Battle of Reval

The Russian 1st Cruiser Brigade came under fire today west of Reval suffering heavy losses.  The five armored and protective cruisers engaged elements of the German High Seas Fleet.

The Russians were trying to cover the northern approaches to the Gulf of Riga when they engaged a squadron of pre-dreadnoughts. Fire on both sides was poor, but it was only a matter of time before the German numbers over came the Russians.

In the middle of the battle both sides’ torpedo boats engaged the opposing fleets. Here again the forces did poorly as none of the torpedoes hit for the loss of 2 destroyers each.

The Russians lost the Flagship Rurik, Bayan and Oleg. Minor damage was done to the German battleship with the SMS Zahringen being escorted back to port for repairs.

The points currently are 6 for the Russian and 47 for the Germans.

The Russians will have to get lucky with their minefields and submarines to even up the game.

Air War 1971

I have never had a lot of interest in the sub-continent (other than the food). There have been plenty of wars in the modern era including WWII on the Burma border and three major wars between India and Pakistan. All of this is great fodder for a gamer. But there was little there to interest me.

And than Mark shared with me Check Your 6 for the Indo-Pakistani Wars and I became interested. Why? Well a gamer likes a challenge (or at least I do) and the 1971 conflict includes aircraft 20 years out of date against modern(ish) Soviet fighters armed with AA missiles. Sounds like fun to me.

Indian Air Force Eastern Command:
3 Mig 21FL Squadrons
4 Hawker Hunter Squadrons
3 Folland Gnat Squadrons
1 Canberra Squadron
1 Sukhoi Su-7 BMK Squadron
2 Squadrons each of Mi-4 and Aluette III Helicopters
   
Pakistan Air Force:
17 Canadair Sabre, 2 T-33 Trainer, 8 Helicopters (Aluette III?)

All of the aircraft can be obtained at Armaments in Miniature
http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/armamentsinminiature/aircraftinminiature/9mm/resin09mm.htm

Some useful research links include:

• http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_326.shtml
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Air_Force#Air_Force_personnel_in_1971
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Pakistan_Air_Operations,_1971

Will we be flying these aircraft soon? I am not sure, but I see an article for one of the TOOFATLardy specials.

I do love the F-104. All images in this post come from ACIG.org. A great painting reference.

30th Corps

Mark and I are looking to June for continuing 30th Corps march to the bridges. I am not sure how the Germans can stop or even slow down the British. But we will continue to keep trying. It also gives Mark and I a chance to work on our infantry tactics, which needs a lot of work.

Here are pictures from our last two games.

A New Old Purchase

It has been several weeks of little painting. That does not mean I am not working on gaming projects. Just it does not involve a paintbrush. Board games and books have been brought out working on projects.

While going through the basement looking to clean out some of the clutter I found this model kit box. I bought it at NJCon on a whim. I figured that I could put it to use for my 15mm figures.

While not a strange purchase it was out of the norm for me. What is the strangest purchase you have ever made for your gaming hobby?

Battle of Riga - Maps

The forces are in motion. Orders are sent as the Kaiserliche Marine goes in search of the Russian Baltic Fleet. Once eliminated, the coastal batteries will be next.

Here is the map from the game as well as a map of the defenses in the Gulf of Riga.

Baccus 6mm

I am pleased to see so many releases dealing with The Great War. The latest is from Baccus 6mm Ltd. These figures cover 1914-15 for the Western Front. While the bulk is covered for the early period, three things still needed are artillery, German Jaegers and dismounted cavalry.

The castings look good and would make an excellent addition to rule sets such as Through the Mud and the Blood and If the Lord Spares Us.

I have reached out to Baccus 6mm to see what additions they are looking to add through 2015.  I will place an order to get a better look at these figures so please come back to see my review.

Images are from Baccus 6mm website.

 

Outpost Games

On a recent trip to Phoenix I had an opportunity to explore the gaming community of the greater Scottsdale/Phoenix area. It was a pleasure to find Imperial Outpost Games a short drive from were our friends live giving me an enjoyable Sunday afternoon.

This gaming store has everything a gamer would desire. I found not only the usual products from Games Workshop and Flames of War but board games, books and other gaming accessories. The playing area is extensive. If I was to find any fault it was the lack of TOOFATLardy products.

The staff and clientele were welcoming and I was able to find out that there was historical (non Flames of War) played during the week.

If I was to move to Arizona I am glad that there is a thriving gaming community there.


Imperial Outpost Games
4920 W Thunderbird Rd
Glendale, AZ 85306

Pictures are from my visit.

Battle of Riga

Why in the world would gamers be more interested in fighting battles in the Baltic instead of the North Sea during The Great War? The North Sea has the Royal Navy standing guard. We even have those awesome American battleships arriving at the end of 1917.  There is Jutland, Dogger Bank and a number of possible battles.

