Submarine - Cold War and The Falklands

The spring of 1982...

One of the more pressing issues for NATO during the Falkland’s War was how to replace the Royal Navy submarines that went south to the conflict.

Number Available	Class	Number Sent South
2	Valiant Class	1
3	Churchill Class	2
6	Swiftsure Class	2
6	Porpoise Class	0
13	Oberon Class	1

In general for every boat on station two are needed for support. These other two boats are undergoing refit, training, transiting to their assigned areas or in port. Six may not appear be a big number but assets were already stretched in the early 1980s. NATO did not know how long the conflict was going to last or if it would cause a wider conflict.

Both the Porpoise and Oberon Classes could cover choke points in European waters and were probably doing just that. We will have to wait for the release of official secrets to find out more. It was replacing the five nuclear boats sent south that was a concern for the Royal Navy and NATO. These boats can work in areas not conducive to their diesel brethren, under the ice or in the Arctic Ocean.

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So what does this mean for your naval wargamer? Just think of the possibilities outside of the South Atlantic. NATO is forced to use boats in locations and for missions they were not designed for. It may even give the Soviets a chance and wargamers will have a chance to use lesser known classes.

While not as sexy as the fast attack boats, the crews of these diesel boats were well trained. Any takers?

New Commissions

Latest additions to the fleet:

3 1/6000 scale Missile Corvettes - A69 type Avisos for the Falkland War
2 1/3000 scale British Battleships for post WWII era - HMS Anson and HMS Vanguard
1 1/3000 scale R-80 British Airship
1 15mm scale Gunboat for the Colonial Era to WWII

 

Crews for the gunboat are on the painting bench right now.

The 1/6000 scale are Figurehead, 1/3000 are from M.Y. Miniatures and the 15mm gunboat is Peter Pig's WWI line.

Round 1 to the Germans

After the Russian cruiser squadron was devastated the opposing battle squadron attempted to both find there like number and also protect their damaged fleets.

German and Russian dreadnoughts have come up short looking for the opposing fleets. All that is left to stop the bombardment fleets are a handful of British submarines.

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.

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.

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 Tet

Something must be wrong, why is there so little on Jon's painting table? Could he be up to something?

I have been busy getting ready for a game of IABSM for Operation Market Garden. No pictures as I do not want to give too much intelligence to the opposition (Mark and son).

Finished up a small fleet worth of warships for the US, German and Spanish navies. Not sure how to use the flying deck cruiser but is it way to cool to ignore.

So what is going on?

Paint Table VIII

I did not realize that I have not posted since last week’s table. I am glad to report that the Imperial German Navy is soon to be adding four Gazelle class light cruisers as well as thirteen Spanish warships and six Americans based and primed to the national fleets.

I also completed fourteen German troops making up six machine gun teams.

Once the warships are done I will be able to run not only the Battle of Manila Bay as well as cruiser actions in the North Sea. The German machine gun teams will be seeing action in Poland 1939 soon using Chain of Command.

Naval Additions and Tanks For Sale

For this week I have only finished up three warships for my British Fleet. These will see action at Coronel and possibly the Falklands. One can only hope. Lack of painting comes from waiting on bases and paints. Some of which I will pick up at Cold Wars tomorrow.

I also see this week from the BBC that the Littlefield Collection is up for auction after the death of Jacques M Littlefield. This is the premier armored collection in private hands. The article can be found here. This collection is often see on TV including the Mythbusters.

It is hoped that the collection will find a home in one of the major armor museums, than again for $300,000 I can get that M50 as a second car.

Hunt the Goeben

This battle report was a test run through of the rule system Grand Fleets by XII Majestic Twelve Games.

Here we have a very common game match up between the Goeben, the Breslau and Rear Admiral Ernest Troubridge’s 1st Cruiser Squadron. Based on points in the system Rear Admiral Troubridge has the edge. Well that is if there was no fire control conflict of four armored cruisers firing on one target. If they can only fire effectively two ships at a time the SMS Goeben’s 11” guns will have the edge. And in this game she did.

The speeds were similar so initially the Goeben turned and let off a broadside against the HMS Duke of Edinburgh. She was very unlucky getting hit hard and receiving two critical, one of which was fire. She was out of the game and Rear Admiral Troubridge had to shift his command.

The HMS Gloucester attempts a torpedo run.
The HMS Defense was next in line and headed towards the Goeben with the rest of the squadron. Over the next 30 minutes the British and Goeben traded broadsides with the Defense taking substantial damage. By the end of turn four the Goeben decided it was unwise to tempt fate and exited the board.

At a strategic level I see the Germans head to Constantinople with the HMS Gloucester following. The HMS Duke of Edinburgh and Defense will be heading to the naval base at Malta for repairs and the reduced 1st Cruiser Squadron will maintain its watch on the Austrians.

Even in a game defeat Rear Admiral Troubridge will come
out better than the historical results.

Official results, Germans acquired 52 victory points and left the table. The British acquired no victory points.

As for the rules, they were average. I had to change from inches to centimeters to keep the action more like a naval battle than a knife fight. I will play them again as I like the DIY rules for ships, but I will keep looking. Any suggestions? Oh Toney, which side do you want in the next game.

