Operation Vigorous June 1942

[pierre the shy]

Created and printed off 90+ aircraft counters for our upcoming GQ 1/2 game at our local Convention at the end of the month.

We are playing a "what if" variant of Operation Vigorous, the Eastern convoy that was sent from Alexandria and other Eastern Med ports to relieve the hard pressed island of Malta in mid June 1942. Historically the convoy failed as Axis airpower, combined with the threat of the Italian battlefleet, made it impossible to get through to Malta.

In our version the British convoy will receive additional support in the form of battleships and carriers to stave off the many enemy forces.

Will the convoy get through? You have to wait to next month to find out as we are not playing the game till 31 August.

   

[paulr]

Suitably inspiring footage for the British in the lead up to the game

[Steve J]

Looking forward to seeing how the game went, obviously hoping our brave boys get through to Malta!

[hammurabi70]

Created and printed off 90+ aircraft counters for our upcoming GQ 1/2 game at our local Convention at the end of the month.   

Created from what?  Interesting that you have 90+.  Individual aircraft or formation based?  I shall look forward to reading the AAR!

[fsn]

Like it. I await the battle report with bated breath.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Sounds awesome

[pierre the shy]

Created from what?  Interesting that you have 90+.  Individual aircraft or formation based?  I shall look forward to reading the AAR!

I make them up from plan views of the relevant aircraft using GIMP and then put the image into a simple Word template, print them off and mount them on a fairly thick cardboard base. Yes, I could use minitures but I have limited gaming time and funds and this is a one-off scenario.

All the ships we will use are 1/3000th scale, mainly Navwar models except for the merchant ships which were kindly 3D printed by a forum member. 

The aircraft counters each represent a flight of 3 - 4 aircraft as per the rules we are using. You can get an idea of what they look like here from a small aerial campaign I ran a few years ago: https://betweenthelines10mm.blogspot.com/2021/01/operation-c-raf-recce.html

Thanks for all the interest in the game. 

I will report in once we have fought it out on the table.

[T13A]

Hi

Looking forward to the write up on this one; funnily enough recently re-read 'The Battle for the Mediterranean' by Donald Macintyre which covers this 'battle'.

Cheers Paul

[pierre the shy]

Finished cutting up the aircraft counters and progressed the Italian capital ships today.....the Littorio Class are very impressive ships in GQ 1/2 terms, the Royal Navy is going to have to fight well to see off the Italian battlefleet.

Having been outmanuvered by the Marquis Lafayette and some American allies in a very quickfire AWI game last night I have agreed to put together the necessary forces to play Bill's last early W3K Irish scenario  - Liscarroll. Can Garrett Barrie's Irish massed "pike phalanx" overcome Inchquin's regulars?

Nothing like having a deadline to work to    

[paulr]

 

[Ithoriel]

Finished cutting up the aircraft counters and progressed the Italian capital ships today.....the Littorio Class are very impressive ships in GQ 1/2 terms, the Royal Navy is going to have to fight well to see off the Italian battlefleet.

The Vittorio Veneto's .... it's what Swordfish were made for

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

The Vittorio Veneto's .... it's what Swordfish were made for

Not in daylight with Italian fighters about. Now HMS Nelson....

[pierre the shy]

Not in daylight with Italian fighters about. Now HMS Nelson....

That's what the Fulmars are for

As for Nelson and Rodney, they appear in the Med a little bit later (August 1942 for Operation Pedestal). For this game Admiral Harwood (of River Plate fame) gets to command the Warspite and a couple of R Class battleships...at least they are real battleships!

I left out the target ship HMS Centurion which was used as a dummy KGV battleship in the actual operation.

The Vittorio Veneto's .... it's what Swordfish were made for

Swordfish are so 1941, for 1942 the FAA get Albacores with fully enclosed cockpits - luxury!!   

[Ithoriel]

Swordfish are so 1941, for 1942 the FAA get Albacores with fully enclosed cockpits - luxury!!   

Go on, Albacores are really just Swordfish with cockpit canopies!

[pierre the shy]

Your not wrong there Mike