My Shapeway Order Arrives

As I mention in my previous post, I ordered a few items from Shapeways and now that they are here, I thought I give a short review of the figures.

First up is the Chinese Navy Type 056 (NATO name: Jiangdao) class corvette. This is the 1/700 scale version from the Objects May Appear … shop.

I was actually quite pleased with how the ship turned out. I was worried about the graininess of the basic white strong & flexible material, so I selected a white polished strong & flexible material for the ship and was happy with how smooth it turned out (Chris had posted on a comment on the previous post saying that he thought I would like the polished material and he was right). The model is very similar to a standard injection molded plastic model with a hollowed out bottom (I didn’t take a photo of that part, but I think everyone will understand what I’m talking about). The forward deck does have some stair-stepping from the printing process. It is hard to see in the photos and might not be very visible once paint is applied. But I think I will try to sand it down a little (although I have read that this material doesn’t really sand very well). That said, I think it will really match up well with my other 1/700 scale plastic and resin ships.

So, how does the model compare to the real thing? It is pretty close in size – most websites say the Type 056 is around 90m long (although none of them clarify if that is maximum length or waterline length), which would work out to 12.85 cm in 1/700 scale and the model comes in around 12cm.

The starboard side of a PLAN Type 056 in port

Shapeways Type 056

There are some minor details missing from the model (no forward bulwark, no gun, the mast is missing details, etc.), but the general shape is good. As you look at the profile view, moving forward to aft, you can see that deck for the fire control radar (just aft of the bridge) is too short, the mast is straight instead of bent, the exhaust cover is too far forward, the aft superstructure does not meet the exhaust cover, and while there are holes under the helicopter deck on the sides, there aren’t any in the rear of the ship. I actually think that the part of the problem with the layout is that the helicopter deck is too short and that you could move the whole aft superstructure forward to meet the funnel, lengthening the helicopter deck, and it would be about right.

From the overhead, you can see a couple other problems. The area around the mast goes all the way to the sides, instead of tapering in and leaving room for the 30mm guns. From the top you can also really see how the connection between the aft superstructure and exhaust cover is missing.

A better overhead view of a Type 056 corvette

With all this in mind, I think it is still a good model and it is one that no one else is making. I will be adding some details (the 76mm gun and mast details) and I might extend the aft superstructure. The amount of work I do will depend on how easy it is to glue stuff to the polished material.

The other items I ordered were 1/144th scale 1930s air racers from the Arctic Skunk shop. My friend Kevin has a bunch of these and you’ve seen photos of his planes from our air racing game. I ordered these with the basic white strong & flexible material and they do have a somewhat grainy texture. I also understand that this material really soaks up the paint, so you need to prime the planes really well.

The three planes I got are the Howard DGA-4 “Ike”, the Hall Bulldog (a favorite of mine, even though it was a poor racer), and the Laird Super Solution. I really like these planes and I’m looking forward to painting them up. Although, I think I will work on the ship first.

Looking down the line

With the new year already well underway, I thought I would take a little time to make some notes about some upcoming plans and projects for 2014. My right arm is still recovering from the shoulder surgery in December, but I’m hoping that won’t prevent me from doing some hobby work.

I plan to work on some modern ships this year. I recently ordered a 1/700 scale Chinese Navy Type 56 corvette from the Objects May Appear… store on Shapeways (in addition to some 1/144th scale air racers). One thing I’ve noticed about the Shapeways figures I’ve seen is that the basic strong & flexible printing turns out with a grainy look and feel. Since this ship will have fit in with my resin and plastic ships, I chose to get the ship in the polished strong & flexible material (the mid-level price option). I’m hoping that will make the whole figure smoother, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I do expect there will still need to be some detailing work done on the ship, but since no one else makes this model I should have something unique. I will post my impressions of the ship and material once it arrives.

The Type 56 image from Shapeways website

I also want to get back to a couple of projects that I set aside. One is the 15mm Age of Sail stuff. This project has been languishing for years and I really need to do some work on it. I’ve got enough ships and figures to do some small battles and figure out the real direction I want to go. I want to do some U.S. Navy vs. Barbary pirate actions and maybe follow that up with some War of 1812 actions, but my slow painting has been holding up the whole project.

