Cruel Seas - first games

Like buses...you wait ages for a game of Cruel Seas and then 2 come along at once!  I've had the game since xmas and very diligently painted up my boats but never actually managed to get them on the table.  Luckily Mike at the Guildford club offered to put a game on so I was able to play there and then followed this by a second night of boaty-action with my friend Andrew.

In both cases we ended up playing the same 2 scenarios which gave a good chance to test the rules out and try and avoid making the same mistakes twice (spoiler....I failed at this!)

Scenario 1 (which is actually Scenario 2 in the book) is an attack on a merchant ship.  In game one I played the British, with the merchant ship and a Vosper and quickly managed to manoeuvre my boat completely out of position, leaving the tanker vulnerable.  My opponent was able to set up an torpedo run which managed to hit (not always easy in CS) and then passed the 'dud' test causing a huge amount of damage but not sinking the tanker.

Here one of the flaws in CS came to light...there doesn't seem to be any penalty for heavy damage in terms of speed or manoeuvrability.  Rules such as Action Stations introduce a reduction in maximum speed for each hull box lost.  My tanker limped on but the enemy S Boot was able to finish it off with gunnery before speeding off into the night.

In the replay of Scenario 1  a week later I still had the tanker but played the Germans this time.  This was a much closer affair...the escorting S Boot was able to inflict quite a bit of damage on one of the attacking Vospers and, thanks to some nifty steering with the tanker I was able to avoid being a sitting duck for the other Vosper.  It came down to the wire...just as my tanker was about to exit the table the MTB launched 2 torpedoes.  the draw of the dice determined that I escaped which was a little unsatisfying but a close run thing.

The Vosper is in a good attack position but too close to the tanker:

the torpedoes need to move a min. of 15cm to arm

The torpedoes speed towards the fleeing tanker

Scenario 2.  The second game (we managed 2 scenarios in an evening quite comfortably) was no. 4 from the book.  An MTB has been damaged and is in the centre of the table, immobile but able to defend itself with limited firepower.  Rescue boats are arriving but enemy boats are also speeding in to capture the crew.  Both times I played the British rescuers.  Given the size of the playing area all boats are into action very quickly.  In the first run at this scenario one of my MTBs was hit and received a critical bridge hit...this meant I couldn't change course and I promptly steered at speed straight into an oncoming E Boat, disintegrating in a cloud of plywood and scratching the paintwork on the larger German boat.  My other rescuers were under heavy fire and then, to cap it all, the boat we were coming to rescue promptly sank!  The E Boats were able to nip in and capture the crew at which point the game ends.

In the second game a week later I was again the British and was determined not to crash this time...

Oops... this time I couldn't even blame a critical dice roll.  This crash was down to my poor steering!  I didn't sink but again came off worse and was then shot up by the other E Boats.

Another Vosper received a critical hit on a torpedo which set off a torpedo on deck finishing that boat off...

I'd also tried using smoke to screen the damaged boat and the rescuers but this seemed very ineffectual under the CS rules as it only last for 1 or 2 turns

Again the damaged boat sank before I could get close enough to rescue the crew and the survivors in their dinghies were taken on board by the E Boats...probably the safest place to be!

So...what's  the verdict on Cruel Seas?  I've always been a fan of Action Stations and it's hard not to compare the 2 sets.  Cruel Seas definitely wins on the ease of recording speed and damage: the wake markers make it much easier to manage the speeds of multiple boats without having to do lots of record keeping although this is at the price of potentially over-simplifying things.  There are lots of gaps in the rules though where things are not addressed or the rules that are there are very simplified...spotting, use of flares and illumination etc.  Action Stations definitely wins on this count and I guess there's no reason not to combine elements from both rule sets.

I'd been a bit concerned about the limited playing area.  Cruel Seas comes with an A0 size mat (84cm x 1120cm approx.) which instinctively seems too small.  Of course there's no reason not to play on a larger table but for these scenarios it was good to try them out as intended.   Interestingly in the first evening I found it very limiting while in the second night's games I quite enjoyed the challenge of having to think carefully about manoeuvring in a limited space.

Overall I'd say Action Stations would probably be my rules of choice for a 2 player scenario but if I wanted to play a couple of scenarios in an evening or to have multiple players per side then Cruel Seas is a much speedier, and manageable game

Cruel Seas - Wooden Liberty Ships

I still haven't actually managed a game of Cruel Seas yet (although I have a couple lined up in the next week or 2) but I have now painted up all the starter set boats as well as  some of the freebies that came with Wargames Illustrated.

The game comes with a cardboard template for a merchant ship to give your MTBs/S Boots something to torpedo but obviously I'd much rather have proper target.  Warlord have been rushing out a lot of very nice models over the last few weeks since the game launch: these look great but aren't cheap.  I'd also checked out 1:350 scale model kits at my local model store (Dorking Models) but these are even more expensive...eye-wateringly in some cases!

As my current spending is on a pretty tight rein I've been looking at alternatives and came across a post in another blog about MDF ship models.  Embarrassingly I can't remember whose blog it was, so apologies to my fellow blogger.

