Building up to the Battle of the Java Sea; simple beginnings

First of all, my apologies for the lack of posts recently. There simply hasn't been anything on my workbench worthy of a post and I've hardly played any games as well.

However, I do have some things in the pipeline.
There will probably be a battle report for a double-blind game of Axis and Allies Naval Miniatures I refereed soon, once I've got all my notes from that in order.
In addition to that, there will probably be a fair amount of FoW coming up as we'll be having a local tournament soon.

Today's feature is something a bit different; an overview of a long-term project I'm working on.

Specifically, to assemble the full order of battle for the Battle of the Java Sea in 1/1800 scale.

Mini Review: Plastic Soldier Company 15mm IS-2

Currently, I'm doing more painting than playing, although that should change with a local Flames of War tournament coming up.

While I'm painting/modeling, I'll be putting up some reviews for a few of the kits I'm working on.

This starts today with the unit I've finished most recently; a company of IS-2 obr 1943 heavy tanks in 15mm scale for use in FoW.

Mini review continued: 1/1800 HNLMS Java painted

After receiving my Shapeways order earlier this week, I got started on painting them fairly quickly.

When the aircraft models presented some difficulties because of the material's rough texture (kind of annoying on aircraft) I decided to switch my attentions to the 1/1800 scale warship I had also received instead.

This is the 1/1800 NL CL Java[1942] by matt_atknsn, for your reference.

Here's a picture of it painted up:

 

Mini Reviews: 1/1800 HNLMS Java by matt_atknsn and 1/350 F-8 and MiG-21 by Kampfflieger

Earlier this week, I decided to explore a new source of miniatures, especially historical ones; 3D printing on demand via sites such as Shapeways.

I ordered two different products:

-1/1800 NL CL Java[1942] by matt_atknsn

-1/350 F-8 Crusader & MiG-21PF by kampfflieger

Shapeways offers options for different materials for some models, such as the aircraft in my order.

I went with the default and cheapest option, WSF (White, Stong and Flexible).

I'd read that this material would have a slightly rough texture, which might become visible when painting, but decided that it would be OK for a test case.

After placing the order on monday, I the indicated time to delivery was roughly 1 week. However, the models were completed even faster than that, as they were shipped on thursday and arrived on my doorstep on friday. A pleasant surprise.

Airwar C21 Battle Report 1; Showdown over the Sea of Japan

1988, Sea of Japan.

Unknown to the Western powers, a Soviet transport ship carrying nuclear warheads has suffered major technical issues and is adrift in international waters.
While the situation cannot be viewed clearly by satellite due to bad weather, this has also hampered recovery efforts.
The politbureau is adamant that no US or US-aligned eyes can be allowed to fall on the vessel for classified reasons. Air superiority over the area must be established. In this effort, pilots have received orders to open fire at any craft crossing the set exclusion line.

US intelligence has figured out that there is obviously something special going on in the general area, although initial recon efforts have been threatened away by Soviet air and naval power. Even observation attempts by a pair of state-of-the-art nuclear submarines were driven off by agressive ASW units.
The weather does not look like it will improve any time soon, so a different approach will be tried; several small groups of aircraft will attempt to infiltrate the area in such a way that the Soviet air cover will not be able to intercept all of them.

One of these groups is a pair of F/A-18C Hornets from VFA-195, the Dambusters, which is stationed in Japan. Callsigns are "Hogger" and "Stilts".
They are part of the first wave, most likely to be intercepted. Their Rules of Engagement allow them to open fire BVR if enemy weapon launches are detected.
As luck would have it, they are indeed intercepted by a pair of Su-27 Flankers, well within the exclusion area.
Hogger and Stilts were about to have a very bad day.

Flames of War battle report 5; Guards Tankovy vs FHH Panzergrenadiers

After our previous game ended pretty quickly, my opponent and I decided to have another go after dinner, this time on another scenario which would probably be used in the upcoming tournament.

This time, we would be playing Breakthrough.
Neither of us had played this scenario before, so this was going to be interesting.

Flames of War battle report 4; Guards Tankovy vs FHH Panzergrenadiers

Another week, another couple of games of FoW played.

This week, me and one other local player played a pair of games as preparation for an upcoming local tournament which will be 1500 points Late War.

My apologies in advance for the poor quality of some of the pictures; I had to use my mobile phone to take them this time.

In our first game, we played Hold the Line.
He was using a FHH Panzergrenadierkompanie from Grey Wolf Revised, I was using a Guards Tankovy Batalion (Guards quality) from Red Bear Revised.

Void Warfare Alpha rules v0.3

In the not-too-distant future, Mankind has expanded into the solar system; space stations and orbital elevators have been built. Asteroids are being ferried closer to inhabited areas to mine from. The first long-term space colonies are under construction.

Most of the manual labour in zero-g is done using powered exoskeletons which can mount various tools depending on the task at hand.

Of course, when political tensions escalated and military actions in space started occurring, these exoskeletons were put into action for the close-range battles surrounding various installations. Here, these battles are fought.

Version 0.3 of the rules is here.

This update includes the following:
-A proper scenario focusing on controlling a zone in space.
-Two additional units.
-New weapons, including remote weapons launched by other units.
-Sensor Pod special equipment allowing one unit to assist others in detection.
-Changed weapon loadouts.

If you'd like to test these rules, please do so and inform me of the results. I appreciate all constructive feedback I receive.

You might also be interested in these printable trajectory markers and this post explaining how maneuvering in Void Warfare works with illustrations.

Flames of War Battle Report 3; Red Army Strelkovy vs Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadiers

During my previous 500-point Infantry Aces style game, one other local player had sown up, willing to have a go at a game at this scale as well; my opponent in my first battle report.

He didn't have his minis with him, so we decided to put something together using the models we had standing in the store and some proxies.

He decided to go with a FHH Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers force from Blood, Guts and Glory.

The scenario would be Cauldron.

Flames of War Battle Report 2; Red Army Strelkovy vs SS-Panzergrenadiers

This week, I played a couple of 500-point games testing for a possible Infantry+Mechanised Aces league.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Aces system: it's a small escalation league style campaign, ideal for new players to start grasping the rules.

I brought along a Red Army Strelkovy force from Red Bear Revised while my opponent would be using a SS-Panzergrenadier list from Atlantikwall.