ACW River Terrain Chop Shop

I dug out the jigsaw today and chopped off the river bank pieces from my old scratch built modular terrain. These need to be refurbished but, as it stands, there are nine 12" straight pieces, two 12" by 12" river bends, three end pieces and a small promontory, together with a small island made from a skirmish movement tray. I'll give these a tidy up and repaint then, eventually, use them for 1/600th scale ACW and WW1 riverine actions.

ACW River Terrain Module Upcycling

I tried out my idea to recycle some redundant 1/2400th scale modular river terrain boards into river bank sections for 1/600th scale ACW and WW1 wargaming today. This involved cutting off a river bank length, filing it down, filling and texturing the edge, repainting it and adding some more clump foliage to upscale the vegetation. It's not quite right yet, but as a prototype it's not bad and was quite straightforward to do. I now have about ten more boards to convert, which is going to take me quite a lot of time!

Lake Tanganyika WW1 Project

Long Face Games has made the old Northhead Miniatures 1/600th scale range of models available as STL files on Wargame Vault and David has also  added some additional models of Belgian boats and shore defences. This means that I have an alternative source of models for my Lake Tanganyika WW1 Steamer Wars project in addition to Tumbling Dice. Unfortunately, they are not yet available from Big Jim Prints, so I'll have to wait until he gets them added to his catalogue. In the meantime, I have the old river terrain tiles to modify into modular shoreline sections, which I'm planning to tackle when I get back home from France next week.

Shortcut to Lake Tanganyika

I had one of those very rare moments of inspiration the other day, while thinking about adapting some old river terrain modular sections for 1/600th scale ironclad wargaming. I realised that I could probably use these for Lake Tanganyika for the Steamer Wars project, and a quick Google to check the geography backed this up. In fact, in some ways it's a better use of the old river terrain, as the foliage and static grass I've used is a pretty good match for the East Africa, perhaps with a bit of additional foam foliage added and some beaches modelled along the shore. Bingo!

Steamer Wars Surprise

I mentioned to David Manley the other day that some additional models would be really handy for Lake Tanganyika, as he is the author of Steamer Wars and also a prolific 3D sculpting expert, with an extensive range of STL files available from his Long Face Games range. He replied with a thumbs up and then, much to my surprise, arranged with North Head Miniatures to re-release their range of 1/600th scale models in the Long Face Games range. This is excellent news even if I don't yet own a 3D printer myself, as the Lake Tanganyika models and the extra ones will eventually be available from Big Jim Prints, if it all turns out as usual. In the meantime, I will carry on with the Tumbling Dice range, which is pretty good and almost complete, then eventually supplement or replace selected vessels with the North Head ones. Happy Days!

Steamer Wars Summer Project?

 

I am once again thinking of tackling a Lake Tanganyika mini-project for my holidays, based on the Steamer Wars campaign system and Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale models. These have been stockpiled for a couple of years and would be assembled over the holidays while I am in Brittany, including some conversions to make models that are required but not included in the range.

This idea has been floating around for a few years now but, as my overall focus this year is the First World War, it makes a lot of sense as a holiday project, so much so that I've been in touch with David Manley to ask if he'd design some of the missing boats. 

In fact, it turns out he's already been working on STL files for the Belgian armed barge Dix Tonnes and the launch Netta, not to mention some shore batteries in the distinctive armoured covers, which may or may not appear in the range at some point. It would be great to see some dhows and even the Baron Dhanis added to his 'to do' list as well. 

I even suggested that these might scale up to 1/300th, to appeal to the Cruel Seas fan base, or even 1/200th to complement Rod Langton's excellent coastal forces range but I think that might be a big ask, as it would require all of the other vessels involved to be modelled too. 

Steamer Wars WW1 Africa Project

It's a couple of weeks until the holidays and we'll be off to Brittany as usual. I always take some models to assemble, base and occasionally paint, so have been thinking about what to do this year, given that the focus is the First World War. I fancy something nautical, so my first port of call was Coronel and the Falklands, but I haven't made up my mind about the scale as yet, having both 1/2400 and 1/4800 as options. 

Instead, I'm going to revive a project from a few years ago that didn't get beyond the planning stage, assembling the ships and boats for the campaign on Lake Tanganyika, using the Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale range and some extra bits. This has the advantage of being a bit different and with potential for some conversion or scratch building, as well as being ready to go. 

I'll be using Long Face Games Steamer Wars for this project, perhaps even dabbling with the hex based version of the rules, and will be looking to make some bespoke coastal terrain too. It's a good fit with my First World War theme for this year and I'm looking forward to some games at the end of it, perhaps even a solo campaign over the summer holidays later this year.

