Motor Gunboat Blocking In

A good start on the BPB Motor Gun Boats and RAF Rescue Launch today, blocking in the bases and giving the models a matt black basecoat, ready for blocking in the principal hull and topside colours. I've left the Kriegsmarine escorts to one side for the moment, so that I can concentrate on getting these painted first. I'm hoping that it won't take too long to get these finished, as I also have a convoy of merchant shipping to paint up, not to mention re-basing and tarting up my existing kit.

Coastal Forces Bases and Basecoats

I decided to change the painting method for the coastal forces project, adopting the same approach I have used in the past for my pre-dreadnoughts. Instead of painting then basing the models, I'm doing the basing first and the painting afterwards. The models are glued on to the textured bases and then will have a basecoat of Halfords matt black spray paint, after which I can start painting them in situ. The focus here is on filling gaps in my line up, so there are various Kriegsmarine escort craft and Royal Navy MGB's to be painted up, rather than more torpedo boats or merchant shipping. I'll also be re-basing my existing models to match the new ones, specially texturing the bases and re-painting them in my usual deep sea blue shades. 

PT Dockyard British Power Boat MGB's

BPB 72' MGB's

BPB 70' MGB's

BPB RAF Rescue Launch

Back home today after the holiday trip and on to the workbench to get the PT Dockyard British Power Boat Motor Gunboats assembled and undercoated. These are resin cast models and require a lot of attention to get them ship shape but, as they're the only option in 1/600th scale it's worth the effort. I replaced some of guns with a Tumbling Dice metal casting, which isn't accurate but a lot less likely to be snapped off than the resin equivalent. I also have a Tumbling Dice BPB RAF rescue launch to paint up, along with a downed air crew, so a nice collection of themed models to get painted over the weekend, if I have the time. I may even base these first, following my established method, rather than painting then basing later. 

War of the Gunboats

We're heading home in a few days so, to make the most of the holiday time left, I'm re-reading this book. Despite the title, it's an overarching account of coastal forces action in all of the theatres of the Second World War, but my interest lies primarily in the early war period in the English Channel and North Sea. It's a really good introduction to the subject and I remember it as being well worth reading as a primer for coastal forces wargaming, so time well spent. 

Torpedoes and Tides Scenario - Achtung Minen!

I've been scribbling some outline notes for a Torpedoes and Tides scenario set in May 1942. This involves a minelaying sortie by a rotte of two S-38 boats of the 4th S-Boote Flotilla, based in Boulogne, in the convoy lanes off Dungeness. A patrolling Isles class trawler, HMS Sir Galahad, is in the area and bumps into the enemy E-boats, who must sink her or force her to retreat, then evade back to their base, scoring set victory points for doing so. The trawler has to batter, wreck or force off the two enemy boats before being sunk, scoring cumulative points for the damage inflicted. 

There will be fog patches and a partial moon to add a bit of tactical shenanigans, while the E-boats will have zero torpedo reloads, being lightened for the minelaying sortie, so once expended they'll be down to guns only. I expect the trawler will go down fighting but as long as enough damage is inflicted on the E-boats to disrupt the mine laying mission, there's a chance it won't be a walkover for the Kriegsmarine, assuming I balance the victory points properly? 

One of the S-boote, S-55, will be C2 as it was the highly experienced CO, Götz Freiherr von Mirbach's boat, while the trawler commander and crew will also be C2 to give her a fighting chance. I'm not sure if the mine laying task will actually have to be carried out, as that would complicate things and be a bit unlikely, but it's still a work in progress and may be tweaked a bit. It will be interesting to see how it plays out, when I get round to it, and if I will need to beef up the RN or not by using a more powerful escort like a destroyer or corvette.

Summer Solo Naval Campaign

Every summer holiday I usually run a short solo naval campaign of some sort, occasionally interspersed with an air wargaming effort. This summer I'm planning to do the same and have three potential options:

1. Napoleonic Naval 

This would use my respectable collection of 1/2400th scale French, British and Spanish fleets, the latter being the only thing I'd need to paint in the run up. The rules would be Far Distant Ships or Grand Fleet Actions, so this would be for games with squadrons rather than individual ships, although a few frigate actions might well be in order.

