Summer Solo Naval Campaign

Every summer holiday I usually run a short solo naval campaign of some sort, occasionally interspersed with an air wargaming effort. This summer I'm planning to do the same and have three potential options:

1. Napoleonic Naval 

This would use my respectable collection of 1/2400th scale French, British and Spanish fleets, the latter being the only thing I'd need to paint in the run up. The rules would be Far Distant Ships or Grand Fleet Actions, so this would be for games with squadrons rather than individual ships, although a few frigate actions might well be in order.

2. WW2 Coastal Forces 

This would be a mini-campaign using Torpedoes and Tides, probably set in 1942 or thereabouts on the East Coast convoy route or along the English Channel. For this I'd need to re-base and tart up my existing 1/600th scale models, paint a merchant convoy of shipping and some German convoy escorts. A bit more work required but lots of potential for some narrative campaigning.

3. South American Interwar 'What If?'

A favourite theme of mine, as evidenced by a previous pre-dreadnought campaign, is a fictional yet feasible conflict between Chile, Argentina and Brazil. This time I'd be using the 1/3000th scale Navwar fleets for Argentina and Brazil, with the Chileans possibly making an appearance too. I would need to order some additional models from Navwar, now that it is up and running, as well as painting up everything required. I'd use Find, Fix and Strike for this campaign.

Motor Gun Boat Missing Models s

I have no Royal Navy Motor Gun Boats, apart from a single dodgy model of a Fairmile C, in my 1/600th collection, but that is soon to be remedied. Fortunately, I have three of each of these resin cast models from PT Dockyard in the box, which I acquired years ago for the fast play Schnellboote rules, and I've rediscovered them after a bit of a rummage. This saves me the hassle of having to order some or finding some alternative, possibly 3D printed equivalent, as no one makes any in metal.

The BPB 72' models have been assembled, not an easy task as they're very fiddly and a bit fragile, but I've yet to glue together the earlier 70' models. The PT Dockyard range is excellent but they are cast in quite delicate resin and are very prone to breaking if handled roughly, so much so that I have replaced some of the smaller gun mountings with less accurate but more durable metal parts. 

I'm going to assemble the early BPB boats when I get back from the holidays and paint them up for some Torpedoes and Tides early war a actions. This will give me more options for scenarios against S-Boote, especially if I can get the merchant convoy ships painted and based as well. I also have some Kriegsmarine escort craft to paint that will enable me to run some torpedo boat actions against German coastal convoys, using both MTB's and MGB's if I get it all sorted. 

Cracking!

Algernon Pulls It Off! Again

I deactivated my Facebook account a couple of months ago as it was sapping all my time, energy and motivation. I was particularly tired of all the nasty politics and rage baiting that seemed to dominate my FB feed, so a break was a really good idea. Almost by accident I'm now back on FB but only in a limited way, with just the one group to focus on as an admin, in the shape of Algernon Pulls It Off! 

The group has been drifting along quite happily in my absence, but I'm going to try to give it a bit of a boost with some new content focusing on the 1/600th additions to the Tumbling Dice WW1 French range. I might even have a go at a solo campaign based on a fictitious French escadrille in late 1917 or early 1918. This is something I've been thinking about for a while but haven't done any work on, so it would kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. 

Tally Ho!

The Greatest Raid

The next book on my holiday reading list is this fairly recent one on Operation Chariot, which I have in good old fashioned hardback. I've read several books on the St.Nazaire raid before so this will be interesting in comparison. It has an obvious but tenuous link to my current coastal warfare project too, although I very much doubt I'll be wargaming it any time soon!

2mm Hundred Years War Base Painting Technique

Step 6

Step 5

Step 4

Step 3

Step 2

Step 1

I was asked to explain how I go about painting my 2mm Hundred Years War bases, so here is the sequence of paint steps starting with the bases undercoated in Halfords Ultra Matt Camo Brown and finishing with a dry brush of very old Humbrol Lime Green. The first two or three steps are wet brushed, the rest either dry brushed or washed, followed by a coat of spray matt varnish to seal it all in. After painting the figures, over a matt black undercoat, I also then add a brush coat of gloss varnish if they are wearing armour, otherwise they lose a bit of shine.

Search and Rescue or a False Nose Job?

Fairmile B ASR M/L and Fairmile A M/L

For the next Torpedoes and Tides game I thought I'd try one of the generic scenarios, either Search and Rescue or the clandestine False Nose Job set up. The ASR scenario would be a good one as I have a Fairmile B ASR motor launch that would be ideal, accompanied by a Fairmile B M/L or C MGB. I also have an Denny SGB that I'm itching to deploy but that would probably be a bit too powerful for the opposition to deal with.