Naval November

I haven't decided yet what this month's project will be, but it will naval again and will be focused on one of the things on the 'to do' list that I haven't tackled thus far. This gives me three options, not including more pre-dreadnoughts, including a Napoleonic French squadron in 1/2400th, the 1/600th WW1 East African lake stuff, or another 1/3000th early WW2 fleet following on from the Italian one I painted earlier. As you can see, the latter has my attention at the moment, with the early war Kriegsmarine for Norway being top of the list. This is a nice, self contained project that doesn't require many models and could be tackled in one go, especially as I already have the stuff I need to get cracking. As it is mainly a cruiser and destroyer force, there's also plenty of scope for sone fast paced, naval skirmish wargaming, which is exactly what I like to do.

Naval November (and October)

 

I realized today that my WW1 German insignia decals are either too small or out of register, so I'm going to have to postpone finishing the aircraft until I get some more, although I can complete the RFC models and my Falklands War jets this weekend. After that, I really want a break from air wargaming, so I'm going to dedicate the next couple of months to a naval project from my 'to do' list. This will probably be a pre-dreadnought or late ironclad project, with my Chilean and US cruisers as a starting point, but it could also be the WW1 Steamer Wars Lake Tanganyika project instead. I'll make up my mind over the weekend and then make a start, as I really want get another full-on new naval project stowed away by the end of 2022.

Autumn Age of Sail

Tumbling Dice Napoleonic French Fleet

I have a handful of things to finish off by end of the month but after that I'm thinking of tackling one of the remaining big naval projects on my 'to do' list. I have a choice of 1/600th scale Steamer Wars on the African Lakes in WW1, 1/4800th or 1/2400th or even 1/1200th scale Anglo Dutch ships or the 1/2400th scale Napoleonic French fleet that I  started painting last year. I think I may tackle those first,  as I've made a good start on them, but I am easily swayed so might well do something completely different! 

Tally Ho! Here We Go!

 

As 2021 slips away here are my new and renewed projects for 2022....some of which might even get finished!? I won't be tackling all of these, it's more of a pick and mix smorgasbord of things that I can dip into as I go along.

AIR

Bag the Hun - Finest Hour solo campaign (1/600th scale) 

Algernon Pulls It Off - WW1 (1/600th scale)*

Wings at War - Khalkhin Gol Rules Writing (1/600th scale)

Wings at War - Flames Above the Falklands (1/600th scale)

NAVAL

Steamer Wars - WW1 Lake Tanganyika / Rufiji Delta (1/600th scale)

Find, Fix and Strike - Italian Fleet / British or German Fleet (1/3000th)

Bulldogs Away! - Cold War Imagi-nations Fast Attack Coastal Warfare (1/700th)

Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail - Napoleonic French Fleet (1/2400th)

Broadside and Salvo - French and British Pre-Dreadnoughts (1/2400th)

LAND

Strength and Honour - Imperial Roman / Parthians (2mm)

No End in Sight - Sandbox Skirmish Post Colonial Patrols (15mm)

One Hour Skirmish / The Men Who Would Be Kings - Sudan British / Zulu War (28mm)

* added halfway through the year when I decided to would be fun!

Flotilla Forward for Narrow Seas

This is a newly published supplementary set of 'roleplay light' campaign rules for solo coastal warfare games, aimed squarely at Cruel Seas but useable for any set of suitable rules. I wasn't impressed by Cruel Seas at all, so I will be using them with Long Face Games Narrow Seas, which are a far more 'historical' set of rules altogether, based on tried and tested mechanisms that I'm already familiar with from David's other naval rule systems. 

I may eventually fiddle about with them for Steamer Wars to set up an alternative naval campaign on Lake Tanganyika or somewhere like the Rufiji Delta, where there would be lots of scope for personalised some naval 'derring do' in small, fast (or not so fast) craft. I also have some Langton Miniatures 1/200th scale WW1 coastal motor boats, a coastal U-boat and a 1/180th plastic kit of a Chinese WW1 gunboat that would be great for role play style wargaming, along the lines of Lt Augustus Agar's VC CMB raid on Kronstadt perhaps? 

It's all very exciting and full of potential but perhaps the best thing is that all of the proceeds will be going to a food bank charity, so you really have a good excuse to download a copy from Wargame Vault!

