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The Onin War 1467-77 by Stephen Turnbull   The author, Stephen Turnbull, has become synonymous with the history of Japan and especially of t...

The Onin War 1467-77 by Stephen Turnbull The Onin War 1467-77 by Stephen Turnbull

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Japan





The Onin War 1467-77

by

Stephen Turnbull




 The author, Stephen Turnbull, has become synonymous with the history of Japan and especially of the Samurai under the Shogunate. The list of his books is much too long to print here. Having read a good number of his books so far, I had high expectations for this book. I was not to be proven wrong by any means in this regard.

 The Onin War is really the start of the 'Sengoku Jidai' (warring states) period of Japanese history. This is when the power of the Shogun over the country started to wane. The Sengoku Jidai was a time when all of Japan became a battlefield for the various warlords around the nation.


 The Onin War was fought between 1467-77. The author starts the book by going back in time before the Onin War. His story starts with the Emperor G0-Daigo (1288-1339) and his attempts to take back the imperial power from the Shogun. The Shogun was originally a servant of the emperor, mostly as a general. This changed around 300 years earlier and the emperor then became just a cypher with the Shogun holding absolute power. The book continues with the trials and tribulations of Japan as different families, and strangely enough, the poor farmers rose in revolt. This boiling pot was brought to a frenzy by the of the ascension of the 'lottery Shogun' Ashikaga Yoshinori. His brutal reign as Shogun ended with a successful revolt and the loss of his head. 


 The intrigues continued until the new Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa was not really in control of the country at all. The various warlords did as they pleased. This ended up with two factions of the warlords attacking each other in the capital city of Kyoto. The Onin War was fought during the years 1467-77 and was fought mostly in the environs of Kyoto. The city became a burning shell of itself during the early part of the war with each warlord commanding fortified mansions in the city. All of this and more is shown to us by the author. He continues with the story of what happened after the actual fighting in Kyoto spread to the rest of the country. The book is filled to the brim with not only Japanese history but also shows exactly why the different revolts broke out. It also gives you a glimpse into the lives of the numerous characters mentioned and their biographies. You even get to see some of the trials and tribulations that the poorer folk of Japan had to go through during this period.


 The book is from Helion & Company and is part of its excellent 'From Retinue to Regiment 1453-1618' series. The book is only 120 pages but is filled with tons of information. It comes with several pages of full color pictures of places, people, and artwork about the events in the book. The rest of the book is rife with black and white pictures of the same.


 Thank you, Casemate Publishers for allowing me to review this great book on a pretty much unknown, outside of Japan, piece of Japanese history.



Robert



Publisher: Helion & Company

Distributor: Casemate Publishers




The Japanese Battleship Nagato by Dmitry Mironov   These books by Kagero on warships are subtitled "Super ...

The Japanese Battleship Nagato by Dmitry Mironov The Japanese Battleship Nagato by Dmitry Mironov

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Japan



by









 These books by Kagero on warships are subtitled "Super Drawings in 3D", and believe me they are exactly that.The book starts with a short biography of the ship, but the book's main contents are piece by piece computerized drawings of the entire ship from bow to stern. 

 The book also comes with a separate black and white scale drawing of the Nagato. The ship is seen in 1:350th scale, while the main turrets are done in 1:200 scale, and the small guns etc. are done in 1:50th scale. 

 The Nagato was laid down in 1917, and for a few years she and her sister-ship Mutsu were arguably the toughest battleships on the planet. The Nagato's original bow was a problem in heavy seas, and it needed to be completely redesigned.

 The ship was updated at several times during its career. She was actually the flagship of the Japanese first battleship squadron, at least until the Yamato came along. The Nagato was bombed several times during World War II, but she was one of the few remaining Japanese capital ships to survive the war.

 The drawings in the book show the Nagato as she looked in 1944. The only thing I would have liked to see added would be to have a few cross section cut-away drawings of the inside of the ship.

 For the modeller and hobbyist, this book and Kagero's numerous other naval books are a gold mine of information. 

Robert

Book: The Japanese Battleship Nagato
Author: Dmitry Mironov
Publisher: Kagero
Distributor: Casemate Publishers
 

Twenty years ago I read the seminal work on Nazi Germany: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer. I am glad I can now cr...

Rising Sun: The rise and fall of the Japanese Empire by John Toland Rising Sun: The rise and fall of the Japanese Empire by John Toland

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Japan


Twenty years ago I read the seminal work on Nazi Germany: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer. I am glad I can now cross Rising Sun by John Toland off of my book-bucket list. Rising Sun is every bit as authoritative and detailed as Shirer's work and I consider it the Pacific companion to Shirer's earlier work. In fact, I think that the lineage between the two books is quite clear and I am almost certain that John Toland was inspired by William Shirer's book.

The Pacific Theatre holds a particular fascination for me. Despite the number of books and documentaries I have read and viewed, I found Toland's book to be the most well-explained and detailed analysis of the pre-war period I have experienced to-date. I must admit to struggling with the sheer volume of names and political shenanigans but in all, I learnt more from this one book than I did from nearly all of the others I have read combined.


Iwo Jima: D-Day
To the typical European* audience, the Normandy Landings of June 1944 are rightly reserved for our greatest remembrance of bravery and sacrifice. The European D-Day claimed approximately 4,000 casualties. In contrast, the Pacific Theatre records 126 separate D-Days, none at the scale of Normandy, but all told causing American losses of over 50,000 troops. The sheer lunacy and bravery, in equal measure, shown by those amphibious troops beggars belief of the modern-day observer. I know I'm definitely not made of the same stuff.