(EDIT...I found the original blog post and it can be found here.  Many thanks to John Lambshead for posting this)

They had plugged ships sold here at JB MDF Products.  There are a variety of models available but I went for a pair of Liberty Ships which worked out at a very affordable £4.25 each.  As you'd expect with MDF the model is a bit boxy and nowhere near as detailed as a plastic kit but as a budget option it's hard to beat. I'm not sure I'd go with their armed trawler model as I think you need the finer detail for the smaller boats but it seems to work for the larger ship.

The hull of the ships comes as 3 strips with the superstructure added on top in layers:

All the parts come loose in a bag...initially I'd thought this was going to be a real challenge but there are some simple instruction on the eBay shop page which made it very easy.  Each ship took about 30 minutes to build
.

ok...which idiot glued the mast on upside down!!!

My fundamental failure to follow instructions meant I hadn't worked out which way up the masts go.  It's pretty obvious if I'd paid attention.  This is why I hate Ikea...

Masts the right way up on this ship!

Painting was pretty straightforward... grey undercoat (from Halfords) followed by assorted shades of grey on the superstructure and a dull red waterline.

Painted models...the upside down mast has been replaced by a gun!

I'm pleased with these...they look a lot better than I'd hoped and should make a good target for the little boats.

More paper Jacobites

Last year I started working on "paper soldier" armies for the Jacobite wars, using the excellent Jacobite book in the Battle for Britain series by Peter Dennis.  Scarily it was back in July that I'd worked my way through the Government army and then took a pause.

After xmas I decided this seemed like a good project for the dark winter nights and so I've been busily cutting and sticking like a demented 6 year old in a Primary school art class.  In a couple of weeks I have produced 8 Highlander regiments (36 men in each regiment) and 3 French regiments including the Royal Ecossais.  A few more Highlanders will be needed as I suspect the attrition rate will be high for them!  I also need to produce some Lowland troops, Irish and a few horse and artillery.

There are some rules included with the book (by Andy Callan) but my preference is probably to use Black Powder as a starter.

The Tartan Army head off for an away fixture...

French Allies

Cruel Seas - 50 Shades of Grey

I've now completed all the MTBs and E Boats that came with the Cruel Seas starter set as well as some freebies that came with the recent issue of Wargames Illustrated.

I still have to complete a couple of boats kindly donated by Eric the Shed and a couple of PT boats that came with the next issue of WI but I certainly have more than enough to get started.

I decided not to go for any fancy camouflage schemes which meant digging out a variety of grey paints.  The starter set has a basic painting guide and there was lots of inspiration on some of the Cruel Seas Facebook groups that have sprung up.

erm..no, just no....

After a rummage in my paint box I realised I would need to get more grey paint which meant a trip to the local Games Workshop and trying to decipher the names of their paints and work out a comparison to the similar shades in Vallejo.  Luckily I was spared the usual " and what are you painting?" conversation.

So here are the MTBs and S Boats so far.  They still need flags adding and possible a wash but I'm still in 2 minds about this.  Now I need to get cracking on the launched torpedoes.

Cruel Seas ahoy!

It seems half the world has recently bought into Cruel Seas, the new coastal boat game from Warlord Games.

I've always been a fan of this setting and already have a few boats in 1:600 and lots in 1:1200 (bit too small).  My rule set of choice has been the excellent Action Stations by David Manley.

So when the news broke about CS I was a bit torn...these are in 1:300 which is an unusual choice for this type of game.  Warlord have made a similar move with Blood Red Skies; the standard scale for air games is 1:300 So they went with 1:200.  It seems like a bit of a marketing gamble but I guess if it works then everyone buys into your products.

No sooner had the starter sets begun landing on formats than the debate on the rules started.  The general consensus seems to be that they were a bit rushed and would maybe have benefited from more proof-reading and play-testing.  This was quickly followed by a number of errata released by Warlord.  Critics complained that the 11 pages of corrections and clarifications suggested problems ahead but actually it isn't as bad as all that.  Some of these are clarifications rather than wholesale changes and a lot relate to scenarios rather than core rules.  The house style with lots of illustration and space on the page has also pushed the number of pages up.  If they had simply listed bullet points of corrections it would probably only have been a page or 2.

Having said that, the rules are a bit unclear in some places (especially around turning for example) and there are a few rules that simply don't make sense.  An example of this is the use of splash markers which in the rules can aid with targeting but which, in reality, would have the opposite effect and would make it harder to coordinate fire.

The box comes with a 108 page rule/resource book and models for 6 MTBs and 4 E Boats.  The models are very nice indeed and I can now see the attraction of the larger scale.

The rule book

Splash markers

Each boat type has a data card with info about weapons, speed etc.  These are a bit small, especially when trying to clarify for example the calibre of a particular gun.  There are sliding paper markers to fix onto these cards which are used to denote hits but by all accounts these are a bit flimsy and a lot of people seem to laminate the cards and the using a marker or something else to denote hits.

Boat data cards

Rather than keeping track of knots and speed, each boat has a wake maker which shows the speed band the boat is moving at.

Wake markers which
denote speed

Counters and rulers

This is a sprue for 2 E Boats

Activation is done by drawing a dice from a cup which makes the action even more chaotic...a good thing for this type of combat and ideal for multiplayer games.

