Endgame in Sight!

Two of the final pieces required for the battle report to be found in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War. No prizes for guessing what the Jenga blocks are for. A bonus point if anyone can tell me what needs to be done to the Confederate ironclad - super detailing it or replacing it with a commercially available model as an answer will earn you instant disqualification!

Thanks to a mahoosive amount of work by the Editor-in-Chief, Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War, is now really close to being ready for publication! I have some pictures to organise and the battle contained therein needs to be fought and written up but once that has done it is off for proofreading. There will then be some tidying up to take care of and then bingo! “Thar she blows!” 

As mentioned previously, this has taken me a lot longer than I originally envisaged to produce and if I am completely honest, it will be with some degree of relief that it gets ‘out there’, so to speak.

For the battle that will feature in the book I have to slightly modify one of the Confederate ships being used and I will also have to complete an item of terrain that will feature. I should also mention that any resemblance to the battle and anything remotely historical will be purely coincidental….

In the words of ‘Ol Blue Eyes….”and now, the end is near….” 

Turtle Ships and Samurai

Between 1592 and 1598, Japan invaded Korea twice, with the ultimate aim of conquering China. The expectation that Korea could be subdued easily en route to China but ultimately this was not the case. The Koreans, assisted by the Chinese, fought the vaunted Samurai armies to a standstill until they finally withdrew in 1598, following the death of the Taiko: Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The two invasions were marked by unbelievably savage fighting on land - in which the Koreans certainly gave as good they got - and some quite remarkable battles at sea. At it is the war at sea that has formed a new post ACW project for me for which, mercifully, I will not be making the models!

The starter set from MT Miniatures with the list of contents listed on the box.

The Indefatigable David Manley drafted the rules which come in the starter set as well as being available on Wargames Vault under his Long Face Games label. He has also penned a set designed for large scale actions of the period called “Those Who Seek Death” as well as a couple of scenario PDFs. Aside from the rules, David has also included a potted history of the war as well as descriptions of the main ship types - in short everything one would need to get started in the period.

Game accessories - all laminated but needing to be carefully cut out

The ships that come with the starter set (1:1200th scale white metal) - needless to say I have expanded the choice and number available somewhat!

A painting guide for the Korean ships - note the famous ‘turtle ship’ in the centre….

….and also for the Japanese.

The ‘Imjin War’ and the later ‘Chongyu War’ (essentially the first and second invasion respectively) are not exactly mainstream naval history in the West but a very useful history of the period has been penned by the renowned expert on matters Far Eastern - Stephen Turnbull. By chance I saw a copy of this on ebay for next to nothing and immediately hoovered it up - and am really glad that I did! Although it is not a naval history as such, the exploits of the famous Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin - celebrated as a national hero in the same way that Nelson is - with his turtle ships against the Japanese invading forces feature throughout. 

A really useful book on the period - as are his other titles, primarily focussed on the Samurai

In a nutshell the Koreans largely dominated the naval scene wherever they found the Japanese ships so on the face of it the conflict would appear to be pretty one-sided. However, whilst the Koreans had stronger ships with better artillery, the Japanese had numbers, lighter and possibly handier ships (although with far fewer guns) and a willingness to get into hand to hand combat wherever possible. It was the outstanding leadership of Admiral Yi that provided the command expertise to the technological edge the Koreans possessed. The Japanese did have a few successes but not against Admiral Yi.

A modern replica of a Korean ‘Geobukseon’ - the ‘Turtle Ship’.

Gaming Thoughts

I must admit that this is not a period of naval warfare I would have considered were it not for David Manley’s rules and the models from MT Miniatures. In fact I would go further and say that I had never even heard of such a conflict other than as a mention in the book Shogun by James Clavell!

Despite the relatively obscure nature of this conflict, at least in the West, there is plenty to get one’s naval teeth into. Much of the combat was fought in sight of land so there is scope for some terrain in the form of fishing villages and small islands etc. The ships are quite simple in terms of design and paint scheme (a BIG advantage for me!) and have a distinctive look about them. There is little rigging to speak of and the ships use both sails and oars for propulsion. There are plenty of exotic weapon types in use and even early mines! Aside from the Koreans and Japanese there is also the Chinese including the inevitable war junk - a model that is useful for all sides.

