Russo-Japanese War Fleets: Done! - No Wait, I am a Channeling Clark Griswold.....

It was time to take a break from the 15mm Stalingrad project.  Finishing up the Russo-Japanese War project by painting up the ships seemed like a grand idea and last night the labeling of the last ships and flotillas of the Japanese fleet was done.

Sitting back to admire my work - to bask in the glory of my creation I heard a familiar sound playing in my head.  You've likely heard it to.  It was the musical notes played during the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when Rusty asks his dad if he brought a saw after trekking out miles into the wood to  find the perfect Christmas tree.  Here, let me remind you:

I noticed something wrong with one of the labels on a Japanese cruiser - the old 3rd class Niitaka.  There was something off with the flag.  It seems I manage to put 2 flag images on the label and they were slightly offset.

Oh well, its only 1 ship - who cares, right?  Well just to be safe, I checked the others and, well ummm, it seems this double image problem was on every label save one - the Battleship Mikasa.  That's when I heard that familiar Kettle Drum sound.

It seems I was a bit over-zealous with my copy and paste in excel when making the labels and managed to put multiple copies of the image on the labels.  This is a great example of being too focused on completion rather than quality.  Todays project inbetween business calls will be to re-label the Japanese fleet and then double check the Russian labels.

Somewhere, Homer Simpson is smiling.

Game Night at the Club: Coral Sea

Last night we play-tested a new naval game from a local game designer.  We re-fought the coral sea campaign with Chal and I commanding the Japanese and pitted against Ed and Dave commanding the allies.  While there were a few rough parts in combat resolution, the game was very fun - it  did a great job of simulating carrier operations and the searching mechanism's were easy yet fun.

As we haven't communicated the clubs thoughts about the game to the author, so I'm going to hold off any specific comments.  I think this will be a very fun game and I enjoyed helping to playtest it.

Earlier in the day the Nola campaign resumed and there will be a rather large battle in the next few weeks.

We did socially distant and wear masks while playing our games last night because it's the right thing to do.  Some club members also helpfully pointed out that my wearing of a mask actually improves my appearance so masks also have that going for them.

Russo-Japanese War Fleets

I finally got a little painting mojo back and started to paint up the ships I got from War Times Journal for the Russo-Japanese War.  First up are the Russian fleets based in Port Arthur (upper left) and Vladivostok (lower right).  These will have the following paint scheme (all Vallejo paints)

Hull: Olive Drab
Deck: Deck Tan
Superstructure: Khaki Grey
Funnels: Ochre Brown
Life Boats: White

The ships will get a very thin black ink wash and then get based up.

The second picture shows the rest of the ships, well I picked up models for every ship involved in the conflict - On the right side is the Russian Baltic fleets that came over to reinforce their Pacific forces in the form of the 3rd and 4th Pacific Fleets.  These fleets will have a paint scheme of:

Hull: Black Grey
Deck: Deck Tan
Superstructure: Medium Grey
Funnels: Ochre Brown
Life Boats: White

Of course, if one has Russians, one also needs a Japanese opponent, which you can see on the left side of the second picture.  These have just been primed grey and had their decks painted (Iraqi Sand).  I used a different deck color form the Russians to make it easier for players to identify the two sides.  The Japanese paint scheme will be a medium grey for both the hulls and superstructures and white for the life boats.

In addition to the Japanese Warships, I purchased 8 freighters/transports which can be seen at the bottom of the line of Japanese ships.

These models are 1/2400 scale and are resin prints.  They are superb and paint up really well.  I highly recommend War Times Journal - these little ships are fantastic.

The WTJ line is extensive for this period and I have a model for every capital ship in the War.  I also have models for all the Destroyers and Torpedo Boats but those are still in their bags and will get painted when the bases arrive.

At 1/2400 scale, each capital ship is 2 - 2.75 inches long.  The destroyers and torpedo boats are .75 - 1.0 inches long and still have a lot of detail.

Once these fleets are done, I'll need to finish up the land armies - I'm a little over halfway there. 