In reading this book I feel I have attended The University of the Pacific Theatre, although I would probably graduate with a measly third or two-two at best. I feel wholly unqualified to review this Pulitzer-winning magnum-opus. The sheer quantity of information, especially Japanese names, left me stumped on a few occasions ("Who was he again?") but I got more comfortable with it and was fairly fluent in my Togo's and my Tojo's (very different people) by the 600th page, or 2/3rds of the way through this half-a-tree book.
Marines on Tarawa
I was continually amazed at the sheer volume of research that must have gone into this book. Incongruously, there were several jarring sentences regarding soldier's genitalia which, aside from feeling out of place (it happened on several occasions), made me wonder 'how on Earth did he find that out?'.

In most books about the Pacific Theatre, the behaviour of Japanese soldiers is often held up as barbaric and our Allied 'heroes' are paragons of virtue. As Winston Churchill himself wrote, 'History is written by the victors' and this book does an excellent job of not just recalling those well-known crimes, but explaining and humanising them without excusing them. It also counterbalances that with some appalling accounts of actions of US forces which are not often mentioned in accounts of the Pacific Theatre.


Bataan Death March
I found the book to be very well balanced, some may find it has gone too far and is more sympathetic to the Japanese forces than they deserve credit; it came as no surprise to find out that the Author has a Japanese wife. Still, for me, it was fair and it introduced the concept to me that the war in the Pacific Theatre was long precipitated by the colonisation and subjugation of South Asian and East Asian countries by Allied powers. It certainly did come across that the inexorable decline into war, opposed (mostly) on both sides, was almost inevitable. 

During the war, many Asian nations, sought self-rule and viewed Tojo (the Japanese Prime Minister) as a figurehead of Asian power and a model of how to fight against their 'masters'. There did appear to be several senior Japanese politicians and military men so averse to give Hirohito, the Emperor, any bad news that the war continued in vain. Toland makes it quite clear that the Emperor attempted many times to extricate his country from a War Japan knew it couldn't win even before it started.
Hirohito
The author covers everything about the war in the Pacific in great detail, from before the beginning (it wasn't Pearl Harbour...!) to the very definition of the bitter end and it was enlightening the entire way through. Rising Sun, first published in 1970 has several disturbing parallels today which we, as the western world, need to re-learn from our own history. The author made me question whether my own prejudices, as fair as I think they are, are justified.

Apologies for getting all philosophical, but this is a weighty book, dealing with a heavy subject, not just that of war but also of national and personal identity. It shows how simple mistakes and misunderstandings can cause events to wheel out of control very easily, given the right heady-brew of personalities... 

I can recommend this book it to everyone, unfortunately, it's only going to appeal to a very small niche of society, although it has probably found a much wider audience in American and Japanese markets - I'm glad I've been in that audience. 


広島平和記念碑 - Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Thanks to Pen & Sword Publishing for providing this review copy. It's available on their website for £19.99

*I'm including Great Britain and Northern Ireland in that statement still...

Japanese Battleships 1905-1942 by Miroslaw Skwiot  Japanese battleships; the list of them is a long one: the Mika...

Japanese Battleships 1905-1942 by Miroslaw Skwiot Japanese Battleships 1905-1942 by Miroslaw Skwiot

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Japan



by







 Japanese battleships; the list of them is a long one: the Mikasa, Kongo, and the Nagato among others. Notice I didn't mention the Yamato or her sister ship the Musashi. They will appear in due time.

 The first Japanese battleships were built by ship building firms in Britain. For those of you who didn't know it, there was a close connection between Britain and Japan pretty much from the 1860s to the 1920s. Japan was seen by the British as a counterweight to Russia in the far east. Britain and Russia were inveterate enemies for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. So to the British a strong and well armed Japan was a good thing to have next to the Asian continent. The above is pretty amazing given the fact that the British navy attacked the Japanese port of Kagoshima in 1863.  The British fleet burned it to the ground. This pointed use of a modern fleet was the last part of a wake up call to the Japanese if they didn't want to end up like China. The Japanese would have to join the modern world.

 By the 1870's the world had two undisputed leaders in land and sea warfare, Germany and Britain. The Japanese wisely based their fledgling Army on Germany's and their Navy on Britain's. Japan as an island did have somewhat of a seafaring tradition, but this was mostly of a coastal and fishing nature.



 In the beginning the Japanese had to start her Navy from almost nothing. She had no modern docks or shipbuilding facilities. So again, she naturally turned to Britain. Strangely, the British firms at the time were able to produce better or more battle worthy ships than the British Navy employed at that point.

 The book itself starts with a background history of Japan's sudden awakening to the outside world. It then continues with the birth and setup of the Japanese Navy. The first battleships brought to our attention are the Katori and the Kashima. These two were ordered in Britain from the 1903 Japanese Naval budget. These ships were based on the battleship King Edward VII. Oddly, though the ships were built in Britain, their armor was made by Krupp in Germany.

 The first battleship built in Japan was the Satsuma, although her armament and armor was purchased outside of Japan. The book then goes into how the world's navies were put on their ears by the advent of the British battleship Dreadnought. As a matter of fact, all battleships were then classified as either Dreadnoughts or pre-Dreadnoughts. That is how revolutionary her design was. 

