Torpedoes and Tides

Torpedoes and Tides - the new WW2 Coastal Warfare rules inspired by Galleys and Galleons and  written by Thomas Brandstetter, along with a couple of books for research and inspiration. There are a few others en route to Maison Crook….

WW2 Coastal Warfare using MTBs, S Boots and the like is an enormous amount of fun but for some reason I have only dabbled in it infrequently. I flirted briefly with Warlord Games Cruel Seas but, at 1:300th, the models were a little on the large side for my taste and so the sprues I had acquired for this were quietly disposed of. I had never really looked at the ex Skytrex now Heroics and Ros range of 1:600th scale ships etc but this has now been happily rectified.

A really fun set of rules that for me have been woefully underused! (Note to self: I must get something done with these and the ‘Pirates of’ ships at some point)

Winding back a little, one of my favourite fun naval rule sets for pretty much everything prior to dreadnoughts etc, is Nic Wright’s Galleys and Galleons rules published by Ganesha Games. I have used these rules not nearly as much as I should have - a criminal oversight that I hope to address at some point by using the ‘Pirates of’ ships formerly available from Wizkids. 

I digress. 

Torpedoes and Tides by Thomas Brandstetter is a WW2 coastal warfare variant that uses a similar rule system to the aforementioned Galleys and Galleons but obviously with all important period tweaks. They look really good fun and I note that the esteemed Kaptain Kobold, who was involved in the play-testing of the rules, as well as being enormously fond of Galleys and Galleons, has already been gaming with them and you can read about it here, along with the developmental back story, which is also on his rather splendid blog.

The rules include specifications for ships from a number of nations including Great Britain, Germany, USA, Japan, Italy, USSR, Norway, Poland and even the Yugoslavian Partisans - some 160 profiles. As most coastal actions took place at night there are full rules for limited visibility with the use of counters for hidden movement. This encourages careful manoeuvring and when someone gets spotted or opens fire it all gets very frantic, very quickly and with the possibility of ‘blue on blue’ friendly fire for good measure! At first glance are they super detailed? No, but they have all the right things in the right places, plenty of ships to use and a set of rules for running a campaign, along with some scenarios to try out. In my opinion these would make a great set of rules for a club night or for use with non naval gamers. I am looking forward to giving them a run out as soon as I can get some models ready.

For a more detailed coastal warfare experience then of course, the indefatigable Mr Manley has a set available called Narrow Seas and available from his Longface Games label on Wargames Vault. There is even a grid based version available as an expansion to the old Battleline/Avalon Hill game Submarine. This means that in the short term I have immediate access to the aforementioned Torpedoes and Tides, Narrow Seas and a rather more limited submarine based boardgame expansion. That should do nicely methinks, at least for the rules.

Another title for the coastal wars section of the library. This really is a lovely book, full of photos and plans etc.

The former Skytrex 1:600th range, now available from Heroics and Ros, was my first port of call, simply because the Reaction Games models were initially only available in 1:500th. They are now available in 1:600th and 1:300th along with the original size. The range is quite small and thus far is very UK centric which is a shame. 1:600th it is then, from Heroics and Ros. I have opted for an early war 1940/41set up rather than later (needless to say I will get to the late war period in due course!) so two tube 70ft Vospers, Fairmile Bs, S38 type S Bootes and R Bootes will be the weapons of choice. I have also added a trawler to each side and finally three generic merchantmen - two tramps and a tanker - as targets.

In the meantime though, I need to crack on with the book and so the next post will feature the plan for the first of three battles that will appear in it.

The occasional distraction is good for the soul, or so they say…. ;-)