Denny SGB HMS Grey Wolf

However, I also have a Fairmile A minelayer motor launch, some of which were used to land or pick up agents or special forces teams in occupied territory, so that would also be an option for the False Nose Job scenario. The problem with that is the set up conditions which require two players, one who knows which counter is the landing point and the other who is in the dark, so to speak.

Fairmile A minelayer

Either way, the opposition will have to be S-Boote again, as I don't have anything else unless I use an RN trawler as a stand in for a VP boat or pretend the S-boote are actually Raumboote instead. It's a busy weekend which means any games will have to be bumped over to next week but at least that gives me some time to brush up on the rules and perhaps even decide a scenario or two of my own to play later on?

Torpedoes and Tides Trial Game

I played an initial game of Torpedoes and Tides today based on one of the historical scenarios in the rulebook. The game clicking along at a good pace and, unusually for me, I didn't cock anything up in the process. The action went for a full six turns, at which point the Kriegsmarine were defeated, with one S-boat wrecked and the other evading to fight another day. The Royal Navy were left with a severely damaged MGB but two M/L's virtually unscathed, so a clear victory for the senior service. I really enjoyed the game and it definitely captured the cut and thrust of coastal warfare actions, even though I was learning the system. I'm looking forward to more games but will need to paint up some more models to expand my scenario options, not to mention some 'tracer' style measuring sticks for visual effect.

Airfix Convoy Escort Destroyers

HMS Lewes

Up in the loft somewhere I have a set of four 1/600th scale destroyers that Airfix used to have in their naval range. These kits have been around since the 1970's but are perfect for coastal forces wargaming once water lined. I've been doing some research into potential options for Easy Coast convoy escorts, with an eye on the Town Class lend lease four stacker, HMS Campbeltown, as a starting point. The plan is to convert the model into one of the Rosyth Escort Force destroyers, HMS Lewes ex-USS Conway being the template. This would involve cutting down three of the stacks, remodeling the bridge, replacing the forward 4" guns, removing the torpedo launchers and adding pedestal mounts for the AA armament, so quite a bit of fiddling about but nothing too complicated. It will definitely be a bit different and will be great as an anti-E-boat asset, albeit with the speed and turning circle of a brick.

Tumbling Dice Convoy Escort Trawler

This is the Tumbling Dice ISA908 model of an Admiralty Drifter, HMS Arcady, but representative of a wife range of similar trawlers that were used for ASW and convoy escort duties in both world wars. I painted this model way back in 2014 as the ASW requisitioned trawler HMS Pearl, which was based in Plymouth for convoy escort in the Western Approaches. In reality, HMS Pearl was more heavily armed with twin Oerlikens on the bridge, numerous machine guns, depth charges and even rockets, but the model is a good match nonetheless. 

I like this model a lot so have ordered a couple more from Tumbling Dice to add to the convoy escort flotilla, with a bit of conversion work to make them look different being the plan of action. At only four quid a pop they're a steal. In Torpedoes and Tides I will give them the same profile as Kriegsfischkutters but with depth charges and the option to be over-gunned. It will be interesting to see how they match up against marauding S-Boote!

https://tumblingdiceuk.com/products/isa908-hms-arcady-admiralty-drifter-x1

Torpedoes and Tides - Making a Beginning

I'm putting together the things I need for a first Torpedoes and Tides game, based on the 'Making a Beginning' historical scenario from the rulebook. Unfortunately, I don't have the actual models required, at least for the British, so I'm using the scenario as a template and moving the actions forward to early 1942.

This game will feature two East Coast convoy escort M/L and an MGB sweeping the convoy lane perimeter for E-boats, two of which are attempting to penetrate the defences to attack the merchant ships. The Royal Navy forces will consist of two Fairmile B M/L and one Fairmile C MGB, with the Kriegsmarine deploying two S-29 class S-boote.

There are stats for the Fairmile B and C boats in the rules, but I've worked out the following for this game to reflect combat experience and training, with the MGB given a Swift trait as they were comparatively handy:

Fairmile B M/L

Q2 / C3

Traits: Small / Smoke (2) / Under-gunned

Fairmile C MGB

Q2 / C3

Traits: Small / Smoke (2) / Swift

I've uprated the Q rating due to the later timeframe and consequent experience of the RN crews. The German crews will also be uprated to C2 for the same reason, being veterans rather than inexperienced.

I'm hoping this will balance out but, if not, I can always replay the scenario with adjusted ratings for the crews and possibly tweak the traits for the Fairmile M/L if they are two weak.