Stupid idea really but I was pondering on the embarrassing amount of unpainted planes I have for Blood Red Skies. I'm not sure how it happened but I have rather a lot of unpainted aeroplanes in the "to do" pile, and I need to reduce that.
Here's what I think I have to paint
Japanese
6 Ki 44 Tojo
3 Ki 48 Lilly
9 A6M5 Zero
German
9 Fw190A
4 Ju88
US
11 F4 Wildcats (some of these may become FAA Martlets)
5 B25 Mitchell
5 TBD Devastators
5 SDB Dauntless
2 B17E Flying Fortress
UK
1 Walrus (this is a lie I have 3 but I have no intention of painting more than 1!)
Soviets
2 SB2
I also have a selection of one offs that I picked up as comparisons but I'll leave them for now.
So I've decided to try and whittle that lot down before the next lot arrive by painting one "Squadron" a week - either 6 fighters or 3 bombers. There's no possibility of doing this of course, but I think its worth setting a target so you can measure just how badly you failed :-)
Sunday, 31 March 2019
Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Blood Red Skies - The WW2 plane I love the best
Isn't the Spitfire. It's the Lavochkin La5FN
I had better explain. Back in 1997 I got my hands on Airwarrior III. This was one of the first massively multiplayer on line games and was about WW2 dogfights and stuff. It was at the time the cutting edge of online gaming, in fact it was one of the first wave of games you could play online against other players over the internet. I stress you could play it, but given the nature of the dial up connections and the fact the server was on the other side of the world it did take some effort and cause quite a bit of frustration - particularly when the wife decided she needed to call a friend and picked the phone up mid dogfight, resulting in an instant disconnection. Needless to say the graphics were rather basic, but at the end of the day, if you shot an enemy down that was a REAL person you just beat, not a selection of computer code that always reacted the same way. This was really exciting stuff, and the skies were literally full of real people to fly with and against. It was a revelation.
The main player base was in the US, as far as I could judge. This meant the skies were full of P38 and P51 players, and the occasional "Death Star" B17 that would have spent half an hour dragging itself up so high that when fighters got up to it they were hanging by their prop and nearly stalling, and therefore an easy kill for any gunners. I didn't bother with that, because I had fallen in love with a little lady from the East, my beautiful La5FN, and she lived down low in the dirt and gutters. To be honest I knew very little at the time about it, but after trying it, I knew I liked it. Lightweight and agile, the La5FN was a joy to fly in Airwarrior because the sky was full of impatient Americans who firmly believed that the P51 was the best fighter in the world. The impatience was the key. Rather than fly their Mustangs up high and use the altitude to their advantage by Boom and Zoom, they were happy to come down low and turn fight with the cheap and nasty Commies in their La5s , with predictable results. I don't know how accurate the flight characteristics in Airwarrior III were, but in a turning fight against Mustangs the La's won every time.
After a while I moved on to playing the amazing IL2 Sturmovik series, and stuck to my La5FN. Il2 was a beautiful game, with for the time superb graphics, and a joy to play. The first time I took it up into the beautifully rendered skies I was almost breathless with the sheer prettiness of the game and my beautiful La5FN. Ok I liked my Spitfire, but I loved my La5.
Historically the La5s first saw action over Stalingrad, and the definitive FN version with it's cut down rear fuselage came slightly later. With the new generation of Yaks the Lavochkins wrested control of the skies over the Eastern Front from the Luftwaffe, and although it was never the same level of air superiority as the Western Allies achieved, it was enough to allow the Sturmoviks in to do their work, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So when I got into BRS I was rather keen to give them a go. At first I was disappointed with the raw stats, but once I understood both what they represent and how the plane works, I'm much more relaxed. I bought six from Armaments in Miniature but got sidetracked and it took me a while to paint them, but after a recent "spurt" they finally made it to the table. Here they are, painted up as 32nd Guards from 1943-44. Decals from Miscminis
And here is a pair climbing into action somewhere over the Eastern Front - in this case Hartlepool Wargames Club, so possibly more the North Eastern Front :-)
Warlord are planning on releasing their own model later in the next month or so in metal. Initially this will be part of a mixed Squadron Pack based on the "Johnny Red" comic strip, but with a full Squadron release plus an associated Ace pack to follow later in the year.