 The book shows you the planning and building of Japan's only battlecruisers the Kongo, Hiei, Haruna, and Kirishima (these were updated in the 1930s to fast battleships). The first Japanese 'super- Dreadnought' to be built was the Fuso. The Battle of Jutland and the naval clashes during World War One caused the Japanese to come up with new designs. The design they came up with were for the Nagato and here sister-ship the Mutsu. They were arguably the 'best battleships' in the world from 1920 until the end of the 1930s. Some will immediately argue that position for the British Hood. However, she was in actuality built as as a battlecruiser and not a battleship. The Hood's lighter armor would be tested in 1941 and was found wanting.



 The book continues with the plans for Japanese battleships before and after the Washington Naval Treaty. This treaty was signed in 1922 by all of the major powers. It was supposed to have stopped the world-wide naval arms race that was happening at the time. It goes on to show the plans for the battleships that were either scrapped or converted to aircraft carriers. The Washington treaty had few clauses about aircraft carriers. Their usefulness in 1922 was not recognized as being worth limiting them.

 The book goes on with the planning of the three largest battleships ever made, the Yamato, Musashi, and the Shinano ( the Shinano was converted to a carrier after the Battle of Midway). It also shows all of the plans for even larger battleships, with the planning going to the year 1950. The year 1941 saw the age of the battleship come to a close. The last titans of the era, the Yamato class battleships and the USA's Iowas, never battled each other. In fact, both of Japan's super-battleships were both sunk by lowly airplanes.

 This is my second Kagero book and I am even more impressed than I was with the first one. The book is jammed with photos and even has double paged 3D computer generated foldouts of some ships. Visually stunning, and filled with all there is to know about Japanese battleships, this book is very easy to endorse.


Robert


Publisher: Kagero
Distributor: Casemate Publishers

                                                 Sengoku Jidai DLC Gempei Kassen                                                          ...

Sengoko Jidai DLC Gempei Kassen by Slitherine Sengoko Jidai DLC Gempei Kassen by Slitherine

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Japan

                                                 Sengoku Jidai DLC Gempei Kassen

                                                                          by

                                                                    Slitherine 






  The Gempei war in Japan was fought in the 12th century in Japan. It was a time of the 'cloistered emperors'. At this time the ruling emperor was usually a cypher and or a child. The adult emperors who had given up the throne carried the real power in their kimono. Sometimes you had up to three emperors at one time vying for control of the government. The Fujiwara family was also deep into the power struggle by being the emperors highest servants and also marrying into the royal family. The war starts because a cloistered emperor brought into the mix the two most powerful military families in Japan, the Taira and the Minamoto, thinking to use these families just as every other piece had been used in the power struggle. The plan backfires on the imperials, and ushers in the age of the Shogun. For the next 600-plus years, the emperor becomes a nonentity while the Shogun rules Japan.






 The DLC for this game, Sengoku Jidai, is an attempt to bring the battles of the two families out of the mist of history, and onto your computer screen. The DLC takes place roughly four hundred years earlier than the battles in Sengoku Jidai. This is a time when the Samurai was much more of an archer than a swordsman, and the tales of the warriors of these times represent that fact.





 Due to the mist that is present in Japanese history in the 12th century, we know of some battles and what warlord died and when. What we do not have is actual lists to be able to make out OOBs for the different battles of the Gempei War. So the decision was made by Byzantine Games to not falsify history and  make some OOBs up. Instead, the DLC is based solely on skirmish mode in the game without any historical battles. It is an unfortunate but correct decision based on the records.

 There has been some discussion on the web about the choice of the names of the two sides in the war. The Minamoto are listed as anti-imperials, while the Taira are listed as pro-imperials. I understand that while it is not technically correct; both were pro themselves and anti everyone else. You are still able to kick some 12th century Minamoto butt with your Taira troops, so it all works out in the end.

 Minamoto no Yoritomo is the strongman who set up the shogunate after the crushing defeat of the Taira at the sea battle of Dan-No-Ura. He then consolidated his position by the hounding and then murder of his half brother Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune was a greatly revered swordsman whose battle with the monk Benkei, and their companionship and travels after the fight, loom large in Japanese folklore.

 Sengoku Jidai is a game for anyone interested in the history of Japan. This DLC makes it more interesting with the new units and different strategies needed to win with your 12th century armies. Please see my review of Sengoku Jidai:  http://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2016/05/sengoku-jidai-review.html


 Robert


Game : Sengoku Jidai DLC: Gempei Kassen
Developer: Byzantine Games
Publisher: Slitherine Games
Steam Release Date: 9/8/2016
Review Date: 10/1/2016

GATO LEADER As promised, my next undertaking is an AAR for Gato Leader .  I decided on this route, because a review would have simp...

GATO LEADER AAR GATO LEADER  AAR

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Japan

GATO LEADER


As promised, my next undertaking is an AAR for Gato Leader.  I decided on this route, because a review would have simply been about 95+ % a replication of my review of U-Boat Leader As a prelude, these are the few differences, none critical, as they mainly reflect the historical backgrounds.

Gato Leader :

Includes some differing Special Missions, such as Mine and Recon/Rescue.

Wolfpacks are handled differently.  In fact, I would personally have called them something else, as I don't think that the Americans used this term.  Essentially, you chose whether or not a number of submarines begin as a group together in the same port.  So, no seeing whether a Convoy turns out to be a valuable target and then trying to call in other subs.

Takes us up to 1945, whereas U-Boat only goes as far as 1943, so there is more possibility of using radar.