Flotilla Forward - Joseph Legan | Wargame Vault

Lake Tanganyika Steamer Wars

I've been a bit uninspired by the 1/3000th scale Italian naval project of late, so have decided to switch to another of my nautical projects on the 'to do' list for 2021, the 1/600th scale WW1 East African Steamer Wars project. The various Tumbling Dice boats need to be assembled, based and undercoated, so that I can get on and paint them, but there aren't that many to start with. I'll kick off with the German ship and boats first, then move onto the British and Belgian ones afterwards, including a converted Skytrex trawler for the Baron Dhanis. If it all goes smoothly, I'm thinking of possibly having a crack at some bespoke scratch built terrain as well, to use with my existing coastal scenery.

Summer Naval Project 2021

In normal times I take a wargaming project of some sort on my summer holidays, with the aim being to prepare a full set of models ready for painting in the second half of the year.

In the past, this has included an AK47 army, a tribal army for In the Heart of Africa, a Napoleonic French fleet, a fleet of Peter Pig pirate ships, some late Victorian ironclads and various other things, most of which are now gathering dust in storage boxes. It's still a good way to get some lead shifted down the production line and is actually quite an enjoyable thing to do on a quiet evening.

This year it looks like we won't be able to get away, at least not to Brittany, due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions. As a result, I have been debating whether or not to do a project this summer, which would be another naval themed project if it happened. If I do, I'm going to pick from a shortlist of three or four projects, most of which are on my 'to do' list for 2021. 

The front runner is an Italian Regia Marina or IJN fleet in 1/3000th scale, to use against my existing French fleet with the Find, Fix and Strike rules. In second place, is a 1/2400th scale Age of Sail project based on the Isles of Scilly c1650, using the Mad for War rules. In the last place, there's the Steamer Wars WW1 project in 1/600th scale based on Lake Tanganyika. If those don't float my boat, there's always some more 1/2400th scale Victorian ironclads or pre-dreadnoughts to be added to the painting pile.

I'll have to make up my mind soon....!

INWarD 2021

It's International Naval Wargaming Day on the 6th August this year, which as David Manley has astutely pointed out is a Friday, opening up the possibility of more than one game over the weekend or even a mini-campaign of some description. In the past four years, I've focussed the day on ironclad actions but I fancy something a bit different this time around, although I haven't made up my mind as to what it might be. 

Jim's Wargames Workbench: International Naval Wargaming Day (jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com)

The obvious option is to run a series of linked modern Naval Command games, perhaps using my South American forces that are waiting to be painted on the workbench. I also quite like the idea of a WW1 Lake Tanganyika weekend solo campaign, using Steamer Wars and the Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale models that I have set aside for the project. I'll just have to make up my mind, as the clock is ticking and there's some lead to paint up!

Bulldogs Away!

A couple of years ago I started a modern fast attack craft project in 1/700th scale using the Skytrex models and some plastic kits, with the aim being to use the Bulldogs Away! rules for some 'what if?' imaginations AK47 style naval wargaming. This didn't happen but at the weekend I found the box of models that I assembled for the Soviet backed force, so I may well have a go at finishing them as a small project at some point this year, perhaps as an adjunct to the Steamer Wars Lake Tanganyika project that I have on the 'to do' list. It would kill two birds with one stone for a start, as any African lake coastal terrain that I need can be doubled up. In the meantime, as I have the old first edition of the rules, I thought I'd jazz up the rather understated cover a bit, so here it is.

Projects and Plans 2021

Happy New Year!

Here are the things I'm going to be working on this year in my 'Let 'Em Have It 2021' naval wargaming project campaign:

1. 1/300th Cruel Seas

This was in my list last year but didn't happen, primarily as it was aimed at multiplayer club games, but I've had a re-think and will now focus it on scenarios I can run at home, either solo or with the sprogs. The initial focus will be on the Kriegsmarine and the 5th S-Boote flotilla c1944 but I have plans to diversify, with some RN MTB's, MGB's and trawlers to follow.

2. 1/3000th WW2

This was also on my 2020 'to do' list but got sidelined by other things, so it's coming back in 2021 with a focus on the early war Kriegsmarine and Royal Navy, with a specific emphasis on destroyer and cruiser actions, rather than capital ships, at least to start with. I am thinking of using Find, Fix and Strike as the rules for this project, with Naval Thunder as a fall back.

3. 1/2400th Pre-dreadnoughts

I made good progress with this project last year, assembling, basing and undercoating French and Italian fleets from Tumbling Dice, so it would be a shame not to see them painted and in action this year. I'm also considering extending the project to the Sino-Japanese War, which is a really interesting conflict for the early pre-dreadnought period. The rules will be Tsushima or Broadside and Salvo.

