple of sets of rules for a few games. The rules are Far Distant Ships and Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail, both ideal for fast play, large scale games. I've played the latter before but not for a long time, while the former use similar mechanisms to the other Long Face Games naval rules, so I'm hoping to be able to get a grip on them without too much head scratching!

Missing in Action

Beriev MBR-2

I've been really busy with DIY and other domestic stuff this week, so very little time has been available for hobby stuff. One thing I have done is to sketch out the aircraft I need for this summer's Bag the Hun project, both in terms of the models and also the aircraft data. 

For the scenarios and accompanying introductory article, I'll need to work out the numbers for both the Finnish Curtiss Hawk 75 fighter, the Finnish Fokker CX reconnaissance aircraft and the Soviet Beriev MBR-2 seaplane, the former being used in every scenario and the latter probably featuring in one of them. 

The Hawk shouldn't be very difficult to adapt from the Tomahawk apart from the numerous and slightly confusing variations in armament. The MBR-2 could possibly be adapted from the Supermarine Walrus but I'll probably just work it out from scratch. I have no idea about how to sort out a Fokker CX, so will have to think about how to make one from something else. 

Drat and Double Drat

I've started the assembly stage of the Get the Goeben! project with the Austro Hungarian forces, consisting of two Tegethoff class dreadnoughts, two Admiral Spaun class light cruisers and six Tatra class destroyers. Unfortunately, one of the battleship models is missing the two funnels, which are supplied as separate parts, so that one will have to wait until I get replacements from TD. I've also ordered the other Austro Hungarian post 1900 battleships and an armoured cruiser to expand this force to a more impressive fleet. 

Continuation War Aircraft

I've been reading through the potential scenarios for the summer Bag the Hun Continuation scenario writing and project and have identified at least a dozen for the shortlist. These all feature the Curtiss Hawks of LeLv32, which is the theme I'll be following rather than a smorgasbord of aircraft types. 

I've sorted out the 1/600 scale Tumbling Dice models that I'll need for playtesting, all of which I already had in the lead pile. The Finnish look like they're heavily outnumbered but that's just because the scenarios feature a range of Russian aircraft including I-16, MiG3, LaGG3 and I-153 fighters. There's also some SB-2 bombers but I'll have to convert or scratch build the MBR-2 seaplanes the I'll need, probably by adapting some Westland Walrus models.

La Retour

We're heading back to the UK over the next couple of days but will be back over here in Brittany next month. This means that I'll be back at the workbench, home repairs and maintenance aside, for about a week, during which time I'll be cracking on with some of the three projects I have lined up. The initial plan is to get the Spanish Napoleonic fleet assembled, so that I can take it to France to paint, but the Get the Goeben! ships are also on the 'to do' list, so we'll see what grabs my attention first. I'll also start doing some background reading for this year's Bag the Hun article, which is looking like a Continuation War set of scenarios. 

Oi Navarcoi!

A couple of years ago I tinkered about with an ancient naval project which didn't go very far as I moved on to other things. This set of free rules, however, has reignited the project, especially as I have quite a lot of the Tumbling Dice 1/2400th trireme models in a box somewhere under the workbench. The rules look elegantly straightforward but firmly grounded in the period, the author being a fan of the 'play the period, not the rules' philosophy when it comes to design. This will be a project for next year, as I already have other things on the go, but think it's a really good prospect for something a little bit out of my comfort zone.

Magasin de Presse

Lentolaivue 32

I've been looking for a suitable summer holiday scenario project for Bag the Hun the last couple of days, so have been rereading my various Osprey books with a focus on the Continuation War. This is a subject I've touched on before but this time I have narrowed down the focus to one Finnish squadron, Lentolaivue 32, which flew the Curtiss Hawk from July 1941 onwards. 

This is an ideal subject for scenario development, with at least a dozen potential actions identified for potential scenarios. It's also very manageable from a miniatures point of view, both in 1/600th scale and 1/285th, as I already have most of the Finnish and Soviet models required and the camouflage and markings are relatively simple. Tally Ho!

