WWII Naval Book: Atlantic Escorts and HTML5 Browser Bismarck Game

I have a very soft, weak compulsive spot for WWII naval stuff, so when David Manly recommends a "good" book I am a sucker, albeit a happy one (see below, the checklist was easy to complete - naval, WWII, Battle of the Atlantic, RN, escorts .. what is not to like):  

And in addition I already had three of David K Brown's books on warship design through the World War eras (to complement my Conway and Janes). In short, as you would expect, when a naval maritime designer recommends a naval constructor's book and says "it is good" then, it is good. One thing to shout out is that it does concentrate on the technical bits. WATU (Western Approaches Tactical Unit) is not mentioned (well not in the index - as I have just started reading it I might come across it yet). The Raspberry, Pineapple, Beta Search, Step Aside tactics are not mentioned.

For more details on these see: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Approaches_Tactical_Unit

Or see the BBC interactive game: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/launch_gms_battle_atlantic.shtml

It "was" a great game but you need Flash 7 (a now deprecated multi-media scripting language) that most modern browsers have moved away from (aka uninstalled and blocked). 

Update I: Some Flash games can still be accessed (there are clever people in the world): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyw5qT3XbhM

Note: I have not (as yet tried this myself)

Update II: HTML5 WWII Games - Addictive ...

https://itch.io/games/html5/tag-world-war-ii

https://speculativesimulations.itch.io/defenders-of-the-atlantic

"Defenders of the Atlantic" is VERY ADDICTIVE

Audible: War In The West - Part II 1941-43 - James Holland

I was pleased that I continued with the James Holland's WWII trilogy. Whereas odd bits can grind (the DAK to the best of my knowledge [aka books] and internet searching did not use Czech 38t tanks - that seems to be a Rommel, France 1940, 7th Pz Division reference all mixed up), the general sweep and flow is a brilliant story. The mid-part of the war is the gutsy heart where it was all up for grabs - the Western Desert, Russia and Midway. All good stuff, the seeds of German failure are already sown, the Allied rewards though are yet to be harvested (see below, a book that was nice to have while listening in the car and walking the dog):    

Finally, Stalingrad and Tunis were two nails in the Axis coffin. With the U-Boat war turned after May 1943 Germany's options seemed to be running out, setting the scene nicely for the final drama. Two books down and the third will follow. Looking forward to it but I will take a break first - Max Hastings again next, this time with the Pedestal Convoy and a tale of Malta. 

Naval Book Wish List: Mal Wright

 Author. British and Commonwealth Warships WW2 Camouflage.

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/British-and-Commonwealth-Warship-Camouflage-of-WW-II/p/6818/

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/British-and-Commonwealth-Warship-Camouflage-of-WW-II-Vol-2-Hardback/p/10930

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/British-and-Commonwealth-Warship-Camouflage-of-WW-II-Hardback/p/12168

Imperial Japanese Navy 1932-1945. Warships and Colours. Nimble books.

Colours of the Battle of the Atlantic. 1939-1945. (In preparation)

Journey to the end of the earth. https://www.amazon.com/Journey-End-Earth-Wargames-Frozen/dp/160888006

Rising Storm. https://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=3&sub=6&game=13423

Atlantic Convoy. https://clashofarms.com/Convoy.html

Now this is an interesting game: Atlantic Chase - GMT Games

From the moment I saw this game advertised on the GMT P500's I knew there was something special about it and after wantonly staring at it over several visits I finally subscribed, six months later a very heavy thud on the doormat announced the beast had arrived (see below, lovely box art of "you know who" as they are making their breakout run into the Atlantic in search of convoys):   

Oh, it has not disappointed me, in fact I feel very invigourated as it shows a fresh new approach to naval campaigning .. but more of that later. The rules are beautifully laid out and theer are accompanying explanatory videos. Even better, I had the great fortune to receive great 1-2-1 tuition via Table Top Simulator (TTS) at the recent Connections Online Conference hosted by the Armchair Dragoons for the Connections family based in the US. 

I must give a shout out to Karl and Tom for their sterling work in instructing me on the nuances of the game as we hunted down the Bremmen! Now that was one German ship I do not have in 1/3000 scale as she is a fast liner!

