Cold War Miscellanea

[Westfalia Chris]

Hey folks,

as promised/threatened, here are some more images for the Cold War Naval Microproject.

The general topic is SLOC (Sea Lines of Communication) Interdiction in a hypothetical war between NATO and Soviet forces. I want to build a large-ish convoy (some 20-30 merchant vessels) and pit it against Soviet subs, mainly inspired by Tom Clancy's novel "Red Storm Rising". The timeframe (as of now) is mid- to late-1980s, but I'm considering getting 1970s vessels as well for some flexibility.

Carrier Group Enterprise (as seen in Round 2 of the LPL):



Nuclear Supercarrier CV-69 USS Enterprise:



Nuclear Missile Cruiser CGN-9 USS Long Beach:



AEGIS Missile Cruiser CG-52 USS Bunker Hill:



Perry-Class ASW frigate (cannot make out the code in the image, sorry):



Knox-Class ASW frigate FF-1094 USS Pharris



Fleet Oiler AO-177 "USS Cimarron"



I've also done another model each of the AEGIS cruisers, Knox- and Perry-Class frigates, and have finished two container vessels as well as three Victor III and six Kilo submarines. The latter are diesels, and obviously not really suitable for the SLOC role (from what I gather, they were supposed to act as picket subs for the "nuclear bastion"), but they came in the pack with the Victors.

As said, I plan to build up a number of merchant vessels, a lot of which will probably have to be scratchbuilt, but I'll first use suitable models from the Hallmark line. I'll also expand the Soviet subs with some Sierras, Mikes and maybe the Papa and Alfa types, but since they will normally not be visible, this is more whimsical than with the surface ships.

All models are from Hallmark and 1/6000th scale, available in the UK from Magister Militum. Painted with Vallejo Model Color.

[Wolf 359]

Nice work, Chris. A couple of these ships were in my Battle Group while I was in the navy, and it's good to see them on the tabletop. You do need an L.A. Class SSN for your task force, though. I'll be following this thread closely. I was in Anti-Submarine Warfare, and whereas the Victor IIIs are indeed dangerous, there is nothing more dangerous than a diesel-electric boat running on batteries.
What rules are you using?

  - Mark

[Prof.Witchheimer]

inspirational work, Chris, makes me want to build an own fleet, though WW1 one

[Westfalia Chris]

Nice work, Chris. A couple of these ships were in my Battle Group while I was in the navy, and it's good to see them on the tabletop. You do need an L.A. Class SSN for your task force, though. I'll be following this thread closely. I was in Anti-Submarine Warfare, and whereas the Victor IIIs are indeed dangerous, there is nothing more dangerous than a diesel-electric boat running on batteries.

I read a Newport Papers publication and some other Naval Papers which I found in my university library, and those seemed to suggest that the diesel-electrics were mainly used for defending the "nuclear bastion", i.e. not used that much for long-range missions such as SLOC interdiction, but I'd happily be corrected on that one - from what I gathered, after the widespread introduction of the HENs (early nuclear attack and ballistic subs), the Zulus and later diesel-electrics were not used as much in the transatlantic role (although some Foxtrots and Tangos feature in "Red Storm Rising").

"The Future of the Soviet Navy: An Assessment to the Year 2000" and "Soviet naval forces and nuclear warfare : weapons, employment, and policy" (both published by Westview in 1986) suggest the Kilos to be used primarily in the picket/defence role, and I am very much reluctant to attribute it the "supership" capabilities displayed in the Robinson novels.

From what I gather, the Kilo would have sufficient range and speed to operate south of the GIUK gap, though, so why not use them - makes for a far more challenging tactical scenario.
 

What rules are you using?

I'm currently trying to fathom out (pun intended) "Subs and Sams" by Phil Barker. It's rather complex, but I particularly like how the rules handle distances and allow for integrating voyage travel and tactical movement. Still trying to wrap my head around the various states of identification - it's done rather sensibly, but due to the nature of the topic, rather complex as well.

I'll be happy to hear other rules suggestions, though.

inspirational work, Chris, makes me want to build an own fleet, though WW1 one 

I'd like to do that one as well (and actually still have a bunch of 1/3000 pre-Dreadnoughts and Dreadnoughts lying in one of my many mini boxes). I'm personally more for pre-Dreadnought era naval gaming, but there are pre-packaged fleet sets for Skagerrak from Hallmark/Magister Militum, if I'm not mistaken...

[Westfalia Chris]

Got the rest of the ships photographed:

Two container vessels of the Sea-Land Finance series of ships:





Soviet Submarines:

Victor I class. Those might not have been in frontline service in the late 1980s, but I didn't get the Yankee/Victor III pack in the first purchase. That's one thing that irks me - I'd much prefer the models to be grouped by purpose (i.e. attack subs in one pack, guided missile subs in another, and ballistic subs in the third), rather than the mix they are sold in...



Kilo Class diesel-electric subs:



And finally a comparison shot with UK 1p and EU 10ct coins for comparison:

From left to right: Kilo, Victor I, Knox, Perry, Ticonderoga (späteres Baulos), Cimarron, Long Beach, Sea-Land Finance und Enterprise.