Mike's Fighting Ships: A Player's Aid for the Swan of the East PBEM Game

Lately my modelling and hobby work has focused on cranking out 1/2400 scale ships for the Great War naval campaign that I'm running.  I'd love to say more about it, but it's all hush hush.   I look forward to telling the story when it's all over.

This blog post shows off the work I've done lately (a mix of Tumbling Dice and GHQ models) and is intended as a player aid to help recognize ships when I send digital photos of what the players might be seeing from their bridges.  I won't identify the ships, I'll just show them photos of what they see.  So in lieu of Jane's Fighting Ships, here is Mike's Fighting Ships.   

German battle cruiser, Moltke class.  Ships in class:  Moltke, Goeben.  10 28cm (11"), 12 15cm (5.9") guns, speed 25.5 knots.

German armoured cruiser, Scharnhorst class.  Ships in class:  Scharnhorst, Gneisnau. 8 21cm (8.3"), 6 15cm (5.9") guns, speed 22.5 knots.

German light cruiser, Magdeburg class.  Ships in class:  Magdeburg, Breslau, Strassburg, Stalsund.  12 10.5 cm (4.1") guns, top speed 27.5 knots.

German light cruiser, Dresden class.  Ships in class:  Dresden, Emden.  10 10.5cm (4.1") guns, top speed 25 knots.

German light cruiser, Koenigsberg class.  Ships in class: Koenigsberg, Stettin, Stuttgart, Nurnberg.   Ten 10.5cm (4.1") guns, top speed 24.1 knots:

British battle cruiser, Indefatigable class.  Ships in class:  Indefatigable, Australia, New Zealand.  8 12" guns, top speed 25.8 knots.

British pre-dreadnought battleship, Swiftsure class.  Ships in class:  Swiftsure, Triumph.  4 10", 14 7.5" guns, top speed 19 knots.

British pre-dreadnought battleship, Canopus class.  Ships in class:  Canopus, Glory, Albion, Ocean, Goliath, Vengeance.  4 12 inch guns, 12 6 inch guns, top speed 18 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Minotaur class.  Ships in class: Minotaur, Shannon, Defence. 4 9.2", 10 7.5" guns, top speed 23 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Monmouth class.  Ships in class:  Monmouth, Bedford, Essex, Kent, Berwick, Cornwall, Cumberland, Donegal, Lancaster, Suffolk.  12 6" guns, top speed 23 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Drake class.  Ships in class:  Drake, Good Hope, King Alfred, Leviathan.  2 9.2", 16 6" guns, top speed 23 knots.

British armoured cruiser, Devonshire Class.  Ships in class: Devonshire, Antrim, Argyll, Hampshire,  Carnarvon, Roxburgh. 4 7.5 inch guns, 6 inch guns, top speed 22 knots.

British  Town class light cruiser.  Various sub-classes, 21 in all.   6-10 6" guns, top speed 25 knots.

Japanese armoured cruiser (arguably a battle cruiser),   Ibuki class.  Ships in class:  Ibuki, Kurama.  4 12", 8 8" guns, speed 21.5 knots.

Japanese protected cruiser,   Chikuma class.  Ships in class:  Chikuma, Yahagi, Hirado.  8 6" guns, speed 26 knots.

Russian protected (light) cruiser Askold, unique design. 12 5" guns, speed 23.8 knots.

Russian Izumrud class protected (light) cruiser.  Ships in class:  Izumrud, Jemtchug.  6 4.7" guns.  Speed 24 knots.

Armed merchant cruisers (converted passenger ships).   Used by both sides.  Varying light armaments and speeds.

A humble and typical merchant ship.

"Take That, You Beast!": Getting Ready to Chase the Graf Spee

Fans of old British war films may remember that line, uttered by Anthony Quayle playing Commodore Harwood in the 1956 film, Battle of the River Plate.  It's a terrific Technicolour film and an intelligent account of a naval battle.  I have a hard time thinking of a better naval film made since, except (possibly) Greyhound.  The film is here if you want to watch it online.

Faithful readers of this intermittent blog (bless you!) may recall that I've said before that I don't need to take on any new periods, especially as I turn 62 soon and "Time's winged chariot" seems somehow nearer.   However, naval games have always intrigued me and after reading a terrific blog account of a WW2 naval battle in the Med, I felt I had to scratch this itch.

River Plate seemed like a good place to start, seeing as it only requires four ships and is an interesting contest between numbers and hitting power.   I was considering NavWar in the UK as my source for the models, but they only take postal orders and I've been thoroughly spoiled by online shopping.  Besides, I have lived through the era of sending money orders to the UK and (hopefully) receiving the models two months later, so i've paid my dues.

I selected GHQ in the US as my source, and while the white metal models are pricey, the 1:2400 scale seemed small enough to be manageable but large enough to be satisfying on the tabletop.   I was very pleased when this package arrived shortly after I placed the order online, with lots of  paper goodies stuffed inside the mailer, including an intriguing and old school glossy paper catalogue.

A sharp Olfa knife, a metal file, tweezers (mine were barely adequate) and super glue were all employed to assemble the models.  Each ship took about an hour, including breaks to keep an eye on whatever Toronto Blue Jays baseball game was on.  I present HMS Exeter, which soaked up fearful damage during the battle.

Leander class light cruiser, representing Ajax (Harwood's flagship) and the NZ crewed Achilles (which stars as itself in the 1956 film):

Force H assembled!

The dreaded Beast, the Graf Spee.   Some of the barrels on those turrets look a bit wiggly!

The next step is to paint these guys and try out the rules I've chosen, Naval Thunder.  There's also a naval fleece on order from Geek Villain and some markers from Litko.

More to follow!

Cheers and blessings to your super glue!

MP+