Provides Forward Operating Bases [that can be purchased with Special Ops points]which allow for removing Stress points and reloading torpedoes.

Takes account of  the inferior quality of torpedoes by having a set of rules for dud torpedoes and a chart to roll on.  At its worst , none of your torpedoes may hit and in plenty of cases at least half will be duds! [Technically, this is not a totally new rule addition as U-Boat Leader 2nd edition has an optional rule for dud torpedoes.]

Allows for reloading torpedoes while on the Tactical Display.


These last two seem to me the most significant differences and one seems in part to balance the other.  However, I do not think that the ability to reload while on the Tactical Display is the big deal some comments on the game have made it out to be.





One other point worth mentioning is that the Event cards can be far more deadly than in U-Boat Leader and, overall, you will probably have to draw more too!



So, with that said, on to ...


Campaign Mission :
Turning The Tide
Short Scenario.



Stategic Segment



This gives me 40 SOs with which to purchase my submarines and any Special items.



I spend 36 SOs on submarines and the remaining 4 SOs on Special items.








Here's everything set up for the start of the Campaign, including my trusty dice tower!  On the left is the mounted play board which  has areas along the top for the Merchant Cards, the Escort Cards and the Naval cards and then beneath is nearly all the necessary information for conducting the Tactical Segment of a turn.  On the right is the Campaign Mission card with the map on which the subs operate in the Operational Segment of the turn.  The very blurred, vaguely bluish shapes are my four subs in groups of two.



Slap bang in the centre is the mounted Tactical Display board on which [surprise, surprise] the Tactical Segment takes place.   On the left side of this board are the holding boxes for the Event cards and Convoy cards and the rest is the lovely depiction of a sonar screen.  It's worth pointing out that this Tactical Display is part of the expansion pack.  It's brilliant, but the one that comes with Gato Leader itself is half the size and not as impressive because of the reduced area to play on.




My choices were:



Guardfish [Trained level + Torpedo Modifier]

Gudgeon  [Trained level + Radar] 

Both placed in Peal Harbour and formed as a wolfpack.  So, these two will operate together.

Silversides [Veteran + Torpedo Modifier]
Tautog       [Veteran + Radar]

Both placed in Freemantle and formed as a wolfpack.  So, these two will also operate together.

My decisions were based on the following reasons: the radar would gain a modifier in locating Convoys and the Torpedo Modifier would mean that the sub would roll one column better when checking for dud torpedoes.



A closer look at Guardfish, loaded up with 10 torpedoes Ready and another 14 Stored on board. 

It has markers showing its 6 gunnery factors and the Torp modifier.




Operations Segment



My first two subs left the port of Freemantle for the South China Sea, each drawing two Event cards.


Silversides



A Fatal Error                   + 3 Stress

Equipment Malfunction  + 2 Stress



[See what I mean about Event cards!  my sub is almost nearly up to its Shaken level and it hasn't even started to look for the enemy.]



Tautog

Lone Merchant - expend 1 torpedo and score 1 VP
Rough Seas         + 2 Stress


My other two subs left Pearl Harbour for the Marianas, each drawing two Event cards.

Guardfish

Nimitz Takes Notice  -  gain 2 SOs if you score equal or more than 10 VPs this turn.
Clear Weather            - no effect

[Well that draw went a bit better.]

Gudgeon

Rough Seas - + 2 Stress
Minefield [condition N/A, so gained default] + 1 Stress



The unfortunate Silversides which has picked up 5 Stress pts

just by sailing in to the South China Sea




 Tactical Segment



[N.B. all die rolls use a d10]



Tautog rolls for Contact



Contact die roll 6  mods +2 [number of subs in wolfpack],

+1[ radar], -3 [sub moved during the Operations segment].



Result 6 = 2 Contacts


Place Contact marker on the Campaign map board, draw a Convoy card and flip Contact marker from 2 to 1.

Contact card drawn is Card 043 [6 Merchants and 3 Escorts]  Unidentified markers are placed on the Tactical Display for all nine ships.



Convoy card 043 showing where the relevant unknown ship markers should be placed


The card only shows the 4 Centre Convoy Sectors and the 8 Short Range Sectors.  Beyond those are the 8 Medium Range Sectors and finally the 8 Long Range Sectors.  






Here are the six blue unidentified Merchant ship markers and the three unidentified escort ship markers, before I place my two subs in any of the outer Long Range Sectors.  



Once I do that, I choose for both submarines to submerge and move one sector nearer the revealed Escort Ikuna and the following enemy are revealed because of range : Merchants Santyo Maru, Katori Maru, Nanrei Maru and Hoten Maru.



As a result of Lag Movement, the two submarines move one sector towards the Convoy's wake.  [The top of the board is marked as the Convoy's course and the bottom is the Convoy's wake.]  The Escort Ikuna rolls for detection of the subs.  A 1 fails to detect the sub Silversides, but a roll of 8 detects Tautog and so, the other two unidentified Escorts converge along with Ikuna on Tautog.  The other Escorts are revealed as the Momi and Etorofu.  Ikuna and Etorofu are now directly in the same sector as my sub Tautog!



Also, the last two Merchants are revealed as the Harbin Maru and the Sakito Maru.



The image shows all the ships now identified and two Escorts in the same sector as the detected Tautog.  Tautog is just about to Deep Dive to try to avoid the Escorts attacks which are not rolled for, but Damage chits are automatically drawn.  In this case, it would have meant drawing 7 Heavy Damage chits in total - in all probability this would have been fatal for my sub!