Barbary Pirates (still) in progress

The other project I want to get back to is the Vietnam War air rescue scenario that I started a couple years ago. I was going to run a game for Enfilade, but the project stalled and I went in a different direction. I want to use the AirWar C21 rules for the game, since the rules cover both air-to-air and air-to-ground stuff, but I’m having trouble figuring out the best way to do a turning template that fits with my stands and the game. I’m probably being too anal retentive about this, but I’d really like to have some good tools for players to make movement and turning easy. 

Planes waiting for completion

In addition to gaming projects, I want to make that I do more blog posting this year. My postings fell off a little last year and I want to change that. My goal is to get out a minimum of 30 posts in 2014. That isn't really much compared to most bloggers, but my posts tend to be long so I think that is a good compromise.  

DANG 2013 – Operation Landcrab Recap

DANG (Dave's Annual Naval Game) for 2013 was “Operation Landcrab – The American Invasion of Attu” with American and Japanese forces squaring off in the Aleutian Islands. The game was based on a General Quarters 3 mini-campaign (available for download to registered owners of the game). The GQ 3 game sets the stage for a hypothetical battle between American and Japanese battleships, but if you exclude the hypothetical forces (the Japanese battleships and carrier) you could still have an interesting more-historical scenario.

Everyone began arriving at my place just after 9:30 AM and we spent a little while catching up on things, talking about the projects we are all working on and planning. After that we split up into the sides with Mark, David S, Arthur, and Paul taking the Japanese while Dale, Scott, Kevin, Dave C, and Charlie taking the Americans. Each side got their briefing and began planning their actions.

The US Navy players

Japanese Navy players

To set the scene, the Americans were already ashore on Attu with a supporting Task Force (which included three older battleships and an escort carrier) at the island. The escort carrier only carried fighters, which could only be used to support the troops ashore and to defend the ships from air attack. They also had two cruiser covering groups (one with light cruisers and the other with heavy cruisers) patrolling west and south of Attu. The Americans also had a good number of land-based bombers, fighters, and search aircraft spread over two airfields, although none of these were really equipped to attack enemy ships. The primary missions for the Americans were to support the landings (off-loading supplies and ground support) and maintain control of the area around Attu. The Americans also had the option of adding a cruiser Emergency Reinforcement Group to their forces, but decided not to expend the victory points needed to bring them in.

The Japanese had three main naval groups – a battleship group with three older battleships and a light carrier, a cruiser group with three heavy cruisers, and a resupply group (made up of a seaplane tender, heavy cruiser, light cruiser, and escorting destroyers) for the island of Kiska. The resupply group was trying to from some A6M2-N ‘Rufe’ and F1M ‘Pete’ floatplanes to the island and historically turned back for port when word got out about the American invasion of Attu. The Japanese also had some supporting bombers and search planes back at Paramushiro (off the west edge of the map). The Japanese had an optional resupply group with a light cruiser and some destroyer transports that could enter on the second day to take supplies to Attu or Kiska, getting the supplies through would give victory points and the Japanese chose to take the group and planned to send it to Attu.

The map below shows the basic starting positions for the starting forces on May 15. The game would run until May 20, but I think everyone expected it to be over before then.

Operational map with starting positions

The basic Japanese plan was to have the battleship and cruiser groups make their way toward Attu while the Kiska group sent planes to Kiska. Then all three groups would converge on Attu and attack the American forces there. The Americans planned to keep the support Task Force around Attu, with the covering forces patrolling west and south of the island, while land-based air and submarines searched for the Japanese.

American planning session

Japanese planning session

On the first day of the campaign poor weather grounded the planes from Amchitka. During the morning the Japanese loaded torpedoes on their G4M ‘Betty’ bombers in Paramushiro and sent them to attack the Americans around Attu. The bombers were able to avoid the fighters from the American escort carrier to make attack runs on the battleships, carrier, and transports. But the anti-aircraft fire from the ships was heavy, shooting down or driving off most of the bombers and only one transport was sunk. Meanwhile American search planes from Adak found the Kiska group and part of the battleship group during the mid-day turn, but there were no spare bombers available to make attacks.

