1/3000 WW2 RN Destroyers bulk basing!

The WWII RN Destroyers get their basing call and proudly get squished together like the good mates they are, or rather the sisters they are (see below, they have been waiting in that box a good few years for this treatment):  

These range from early to mid war, where possible (according to budget) I like to get all of the iconic classes like the Tribals.

The Essex Class - Basing the War Battle Winners

Their time has come, the war winning class of USN aircraft carriers which made it simply impossible for the IJN to get back into the war after Midway. Fast Carrier battlegroups dominated the 1944-45 Pacific Theatre of Operation (PTO) in TF 58 (see below, these are eight of the beauties that came crisply from teh Navwar 1/3000 moulds):  

Sadly Navwar experienced mould degradation and the remaining nine (see below) I received needed some tender loving care (TLC) in the form of the miracle Vallejo Plastic Putty. Navwar discontinued the mould shortly after I placed my order (several years ago now), but Davco still do a 1/3000 model (see below, my seventeen [of a total class of twenty four] that were commissioned during WWII (see below, it may seem slightly obsessive, but blame the appeal of the Orange Conway encyclopaedia and Avalon Hill's "Victory in teh Pacific" - and in one sense having started collecting these models some twenty seven years ago, in for a penny in for a pound):

From late 1942 onwards the USN replaced the CV fleet she had going into teh war more than twice over which is simply phenomenal. A strategic Pacific Game seems destined to follow in teh footsteps of War Plan Orange at a future Conference of Wargamers (CoW). Some sea texturing and model painting is needed before then though. 

USN WW2 "Heavy Metal" Battleships 1/3000

The USN certainly had a lot of heavy metal on the books at the start of WW2. Admittedly most of it was left in a re-conditioned burning state after the Pearl Harbour attack (rebuilding if not sunk), but the pre-war building program brought on stream some very useful battlewagons in 1942-43, critical certainly for Guadalcanal operations (see below, Pearl Harbour "targets" left and being the "pre-war new design stream" as in the North Carolina [2] and South Dakota [4] classes [and a hypothetical USS Montana] on teh right):  

Late 1943-144 the "new breed" of Iowa class ships started arriving, along with the rebuilt boys who had caught it at Pearl Harbour (see below, column one being the Pearl Harbour and Atlantic Fleet, column two being the "reconstructed" Pearl Harbour battleships [the ships serving in the Atlantic avoided this indignity], column three being the "pre-war new design stream" as in the North Carolina [2] and South Dakota [4] classes [and a hypothetical USS Montana] and finally column four the scary 16" Iowa Class [4] and Alaska [2] large cruiser/battlecruisers):  

This is a phenomenal industrial ship building production rate (something the IJN could not think of matching), considering it was alongside the construction of the Essex class fleet aircraft carriers (a total of seventeen during the war and seven more shortly after in late 1940's) and there was also the ten Independence light aircraft carriers. Build baby build was obviously the US motto! 

1/3000 WW2 USN and IJN Destroyer Basing

There are big ships and there are small ships, but in the end (or rather to start with) they all have to be based. With this in mind I turned to a dusty pile of "silver shame" and did the task that wargamers like the least .. started basing (see below, these are IJN Destroyers that now at least have started on their journey to the wargame table - there was quite a lot of them): 

Most of this kit came from both sides came from the Navwar Philippine Sea Battle Pack (which I bought at the start of this century, ahem), but both sides have also been supplemented along the way to fill gaps, particularly going back to some of the early Pacific War battles in 1941-42 (see below, flotillas of USN Destroyers): 

I thought I would give a shout out to some destroyers that caught me eye, the valiant survivors of the USN Destroyer Fleet of WWI that through long service saw "two world wars" (see below, the US Wilkes class - nice little models): 

These destroyers were also famous for making up practically all of the "50 Destroyers" (aka the "town class") transferred to the RN to help fight the Battle of the Atlantic (so technically I could happily use them for two navies, USN and RN). More basing and organising to follow!