Wooden Ships and Iron Men

As we're only in Brittany for a week this time, I didn't bring any of the projects that I've lined up for the summer holidays, so instead have opened up Wooden Ships and Iron Men for a few games. I haven't played this Avalon Hill classic before so will be kicking off with a famous historical encounter, Scenario 9: HMS Nymphe versus Cleopatra, which looks like a good starting point. As you can see, the backdrop is entirely in keeping with the game, including a full sized replica frigate anchored offshore. As this is a boardgame, I'll post my after action reports on my other blog, Tea and a Wad Wargaming, which I've neglected far too much this year:

http://teaandawad.blogspot.com/

Bag the Lard

I had a brief chat with Mark Backhouse the other day, catching up on things as you do, when he mentioned that he's thinking of a low key local Lard Day at some point next year. I've offered to run a Bag the Hun game, if there's any interest, so was thinking of one of the 'off the shelf' scenarios from Red Star Rampant, possibly the Stalin's Eagles one, making use of my new hex mat and possibly scaling up to 1/285th? If not I may use the opportunity to work up a new Arctic Eagles scenario, which would be a bit less obscure and potentially pull in more players. 

The Ship That Changed The World

I've started reading this on holiday, as we're only away for a week and it should fill up the time I have while the weather is dodgy. As this is my next project, I thought it would be a good idea to actually find out what happened, other than by reading the fairly basic outline of events on the internet. This is the standard work on the subject and will be really useful when I'm planning out what I'm going to do. 

Ahoy Ivan!

The Russians have parked a replica of an eighteenth century frigate just outside our apartment in Brittany. This is the Shtandart, a reproduction of a typical frigate of the early 1700's, which has been denied access to the port of Brest due to the war in Ukraine. I might paddle out or a closer look if it's still there tomorrow?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtandart_(frigate,_1999)

Austro Hungarian WW1'Fleet

A bit of holiday reading for the Get the Goeben! solo campaign, which has now been augmented with the 1/2400th scale Austro Hungarian battleships, light cruisers and destroyers. These are lovely models and have me itching to get them assembled, based and painted. In fact, I'm considering adding a few more to build a naval squadron for an attack on the Otranto barrage!

Turkish Chop Shop

As I'm on holiday I have some time to fart about with wargaming things for a change. Here's my attempt to convert the Tumbling Dice ABB21 HMS Eclipse into the Ottoman protected cruiser Hamidiye. This involved cutting off the gun mounts fore and aft, filing down the fore deck and bridge, adding a new wheel house and gun mounts, adding a length of superstructure and three funnels, then adapting the masts to something akin to the actual vessel. It's not perfect but also not too bad, apart from a bit of uneven spacing on the funnels. I'll have a crack at her half sister ship Mecidiye later in the holidays.

More Malta Scenarios for Bag the Hun?

Another book on the air battles for Malta from the local Oxfam bookshop today. I wrote a series of scenarios for 1941 ages ago, available in one of the TFL Specials, and always meant to follow on with some 1942 ones, this time featuring Spitfires instead of Hurricanes. Perhaps this book will give me a boot up the backside?

Turkish Delight

I've been chatting with Paul at Tumbling Dice about adding some Turkish Pre-dreadnoughts to the Age of Battleships range over the last week or so. The good news is that he's looking into it and has made positive noises but the bad news is that deck plans and profiles are not exactly easy to track down. 

In the interim, I'm going to try to convert the ABB 21 HMS Eclipse light cruiser model into the Hamidiye and Mesudiye, which are similar enough to be feasible. This would require remodeling the foredeck to make it flush, adding a plastic card strip along the centreline with three funnels, then removing the gun mounts after and replacing them with a single mount. 

I think I can pull this off with a bit of luck, having some previous experience with scratch building and converting ironclads. I just need to find some time to give it a go!

Get the Goeben! - Alez Les Bleus

The Tumbling Dice French ships arrived  yesterday, which was really quick. I now have all of the Triple Entente naval forces for the Get the Goeben! solo naval campaign project. The best of the bunch is the Courbet, an absolutely splendid model, although the Danton class battleships are also really nifty. I've decided to take these with me on holiday to assemble and base, possibly with the Austro Hungarian models if they arrive in time for the trip?

