Part Two!

I had intended to continue the wall of text approach with my decision of a genre to pursue more closely.  But, I think it makes more sense to just cut to the chase and get going.  WW2 naval it is, specifically The Med as a starting point.



Now, does this mean that I am taking the narrow historical account?  Nope.  The collection will start with some hypothetical French/Italian actions, maybe even as early as 1939.  It is my intent to collect the proper forces to do historical battles, but I do not want to be limited to only that approach.



Slowly, this will include the British and Americans as well.  Plan Rubber has not been forgotten, but I will not be working on it to a large extent for a year or more.



The task has started already:

The pic above shows what is left of my WW2 naval collection, being re-organized.  These are all miniatures from GHQ.  Over years past, I sold off all of my completed ships, including a large Italian contingent.  Now, I am starting with two battleships, a Littorio class and another BB which I have yet to identify - probably Cesare.  One French ship is there - Dunkerque.  Two US ships were spared, Arkansas and Texas.  Four British ships are waiting - King George V, Hood, Rodney, and Barham.  And, a lone German ship - Graf Spee.  I have a large quantity of bits from past work, and one can see that they are being organized into a more sensible system.



It is a start, yes, but much more needs to be done.  Basing, rules, paints, and more are still to be determined...  Clear for action!!!

WW2 naval, part 2

When it rains, it pours sometimes... Just when I thought that I had figured out a simple WW2 project, I find something else that catches my fancy.  Here are the two candidates:



Plan Rubber - US forces try to invade Brazil to insure the security of airbases in Northern Brazil, vital to the transfer of aircraft from the US to Africa/Middle East/Australia.



The Med - France vs. Italy in a what-if based around Italy's earlier entry into WW2 i.e. 1939.





Plan Rubber, although hypothetical, has a lot going for it.  Most of the US forces are available in miniature from GHQ.  It can be limited in scope, or expanded.  I am thinking of two different starts to this project.  One, the US invades in March 1942 and provokes an angry reaction from Brazil, and two, Brazil has already turned to an Axis puppet and the invasion is an Allied reaction.  The first option I think would make a great short campaign, starting after US forces make their initial landings and focusing on the Brazilian reaction.  The Brazilian forces would not need as much added, although they would still be much better than their historical counterparts, as the Brazilian dreadnoughts were barely functional at this time and there was a severe lack of modern destroyers.  The second option would see a greatly augmented Brazilian navy and air force operating against an Allied (US/British) force.  So, there is a 'Small Solution' and a 'Large Solution' for Plan Rubber, which would allow for the inevitable desire for project creep.



The Med is being sparked by the soon-to-be-released Bretagne battleship miniatures by GHQ.  Again, this would be a project that could start small and expand.  GHQ makes most of the classes of the Italian Navy (except for some destroyers and smaller) while the French fleet is growing.  Project creep for The Med would include adding Royal Navy units.



Both plans have interesting features, and I have suitable miniatures for each of them.



Decisions, decisions!