Old IJN 1/3000 friends, time for Basing and Painting

My old IJN 1/3000 friends .. the battlewagons of the Pacific War, mostly (that is all apart from teh Yamato class) reconstructions and modernisations of their WWI battlefleet (see below, a bit fuzzy but they are all there in various stages of "production"): 

This is what I am aiming for (see below, IJNS Nagato [1936]):  

I think the sea effect and final whiter highlight on the decking and light grey on the superstructure works well. 

52 Fletchers - 1/3000 Navwar

Dating back to the time I bought "The Battle of the Philippine Sea" Battle Pack from Navwar, I always had a few of these destroyers to base. It came to pass that now, was the time I had some time and inclination to do it (see below, I now have a harbour full of US Destroyer, 52 Fletcher Class ones to be precise): 

Stage one complete, got them out of the packaging, filed down bits of flash and then superglued them to a 20mm by 60mm card stock base. Good for the soul if nothing else. As you can see bottom right I have taken two all the way (for a different project) but the other 50 have to play catch up! 

Look Back at my CoW 2024: List of Games

Long overdue, but here it is! CoW 2024 at Missenden Hall,

There were so many games in parallel sessions that you could have attended CoW 2024 (and apart from the all inclusive plenary game) you could have had at least five separate parallel strand CoW experiences. Mine was fun and informative as detailed below: 

• The Plenary: Papal Conclave of 1559, an interesting game of papal political intrigue, back stabbing, rioting, opportunism and deceit. As a Spanish Cardinal I feigned disappointment as a French Pope (with audacity to take the name of Innocent[?]) sat enthroned as God's vicar in Rome. French gold clinked in my pocket and a position of "favour" awaited me.

• The Cactus Air Force (Guadalcanal 1942) - Blood Red Skies (BRS) fighting the IJN from Henderson Field:

Naturally I find myself surrounding by enemy Zeros, but I am distracting them from the USN bombers hunting a damaged IJN heavy cruiser!

Some how they all missed me and ACE made it back home, although the bombers missed the heavy cruiser in this game (a repeat game saw the cruiser heading to the bottom)!

• The Great War in the Pacific in the 1920's (what if the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 failed to take place and the USA and Japan ended up fighting a huge naval war in the 1920's? What sort of fleet would you build as the US to fulfil "War Plan Orange" and what in fact would be your war plan? [Ticket to Manilla, Home Island Hawaii Defence, Island Hopping, Japanese Homeland Assault]):

The game's bits and pieces (AH's Victory in the Pacific used as a map, 1/3000 Navwar ships, Jenga Blocks and plenty of sticky labels):

The USN Admirals Plan - note serious faces of austere concentration .. [obviously a posed photograph]

And they keep on planning. Note, then there is this guy in a Hawaiian shirt on the end, getting very chummy with the US Marine Corp chap MacArther ! Yes he got promoted to C-in-C, obvious with hindsight!

The Admirals of the class of 1926 all successfully "pass" the Ship Identification "end of term test", all proudly spotting the expensive, six funnelled USS Ranger aircraft carrier - a very advanced ship, laid on the stocks with no chance of being finished in time to participate in the war.

The Great Pacific War of the 1920's starts with the Manilla Squadron in dire trouble as an elite IJN fast battlecruiser squadron tries to Copenhagen them, but thanks to the foresight of the American Admirals the modernisation of the Manilla Squadron pays off and the IJN are sent packing, though vowing to come back with reinforcements.

With "The Ticket to Manilla" as War Plan Orange the USN charges across the Pacific, sadly loosing the CV they managed to build (the USS Langley) and the seven funnelled USS Lexington to IJN air and torpedo attacks. Nevertheless they arrive in time to face the IJN Combined Fleet (without Kaga and Akagi superdreadnoughts due to slow production and lack of steel thanks to US sanctions). Both sides engage in a battleline fight and loose all their battlecruisers. The USN have an advantage in battleships and the IJN in light forces (cruisers and destroyers).