Note to Self: GMT Game, Atlantic Chase - Instructional Videos (P500 Game)

• #1 Introduction to Atlantic Chase
• #2 Trajectories in Atlantic Chase
• #3 Completion, Pass, and Signals in Atlantic Chase
• #4 Stealth in Atlantic Chase
• #5 Naval Search in Atlantic Chase
• #6 Air Strikes in Atlantic Chase

I have ordered this on the GMT P500 reprint scheme so am leaving a note to myself "when" it eventually comes to these gaming aid videos :) 

WATU - Western Approaches Museum at Liverpool

Hats of to the volunteers from DSTL, the RN, the RCN, the Defence Academy and the ubiquitous PaxSims gurus for helping create this event. Something I would have loved to have seen in the flesh but the write-up is almost as good as being there (see link below):

https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2018/09/08/watu-wargame-report/
Visiting this museum is on my "bucket list".

Like the organisers I truly believe WATU was an astounding "one of a kind" establishment. It being a very important cog in the machinery that helped win The Battle of the Atlantic by bringing together the men and material (or true operational characteristics of the machinery) together with sound operational tactics in a unique gladiatorial training arena. It even broke down the prejudicial barriers of the sexes - woman (WRENS) doing "more than a mans work". The softer feminine assistance (see the Cruel Sea) during the game helped the learning experience. Although undoubtedly a high pressure environment for the officers, WATU was still "a safe place to train" in the Constructivist Psychology sense of the word, before meeting the real adversarial enemy who asked for and took no quarter.

If you wish to see the other side of the tale, take a trip on the Mersey Ferries to see U-534 recovered from the seabed lodged at the Woodside Ferry Terminal, something I was able to do last Father's Day (see below, OK sad dad that I am I got a "tank ruler" and "Tommy tea mug" as well, a triple win):

Now I will have to check out my naval wargames collection now for a U-Boat convoy battle game, I think I have copy of AH Submarine somewhere. It would be interesting to contrast the "after the battle" thoughts on simulation with the "in-period" artefact to see how close or far apart they are.

WATU: Western Approaches Tactical Unit - Wargaming (September Liverpool Event)

WATU Staff (See below, believe it or not - WRENS who were literally "war winners"):

Lindybeige Video: Watch It
https://twitter.com/Lindybeige
https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/lindybeige-on-watu/

PaxSims link: Read About It
https://paxsims.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/2017-12-10-watu-mors.pdf

Western Approaches Museum: PaxSims - Paul Strong - Think About Playing It
https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/wargaming-the-atlantic-war-captain-gilbert-roberts-and-the-wrens-of-the-western-approaches-tactical-unit/

Sounds brilliant!
Any CoW/WD and "others" thinking of going?

1941 The Denmark Strait Project: 1/1200 Prince Eugen "The Consort"

Not quite being able to face the modelling knife dilemma of HMS Norfolk just yet I decided to finish the KM Prince Eugen up to wargaming standard for the table (see below):

I quite like the overall effect and it is nice to finish off a model started a long time ago! Now back to HMS Norfolk!

1941 The Denmark Strait project: 1/1200 HMS Suffolk, "I am the Walrus"

On a "project roll" I painted up the Walrus so I can show stern of HMS Suffolk (see please note the hand painted FAA roundels):

Researching HMS Norfolk I see classic wargamer's dilemma, she is different to HMS Suffolk. I could just paint up the second County Class and let her simply be called HMS Norfolk, but really I should remove the "hanger area aft" and remodel the aft portion of the ship accordingly according to me lovingly collected naval books ... hmmm. Now that "I know" the difference I feel obliged that I "have to have a go"!

1941 Battle of the Denmark Strait Project: 1/1200 HMS Suffolk gets her Colours (WIP)

Painting update: I managed to undercoat the bare plastic of a 1/1200 County class Airfix RN cruiser black (could not honestly tell you if it was the Suffolk or Norfolk yet) and the started the process of experimenting with paints for the RN colour scheme. The one on the  box cover of the 1/600 Airfix kit looks too pretty for the North At;antic to me. Initially I started with the paints that game with a Revell HMS Kelly/Kipling starter set but these were too shiny (IMHO) so I reverted to my Vallejo Game Colour range, Stonewall Grey and a White and Black for the most part. However I started mixing the two ranges together and liked the results (see below for the current WIP):