In the afternoon the Americans sent their southern heavy cruiser group toward Kiska to watch for the Japanese cruisers reported in the area, while the light cruiser group operating southwest of Attu turned to stay close to the island. The Japanese spilt their light carrier off from the battleships so it could launch an air strike while the battleships moved south of Attu. The air strike caught the American light cruiser group southwest of Attu. Nine B5N ‘Kate’ torpedo bombers attacked the four cruisers (one Cleveland class and three old Omaha class) heavily damaging the new Cleveland class and sinking an escorting destroyer.

In the east, the Japanese split the Kiska group sending the seaplane tender on toward Kiska, while the other ships turned to rendezvous with the battleship group. (On a side note, the seaplane tender would be sunk by an American submarine shortly after arriving at Kiska.) Late in the afternoon, the American heavy cruiser group picked up contacts on their radar, launched their floatplanes, and turned toward the contacts; setting us up for the Battle of Kiska.

Japanese forces consisted of the heavy cruiser Maya, the light cruiser Kiso and three destroyers.

Japanese ships for the Battle of Kiska

Low visibility conditions allowed the Americans force, with the heavy cruisers Wichita, San Francisco, Louisville and four destroyers, to surprise the Japanese.

American ships for the Battle of Kiska

The first American shots caught Maya unaware and caused flooding that would eventually sink the cruiser. The Japanese tried to get off some shots, but quickly decided it would be try to escape than to continue a losing fight and turned to retreat, launching torpedoes as they turned.

Japanese turn and launch torpedoes with the burning Kiso at the end of the line

The American cruisers, not wanting to lose a chance to inflict damage on the Japanese, turned to follow. Just as Maya was sinking, the torpedoes reached the pursuing Americans. The Americans tried to comb the wakes of the torpedoes, but there were too many of them and both Wichita and San Francisco took multiple hits, sinking the cruisers. Louisville was able to finish off the damaged Kiso, but this was definitely a Pyrrhic victory.

As night fell and we started the second campaign day, the Japanese moved their cruiser and battleship groups together and headed for Attu. The Americans moved their battleships to meet up with the remnants of the cruiser groups and headed west of Attu, leaving on the escort carrier and several destroyers at Attu, but hoping to stop any Japanese force before it could reach the island.

Around 0500, the American met up with the Japanese west-southwest of Attu. Both sides spotted each other at about the same time (thanks to US radar), so neither side was surprised at the start of the Battle of Attu. Both sides set slowly converging courses toward Attu. The Japanese were looking to get into position to shell the American beachhead in the morning, while the Americans wanted to block the Japanese.

Getting the US ships ready for the Battle of Attu

The Japanese battleships and escorts

The Japanese battleships Yamashiro, Fuso, and Mutsu traded shots at long range with the American battleships Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Idaho, with each side taking some hits and slowing the battleline. Each side had battleships catch fire, making them prime targets at night. The Americans were able to put out their fires relatively quickly, but one Japanese battleship would burn for several turns. The lighter forces skirmished around the edges resulting in several damaged and disabled cruisers and destroyers. The Japanese tried to close for torpedo shots, but even with their long-range torpedoes, they were finding it hard to get close enough for a good shot against the American battleships.

Fuso lighting up the night

Japanese taking their torpedo shots

US light forces maneuvering to keep the Japanese destroyers away

As game time was running out and players needed to leave, we decided to abstract the final battleship and torpedo shots. Two American battleships each took one torpedo, but the damage was not as heavy as it could have been and they were able to stay with the formation. The Japanese continued to take hits from the American battleships, but they too were still able to stay in formation. Since there were no decisive blows by this point, I made the referee decision to have both sides roll for morale to see if they would continue or withdraw (I used the standard GQ3.3 morale ratings, which gave the Japanese a slight advantage). Both sides rolled - the Americans passed but the Japanese failed (obviously, the American admiral remembered what happened to the men in charge after US Navy withdrew from around Guadalcanal the previous year and decided it would be better to fight on).