I like the two differing tactical approaches so you have the ‘stand off and batter using gunfire’ doctrine used by the Koreans as opposed to the faster ‘get up close, board and butcher’ system favoured by the Japanese.

I have fancied tackling something 16th century based from a naval perspective but had never considered this conflict but I reckon it will be a lot of fun in an anarchic sort of way.

The land side of the war could possibly be catered for using Command and Colours: Samurai Battles although there are no rules that I am aware of that cater for the Koreans, or the Chinese for that matter. A trawl through the various facebook groups that cover the Command and Colours series may prove fruitful but that will be for another day.

First things first  though - ACW and DTPIW!

Squared Away

As part of the preparation for DTPIW I spent some time reworking some of the firing arc pictures as I was not really happy with the original versions. They now look like this:

For use with the ‘two square per model’ variant when operating orthagonally.

The same for diagonals

The ‘single square’ variant when operating orthagonally

And the same diagonally.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that for the single square option the forward and aft wide arcs (FW and AW) appear to be only covering the area off the bow and stern respectively. This is deliberate but such guns will still be available to use on a broadside if required. There is a rule that covers this and also clarifies the concept of partial grid areas.

I will need to slightly amend the appropriate text to better explain my thinking around this.

In other news, plans are afoot for another action to be fought at the club - this time on the high seas - and every ship present will have a full sailing rig!

We Are Where We Are….Closer!

From a previous action fought on a square grid. The CSS Morgan, covered with hit markers and with the three sinking markers of doom….

Work on DTPIW at last has a finishing line in sight! All of the key components are in place and the final touches will follow shortly. There will inevitably be some amendments and tweaks before going to print but the core stuff is all there. It has been a decidedly clunky process getting to where it is now this time around! The Portable Ironclads Wargame is a self-contained book and is structured in a relatively sensible and, dare I say it, logical way. I have tried to do the same with the Developing title but it has in may cases felt like herding cats as ideas have come and gone and add-ons have popped up to muddy the waters (quite appropriately in the case of the Mississippi!).

I think that the key thing for me has been to get clear in my mind exactly what this book is and more importantly, what it is not - and to be honest, this has given me much food for thought.

I can say definitively though, that it is most certainly not a second edition! In many ways it is like a special edition DVD/Blu-ray - you know the ones that include the additional and deleted scenes, ‘bloopers’ and sundry other bits and pieces. 

In many ways this book has been more difficult to get organised than the original, mainly because I have chopped and changed my mind about much of the content - usually with no apparent rhyme or reason. There has also been a veritable smorgasbord of real world stuff to contend with - stuff that puts pushing models ships around and agonising over firing arcs etc into their proper perspective.

Anyway, it is now at last and finally on the right track in terms of what I wanted to do and so I am looking forward to wrapping things up and getting it out there.

In no particular order then, the contents include the following:

Alternative firing methods

Alternative movement and manoeuvring ideas

Alternative initiative ideas

Using a square grid

Using a single hex/square grid

Expanded ACW ship specifications

Expanded bibliography

And of course, a battle report!

This book will not be the end of the Portable Ironclads Wargame, nor will it be the end of my ACW project. I have some more models to build and so my original estimate of ‘around a dozen or so generic models’ will have increased tenfold - at a minimum!

It has been an epic journey so far and one that I have enjoyed far more than I would have ever expected - I have also stuck with it for far longer than I would have expected!

“No Sailor but a Fool attacks a Fortress!….Again!

This rather splendid picture was taken by Mr Fox and shows the situation after the first turn from the Confederate side. Note the floating battery that is the CSS Louisiana in the centre foreground and the looming bulk of the USS Benton heading towards the Fort. 

Yesterday evening saw a largish ACW naval game taking place at the club, using the Portable Ironclads Wargame, a selection on my models and two sides each of two players. First of all a big thank you to Messrs Fox, Huband, Kightly and Slater for taking part - an enjoyable time was had by all and once again, there is no substitute for practical playing experience when designing a set of rules!

The action was a Union attack against a small Confederate fort, protected by minefields (torpedoes in the terminology of the time, as Mr Fox graciously reminded me) and supported by a number of naval vessels.