Yet I am more dawn in by the situation faced by the Russians. Supporting the Army as the Germans march east the Russians were facing the bulk of the German High Seas Fleet. For the Russians the great equalizer was the mine and the torpedo.  The Baltic is where the historical actions occurred. These are smaller actions but interesting in the difference in tactics used.

There were a number of battles fought in and near Riga were parts of the German High Seas Fleet engaged the shore batteries and navy of the Russians. Often mines and British submarines held the Germans back. In three occasions the Russians sortied their heavy units with mixed results.

As Tony is building up the German navy it is only fair I build the Russians in 1/6000 scale. The Russians followed the Jeune École school were the emphasis is on the mine, torpedo and fast cruisers. As students their ships more often came from French designs and what student of naval history cannot appreciate those outlandish designs. We will see if I have any luck here defending Mother Russia’s coast.

While waiting for the ships I will be testing out the history as a game using Avalanche Press Jutland. Please follow along on the reports that will appear here. Your comments are welcome.

Gettysburg - Revisited

Looking at magazines can be a bad thing. Buying them can be even worse. Here we have a new project.

Couple of days ago I saw the recent Blue and Grey magazine about Gettysburg. While a long time subscriber now I only buy the occasional issue. This past Thursday was one of those rare occasions.

Now my eyes normally glaze over when I see another magazine with Gettysburg on the cover.  Going back to the early 1980s I have seen to many articles on this battle. I am certain that more has been written about this engagement than any other three-day period of time. What else could be written?

Yet I picked this issue up because it covers something that as a wargamer I have often wondered about, American Civil War towns fight. These types of engagements are rare and very different than most of the battles played in miniature.

The 1st of July 1863 is one of those rare battles. I can only think of three others; Baton Rouge, Fredericksburg and maybe Franklin. These battles are few but interesting for the gamers out there as they are often forlorn hope engagements. These are not your straight up brigade verses brigade fights. Here the company and below are the points of interest.

So what am I to do, well I have the figures that I can paint up and use a set of rules I have been meaning to use for a long time, “Terrible Sharp Sword” by the TOOFATLardies. I may even have enough building to pull off the Brick Yard or the Eagle Hotel. Should be fun.

Anyone out there ever run a town fight?

The Goeben by S&T

For myself and those interested in The Great War at sea, The Goeben (in Strategy & Tactics Issue #287) has peaked my interest.  This is a solitaire game with the player commanding the SMS Goeben and Breslau. While not a fan of many of the existing solitaire system that I have seen, I may give this a try.It has been a long time since I was interested in a new S&T.

Why? Well I do have the Great War at Sea system by Avalanche Press and it plays this out in great detail, but I would love to find a system that is fast and can generate quick games for the club.  Often the battles I have seen played out with this period of the war only cover Rear Admiral Ernest Troubridge’s armored cruisers or Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne’s battlecruisers.

But what of the French? Admiral Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère forces made up of the bulk of the French Navy. While they were escorting the African army to France there is every possibility of an engagement with the Goeben.  Unique French armored cruisers against the Goeben anyone? I wonder if anyone at the club has the SPI classic The Flight of the Goeben?

I look forward to picking this up but it has not yet appeared at my one and only local hobby shop.

More soon I hope.

------Note-------
--5 May 2014--
Found out today that the release of this game is not May but July.
Oh bother.
Jon

Paint Table TEN

Been away so my painting has been on a back burner.

I have two buildings I will be using for 1914 Nery.

Also completed are 5 1/2400 scale pre-dreadnoughts; 3 British Cressy-class cruiser, the German SMS Elsass and the Russian battleship Slava.

Peter Pig - 1914 Germans

This weekend, miniature gamers have seen on TMP that Peter Pig has released new figures and remastered others for their World War I collection. And all I can say is Yeah!!!!!

The Kaiser has new troops at the ready, including new command, jaegers and standard infantry in their pickelhaube helmets. Ready to take on the British Empire, Russia and France. These troops for 1914 make me think (and hope) we will be seeing new additions for the other armies as we advance through the Centenary.

What do we need in 15mm from Peter Pig? in my opinion we need Arabs and Empire Troops to take on the Ottomans, as well as the Ottomans and the Americans.  I can see Martin releasing the Ottomans through 2015 and 2016 with the Americans coming in 2017. Are there other troops needed. Why of course we all have our personal wants. I hope to see troops for the Russian and German Civil Wars to be released in 2017 through 2019. I can hope can't I?

What do you want to see released? For me I will start out with the jaegers and dismounted cavalry.

While I know that there are companies out their with 15mm World War I figures. But today 15mm are in the 17-18mm scales and I prefer the true 15mm from Perter Pig.

Images are from Peter Pig.