My goal is to put on a Russo-Japanese War convention game with both land and naval engagements.  The next big convention here in the US is Fall In, which is scheduled to for October 22-25 of this year.  I've got hotel reservations set for the con but think it's a 50/50 chance it can be held.  I actually need two things to be true (1) The Convention can be held and (2) My lovely, yet fierce Dr Wife grants me the OK to attend for health reasons.  If Fall In isn't viable there's always Cold Wars in March'21.  The main point is I have a lot of time to both get ready and procrastinate.  I  wonder which one will be in the majority?

Another Project: Rebasing SOL's for Saturday

In addition to frantic preparations for Historical, there is a large club game being held this Saturday.  I'm contributing some ships to the effort and they all needed to be rebased and relabeled.

The rebasing is done and the labels have been printed out and need to be attached.

I also need to figure out a better transport systems as these Langtons are a little on the delicate side.

I'm going to need a vacation after all this intense hobby stuff!

Sail & Steam Navies: Battle of Mobile Bay

Last Monday I put on an ironclads game at the club using Sail and Steam Navies and 1/600 scale ironclads.  I thought the game went really well and I had three players, all of whom were new to S&SN as a ruleset.

The scenario was the Battle of Mobil Bay but with reduced fleets as I just don't have enough Union Screw Sloops and Frigates to flesh out all of Farragut's 18 Ship Union Fleet.   The Union Attacked with 10 ships .

It was a very bloody affair with the Union loosing four ships and having four others very badly damaged.  The Confederates eventually lost the Tennessee but Fort Morgan was still holding on.

I need to tone down my riles form Torpedos as I think they were way too powerful.

All in all, it was a grand game and I look forward to doing more.  The game has also provided me a reason to go ahead and purchase the models to do the entire Union fleet.  Its for the club, not me....

AHPC IX: Frigate in 15mm scale

 The sixth of a planned fleet of seven ships is done - well "done-ish".  I'll add some rigging once a few playlists a are completed.

The model is a 22 gun Frigate from Thoroughbred Miniatures and was a blast to do.

 This summer, she'll be the flagship of the French squadron.

 There's also some crew figures (20 of them)

Dry Dock

Lots of 15mm ships under construction in the Lair's dry docks.

Ship building is messy business - very messy business.

AHPC IX: Second Submission - British Marines, Wagons and a Gunboat

 The second submission for this year's challenge is proof that while AB miniatures are superb nothing can beat the combination of good quality and great value from Old Glory's Blue Moon line - especially if one purchases the army Card 40% discount card.

 First up are 56 Old Glory British Marines organized into two units.

 These are really nice figures but I found painting them to be a bit of a struggle.  That's solely due to my limited skill set and not the quality of the minis.

 Next up are some Wagons - one never sees enough Wagons and general logistics on a tabletop!  Like the Marines, these minis are from Old Glory and are superb.

 And lastly, we have a simple gunboat from Thoroughbred Miniatures.  I've got six more much bigger ones to finish over the next few months!

This submission netted a tidy 238 points, and was a good jumping off point towards my trek to 3,000.

Challenge Prep (yet again)

One of my goals for this years Challenge is to build 7-8 15mm scale Napoleonic ships.  Theses are not First Rate ships of the line but a few will be frigate class.  The models I'm building are from the wonderful Sea Eagles line from Thoroughbred Miniatures.  The kits are fantastic but have a lot of parts!

There are two ships in the picture - if you squint you can see a simple gunboat armed with a single 32 pounder cannon.  It's about 5 inches long.  At the bottom is the 17 gun USS Onieda which is a bit more involved.  I do love building ship models but have my work cut out for me right now.  Not sure if I'll fall the Oneida as British or French but lets see how the fleets shake out.

These ships will be part of my upcoming 2019 Historicon which will be a very fictional battle simulation Napoleons invasion of Britain.  The scenario will have the British player trying to affect the escape by sea of King George.  I still need to find some 15/18mm scale miniatures for to use for his Royal Highness and coach - any suggestions?

