Kangean Islands – 1942

This week a short report of a recent fictional WWII naval encounter set in the Far East in early February 1942. I have found the history of naval campaign in the Dutch East Indies fascinating so creating some of the situations on the table is a logical extension. Historically out-gunned but determined allied forces under took a series of naval actions against the Japanese invasion forces. Most actions occurred at night but some occurred in daylight. Our game attempts to capture one such situation in early February which historically resulted in the Battle of Makassar Strait where an allied strike force attempted to disrupt a Japanese invasion convoy.

In the historical action the Allied forces, comprising four cruisers and seven destroyers, were subjected to a series of high level aerial attacks from some 60 Japanese aircraft, a mix of “Nell” and “Betty” level bombers. The attacks resulted in damage to USS Houston and USS Marblehead and forced the the strike force to retire.

USS Marblehead in Tjilatjap undergoing emergency repairs

The success of the Japanese level bombing seems to be in part the result of allied tactics, which required the ships to operate independently rather than be “closed-up”. In the case of of USS Houston she was further compromised by defective 5″ anti-aircraft ammunition. In the end USS Houston suffered the loss of her aft 8″ gun turret, a significant result and one that would limit her in the subsequent Battle of Java Sea. USS Marblehead suffered even more extensive damage and which forced her out of the campaign.

Our scenario assumes the air attacks are less effective and the strike force pressed on only to be engaged by Japanese surface forces covering the invasion convoy.

In the historical action the cruisers comprised the previously mentioned USS Houston and USS Marblehead but were supplemented by the Dutch light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter and the very small cruiser HNLMS Tromp. For our fictional encounter these have been reinforced by one additional heavy cruiser, HMS Exeter. Her addition provides a significant reinforcement to the Allied forces. Finally, some of the destroyers have been replaced with others of the same class, simply for convenience.

HMS Exeter under fire while three US destroyers pass astern

These destroyers are all elderly Clemson class vessels which do have a strong torpedo armament, though they are not positioned on the centreline and thus complicate their use. Unfortunately US forces at this time also suffered from defective torpedoes, which would further limit US destroyer capabilities in our game.

Historically of course Japanese surface forces were not engaged at Makassar Strait. However, for our purposes a selection of vessels operating in the Dutch East Indies provided a scratch force to engage the reinforced Allies. This included the powerful heavy cruiser Haguro, two light cruisers and five Japanese destroyers. A short report of the Battle of the Kangean Islands can be found here.

Naval Aviation

Representing aircraft in naval wargames is a fascinating subject and one rules systems approach from different perspectives. Interestingly, the designer of “Naval Thunder” has taken a relatively unusual approach, but one that originally drew me to consider the rules.

Despite the significant impact of air power on operations the author decided to focus on surface actions, both those in daylight and at night. He then decided that air operations would be used to shape the surface action. To represent these air attacks there are three phases, the first two being before the tabletop action takes place. Both these two phases are heavily abstracted. The final phase occurs at the beginning of only one turn in the on-table game and is limited to aircraft operating from carriers, no doubt to represent additional coordination. In Naval Thunder there is no “flying on or around” the table. With such a very limited air phase the requirement to have a number of aircraft “on-table” is greatly reduced.

This approach seemed imminently suitable to model surface actions in the Mediterranean and early operations in the Pacific, especially this around Java Sea and Guadalcanal, which most interested me.

HMS Ark Royal in 1939 with Swordfish of 820 Naval Air Squadron overhead

After much thought I finally decided to represent the limited “on-table” air phase by purchasing a small selection of aircraft. But then there was the question of scale. Using a larger scale aircraft compared to the 1/3000th ships was initially considered, but was finally ruled out. Instead, I opted to order a few 1/3000th scale aircraft from Navwar as a trial and see what they looked like. A sample pack of Fairey Swordfish were therefore ordered. Each pack of the smaller Navwar aircraft contain 15 aircraft while larger bombers are nine to a pack. The Swordfish pack has six miniatures with folded wings and the remainder with their wings extended.

Painting was relatively simple. The models were glued to a popsicle stick with a very small amount of PVA glue before undercoating upper surfaces black. The base colour, or colours, are then applied. In the case of the Swordfish the area between the wings is left black. In due course canopies, where required, and markings are applied. Once dry, a diluted black wash increases contrast and provides shadow. Finally, a matt varnish is applied to upper surfaces before removal from the painting sticks and the lower wings and fuselage are painted.

Basing the aircraft created an interesting conundrum. I had seen various methods on-line but all seemed problematic to me or particularly fragile. One of my regular opponents suggested mounting them on acrylic bases – it seemed ideal suggestion and far simpler than the methods I had been considering. The painted miniatures were attached to bases with a very small amount of superglue, too much creating clouding on the acrylic. The result has been found to be sturdy while providing a little height – suggesting the aircraft are moving in low just prior to the launch of their torpedoes.

