What A Tanker! Skytrex 1/300 Scale Tanker for Torpedoes and Tides

When I posted pics of this model on my Bluesky social media feed, my friend James called it "the scummiest vessel he'd ever seen", a nice tribute to Stan Rogers and to my intention to paint this Skytrex model as a hardworking little tanker.   And yes, this post's title is a little joking reference - IYKYK as the yutes like to say.

Not much more to say about this model, it's from the Skytrex Cruel Seas range, 1/300 scale models that work well with the Torpedoes and Tides rules I like.  It's straight out of the box, resin hall with some metal bits, no mods, just some heavy drybrushing and some rust effects to make it look like the tramp steamer she is.

When Joy and I were waiting to disembark in Vancouver last summer at the end of our Disney cruise, a little oiler barge came alongside our ship to fuel it, and I was amused at the contrast between this working vessel and the pristine cruise ship, so i tried to capture that memory here.

No flags, I want this ship to be a target for E boats or RN torpedo boats.

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Convoy Chaos! A Torpedoes and Tides Battle Report

I've now played a full solitaire game of Torpedoes and Tides, using the Campaign Rules.   I used all my Fairmille models to give me a flotilla of three MTBs and two MGBs.   The lead character was Lt. "Rocky" Rhodes but he didn't do so well so another boat commander ended up being my main character.  

I gave all the dogboats Q3, so the flotilla isn't green, but it's fairly new to the war, so just barely Competent  I rolled a Convoy Attack mission. We pick up the action in front of the Senior Naval Officer.

***

Lt John Miller, RCNVR, "Dusty" to his friends, stood uneasily in front of the desk of Commander Jennings, referred to soto voce in the flotilla as "The Dragon".    Jennings had been a year from retirement when the war began, and although he had been a dashing torpedo boat skipper in the last war, his approach was by the book and he did not like undisciplined Canadians.

Jennings put down the after action report and pointed his pipe stem at Miller.  "Well, you did well, at least, but it was a damned poor show all around."

Miller, still short of sleep, struggled to recall the events of last night.   The convoy had been there on its reported route, and had first been spotted by Lt Harry "The Hammer" Fields in his MGB.  "It's hammering time!" Fields had shouted over the radio as his guns unleashed on a small German escort, an R-boat at close range.   

The Canadian flotilla approaches in darkness under blinds.  The white cotton depicts a fog bank.  Harry's MGB is close enough to the Raum-botte and a freighter behind it that they come off blinds.   Harry fires, but to no effect.

"I don't know what Rhodes was thinking, having you all charging in pell-mell like that.   Officer cadet heroics have no place here!" 

"We were all eager, sir, it was our first show."  Miller recalled their flotilla skipper, Peter "Rocky" Rhodes, ordering them to "get stuck in, full throttle" and Miller suddenly finding himself within spitting distance of the small escort, its tracers flying overhead and chewing up his Fairmille's woodwork.

Miller's boat takes a point of damage and is now operating on one red dice.   Because the German now has initiative, and the R-boat must move at least a short move forward before turning, it bashes into the MTB of Lt Rouleau.   Both the British and German boats take damage.

The German R-boat skipper is undergunned but gamely hangs in, happy to play bumper boats and spoil the British attack.  Meanwhile, the other MGB in the flotilla, under Bruce "Fairway" McGregor, lights up the German freighter but doesn't do any real damage.  The red chits are for the optional muzzle flash rules, meaning that a boat that fires is easier to hit.

"There's a difference between eager and stupid," Jennings growled.  "I'd say getting your boat cut in half is just plain stupid."

Rhodes is too close to the oncoming German minesweeper, the large escort.   It was a hard way to learn the collision rules, especially as the British lost the initiative at this point and the Large German ship cuts through the MTB like a knife through butter.

"Yes, sir.  I hope my report made it clear that Lt. McGregor was able to rescue Rhodes and his crew while under fire."

Miller recalled glancing at the minesweeper, her secondary armament lashing the water as McGregor's men cooly plucked their mates from the sea.

"That was a good show, McGregor showed guts.  Good sort of man to have in a gunboat."

Jennings allowed himself a flinty smile.  "And you managed to redeem this dog's breakfast of a show."

"It was hard to miss at that range, sir.   Got the last freighter amidships and she broke in two.   We were able to get out in the confusion."

Miller fires two fish at close range, if he was any closer there wouldn't have been enough time for the torpedoes to arm.  He's rewarded with one hit, which does catastrophic damage to the freighter.

Jennings sat back in his seat and relit his pipe before looking up at Miller from under his bushy eyebrows.  "The MO is looking over Rhodes and his lot.  I can't produce dog boats from thin air, so you're down a boat and I'm giving you the flotilla.  Do better than Rhodes and you might keep it.  Go get some rest, you'll need it.  Dismissed."

***

At the dockyard, the base chief engineer says he's busy and shorthanded.  I roll a 5 on 2d6, and since I have one boat with two damage (Rouleau's MTB) and two boats with 1 damage (McGregor's MGB and Miller's MTB), I decide to fix one point on Rouleau's boat and one on Miller's.   The MTB's take precedence.  

All the crews in the flotilla get an experience point for being in a battle.  McGregor's crew gets an experience point for rescuing Rhodes and his crew.   Miller's crew gets three points for sinking an enemy freighter.

Rhode's reputation is not enhanced by losing his boat and two of his MTBs not firing any fish.   Rhodes' reputation goes down by 1 and is now -1.   