4. 1/600th Steamer Wars

This was a project that popped up this year but only got to the planning stage, with the models ordered frim Tumbling Dice but then stashed for a rainy day. The plan is to paint up German, Belgian and British coastal forces for action on Lake Tanganyika, using Steamer Wars and the supplement for the rules. I will probably use my existing coastal terrain for this with a few specific additional features.

5. 1/3000th Cold War Naval

A new project for 2021, although it's something I've thought about doing before, with a focus on the Indonesian Confrontation as a 'What If?' conflict. I've already gathered together two naval forces for this, with the Royal Navy and Indonesian Navy of the mid 1960's well catered for, alongside the aircraft for both sides in 1/600th scale. I also have some sketchy plans for some more up to date modern fleets.

6. 10/15mm WW2 / Modern

I can't just do naval things, so I'm also going to have at least one land based project in 10 or 15mm, having not painted a single figure or vehicle in smaller scales in 2020. I had a go at 28mm painting last year with the Beja army, which reminded me why 15mm is a much better scale for my painting purposes! I am now thinking of starting a 15mm WW2 late war platoon or company level project, or at the very least some 10mm or 15mm modern wargaming perhaps based on Sandbox Skirmish revived, but I'm not making any definitive plans just yet.

No planes this year? No, I'm going to stick to naval projects but there will be some 1/600th scale aircraft required for a couple of these, so I will be able to get some aircraft painted at some point. Will anything else squeeze it's way onto the workbench? Almost certainly, with 1/3000th scale modern fleets and 1/700th scale modern fast attack already in  the side lines, but I will try to stick much more to the straight and narrow in 2021!

Let 'Em Have It!' 2021

I've decided to re-brand my naval wargaming project theme for 2021, from the tried and tested 'Give Us The Ships' to the slightly less obvious but even more direct 'Let 'Em Have It!', just because I think it's about time I re-focussed my efforts. I've got some firm plans for next year and a few tentative projects as well, some of which are being carried over from 2020 and some of which are new twists on old ideas or just completely new. I'll be setting out my overall projects in a few days time, once I've thought it through and devised a short list that will get some chance of being tackled in the next twelve months.

Modular River Terrain Smorgasbord

I've now scratch built a total of seven river terrain boards, giving me a total length of about six feet or a variety of other smaller configurations, which I can lay out as required for specific scenarios. Apart from one board which has a gun battery built in, they are all non scale specific, so I could use them for 1/2400th scale all the way up to 1/600th scale before the river channel becomes too narrow for riverine actions. 

However, if I go on to make some regular terrain boards to use alongside the river sections, there's no reason why I couldn't use them for land based games in 6mm, 10mm or even 15mm at a push. I have a few more 1/2400th scale specific tiles to build including a bridge, a town and an opposed gun battery, but I'm thinking of making these half width boards that can slot into the existing river sections but take less time to construct and less space to store.

Autumn Action Plan

It's back to work next week and I was in today for a briefing, so things are returning to the new normal and wargaming fun may well be in shorter supply. Nonetheless, I've been thinking about my plans for the next three or four months and have some very clear ideas about my projects for the Autumn, most of which continue my Give Us the Ships initiative of the last couple of years

1/2400th ACW Riverine

This came out of nowhere thanks to two weeks of quarantine and some enjoyable play test games of Dahlgren and Columbiad over the holidays. I have almost completed the modular river terrain for this and have painted some of my scratch built ironclads, so only need to paint the remaining gunboats, rams and transports to be able to run a game. I'll also convert the Andy Callan simple ACW rules to 1/2400th scale, as they are spot on for the sort of low key, beer and pretzels flavour game that I'm looking for.

Bombers over Germany

This is my other plan for when the ACW project has been wrapped up, but its still in an early stage of development, with only the aircraft in their bare metal state and nothing actually started beyond a quick skim of the rules. I will use this as a break from my naval themed pursuits and I'm really looking forward to painting the B17's, Thunderbolts and Lightnings in their olive drab mid-war camouflage schemes. The crosshairs will be aimed firmly at a club multiplayer game at some point in 2021.

The Back Up Plan

No plan survives contact with the 'list of things to be done around the house' so, as a back up plan I have several enticing options including the 1/600th scale Steamer Wars WW1 boats, the 1/600th scale Dinassault French Indochina amphibious warfare idea, the 1/2400th scale Late Victorian ironclads and even the 1/600th scale Football War aircraft, assuming my Wings at War rules get published at some point in the near future (watch this space for news about that).