Monday, 16 June 2025

Danger Close Studios



I found a 3D printing company on eBay the other day, Danger Close Studios, which offers a range of 1/144th scale First World War aircraft for very reasonable prices. I've ordered an RE8 and a Halberstadt C.IV to have a look at what the prints are like, and so that I can scale up the 'Hande Hoch!' scenario play testing for a potential demo or participation game. 

Saturday, 14 June 2025

Argentinian 'Maipu' Class Battleships





Shortly after my 'What If?' Chilean - Argentinian pre-dreadnought Summer holiday solo campaign a couple of years ago, I set about expanding both fleets with some cancelled warships. The Chileans gained two Tumbling Dice models of the Constitution class light battleships, which were taken over by the Royal Navy as HMS Triumph and HMS Swiftsure in 1902, following the Pacts of May. 

The Argentinians gained two more Garibaldi class armoured cruisers, Mariano Moreno and Bernardino Rivadavia, which were in reality sold to the Japanese. I also looked into the cancelled Ansaldo designed 15000t fast battleships of the Maipu class, deciding on the end to use the Tumbling Dice models of the Regina Elena, which was very similar (the armament of which was actually re-used from the cancelled project).

After some more research today, I decided to convert the model I had already assembled, along with a new build model, to be more like the proposed design. This involved removing the single barrel main armament and replacing it with twin gun barrels using plastic rod. The two ships now look a lot more like the plans, although not identical, so I am going to add them to the Argentinian fleet as ARA Maipu and ARA Chacabuco.

Friday, 13 June 2025

Argentinian / Chilean Pre-dreadnought Stragglers


I think I need a bit of a refresher before I paint the Turkish WW1 Black Sea squadron, so I've dug out the extra bits from my South American Naval Race project, which I haven't yet finished. These include a couple of armoured cruisers, two coastal battleships, two river monitors and some torpedo boats, so a very eclectic mix. I've also got a Chilean protected cruiser to paint and possibly a trio of 'What If?' battleships, so plenty to practice on over the next couple of weeks. 

Thursday, 12 June 2025

1/2400th Scale WW1 RN Destroyers

I needed some 1/2400th scale destroyers for my 'Get The Goeben!' naval project, ideally Beagle or 'G' class DD's to be based in Malta for the solo campaign, but Tumbling Dice don't have any and GHQ are not available any more in the UK (I don't think they have any either). I have found some 3D printed 'L' Class destroyer models on eBay, which are three to a pack for four quid, so took a punt and ordered some. They are nicely detailed and could even pass for 'G' class DD's with a bit of light surgery but, as with most 3D printed ships in smaller scales, they do suffer from bendy hulls and are a bit fragile if you try to un-banana them with too much enthusiasm. They'll do for the moment but I think I might scratch build some ships out of plastic card in the long run.

Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Cat and Mouse Scenario Play Test











I solo play tested the 'Cat and Mouse' scenario from the Jasta 18 project this afternoon and it turned out to be a good game, after a bit of a false start. The initial scenario set up had both aircraft deployed as blinds but I soon realised that this would make it too easy for the RE8 to make a get away, so changed it to a blind for Lt.Mendel alone. The first couple of turns ended with Lt.Mendel's Albatros sneaking up behind the unexpecting RE8 crew, only to be spotted by Lt.Simms, the observer at the last turn of the card deck. 

Luckily for Lt.Mendel, in the following turn the card deck was in his favour, allowing him to close to within three hexes of the RE8, get on the tail and open fire twice. The first burst caused structural damage and killed Lt.Simms, leaving Lt.Maltby with no rear gunner and unable to hard manoeuvre or dive more than three levels at a time. The second burst resulted in a sideslip but otherwise gave Lt.Maltby a chance to make a getaway, a slim chance but better than none at all.

In the last two turns, Lt.Mendel was able to maintain his tailing position as Lt.Malby was unable to throw him off due to the damage to his machine. Another burst of fire hit the pilot but only gave him a light wound, with no affect on his ability to fly the RE8 to safety. Lt.Mendel poured in another eight second burst, his last before he was almost out of ammunition, and this time Lt.Maltby lost control of the RE8 and it went into a spin. Despite his desperate efforts to regain control, his wounds, the damage to the airframe and his low altitude meant that the RE8 smashed into the ground in No Man's Land. A historical outcome which is always a good thing when writing scenarios based on actual events.

