Wednesday, 28 December 2011

The Russo-Fezian War of 1935


What might have been - the bread and butter of a war game (German 'O' class battle cruiser)

I have mentioned in previous posts that I would like to tackle a couple of forces for both Fezia and Rusland (aka Russia and Turkey) for around about the mid 1930s. Plans are afoot to tackle the land element in 15mm in due course and naturally I have also considered the naval angle. The answer to the naval question has proven to be quite simple although I dare say it may appear to be something like heresy to the hard core model maker.

I plan to construct a couple of fleets based on the fixtures and fittings available from within the Airfix Sink the Bismarck set and whatever Revell models I can acquire. The emphasis is on the 'fixtures and fittings' part of the previous sentence as I will probably design the ships from the hull upwards but will make extensive use of the various turrets, boats, masts, superstructures, funnels, cranes - even catapults and floatplanes.

There are a number of reasons for this:

  • The ships will be unique and based on generic examples of their type
  • I can scale the largest types to fit easily on a pair of Hexon tiles - I am looking at a maximum hull size of  around 6 to 7" - probably from Balsa or stepped plastic card.
  • I have other plans for the existing model hulls....;-)
  • It will be fun to tackle!
As far as the 'historical' North Atlantic 1941 is concerned I shall opt to make use of 1/3000th scale models - simply because I will have no problems in acquiring the models I need - rather than 1/1200th as these will be the models of choice for both Fezia and Rusland.
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4 comments:

  1. Geordie an Exiled FoG28 December 2011 at 21:59

    Crazily I am doing both scales for the North Atlantic

    A precious few (Airfix, Revell, scratch build and eBay) in 1/1200

    The many in 1/3000 (Navwar and/or Skytrex)

    And if truth be told repeating the above again in 1/6000 in 'future years', which years as yet unspecified

    Why because the Figurehead Models are both beautiful and small

    I tend to learn different things from different scales

    I am also not going to confess to any 1/600-720 scale madness in public just now ;)

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  2. David Crook29 December 2011 at 11:13

    Hi Geordie,

    For the scale purist 1/6000th is the closest to the ideal size for table top naval games but when has that ever stopped any gamer from falling off the true path?!

    1/3000th will be used for my historical games but the 'imagi-nation' kit will be larger. Besides, I have another use for the redundant hulls so it means I will get double the value for the collection - not to mention dabbling in a different genre...;-)

    All the best,

    DC

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  3. Tim Gow29 December 2011 at 11:49

    I am following this project with great interest! I cleared out my 1/3000 ships a few years back after acquiring a load of 1/6000 stuff. So far the 1/1200 fleet fills two box files....

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  4. David Crook29 December 2011 at 16:43

    Hi Tim,

    I think that I have been guilty of project creep to an extent but a number of things have conspired to make me want to tackle the Russo-Fezian War of 1935 in 1/1200th for the naval side and 15mm on the land.

    I would like to say that I blame that chap Cordery for his efforts in designing his brilliant imagi-world but that would be doing him a great injustice!

    The land side will be entirely plastic 15mm based and I have some lovely kit on the way to play with - including a pair each of some Roco T28 and T35 tanks which should fit nicely with the Zvezda T26 and BT5s.

    More to follow.

    All the best and a happy new year!

    DC

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