Messages

16

The Great War / Re: The WW1 Book/Article/Online Resources Thread

« on: January 08, 2020, 06:43:31 pm »

The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms by Hew Strachan is undoubtedly the best book I have read on the subject.  Unfortunately after fifteen years there is still no sign of volumes two and three.

I would agree that on the naval side Robert K. Massie's Dreadnought and Castles of Steel are simply the best.

17

The Great War / Re: The World Wars (History Channel)

« on: December 28, 2019, 06:20:53 pm »

Worth noting, although not naval:

World War I - THE GREAT WAR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WhqVgXz1UE&list=PLU5V45-JEC-Cpx2vz_l75e5DQMPY_c0sf

World War II - THE WORLD AT WAR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b4g4ZZNC1E&list=PLUOJOICfwMpH_NmZ21SaRCBZ7rLqCnE74&index=3

18

The Great War / Re: Fatal Choices Kickstarter

« on: December 28, 2019, 06:13:22 pm »

Any final comment after publication!

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/168167/fatal-choices

19

The Great War / Re: Dreadnoughts!

« on: December 28, 2019, 11:17:56 am »

With my non-naval background, I have a hard time identifying the roles of some ship types.  The battlecruiser has always been a mystery to me.  I guess they fell somewhere between a cruiser and a full battleship in terms of speed, armor, and weaponry?  But what roles would they have filled?

They proved their effectiveness at the Falklands in hunting down German cruisers.  However, that role might have been done by a modern armoured cruiser as subsequently shown by the fast battleship / heavy cruiser combination of WWII.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Falkland_Islands

20

The Great War / Re: Submarine Warfare in the Great War

« on: December 28, 2019, 09:05:13 am »

I've been looking around and can't find very many books that deal with sub warfare in WW1.  Lots on WW2, but that's always the case.  There are a few articles I've come across, some from professional military journals.

I recommend BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS by Terraine, which covers submarine warfare in both World Wars.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KTM7GUG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

21

The Great War / Re: WWI Boardgaming

« on: December 28, 2019, 09:00:45 am »

Starting with naval matters, there's Avalanche Press' Great War at Sea series. I only have Plan Orange, which is about a hypothetical war between US and Japan in the '30s. But the original two games are the Mediterranean and North Sea during WWI.

I have both of the originals with neither punched after 20 years!  I have tried the Dogger Bank scenario via different tactical rules using miniatures.  The tactical system is rather simplistic with big guns rolling a six per tube looking for a six to hit; the real strength is the operational scenarios.  You need to see it from the big picture viewpoint.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4915/great-war-sea-2-north-baltic-seas

22

The Great War / Re: World War 1 Centenaries

« on: December 28, 2019, 08:51:34 am »

We can use this thread to mark the centenaries of events as they come up.  Discussion is welcome, as is explanation of events from your point of view/understanding.  Again, aiming to set this up as a discussion and learning tool.  We can mark the dates of the big battles and events, to be sure, but if there's some little obscure thing you want to throw in here, by all means do so.  So much of WW1 is focused on the trench warfare of the Western Front, and to a lesser extent the Russian/German/Ottoman conflict on the Eastern Front, that people forget this truly was a "world war" (as Ruckdog's post about that Kickstarter project shows).  There was fighting in Africa, and there was even some conflict (to what degree I'm not sure) in the Pacific.

We obviously have a big event coming up tomorrow...so feel free to post away!

Great idea!!  So who has done some Centenary battles and how did they go?

23

The Great War / Re: Jutland - Looking for a specific book...

« on: December 28, 2019, 08:48:54 am »

Are you familiar with the Massie books "Dreadnought" and "Castles of Steel"? It sounds as if those would be right up your alley.

Thoroughly endorse this recommendation and RULES OF THE GAME. 

I wonder if it was a part of The Sword Bearers https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sword-Bearers-Studies-Supreme-Command/dp/B0012UFCDW

24

Historical Naval Games / Re: Russo-Japanese 1-3000

« on: November 07, 2019, 06:03:14 pm »

Thanks but not found anything on their sites.

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Historical Naval Games / Re: WW1 Naval Campaign 2 - Heligoland Bight

« on: November 07, 2019, 05:58:32 pm »

Not to totally high-jack this thread but do you use, or have played the Avalanche Press series of boardgames to use as a campaign driver to getting battles and ships on the table?

I have a older version of the North Sea, and wonder if upgrading to Jutland would be worth it. 
/Jeff

At the club we tried using the DOGGER BANK scenario to try out different rule systems.  Have you tried the game [GWAS] as designed?

26

Historical Naval Games / Russo-Japanese 1-3000

« on: July 28, 2019, 03:48:12 pm »

Other than Navwar does anyone else do 1-3000 ships for the RJW?

27

Roll Call / Re: Hi Graham here.

« on: July 28, 2019, 03:37:25 pm »

Given that I live isolated from many gamers I'm interested in doing a bunch of solo play, my most recent was a Full Thrust game.
 
 Graham

I take it http://www.trumpetersociety.com is of no use to you.  Any online possibilities?

28

General Discussion / Re: A Billion Suns

« on: July 17, 2019, 06:42:01 pm »

no army lists
No army lists?  Everything manned by marines?
A Billion Suns will be a fleet-level science-fiction spaceship game, placing you in the admirals chair of a massive fleet of interstellar warships.
So would that refer to fleet lists?  Am I just being pedantic about the vocabulary?  It does sound good if he is trying to use the SEA STRIKE approach for scenarios.

29

News and Rumors / Re: [KS] Admiral: A Game of Naval Clashes During World War Two

« on: July 17, 2019, 06:24:38 pm »

With an emphasis on game.

30

News and Rumors / Re: Heart of Leviathan (WWI Naval Combat)

« on: July 17, 2019, 06:21:39 pm »

Looks like it.  Looks like it is probably a dice-fest too.