A stroke of USN tactical genius and bravery sees the damaged USN Manilla Squadron sortie and catch the IJN in a pincer move. The Japanese battleline is Trafalgar'ed and remnants escape back to the Home Islands. The Japanese sue for peace. Well played the USN!

• Air Strike Nigeria - Planning a Jet Air Ground Attack (simple plan, rather than attacking the heavily defended by AA assets enemy HQ, we chose the high value AA asset [radar] for a points win [some would say long game] to take out - as the Rookie ordnance man I loaded up with range zero "big bombs" and some A-2-A self defence missiles which caused some consternation with the " married family men" of the flight): 

Death before dishonour, through evasive action that really jangled the pilots nerves [lose too much cool and you are a poor flyer which is not a good thing] we survive the close AA barrage [if I had swapped that for long range ordnance we might have suppressed the AA - lesson learned, a mixed array of weapons works best]. The big bombs clobber the important Soviet Era AA radar [4pts] and almost getting a win-win with the fuel dump too [just one hit point off] and try and "leg-it" but there are bandits on our tails.

We lose a boomer to enemy A-2-A combat but thanks to the plentiful availability of A-2-A in the attack flight we down "two" fighters which make the mission an outstanding success .. I am skimping over the pilot who ejected over "No Man's Land" due to "uncool flying technique" and had to hitch a lift home in a Yellow Taxi wearing civilian clothes.  

• Poland 1939 - One Hour WW2 (watched a game of Martin Rapier's excellent WW2 Brigade Level rules play an interesting Poland 1939 scenario [Stukas, Pz I's, Armoured Cars, Pak 35s, polish Cavalry and bridges that must be held at all costs]): 

The broad landscape with a good bit of Polish strategic pointing at the key terrain feature - the bridge across the river!

Massed German armour and stout hearted Poles in defence of the strategically important bridge that had been "pointed out" earlier!

The Luftwaffe's Stukas ensure "War is Hell". The Poles fought well, but the Germans were too "combined arms" for them in the end.

• A Simple Dice COIN Game (developed as part of his PhD wargaming research at Bath Spa University Pete Sizer has come up with this interesting solitaire COIN game, using a lot of dice):

Pete guiding six players simultaneously playing his solitaire COIN Dice Game, with dice acting as handy game tokens [representing things in various states] as well as "things to roll" - the amount of dice rolling was deafening! I stood on the side lines and watched this one as I was still mentally exhausted from putting on The Great Pacific War just prior to this, but need to play it. Perhaps in a quiet moment in CoW 2025 Pete can take me aside with a pint in hand to show me it again! 

• War of the Roses: Princes in the Tower - Cluedo(ish). There is Cluedo, then there is almost Cluedo with the Princes in the Tower historical authors battling it out with their egos over-filling rooms to define teh best "pet absurd theory" that will get them a lucrative "book deal"! I don't think I got all the in jokes, but enough to make it very amusing! 

• Lynchville is Burning (Again) - Role Playing and Committee Game. Naturally no photos as decreed by the 1950's emergency laws pressed into service. In an extreme state of anti communist paranoia where security and sensible lifestyle choices are paramount for the survival of the United States of America I can now fully understand the attraction of the Fallout Vault option. Sadly we did not have a vault, but we did have several cunning plans to infiltrate the seemingly harmless Trade Union to discover Soviet sleeper agents and undesirables. Each cunning plan failing in quick succession, the team turned to ever more desperate and darker tactics to give results, any results - no matter how fanciful to the powers that be that "ran" the organisation. The result was naturally chaos; it followed in an inevitable tragic sense. The fire at the gas mask factory was teh last straw, the bewildered workers mixed with agent provocateurs bused in for the occasion and unfortunate, unwanted newspaper coverage of agents no longer with the service, retired early before their prime. Are we still safe, that all depends on Department 12. 

• Ukrainian National Guard - A small squad tactics game, with maps and counters. A team planning and execution of a simple task that can always be made harder by doing something silly. Thankfully we watched, got lucky and flushed out the Russian observers but enemy drones blew up our BMP lift home.   

