Into the Lion's Den Scenario Planning

 

I've done a bit more work on the scenario for Broadside and Ram, based on a 'What If?' raid by United States Navy turret monitors on the Royal Navy anchorage at Spithead. I still have to work out the details but it's shaping up nicely, as you can see from the scenario layout that I've bodged together in my usual MS Paint format. It's a bit basic but you I'm hoping that you'll get the idea.

The monitors will be attacking just before dawn in the early morning fog, so the Royal Navy picket boats patrolling the Solent will have to detect them before they get within range of the anchored ironclads. The forts are under construction so will be unarmed but they do have sentries posted and are able to detect the enemy monitors at visual range. They can also fire illumination rockets.

I haven't worked out where or how the picket boats and a couple of harbour defence ironclads will deploy but they will be the key factor in preventing the monitors from penetrating the anchorage and blasting away at the (relatively) defenceless ironclad warships. The monitors will have to cause as much havoc as possible in the time limit, which I haven't yet worked out, before exiting from the way they entered.

Finest Hour Campaign Research

 

I have a couple of books by this author to read over the next couple of months, in the run up to the Finest Hour solo campaign for Bag the Hun next year. I haven't read anything by Chris Goss before but he has some interesting angles on the Battle of Britain including this one, which obviously focuses on the aces of the Luftwaffe rather than the whole battle, for which I already have more books that I could possibly need! I'm really looking forward to reading it along with his book Brothers in Arms, which compares the experience of a Luftwaffe staffel and RAF squadron. Tally Ho! 

Finest Hour No27 Squadron Cards

I've now decided to shelve the Napoleonic naval project until next year, as I haven't got the time to do it now due to working full time, so instead I'm going to begin the Bag the Hun Finest Hour project as it can be broken down into several bits that I can tackle one  at a time. To move this along, having not started the Hurricanes again this weekend due to family stuff, I have word processed up some basic turn cards for No27 Squadron, based on the format I used for the Khalkhin Gol project. I think they'll do the job, even if they are a bit rudimentary!

MiG Alley - Fleet Air Arm vs Soviet MiG-15's

 

I had another cracking game of MiG Alley this morning, this time with a Fleet Air Arm strike package consisting of four Sea Furies and two Fireflies, against three Soviet crewed MiG-15's. The pictures are in reverse order, so you'll need to start at the bottom and work up, but the game went a bit like this. 

The RN aircraft entered from the western edge of the table and made straight for the target, a column of North Korean T34's, with one section of Sea Furies heading to the northern flank in order to tackle the MiG's. The MiG's also went straight for the Fireflies but in the initial head on attack, one of the MiG's was shot down by a 'snap shot' from the fighter bomber after failing to score a hit. This gave one VP to the UN. 

In the following turn, one of the MiG's made a tight turn to get on the tail of a Sea Fury but fluffed it's D6 roll and ended up with low ammo. The Fireflies now began their bomb run, diving to level two then releasing their bombs on to the tanks, the first scoring a hit and the second a double hit, bringing the VP total to four, on more than needed for a victory. As usual, I decided to play on to see what happened next. 

In the next turn, one of the flanking Sea Furies made a side on, deflection shot on a MiG and shot it down, adding yet another VP to the UN side. After a failed head on shot from the other Sea Fury, the MiG's wingman now shot him down in a head on 'snap shot', adding one VP to the Soviets. In the following turn, the other MiG dived to level two and got a deflection shot on one of the Fireflies as it attempted to get away, blasting it out of the sky for another VP.

The last couple of turns ended up in a chase for the Yellow Sea coastline, with the MiG's piling on the power to catch up with the fleeing Royal Navy aircraft. This gave the MiG's the advantage and in the last turn they shot down another Firefly and a Sea Fury in tailing attacks, adding two more VP's to their score. Although the UN had already won, this brought the final VP score to four for the Soviets, one more than their target, and five for the UN, three more than their target, so a clear win for the Fleet Air Arm despite their losses.

I enjoyed this game immensely, even if it ended prematurely as often is the case with the Wings at War rules, given the Victory Target system. I will have a think about how this might be tweaked but will probably just continue to play through to the end of each game when it reaches a logical conclusion. I think in larger games where there would be several units on each side, the VP's would average out and make the targets harder to achieve, but that's just my best guess?

Strength and Honour Armies

I had a very enlightening online chat with Mark Backhouse, author of the soon to be published Strength and Honour small scale, large battle ancient rules today. I got my Antonine Miniatures samples from Warbases a couple of weeks ago but wasn't sure what to use them for, so it was really great to get Mark's help in working out the options. 

I wanted to re-use my 1/2400th scale desert coastal terrain for this project as hills, so it had to fit with a historical campaign either in a Marian Caesarian or an early Imperial time frame. I had a couple of ideas including the Jewish Revolt but have settled on the Parthian Wars, as they offer the most interesting options and the Parthians really gave the Romans a run for their money as well as a bloody nose on more than one occasion!