Another Game of Trafalgar

Last night I hosted another game of Trafalgar.  It was the same scenario from the club game w/ some minor variations. The scenario objective is for the French/Spanish fleet to escort a frigate (in the harbor) off the far side of the board.  The only change from the previous game is there is only one frigate rather than two.  Last game was a decisive victory for the French/Spanish fleets.

The Spanish and British close for close action - the Brits (me) managed to get a maneuvering advantage over the Spanish (Eric) and we crossed the "T" of the Santisima

A wider shot of the game showing the French fleet (Chris) splitting up - sending the Bucentaure to aid the Spanish while having two other third rates continue to escort the frigate around the other side of the Island

Things didn't go well for the Spanish tonight as the Santisima was pounded into match sticks.  The Bucentaure also was sunk after accidentally ramming the Victory.

The outcome of the game.  My British fleet won a decisive victory in battle terms sinking or disabling 5 of 6 enemy ships of the line - a much better showing than last game.  There's only one fly in that ointment - the objective frigate still got off the board with barely a scratch so the win goes again to the crafty French and their brave Spanish allies.

It was a good game and still very close, so I like the scenario and will continue to refine it.

Trafalgar Game at the Club

I recently joined a local war gaming club, Army Group York.  Yes, I was just as surprised as you there is a club with standards low enough for me to qualify, but there you go.

After playing some wonderful games at the club facility, I wanted to run my first game there and went with and old standard - Napoleonic Naval.  Naval games are very easy to transport and look surprisingly good.

The scenario was simple - a combine force of French and Spanish ship had to escort a frigate with a special envoy aboard across the far map edge.

The French had 3 ships (upper center) which were a 2nd Rate and two 3rd rates.  The Spanish (lower center) also had three ships - a lumbering 1st rate and 2 3rd's.  They were escorting two frigates - one of which held the envoy - the British player did not know which Frigate the envoy was on.

The blockading British Squadron was similar in size with 6 Ships of the line - a 1st rate and 5, 3rd rates (upper left) plus two frigates (lower left)

The British admiralty looks on as they plot maneuvering around the Island - which way will the frigates go?

Lots of maneuvering

Contact - the Spanish line comes in a gun duel with the Victory's division and comes off a little worse for the exchange.

 The Franco/Iberian coalition changed plans midway during the game and kept the frigates to the right side go the board.  The Spanish were nominated to delay the British force and did so very well but paid for it in some sunk and disabled ships.  I am sure the French will remark upon there brave allies in their dispatches.

Ed's line of three 3rd rates closes in on the battered Spanish.  He managed to sink a 3rd rate outright and so massive damage to the 1st rate (the lead ship).  The Spanish still fought bravely with the 1st Rate managing to ram and grapple the Mars and was attempting to take her with a boarding action.

The other British division found itself out of place and couldn't catch the French as they escorted the frigates.  The wind was not our friend as it changed course several times and almost always put us in irons as it kept changing to come across our bows.

The two British Frigates got shot to pieces - Frigates should never take on Ships of the Line.  It doesn't end well......

We called the game as a French/Spanish victory and I think all the players had fun.  I'm sure I got a lot of rules wrong but thought the game moved along well.

I was using one of my Cigar Box double sided battle mats and it really worked well.  It's made of a fleece material which has the added benefit of showing the ship tracks as they moved across the table top.  That made it really easy for players top retrace movement when they made a mistake or re-thought something.

I was very pleased to learn that another club member has a collection of 1/1200 Langton's models.  We may even have enough to try and re-stage the Battle of Trafalgar!  Maybe.....

By the way, Ed and I are sporting some very stylish footwear!

The Fleets are currently in the ship yard nestled in their dry docks

There will be a naval aspect to next years game that will feature a minimum of 4 ships for the french fleet against a 3 ship (plus shore batteries) British one - all in 15mm scale.  If the modeling goes well there will be more ships.

Iv'e had a lot of these kits for years mouldering on the lead pile and am using the 2019 game as a reason to build them.  All of the models are from the fantastic Thoroughbred Miniatures Sea Eagles line.