*[At this point, with two Escorts at range zero, panic set in and I forgot that Tautog had the Aggressive quality and could have fired at the Escorts before they could fire at him.] 

Instead, not too surprisingly, the sub opts to Deep Dive to attempt to avoid the imminent attacks, first it takes 2 Stress points as a result of making the Deep Dive.  Though avoiding drawing damage tokens for attacks from the three Escorts, the sub still has to roll against its evasion rating and is successful for two of the three attacks, but fails against the other and so takes a temporary Flooding marker.  Not good, but could have been much, much worse if the Escorts' attacks had gone in.

[Crash Dive, which is what you do if you are attacked while on the surface, states quite clearly that an Evasion roll is made for each Escort attacking you.  With a Deep Dive, the rules are not 100% clear as to whether you make an Evasion roll for each separate Escort, as I did, or whether it's a single die roll.]

Because the Tautog has dived, it cannot attack. 

[Again, a point worth raising. In both Gato and U-Boat Leader, there are no restrictions on Escorts sailing into and through Convoy Sectors.  In my review of U-Boat Leader, I queried the historical validity of this total freedom.  Still not sure how appropriate this is.]

The other sub Silversides, however, now unleashes a spread of 5 torpedoes at the Katori Maru and another spread of 5 at the Hoten Maru.

Resolve those against the Katori Maru first.  The die roll for duds means that only half run true [i.e. 3 torpedoes out of the 5].  So, modifiers are +2 [3-1 for torpedo spread] +2 [sub's Torpedo Skill] -1 for range, giving a final mod of +3.

The torpedo rolls are 1,3, 9, becoming 4, 6 and 12.  Taking the highest result 12, this is compared with the target's stats and as 12 well passes the target's third number, the Katori Maru settles beneath the waves.  Silversides chalks up 4 VPs and 3 Experience Points.

So, the focus turns to the attack on the Hoten Maru.  All five torpedoes run true; no duds this time.  Modifiers: +4 [5-1 for torpedo spread, +2 [sub's Torpedo Skill] -2 [range] = +4.

Die rolls for the five torpedoes are 3, 7, 8, 9 becoming 7, 11, 12, 13.  like its sister ship, a final result of 13 is more than enough to sink the Hoten Maru and Silversides gains another 3 VPs and 2 Experience Points.

The Combat Resolution phase is over and so the Deep Dive marker is removed from the Tautog and a new round begins.

Silversides surfaces and moves 2 sectors away to the western most Long Range sector, while Tautog opts to attempt Silent Running and rolls a 1 [hurrah], so the detection marker is removed  and the sub's speed drops to zero.  As a result, in the Lag Movement phase, Tautog drifts two sectors south and out of detection range of the Escorts.


[In the image above, Tautog has just successfully rolled for Silent Running and its speed drops to zero.  Consequently, in the Lag Movement phase, the sub will move two Sectors due south, towards the Convoy's wake.]

* [I realised much later, I had made a mistake here.  The attack by Silversides would have placed an Alert counter on the Tactical Display which would have increased the Escorts' detection range by one and put Silversides in potential detection range of the Escorts.] 

Consequently, the Escorts roll for random movement.  End of Combat round.

For the next 3 rounds, the two subs lurk on the fringes, out of escort range, while Silversides reloads 2 torpedoes per round.

On the next round, both subs move into firing range of the Merchants.

Tautog fires 6 torpedoes at the Sakito Maru and half run true.  Modifiers +2 [3-1 for torpedo spread] +1 [sub's Torpedo Skill] -2 range = +1

Torpedo dice rolls are 10, 7, 1 becoming 11, 8 , 2

The Sakito Maru is sunk and Tautog gains VPs 4 : Experience Points 2.

Silversides launches 5 torpedoes at the Harbin Maru, but a pathetic die roll of 2 means that only one torpedo runs true and one of the torpedoes that miss errs dramatically off-course and hits its own sub!  This causes 3 Heavy Hits on the sub;  the first adds 2 Stress, the second is No Effect and the third causes lasting Hull damage.

To counter this appalling SNAFU, the 1 torpedo that strikes the Merchant rolls a 10 and with +1 total modifier the Harbin Maru is added to Silversides' growing total, gaining 3 VPs and 2 Experience Points.

On the next round, both subs surface in order to be able to move two sectors.  The Tautog is able to exit the Tactical Display, but Silversides can only reach the Western Long Range sector and so is easily detected by the Escorts who converge for the kill.  Silversides opts to Crash Dive and adds 1 Stress, so that the sub is now at 8 Stress, one away from the maximum it can take before becoming Unfit!  But all evasion rolls are successful.

On the next Combat round, the sub can exit the Tactical Display and the situation moves to the Post-Combat Resolution Phase.

Silversides records his 10 VPs and 7 Experience Points on the Campaign Log.

Tautog records 4 VPs and 2 Experience points.

Each sub gains 1 Stress at this stage.

Silversides moves to 9 Stress, and so I decide to place the sub back onto the Campaign Map in the Area's Searched Box.

Tautog, now at Stress 5, fully reloads and with 1 Convoy-sighted marker still on the Tactical Display, I decide to continue the Tactical Segment and draw a new Convoy card which reveals two Merchant ships and Escorts.  A second Convoy card is then drawn for its random Event.

Tautog decides to fire off 5 torpedoes at each Merchant ship [this causes them to be revealed as the Anyo Maru  and the Tatuwa Maru]. 