In BRS the La5FN gives Soviet players a few interesting options. They're faster than most Me109s and although marginally less Agile in game terms to the superlative 109F they do turn better due to having the "Rapid Roll" Trait. In comparison to the Yaks they have slightly more firepower, at a cost in agility. Where they shine is the way their "Rapid Roll" and the synergy that gives with the Soviet's Low Altitude Performance doctrine, meaning they don't stay disadvantaged for long and can get back up into the fight. They do have the "Poor Quality" trait, which Andy Chambers thinks is reasonable due to some alleged production issues (as far as I am concerned nothing can be poor about my beautiful La5s but he wouldn't listen), and as a minor plus this does make them quite cheap too.
Like everything in BRS they have to be a little wary of the Fw190, but they're measurably cheaper in points which means you should always have either a pilot quality or numbers advantage over the FWs, but they give Soviet players a much needed high performance mid to late war fighter.
I did mention I liked them didn't I?
I had better explain. Back in 1997 I got my hands on Airwarrior III. This was one of the first massively multiplayer on line games and was about WW2 dogfights and stuff. It was at the time the cutting edge of online gaming, in fact it was one of the first wave of games you could play online against other players over the internet. I stress you could play it, but given the nature of the dial up connections and the fact the server was on the other side of the world it did take some effort and cause quite a bit of frustration - particularly when the wife decided she needed to call a friend and picked the phone up mid dogfight, resulting in an instant disconnection. Needless to say the graphics were rather basic, but at the end of the day, if you shot an enemy down that was a REAL person you just beat, not a selection of computer code that always reacted the same way. This was really exciting stuff, and the skies were literally full of real people to fly with and against. It was a revelation.
The main player base was in the US, as far as I could judge. This meant the skies were full of P38 and P51 players, and the occasional "Death Star" B17 that would have spent half an hour dragging itself up so high that when fighters got up to it they were hanging by their prop and nearly stalling, and therefore an easy kill for any gunners. I didn't bother with that, because I had fallen in love with a little lady from the East, my beautiful La5FN, and she lived down low in the dirt and gutters. To be honest I knew very little at the time about it, but after trying it, I knew I liked it. Lightweight and agile, the La5FN was a joy to fly in Airwarrior because the sky was full of impatient Americans who firmly believed that the P51 was the best fighter in the world. The impatience was the key. Rather than fly their Mustangs up high and use the altitude to their advantage by Boom and Zoom, they were happy to come down low and turn fight with the cheap and nasty Commies in their La5s , with predictable results. I don't know how accurate the flight characteristics in Airwarrior III were, but in a turning fight against Mustangs the La's won every time.
After a while I moved on to playing the amazing IL2 Sturmovik series, and stuck to my La5FN. Il2 was a beautiful game, with for the time superb graphics, and a joy to play. The first time I took it up into the beautifully rendered skies I was almost breathless with the sheer prettiness of the game and my beautiful La5FN. Ok I liked my Spitfire, but I loved my La5.
Historically the La5s first saw action over Stalingrad, and the definitive FN version with it's cut down rear fuselage came slightly later. With the new generation of Yaks the Lavochkins wrested control of the skies over the Eastern Front from the Luftwaffe, and although it was never the same level of air superiority as the Western Allies achieved, it was enough to allow the Sturmoviks in to do their work, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So when I got into BRS I was rather keen to give them a go. At first I was disappointed with the raw stats, but once I understood both what they represent and how the plane works, I'm much more relaxed. I bought six from Armaments in Miniature but got sidetracked and it took me a while to paint them, but after a recent "spurt" they finally made it to the table. Here they are, painted up as 32nd Guards from 1943-44. Decals from Miscminis
And here is a pair climbing into action somewhere over the Eastern Front - in this case Hartlepool Wargames Club, so possibly more the North Eastern Front :-)
Warlord are planning on releasing their own model later in the next month or so in metal. Initially this will be part of a mixed Squadron Pack based on the "Johnny Red" comic strip, but with a full Squadron release plus an associated Ace pack to follow later in the year.
In BRS the La5FN gives Soviet players a few interesting options. They're faster than most Me109s and although marginally less Agile in game terms to the superlative 109F they do turn better due to having the "Rapid Roll" Trait. In comparison to the Yaks they have slightly more firepower, at a cost in agility. Where they shine is the way their "Rapid Roll" and the synergy that gives with the Soviet's Low Altitude Performance doctrine, meaning they don't stay disadvantaged for long and can get back up into the fight. They do have the "Poor Quality" trait, which Andy Chambers thinks is reasonable due to some alleged production issues (as far as I am concerned nothing can be poor about my beautiful La5s but he wouldn't listen), and as a minor plus this does make them quite cheap too.
