Latest Word from WTJ, Planning and Progress

So, the latest word from Jim at WTJ re: upcoming releases...

"I've got pics of Queen Elizabeth and Chatham, I'll be posting those on the Yahoo Group in the next day or two [edit - this is where the BC HMS Lion pic already is] and once Iron Duke is ready I'll post them all for sale. This will probably also include several destroyers which have wandered to completion alongside the QE."

UPDATE:  here they are:

When asked about the choice of Chatham for his first Light Cruiser, Jim had this to say:

"Chatham is the Town class group with the profiled bow, not previously given good coverage. Also, her sister-ship was Sydney, who sank the Emden. Definitely worth the coverage and also includes the Birmingham variant with two guns up forward. I've actually seen postings on other forums asking why there are no good Chatham models around, so that will be taken care of! :)"

http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Chatham.html
for some good info on this class.

UPDATE: And here's some more:

Regarding the 1910 Town class of the Chatham, Sydney and Birmingham, there's some easy confusion with the 1936 Town Class, a different ship altogether.  I found this article quick and helpful [use with salt of course]:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town-class_cruiser_(1910)

Jim plans to release the Chatham sub-class [six ships] with the Birmingham sub-class [four ships] as well.  These are:

HMS_Chatham_(1911), HMS_Dublin_(1912)

HMS_Southampton_(1912), and three Aussie ships:

HMAS_Sydney_(1912), HMAS_Melbourne_(1912)

HMAS_Brisbane_(1915), 

and of the Birmingham sub-class, 

HMS_Birmingham_(1913), HMS_Lowestoft_(1913)

HMS_Nottingham_(1913), HMAS_Adelaide_(1918)

all of which have wiki links at the above site.

So the possibility of ten Light Cruisers altogether, certainly worth a squadron of four or so.  And the perfect squadron may be the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, which composed Southampton [flag, below in a nice quarter view], Birmingham, Nottingham and Dublin. 


It was quite famous under the leadership of William Goodenough [can anyone named good enough not be good enough for us??] and fought at Jutland as well as raising a bit of hell under Goodenough on their own.  So will I be getting four of them...heck yeah!

One famous ship of the Town class was Glasgow, of Coronel and Falklands fame [wiki pic from above site]:

So we're looking at two famous Battleship classes, the Queen Elizabeth and the Iron Duke, one Battlecruiser class, the Lion, plus TWO neglected Light Cruisers, plus some destroyers.  Quite exciting!  I certainly won't be able to resist any of it and now know where the $130 I got from selling my Kickstarter version of Designers Edition OGRE is going...

Funds are also going to better turn gauges for GQ3.FAI and bases for my big ships.  After some deliberation I decided to run with the Old Dominion Game Works acrylic 5"x1"x1.5mm bases.  Careful measuring indicates they'll fit the big ships well, and they come with a wake [not funeral]:

I may try to spiff up the wakes a bit, but it gets me started quickly and I don't want to have people handling the ships directly after I've put on their masts and maybe a little rigging.  It will also make them easier to turn on the new turning gauge as the bases have some height:

While I'm not enthusiastic about spending money on game aids, the ability to match the base of the ship to the gauge seemed worth it - less chance of handling the ship [and breaking it].

As I plan to use some fancy ocean mats, it seems worth it to have the clear bases.  Plus it makes the ships blend in better regardless of the surface that's being played on.  So, better if I am guesting somewhere or bringing my own mats.

Speaking of which, the mats I ordered are two large ones from Corsec:

http://corseceng.com/fabric-mats/ocean/

Two 80x60" mats were $80/each, and given how seriously I've been playing and throwing naval games, it seems worth it.  I like the look, which is from a satellite photo, they say:

 I _think_ they'll scale well with these models.  Someday will need different mats for 1/700 ships, but will wait upon that event.  Emailed Jonathan at Corsec, and he said the mats were at the printer, about a week after ordering them, so not bad on the timing.

Overall, lots of developments!  But with an anniversary of Savo Island in the works, as much as I can spare for this project at this time.  More coming, but for now we'll probably have to turn to that scenario due to time constraints.