The Union force, commanded by Mr Huband with Mr Slater as his number two, consisted of the USS Benton (Flag), USS Essex, USS Carondelet, USS Louisville - these are all ironclad gunboats - along with the USS Iosco and USS Metacomet - these are two ‘double-ended’ gunboats. The Confederates, Mr Fox commanding ably assisted by Mr Kightly, fielded the CSS Manassas, CSS Louisiana, CSS Morgan and CSS Gaines. There was also the small fort that went by the name of Fort Unately.

Now I apologise in advance for the somewhat disjointed narrative that follows, I have come to realise that it is far easier to write one when fighting an action solo as there are far fewer distractions to deal with! The rules and QRS worked well although one issue did arise during the action. It was not a huge problem but will require a minor addition. As an aside several situations arose that have given me pause for thought but that will be for another day.

The number of pictures is few and the Union opted to change their initial deployment from that of the picture below - essentially the two central columns swapped sides - so the USS Benton (currently the large vessel at the top of the ‘diamond’ in the bottom left corner - with the USS Essex took over the places currently occupied by the USS Carondelet and the USS Louisville. I forgot to take a picture of the new deployment!

The Action Unfolds

The starting positions from the Union side

The view from the South. The black dots represent potential minefields. The CSS Manassas is at the top of the picture, the CSS Morgan and the CSS Gaines are in line ahead approaching the clear channel that separates the two headland minefields. The looming bulk of the CSS Louisiana sits at anchor to the right of Fort Unately.

The Union starboard column with the flagship, the USS Benton, flanked by the USS Metacomet, approach the Rebel fort. The Confederates immediately open fire, with the Metacomet taking damage.

Whilst the Union manoeuvre to engage the fort, the two Confederate gunboats nose cautiously into the channel - into the teeth of the enemy! 

This is where things get a little confusing. Fort Unately and the CSS Morgan - currently surrounded by all four Union ironclads - envelop the Union flagship is a hail of fire and so she settles by the bow (in game turns will sink in four turns as indicated by the markers). The USS Iosco, in a desperate bid to get into action, noses into a minefield.

A closer view of the action. The minefield was determined to contain three devices (Mr Fox rolled a 6) so things were looking pretty dire for the Union ship until he rolled for effect - two 1s and 2! - the Union relief was palpable!) In fairness to Mr Fox his shooting was phenomenal with a veritable deluge of 6s being rolled….

Several things happened at once. The CSS Louisiana pivoted in place to provide fire support but was effectively masked by the two gunboats in the channel. The CSS Manassas cautiously picked her way to the edge of the same channel so as to support her countrymen. Meanwhile the CSS Morgan paid dearly for her temerity as the Union fleet pulverised her into matchwood - she would not go easily though as her sinking roll was - you guessed it - yet another Mr Fox inspired 6!

With the two Confederate gunboats resolutely placed in the channel between the minefields - albeit with one sinking - and with the attack on the fort ignominiously failing, the decision was taken to halt the action. 

The two Confederate ironclads were undamaged, as was the fort, so the tactical victory went to the gentlemen of the South. From a strategic perspective this action, although costing the Union an ironclad, would represent little more than a speed bump as to their progress towards the main Rebel seaport of Static Bay. The ‘death ride’ of the two Confederate gunboats, whilst effective was costly as with the leading ship - the sinking CSS Morgan - and the following CSS Gaines in a decidedly unenviable position, best by avenging Union warships of assorted types. They would be back and in greater numbers meaning that the writing was on the wall for the Confederate fort and the small naval base. As soon as the mortar rafts could be towed into position they should be able to batter the Rebel fort into submission - unimpeded by any meaningful Confederate naval presence.

Or would it?

A Rule Writer’s Thoughts

Hmm. There are a few wrinkles that only practical playing experience can highlight and so it was a valuable exercise for me. There will need to be a minor tweak to the QRS - nothing major - and a couple of additional ideas to play around with to be included in the forthcoming Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War. 

I have also come to realise that just because I can do something it does not always mean that I should….

As always, many thanks once again to Messrs Fox, Huband, Kightly and Slater for their time and invaluable input.