Like everything in BRS they have to be a little wary of the Fw190, but they're measurably cheaper in points which means you should always have either a pilot quality or numbers advantage over the FWs, but they give Soviet players a much needed high performance mid to late war fighter.
I did mention I liked them didn't I?
Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Reds for Blood Red Skies (1) Some White Death
I have been painting a few new additions to my BRS collection , mainly fuelled by guilt at the build up of unpainted models, and also as I'm aware there are going to be quite a few new releases from Warlord in the coming months that I will want. I'm not that excited about the soon to be released Fw190 Dora's, I already have my hands full playing against the Fw190As, and the Me410s look cool but are not my thing, however there are several new Soviet packs due out that I must pick up, so I thought some work running down the VVS back log may be a good idea.
First up - my Little Pawns. I painted a Pe2 several years ago for our Wings of Glory WW2 campaign we ran at Hartlepool Wargames Society. The campaign went OK without being a great success, and the one "Peshka" sat lonely in the planes box for quite some while. I already have several Tupolev SB2s painted up for BRS to act as light bombers for the Soviets, but I thought I would need a more modern plane type for later battles as the poor old SB2s were shot to ribbons fairly early in the war and had pretty much vanished from service by 1942. The logical choice is the Pe2, so I ordered another two from Armaments in Miniature to make them up to a flight strength for BRS. The minor problem being in my WoGWW2 campaign I had painted the first one a very bright white winter camo. I could either replicate this or repaint the original - I went with replicate and I will have to explain away somehow why my bombers are in winter camo and my fighters are not.
The Pe2 was an outstanding light bomber. It's fashionable to compare light bombers to the superb DeHaviland Mosquito, and if there was going to be a Russian Mossie, the Pe2 is it. In truth that is a bit of a misconception, because the Pe2 was really inspired by the Ju88. The Soviets got to see the early Ju88 in it's dive bomber configuration, and quite liked the idea. The Pe2 followed the same general layout and like the initial batches of Ju88s was fitted with dive brakes to make it a rather handy dive bomber. As the war wore on the dive brakes were found to be an unnecessary feature and were deleted to simplify production and operations, just like the Ju88. Also like the Ju88 the Pe2 got dragooned into being a nightfighter \ heavy fighter as the Pe3, but that was not that common or successful. Pe2s served from 1941 throughout the war and soldiered on after it. Throughout its service it was updated and still remained relevent and useful.
Anyway, after a bit of effort here are my trio of Pe2s. The stars on the upper wing are "non standard" but I couldn't resist as the contrast of the red on white is so pretty. I shall beat myself later in punishment. Theyve all been fitted with Hawk Widgts to get them to sit on the BRS stands, and I'm happy to say they seem to do this without the need of the bomber base extension. In BRS these give the Soviet player a very interesting fast bomber that can give the German defenders something to really worry about. The stat card for the Pe2 is going to be included in the Soviet Expansion set due out later in the year, but for the moment I am using the Beta stats of Speed 7 Agility 1 Firepower 0 with a flexible FP1 gun. Even when loaded that makes this a speedy and hard to intercept target.
Models from Armaments in Miniature link here
Next, the plane I love the most......
First up - my Little Pawns. I painted a Pe2 several years ago for our Wings of Glory WW2 campaign we ran at Hartlepool Wargames Society. The campaign went OK without being a great success, and the one "Peshka" sat lonely in the planes box for quite some while. I already have several Tupolev SB2s painted up for BRS to act as light bombers for the Soviets, but I thought I would need a more modern plane type for later battles as the poor old SB2s were shot to ribbons fairly early in the war and had pretty much vanished from service by 1942. The logical choice is the Pe2, so I ordered another two from Armaments in Miniature to make them up to a flight strength for BRS. The minor problem being in my WoGWW2 campaign I had painted the first one a very bright white winter camo. I could either replicate this or repaint the original - I went with replicate and I will have to explain away somehow why my bombers are in winter camo and my fighters are not.
The Pe2 was an outstanding light bomber. It's fashionable to compare light bombers to the superb DeHaviland Mosquito, and if there was going to be a Russian Mossie, the Pe2 is it. In truth that is a bit of a misconception, because the Pe2 was really inspired by the Ju88. The Soviets got to see the early Ju88 in it's dive bomber configuration, and quite liked the idea. The Pe2 followed the same general layout and like the initial batches of Ju88s was fitted with dive brakes to make it a rather handy dive bomber. As the war wore on the dive brakes were found to be an unnecessary feature and were deleted to simplify production and operations, just like the Ju88. Also like the Ju88 the Pe2 got dragooned into being a nightfighter \ heavy fighter as the Pe3, but that was not that common or successful. Pe2s served from 1941 throughout the war and soldiered on after it. Throughout its service it was updated and still remained relevent and useful.