I now check for an event and Miller is awakened the next day to the unwelcome news that the base is getting a surprise visit from an Admiral.   There's enough time to make and mend and clear away last night's empty gin bottles.  The flotilla makes a good showing and the Admiral is pleased with his fighting Canadians.

I now need a personality for Lt Miller so I roll up the following stats for him:

Stamina: 3; Charisma: 3; Tactics: 4

We'll see if Dusty Miller has what it takes to keep the flotilla and do better than poor Rhodes.   

A note about the ship models:

The R-boat is a 3D print of a file from Thingverse (do a search there under Cruel Seas and you'll find all manner of helpful files).  The minesweeper and the three merchant ships are from Skytrex, and may get properly painted before their next outing.

Cheers and blessings to your die rolls!

MP+

A Hardworking Little Ship: Skytrex Bangor Class Minesweeper

Still in the grip of my coastal forces (perhaps costly forces would be a better term) enthusiasm and I've just finished a scruffy little ship to act as an escort to some merchants and maybe give the E-boats pause for thought.   

 

This 1/300 scale kit from the Skytrex/Warlord Cruel Seas kit comes as a resin hull with about half a dozen metal bits.

I might have overdone it with the rust effects.  I used AK rust paint, simply painting on a small dot or blob and then smearing it with an old brush or finger.   The effect makes her look like a proper tramp, though I would think if I was an admiral, I'd want my sweepers out doing the work and not lying around chipping paint.

The penant number, J260, is from a Bangor class minesweeper operated by the Royal Canadian Navy, the HMCS Goderich.  She spent her career mostly based out of Halifax, NS, as part of the Western Escort Force, so unlikely that she would have come close to an S Boat, but Goderich is a pleasant Ontario town and why not use the name.   I could have painted her in the grey and blue Western Approaches pattern used in the Atlantic, but liked a scruffy grey.

As far as I could see, there are no stats for the Bangor class ships in Torpedoes and Tides, but shouldn't be too hard to invent something.

Next in the dockyards is another Skytrex kit, a German minelayer, so wouldn't it be something if these two were to run into one another some dark night?

Cheers and blessings to your brushes,

MP+

First Time At Sea With Torpedoes and Tides

 It took me a while but I finally put some boats on the table and took these rules by Thomas Brandsetter for a spin, and they were a lot of fun!

I started modestly, two British Fairmile MGBs (aka "Dog Boats" going up against two Kriegsmarine E-boats or S (for Schnell) Boats in the English Channel.  It was night, but rolling for the environment gave me two fog banks, a full moon on the south edge of the table, and one section of coastline.    Here the Germans, still on blinds, spot the first of the two Dog Boats, outside of gun range (torpedoes against such small craft would be pointless so it's all gun combat).

I was using earlier war stats for the S Boats, when they aren't equipped with bow guns, so the Germans turned broadside on as the British approached.   There was much inconclusive shooting.  The gunfire mechanics basically mean both boats roll a die, with apporpriate modifiers, and the side with the higher value either inflicts suppression or damage, or successfully defends.   I had forgotten to add the Combat Value of the ships (3 in both cases) to the results of the die rolls.   In T&T all ships have Traits or characteristics, and the S Boats have the Hard to Hit Trait, which means that sixes become ones.   This trait proved handy as the Germans, who were undergunned compared to the Fairmiles, evaded damage and both sides came away unscathed.

My 3D printed Fairmilles and the Skytrex German S-boats blaze away in the darkness.  The playing mat is by Geek Villain.

Having learned the basics of the spotting, moving, and combat rules, I ran out of time.  The undergunned Kriegsmarine ships raced off into the darkness.  

Most of what I've read of these coastal forces encounters was that they were quick and often bloody, but in this case everyone gets back to base with inflated stories of glory.

 

Next time I'll add some more boats and use the later war S Boat stats to make it a fairer fight vs the Fairmiles.   I have some larger ships in the dockyards so hopefully I'll put some fish in the water.

A fun and positive introduction to an interesting set of rules.

Blessings to your die rolls!

MP+

Fast Boats for Torpedoes and Tides

 One of the pleasures of running my WW1 naval game last year was getting to know Thomas Brandsetter, who has recently published his rules for coastal naval battles in WW2, Torpedoes and Tides, which can be found on Wargames Vault.

I read the rules eagerly, and appreciated the linked game narrative approach that Thomas demonstrates on his blog, The Raft.  Like some of the campaign-driven games in the Too Fat Lardies stable (Sharp Practice, Platoon Forward), Thomas' rules also provide a vehicle for new boat commanders to rise through the ranks, or die horribly.   

I needed some boats, so my dear friend Trish, the genius behind 4P Press, pointed me towards some STL files on Thingverse.  Just do a search there for Cruel Seas and you'll find lots, all scaled in 1/300 for the Warlord rules.  For the core of my British force I printed and painted five Fairmiles,  three MTBs and two MGBs.  The hulls are all in one piece a printed clearly on my Bambu filament printer.  The guns were a little more fiddly but look ok from a distance.

The masts are made of copper wire and the Red Ensigns ship in Skytrex Cruel Seas kits, of which I bought several.

To oppose them, a quartet of menacing Kriegsmarine E-boats, two S-100 and two S-38 boats, all Skytrex plastic kits.  They assembled cleanly, though I had to go online to various blogs to see how the parts went together.  Skytrex evidently thinks that these things are self-explanatory and don't require instructions.

They all look quite good on the Geek Villain naval mat.  I'm quite happy with GV products.

Next up in the shipyards is a Bangor-class RN minesweeper, a resin kit, nicely detailed.

I hope to have a first playthrough to report on soon.   

Cheers and blessings to your brushes!

MP+