The chaos of battle as the Japanese fail their morale roll

With the Japanese forces retiring, we decided this game was a Japanese tactical victory (since they had damaged or sunk more American ships) and an American strategic victory (since they still controlled the battlefield).

Putting this into a historical context; Attu would still fall, both sides would have lots of ships to repair (although only the Americans had the shipyard capacity to really do it), and the timetable for the Kiska invasion would be thrown off a little (still allowing the Japanese to evacuate the island before the actual invasion). The Japanese battleship Mutsu would still blow up in port in June (only now it would be blamed on poor ammunition handling after reloading from the Battle of Attu instead of sabotage) and, due to damage sustained at the battle, Yamashiro would miss being sunk at Surigao Strait only to be sunk by American bombers near the end of the war. The American battleships Pennsylvania and Nevada would stay in the yards the next few months, delaying their participation in some campaigns, but still end up being sunk during the A-Bomb tests after the war.

Overall, I think everyone had an enjoyable time with the game. There were enough decisions to keep the players involved in the game and the two battles were interesting. The onus was on the Japanese to force the action and they did. The Americans could be more passive, but still needed to have a solid idea of how to react to Japanese moves.

From a referee point of view, most things moved along pretty smoothly. I was happy that we got in two battles and two air strikes (although I was hoping for more of those), which wasn’t too bad for a one-armed referee. I do need to figure out better ways to handle decisions and record keeping for aircraft for future games (I think this task was tough for the Americans), while still letting players feel they have control of those assets. On another note, the photographer for the day (my lovely wife) asked that we use larger ships in the future so she can get better pictures.

A Few Book Reviews

It is one week away from DANG and I’m currently recovering from my planned shoulder surgery (I needed to have a tendon repaired and part of a bone shaved off), so this post was done by one-handed typing. The recovery time has given me the opportunity to read and re-read many books and I thought I’d share them here. The first two are naval books, while the last doesn’t really have anything to do with ships or wargaming, but was a good read.

Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal by James Hornfischer 
Hornfischer has done some really great work in his previous books of creating personal narratives about sailors at war and Neptune’s Inferno continues that habit. Unlike land combat, where the object is to kill/wound/demoralize enemy troops, naval combat is all about the ships. That is where most books concentrate their story, on the ships as objects of war while the men that crew those ships (except for the admirals and captains) often sit in the background, out of sight. While Hornfischer does talk about the ships in battles and what the admirals/captains were doing and thinking, he also takes you into the turrets and below deck to see what the other officers and sailor were doing.

The book also covers higher levels with accounts of Nimitz, Ghormley, Halsey, and the Marines on Guadalcanal. Hornfischer also touches on the Marines denouncement of the Navy for abandoning them, while also pointing out the Navy suffered three times the casualties as the Marines and adding several stories about positive Marine-Navy interactions.

Overall, Neptune’s Inferno is an engaging book with lots of good stories. While I would have liked to have seen more about the Japanese sailors too, that is a minor quibble and certainly doesn’t make this book any less worthwhile.

For gamers this book will make you want to pull out a naval game and play it. There isn’t a lot of new information here, but it vividly illustrates the chaos and command/control issues inherent in battles. It might even give you some ideas about throwing some chaos into your games.

Islands of Destiny: The Solomons Campaign and the Eclipse of the Rising Sun by John Prados 
John Prados starts out this book saying that he is out to show that the Solomons Campaign, not the Battle of Midway, was the real turning point during World War II in the Pacific. Prados goes through the list of Japanese forces available after the battle to show that while Midway was bad, it wasn’t devastating and that the Japanese forces were still on par with (or even slightly better than) American forces. The book goes on to cover the actions in the Solomons and the decisions behind the actions from both the American and Japanese point of view.

There isn’t much new information about the battles themselves, but there is a lot of new and really interesting stuff on the intelligence efforts on both sides. This information does a great job of explaining how the battles were shaped and why they happened when they did. There is a lot of new information from American and Japanese sources and Prados writing makes it a thought-provoking read.

