Author Topic: Naval wargaming? (Read 51810 times)

Weirdo · « **Reply #60 on:** 26 March 2011, 16:29:13 »

Well, I finally got some more ships for my Northern Fleet, and have actually painted some of them!

Only one's finished so far, the Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov:

Almost finished are a Typhoon and Sierra, and hopefully after that I'll make more progress on surface combatants and aircraft. Who knows, maybe someday I'll even have enough stuff done to play a game!

3rdCrucisLancers · « **Reply #61 on:** 26 March 2011, 20:51:37 »

Too bad you aren't coming to GC, Weirdo, I could bring my 1/6000 WWII stuff.

Nerroth · « **Reply #62 on:** 19 December 2011, 18:00:11 »

Apologies for the necro; but in Mongoose's annual round-up address, they mentioned (potentially) working on a second edition of Victory at Sea;

Quote from: State of the Mongoose 2011 - Victory at Sea

Victory at Sea
From our perspective, Victory at Sea is the game that just keeps on going. Several years on, thousands of copies sold and it shows few signs of slowing down.

The first thing that will appear in 2012 is the long-awaited supplement for Age of Dreadnoughts, the World War I edition of the game. Written by David Manley, Far Flung Seas introduces a host of new fleets (including Italian, Austrian and French fleets, plus reinforcements for existing forces), a new campaign map and rules for coastal forces.

Those watching our Eye on Mongoose Facebook page will already know that Sandrine has spent her Star Fleet Cooling Off Period messing around with some 3D designs for a new range of World War II models.

This is down to us developing three miniatures games in parallel. One is a second edition of Victory at Sea, complete with comprehensive miniatures range. For details of the others, see below ‘Miniatures and Games in Development’.

The decision of which we will go forward with will be taken at the end of this year after we have done a little more work on rules concepts and models, with the final game appearing around June(ish). However, I can go into some detail on what we are planning for Victory at Sea 2.0, as we have taken to calling it.

We have delayed doing such a game this long principally because we made a decision long ago that a new Victory at Sea would only be produced if it had a line of miniatures to go with it. We did launch into discussions with Navwar about the possibility of buying their entire range and, for a while, this looked like a promising move. In the end, however, technology caught up with us (or vice versa) and 3D design pointed the way ahead.

A fair number of ships have already been researched and designed by Sandrine (right now, you can show Sandrine a photograph of a battleship and she will tell you what year the photo was taken – much to her chagrin) and verified by David Manley. This has been possible because of 3D design techniques. The miniatures line breaks down like this.

We have designed the models to be super-detailed resin casts (I know, I know, you are tired of hearing the words ‘resin’ and ‘detailed’ in the same sentence, but see my comments before about phasers and you’ll get a sense of what is possible these days) in 1/2,400 scale.

Retail releases will see all major classes released for all major fleets (British, German, US, Japanese, French and Russian). However, and this is where the clever bit of 3D design comes in, Sandrine has not just done a Queen Elizabeth-class model and then moved on. She has done separate models for the Warspite, Valiant, Barham and Malaya. And, so far, has done this for every class of ship she worked on. These sister ships will likely be available by mail order only (as there will of course be a sizeable number in the range) and while we will cover all battleships of the war, we may only do this for a number of cruisers. There do, after all, have to be limits!

Our intent is to produce a line of finely-detailed, low cost 1/2,400 scale ships that will grace any table.

What we do with the rulebook is more open to question. Our original intention was for a big, thick, full colour hardback with lots of photos, pictures of pretty painted fleets, truly comprehensive fleet lists (combining those of the original Victory at Sea and Order of Battle) and lots of articles examining various areas of the sea war – a real feast for naval wargamers!

However, we are now also considering a box set, complete with two fleets of plastic miniatures and everything else needed to form a proper starter set.

As I said, no firm decision just yet, but this is the direction of our thinking.

while the guys over at ADB were able to swag a few pics of some of the new 3d moulds for it.

Quote from: by SVC

These are not part of the joint venture but are so cool we wanted to show them to our friends.

EDIT: Bismarck and HMS Hood.

Nerroth · « **Reply #63 on:** 05 January 2012, 02:02:02 »

Apologies for the double-link; but it looks like version 2 of Victory at Sea (complete with resin miniature range) is set for 2012 after all.

I am Belch II · « **Reply #64 on:** 05 January 2012, 11:47:55 »

Weirdo?? What scale is that ship?? Looks awesome!!