2. WW2 Coastal Forces 

This would be a mini-campaign using Torpedoes and Tides, probably set in 1942 or thereabouts on the East Coast convoy route or along the English Channel. For this I'd need to re-base and tart up my existing 1/600th scale models, paint a merchant convoy of shipping and some German convoy escorts. A bit more work required but lots of potential for some narrative campaigning.

3. South American Interwar 'What If?'

A favourite theme of mine, as evidenced by a previous pre-dreadnought campaign, is a fictional yet feasible conflict between Chile, Argentina and Brazil. This time I'd be using the 1/3000th scale Navwar fleets for Argentina and Brazil, with the Chileans possibly making an appearance too. I would need to order some additional models from Navwar, now that it is up and running, as well as painting up everything required. I'd use Find, Fix and Strike for this campaign.

Motor Gun Boat Missing Models

I have no Royal Navy Motor Gun Boats, apart from a single dodgy model of a Fairmile C, in my 1/600th collection, but that is soon to be remedied. Fortunately, I have three of each of these resin cast models from PT Dockyard in the box, which I acquired years ago for the fast play Schnellboote rules, and I've rediscovered them after a bit of a rummage. This saves me the hassle of having to order some or finding some alternative, possibly 3D printed equivalent, as no one makes any in metal.

The BPB 72' models have been assembled, not an easy task as they're very fiddly and a bit fragile, but I've yet to glue together the earlier 70' models. The PT Dockyard range is excellent but they are cast in quite delicate resin and are very prone to breaking if handled roughly, so much so that I have replaced some of the smaller gun mountings with less accurate but more durable metal parts. 

I'm going to assemble the early BPB boats when I get back from the holidays and paint them up for some Torpedoes and Tides early war a actions. This will give me more options for scenarios against S-Boote, especially if I can get the merchant convoy ships painted and based as well. I also have some Kriegsmarine escort craft to paint that will enable me to run some torpedo boat actions against German coastal convoys, using both MTB's and MGB's if I get it all sorted. 

Cracking!

The Greatest Raid

The next book on my holiday reading list is this fairly recent one on Operation Chariot, which I have in good old fashioned hardback. I've read several books on the St.Nazaire raid before so this will be interesting in comparison. It has an obvious but tenuous link to my current coastal warfare project too, although I very much doubt I'll be wargaming it any time soon!

Search and Rescue or a False Nose Job?

Fairmile B ASR M/L and Fairmile A M/L

For the next Torpedoes and Tides game I thought I'd try one of the generic scenarios, either Search and Rescue or the clandestine False Nose Job set up. The ASR scenario would be a good one as I have a Fairmile B ASR motor launch that would be ideal, accompanied by a Fairmile B M/L or C MGB. I also have an Denny SGB that I'm itching to deploy but that would probably be a bit too powerful for the opposition to deal with.

Denny SGB HMS Grey Wolf

However, I also have a Fairmile A minelayer motor launch, some of which were used to land or pick up agents or special forces teams in occupied territory, so that would also be an option for the False Nose Job scenario. The problem with that is the set up conditions which require two players, one who knows which counter is the landing point and the other who is in the dark, so to speak.

Fairmile A minelayer

Either way, the opposition will have to be S-Boote again, as I don't have anything else unless I use an RN trawler as a stand in for a VP boat or pretend the S-boote are actually Raumboote instead. It's a busy weekend which means any games will have to be bumped over to next week but at least that gives me some time to brush up on the rules and perhaps even decide a scenario or two of my own to play later on?