WTJ Miniatures

With more snow on the way what can we do?

Well I put my fleet to sea hoping the Royal Navy will be able to find the elusive SMS Goeben. Well they did. Currently the HMS Duke of Edinburgh has taken it on the chin with two critical hits one of which is a fire from the opening salvo. As it looks to be a long game, I took a time out to take pictures of a recent purchase that showed up yesterday.

On Saturday arrived 16 new ships for the American, Spanish and German pre-dreadnought navies. I now have Dewey’s squadron done to a higher quality than my ancient 1/2400 miniatures purchased in 1985. These new ships from WTJ need to be based and primed but I want to give you my initial reaction. WOW!!!

These are crisp and clean and look spot on for the scale. The dimensions are not chunky as many resign and white metal castings can be. While in the raw they do not photograph well I have included a few images to show off their quality.

The pictures include the USS Olympia with an older resign cast next to it as well as the armed merchant cruiser St. Louis and the predreadnoughts Pelayo and SMS Braunschweig.

I have always liked the look of the Pelayo and look forward to paining her. How will she do against the Americans, I am not so sure.

The SMS Braunschweig was a surprise as it is a new release and is currently not on the WTJ website. She will be an asset used in the Baltic as soon as she is based and painted. She will also get her own blog post once she is primed. 

Over all I have to say that WTJ will be my preferred method of buying 1/2400 scale ships. Currently their fleets are limited but they are adding to them faster than most other companies. The company is accessible and they respond to inquiries quickly. Packaging and shipping was fast and efficient, with little chance of damage to these 3D prints. The ships were in sealed bags. I will write more once the bases I ordered show up. Not all companies are as fast as WTJ.

Gazelle Class

Cruisers are a needed part of navies. It does not matter if we are talking of frigates in the age of sail or heavy cruisers fighting in The Slot during World War II. They are the eyes of the fleets, leading destroyer squadron, and protecting their nations trade routes.

At the turn of the 20th century the major navies had several choices in cruiser design. Armored Cruisers were the heavies in the list able to fight in the battle line. These were followed in size by First, Second and Third Class Cruisers. Also called Protective Cruisers. The Second, and Third being little more than heavy gunboats with limited sea going capabilities.

The Germans with the Gazelle class created a new type of cruiser, the Light Cruiser. With ten 10.5 cm SK L/40 guns two torpedo tube and a speed of 21.5 knots these ships were one of the most powerful warships in their displacement. At 2,700 tones these cruisers are similar in size to Second and Third Class Cruisers but more sea worthy and heavily armed.

What made these cruisers even more powerful was what opposed them. Or more importantly what did not oppose them. While Britain and France were slow to build comparable ships the US Navy continued to use existing protective cruisers until they completed the larger Pennsylvania-Class Armored Cruiser.

In the United States it was easier to build Battleships, as local politicians would often vote in favor of a Battleship named after their state. They are big and powerful, and President Roosevelt loved them.

Even as late as the 1920s, the US Navy was in need of cruisers. This issue was not solved until the 1930s with the launch of the Treaty Cruisers.

The Gazelle class and the follow on classes would see service in the North Sea and on the trade routes. They would often be upstaged by both the smaller submarines as well as by the massive Dreadnoughts, but they served their country’s navy well.

It will be interesting to see how they fare in the 1902 conflict.

Braunschweig Class Battleship

With Krupp armor and four 28cm SK L/40 guns, the Braunschweig-class battleship was not the last of the German pre-dreadnoughts, but had a longer and more colorful history than most.

While thought of as coast defense ship by the beginning of The Great War these five were assigned to the IV Battle Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Erhard Schmidt. Seeing active service in the Baltic one, the Hessen, took part in the Battle of Jutland helping to cover the withdraw of von Hipper’s battlecruisers.

Towards the end of the war these ships were used in reduced rolls of training and support ships. There age and the lack of dreadnoughts in the post war era allowed the German navy to used these again as coast defense ships.

The Hessen was taken as a prize by the Soviets and scraped in the 1960s. These ships were part of three German navies in their 40 years of service and have a place in the hearts of naval enthusiasts and war gamers everywhere.

New Additions to the Fleet

While I have been working on my Poles for 1939 Chain of Command, when new toys show up and they are ships, well everything has to stop. Not only are these ships, but ships to finish off two projects.

I now have six Imperial German Gazelle cruisers to go against those pesky Americans in 1902. I also picked up the USS Zafiro, a transport to finish off the three support ships for Commodore Dewey.

There are a few additional ships to help cover the shipping. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Battle of Coronel AAR

Yesterday was the first day in this New Year that I haven’t picked up a paintbrush. (Not bad so far compared to last year.) And I had a great reason; I was playing Battle of Coronel a 1914 naval engagement off the coast of Chile.

Keith and I commanded the British, receiving a gift from Tony, both the Armored Cruiser Defense and the Battleship Canopus. Either of which could or should have been there. It made the sides more even.