 Here are the 4 French ships, including a 22 gun frigate

The British currently will have three ships - including a super fast / maneuverable mercenary Xebec.

Hmmm whats the scenario?  You'll just have to wait and find out.....

15mm Napoleonics & 3D Printing

 Next year's Historicon game, as currently envisioned, will require a lot of new 15mm scale early 19th century terrain and I wanted to see how 3D printing might be put to use.  There is also an ulterior motive in that I wanted to get my tech-expert son back involved with the hobby.

Pictured is out first "co-production" - a walled French farmhouse in 15mm scale.  I think it came out really well.  Please note these pieces are just butted up together and haven't been fully cleaned up yet.

I purchased the 3D printable files from a company called Printable Scenery.  The files are originally scaled for 28mm but it's very easy to scale them down to 15 by setting the scale function to 60%.

I'm really happy with how these came out and will mount and scenic the farmstead over the next few days.  

The whole thing consists of 18 separate pieces.

One of the cool things about 3D printing is the ability to have interior details in the print.  The Barn has full interior detailing while the house model does not.  The more detail one has the longer it takes to print and I selected the house file that didn't have interior detail for speed up the process.

The lower level of the house.

I'm printing at the recommended layer height of 0.2MM.  You can't see the striations from 12 inches but if one gets up close they become apparent.  Dealing with theses striations is print material dependent.  A quick wipe with an acetone laces rage will clean them up in ABS.  I use the cheaper PLA material - it's plant based, biodegradable and doesn't give off any gasses while been formed.  Acetone doesn't work on PLA and I'd need to resort to a VERY light sanding.  I'm going to see how these paint up and  then decide if they need to be sanded.  If the 12 inch rule still holds I doubt I'll bother with it.

I also printed up some lengths of stone walls (also from Printable Scenery) and really happy with how they came out.

Looks like everything is perfect in 3D print land right?

Not Exactly.....

 First get ready for a lot of your prints to look like this.  "Bed Adhesion" or having the printed object stick to the print platform is one of the more common issues one struggles with.  If the item moves the tiniest amount the print job is ruined and you need to start over.

Another factor is 3D printing is VERY SLOW.  The farmstead consists of 18 individual pieces and I think it took close to 23 hours of total print time - excluding time lost on miss prints!!!

3D Printing is also a very young technology and isn't exactly user friendly.  In fact, I doubt I would have been able to get anything done without the help of my son and his Carnegie-Mellon University tech education.  For me one of the goals of this project was to do something with him so that was perfect but if you're not technically inclined or have access to the free expertise of your offspring, this tech may be a bit early for you.

What printer am I using - a Creality CR-10S.  It's a printer with very good reviews and was moderately priced at roughly  $550.00 US

It was the model my son recommended we get.  There are other printers on the market that are less expensive but when the "pro" says buy the creality - I said Yes!

I did have to assemble this printer which Sean actually made me do myself to familiarize myself with the parts.  That was a really good idea and the thing worked on the first try!

 So is 3D printing the next revolution for miniature gaming.  I think long term yes but shot term (next 5 years) I'm can't decide - color me intrigued.  Hopefully with some more experience down the road, I'll be able to render a more definitive opinion.

I'm also trying to learn 3D modeling so I can make my own print files.  My goal is to make a 15mm scale 74 gun ship on the line - we'll see how that works out....

AHPC VI: A ship and a Greyhound

 Not a lot of painting was done this week - as ingle 1/1200 scale Langton third rate and a 28mm M8 Greyhound armored car.

 I present to you the USS Columbus a 74 gun third rate that was launched in 1819 and joins my small but powerful US fleet for some "what-if" gaming

 The rigging is minimal as it just doesn't hold up that well on the table top.

 A M8 Greyhound for Warlord games.  Some of the metal detail parts were horribly cast so I couldn't use them.  Instead I made some sand bags to cover up where the mangled headlights should have gone.

Not a huge submission but at least it was something...