Half Term Fleet in a Week: Basing

It doesn't look like much but the Chilean Interwar fleet has now been based and undercoated in matt black, ready for the bases to be blocked in tomorrow. I've also added an oil tanker to the line up using a Japanese tanker that is not too far off the actual Chilean fleet oiler Rancagua. 

Half Term Chilean Interwar Fleet in a Week

 

A slight change of plan after I realised that painting the Royal Navy for the Norwegian Campaign might be a little ambitious in one week? Instead, I'm going to paint and base almost the entire Chilean navy c1937-38 for an Interwar extension of my ongoing 'What If?' Chile vs Argentina naval campaign. The models are all from Navwar with some new additions making it a feasible project, along with a couple of 'might have been?' extras, including the dreadnought battleship Almirante Cochrane as converted into an aircraft carrier. I'll get cracking today! 

Half Term Home Fleet in a Week

It's the May half term holiday next week and I thought I'd have another crack at painting and basing a Fleet in a Week. I've done this before and it's a really good challenge that helps to shift a lot of lead in the right direction. This time I'm probably painting the early war Royal Navy warships for the Norwegian campaign, to add to the ones I have already done. The 1/3000th scale models are all prepared, so I can start painting straight away, which is a bonus. I may well add one or two more battleships to the mix and possibly another carrier. 

2024 Review - Painting Things

This year has been even more of a washout when it comes to painting stuff, once again due to work and illness sapping my time and energy. I did complete the 1/3000th scale heavy units for the Kriegsmarine and Royal Navy early war fleets but not the rest of the British forces which are still waiting to be tackled. I also completed the 1/2400th scale Royal Navy Napoleonic fleet, which I really enjoyed painting albeit stretched out over several months, although I still haven't played any games with them yet.

The Soviet half of the 1/600th scale aircraft for the Continuation War project were finished but not the Finnish contingent, or the 1/300th scale Soviet aircraft either, despite making a good start on the latter. I also built a 1/72nd scale Bristol Scout for Knights of the Sky but had to drop out of the actual game due to illness. A handful of 1/600th USAF aircraft were also finished for MiG Alley. To wrap up an unspectacular year, I painted three test bases of 2mm English Civil War infantry, cavalry and artillery, then ran out of time to do any more before the holidays. I think my report card for 2024 will read 'must do better!' 

2024 Review - Rolling Dice

It's been a very patchy year in terms of playing games, mainly due to six months working full time and a lack of spare time to spend on actual wargaming. Nonetheless, I've had a couple of excellent games of Strength and Honour, despite still not having a proper grasp of the rules, several very enjoyable pre-dreadnought and WW2 naval games, some one off games of old favourites including Saurian Safari, Bag The Hun, Knights of the Sky and Back of Beyond, together with some new things like Blood Red Skies (of which I am not a fan). Not everything has been a success, the MiG Alley introductory game being a good example, but on the whole it's been a rewarding, if less than extensive spread of wargaming over the course of the year. Unfortunately, its also been very inconsistent, with a strong start fizzling out after three or four months, only picking up right at the end. I really need to make more of an effort to get to the club and to pick up my solo efforts at home, when I have time to set up a game, especially to try out new rules and get stuff on the table after I've spent so much time painting it. I have some ideas for 2025 that might help this along in the right direction. 

Kriegsmarine Commerce Raiders

This doesn't look very inspiring but it's actually a Navwar set of nine 1/3000th scale German merchant commerce raiders, each ship in two versions, one disguised and the other ready for action. I paid slightly under the retail price, saving a quid or so, but that's not the point when you get a really unusual and potentially useful set of models. I'll paint these up for some early war scenarios to go with my existing fleet for the Norwegian campaign.

Find, Fix and Strike / Nimitz Club Games

 

A back to back naval wargaming night at the club with Find, Fix and Strike deploy ed for the Battle of the River Plate, followed by Nimitz for the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Two different sets of rules but both fast play and giving a good game with a historical outcome, more or less. The Graf Spee was finished off by a salvo of torpedoes fired by HMS Exeter, while HMS Hood was sunk by the combined fire of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. Good fun!

Return to the River Plate

Admiral Graf Spee...sorties again!

Despite the cancellation of the Find, Fix and Strike games last week, I've been able to arrange a new game session with another naval wargaming club member for a week on Tuesday. This will be a back to back session, with muggins introducing Find, Fix and Strike and Geoff showing me the ropes of Nimitz, the idea being to play the same historical scenario in order to compare the two sets of rules. If we can, we may even repeat the experiment with a follow on game of the Denmark Straits, again to contrast the two systems and see which one gives the most realistic and rewarding outcome. Good stuff!

Fairey Seafox

           

I finished two Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale Fairey Seafox spotter aircraft for the Battle of the River Plate game this afternoon. They were a bit rushed but look not too bad, even if I knocked them out quickly. I will only need one for the scenario but the other one will be handy for future games, as well as being a backup just in case 

Mid War Japanese Battle Pack Bargain

 

As always, eBay came up trumps last week with a Davco Japanese Battle Group pack for a little over twenty quid. Although I have the Nagato, Fuso and Mogami models already, the other ships will slot in well with my early war fleet, while the surplus ones can be saved for a rainy day. Splendid!