Firing at the Tatuwa Maru -  the roll on the dud table is low and only one torpedo hits the ship doing no damage, while one of the misses hits his own sub adding 1 Stress, Lasting Electrics damage and No Effect.

The other 5 torpedoes fired at the Anyo Maru all run true and with the best of his five dice being a 10, plus a small modifier, a final Merchant ship is sunk adding 4 VPs and 3 Experience Points to the tally.

In the next Combat round, Tautog immediately exits the Tactical Display to add one more Stress in the Post-Combat Phase, so the sub's Stress is now at 7.

Tautog also records 4 VPs and 3 Experience points.

With virtually no torpedoes left to reload and a high Stress level, I decide to call it quits and place Tautog in the Searched Box where Silversides has already been placed.

[... It was now the turn of my other two subs in the Marianas and I hope that you will allow me to draw breath at this point and pass over their exploits, until another day.  Otherwise this AAR is going to ... argh my two typing fingers have gone numb!

Some time later...

Once all your subs have been activated and gone through the processes that I've detailed, you move to the last Segment Refit.]

Re-fit Segment

Promote Submarines

Silversides  spends 5 of Experience points to promote the sub's commander to Ace level.

Tautog spends 3 Experience points to promote the sub's commander to Ace level.

As there is no Forward Operating Base in the area, neither sub can reduce their Stress level and neither sub has the Cool Special Ability which would allow 1 Stress point to be removed.

Any temporary damage received is removed, but lasting damage remains on the sub.

Finally the submarines are put back from the Searched Box into the South China Sea area and the process starts again.

With neither sub fit for much action, I simply return them to the Port of Freemantle from which they had started.  Of course, if subs travel further afield, you can head for the nearest Port or journey back drawing Event cards for moving into areas as you do so.  Thankfully for these two battered heroes, Freemantle borders the South China Sea and so they go straight into the Port Box.

Once in Port, each sub can remove the appropriate amount of damage, in this case 5 Stress points each for Freemantle Port.

This concludes 1 Patrol for each submarine which is the maximum they can do in a Short Mission.

Between them the Silversides & Tautog had notched up 18 Victory pts, enough to get me exactly half way to scoring the minimum total of VPs to earn the Adequate level in game terms!!


A FINAL FEW WORDS

First of all, this was a hugely enjoyable experience, though it took 10 A-4  pages of careful record keeping just to cover the details that covered half of the Campaign and several sessions that tallied about nine hours in total.  To play the game, without all the written record keeping to produce this AAR, is [I can assure you] a whole lot quicker!

I'd like to thank DVG, who very kindly sent with the game the Expansion Ship Miniatures and Battle Board which provides a mounted Tactical Display board twice the size of the smaller board in the game itself. But, as mentioned in my review of U-Boat Leader, the latter is rather small for the number of counters and markers likely to be placed on it. 

I love the expansion, but it does add another £22.99 to the cost of the overall package.

Both U-Boat Leader 2nd Edition and Gato Leader are for me excellent additions to my solitaire experience.  I imagine that the UK gamer may well settle for the former and the US gamer for the latter.  Both give equally satisfying and rewarding experiences.




























Another impressive collection from Thomas Gunn gets reviewed. It really is a great day when a parcel arrives from Thomas Gunn, ful...

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Another impressive collection from Thomas Gunn gets reviewed.


It really is a great day when a parcel arrives from Thomas Gunn, full of goodies to review for the blog. Every time I go to open one of those silver boxes the contents always exceed my expectations! As it's Thomas Gunn my expectations are high as well. This time was no exception.  Though the previous miniatures  I've reviewed have all been outstanding, this particular collection, from my perspective, is the stand out one so far. Some of you know I have an obsessive interest in WWI, so it will come as no real surprise why I love this set of new releases so much. I have a group of what can be WWI air crew or just soldiers relaxing in the rear areas which includes a real life footballer and another historical figure of a War artist. We also have a WW2 Royal Canadian Commando, WW2 ANZAC sentry and finally a WW2 Japanese SPG to review! All have been released this month, September '16.


The first miniature is a historical professional footballer from WW1. His name is Ben Butler and he enlisted into the Pals battalion 17th Middlesex which was also known as the first footballers'  battalion.  Prior to enlisting, he played for Reading and Queens Park Rangers. Sadly he never got to play professional football again as he was wounded by enemy shelling in 1916 around Lens and like many others in the 'Great War' died of his wounds. 

Rev. Samuel Green, a chaplain of Casualty Clearing Station No.22, recorded his impressions of the rugged centre-half: A great, big chap lies in this bed – a guard bulges up the blankets over his leg. ‘Well, Corporal, how are you now ?’ – ‘Bad. This leg is done in. No more football for me. I’m a ‘pro’ and play for…..’ I look at the papers and see his thigh is shattered – always dangerous, these wounds. However the danger is not immediate, and I shall have many more half-hours at this bedside. He fights for dear life for ten days, and then goes out. He has played the game. I doubt not that he has won. A fine fellow – may he rest in peace.’ May he rest in peace. He was wounded on 3rd May '16 and died ten days later. He was 29 and left behind Kate, his wife.


Ben sits on a crate holding his beloved football. The sculpt is a mini work of art. It really exudes character. The sculpture has to be applauded for catching so much and managing to tell a story. The pose he is in couldn't be any better. It's bordering on genius and it's easy to get into his mind, sat there on that crate. The detailing is superb and the paintwork faultless. It's not just another toy soldier I'm looking at, but a real person. This makes it even more poignant. He is most likely dreaming about his exploits on the pitch before the madness started. Also no doubt, hoping the War finishes soon, not only to get back to his Kate, but also so he can eek out a couple more years playing professionally before he retires.