So, I've ordered some more stuff from Warbases including extra Roman Legion and Auxilliary units, together with some heavy and light cavalry for the Parthians. I will be having a go at an Imperial Legion test base at some point soon to see how they paint up, but the project itself won't kick off until next year, giving me plenty of time to get a grip on the rules once they are made available. A big thanks to Mark for all his help...brilliant!

Arriba España!

I was sorting through my leftover 1/600th Tumbling Dice bits from the Khalkhin Gol project when I realised that I had a stash of I-15 and I-16  fighters, some Fiat CR-32's and a few other odds and sods that would make an excellent starting point for the Spanish Civil War. I remembered that one of the old TFL Specials had an article all about this, so I found it on the hard drive and had a closer look. A visit to the Tumbling Dice website later and I have a Condor Legion starter pack on the way, together with some extras for the Republicans and Nationalists, all for just over twenty quid or so. It's yet another project for some point in the next year or two but, as the models are quick and enjoyable to paint, it wouldn't be difficult to get something up and running relatively easily...perhaps another Bag the Hun scenario article too? In the meantime, I'm going to make a start on those Hurricanes for the Battle of Britain over the weekend...Tally Ho!

Tiny Wargames PVC Terrain Mat

 

My WW1 aerial wargaming PVC mat arrived yesterday from Tiny Wargames and for twenty quid plus postage, that's £20 plus £6 postage, I have to say it's not half bad. I was expecting something a bit wishy washy or flimsy but it's actually quite thick plastic and the printed graphics are nice and bright, although you do get a bit of flare from any overhead lights. The 4' x 4' mat was delivered rolled up around a cardboard tube, so almost inevitably it was a bit crushed in the middle but a quick iron through a tea towel on a low setting sorted that out. The disadvantage of PVC compared to cloth is that you have to roll in up rather than folding it but that's a minor inconvenience given the price tag. I can use this for Wings at War Duel of Aces, if I ever get round to that, as well as Airwar:1918 and, for something to pick up and play, Wings of Glory. A bit of a bargain I think?

Mutt and Jeff

I have had hearing loss for many years on my right hand side, caused by a virus that I caught on a school trip, but was also diagnosed with Meniere's Disease last year which now affects my other ear. A recent hearing test confirmed that I am profoundly deaf in my right ear and will eventually lose much of my hearing in the left ear, although I now have medication that keeps me from falling over all the time. 

Anyway, this means that I find it really difficult to hear anything if there's a lot of background noise or if people are wearing face masks, which makes club wargaming a bit of a non-starter, although I have given it a go. To cut a long ramble short, it looks like much of my future wargaming will inevitably be solo, with only the occasional visit to the club when I can face the music, so to speak. 

I'm sure there are lots of fellow wargamers in the same boat and I know that sight deterioration is also an issue for some of the club members, having a big impact on their painting and a lesser but equally significant impact on reading the small print in some rules. It's lucky that my hearing problems don't affect my painting or modelling, so I'm not too bothered if I can't hear much and will soldier on regardless.

It's great when the wife is banging on about this and that too....

Spanish Civil War Navies

 

I thought this looked interesting, so I pre-ordered a digital copy a few months ago only to find that it had popped up in my library at the weekend. Osprey's books can be a  bit hit and miss, although the air and naval ones tend to be a lot better than the Men at Arms series, and this one is particularly good perhaps due to the fact that it's quite a niche subject and fits the format well as a result. Angus Konstam clearly knows his stuff and has done his research too, while the illustrations are also nicely done and not those awful digital images that Osprey have seemed to use a lot in recent publications. I'm now tempted to have a look at Navwar for the Republican and Nationalist fleets but I will resist! 

Into the Lion's Den - A Scenario for Broadside and Ram?

Here's a really fascinating bit of ironclad naval history and a potential 'what if?' scenario for my Anglo-French War of 1870. In 1866 the US Navy twin turret monitor USS Miantonomoh paid a visit to Portsmouth, where she demonstrated the power of her 15'' smoothbore armament to the British government, the Admiralty and the assembled press. You can read all about the impression this made in this excellent online article:

From Hampton Roads to Spithead | Naval History Magazine - June 2015 Volume 29, Number 3 (usni.org)

Anyway, this gave me an idea for a scenario for Broadside and Ram, in which a strike force of US monitors manages to steam into Spithead and opens fire on the British fleet at anchor, possibly backed up by one of the second hand monitors of their French allies. It sounds a bit ridiculous but it could have been done, assuming Lord Palmerston's forts and gun batteries were still under construction, as they were at the time, and that the Royal Navy is taken by surprise. In fact, I may make this a night action to give the monitors the chance to penetrate the anchorage without being detected until the last minute. 

I quite like this as an idea...time to get planning!