 

DTPIW: Once More Unto the Breach....And all that!

Not exactly the forces that will be action soon but there are similarities. The Mobile Bay Confederate ships the CSS Tennessee leading followed by the CSS Selma flanked by the CSS Morgan and Gaines.

This coming Wednesday evening will see another run out of The Portable Ironclads Wargame at the club - and it promises to be a doozy! There will some ships in action that have never graced the table top but more importantly, some new players will be taking part for the first time.

It will also be a relatively large action - around a dozen models all told - with a fort and minefields to contend with, at least for the Union that is.

I have also finalised a QRS for use with The Portable Ironclads Wargame which will be road tested as part of the game. I cannot claim that it has been a wholly individual exercise - a number of significant contributions have come from various quarters - as many suggestions have been made in getting it to where it is now. They know who they are and have my grateful thanks.

There will be an after action report but for now it is sufficient to relate that the game is the final act of the trilogy of battles that started with Gridded Naval Wargames by Bob Cordery, set along the 'great father of waters' the mighty Missenhitti river.

Command and Colours: Medieval(?)

The modest selection of titles I own covering much of the material from the base game - note the hardback version of the venerable Armies of the Dark Ages.

It Is fairly safe to say that the majority of readers of this blog will be familiar with the Command and Colours series of games designed by Richard Borg. The Medieval version takes as its starting point the end of the Roman Empire in the West and finished up at the end of the 6th century. I do not consider myself to be well read in the period at all but in my mind calling this period Medieval feels a little off but I am sure that wiser heads than mine can explain the whys and wherefores!

Anyways, before moving on the Crusades expansion (which I why I purchased the base game in the first place and then waited ages for the expansion to be published!) I figures that it would be a good idea to acquaint myself with the wars of the early Byzantines centred on Belisarius of Robert Graves’s Count Belisarius fame - despite the artistic licence!

Starting with the WRG book - and what gamer of the period hasn’t? - I added a few other titles over time to round out my knowledge of the period. With the exception of the Belisarius title all have featured on the blog at some point in the past. The Belisarius title is the latest addition and I am really enjoying reading it.

It is one of those books that is very self contained in that it starts with setting the scene of the period, traces the life of Belisarius and his campaigns, looks at the armies of the period and how they were equipped and fought as well as including maps and brief biographies of the key personalities. It is not a perfect title in that here are a few irritating typos but make no mistake - if you only had one book on the period I would absolutely recommend this one!

At the time of writing I am just getting to the war in Africa against the Vandals after his earlier campaign against the Persians. This is one of the irritating typos - Sasanid rather than Sassanid….

Despite my earlier reservations - mainly because of a lack of knowledge of the period - I am looking forward to enjoying some games set in the 6th century before moving on to the main course of the Crusades - which in my world is firmly in the Medieval timeframe!

For the record I have absolutely no intention of painting armies for this period nor for the Crusades - although the idea of using 3mm has a certain appeal….

Just saying….

DTPIW: A Big Chunk of Progress

Oh no - not another firing arc diagram!

It has been a busy but rewarding day working on Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame. The final chapters (with the exception of the battle report - which has yet to be organised, let alone fought!) have been sent over to the Editor-in-Chief and for the first time in a while I can sense the finishing line being in sight!

Pictures are being added and once the new text has been incorporated and sent back to me for review - there are a few minor changes here and there - we can think about publishing which, all being well, will be during this half of the year.

The picture you see is a taster of what you can expect - no context though, that will spoil the surprise!

More on Fighters of the Pacific

Looking forward to giving this a spin - there is a solo system included - and am thinking about how best to ‘elevate’ the aircraft counters.

Following on from my earlier post about Fighters of the Pacific, today saw the arrival of the Midway expansion set, all the way from the US of A! I now have both expansions for the game - Coral Sea being the other - which means that some South Pacific carrier air action may well be imminent! There are some kickstarter bits and pieces that would be nice to have but are not really essential and besides, I have to keep myself in check for when the European version is launched later this year.

The Midway set, aside from the usual Wildcat, Dauntless, Devastator and Zero, Kate and Val types, also includes Buffaloes, B26s and Avengers. Both the expansions include a five scenario mini-campaign that features key points of the respective operations.