Hardly noticeable is the "bit of blue" at the stern of the ship (more photos later). I was 50:50 about the dark grey deck but it is has grown on me. From scanning the Internet I found some interesting links that truly inspired me:

• https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=HMS+Suffolk+painting&safe=strict&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLgqT-6IzXAhUElxoKHRQtBu4QsAQIJw&biw=1517&bih=653
• http://www.friday-ad.co.uk/worthing/antiques-collectables/hms-suffolk-ww2-rn-heavy-cruiser-10474074/
• https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/airfix-hunt-the-bismarck-gb-davecov-s-hms-suffolk-t26567.html
• https://pbeyecandy.wordpress.com/category/naval-games/
• https://paulywaulysotherwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/battleships.html?showComment=1508970593017#c7558776102117891627
• https://paulywaulysotherwargames.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Ships?updated-max=2012-01-22T05:58:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=36&by-date=false

Gawd bless the Internet ;)

Note to self: I still have to do the Walrus reconnaissance plane.

1941 Battle of the Denmark Strait Project: 1/1200 scale and Fletcher Pratt Rules

Courtesy of the old Airfix "Sink the Bismarck" kits (and the re-release some years back), Revell Mini-Ships (aka KGV) plus a strange eBay acquisition of some "destroyers" I have gathered the ships required for both the 'historical' and 'alternative historical' screening destroyers present battle (see below):

It is just a matter of finishing the started paint jobs. The Prince Eugen is almost completed, HMS Norfolk and HMS Suffolk next then those strange destroyers that look "close enough" to be A-H" class RN destroyers of the period. Note: They are are actually supposed to be Brazilian RN pattern destroyers sold by British shipyards on the export market. I cannot remember the manufacturer!

Essential WW2 Naval Wargaming: Reading and Listening (WATU) - Connections 2017

The slides are good:

http://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/17-WATU.pdf

But the audio is bloody fantastic:

http://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/Strong.mp3

But don't take my word for it, listen to it yourself!

Naval WWII "Heavy Metal"

Ahoy there sailor!

Over the Xmas holidays I managed a couple of 'late nights to myself' with a 'brandy and lemonade' (yes I was raiding the drinks cabinet in the small hours) putting together my last two 1/1200 unmade kits from the Airfix "Sink the Bismarck" party pack box set, the mighty KM Bismarck herself and one of her taunting shadowers, HMS Suffolk (see below):  

I have to say, it was not a chore, but something I have been meaning to do for a long, long time. My naval wargaming comes in fits and starts, but the 1/1200 scale KM Bismarck kit is a "quick assembly" pleasure to put together (see below). Note: I already have one done from the Revell 1/1200 waterline series, as well as possessing a 1/1200 metal kit, but I think the Airfix one is far superior (or am I just getting nostalgic?), a side effect perhaps of already having the 1/600 scale model kit available to shrink down (and thus 'reduce' any modelling errors). 

HMS Suffolk was another delight (see below), again Airfix make her in 1/600 too so the same short odf "error reduction" is probably at play here again. 

As per my original "Sink the Bismarck" post way back, I was extremely lucky to be gifted two of these RN County class cruisers in my "Sink the Bismarck" set by some kind Airfix "packing elf" (I just hope no one was one short somewhere else in the world). I briefly toyed withe idea of converting the second 'County' cruiser into the historic "scouting cruiser" partner (HMS Norfolk) but when I discovered it was slightly more fiddly than "raising up and filling in" the lowered stern (HMS Suffolk has a stern that drops down just a tad for an eighth of the ships length) I "passed" and will  happily call her HMS Berwick (an identical Suffolk sister that did sterling convoy work) or generically refer to her as "an eight inch RN cruiser".
  

A Mine Laying U-Boat Whatever Next (Type VII D)

How about this for a dastardly and cunning idea, the Germans developed the Type VII D mine laying U-Boat. Longer than the Type VII C with a mid-section inserted carrying five static moored mine laying silos. This was a bit like modern ballistic SSBN's, except that they dropped out of the bottom of the hull and were permanently flooded being outside the pressure hull (see picture below): 

Another birthday present, stuck together and glued, I seem to be slipping into a "put it together" mode drifting away from painting and finishing things off.

North Atlantic rendezvous, a Type VII D, meets up with a Type VII C (see below):   

A game idea, a game idea, a kingdom for a decent game idea?