At the ripe old age of 29, time isn't on his side, he thinks to himself. Well it's near the end of April and who knows the big offensive due any time soon might end the War and I'll be home in time for the start of the new season. The thought cheers him up. They go back to the front line the next day the 30th April.  "Anyone fancy a game?" he shouts as he gets up from the crate.


I love this miniature. Plus not only do we have Ben but we also have two other variants.  The first is Daniel Minogue. an Aussie Rules Footballer. Daniel was lucky and survived the War.



Next we jump forwards to WW2 and is Fritz Walter. He was drafted into a Luftwaffe unit, one designed to keep certain men out of too much danger.


Ben Butler comes in the usual Thomas Gunn silver box, and as standard for Thomas Gunn, great care has gone into padding, so the miniature doesn't get damaged in transit. Actually one of the boxes had taken an obvious knock, yet the miniature was safe and sound, surrounded with foam padding.





The next historical figure from WWI is war artist Muirhead Bone GW066A. With the first name of Muirhead it's obvious he was a Scotsman. He was commissioned an 'honorary second lieutenant' and sent to France in May'16 as the first Official British War Artist. He was sent to capture life in France with his pen and paper. Lithographs were the big thing back then and he produced two volumes and around 150 lithographs. After the War he was knighted and during WW2 did similar work. He died 21st October 1953.

 
Muirhead is in relaxed dress, even sporting what looks like a cravat tucked under his shirt, as he sketches an aeroplane. Over his shoulder is a satchel that no doubt contains the tools of his trade. The paintwork is faultless and again the sculpture has caught a very natural looking pose. Looking at his face, apart from sporting a moustache, you can also discern an intense concentration in his eyes as he takes in this new wonder of science before him, an aeroplane. He stands on a texture base which is standard for Thomas Gunn miniatures. He comes in a silver box and just like everything to do with Thomas Gunn miniatures care has gone into the foam padding to ensure he arrives at your home damage free.

There is also another war artist GW066B;  this time Australian War artist  George Lambert. He produced some excellent images of Anzac cove in Gallipoli.

 


Muirhead and George are limited to 100 each and retail at £32.



 


We move on from historical figures. Here we have The Orderly GW065A. Sitting outside (camp site or airfield) using a crate as a chair and putting his typewriter on a little campaign table, he has decided to do his typing outside today. Just finished his cup of tea, he lights up his second to last army issue cigarette. He glances over to see that war artist in deep thought looking at the Be2c that's sat outside its hanger, as one of the squadron's observers climbs out of the front seat.

This little set consists of four separate  pieces. We have the orderly seated on his crate, then we have the table, followed by the typewriter and finally his cup, so you can arrange as you see fit. I love the pose; you can tell he is enjoying that cigarette. The paint work is excellent, with great use of shading.  The table does look like it's made from wood, as the painter has done an excellent job replicating wood grain. I've just noticed on the base that they have used something to create little tufts of grass that look so realistic. It's a detail I haven't noticed until now, but it shows just how much work and thought goes into their miniatures. A sign of superb quality. Damn, I do love Thomas Gunn!

He comes in a silver box which is well padded with foam.

The Orderly also comes in a variant GW065B, a German version.


Both versions are limited to 100 and retail at £35.

 

The Tinker GW067A. This is another exciting little set that oozes atmosphere and is a diorama in its own right. The 'tinker' has grabbed the officer's wicker chair, whilst he is out on a long recon patrol.  Having put up the campaign table, he's decided to get some minor repairs done to the mess kitchen equipment, which had been damaged during the previous night as the pilots let off steam.  With a cigarette firmly gripped between his lips, he picks up his hammer and one of the pans, which needs a few dents hammered out, and goes to work. Funny, he thinks to himself, those pilots certainly got hammered last night, hehe, especially young Jones. I do hope he comes back safely today, being his batman has been very pleasant. Most likely the best officer so far. Not to say the other four had been bad in any way, just something about Jones reminds me of my son I suppose.  God rest his soul, god rest all their souls, though hopefully Cpt Waverly is a prisoner; I liked him.

 Altogether we have nine pieces. The first is the actual figure seated in a wicker chair. Then we have a campaign table, a hammer, large pot, pot lid, cup, two small pans and a large spoon. The hammer and one of the pans you slot into his hands. It really is a great set though be careful as it would be very easy to lose a cup or pan, as they are very small. This chap is busy repairing some kitchen equipment, with the obligatory cigarette in his mouth.  He is sitting outside and if you look closely you can see tufts of grass. Such amazing detail and little touches like this put a smile on my face.  Everything has been sculpted with great care even the little cups and pans. The wicker chair looks excellent. You'd think it was made from wicker, just as the campaign table looks to be made from wood. The paintwork is yet again faultless (honestly I do look for something to fault, just every little thing has been done to such a great degree I can't find anything). He comes in a silver box and great care has gone into the padding.

There is also a German variant GW067B. This time in German dress.