Whirlwind No263 Squadron Scenarios

Now that I'm committed to the Get the Goeben! WW1 naval campaign project, I've decided to postpone the Arctic Eagles Bag the Hun scenario writing project. Instead, I'm going to write up a small selection of scenarios that I've already researched, focussed on No263 Squadron and the Westland Whirlwind. I'll dig out my notes and see what I can pull together over the summer, with the aim being to submit an article for the 2025 Lard Magazine.

Spanish Age of Sail Summer Sorted

I have now sorted out the 1/2400th Tumbling Dice Spanish fleet for the holidays, which I'll assemble and base while I'm away in Brittany, neatly rounding off my big project this year ( give or take a few extra ships for the Americans, British and French).

The fleet consists of:

130 Santissima Trinidad (flag)

112 Principe de Asturias

112 Santa Ana

100 Rato

80 Neptuno

80 Argonauta

74 San Augustine

74 Bahamas

74 San Ildefonso

74 Montanes 

74 Algeciras 

74 San Justo

64 America 

64 Espana

34 Sabrina

34 Asuncion 

32 Santa Magdalena 

Get the Goeben! - La Royale

I'm a bit short in the old pocket money department at the moment, so couldn't order all of the 1/2400th scale models from Tumbling Dice that I need for the Get the Goeben! project. Instead I've just picked out the French battleships, armoured cruisers and destroyers and a couple of Royal Navy light cruisers, leaving the Austro Hungarian warships and the additional merchant shipping to a later date. If I'm lucky the postie will smuggle this lot through domestic security in time for the holidays next weekend.

Zulus!....thousands of 'em

Well, not exactly thousands but enough scrounged from eBay to kick start a Death in the Dark Continent army over the summer holidays. I'll be taking this lot to France with me, together with the requisite bases, glue and tools, so that I can start to assemble a small army with which to try out the rules. I've also got a box of the British infantry but that may have to wait until later in the year, as I have other plans to screw up first!

Get the Goeben!

Righto. The Plan B for my WW1 naval project this year is to set up and run a solo mini-campaign based on the Catch the Goeben campaign in the Victory at Sea: Age of Dreadnought Far Flung Seas supplement. As I already have the two German warships assembled and ready to paint, I thought it would be a shame not to use them for another one of my solo campaigns.

By happen chance, I also have most of the Royal Navy warships required for the campaign, give or take, as a result of acquiring a bundle of Tumbling Dice models a while back. I will need to splash out on the French and Austro Hungarian warships, however, but these are in reasonable numbers so not too much of a hit on the pocket money. 

I think this will be a lot of fun and with good replay value, especially if I use a range of different rules for variety. There's obviously the Age of Dreadnought rules to start with but this campaign would also be perfect for Si Vis Pacem, for example. The plan now is to order the models in time for the holidays, during which I can assemble, base and paint them, ready for a kick off in the autumn.

Change of Plan...not the first, won't be the last!

After preparing the Turkish warships for the WW1 Black Sea project I have realised that I don't really have enough to cover what I need. As a result, I'm going to reinvent the project as a Chase of the Goeben mini-campaign, using my stash of Tumbling Dice models and some additional ships that I'll order at the weekend.

In the meantime, I'm going to use the time I have left to paint the Chilean and Argentinian ships left over from my South American 'What If?' naval project, along with some merchant shipping for convoy scenarios. This will be a good use of what time I can muster before I head off to France in a couple of weeks.

Spanish Napoleonic Fleet in a Box.

Whatever happens, I'm going to be packing my Spanish 1/2400th scale models to assemble and potentially paint while on holiday in Brittany. I've got a pretty fool proof method for painting these Tumbling Dice models and they don't require a massive selection of paint shades or washes, so it shouldn't be too much of a job to get at least some of the fleet built, based and brushed up. There are a few extra French ships included in the mix and I might even have a go at some American ones too for the Quasi War of 1800. 

Back of Beyond Ragged Russians

Another option for my holiday project is to clean and base up the extra units I need to build a ragged White Russian army for the Back of Beyond. I gathered the figures, guns and vehicles for this earlier this year, to add to my existing painted White Russian units. This would be a simple and enjoyable little project for a week or so and would give me the nucleus of a third army to use alongside my Bolsheviks and Expedition forces. Good plan!