Swordfish conduct an attack on the Italian heavy cruisers Zara (left) and Trieste

With the initial models completed and considered a success, I ordered last year a few additional aircraft, this time for the Pacific. Last week the first of this batch were completed, specifically 15 Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo-bombers.

HNLMS Tromp of the Dutch Navy is attacked by two flights of Kates

Being primarily a torpedo bomber the basing would be the same as the Swordfish – specifically mounted on acrylic to represent the aircraft conducting a final attack run as can be seen above. In the background USS Marblehead, an elderly Omaha-class light cruiser, is subjected to air attack by a single flight of Kates.

USS Marblehead is subjected to a further attack

I am particularly pleased with the results achieved using the Navwar aircraft models. The use of the low bases of course suggests the aircraft are operating just prior or after the launch of the torpedoes. They are, I feel, visually interesting and are in proportion to the 1/3000th ship models. Of course they add an extra dimension to the visuals of the game, even if they are only on-table briefly. Equally importantly, the models are robust.

Next I need to look at some models to represent the American Devastator torpedo-bombers. Then some Vals and Dauntless will need to be painted, though both will require some additional work to ensure that they operate from a higher altitude.

Strait of Otranto – 1940

On the night of the 11th of November 1940 aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, flying from HMS Illustrious, undertook an the attack on the Italian fleet in Taranto Harbour. This well known attack by 21 Swordfish resulted in significant damage to three Italian battleships. Less well known is the night action by Force X in the nearby Strait of Otranto designed as a diversionary attack with the aim of causing maximum confusion.

Force X comprised three light cruisers and two destroyers. They were HMHS Ajax, Orion and HMAS Sydney (shown above in 1940) and supported by the destroyers HMS Mohawk and Nubian. Initially they failed to find targets but around 01:20 hours on the 12th, as they headed south, an enemy convoy was located and engaged. Four Italian merchant ships and one torpedo boat were sunk without loss. Then, as daylight arrived, both the Regia Aeronauticagia and Regia Marina sent units to locate and intercept Force X as it retired. While Italian float planes eventually located the British squadron, before being shot down, the surface units did not.

However, this diversionary action by Force X seemed an ideal basis for a game. Further, as we wanted to fight a night action, the first time we have tried one using the Naval Thunder rules, our scenario required the Italian squadron to be intercepted rather than the convoy. With the scenario developed the miniatures deployed.

Above, Force X moves to intercept the Italian squadron. The light cruisers are formed on the right and the destroyers on the left. Force X was, for our scenario, represented by the actual ships involved in the action. Further, the Italians cruisers used were involved, along with others, in the search on the 12th.

In a stroke of fortune our game was played on the evening of the 10th of November, around one day earlier than the anniversary. If you are interested in a brief report of the action it can be found here.

Naval Action in the Mediterranean

Recent WWII 1/3000th naval encounters have been set in the Far East, so last Friday it was time to head back to the Mediterranean for a fictional engagement set in 1940. Our Mediterranean actions have to date all involved cruisers and destroyers, but in this scenario we would supplement these with a couple of battleships, including HMS Warspite and HMS Barham.

HMS Warspite in 1942

The majority of naval actions in the Mediterranean theatre centred around the movement of convoys. For the Regina Marina these convoys were directed from Italy to and from North Africa. In contrast the Royal Navy was typically moving convoys from either Gibraltar or Alexandria to Malta. Occasionally both navies were escorting convoys simultaneously. This later situation seemed a good place to start.

Our encounter involved five players with three commanding the Italian fleet and two the Royal Navy. In all some 19 ships were deployed on the table. If you are interested in our the engagement a report along with a few photos can be found here. Hopefully it captures something of the game.

Distractions in the Dutch East Indies

The last few weeks have seen a continued focus on naval modelling with solid progress made on a reasonably large Navwar order that recently arrived. This project being based around the first few months of the war in the Pacific with a focus on operations around Malay and the Dutch East Indies. Regular readers may even recall that last month I began the Malayan project by modelling the ill-fated Force Z.

Next was the main project, the Battle of the Java Sea. The battle formed one of several naval engagements of the campaign as the Japanese pressed into the Dutch East Indies.

Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy at Java Sea

The first contingent to be completed was the Japanese. Built primarily around cruisers and destroyers this group of ships should provide some interesting fictional battles. To oppose them were a mix of allied vessels. Of these the first was the Dutch naval forces involved in the Battle of the Java Sea, a summary of the ships, with photos of the models, can be found here. The Dutch were supplemented by some additional British and Australian vessels, a number of which I had already completed for the Mediterranean. They can be found here.

Now, the American contingent should also have been completed but due to ordering some of the wrong ships they will need to wait. Yet despite this error it seemed fitting to complete the naval sojourn in the Dutch East Indies with a short naval engagement. A game summary can be found here.

Now, I think I need to look at a different painting project, though what I am not yet sure.