• GMT's - Last Hundred Yards Play Through. Using the serendipity of two people having the same game and wanting to know if they are playing it right this was a sit down session of a basic scenario. The good news was that we seemed to be playing it correctly, the game made sense and was a nice alternative to Advanced Squad Leader (ASL).   

• Bring and Buy Sale Bonanza (loot and swag collected at the bring and buy stall): 

Plenty of helicopters, Norman Knights and Hoplites, so what is not to like? Supplementing existing collections and periods.

 Plenty of "New Rules" courtesy of the stable of senor Trebian, for periods I want to get into!

 Old rules, but still the period is interesting and ideas are great to explore.

My personal weakness - other people's lead, end of collections and odds and sods, that could fit in somewhere (possibly) to my old collections. Pennies well spent I think, as the alternative is much more expensive late night Internet purchases, that you probably regret the next day! Well that is my excuse ;)   

Finally - the things that you never thought you would see again and missed getting first time round. A personal soft spot for me 2000AD, Judge Dredd RPG. A classic despite what Enzo the dog thinks about it!

And take a deep breath, sir all the above, mixed with great food, alcoholic drinks and good company. Fantastic event, I can recommend it to one and all.

More details of Wargames Developments can be found at: https://wargamedevelopments.org/

I know bookings for CoW 2025 are now open to the General Wargaming Public, come on in the water is lovely https://wargamedevelopments.org/event/cow-2025/ if you have read this far you will probably enjoy it!

My Navwar Projects Review and "Get better soon Tony!"

I was reviewing the Navwar 1/3000 production line of ships (lots of WIP here). It is a naval wargamers collectors paradise for Pre-dreadnought, WW1, WW2 and a bit of (Falklands) modern. Here are a couple of my current active project streams (see below, firstly filling out the German WW2 destroyer and minor vessels  as we all have the Bismarck):  

The French Capitol ships (see below, because in that early war 1939-1940 period they played a big part in the numerous  "hunt the raider" groups - long before the interesting Vichy side of things started up): 

Imperial Japanese Navy in all its mighty glory (see below, a selection of their carrier force, the Pearl Harbour, Coral Sea and Midway "bad boys"): 

Just as scary as the CVs are the IJN Heavy Cruisers (see below, this is where the calculus of the 1922 Washington Treaty and subsequent treaties met its match against the minds of cunning naval architects and Civil Servants/Officials who measured tonnages wrongly [accidently]): 

Then there is the heavy tonnage f the renovated IJN WWI battlefleet, with later "big boy" additions of the Yamato and her sister ship the Mushashi (see below, but in the era of the carrier all this 'stuff' became scrap iron in a plane's cross-hairs or an expensive form of AA protection and 'bomb-soak' for the important CVs):  

I find out it fantastically good fun slowly collecting this stuff (for over twenty five years now), so I should give a shout out to Tony the owner of Navwar, as I heard he had a fall recently, but is on the mend. Get well soon mate and thank you for this awesome range of 1/3000 models. 

Nimitz - Operation Freya (1/3000 Ships)

At last a use for my 1/3000 WWII Navwar naval collection (huzzah), the Nimitz rule set and its hypothetical introductory scenario, Norway 1940 - Operation Freya a RN v KM battlecruiser clash, let the dice roll and decide history (see below, slowly collected over many decades part of my 1/3000 collection which I consider as an ongoing proect): 

I guess the intention in the scenario (from Sam Mustafa's website download section) is to be a WW2 version of a Dogger Bank 'fast and furious' battlecruiser clash, with one side (RN) having destroyers and one side (KM) having a light cruiser, both sides having something capable of firing torpedoes (see below, the ships were fast out of their starting blocks with the KM hurling caution to the wind and sending in their light cruiser [Nurnberg] for a torpedo attack on the RN Hood and Repulse): 