Weirdo · « **Reply #65 on:** 05 January 2012, 12:27:25 »

1/2400 scale. That's my preferred scale for modern ships, with 1/700 for aircraft.

I am Belch II · « **Reply #66 on:** 06 January 2012, 09:49:15 »

Quote from: Weirdo on 05 January 2012, 12:27:25

1/2400 scale. That's my preferred scale for modern ships, with 1/700 for aircraft.

Who's 1/2400 scale mostly. I Like GHQ...but really expensive for a big fleet. Navwar is 1/3000 and the detail is a lot lower, but build up a big fleet quick with just about every ship class out there.

Weirdo · « **Reply #67 on:** 06 January 2012, 10:18:32 »

I like GHQ's detail and use their stuff for my main combatants when possible, but there are several others. Alnavco actually sells GHQ stuff a bit cheaper than going direct, and they also sell Superior stuff. Not as detailed, but much cheaper, and they have hulls GHQ doesn't. Same with Viking Forge (they did my Kuznetsov), they've got stuff that NOBODY else has, especially if you want to do a Chinese or Japanese fleet. I plan to use Superior and Viking Forge for subs, since those don't have as much detail to worry about as surface stuff. Quick Reaction Force does a lot of stuff focused on the Falklands, and also has several merchies. Finally, there's a guy on Shapeways that does a LOT of stuff nobody else does like extremely new ships like the Hyuga, and less well-known fleets, such as France, Korea, or India. Not much surface detail at all, but certainly recognizable, and I think adding some detail myself is very possible. Pretty cheap(especially if you sacrifice detail a bit more by going for White Strong Flexible material instead of Frosted Ultra Detail), and while I forget his name, his stuff can be found easily by going to Shapeways and searching for 1/2400 naval minis. I'm happy because he also has 1/700 aircraft that I cannot find anywhere else. You'd think it'd be easier to find something as iconic as a TU-95, but they're almost impossible to track down.

3rdCrucisLancers · « **Reply #68 on:** 06 January 2012, 10:24:10 »

The Shapeways guy? Doesn't he also do 1/6000 British War Emergency Programme Destroyers? And the WWII Thai fleet, so you can do the Battle of Koh Chang?

Weirdo · « **Reply #69 on:** 06 January 2012, 10:29:43 »

He does a LOT of stuff, and in many scales, so it's entirely possible. I think he's the end result of an aficionado of a relatively obscure hobby realizing the potential of 3-D printing, and deciding to truly go big in lieu of going home. I fully support his obsessive attention to completeness. Now if only he'd do the Karel Doorman class, so I can buy the bulk of the Belgian navy in one go.

I am Belch II · « **Reply #70 on:** 06 January 2012, 12:30:20 »

I know they are smaller but I have a huge 1/1200 scale aircraft. There are a couple of good lines like Hallmark and CAP Aero. From F-22s, F-35s, B-52s, and C-5s. They also have a huge line in Soviet/Russia and UK equipment also.

Weirdo · « **Reply #71 on:** 06 January 2012, 12:51:47 »

Yikes, that's tiny! It's hard enough working with the Seahawks and Helixes I already have, I do NOT want to see them smaller...

ANS Kamas P81 · « **Reply #72 on:** 06 January 2012, 17:05:04 »

Quote from: Weirdo on 06 January 2012, 12:51:47

Yikes, that's tiny! It's hard enough working with the Seahawks and Helixes I already have, I do NOT want to see them smaller...

Yes, but wouldn't you want to see your carrier decks with fighters and bombers onboard?

Weirdo · « **Reply #73 on:** 06 January 2012, 17:08:49 »

GHQ sells such craft, and I might very well add them to my ships later.

Nerroth · « **Reply #74 on:** 07 January 2012, 02:50:54 »

Looks like Mongoose are going to be adding a bit more historical flavour to the VaS 2.0 rulebook, in terms of the kind of background articles to be included; here's a draft of one such addition.

(Would it be as well to run a separate thread for Victory st Sea 2.0, or would it be better to keep it here instead? I don't want to derail discussions of other games, not least by the time the book and minis get closer to production.)

Nerroth · « **Reply #75 on:** 09 January 2012, 17:13:43 »

I'll keep it here for now, then.

(A couple more 3D moulds; this time for the US Navy.)

I am Belch II · « **Reply #76 on:** 09 January 2012, 18:10:17 »

The 1/1200 Helo's dont have the blades. They don't look right.