Anyway, after a bit of effort here are my trio of Pe2s. The stars on the upper wing are "non standard" but I couldn't resist as the contrast of the red on white is so pretty. I shall beat myself later in punishment. Theyve all been fitted with Hawk Widgts to get them to sit on the BRS stands, and I'm happy to say they seem to do this without the need of the bomber base extension. In BRS these give the Soviet player a very interesting fast bomber that can give the German defenders something to really worry about. The stat card for the Pe2 is going to be included in the Soviet Expansion set due out later in the year, but for the moment I am using the Beta stats of Speed 7 Agility 1 Firepower 0 with a flexible FP1 gun. Even when loaded that makes this a speedy and hard to intercept target.
Models from Armaments in Miniature link here
Next, the plane I love the most......
Monday, 25 March 2019
Blood Red Skies RAF Expansion Pack "lands"
Sorry if I have not posted for a while - mainly been busy playing and painting Blood Red Skies stuff (Huzzah!) and working (sob!) but I just picked up the new RAF Expansion Pack for BRS so I think it's worth a mention. I also picked up the Ace expansion for Pierre Clostermann, but I'll look at that in more depth on another post.
The RAF Expansion pack is the first of what I hope will be many. There are six packs planned for release this year, one each for the RAF, Luftwaffe, USAAF, Japanese and Soviets, plus a "secret" sixth which I'm sworn to secrecy over. Unlike previous releases for Blood Red Skies these are card sets only, and remarkably for a modern games company Warlord have decided to release these without linking you in to using their models - in fact some models that correspond to these cards are only available at the moment from third party manufacturers such as Armaments in Miniature. Of course I expect Warlord will try and back-fill the range to cover them at some point in the future, but until then this is a brave move that should be applauded because it recognises the game needs more variety to thrive than they can cater for at the moment.
So what's in these expansions I hear you ask? Each set contains six new data cards for aircraft, plus the associated Trait cards to play them. There are also some Doctrine and Theatre cards, plus some Equipment cards. the Doctrine and Theatre cards are a mix of old and new, but the Equipment cards are a whole new addition to BRS that allow further tweaking of planes and their stats to represent design changes or special equipment. In the RAF set the obvious example is the Malcolm Hood, which can be fitted to all planes in your squadron at a cost in points. In real life this was a new cockpit canopy that helped improve visibility and was fitted to a number of RAF fighters, and similarly in BRS this new equipment reflects that by making planes with this equipment harder to outmanoeuvre - its a nice touch.
Back to the data cards. As I said there are six double sided cards included in the pack, in the usual BRS format. These are the Spitfire Vb, Spitfire XIV, Typhoon, Tempest, Wellington and Lancaster. They also come with the relevant Trait cards to allow you to play them, so Tight Turn, Great Dive etc etc, so the total pack includes 6 Data cards, 22 Trait cards, 3 Theatre, 3 Doctrine and 2 Equipment, plus a card to explain how equipment works in the game - a neat way to introduce this new idea into the game.
Production quality is good, with the usual art deco style.
There are a couple of niggles. The Agile card is included for completeness and to allow players to stat up and play less common planes, but the one in this pack has the old wording and layout which is being changed in the next set (Germans). It's still usable but not as nice.
The other issue that has been raised is duplication of Trait cards. It's possible if you have several different BRS Squadron boxes that you will already have enough of some of the Trait cards included here - Tight Turn for example, so there is an element of duplication going on. I understand that, but can't see how it can be avoided. On balance I think any criticism on the duplication question is not really valid - complaints would be far more vocal if there were Data cards that you could not use because the Traits were not included. Damned if you do, damned if you don't I suppose.
And the Lancaster Data card says Lancaster MkIII and it really should be Lancaster B MkIII but I'm 100% certain no sleep will be lost there.
So all in all a really useful expansion to BRS. Price is £10 which I think is not bad at all in today's market. If you play BRS and the RAF in particular this is a good set to buy, particularly if you have recently, like the RAF did historically, ran into the new Fw190 and find your early Spitfires no longer cut the mustard. Never fear, the Mk IX Spit (now released as a Squadron box) will put the Hun back in his place, or at least restore parity, and the MkXIV is just superb.
