"1:1250 Scale Ships from Figurehead" Topic

I just received several packs of British and German WWII Coastal Craft from Topgun Marketing.

I am no expert with miniatures, althoug I have loads of them in all scales.

My goal was to have plenty of ships on a side for convoy action and still have room to manuver on a 6 x 4 table top.

I was a little worried about what these tiny ships would look like, when I saw the size of the box that Topgun Marketing shipped them in.
Would I be able to tell an S-Boat from an MGB?

Once I saw the first pack my worries disappeared.
Superbly detailed, I can make out various gun stations ad torpedo tubes.
There is almost no flash on these.
Each packet has four boats as well as a sheet of information about the type of boat.
And while the information is in very small print, it is also very clearly printed and easy to read.
The smaller boats (Vosper MTB ad Elco Pt) have everything sculpted on the miniature.

The larger boats and the one German Torpedo boat/Destroyer Escort, have most equipment sculpted on and a few larger items loose, that will need to be glued on.

I can't wait to get them on the table top.
Thanks Figurehead.
Joe

Yes, another convert to coastal gaming. I have about 150 of the Figurehead ships. I love them. The only complaint I have ever had is the separate guns on the S/R boats are too small for my arthritic fingers. 3-6 boats per side work great on a 5x8 ft table. I have done attacks on convoys of up to 10 ships using hidden movement on a table 5x10.

The Figurehead ships are truly fantastic.

Cold Steel: What is your method for hidden movement?

For club games, I give each player 1.5 to 2 as many markers as they have ships and they maneuver until spotted. To add to the fog of war, I scatter the starting positions around the table, but don't tell the players which nationality the other players are. When a player makes a spotting role, I have them roll twice: once for the spot and once to ID which side the target is on. The players know what they need to make the spot, but depending on how they roll, they may misidentify the target. The best game I ran had 2 British players both open up and sink/heavily damage 2 of the 3 "enemy" ships they targeted. Only 1 minor detail: the Germans were all on the other side of the table laughing.

I also have a system of plotting moves on acetate and I then copy on a master charter. Unfortunately, I haven't tried it out yet.

I keep being temped, but continue to hold out. What would you guys recommend for a "starter" fleet for both sides for actions in the English Channel area?

Any view point on 1/600 ships (to match 1/600 aircraft) instead of 1/1250 scale?

Dan

Top Gun Ace has some good starter scenarios prepackaged in 1/1250. 4 S boats vs 3 MGBs or a destroyer or a couple of DEs make a good starter game.

I prefer this scale over 1/600 simply for cost and ship availability. There are a lot of plastic and metal "targets" available from other lines. I have models of everything from 70' rescue craft to the Gneisenau. Plus, 1/1250 scale also matches the ground scale for Action Stations, so the ranges look realistic.

I also have 1/600 TD aircraft. The visual effect of the a/c with the smaller scale ships looks good.

I also have very good looking 1/600 scale boats for this, but picked up the 1250 scale boats to let me run games with more ships on the same sized table.

I would still use the 1/600 for when there is just a couple of ships on each side.

IMHO; A good starter would be 3-6 boats for a mixed force of British MTB and MGBs, versus 4 S-boats and two F-Lighters or maybe a Mine Sweeper

Thanks C.S.: for the comparison on the 1/600 scale TD aircraft with 1:1250 scale ships.
Good gaming;
Joe

Hi Dan,

Yes, as Cold Steel mentions, we have a number of Game Packs that are reasonably matched in strengh to provide for a good game. You can purchase several of them if you want to have a variety of forces available, in order to be able to run more complex scenarios, or to keep your opponent(s) guessing as to the nature of your forces, e.g. S-Boats vs. MTB's or MGB's; a corvette or torpedo boat vs. various vessels; MGB's or MTB's vs. F-Lighters; and various vessels vs. destroyers.

Of course, many battles were fought around convoys as well, so the merchants should not be overlooked.

For the English Channel, I would recommend the following vessel packs:

1 x BPB MGB's
1 x Vosper MTB's
1 x Fairmile D's (your choice of MGB's, MTB's, or the late-war MGB/MTB combo's)
1 x Heavy Unit (Hunt Class DD, or other vessels, e.g. corvettes, or minesweepers)

1 x S-170 S-Boat (S-26 for the early to late war period)
1 x R-Boat
1 x F-Lighter, or Flak-lighter
1 x Heavy Unit (Torpedo Boat, M-35 Class Minesweeper, or some VP Boats)

For those interested in the Pacific, we have various PT Boat packs (Elco's and Higgins), with and without radar masts, and a 1/1200th scale assembled and painted Japanese destroyer for sale as well, e.g. of the Amigiri (Fubuki Class), and the Kagero Class. The Amigiri is reportedly the destroyer that collided with PT-109, cutting her in half.

I'd be happy to send anyone that is interested a listing of the vessels and game packs that we have for sale. Just send me an e-mail message to the address below, if you want a copy of that.

We have Action Stations rules in stock, which are superb for these types of battles.

We also specialize in aerial wargaming products too.

Best regards,

Rob
Topgun Marketing LLC
topgunace111 AT yahoo DOT com

Here's a set of 1/1250th PT Boats, an IJN Destroyer in 1/1200th scale, and a set of Action Stations rules, in case anyone is interested:

auction