Coastal Combat in WW2

"I can resist anything except temptation"

By now I expect that many naval gamers would have seen the forthcoming game of coastal combat in WW2 called Cruel Seas by Warlord and due for release in December this year. Of particular interest is the scale that Warlord have opted to use for the models – 1:300^th. This kind of flies in the face of accepted (Accepted? Accepted by whom?) wisdom whereby most gamers of this genre tend to use 1:600^th or 1:700th , possibly even 1:1200^th. To the best of my knowledge the only source of models in 1:300th scale would be Navwar - as I recall they had a small range of ships available although I stand to be corrected. There are of course a number of full hull kits of warships in 1:350^th which could be used without too much difficulty.

German S Boats - known as E (Enemy) Boats. There are two versions on a sprue and I believe the base game will include two sprues of Germans and three sprues of British for ten models in all. the provisional price is £50 for the starter set.

The plastic models that come with the game look very nice indeed - Warlord were giving some test sprues away on a recent games day - and I shall certainly be taking a closer look at this in due course. Coastal naval combat between torpedo boats and similar is something I have long had an interest in but aside from playing an old Micro Game called MTB in the late 1970s I have never really done much about it. I know there are many good sets of rules around for the genre as well as a nice supply of available kit in the aforementioned scales so I have no real excuse for not tackling it other than sheer lethargy.

Warlord have promised models for other navies in due course and there will be a goodly variety of types large and small with resin being mentioned as the preferred choice for hulls etc, presumably with metal fixtures and fittings. The choice of 1:300^th as a scale would have the advantage that there is an awful lot of material available in terms of terrain, aircraft, land forces etc that could be used alongside the ships.

For my part the first thing that sprung to mind with this would be the Mediterranean so I shall incorporate some reading about this facet of naval warfare in readiness for the release of the game in early December. I will also reacquaint myself with the works of Mr David Manley, naval rule writer and all round good guy – if it floats and fights the chances are he has either gamed it or written a rule set for it, probably both!