Cheers
The RAF Expansion pack is the first of what I hope will be many. There are six packs planned for release this year, one each for the RAF, Luftwaffe, USAAF, Japanese and Soviets, plus a "secret" sixth which I'm sworn to secrecy over. Unlike previous releases for Blood Red Skies these are card sets only, and remarkably for a modern games company Warlord have decided to release these without linking you in to using their models - in fact some models that correspond to these cards are only available at the moment from third party manufacturers such as Armaments in Miniature. Of course I expect Warlord will try and back-fill the range to cover them at some point in the future, but until then this is a brave move that should be applauded because it recognises the game needs more variety to thrive than they can cater for at the moment.
So what's in these expansions I hear you ask? Each set contains six new data cards for aircraft, plus the associated Trait cards to play them. There are also some Doctrine and Theatre cards, plus some Equipment cards. the Doctrine and Theatre cards are a mix of old and new, but the Equipment cards are a whole new addition to BRS that allow further tweaking of planes and their stats to represent design changes or special equipment. In the RAF set the obvious example is the Malcolm Hood, which can be fitted to all planes in your squadron at a cost in points. In real life this was a new cockpit canopy that helped improve visibility and was fitted to a number of RAF fighters, and similarly in BRS this new equipment reflects that by making planes with this equipment harder to outmanoeuvre - its a nice touch.
Back to the data cards. As I said there are six double sided cards included in the pack, in the usual BRS format. These are the Spitfire Vb, Spitfire XIV, Typhoon, Tempest, Wellington and Lancaster. They also come with the relevant Trait cards to allow you to play them, so Tight Turn, Great Dive etc etc, so the total pack includes 6 Data cards, 22 Trait cards, 3 Theatre, 3 Doctrine and 2 Equipment, plus a card to explain how equipment works in the game - a neat way to introduce this new idea into the game.
Production quality is good, with the usual art deco style.
There are a couple of niggles. The Agile card is included for completeness and to allow players to stat up and play less common planes, but the one in this pack has the old wording and layout which is being changed in the next set (Germans). It's still usable but not as nice.
The other issue that has been raised is duplication of Trait cards. It's possible if you have several different BRS Squadron boxes that you will already have enough of some of the Trait cards included here - Tight Turn for example, so there is an element of duplication going on. I understand that, but can't see how it can be avoided. On balance I think any criticism on the duplication question is not really valid - complaints would be far more vocal if there were Data cards that you could not use because the Traits were not included. Damned if you do, damned if you don't I suppose.
And the Lancaster Data card says Lancaster MkIII and it really should be Lancaster B MkIII but I'm 100% certain no sleep will be lost there.
So all in all a really useful expansion to BRS. Price is £10 which I think is not bad at all in today's market. If you play BRS and the RAF in particular this is a good set to buy, particularly if you have recently, like the RAF did historically, ran into the new Fw190 and find your early Spitfires no longer cut the mustard. Never fear, the Mk IX Spit (now released as a Squadron box) will put the Hun back in his place, or at least restore parity, and the MkXIV is just superb.
Cheers
Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Impetus 2 = Like a reunion of an old rock band
Last night me and five other old Impetus players sat around a table and watched \ assisted \ hindered as a game of Impetus 2 was played.
Quick digression. Impetus is a set of Ancient \ Medieval battle rules from Lorenzo Sartori that were released rather a long time ago and were my no 1 go to rules. They arrived and were adopted at about the same time as plastic 28mm ancients were becoming available and it was a match made in heaven. Actually Italy, as that's where Lorenzo hails from, but you get the message. Lorenzo managed to create a fluid and exciting game and over the years I collected rather a lot of armies and played many, many games, including lots of tournaments which were never that large but always friendly and interesting. Impetus was also a great antidote to the "Boutique" nature of modern wargaming - all those terribly throw away small scale skirmish systems which have become the norm in modern wargaming. To do an Impetus army is a long term project, quite possibly open ended one. It was good to have a commitment.
The problem was every year as more players joined, more army lists were added and the tournament scene grew, a new set of annual tournament amendments were needed. After five years or so the main rules were now wandering away from the original and a new edition was needed if just to tidy up. But Lorenzo took his time. Lots of time. As this was happening the flow of new players dried up - it was difficult to recruit new players with the pitch "you need this set of rules, and then modify them with this sheaf of printouts until v2 arrives", and many players have moved on or decided to wait for v2. He's been working on version 2 for about five years and when version 2 was finally released in January my enthusiasm was tempered with some reservations.