As far as his argument about Midway not being the turning point of the war, it is solid but I’m not convinced. I see his point, but (in my opinion) without Midway the battles around the Solomons don’t happen and the American turn to offense probably doesn’t happen until 1943. That said, I still enjoyed the book and highly recommend it, especially now that it is out in a paperback edition.

From a gamer’s point of view, the information on intelligence resources for the Americans and Japanese should prove valuable for setting up your own mini-campaigns/scenarios and knowing how much information to give the players. I know it already influenced what I’m doing for the upcoming DANG game.

The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age by Robert Weintraub 
The Victory Season is ostensibly about the 1946 baseball season, but there is really so much more to this book. Yes, it has a description of the season and exciting seven-game World Series, but it also has stories about what was happening in the United States in the year after World War II ended. It includes stories about labor unrest and the general shortages as the country shifted from a war-time to peace-time economy. It also has the account of Jackie Robinson’s year with the Dodger’s minor league team in Montreal.

There are stories about player experiences during World War II. Not just the experiences of the stars, but of the minor leaguers and players that would become famous. There is a story about an ETO ‘World Series’ played after the war ended in a converted Hitler Youth Stadium. The Victory Season also mentions Japanese ballplayers, many which served and died during the war. There aren’t too many books that talk about Japanese players and even though it is a short mention (around a page), it was nice to see.

The main things I liked about this book was the way it interwove the story of the baseball season into what was happening in the United States in 1946 and the wartime experience, not leaving each as a separate tale. The book skips back and forth a lot, making it seem a little disjointed at times, but overall it works. I picked this book as an e-book from the library and was really happy with it.

Preparing for DANG - Tiny Little Ships

I was really happy to see the Figurehead 1/6000 scale ships when they came out many years ago. Figurehead had a lot of ships from different eras, the ships were very affordable, they were easy to paint, and it would let you do battles in something close to real scale. The line has a good number of American and Soviet Cold War ships (more than any manufacturer except NavWar) and the World War I and II lines were pretty close to complete. I ended up buying a bunch of these ships and they have been my ships of choice when doing larger scale actions.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I needed to get a few more ships and paint them up for this year's DANG. The main ships I was missing were some older Japanese battleships and some of the refitted American battleships and escort carriers (no one was sending the really new stuff to the Aleutians).

Here you can see the painted up Japanese and American battlelines, along with some other ships I've had for a while. I am still amazed at the level of detail on most of the ships (you can click on the images for a little closer look).

The older Japanese battleships and a light carrier

Japanese cruisers and destroyers

American battleships and escort carrier

An American light cruiser and destroyers

The new thing this year is mounting the ships on wooden bases to give players something to grab onto and to give me a place to put ship identification.

The biggest problem (or maybe it is the smallest) with the Figurehead ships is that they are pretty small. Even the big World War II battleships and carriers are less than 2 inches in length in this scale. While the small size does allow for bigger battles and a better representational scale, even the most knowledgeable sea dog would have trouble distinguishing a Japanese Fubuki class destroyer from a Kagero class destroyer, much less keeping track of individual destroyers. That is why I needed to have a way to identify the ships.

One of the first games I played with the 1/6000 scale ships was World War I in the Adriatic. While the game worked well with the battleships and cruisers, the tiny destroyers and torpedo boats were hard to maneuver and see, much less identify. I'm hoping that adding the bases will make it easier for players to move and keep track of their ships, while letting them know what the enemy has available.

I still like the 1/6000 scale for the larger actions, but there are times I wish I had all these ships in a larger scale too. If (when?) I do games where the largest ships are cruisers (and there aren't many of them), I will probably invest in some 1/2400 scale ships. But for now, the tiny little ships will do the job.

Planning for DANG 2013

With a busy November coming to an end, I am starting to prepare for my yearly naval game: DANG (Dave's Annual Naval Game). We ran through the voting in October and this year's voting ended in a tie (for those of you keeping track, this is the third year in a row that the voting ended in a tie) and the winner was decided with a coin toss.