Torpedoes and Tides Trial Game

I played an initial game of Torpedoes and Tides today based on one of the historical scenarios in the rulebook. The game clicking along at a good pace and, unusually for me, I didn't cock anything up in the process. The action went for a full six turns, at which point the Kriegsmarine were defeated, with one S-boat wrecked and the other evading to fight another day. The Royal Navy were left with a severely damaged MGB but two M/L's virtually unscathed, so a clear victory for the senior service. I really enjoyed the game and it definitely captured the cut and thrust of coastal warfare actions, even though I was learning the system. I'm looking forward to more games but will need to paint up some more models to expand my scenario options, not to mention some 'tracer' style measuring sticks for visual effect.

Airfix Convoy Escort Destroyers

HMS Lewes

Up in the loft somewhere I have a set of four 1/600th scale destroyers that Airfix used to have in their naval range. These kits have been around since the 1970's but are perfect for coastal forces wargaming once water lined. I've been doing some research into potential options for Easy Coast convoy escorts, with an eye on the Town Class lend lease four stacker, HMS Campbeltown, as a starting point. The plan is to convert the model into one of the Rosyth Escort Force destroyers, HMS Lewes ex-USS Conway being the template. This would involve cutting down three of the stacks, remodeling the bridge, replacing the forward 4" guns, removing the torpedo launchers and adding pedestal mounts for the AA armament, so quite a bit of fiddling about but nothing too complicated. It will definitely be a bit different and will be great as an anti-E-boat asset, albeit with the speed and turning circle of a brick.

Tumbling Dice Convoy Escort Trawler

This is the Tumbling Dice ISA908 model of an Admiralty Drifter, HMS Arcady, but representative of a wife range of similar trawlers that were used for ASW and convoy escort duties in both world wars. I painted this model way back in 2014 as the ASW requisitioned trawler HMS Pearl, which was based in Plymouth for convoy escort in the Western Approaches. In reality, HMS Pearl was more heavily armed with twin Oerlikens on the bridge, numerous machine guns, depth charges and even rockets, but the model is a good match nonetheless. 

I like this model a lot so have ordered a couple more from Tumbling Dice to add to the convoy escort flotilla, with a bit of conversion work to make them look different being the plan of action. At only four quid a pop they're a steal. In Torpedoes and Tides I will give them the same profile as Kriegsfischkutters but with depth charges and the option to be over-gunned. It will be interesting to see how they match up against marauding S-Boote!

https://tumblingdiceuk.com/products/isa908-hms-arcady-admiralty-drifter-x1

Torpedoes and Tides - Making a Beginning

I'm putting together the things I need for a first Torpedoes and Tides game, based on the 'Making a Beginning' historical scenario from the rulebook. Unfortunately, I don't have the actual models required, at least for the British, so I'm using the scenario as a template and moving the actions forward to early 1942.

This game will feature two East Coast convoy escort M/L and an MGB sweeping the convoy lane perimeter for E-boats, two of which are attempting to penetrate the defences to attack the merchant ships. The Royal Navy forces will consist of two Fairmile B M/L and one Fairmile C MGB, with the Kriegsmarine deploying two S-29 class S-boote.

There are stats for the Fairmile B and C boats in the rules, but I've worked out the following for this game to reflect combat experience and training, with the MGB given a Swift trait as they were comparatively handy:

Fairmile B M/L

Q2 / C3

Traits: Small / Smoke (2) / Under-gunned

Fairmile C MGB

Q2 / C3

Traits: Small / Smoke (2) / Swift

I've uprated the Q rating due to the later timeframe and consequent experience of the RN crews. The German crews will also be uprated to C2 for the same reason, being veterans rather than inexperienced.

I'm hoping this will balance out but, if not, I can always replay the scenario with adjusted ratings for the crews and possibly tweak the traits for the Fairmile M/L if they are two weak.

Coastal Forces Classic

I used to have an original 1945 hard back edition of this but it literally fell apart, so I'm now reduced to reading a digital copy for my initial holiday project inspiration. I read this years ago but it's a bit of a classic and well worth the time spent re-reading it, especially for scenario ideas. A lot of the actions described in the book have already been turned into game outlines, Mighty Midgets being an obvious source of off the shelf scenarios, but it's always worth rethinking them in relation to specific rules such as Torpedoes and Tides.