So back to last night. After a few shaky starts it started to feel good - rather good. The same smooth play, the core mechanics are solid but have been streamlined. There are some differences which may impact on the overall game, but it is all looking good. There are some changes needed in my armies - mainly the change to basing generals individually, and the old "Rolls of Destiny" have gone, replaced by a new card system which seems quite interesting. Anyway, I'm feeling the old juices flowing again.
So back around our table last night it was rather good. The vibe was something like I imagine a group of old musicians getting back together - including the same frictions and bloody annoying youngsters, but after a while we found we were slipping into a good, familiar and comfortable groove - it was all good.
So I'm now looking for some nice Thracian Commanders to paint up, and some light cavalry, and ..................
:-)
Quick digression. Impetus is a set of Ancient \ Medieval battle rules from Lorenzo Sartori that were released rather a long time ago and were my no 1 go to rules. They arrived and were adopted at about the same time as plastic 28mm ancients were becoming available and it was a match made in heaven. Actually Italy, as that's where Lorenzo hails from, but you get the message. Lorenzo managed to create a fluid and exciting game and over the years I collected rather a lot of armies and played many, many games, including lots of tournaments which were never that large but always friendly and interesting. Impetus was also a great antidote to the "Boutique" nature of modern wargaming - all those terribly throw away small scale skirmish systems which have become the norm in modern wargaming. To do an Impetus army is a long term project, quite possibly open ended one. It was good to have a commitment.
The problem was every year as more players joined, more army lists were added and the tournament scene grew, a new set of annual tournament amendments were needed. After five years or so the main rules were now wandering away from the original and a new edition was needed if just to tidy up. But Lorenzo took his time. Lots of time. As this was happening the flow of new players dried up - it was difficult to recruit new players with the pitch "you need this set of rules, and then modify them with this sheaf of printouts until v2 arrives", and many players have moved on or decided to wait for v2. He's been working on version 2 for about five years and when version 2 was finally released in January my enthusiasm was tempered with some reservations.
So back to last night. After a few shaky starts it started to feel good - rather good. The same smooth play, the core mechanics are solid but have been streamlined. There are some differences which may impact on the overall game, but it is all looking good. There are some changes needed in my armies - mainly the change to basing generals individually, and the old "Rolls of Destiny" have gone, replaced by a new card system which seems quite interesting. Anyway, I'm feeling the old juices flowing again.
So back around our table last night it was rather good. The vibe was something like I imagine a group of old musicians getting back together - including the same frictions and bloody annoying youngsters, but after a while we found we were slipping into a good, familiar and comfortable groove - it was all good.
So I'm now looking for some nice Thracian Commanders to paint up, and some light cavalry, and ..................
:-)
Monday, 28 January 2019
Cruel Seas - Third Party Models (2) G5 MTBs
Following hot on the heels of the Bronekaters here are some thoughts on the G5s
The G5 is the standard Soviet MTB of WW2, if such a thing existed. It was unlike most other craft in it's design in a number of ways. Firstly it was made of Duralumin, at the time an advanced type of aluminium more usually encountered in aircraft design - maybe not so surprising as it's designer was Andrei Tupolev, the famous aircraft designer. This allowed a fast, strong and lightweight hull. This has some "issues" as without treatment it reacts to salt water...............something of a drawback for a boat designed to operate at sea. Secondly the G5 had a very "futuristic" appearance, with a streamlined turtle backed hull and enclosed wheelhouse that looks very much like a submarine. The design also lacks what we think of as traditional torpedo tubes, instead carrying the two torpedoes in troughs on the rear hull and launching them by dropping them backwards, followed by an obligatory tight turn! This is a method copied from earlier British Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) that the Soviets encountered during and after the Revolution. Like most navies the Soviets struggled to find a reliable source for good fast boat engines, so a number of different engines were used and top speed varied, but some G5s were VERY fast - in CS up to 57 knots. Unlike some other boats the G5s didn't carry much in the way of other weapons - at best a couple of DshK HMGs, which combined with their low (20) hit points make them just a light snack for an S Boat in a gunfight in Cruel Seas. Then again, they're cheap, and did I mention how fast they are? If you are looking for a "pure" torpedo boat, look no further.
Warlord have just released their G5, and Heroics and Ros also have one in their vast WW2 1:300 range so I thought it would be interesting to look at both models side by side. Materials wise they are both identical - metal castings with some metal fittings - mainly guns. So here they are - Warlord nearest the camera in this pic.