Keith led with three armored cruisers and I followed with the slower Canopus, Glasgow and Otranto. The Germans came on board in two columns one containing the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau the other, the three light cruisers.

As Keith moved off to port and engaged the light cruisers closely. After two passes two cruisers were sunk and a third was limping off the table.

My weaker force was trading blows with the unusually slow German Armored Cruisers. The German player was new and was have trouble not masking his ship’s fire.  After 12 turns and 96 minutes of battle his two cruisers would have been able to make their escape but heavily damaged, but they would have met Keith’s squadron farther down the coast. Of my ships only the AMC Otranto was fresh and ready for battle. I hope Keith will send it off to hunt down the damaged German Light Cruiser.

It was a great game and I hope to play again. Tony ran a good game, even though we seemed to move the ships a little to close for comfort. We also found that we have enough miniatures to do many of the battles of The Great War. Thank you Tony and all of the players as well as the club for running this mini convention.

 British Line of Battle

 The end of the German Light Cruisers

 Keith's Cruisers

This cannot be good for the HMS Canopus

 

Thank again this does not look good for the Germans. We also see the 

HMS Glasgow having some engine difficulties.
Nothing Scotty cannot fix.

TFLGRC

I am very pleased to be part of the 2014 TooFatLardies Game Ready Campaign started by Rob of the blog Vis Lardica. It has me painting through miniatures that I primed in 2013 (some in 2012) but never finished. You should take the time to get involved. I am sure you have some unpainted stuff you need to finish. Check out Rob’s blog to see what other Lardies are doing or email Rob @ admin@vislardica.com.

While my mountain of white metal is going down, I have picked up a few 3D printed ships, but I promise I will paint them soon. Actually most are based and or primed. That has to be a record for me. These include monitors and protected cruisers for 1902 as well as a few moderns to play around with.

One of the moderns that lingered in my shopping cart for most of last year was the Arsenal Ship. One of the all time daftest naval designs. Here is a ship larger than most WWII aircraft carriers with a crew as little as two-dozen and the firepower of a battle group. The ship would have the ability to launch multiple land attack cruise missiles from 500+ vertical launch cells.

As a Cold War concept it is a good idea as it could suppress an area prior to an invasion. Unfortunately the idea came out after the Cold War and before the War on Terror. So the Arsenal Ship and all of its cousins (DDX Zumwalt, and the SC21s) were cut and I am glad as with its small crew it was a perfect target for terrorists.  But that does not mean I cannot have it on my table. Only problem is they came in a set of four and that is three to many. So does anyone need a modern/sci-fi 1/6000 scale Arsenal Ship? Let me know.

Kaiser’s Navy

The Kaiser’s Navy has added two new warships and four auxiliaries giving even the pre-dreadnought Germans limited abilities for power projection outside the North Sea.

While the colliers are the work horses (or should this be draught horses) the real sexy ships have to be the battlecruisers. The first out for scouting, always in the thick of things and a choice position for all officers of the Kaiserliche Marine.

Here we have the SMS Moltke (sister of the SMS Goeben) and the SMS Seydlitz. Both armed with 28cm (11”) guns and able to do better than 28 knots. These were left overs mioniatures from a playtest I did on catching the SMS Goeben.The SMS Goeben always seems to get away.

Both of these battlecruisers will be available for all of the raids and battles in the North Sea including Battle of Dogger Bank and the Battle of Jutland. These are often the largest vessels in the early war raids and make for quick and enjoyable games.

Odin Class @ Sea

Here we have two new additions to the Kaiser's Kaiserliche Marine. The Odin Class were follow ons to the to the Siegfried Class coastal defense ship. These will be useful in defending the peaceful German ports along the North and Baltic Seas.

The Odin and Agir Underway.

Painting of the Agir.

Naval Reinforcements Part II

For you Mark, here are images of two of my recent purchases. The little one is the HMS Endurance from the Falklands War and the other is an Arsenal Ship a concept that has a certain coolness factor but very misguided.

The figure is a 15mm camera man from the Peter Pig line.

The Endurance is not the smallest of the lot but the easiest to get based.

Naval Reinforcements

Today the USPS made me happy.  The postman brought me a box from Shapeways the 3D Printing people. Often Shapeways boxes are light but this is incredibly so. And it has ten different types of ships here. I think the packing weighs more than the models.

As I still need to base them I can only share a list.

1901 Project
USS Amphitrite
USS Cincinnati
USS New York
USS Baltimore (C-3)
USS Montgomery (1890)

Falklands
HMS Endurance (1967)

Cold War (to current)
Nanuchka + Osa
Grisha & Poti
Arsenal Ships
022 Missile Boat

As you can see I have three naval projects going, although only 1901 is active. In my gaming workshop/studio I have two naval campaigns going on. 1901 is for a joint project (more on that latter) and the other naval campaign is Force Z. We are trying to see how well the Brits can do against the Japanese in 1941.

The Endurance has been in the purchase queue for over a year and has to be the smallest miniature I have ever seen. I should have the 1901 and the Endurance ready to be based by the end of the week. Have to clear out some Imperial German pre-dreadnoughts and colliers first.