"Small Ships in Action?" Topic

Small ship actions offer a potentially fertile ground for games. There are plenty of wartime engagements and peacetime "incidents" from which to pick. However, it seems like most naval wargames (that I know of) are geared toward battles between large ships. Has anybody tried gaming actions between smaller ships? What did you do for models and rules? I am thinking mostly of the late 19th to mid 20th centuries, before the dominance of guided missiles. Thank you in advance.

Ron

There's a Victory At Sea variant on their website for battles with destroyers I thought I'd like to try. I'm hoping to order VAS this fall. I have some of the Allies & Axis plastic prepainted ships I plan to use with these rules--their line is huge!

I've also seen a rule set for MTBs, MGBs and similar small craft in WWII. It kind of depends on how small you want to get with your ships.

Grelber

There are lots of rules, and miniatures in various scales, for these types of actions for WWII, e.g. Action Stations, Flaklighter, etc.

For minis, 1/600th scale is very popular, and PT Dockyard makes and sells vessels in resin. Skytrex used to make and sell them in metal, but given today's news, I'm not sure what the status is of their Coastal Forces range.

Some people also use 1/700th scale, 1/1250th and 1/1200th scale, 1/300th scale, etc.

I have a spare hardcopy of Action Stations, that is brand new, for $12 USD, plus $3 USD for shipping, if you are interested in it.

E-mail me at:

calidreamer3

@hotmail.com

if you'd like to purchase it.

Command at Sea also has a small ships module

I 2nd 1/600.Dave's Narrow Seas Yahoo Group may help too,
link
"Narrow Seas focuses on wargaming coastal naval actions from WW1 to the present involving small combatants such at MTBs, PT boats, S-boats, fast attack craft, etc. Topics include rules discussions & reviews, model availability, wargame scenarios, and the general history of coastal actions from WW1 to current times."

Members in my Yahoo Group for 1/600th aircraft use 1/600 in their coastal gaming too,
link

Robert

There is also the free set of Coastal Command rules,

"Coastal Command is a set of rules for recreating World War 2 naval battles focusing on smaller ships dedicated to coastal duties. There is also a campaign system available, as well as ship data and scenarios.

This version is for use with small castings and a Hex map. This section contains tactical rules that can be used as a complete game system or elements can be used to supplement an omitted section from another set of rules."
link

These are free too,
Fast Rules for 1/600 WW2 Coastal Miniatures
By David Gregory and Hauke Kück
link

And,
WW2 Coastal warfare rules
PDF link

Mr. Picky says that MTBs, MGBs, S-Boats, MAS and PT boats are all boats, not small ships.

I'm not aware of any minaitures rules focused specifically on destroyer actions, but Quarterdeck Games' old "Destroyer Captain" boardgame has a very miniaturesy feel, and I think would be easy to adapt.

All the best,

John.

Thanks to everyone for your help. It's a good start.

Re: Mr. Salt – Destroyers represent an upper bound for the size of vessels I had considered (I wasn't terribly clear in my original post). Corvettes, naval trawlers, motor torpedo boats, and surfaced subs are all fine for what I had in mind. Proper ASW gaming, or actions in which aircraft figure too prominently aren't part of the plan at this time. I was thinking of sharp fighting at close range, along the coast, or in harbors, estuaries, etc.

By the way, I bookmarked this a while back, but still haven't found time to read it:

William Nutting, Cinderellas of the Fleet, 1920

link

Ron

I remember being told that"you can put a boat on a ship but you can't put a ship on a boat" LOL. . Robert

"Mr. Picky says that MTBs, MGBs, S-Boats, MAS and PT boats are all boats, not small ships."

Yes. All the others are just prey…:)

Dave G

There are only two kinds of ships: Submarines, and Targets!

Part of the problem with boats versus destroyers is that the destroyer can pretty much one-hit kill any one of the gnats buzzing around. If you avoid the big 4"+ guns, you might have a better balance. And remember that surfaced WW2 subs have at least a 3" gun, more 4" or 5", and a rare few had 6" guns or even larger(!). Surfaced sub versus PT boat would be interesting.

I wouldn't mind a good PT boat game. Maybe even a campaign, so losing all your toys in a single game is a VERY BAD thing.

Well, I have "Destroyer Captain" on the way. Eager to see some rules focused on DDs.

I have a "never were" 1928 USN destroyer leader design just about ready to cast that will be very interesting to game. She is almost a light cruiser – 4-6" and 4-5/25".

Dave G