Ros nearest in this
Overall I think the Warlord model is nicer. It has more detail, and is much crisper and a bit bulkier. In addition it has crew on it's guns, which immediately give it more character. The torpedoes are fully visible on the Warlord model but partly covered on the H&R - this is fine as it seems to have been a variation. Also the Warlord model has a mast, but being thin metal I'm not sure how long that will last in play.
Given there were a number of variations on the G5 design you could probably use them side by side if you wanted.
Cost wise the H&R model wins hands down, available for £2.00 each (two quid!) from H&R. The Warlord model is now available on their website in a four pack for £15, so £3.75 each. There is no mention of data cards or wake markers but they will be easy to come by if you play CS. That's quite a difference and makes the H&R version worth considering on cost alone, however if that is less important then I think the Warlord version just looks better.
Links
Heroics & Ros 1/300 Naval Range
Warlord Games G5 MTBs
Next I'll look at the Soviet D3 MTB
Cheers
The G5 is the standard Soviet MTB of WW2, if such a thing existed. It was unlike most other craft in it's design in a number of ways. Firstly it was made of Duralumin, at the time an advanced type of aluminium more usually encountered in aircraft design - maybe not so surprising as it's designer was Andrei Tupolev, the famous aircraft designer. This allowed a fast, strong and lightweight hull. This has some "issues" as without treatment it reacts to salt water...............something of a drawback for a boat designed to operate at sea. Secondly the G5 had a very "futuristic" appearance, with a streamlined turtle backed hull and enclosed wheelhouse that looks very much like a submarine. The design also lacks what we think of as traditional torpedo tubes, instead carrying the two torpedoes in troughs on the rear hull and launching them by dropping them backwards, followed by an obligatory tight turn! This is a method copied from earlier British Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) that the Soviets encountered during and after the Revolution. Like most navies the Soviets struggled to find a reliable source for good fast boat engines, so a number of different engines were used and top speed varied, but some G5s were VERY fast - in CS up to 57 knots. Unlike some other boats the G5s didn't carry much in the way of other weapons - at best a couple of DshK HMGs, which combined with their low (20) hit points make them just a light snack for an S Boat in a gunfight in Cruel Seas. Then again, they're cheap, and did I mention how fast they are? If you are looking for a "pure" torpedo boat, look no further.
Warlord have just released their G5, and Heroics and Ros also have one in their vast WW2 1:300 range so I thought it would be interesting to look at both models side by side. Materials wise they are both identical - metal castings with some metal fittings - mainly guns. So here they are - Warlord nearest the camera in this pic.
Ros nearest in this
Overall I think the Warlord model is nicer. It has more detail, and is much crisper and a bit bulkier. In addition it has crew on it's guns, which immediately give it more character. The torpedoes are fully visible on the Warlord model but partly covered on the H&R - this is fine as it seems to have been a variation. Also the Warlord model has a mast, but being thin metal I'm not sure how long that will last in play.
Given there were a number of variations on the G5 design you could probably use them side by side if you wanted.
Cost wise the H&R model wins hands down, available for £2.00 each (two quid!) from H&R. The Warlord model is now available on their website in a four pack for £15, so £3.75 each. There is no mention of data cards or wake markers but they will be easy to come by if you play CS. That's quite a difference and makes the H&R version worth considering on cost alone, however if that is less important then I think the Warlord version just looks better.
Links
Heroics & Ros 1/300 Naval Range
Warlord Games G5 MTBs
Next I'll look at the Soviet D3 MTB
Cheers
Cruel Seas - Looking at third party models (1) Bronekaters
I've been banging on about Bronekaters now for a couple of posts. Now the Warlord model is out it is possible to make a comparison with the others out there, in case people are interested in some variations.
I have touched on the Scotia, Ros and GHQ models before here Bronekaters Shoot Out so I will try to avoid repeating myself too much and concentrate on comparisons with the new Warlord model.
So having said I was going to try to avoid repeating myself, the first thing to say is Warlord got the name of their model wrong, which I seem to keep saying. The model is a twin turreted Project 1124 NOT a Project 1125 as Warlord continue to insist. They also mix the stats of the two up in the game. I'm not sure why they keep repeating this mistake other than somewhere there is a guy sat in the corner of their Nottingham HQ with his fingers in his ears shouting "La la la la la I can't hear you!"
Back to the model. As far as I'm aware there are only two options for Project 1124s - Scotia Grendel and Warlord. The Scotia model has a resin hull and metal details, the Warlord one is all metal. Here they are after I painted them up - first pic has the Scotia Grendel model closest to the camera, second has Warlord.