 The sets are limited to 100 and retail at £35.00


 


Following the 'Tinker' we have the 'Tailor' GW068A. Another impressive miniature. It's time to do some repairs to his service issue trousers. As the sun is out, he decides to get some fresh air rather than stay in the current abode, a hot, flea-ridden barn with barely enough light to find your boots in the morning, a typical enlisted man's abode whilst travelling around the French countryside. Grabbing his trusty little OXO box which contains his darning tools, he grabs a crate, finds the tear caused by barb wire whilst out in no man's land the previous night when out on patrol. He was one of the few who actually loved going out at night into no man's land, loved the adrenalin rush. In the early hours of the morning, his battalion had pulled out of the front line into the rear for a rest. Being a pre-war soldier, he had also learnt the art of smoking whilst never taking said cigarette out of his mouth until finished, keeping his hands free to do the important jobs.

This miniature is just one piece - so no need to worry about losing anything. I love the OXO box. A fantastic detail and I think you know by now Thomas Gunn is all about the detail. He is using what looks like a small set of scissors, though I could be wrong here as it may be some sort of darning tool I'm unaware of. There is a set of large scissors resting on his trousers. Like the others, the pose is very natural and realistic. The paint work is, and sorry I'm going to use that word again, faultless. Shading is excellent. The painting of the OXO box is perfect, for such a small part of the sculpt great care has gone into making sure you can read the word OXO Cubes on the box. You can see the concentration in his face as he works wonders repairing his trousers; he'll get lots more wear out of them now. He has what looks like a pencil behind one of his ears. Even the hobnails on the bottom of his boots have been sculpted. The base also has small tuffs of grass, something I love, small things please small minds - is that how it goes? He comes in the usual Thomas Gunn silver box with the miniature encased in foam padding. This is the final WWI miniature released this month and completes a great little set.

There is a German variant GW068B.


Both versions are limited to just 100 and retail at £32.





Now we move onto WW2. This time we have Royal Canadian Navy Beach Commando CAN001. These Canadians had been specially trained for the Normandy landings. Their training was extensive as they had to be prepared for pretty much every conceivable circumstance the beach landings might throw their way: from controlling traffic, to removing obstacles, even driving Sherman tanks! Though their No1 job was to control the flow of troops and supplies during the first days of the invasion. They made sure everything was flowing up to the troops on the frontline, so those at the sharp end could keep on pushing off the beachhead and on into the French countryside. Here we have him standing to attention whilst on parade, just before they all set off for D Day.

He is wearing Canadian service battledress uniform with the R.C.N Commando insignia on his left and right shoulder. His rifle is slung over his right shoulder. He has his water canteen on his right hip attached to webbing and his bayonet is on his left hip. Two ammo pouches are attached to the webbing, one on each side of his waist. He is wearing a Mk2 helmet that has a camo net and some leaves added. The painting is top quality. Another excellent miniature from Thomas Gunn. There is one tiny thing though. The first slightly negative thing I've had to say across all the reviews so far. There is a tiny and I mean tiny bit of paint chipped of on his right shoulder where the RCN Commando insignia is. I told you that I do look in great detail for something to fault and this is the first time I've had something to say, which can't be bad. You do really have to look closely to notice it. I may have done it myself whilst handling it. I can't be sure. There is no variant this time. He comes in a silver box with the usual extensive foam padding. Limited to 100 he retails at £32.










Still with WW2 the next miniature is Australian Sentry RS044. He has a black and green insignia on both shoulders and I've tried to see if this is a specific Australian regiment of a standard Australian insignia. I have seen the same for a New South Wales regiment but couldn't be sure it was from WW2. He is wearing the easily recognisable slouch hat. Standing to attention, he has his rifle over his right shoulder. His canteen is attached to his webbing and sits at his right hip, his bayonet on his left hip. Two ammo pouches hang on either side of his waist. The paint work again is excellent. His brass buttons, belt buckle cap insignia, collar insignia and the buckles on his boots have all been picked out. He sports a fine moustache. He seems all set for future deployment, most likely somewhere in the Pacific. There is no variant. He comes in a silver box and is well protected with foam padding. Limited to 100 he retails at £32.





Last to be reviewed this time is one of Thomas Gunn's bigger pieces. A WW2 Japanese SPG (camouflage) RS035A which was released this month. The SPG is the Type 1 Ho-Ni - Japan's first self propelled gun of this type employed by the Japanese during WW2. It used the Type 967 tank chassis. The turret was removed and replaced by a 75mm type 90 field gun mounted on a cut out chassis. With 10 degrees of traverse and -5 to +25 degrees of elevation plus being able to traverse 20 degrees either side, it didn't have to turn to be able to engage the enemy, unlike say Germany's Stug. It carried 54 rounds of ammunition, but a major drawback was a lack of MG for defence, so was very vulnerable to close assault by infantry.

I really can't fault the modelling. It looks fantastic. Though I'm unfamiliar with this vehicle, I have no doubt it's historically correct right down to the number of rivets showing. This is the first large Thomas Gunn piece I've been able to handle and it doesn't disappoint. It's also very reasonably priced. The SPG comes with a Japanese miniature holding a shell. He's all ready to put it into the gun's breach. The miniature is of the usual high standard. Faultless paintwork, just like the SPG. You can place him on either side of the gun but I have him on the left hand side just like in the pictures. There is a variant, RS035B, which isn't camouflaged ,but comes in dark green Japanese army paint.


It comes in  a silver box and extensive foam padding. Both versions are limited to 100 and retail at £135.

Well I've come to the end of my third Thomas Gunn review. My enthusiasm for their miniatures just keeps growing and growing. I do hope you've enjoyed reading the review and do yourself a favour, get collecting! Until the next time!


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