Nurnberg was crippled and sunk, but her sacrifice was not entirely in vain (as the RN battlecruisers paid her some main armament attention) as she allowed the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to deliver painful blows to the Mighty Hood, taking structural points away (see below, one crippled RN destroyer stays attending to the British main force [aka hiding], while the two healthy attack the German battle cruisers [gulp]): 

With HMS Hood suffering yet again (and the British return shells bouncing off Krupp armour) t'was "the better part of valour" this time for the British as they retired off table under cover of a threatened or rather attempted torpedo attack (see below, the rules showed the nice premise of a running battle - jumping between tactical and operation game boards was possible - something previously hinted at but not really supported by other tactical rules sets): 

I liked the scenario (and the way Nimitz was playing [without cheese]) so much I decided to play it again, this time over at a friend's house who had a much better "sea mat" than me! In a short summary, the British need to get lucky early or the German armour works in the KM's favour over the course of a long range gunnery dual. Note, players don't seem to be the classic missing smoke-screens, not just yet at any rate (see below, in the first run through we forgot about rolling the "dice for advantage" [I like this little tweak] - nothing is equal so KM rolled well enough to "have the advantage2, so they can watch the RN set-up in a limited "floor space" and choose their angle of attack from anywhere in their half of the board (see below, the RN force opt to make a high speed run [hence the yellow counters on their ships]):  

The RN strategy is "run fast, shoot with a full broadside and then get lucky" whereas the KM felt an uncontrollable urge to charge at the enemy with the Nurnberg - two separate [unrelated so I don't think it's genetics] German players did this (see below, in the exchange the Scharnhorst suffered light damage [structural] and the KM player learned it pays to "move fast when you can" because you are harder to hit - even if it makes your shooting slightly worse): 

The Nurnberg meets a watery grave from a bucket load of torpedoes from the leading RN destroyer (which was crippled in the process - a medal for someone) - Nurnberg's back was broken and  she went straight down (see below, he RN's strategy was working for two thirds of their battle plan - keep going fast, shooting away with full broadsides but alas missing with their shooting - whereas the KM just "got lucky" and HMS Hood (that fateful old girl) suffered accordingly, losing lots of structure points and a nice 15" turret to boot):     

A RN admiral discussion concluded that whereas the German armour was saving them from serious damage and the Admiralty would like to get HMS Hood back to Scapa to be repaired (see below, the two fresh RN destroyers were able to chase the German battlecruisers away as the RN battlecruisers disengaged):  

After seeing what torpedoes can do to KM ships the German admiral was satisfied to claim honours and retire just after the British had retired from the map (see below, the game worked really well, credit to the Germans in both games with sound tactical victories - note in the Halsey campaign this would be set up for a nice running battle over several encounters and other Task Forces trying to intercept [or hide if you were a convoy], all good stuff): 

This all bodes well for this rule system methinks and future battles. Nimitz is easy to pick up, fun to play and gives more or less, plausible historical results in a much quicker time than the likes of GQ II (my previous preferred WW2 naval rule set). I can recommend watching the SaturdayNightFights of the Armchair Dragoons fame, playthrough of Operation Freya:

https://www.armchairdragoons.com/events/wn/saturdaynightfights-operation-freya-for-nimitz/

Murmansk Convoy Ships: 1/3000 Navwar

 Seen from a distance, a sneaky German recon plane spies its target in the cold, northern waters - radios its position and expect all hell to break loose (see below, my "dirtied up" [aka with a rusty brown wash] Navwar, 1/3000 British Convoy): 

This is in preparation for "Halsey" Murmansk Convoy operation, with tactical game play using "NIMITZ".

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!