This year’s game is “Operation Landcrab – The American Invasion of Attu” and here is an overview of the game situation:

It has only been a month since Admiral Koga took over the Combined Fleet due to Admiral Yamamoto's untimely death and now word has come that the Americans are invading Attu. With (unhistorical) decisiveness, Admiral Koga activates Operation K-Go saying “The Navy will take action to apprehend and destroy the enemy’s surface forces.”

Japanese battleships preparing to get underway

Japanese troops occupy Attu and Kiska, but US air strikes over the past several months have battered installations and eliminated the few Japanese planes stationed there. Reinforcements and relief must come from naval forces and airbases at Paramushiro, 700 miles west of Attu.

The U.S. Navy's Task Force 51 ready to support the Attu landing

The US has built up a substantial invasion force and there are US air bases at Adak, Amchitka, and Umnak, but the variable Alaskan weather will limit the effect of airpower and it will be up to the U.S. Navy to protect and support the invasion of Attu.

The game will use the General Quarters 3 scenario (with a few twists) and cover operations from 15 May 1943, just after the U.S. Invasion of Attu, until around 20 May 1943. Both sides will have a number of older battleships, along with cruisers, destroyers and transports to complete their missions. Aircraft will also be available (each side has land-based air and a light carrier) to help with searches and attacks, but you can expect the weather will have a major impact on air operations.

We will be using the General Quarters 3 rules (with the latest updates) and 1/6000 scale ships. The game will happen on December 30 and, as always, it should be a lot of fun. I have a few new ships to paint up (I hope to post pictures) and the various forms and background information to create. I also have to go in for shoulder surgery, which will take me out of action for a little while, but (hopefully) won't impact DANG.

This is DANG’s twelfth year and here are links to recaps of games from before 2010, the Lepanto game from 2010, and the American Civil War river game from 2011, and last year's 1812 Lake Ontario game. 

Recap NHMGS Game Day at the Flying Heritage Collection

Last Saturday (November 16), NHMGS held a game day at the Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field in Everett, WA. It was a great chance to interact with the public, but it was also a little bit of a challenge to put this on since we just had the event at the Museum of Flight a couple weeks ago. NHMGS is hoping to have more of the events at the Flying Heritage Collection, but also hoping to shift the date so it isn’t quite so close to another event.

The Collection has some really nice aircraft, such as this P-40C done up in Flying Tiger colors (the description plaque said this plane was actually in Soviet service, but I can understand them going with the more well-known AVG markings). 

We were set up in the Flying Heritage Collection’s second hanger, the one with the tanks guns, and split into a couple areas.

A photo of the main game area with a Sherman tank overseeing the action

Setting up the Kursk game table with a Hetzer and Flak 88 in the background

And with the T-34 on the on the other side

It was interesting to see games being put on with some actual World War 2 vehicles looking on.

Kevin and I put together a couple small coastal force actions, one in the Pacific and one in the Mediterranean, for the event. So I was pretty busy throughout the day. But I did manage to grab a few photos of the games and items around the Flying Heritage collection.

A game of Fire and Maneuver getting ready to start

A Check Your 6 game getting set up

A photo of the dogfight

The afternoon Check Your 6 game featured Gladiators (shown above) against CR-42s

A Bolt Action Pacific battle featuring Marines against the Japanese

It seemed like it didn't go too well for the Japanese

The Kursk game had several walk-up players(including the young fellow in the blue-striped shirt)

The afternoon session also had another Flames of War game

Along with an Axis and Allies Air game

The morning Action Stations game was an attack on a Japanese barge convoy

The game started out well for the Americans as they were able to knock a bunch of weapons on the escorting subchaser, but the dice turned against them in the later part of the game 

 

In the afternoon we switched to the Mediterranean, with a Italian/German convoy being attacked by a mixed British/American force

Running the larger vessels turned out to be a little different than smaller Pacific barges, here an Italian sloop dodges some British torpedoes

The German barges were sluggish, but hard to hit with torpedoes

Overall, it was a fun day and I’m looking forward to the next one.