"Naval Thunder, Scale and basing." Topic

I've just bought Naval Thunder and I'm starting from scratch in this period. I know they're supposed to cover a wide range of scales but I'm wondering is there a scale they work best at?

Also would you recommend mounting the Destroyers on a single base as a flottilla or just keep them seperate but move them together?

I don't have those rules, but my guess the most popular size would be 1:3000 scale . . . unless you are very limited in room, in which case 1:6000 ships (but they are very small). If you wanted something larger there is 1:2400 scale.

-- Jeff

Given the fairly long ranges for main guns (e.g., 45" for a British 15" gun), either 1/3000 or 1/2400 would work just fine. For 1/6000 scale, you could either use cm instead of inches or just assume the weapons ranges are actually in scale with the miniatures. I suspect the amount of space you have available is probably the most important factor.

I'm going to mount my destroyers in formation on a single base. Since a flotilla is generally treated as a single ship it seems to make the most sense. Also, even in 1/2400 scale WWI destroyers are pretty tiny so having the whole group on one base will make them much easier to keep track of on the table.

LT

Concur with brass 1 plus, in that era DDs were used in flotilla formations rather than individually. I mount my 1/2400 pre-dread and WW I in twos or threes. My WW IIs are mounted singly.

Which company's make 1/3000 ships for this era? I'm aware of Skytrex and I've had some of there stuff before from other ranges which I've been happy with. What else is there?

Navwar has an extensive range of 1/3k ships.

The War Times Journal has an extensive line of highly regarded figures of Pre-Dreadnoughts, Cruisers, DD's, etc. Many of which (especially the smaller vessels) were still in use during WWI:

link

-- Jeff

The rules were designed using 1/3000 scale miniatures and could easily accommodate 1/2400 scale.

I should think you could use the A&A War at Sea pre-paint minis as well when the WWII edition "Battleship Row" comes out soon. Those minis are approximately 1/1800, but that its probably about the limit without making adjustments.

Going the other way, unless you are space constrained, I would recommend not making any changes to the scale when using 1/6000 scale miniatures. You're just getting closer to true-scale ships that way.

Yes, destroyers are intended to be mounted and played with on a single base representing an entire flotilla. I mount my 3000 scale destroyers in pairs on the same 1" x 3" base I use for all the ships.

Some players have told me that they prefer for their flotillas to have a larger "footprint" than regular ships – since they compose multiple ships operating in a close group. As a result, they choose to mount their destroyers in multiples on a larger than normal base. There is nothing expressed or implied in the rules that prevents this. Its entirely up to you. Just use the center of whatever base you use as the measuring point for the flotilla.

Jeff, you should DEFINITELY pick up Naval Thunder: Clash of Dreadnoughts. Its only $12.95 USD after all! :) (available on wargamevault.com)

The actual point I wanted to make is that its looking likely that we will be able to release a pre-dread RJW supplement in the near future. So if you have an interest in using those excellent WTJ models, we've got the rules for you to use them with!