Space Jamming to Star Man .. PSC Freighters Grab Bag - Painting Description

It all started with a "Grab Bag" special offer (thirty two space ships for a tenner) from the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) for their excess Red Alert "Freighters" - as in freighter class space ships, but as space ships go they were nice models and incredibly so, so cheap is seemed crazy not to buy one, nay two bags. What does one do with sixty four space ships - technically without guns, but I think you have to use your imagination in Sci-Fi and pretend they "have what they need". In fact the support stands to base the fleet cost more than the ships of the fleet (see below, plastic crack, I could not resist - yes, I have little or no will power, maybe later I can figure out and tell you the "why"):  

Step one .. with no idea how to really paint them (as in a proper paint scheme of sorts) I decided to prime them with Airfix Primer Grey Acrylic (01) and follow a hunch, a Traveller style hunch, of Free Trader Beowulf - a grubby planet hopper plying his trade, trying to make that big credit deal to set him up for life in the manner of his dreams (see below, the first batch of eight of my cosmic traders - "free booter" as I call them): 

I figured they would have lots of trouble keeping their ships "clean2 with all that atmospheric burn, planet hoping through the inner solar system dust clouds and engineering burn, plus the odd bullet hole or laser burn from a pirate. At some point they would be hauling mineral loads and getting and dirty with the asteroid miners (see below, Vallejo Black Dipping Wash to the rescue, suddenly a fleet of dirty space ships): 

By this time I had come across a simple painting formula to try: 

• Vallejo Game Colour "Off White" for the top half of the freighter
• Vallejo Game Colour  "Bone White" for the bottom half of the freighter
• Vallejo Game Colour "Gun Metal" for engine and exhaust parts on the freighter

Note: I took care with the above to leave black lines coming through the panelling, this is where I fell in love with the rugged, chunky design of the ships that played to shade and highlight!

• Vallejo Brown Dipping Wash along the black lines of the panelling to bring out a grubby feel and depth, and cover the Gun Metal engine parts to make it rosy

The result was just as intended but just a little too grubby for teh final finish (see below, even Beowulf would get the cleaning droids for a spring clean if he got this dirty!): 

Highlight time: 

• Highlight "White" areas with the base colour ("Off White" or "Bone" White respectively) 
• Highlight "Gun Metal" area to "Silver"

Yes, good enough, anything else would be silly (see below, my Free Trader awaits adventure): 

When you have done one, then it is just as easy to do two (see below, the advantage of the simple paint scheme, was that it could be turned into a factory production line): 

The budding space commercial space empire takes a trip through the fruit bowl system and basks in the fading sunlight from a Red Dwarf (see below, but beware danger can strike from any quarter, unannounced):

So best paint some more in case you run into losses (see below, simple paint scheme begs a simple production system - one ship at a time as I am getting into a rhythm and getting to know the peculiarities and wrinkles of the model - but the more I paint it, the more I like it): 

The fleet burgeons to three active "freighters of the line" (see below, I have not yet got to the point of naming them yet, but I am getting attached to them and thinking of possible rile systems such a Billion Suns to use them with, as well as Traveller!) 

Half way through (aka four done) my initial batch of eight which were to be my 'proof of concept' that I can be 'bothered' painting the ships in this way (see below, each one is getting slightly faster to do which is a good sign):   

To get from four to six, I did two at a time and to be honest was more frustrated that pleased. There was a certain satisfaction of doing one and moving onto another, that was not "doubled" by finishing two at the same time. As it is partially about enjoyment of the painting journey, as opposed to just painting them for gawd sake, I reverted back to one at a time for seven and eight (see below, but I think they do look grand "en masse"):   

Starting the "last one" of the "initial batch" - I an finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Even though it is really the first stop on a journey of many (see below, the squadron celebrations are about to begin): 

At last I can rest my weary brush hand, the "trading" squadron is assembled in quite a beguiling formation (see below, I know they are specifically not warships by design but I think they have a "we mean business" look and feel to them): 

What do you do with old Xmas tangerine boxes? Why you fill them with the first painted batch of transports alongside a primed and washed second batch (see below, remember that this is half of one "grab bag" and I bought two, of which I have only painted a quarter in total - not a quick project):  

Hmm, but what do you think I have in mind in the long term? If I said the Trillion Dollar Squadron would you be any the wiser or at all interested?