3rdCrucisLancers · « **Reply #77 on:** 09 January 2012, 18:25:46 »

Quote from: I am Belch II on 09 January 2012, 18:10:17

The 1/1200 Helo's dont have the blades. They don't look right.

Not really possible to do blades at that scale. Maybe a clear acetate disk?

Weirdo · « **Reply #78 on:** 09 January 2012, 18:33:14 »

That's my plan for my 1/700 stuff. Mine did come with rotors, but they're completely insane. Trumpeter's habit of casting all their parts in clear plastic doesn't help...

I am Belch II · « **Reply #79 on:** 10 January 2012, 00:21:40 »

Some of the peices of the 1/700 models are just insane. Clear plastic for landing gear and missle hardpoints is just insane. I get the detail but you dont need that many peices.

Nerroth · « **Reply #80 on:** 27 January 2012, 15:35:20 »

Another 3d mould for the upcoming Mongoose stuff; this time of the Iowa-class battleship.

Nerroth · « **Reply #81 on:** 03 March 2012, 20:05:37 »

Mongoose have posted up yet another blog entry for Victory at Sea 2.0, showing the breakdown set for the new rulebook.

Black Omega · « **Reply #82 on:** 04 March 2012, 11:52:56 »

Have any of you played "Seapower" by Alnavco? It is the first wargame of any kind that I ever played. My history teacher in high school got a bunch of us started.

Nerroth · « **Reply #83 on:** 28 March 2012, 13:38:44 »

The first look at a pre-production model for Mongoose's take on the Bismarck.

Weirdo · « **Reply #84 on:** 30 March 2012, 08:36:04 »

Huzzah, my order from Viking Forge finally arrived! However, now I must decide what to name each vessel, and would like to use ones that actually served together. Does anyone know of a good source for the specific composition of various task groups in recent history? For my US stuff, I'm trying to put together one Nimitz group, one amphibious ready group, and one...uh...whatever accompanies an LCC command ship these days.

PS: If possible, I'd really like one of the groups to include USS Lake Erie. Being the only ship I know of to successfully pull off a surface-to-orbit shot, I really want a mini to represent that particular Tico.

Thanks!

I am Belch II · « **Reply #85 on:** 30 March 2012, 13:10:49 »

I just picked up some 1/1200 scale of the DDG-1000 Zumwalt Destroyers. I wish someone would make a good Kirov Battlecruiser in 1/1200. There are a lot more ships that I would like to see in 1/1200. Like a San Antonio LPD, and a Wasp LHD. In a price that isn't over $50 a ship.

Weirdo · « **Reply #86 on:** 30 March 2012, 13:32:57 »

For their size, finding ships that big in 1200 will probably be difficult, and possibly impossible for cheap. Your best bet may be to find someone on Shapeways willing to do them, but even then they probably won't be cheap.

I'd love a San Antonio or two in 2400 myself, but I don't think those are available just yet. Zumwalts I can do without, though. There's limits to how ugly a ship I'm willing to purchase, and the Zumwalts blows right past that. (A finished ship may change my mind. I used to think the same about the Darings, until I saw some good photos of actual ships.)

I am Belch II · « **Reply #87 on:** 30 March 2012, 14:16:47 »

Those Zumwalts are really horrible looking. The problem ships in the future are going to look like that. Sure its a capable ship (a fraction of what it could of been). But I had to get a couple. I have a huge number of 1/2400 and 1/3000 scale ships. Navwar in the UK has some 1/3000 San Antonio's the detail is really lacking, but still not so bad.

Weirdo · « **Reply #88 on:** 30 March 2012, 14:55:30 »

They may be the way of the future, but they're still ugly. They managed to make both LCSes look good, and the San Antonios look good, and even the Darings with their ginormous obelisk of a mast look good, but the Zumwalts? My hope is that the final product looks different.

On the upside, all the smooth-featured ships are making it easier for people to produce well-detailed minis, simply because a lot of the details aren't there! O0

I am Belch II · « **Reply #89 on:** 30 March 2012, 15:12:05 »

That Shapeways Site might be getting some orders from me soon. I need to get some F-35's and some T-6's so that might be a order. They do have a C-17 in 1/300th scale, but a $100 dollars is a little too much, when you need 4. But if I get all the F-35's that I want just like the real life plane, it might be the largest single order I ever place for 60 planes.