Worthington's Coral Sea Solitaire Game

I immediately banked this one when it came out as an instant buy, a "must have", partly because I would simply cry buckets if it were not available when I wanted it as I knew I had all the miniatures to take it to tabletop (see below, US CV's are already done [Lady Lex and Yorktown], and I just need to base and varnish the two main force Japanese CVs [Shokaku (Soaring Crane), Zuikaku (Auspicious Crane)]): 

Then there is the third small Japanese CV [Shoho (Auspicious Phoenix)], some cruisers and the Invasion Fleet in 1/3000 to paint. Motivation, that is all I needed!

Corona Virus Project 2c: USN DDs - Completed, Remembering when ...

This seemed such a long time ago now (see below, early war USN destroyers for the Coral Sea, Guadalcanal and Midway operations): 

I sense a need to return and start the Japanese opponents!

Corona Virus - Loose yourself in some books

There are always "books" ...

In the professional wargame category I have plenty of books to skim, read and re-read (see below, Sabin's [Lost Battles and Simulating War], GLB [Successful Professional Wargames], Dunnigan, Perla [The Art of Wargaming] are old classics long read, but I have plenty of other stuff with interesting idea in abundance, mainly it seems from the History of Wargaming Project):

Then there are the books from the historical category and there are plenty of them on the bookshelves (see below, the Pacific War is my current theme which ties in with the 1/3000 Navwar models, so this is a small section of my dusty books):

Or a general scientific interest (see below, Blink if a good lite-read):

Slightly heavier but packed full of thought provoking ideas (see below, I particularly like Newton's "apple" on the front cover):

And let's not forget the rules which I have bought and should have really read by now. This is a large category. Carrier and Tokyo Express are specifically solitaire games so ideal for the current circumstances(see blow, XTR Victory at Midway is a personal favourite of mine that I am playing via email to an independent umpire against an unseen third party):

Hopefully chances are by the time you read "one or more" book and played "one or more" games then the Corona Virus thing will have all blown over! Famous last words. Anything not done by the end of the lock-down needs seriously to be put on the "never happening" project shelf!

Corona Virus Project 2c and 2d (WIP): USN Destroyers and Midway Cruisers

Project 2c: Thirty "early war" US Destroyers (see below, I could not match "named destroyers" in teh battle [yet - that will have to wait for another order to Navwar], so I picked thirty "early war" destroyers to just "sub-in"):

Project 2d: The USN Midway Cruisers of Task Force 16 and Task Force 8 (see below, those already made in Task Force 17 and 16 are omitted) from the photograph:

Task Force 17: 

• USS Astoria .. already done
• USS Portland .. already done

Task Force 16:

• USS New Orleans (CA) .. already done
• USS  Minneapolis (CA) .. already done
• USS Vincennes (CA)
• USS Northampton (CA)
• USS Pensacola (CA)
• USS Atlanta (LC-AA)

Task Force 8:

• USS Indianapolis (CA)
• USS Louisville (CA)
• USS Nashville (LC)
• USS St Louis (LC)
• USS Honolulu (LC)

Once Projects 2c and 2d are complete it will be time to look at the IJN. The Coral Sea will be a relatively small affair but .. the IJN Task Forces are pretty large. Especially if you include the Aleutian force!

Corona Virus Project 2b: Coral Sea USN Cruisers

Coming next on the maritime theme, after the US CVs (as in the new capital ship of the Pacific Theatre) it is the ships charged with their "close" protection - AA and ship-to-ship gunnery. The first wave of which is the USN 8" CA (Heavy Cruisers). Thankfully they do not have the intricate deck markings associated with the CVs (see below, these had been lurking around in the deck for a good decade and their time has finally come): 

With the varnish still drying on their decks and the satin sea effect hopefully coning to fruition the Coral Sea Task Force 17 and Task Force 44 (US) cruisers are on show below:

• USS Minneapolis 
• USS New Orleans
• USS Astoria
• USS Chester
• USS Portland

Task Force 44:

• USS Chicago
• RAN Australia (not shown)
• RAN Hobart (not shown)

(see below, I am sure these CAs are secretly hoping they do not meet any IJN BB/BA opposition, as most of their's (US) is still resting at the bottle of Pearl Harbour):

Next up the DD escorts that provide the second ring of steel around the CVs.