On the horizon - 2012

Well, my last post of 2011!  It should be something thoughtful and witty, but what follows will have to suffice...



First off, I would like to thank all of the people that follow and visit this humble blog.  Having something to say is one thing, but also having an audience is another and I do appreciate all comments, so please keep them coming in!



Second, projects.  I seem to be good at finding new ones and not finishing old ones.  The past six months were not too kind to my hobbies, but that is over now and 2012 is shaping up to be a better year miniatures-wise.  The Lissa project continues - I actually sat down and slapped primer on 5 Austrian ironclads recently.  Plan Rubber is still cooking along slowly.  The Götland WW1 ships are waiting patiently for me to decide the next step.  And of course there are more that might never see the top of a table...



Third, this marks the 3rd anniversary of the start of this blog.



Last but not least, have a Happy New Year!

Leviathans, part 3

After a long delay, here are some pics of another vessel from Leviathans, the French light cruiser Pontbriand:

Another nice looking model for the Leviathans game.

Plan Rubber links

A brief post for today, as we are having our delayed Thanksgiving get-together now that my step-daughter has returned from Iraq...





Plan Rubber on Wiki



Plan Rubber at Sixtant





A couple of links that explain the situation and the historical outcome - from which I plan to deviate of course!

Budget woes

Looks as if my planning tempo is going to slow down a bit - I'm facing the prospect of reduced hours at work.  This means that the GHQ project will slow down a bit until I get some funding.  It is not such a bad idea since I have yet to decide what exactly the project will encompass beyond getting some GHQ miniatures!

However, I am going to pick up on the MAATAC project as I already have some miniatures on hand.

Speaking of MAATAC, I believe that Eric Hotz is going to run another session for the Trumpeters on Friday December 2 - if you are in the Vancouver BC area you should stop in!

WW2 naval, part 3

I think that I have a good idea of what the US force will have available for Plan Rubber, plus a couple of additions.



CV Ranger

BB Texas

BB Arkansas

CA Augusta

CL Savannah

DD Wainwright

DD Lang

DD Wilson

DD Hambleton

DD Emmons



During March 1942, all of the above ships, excluding the battleships, were formed as TG22.7 for a brief time, patrolling the Caribbean and Atlantic near Bermuda.  The battleships were being used as convoy escorts. shuttling back and forth from Maine to Iceland.  This, I feel, is a good basis for my Plan Rubber US force.



Additional forces could be drawn from the following:



CA Tuscaloosa  -  assigned to the US Atlantic fleet, she spent much time operating with the Royal Navy as a convoy escort.  As USS Augusta is a thin-skinned Northampton-class heavy cruiser, the better balanced New Orleans-class Tuscaloosa would be a good option.



DD Rowan and DD Hobson  -  these two destroyers were just coming off time in the yards for refitting and could be available for escort duties.



CVE Long Island  -  the first US escort carrier, USS Long Island spent much time as a plane ferry later in the war.  For Plan Rubber, I envision her with a small deck-load of USAAC P-40 fighters to be flown off for use at a captured Brazilian airfield, and her normal naval aviation complement - stored on her hangar deck - would be available afterward.  She would be very vulnerable prior to the flying-off, but there is a lot of potential with more US aircraft in the air.