Stuff from Shapeways.

One of the CP scenarios that I have wanted to run for a number of years now, has been the Battle of Goose Green. I have been quietly acquiring the bits and pieces needed to run it. So far I have the British forces - bar the Harrier air support - all painted (bar the final basing), and with the Matchbox NATO Paratroopers set being reissued this year I should be able to produce the Argentinean forces by using these and figures from other sets.

But the most elusive item has been finding Pucara ground attack aircraft. Originally I was going to try and find a 1/72 scale model, but since I have moved to 1/144 scale for modern fixed wing aircraft I have opted to use a model produced by 3D printing.

This is how it shipped  from the Netherlands to NZ. Of course it was in a bag surrounded by bubblewrap!

 I ordered them here from Shapeways - a site that contains quite a great deal of interesting items for gamers. I am sure that i will be purchasing more items from them in the future.

I ordered two as I figured it was a useful number. One suffered a minor breakage  of a broken prop blade. 

I also decided to purchase some ships to add into my existing 1/1800 scale fleet. I decided that this time I would get ships and boats that would increase the amphibious capability of my US fleet.

Two Bayfield class APAs. Both models still have runners attached that are  not part of the finished model.

I don't think my photos give justice to the detail of these models, nor how hardy the material they are printed out of actually is.

12 LCIs still attached to their runner.

Once I get these painted up I will post pictures of my current USN fleet.

The view underneath showing the runner frame.

Of course, if I am getting LCIs, I had to get some LCVPs too. These are also a very nice clean and crisp model. In fact, none of the Shapeways products had any imperfections as a result of manufacture that I noticed. I guess 3D printing eliminates flash and  lines!

LCVPs - four bases of two craft. APAs included to give a sense of scale.

The various models - all 1:1800 scale with a 20mm square GW base to  give an idea of  actual model size.

I am very happy with my purchases from Shapeways and will be looking to put them up on the tabletop soon.

War at Sea

Waitangi Day saw Steve and I play another short naval engagement. This time we decided to play Axis and Allies: War at Sea, just to see how it went. A&A WaS is designed to be a quick and dirty system, but it does have a points system. We decided to go with 100 points each, with Steve playing the Japanese, and me playing the US Navy again.

IJN Battleship Yamato, Heavy Cruiser Haguro, and two flights of  G4M Betty  medium bombers.  A powerful  surface action group under Steve's command.

I first purchased my WaS ships back in 2008, during a trip to the United States. I had discovered their existence whilst searching for naval miniatures suitable for use in CD3 games, and found that they were modeled at 1:1800 - the scale ground scale used in CD. The idea was that I could use them to represent naval forces in amphibious games a mile or two off shore (36 to 72 inches), and have a target that was the right size to be caught in artillery templates.

USS Wasp, USS New Jersey, and a flight of  TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. 

By mutual agreement, the seas were flat and clam, although I don't believe WaS has rules for bad weather! The first turn started with both fleets closing for action, and both sides launching air attacks on each other.

Stat cards for the US fleet. 100pts well spent!

Opening moves. The IJN attempt a torpedo strike on the USS New Jersey.

Steve opted to have one of his bombers attack the mighty USS New Jersey, which resulted in it being destroyed by the New Jersey's AA fire. I had my Avengers attack the Yamato, causing minor damage to the huge battleship.

The second turn saw the fleets move even closer, Steve used his remaining bomber to attack the USS Wasp, which also used its AA to destroy the attacking bomber. My Avengers return to attack the Yamato, only to be driven off by the big ship's AA fire.

Meanwhile the USS New Jersey, and the Yamato exchange gun fire causing minor damage to both ships.

The Avengers sink the Haguro

The third turn saw me change targets for my next airstrike. I decided to attack the Haguro, and that decision paid off, with the Haguro being sunk by the Avengers torpedo attack.  The two battleships continued to exchange fire, with both ships firing broadsides at each other. New Jersey rolls well, causing more damage to the Yamoto, and being only one hit away from causing a critical hit and sinking her outright. The Yamato is more fortunate with its dice and gets the hits needed to cause a critical - sinking the New Jersey!

The  Yamato sinks the USS New Jersey

Turn four sees me attempt to sink the Yamato with another airstrike, before it can get the Wasp in range of its guns. I make a horrible mistake and use bombs rather than torpedoes, causing no damage to the Yamato.

Turn five sees the Wasp in the range of the Yamato's guns. My only chance is a successful torpedo strike with my Avengers...

The Avengers finally sink the Yamato.

and yet again my Avengers sink a IJN ship! So Waitangi Day 2013 had me chalk up two victories, in two very pleasant games using beer and pretzel rules. Not a bad way to start the years gaming, nor a bad way to spend a public holiday.

Victory at Sea

Having come back to NZ with a few new 1:1800 scale Axis and Allies War at Sea ships, and discovering that Mongoose Publishing are producing a range of 1:1800 scale ships for their Victory at Sea game, Steve and I decided to have a game on Waitangi Day. Waitangi can be translated from Maori as noisy or weeping waters, so a naval engagement seemed quite appropriate.

Two USN Cleveland class cruisers.

Victory at Sea is designed to be a quick fast play game, and it delivered! Unfortunately photos of naval games tend not to capture the nail biting tension that these games can generate. Victory at Sea lacks the detail of Harpoon, but it played fast and was fun.

CL- 55 Cleveland and CL - 57  Montpelier

The scenario generator gives ships a priority rating so my two Cleveland class light cruisers were rated at one point each for the engagement, with the IJN heavy cruiser Haguro being rated at two points.

Myoko class heavy cruiser Haguro.

The game started at 06:00hrs with calm waters and good visibility. My US cruisers started with the initiative and were able to detect the Haguro on their radars.

The game began with both sides maneuvering towards each other in order to bring their guns into range. The second turn had the Haguro take the initiative and fire first, only to receive minor damage from the USS Montpelier in return.

Haguro continued to close in order to bring its Lance Lance torpedoes into range. Haguro again misses the USS Montpelier, which also misses with its return fire. USS Cleveland is more successful with its broadside and inflicts more damage on the Haguro.

The Haguro continues to close to torpedo range while taking gunfire hits from both USN cruisers. Once Haguro is in range she fires her torpedoes into the USS Montpelier, crippling her. The USS Montpelier is also hit by the close range broadside of the Haguro's guns. USS Monpelier losses all her main armaments and starts to limp away.

Meanwhile USS Cleveland continues to engage the Haguro with gunfire, causing more damage to it as it begins to swing around to engage the USS Cleveland with the deadly Long Lance torpedoes.

Haguro sinks USS Montpelier.

Haguro then sinks the USS Monpelier with gunfire. The USS Cleveland is alone. Haguro's next broadside misses the USS Cleveland, but a torpedo strikes home causing minor damage. USS Cleveland's return fire causes more damage to the Haguro, finally crippling it, putting its Q and X turrets, and starboard torpedoes out of operation.

The USS Cleveland continues to engage the Haguro with gunfire, as the Haguro attempts to bring its port torpedo tubes to bear whilst returning gunfire. Both ships are taking a pounding from this fire, and it is now a race to see if the USS Cleveland can land the final blow before the Haguro can.

USS Cleveland sinks the IJN Haguro.

The USS Cleveland takes a risk and manuevers back around to the Haguro, in order to deliver a broadside. The broadside hits and the Haguro is destroyed! While that final move was successful, had the Haguro not been finally sunk, it would have surely sunk the USS Cleveland with its port Long Lances and remaining guns.

Chalk up a victory at sea for me!