Detail stuff first. I think on balance the Warlord model is slightly more accurate when compared to historical photos I can find as it has the prominent exhaust pipe running down the port side of the deck, and the slightly raised deck house behind the wheel house. Both of these are absent on the Scotia model, which has a blank area behind the wheelhouse and a pair of vertical exhausts \ vents at the rear. There is also more detail on the HMG turret with some ribbing on the guns. The Warlord model comes with a "spare" T28 (T35??) style turret. I cant find any pics of 1124s with mixed T34 & T28 turrets, so you really need to have 2, but as they models are sold in pairs this should allow you to make one with T28 turrets if you feel the need. There is also a bit more detail on the deck, and it is slightly less "fiddly" to put together. However the Warlord model has less sharp detail on the hull and wheelhouse in particular, and both mine had some major clean up issues with the metal hull warping and the bows in particular showed some damage where they had been snapped from the mould. The Scotia model hull is very crisp, where there is detail, it is sharper, a result no doubt of using resin. It has a more angular AA HMG turret which I think marks it as a later model. I'm unsure if this may also account for the different exhaust details??
The Soviets produced at least 99 Project 1124s and throughout that production run details changed quite a bit, so I am happy with both models and would not be worried running them side by side. The Scotia model is £9, the Warlord one has just gone on sale in their store at £15 for a pair. There is no mention of data cards and wake markers, but these are easy to come by.
I have three Project 1124s now. I think I prefer the Scotia model aesthetically just because the resin hull has crisper detail, and cleaning up the metal bows on the Warlord one was a bit of a chore, but it is a VERY close call. If I were to want a fourth, I suspect it would be Scotia - particularly as I have seen pics of a 1124 with a midships 37mm AA behind the wheelhouse, so it would be easier to mount on the blank area with the Scotia model rather than trying to clear the area on the warlord one with a file. On the other hand if you were starting from scratch the Warlord one may make more sense.
Lastly a pic of the four different Bronekaters I've been looking at . Farthest away to nearest Heroics and Ros Project 1125, GHQ Project 1125, Warlord Project 1124 and Scotia Grendel Project 1124
Links
Warlord Games erroneously listed as Project 1125
Scotia Grendel
WarGamingmats for the mat in the pics
Hope you found that interesting - if so why not click the follow button on the top right?
Next - G5 MTBs in comparison.
I have touched on the Scotia, Ros and GHQ models before here Bronekaters Shoot Out so I will try to avoid repeating myself too much and concentrate on comparisons with the new Warlord model.
So having said I was going to try to avoid repeating myself, the first thing to say is Warlord got the name of their model wrong, which I seem to keep saying. The model is a twin turreted Project 1124 NOT a Project 1125 as Warlord continue to insist. They also mix the stats of the two up in the game. I'm not sure why they keep repeating this mistake other than somewhere there is a guy sat in the corner of their Nottingham HQ with his fingers in his ears shouting "La la la la la I can't hear you!"
Back to the model. As far as I'm aware there are only two options for Project 1124s - Scotia Grendel and Warlord. The Scotia model has a resin hull and metal details, the Warlord one is all metal. Here they are after I painted them up - first pic has the Scotia Grendel model closest to the camera, second has Warlord.
The Soviets produced at least 99 Project 1124s and throughout that production run details changed quite a bit, so I am happy with both models and would not be worried running them side by side. The Scotia model is £9, the Warlord one has just gone on sale in their store at £15 for a pair. There is no mention of data cards and wake markers, but these are easy to come by.
I have three Project 1124s now. I think I prefer the Scotia model aesthetically just because the resin hull has crisper detail, and cleaning up the metal bows on the Warlord one was a bit of a chore, but it is a VERY close call. If I were to want a fourth, I suspect it would be Scotia - particularly as I have seen pics of a 1124 with a midships 37mm AA behind the wheelhouse, so it would be easier to mount on the blank area with the Scotia model rather than trying to clear the area on the warlord one with a file. On the other hand if you were starting from scratch the Warlord one may make more sense.
Lastly a pic of the four different Bronekaters I've been looking at . Farthest away to nearest Heroics and Ros Project 1125, GHQ Project 1125, Warlord Project 1124 and Scotia Grendel Project 1124
Links
Warlord Games erroneously listed as Project 1125
Scotia Grendel
WarGamingmats for the mat in the pics
Hope you found that interesting - if so why not click the follow button on the top right?
Next - G5 MTBs in comparison.
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