This was a very fast moving and enjoyable game. Lt.Mendel almost jammed his guns at one point, which would have allowed the RAF crew to get across the line, while the final burst left Lt.Mendel with only three seconds of ammunition left, not enough to stop the RE8 if it hadn't gone into a spin. Also, Lt.Maltby could have evaded into a nearby cloud but it was at low altitude and he was unable to dive fast enough to make it into cover, largely due to the damage the RE8 had sustained. I tried this out as a 'What If?' after the game and it did actually end up with the RE8 getting away from the Albatros, albeit it only for a turn or so before Lt.Mendel caught up.

That's another scenario play test ticked off...good fun and I reckon I'll give it at least one more go when I get the time, as I really enjoyed it. 

Tuesday, 10 June 2025

Diminutive Decal Detailing






I had a half hour time out yesterday, so added some decals to a couple of 1/600th Tumbling Dice models, to upgrade them for some play test games tomorrow. I initially thought these tiny decals would be a pain in the backside to apply, but they went on very smoothly without any swearing involved. 

Monday, 9 June 2025

The 50 gun ship


This pristine hardback was only six quid in a National Trust second hand bookshop yesterday, which made up for the place being absolutely heaving and not very enjoyable. I don't have any 50 gun ships in my Napoleonic fleets, for fairly obvious reasons, but I quite like the idea of an earlier project, perhaps the War of American Independence or Anglo Dutch Wars, so there's a good excuse for adding it to my reference collection.

Sunday, 8 June 2025

Jasta 11 Colourful Triplanes










I finished off the Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale Jasta 11 Fokker DrI triplanes this afternoon, so that project is now a wrap, at least for the next couple of months or so. The three aircraft are as accurate as I can get them in this scale, so I'm relatively happy with the end result. I have more Jasta 11 triplanes to paint but need a break from tiddly WW1 aircraft, so have now moved on to tiddly WW1 Turkish ships instead!

Saturday, 7 June 2025

WW1 Turkish Black Sea Fleet


I've almost finished the Jasta 11 Flying Circus triplanes, so I'm moving straight on to the WW1 'Get the Goeben!' naval project for the rest of the month. Here's the Turkish Black Sea fleet all ready for painting, with the two torpedo gunboats and a U-Boat added for good measure. I'll get cracking on the bases tomorrow, when I'm also planning to add the decals to the Fokker Dr.1 models to wrap up the Algernon Pulls It Off! project, at least for the Summer.

Friday, 6 June 2025

Hande Hoch! Aircraft Record Sheets


I've got a Friday off for a change but haven't really had any time for wargaming pursuits, as I've had lots of little jobs to do. One thing I did scrape together are the aircraft record sheets for the Hande Hoch! scenario, which I've uploaded as a .pdf to the Facebook group files. It was a relatively straightforward job for the No.3 Squadron R.E.8 but the Schlasta 13 Halberstadt CL.II had to be worked up from scratch, taking longer than I expected to get everything into place. If you want to try out the scenario, you now have everything you need apart from your own models and a hex cloth of some sort. Chocks Away!