PS: There is no shortage of water where I live currently live as we've had above a months worth of "typical rainfall" for the season in just over twenty four hours (see above, there is usually a good two foot extra space beneath that footbridge).

Birthday Present - Das Boot in 1/350 Type VIIC U-Boat

It can be nice to be surprised. In short I am a happy man drifting through my forties (another birthday down) still making plastic models that I never asked for but when opened are a nice piece of history (see below):

This is the 1/350 scale Revell Type VIIC German U-Boat and it is a lovely detailed kit. Destined methinks to be painted as U-81 which sunk the Ark Royal (boo hiss) in the Mediterranean in 1941.

Once fully completed I will have to find a wargaming use for it ;)

The Prinz Eugen sails forth with a basecode of Atlantic grey

The "Sink the Bismarck" kits are still 'calling' to me (but they are on my 'list' of things to do so they are technically a distraction not a deviation from my 'clanky tanks' project): 

The Prince Eugen catches my eye for a quick once-over with the brush (see above), in many ways a miniature 8" version of the battleship Bismarck. So much so that even the chief gunnery officer and Admiral Holland mistook the Prince Eugen for the Bismarck in the opening phases of the Battle of the Denmark Strait and mistakenly opened up on the Prince Eugen first (much to the angst of the crew of the Prince Eugen):

The hull and super structure gets a coat of Games Workshop Adeptus BattleGrey (again just to use it up) and the decking Anita's Acrylic Dark Earth.The superstructure according to the Airfix painting guide is rather interesting in being a lighter shade of grey than the hull. Hmm, that goes against my usual WW2 warship painting scheme so I'll have to plan what to do during the forthcoming 'mid-tone highlighting' phase:  

She looks rather menacing if your are on the bridge of a County class British cruiser guarding the misty approaches to the Denmark Straits in 1940. The German force s for the Battle of the Denmark Strait are approaching completion what so the RN?

Honour the "Mighty Hood"

While the family slumbered from the roast turkey and the Boxing Day telly was remorselessly playing my paint brush feverishly worked away touching up the Airfix 1/1200 "Sink the Bismarck Set" HMS Hood. She was still the pride of the British fleet in 1941 when she met her demise (see below Luftwaffe reconnaissance shot):

The "old centurion" herself, the keeper of the seas for the Royal Navy, HMS Hood (see above and below): 

Still a graceful old lady, of over twenty three years old by the time she met her nemesis in the form of the KM Bismarck in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Her rear turrets show below were atomised in that dreadful magazine explosion, which vaporised her stern works and sealed her fate.

Her 15" front turrets showed her teeth, but she scored no hits in the short battle with the KM Bismarck and PM Prince Eugen (see below).

Captain Leach of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales (PoW) watched with morbid fascination as the Hood was straddled by a well bunched salvo from the Bismarck (her fifth/sixth at the Hood which in battleship gunnery terms is extraordinary good shooting). Ominously he couldn't account for 'all' the splashes from the that last broadside which mean that 'something' had dug into HMS Hood. Leach had been keeping an eye on his C-in-C's ship as an earlier salvo from the 8" cruiser KM Prince Eugen had started a intense but "superficial" (above decks) fire amidships. The damage control parties had just managed to smoother this when the fateful salvo from the Bismarck landed. 

The Hood was seen to vent an inverted conical cone of intense heat and fire like that of a blowtorch aft of her funnels near her mast (engine vents being located there). This was the sign of an intense hidden conflagration deep inside her. Experienced sailors then knowingly watched the "Mighty Hood" with a deep sense of foreboding expecting the worst which materialise less than a minute later with a cataclysmic explosion which vaporised her stern and after turrets.   

Farewell to the great old lady,she left only three survivors, taking one thousand four hundred and fifteen souls with her.


Wikipedia, Warship.Org and HMS Hood Association sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hood_%2851%29
http://www.warship.org/no21987.htm
http://www.warship.org/new_page_1.htm
http://www.warship.org/loss_of_hms_hood__part_3.htm
http://www.warship.org/new_page_2.htm

In particular HMS Hood Association:
http://www.hmshood.com/history/denmarkstrait/resource.htm

Note: This is a very impressive and high quality web-site as you would expect from the ship's association. Well done and many thanks to them for putting it together to remember the 'Mighty Hood'.