Nice and compact - it all lives in the base game box - and ready to roll so I reckon I should do something about it over the weekend.

A Mixed Bag of Goodies

Ancient galleys of all shapes and sizes at war over some five centuries. 

The back of the box

With the last flurry of activity in relation to the ongoing ‘churn and burn’ of my collection, I scored three items that have been on the acquisition list for a while. I can honestly say (said no wargamer ever!) that I am now at a convenient break point from all the ‘ducking and diving’ of recent months!

There are a couple of other items I have my eye on that have yet to be released but for now that is it.

First up is a board game I have been casting covetous eyes on for some time. War Galley is a tactical board game representing ancient naval warfare so lots of biremes, triremes and larger types feature with all the usual ‘ancient galley style shenanigans’ one would expect - oar rakes, the ‘Diekplus’, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Egyptians, Carthaginians and a whole pile of scenarios. This copy is unpunched and comes complete with the Salamis expansion set, several scenarios from magazines as well as the counters required to refight the naval battle from the film Ben Hur - “Row well and live!”

I still have all the material for my planned Salamis project - including a whole pile of MDF triremes. I have a feeling that using this board game may make the refight happen sooner rather than later - even if it does not it will still be a whole lot easier to set up.

Sagittarius Rising on the left (a Folio edition) and the outstanding work by Prof. Philip Sabin on ancient battles and how to game them.

The other two acquisitions are of the book variety. Sagittarius Rising covers the life of Cecil Lewis from 1915 to 1921 as a flyer and trainer of flyers. I read this in paperback a number of years ago so getting a cheap hardback Folio edition was a no brainer. Perfect inspiration for my ‘cardboard aircraft’ WW1 aerial project!

Lost Battles I have owned but but copy went missing some time ago and whilst a paperback edition was published this hardback edition came up at a very good price so again, it was too tempting to turn down. The book is essentially a toolkit to recreate ancient battles using a grid.

What’s not to like?

Very happy with all three of the above and at the time of writing I have one further acquisition that is currently en route from the US of A which will finish a particular project off. 

In the meantime though, back to DTPIW and also the flying bases and cardboard aircraft!

The Second Day of Hampton Roads

Yesterday evening saw Messrs Fox and Huband once again taking command of a selection of ships for a ‘based upon’ Hampton Roads - the second day thereof - game using the Portable Ironclad Wargame. Once again that ‘Will ‘o the wisp of the bounding main!” Aka Mr Fox, assumed command of the Confederates, represented solely by the CSS Virginia. Mr Huband took command of the USS Monitor and the grounded USS Minnesota.

Historically the CSS Virginia sallied forth to finish off the USS Minnesota but was prevented from doing so by the appearance of the USS Monitor.

So much for the history….

In the action that followed - and apologies for the brevity of this report - the CSS Virginia initially largely ignored the USS Monitor and headed straight for the USS Minnesota, firing as she went. Despite the size of the Union vessel she was ‘sunk’ in fairly short order due in part to some ferocious Confederate gunnery (never again will I listen to Mr Fox bemoaning his dice luck!). The USS Monitor eventually got to grips with the Confederate ironclad by the simple expedient of parking herself across the bows of the CSS Virginia and exchanging fire at point blank range to telling effect. It was all the invitation that the CSS Virginia needed though, and so she duly rammed the Union ship - to no effect! However, following the post ram attack optional free turn, the Confederate ship was now facing the right way headed towards home and so with little likelihood of being overhauled by the USS Monitor, we called the action.

The Union ship could have pursued the CSS Virginia but as they both had the same speed (2) the best that they could have done would have been to maintain station. A tactical Confederate victory for sure but the Union blockading squadron would soon be reinforced and the likelihood of a repeat performance would be slim.

The pictures are 

Starting positions. The brown hexes are where the USS Minnesota has run aground

The ironclads approach cautiously 

USS Monitor closes on the CSS Virginia who maintains a damaging fire against the helpless USS Minnesota - however, in her eagerness to tackle the grounded Union vessel she has strayed into range and arc of her broadside.

By this time the damage to the Union frigate was terminal and so the Confederate reversed her course for home - straight into the USS Monitor!