Labels

Bag The Hun (872) Books (517) AK47 (502) Ironclads (494) Wings at War (419) Pre-Dreadnoughts (255) Back of Beyond (243) Coastal Warfare (226) Napoleonic Naval (205) Britain's Small Wars (201) Victory at Sea (179) Bolt Action (175) Knights of the Sky (173) What a Tanker (172) Algernon Pulls It Off (171) Target Locked On (163) MiG Alley (162) Chain of Command (155) Old West (147) Find Fix and Strike (144) Bag The MiG (129) Naval Thunder (124) Sandbox Skirmish (120) Naval Command (119) Air War Over Khalkhin Gol (117) Pirates (117) Indo China / Vietnam (116) Fistful of Lead (109) 15mm Sci-Fi / Near Future (95) Darkest Africa (95) Duel of Aces (92) Strength and Honour (89) VBCW (89) Continuation War (85) Ancients (82) Shows (79) ACW (77) The Football War (76) Corsairs and Cavaliers (72) Boardgames (67) France's Small Wars (67) Shipwreck! (66) BKC (65) Rapid Fire (65) Saga (63) Saurian Safari (63) Journals (61) Air War C21 (60) Cruel Seas (60) The Men Who Would Be Kings (58) Nimitz (57) IABSM (56) One Hour Wargames (55) Spandau and Lewis (55) Flashpoint Alto Cenepa (53) International Naval Wargaming Day (53) Gladiators (51) Finest Hour (50) Flashpoint Taiwan (50) Fortifications (49) 2mm English Civil War (48) Red Actions! (47) Scramble for Britain (45) Flashpoint Baltic (42) Flames above the Falklands (40) War of the Pacific (40) Cold War (39) AirWar:1918 (38) Death in the Dark Continent (38) Thud Ridge (37) Dreadnoughts (36) SCW (36) Desert Spitfires (35) RCW (34) Atlantic Wall (32) English Civil War / Anglo Dutch War Naval (32) Lion Rampant (31) Post Apocalypse (31) Iron Cow (30) Bag the Springbok (29) Mexican Revolution (28) Normandy Firefight (28) Full Thrust (27) It Rolls For Ivan (26) Bulldogs Away! (24) Samurai (24) Winter War (24) Arctic Eagles (23) Imaginations (23) Jet Knights of the Sky (23) 28mm English Civil War (22) Achtung Kommando! (21) Flashpoint PVO (21) Ancient Naval (20) PITS (20) Steamer Wars (20) Galactic Heroes (19) Strontium Dog (19) Iron Cross (18) Portable Pike and Shot (18) Aeronef (15) Aircraft (15) Imperial Commander (15) Rate of Fire (15) Zulus! (15) Aliens (14) Dragon Rampant (14) Get the Goeben! (14) Black Ops (13) CY6 Jet Age (13) Congo (13) Mad for War (13) Impetus (12) Wars of Insurgency (12) What's on the Workbench? (12) Flashpoint Fleet Air Arm (11) Gaslands (11) HYW (11) Sharp Practice (11) 633 Squadron (10) Bohica (10) Franco Thai Air War (10) Jungle Green (10) 28mm Future Wars (9) Dux Britanniarum (9) Fire in the Sky (9) Merry Xmas Mr Sankara (9) Adventures in Jimland (8) Bombers over Germany (8) Cry Havoc (8) French Indian Wars (8) Lacquered Coffins (8) Ravenfeast (8) Renaissance Naval (8) Star Wars Legion (8) Sword and Spear (8) Through The Mud and Blood (8) Air War Angola (7) Frostgrave (7) Target for Tonight (7) A Mighty Fortress (6) Five Parsecs From Home (6) French Resistance (6) Check Your Six! (5) Five Men at Kursk (5) Fivecore Skirmish (5) Maurice (5) Seven Days to the River Rhine (5) Three Musketeers (5) What a Cowboy (5) Wings Over Suez (5) Arab Revolt (4) Blood Red Skies (4) Corvette Command (4) In Her Majesty's Name (4) Infamy Infamy (4) Medieval Naval (4) Never Mind The Billhooks (4) Battletech (3) Fivecore Company Command (3) Gangsters (3) HOTT (3) Hind Commander (3) Lord of the Sea (3) Luft 46 (3) Mourir Pour l'Indochine (3) Sturmovik Commander (3) Whispering Death (3) Black Powder (2) Chincha Islands War (2) Crom (2) Disposable Heroes (2) Fire and Steel (2) Fly Fight Win (2) Iron Stars (2) Judge Dredd (2) Lethal Skies (2) NUTS! (2) No Go Zone (2) Pulp! (2) Si Vis Pacem (2) Starfighters! (2) War in El Dorado (2) 2mm Portable Ancient Wargames (1) A Billion Suns (1) Air War 1940 (1) Archibald (1) Battlegroup (1) Certainly Not! (1) Convoy (1) Dropzone Commander (1) Falklands War (1) Harpoon (1) If The Lord Spares Us (1) Indo-Pakistan War (1) Load and Return (1) MiG Hunters (1) Missile Threat (1) Missiles at Sea (1) Nam '68 (1) Naval Wargames Society (1) Norway 1940 (1) Oi Navarcoi! (1) Sea Wars Fleet Actions (1) Spanish American War (1) Sunray is Down (1) Thumbs Up! (1) Ultracombat Normandy (1) Wars of the Roses (1) Xenos Rampant (1)