Corona Virus Project 2d Completed: The Missing USN Midway Cruisers (CA, LC, LC-AA)

Ahead of the planned painting order the CA, CL and CL-AAs of the USN were dispatched across the painting tray. A whim of the painter, no more, no less, In the "murky" late night hours, well past midnight, they [the outstanding USN cruisers of TF 8, TF 16 and TF 17] were finished - huzzah (see below, admittedly not all sailing in the same direction which s rather worrying given the tight formation they are in):

In the better light of day they can be seen sailing (all in the same direction this time) on the Pacific Ocean (see below, I do like the slightly shiny look and feel to the Satin Gloss that "suits" the water and has a slight retro feel to it):

I know they are begging for some close-ups .. watch this space! Next: Back to the schedule and Corona Virus Project 2c and the Midway/Coral Sea USN Destroyers is up on eh painting blocks.

Roman Thoughts ...

Similar to Bob Cordery I am involved in an Epic WhatsApp Early Imperial Army Roman campaign based circa AD 15 against the Barbarian hoards. This caused me to seek inspiration to "fall into character" as Rufus the Roman. Into the bookshelves and model projects along with wargaming associated paraphernalia (see below, a Roman Army recruiting freebie and vital wargaming supplies of digestive biscuits): 

An old school project from my youngest child was quite an impressive find too (see below, they may look big but their actual size is about 5" by 2"):

An "old" friend (circa DBA version 2 but still can field a variation of DBA version 3) of 15mm toys (see below, the tortoise in the background looks quite epic - I still have to paint an opposition army of Gauls to fight them with):

Like the rest of the wargaming community I am the proud owner of an army of unfinished Warlord Games a 28mm plastic Early Imperial Romans (a Starter Pack plus various sprues that were "on sale" at various times from their online shop and metal specialists [cavalry and later supplemented with some later plastic from Victrix] - although I still need to add a Scorpion bolt thrower) and this time a meagre bunch of Britons and Gauls as enemies (see below, plenty of Corona Virus painting potential there):

The latter 28mm big boys I were intended to be used with the acquired Impetus II rules - although I mat sabot the troops into DBA/DBM/DBMM bases for purposes of utility. 

Corona Virus: Things you find in the back of cupboards - Long lost chess pieces

It is amazing what turns up when you have time on your hands to go rooting through the back of cupboards (Corona Virus post again). I am convinced these have been missing for a decade or more (see below, not the Isle of Lewis chess pieces but still a welcome find nevertheless):

Thankfully I also know where the board is!

Corona Virus - Loose yourself in some books

There are always "books" ...

In the professional wargame category I have plenty of books to skim, read and re-read (see below, Sabin's [Lost Battles and Simulating War], GLB [Successful Professional Wargames], Dunnigan, Perla [The Art of Wargaming] are old classics long read, but I have plenty of other stuff with interesting idea in abundance, mainly it seems from the History of Wargaming Project):

Then there are the books from the historical category and there are plenty of them on the bookshelves (see below, the Pacific War is my current theme which ties in with the 1/3000 Navwar models, so this is a small section of my dusty books):

Or a general scientific interest (see below, Blink if a good lite-read):

Slightly heavier but packed full of thought provoking ideas (see below, I particularly like Newton's "apple" on the front cover):

And let's not forget the rules which I have bought and should have really read by now. This is a large category. Carrier and Tokyo Express are specifically solitaire games so ideal for the current circumstances(see blow, XTR Victory at Midway is a personal favourite of mine that I am playing via email to an independent umpire against an unseen third party):

Hopefully chances are by the time you read "one or more" book and played "one or more" games then the Corona Virus thing will have all blown over! Famous last words. Anything not done by the end of the lock-down needs seriously to be put on the "never happening" project shelf!

Games to play with the family and friends .. Codenames

A simple grid of words (see below, some you must get your partner [not necessarily in th ebiblical sense] to guess - others that must be avoided, how to switch onto their "mental wavelength"): 

Blood, sweat and coffee or alcohol! And an oft used slap to the head (see below, teh night is drawing late and the players are still playing):

Note: A great game for reunions to find out if your old friends have really changed that much!

Goodbye Old Faithful Friend (Well it is actually a Brush)

This little chap served me well. It was always described as a 'fine detail brush' (an Italeri 000 to be exact) that served me well (I keep saying that) painting small kit, 10mm British and Italian Pendrakon infantry, as well as many a Fantasy figure before its crowning glory of the recent USN Pacific War flight decks in 1/3000. It had the ability to shed hairs with dignity so that in the end its brush designation was something like (00000) as it had but a "few delicate hairs" left - a bit like my head too (see below, the triangular grip was a good steady grab point too, nice - and it had a relatively long life consistently keeping its point, a big bonus for a brush methinks):

So, as we are in lock-down nipping out and getting a replacement is not so easy, so it is a case of pulling what I can from the hobby box in the mean time! It's last act my be a few "eyes" and fine markings on my Dungeon and Dragons figures ;)

Corona Virus Project 2c and 2d (WIP): USN Destroyers and Midway Cruisers

Project 2c: Thirty "early war" US Destroyers (see below, I could not match "named destroyers" in teh battle [yet - that will have to wait for another order to Navwar], so I picked thirty "early war" destroyers to just "sub-in"):

Project 2d: The USN Midway Cruisers of Task Force 16 and Task Force 8 (see below, those already made in Task Force 17 and 16 are omitted) from the photograph:

Task Force 17: 

• USS Astoria .. already done
• USS Portland .. already done

Task Force 16:

• USS New Orleans (CA) .. already done
• USS  Minneapolis (CA) .. already done
• USS Vincennes (CA)
• USS Northampton (CA)
• USS Pensacola (CA)
• USS Atlanta (LC-AA)

Task Force 8:

• USS Indianapolis (CA)
• USS Louisville (CA)
• USS Nashville (LC)
• USS St Louis (LC)
• USS Honolulu (LC)

Once Projects 2c and 2d are complete it will be time to look at the IJN. The Coral Sea will be a relatively small affair but .. the IJN Task Forces are pretty large. Especially if you include the Aleutian force!