Dice are drawn from a cup a la Bolt Action

Smoke and flame markers

The actual rules (with the caveats I mentioned earlier) look pretty straightforward...not overly complex but very playable so ideal for a fun evening game and I'm pretty pleased with the overall set and love the models. 

I haven't actually played a game yet but hope to.remedy this later next week.  David Manley has produced an excellent set of house rules on his blog which I suspect I will be adopting from the start...they can be found HERE

I'll post some photos of the completed boats soon and a write of game #1 when I get a chance.

Assembled MTBs and E Boats

This year I will be mostly....

So we're already 10 days into 2019 and I'm already lagging behind in my New Year resolution to get a 2019 plan posted.  Pesky real life has gotten in the way as usual although I did manage to squeeze in a couple of boardgames in the last few days.

Game #1 was a family game of Discworld Ankh Morpork...an excellent game with a lovely mapboard.  Each player has a secret objective (control x number of areas of the city, have x amount of coins etc) depending on which secret character they are.  As usual my wife claimed she has no skill at boardgames before steadily clawing her way to a winning position!  Incidentally thus game is listed at really stupid amounts of money on eBay and BoardGameGeek..  BGG Link

Game #2 was a game of Terraforming Mars.  I'd heard of this but was only very vaguely aware if the format and had no idea how it all worked.  It can often take me a few games before the mechanics of some boardgames sink in but this was really intuitive and easy to pick up (to be fair we were playing the introductory game).  Each player represents a corporation attempting to (no big surprise here) Terraform Mars with players using resources to buy cards, increase production and ultimately raise the temperature and oxygen levels.  Great game...definitely looking forward to more plays of this.

Now, onto 2019...

I usually avoid planning but I have a few ideas so thought it might be an idea to commit myself.  Most of my projects are tidying up existing things I have previously bought.

First up is Cruel Seas, the coastal forces game from Warlord that all the cool kids are playing.  My starter set arrived at Xmas and I'll post a review soon.  I've actually already painted the boats and have a few extras courtesy of Wargames Illustrated, so I can almost count this as done although of course I'll need some extra boats...definitely a merchant boat to torpedo... so maybe it's more 'in progress'.

I also bought the Blood Red Skies starter set but haven't touched this yet so I'll need to get the planes painted and (again) add a few extras.

I almost painted my 1:600 ACW Ironclads before Xmas but was then distracted by other things.  These have all languished for a couple of years so really need some TLC this year.

My Cowboy project has figures but I need to do some more work on buildings and terrain.  I have a few buildings but need to get on with construction.

My final tidy-up project is to make up the Jacobite forces for my paper soldier armies.  I have a decent number of Government  troops so they need some opposition.

I'm not really planning any news projects although I do have an idea in the back of my mind for 28mm Far East WW2... Japanese and Chindits.  It may come to nothing but it can always join the great list of unfinished plans!

Last year I was mostly...

I promised the traditional pre/post Hogmanay review of the year and before 2019 gets too old here we go...

Blog:

This year I managed 41 post, 3 fewer than last year but still a respectable number.  A few new followers have tagged along (thank you very much!!) and my post views have been modest but, again, respectable.  Building a global audience was never really the plan so I'm happy with modest.  Like last year posts about boardgames always seem to attract a lot of views, and these, along with posts on 54mm gaming have definitely been the highest (apart from Salute which is always a popular topic)

Games:

So Spring saw a lot of work on my 54mm North West Frontier figures which finally saw several games at Eric the Shed's and at Guildford.  They also had an outing at the excellent Little Wars Revisited 54mm Games day in Woking.  There is another of these being planned for 2019...details can be found here

After Salute I discovered the brilliant 'Battle for Britain' series of books by Peter Dennis which allow you to print and cut out paper soldiers from a range of periods.  I produced loads of Government soldiers for the Jacobite period but haven't started on the Jacobites themselves although I printed out a couple of sheets yesterday so this can be a project for dark winter days.

A lot of my gaming is at Eric the Shed's and a project amongst that group has been a VBCW campaign.  This prompted the painting up of a contingent of miners and football players as well as some regulars who took part in a few games at the shed.  I'm lucky enough to get regular games with Eric's great collection of armies so there has been a lot of Black Powder and Pike and Shotte as well.

I managed to complete a load of Test of Honour Samurai figures and these were fielded at my other regular gaming spot with my friend Andrew.  I've largely neglected the Guildford club this year, apart from an uncompleted Chain of Command campaign and a game of Blood Red Skies: this is mainly down to the practicalities of getting there on time and bagging a table.  Circumstances at home meant this wasn't so easy to do, but I am determined to make a better effort to get along there on some Mondays in 2019.

Boardgames have also figured large this year with a lot of games at Eric's (especially Zombicide) and Battle of Britain which arrived after a prolonged Kickstarter wait.

Looking back it's been a really busy year, gaming-wise.  I've impressed myself with actually completing (I say 'completing'....nothing's ever 'complete!!) a number of projects and being a lot more focused than usual.  Will it last in 2019?? My next post will be a Planning for 2019 extravaganza!