Sadly no picture of the ram attack but the positions above are after it was resolved. Sadly the Confederate gunnery dice did not take to ramming and so no damage was inflicted on the USS Monitor. Once she was underway the CSS Virginia was heading directly back to base. The USS Monitor wisely broke off the action.

Afterthoughts and Observations

From a historical perspective the action felt accurately paced and ‘right’. The USS Minnesota was made short work of, reflecting a similar impact the CSS Virginia had the previous day. USS Monitor was able to ‘run interference’ but by the time she did it was already too late. The two ironclads banged away at each other with limited effect - the USS Monitor definitely came second overall during the exchange - and the ram attack was a disappointing failure. 

The vulnerability of wooden ships when facing ironclads was ably demonstrated, as was the somewhat laborious exchange of fire between the two ironclads. As mentioned, both felt right for the period.

The rules ran well enough although I need to make some markers for various things - fires, floods, sinking etc - and also to further refine the QRS.

Mr Huband came up with a rather nifty flow diagram for firing which I am seriously thinking about incorporating within the QRS at some point.

As a spur of the moment idea I have suggested running the first day of Hampton Roads - pre the USS Monitor - which should be fun (maybe not for the Union though!). Something to think about though.

Once again my thanks to both Mr Fox and Mr Huband for their continued interest and support - it is very much appreciated.

Duel of the Ironclads - Hampton Roads

USS Minnesota (top), USS Monitor (centre) and the CSS Virginia (bottom) prepare to do battle once again.

This evening I shall be running a Portable Ironclads Wargame based on the second day of the action at Hampton Roads. It is a small scenario consisting the Union frigate the USS Minnesota (aground for the duration of the action but able to fire) supported by the USS Monitor against the CSS Virginia. Mr Fox will be commanding the Confederate ship whilst Mr Huband will once again command the Union. 

Victory conditions are quite simple. The Confederates must sink the Minnesota and retire from the action whilst the Union must sink the Rebel ship - at any cost.

Very much looking forward to overseeing this and my thanks once again to Messrs Fox and Huband for taking part.

Addressing Gettysburg

 If you only ever acquired one book on the battle of Gettysburg I reckon that Mr Adkin’s title would be at the front of the queue! I have his titles on Waterloo and Trafalgar and they are quite simply outstanding (the Western Front title is on my ‘to get’ list). The board game is a truly unique experience - for the reason why, read on!

Aside from the naval perspective, my interest in the American Civil War has been at best, erratic. It has been one of those periods of history that has always seemed like a good idea but has never really ignited the enthusiasm. Back in the day I had some truly horrible experiences with a number of rule sets that really turned me off the period. In fact it was only due the launch of the board game Battle Cry - which itself has a number of issues - that I made a modest attempt to revisit the period. 

The strangest thing though, is that whilst my interest tends to head towards the Western theatre, I have a fondness for the Gettysburg campaign. Along with Waterloo, I reckon that several rain forests have been expended in print over the years for this iconic battle between the States. To keep things simple I have acquired two titles on the battle specifically - the one you see above by Mark Adkin and another currently en route from the US of A. Naturally I have seen the film of the battle which I enjoyed enormously - the soundtrack grated though!

I plan to rebuild my ACW library in a measured way with some selective ‘high mileage’ titles (those that punch above their weight in terms of coverage and detail etc) but am not planning on embarking on a huge involvement in the period. A Battle Cry level will suffice although not with the game of that name.

So where is all this leading?

Every so often a game appears that really shakes things up in terms of how a particular period or battle is gamed. The Guns of Gettysburg is such a game. Take a look at the below and think to yourself - “that is right up Mr Crook’s street!”

Not a hex in sight! Areas and a really nice looking map with a stunning rendering of terrain elevation

Blocks and counters - what’s not to like?

A complete spare set of labels (and yes, I DO have a use for them!)

The back of the box

This game is the third in the series - the others being Marengo and Austerlitz - and the concept behind this is quite simply outstanding. It has a Kriegspiel feel about it in many ways which means it has that ‘being-a-general-moving-units-around-on-a-map’ feel to it.

There was never any doubt that this would appeal to me and if they ever produce a Waterloo version I will be all over it like a cheap suit!