Torpedoes and Tides Markers

I've quickly bashed together some Torpedoes and Tides measuring sticks and blinds for the holidays, using some spare bases, sticky labels and wooden dowel from the local craft shop. In the longer term I'll replace these with something more sophisticated but they'll be good for the first few games, while I get to learn the rules. I'm thinking of asking Warbases if they could make a set of markers, range rulers and turning templates in acrylic but will need to try out the rules first to see what is required, I'll also have to ask the author first, of course, but it would be nifty to have a set of markers ready to go!

Coastal Forces Kriegsmarine Reinforcements

Some mid to late war reinforcements for the Kriegsmarine over the last couple of days. These are all the old Skytrex castings, now available from Heroics and Ros, but perhaps a little long in the tooth. They're nice models nonetheless and paint up well once cleaned up and undercoated. I've run out of grey primer so these are in white primer, which I actually prefer as it shows up all the bits you miss when you assemble the buggers! As you can see, there are two Raumboote, four S-100 S-Boote with armoured 'kapotte' and two of the ubiquitous but very versatile M-class minesweeper escorts. Very handy!

Torpedoes and Tides Scenarios

I'm planning some Torpedoes and Tides games for the holidays but, as I have a limited range of models, I'm having to cut my cloth to size. I have a good selection of RN coastal forces craft for the early to mid war period but only S-Boote for the opposition, not counting my unpainted models. As a result, I'm limited to scenarios involving MTB and ML with the odd trawler thrown in for good measure, pitted against E-boats. To get a few scenarios lined up I've been looking back to some that I played ages ago with the fast play Schnell Rules for Schnellboote. One in particular was very enjoyable and can be converted over to Torpedoes and Tides with little effort. There's an after action report here:

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2017/01/schnellboote-after-action-report.html

...good fun!

Gunboat Command

I'm on holiday next week so will have some down time to spend on reading, amongst other things. This is one of the few books on coastal warfare that I haven't yet read so it will be top of the reading list for next week. I have a few more that I'm going to re-read in advance of starting the Torpedoes and Tides project for the summer. I'm also planning on a few basic solo games over the holidays, to try out the rules and get a hang of things like blinds, spotting, movement and firing, ready to upscale to some historical scenarios and a solo campaign in a few months time.

East Coast S-Boote Primary Sources

I was looking for information about Hunt class destroyer escorts this morning, when I bumped into this intelligence report from 1943, which was based on interrogation of the survivors of S-71 after she was rammed and sunk by HMS Garth. It's much more than an account of the action though, with copious detail of the 6th S-Boote flotilla and Kriegsmarine coastal warfare tactics in general. It's a gold mine for anyone interested in historical scenarios and also very useful for campaign background material. You can find scans and transcripts of the whole document here:

http://www.lowestofthistory.com/book/mod_report_garth_0.html

5th S-Boote Flotilla for Torpedoes and Tides

Cruel Seas S-100 and S-38b 1/300th Scale

Ex-Skytrex CF304 S-38 1/600th Scale 

A few years ago, when Cruel Seas was all the rage, I built seven late war models for the 5th S-Boote flotilla, which operated from Cherbourg and the Channel Islands in late 1943 to mid-1944. These included the standard S-100 version with a few additions, primarily some 40mm Bofors mountings, as well as a couple of converted 'cut and shut' models to create the up armoured 38-b variant with retro-fitted 'kapotte' armour. 

I used these a few times in club games but, as I mentioned before, the rules left me a bit unenthused, so they've been sitting in a box since then. I have now gone back to 1/600th scale for the coastal warfare project, so I'm going to reproduce the same unit using the old Skytrex range of models. As my existing E-boats are all S-9 and S-38 versions, I'm going to have to start from scratch for the later war 5th flotilla boats, but the CF304 model is really nice, so it's well worth the effort.