I am really excited about this and even better - the rules are quite modest, the basic game weighing in at a mere 13 pages! Of course one could readily swap the blocks for figures but for me that would defeat the object of the game. It looks like a 19th century battle map come to life.

Really, really pleased!

The Genesis of an Idea

Available from Tumbling Dice 

All the mounted counters for the RFC/RAF - more than enough for my needs and with a good selection of types

Work on the ‘cardboard aircraft’ project continues at a measured pace - mainly because what I am tackling at present is quite laborious!

I am mounting the counters from the TSR game Dawn patrol onto 1” MDF squares (3mm thick) as the card used is really thin. These mounted counters will then be used in conjunction with a flying base to give the illusion of flight. It is simple work but for a variety of reasons quite tedious and best undertaken in bite-sized sessions.

If you look closely you can see the difference in size - small, but in need of attention

Matt 80 for the bases - very ‘old school!’

To begin with, the counters themselves, notionally 1”, are anything but. There are also some counters on which the aircraft images have been printed slightly off centre. Squaring them involves carefully placing the counter as centrally as possible (or with the ‘slightly ‘offset’ bias) on the base and then trimming the edges with a combination of a scalpel and gentle filing. Bearing this in mind, I have thus far managed to ‘base’ all the British aircraft - 32 in all - which leaves me with the French, American, Belgian, Italian, German and Austrian types to go. On top of this are the AA counters and a couple of double sized balloons.

Whilst the aircraft part continues at a leisurely pace so does the flying base part. After trialing Humbrol Satin 131 and Matt 89 (grass green and sky blue respectively) I then experimented with the old gaming standby of Matt 80 - and to be honest I am far happier with the results. 

Tomorrow I shall take the map to get it laminated so at least that part will be finished.

In the meantime though….

I have been thinking about rules to use - Dawn Patrol as written are not quite what I am looking for - and so acquired a copy of Duel of Aces from Tumbling Dice. They are very good and one thing struck me - they would be very easy to adapt for a square grid.

Which happens to be what my soon-to-be-laminated map has….

Have I found yet another rabbit hole to fall into?

Turning the Tide in a Timely Fashion

 A useful title using previously restricted or classified naval reports found in the library of the Britannia Royal Naval College. Part of a series that includes operations in Norway in 1940, hunting the German raiders, the Bismarck chase, hunting the Tirpitz and Matapan

It never ceases to amaze me how wargaming synchronicity has played a not inconsiderable part in my enjoyment of our hobby. I could site numerous examples of this from over the years but will instead confine myself to the latest one.

In my last post I briefly described Fighters of the Pacific - a new board game covering plane to plane combat in the South Pacific in 1942. The emphasise is on Carrier Operations and whilst the rules are simple, there is a great degree of subtlety in the mechanics and they ooze the all-important period ‘feel’.

I have gamed carrier operations in the South Pacific many times using Flat Top, CV and now via the Smithsonian Avalon Hill games Midway and Guadalcanal. I also played an awful lot of Dauntless - the Air Force Pacific version - so it is fair to say that I have ‘form’ with the period.

My library is quite modest concerning the Pacific campaigns but in three fell swoops this has changed for the better!

The book you see above was acquired yesterday in the most surprising of circumstances. Laurel and I headed into the village (Rayleigh, where we live) to an antique valuation event at the local community hall. She had some gold jewellery that she wanted to dispose of wanted to get an idea of its value. After having done that we then ventured into the high street - Wednesday is the Rayleigh market so it was pretty busy - to see what a couple of jewellers had to say about the value. All this seems very mundane but for one significant detail. It was the first time that Laurel had been in Rayleigh high street since her surgery over three years ago. She is a not a fan of crowds - especially in her powered chair - but she coped admirably with crossing roads and negotiating some quite confined spaces. One of these was the Rayleigh indoor market which has within a magazine and discounted book stall. There was not much I was interested in but the title depicted above caught my eye and for - wait for it - £2.99 I immediately snapped it up!

The book is quite dry, using as it does official reports and such, but for all that it is really useful for planning scenarios for either naval or aerial actions. I am now actively looking out for the others in the series.

With grateful thanks to Mr Kightly - extremely timely for sure!

The second piece of synchronicity came about as a result of a gaming friend having a clear out of stuff - which I had offered to help with. The three Osprey titles you see are all penned by Mark Stille who leads me quite nicely into the third piece of synchronicity - one of my Christmas presents.

The final member of my Pacific library - the author has also penned a title on Leyte Gulf although my interest in the theatre is primarily 1942

So there you have it - a selection of relevant titles covering both the naval and the aerial side and which will stand me in good stead for Fighters of the Pacific, Flat Top, CV, Midway and Guadalcanal.

Once again my thanks to Mr Kightly for his most generous gift of the hugely useful Osprey titles!

Fighters of the Pacific

Gotta love that over the top box art!

The back of the box

Rules and scenarios

Essential game cards

The map board made up of eight sections that clip together. The hexes are 40mm across the flat sides.

The other side - complete with clouds and a couple of islands - aka targets!

The ship counters and assorted other bits and pieces - flak barrages, AA guns and damage markers

The aircraft counters. The US get 18 Wildcats, 22 Dauntless and 10 Devastators whilst the Japanese have 17 Zeros, 18 Vals and 12 Kates. 

How it looks (in a small but illustrative way) in action - lovely stuff!

One of the ideas I was messing around with as part of my ‘flying based cardboard counters’ idea was to tackle aerial combat in the South Pacific during 1942 - deep in the heart of Flat Top and Dauntless territory. The game of the title does exactly that and in quite a unique way.

I had an eye on this game since 2021 but for a variety of reasons never really got around to it - until now that is. A chance acquisition on eBay and I am now the proud owner of a copy of the base game and have the two expansions - Coral Sea and Midway - on order. I also want to try and track down the kickstarter exclusives as well - mainly as they expand the order of battle somewhat.

In a nutshell the game is all about carrier air combat - not the mechanics of launching and recovering aircraft, just the combat part - on a larger scale than usual in terms of the number of aircraft on the table. The game system is simple - planes are either high or low, the white side for high the blue side for low - and combat does not use any dice. In a nutshell, if an enemy aircraft is in the attacker’s field of fire it must dodge the attack if it has not been activated so far that turn or it takes a hit. 

An aircraft that dodges an attack is then activated and so may well be in a position to attack a separate enemy that in turn may be able to dodge. Within the game this is referred to a ‘Chain Reaction’ and is a neat way to simulate a ‘furball’.

Most aircraft can take two hits  with the exception of the Zero that can only take one but it does have the ‘Agile’ trait for free turns at the end of the move along with ‘20mm’ for increased firepower at one hex.

Movement and manoeuvring is quite simple, as befits a game that features a larger than usual number of aircraft at any given time. Aircraft are able to ‘slide’, turn, climb and dive with aircraft that have the ‘Fighter’ trait also being able to Split S.

Initiative and activation are key - activation is by air group or individual aircraft and the former can be of any size.

Did I mention that the game uses hexes? Well it does and the double sided mapboard is really nice. The hexes are 40mm across the flat sides which is rather handy and yes, I am already thinking about using the ‘sea side’ of the board for naval games using 1:2400th models.

The counters are really nice, chunky and use high quality aircraft and ship images. These would be ideal for use with my ‘cardboard aircraft flying base’ idea although gluing them to an MDF base is not really necessary - I will have to think of something else instead.

The two expansions add to the aircraft pool as well as the ships, meaning more targets, I mean carriers.

There is also a solitaire mode which is handy for me and is sure to get some use.

All in all the game is certainly worth a spin in its own right, but naturally my thoughts go beyond the initial offering and so other systems will feature. Shipping later this year is Fighters over Europe which covers the Battle of Britain with two expansions available - one covering the Battle of France (handy for fleshing out the Luftwaffe OOB and of course featuring the French) and one covering daylight operations over the Reich in 1943/44. Me 262s anyone?

In Other News….

I am now roughly a quarter of the way through the Dawn Patrol counters. It is tedious work as the US idea of what a square inch looks like does not appear to be anything like the UK version - coupled with some occasionally offset printing - so some careful positioning, trimming and sanding is required - for each one. Having said all that it is definitely worth the effort!