As big gun convoy vessels go, how well to big ocean liners do? I'm thinking of ships like the Lusitania or Normandie. They are certainly big, and some of them are pretty quick as well.
Normandie is HUGE! Over 8th long if I remember right. They will turn like pigs too. What format are you interested in running it in?
I have not been particularly happy with the large liners that I have seen. Their huge size and large point value make them far more central to the outcome of the game than the fun-factor they contribute. They are too large of a target, so they are easy to hit, so large they take a long time to sink, and the ones I saw were not particularly reliable. When one succeeded in its runs, it usually won the battle, when it broke down or was caught and pounded it lost the battle, regardless of the actions of the rest of the team. I still have yet to see one sink, although one was sinking, it survived because of it's size. Large liners also pose logistical issues of storing, transporting, launching, and recovering such a bulky and heavy ship. The large liners have also been point of contention when tweaking the rules for transports, which is not fun at all. That said, they are still cool ships to see, with an interesting history and plenty of room to do fun things like adding speakers. I just don't think they help the fun factor enough to justify the troubles they cause.
Joe's Normandie is pretty awesome.... Dani got to drive it around a bit at last years campain game and it was pretty awesome to see that huge ship sailing around with all our "tiny" warships. The size and wieght of that thing though would make me not even want to think about trying to use it in an actual game... yikes. And if it DID sink... trying to recover an 80lb ship would be not a lot of fun. However, I have thought about the mid size liners from earlier in the century. Some of those are not massive, they are still pretty fast, and would look pretty cool in WW1 dazzle paint. They still are large targets, and probally turn like crapola... but might make up for that in being big enough they are tough to actually sink and the cool factor would be up there. Plus, lots of smokestacks is always cool. Then again... I do have a set of plans for the Queen Mary.... and it's always looked like a fun ship to build again just for the awe factor of an 8 foot ship. Even if just for a "toy" not really to get shot at. Maybe honeymooning on the real thing this year will inspire me.... hum....
We have a Lusitania in the Sydney Battle Squadron of the AUSBG. It is driven, aggresively, by a 14yo boy. It does earn high points (2000), but, because of its 27 knot speed, it must do 6 laps to the 22 knot merchant's 3. In our version of big gun that means that is only as valuable as a Hog Islander (1000 points for 3 laps). The highest point earners in our game are the T2 and Ashtabula tankers at 1500 points for 3 laps.Having said that Lusi is frequently the biggest point earner regardless and taking it out can tie up 2 or 3 warships which gives the others a chance of sneaking through. At the moment we (SBS) have about 8-10 merchants on the pond to 4-6 warships at a normal monthly battle. We have another Lusitania being refitted as a hospital ship with figures in mini scenes all over the boat, which will also have lights, sound and smoke.Regards, Regards, Kevan
I have always wanted to build a transport and have it painted up like a hospital ship... just so the axis swine would have to commit a war crime to keep me from scoring convoy points. hahaha.
If she's scoring cargo points then she's carrying military cargo, so she's a legitimate target. Perhaps you should build a Q-ship and paint it like a hospital ship, so we Axis have an excuse to start unrestricted submarine warfare again...
You could go with a Hog Islander such as the USS Samaritan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Samaritan_(AH-10)
I was looking at building the USS lafayette AP-53 (The name was changed when the US took possession of the Normadie ) and arming her. She is about seven feet 2 inches long in scale. "On 29 Dec 41 CNO directed that the following armament be fitted: 1-5"/51 single purpose gun (at the centerline aft on A deck), 13-3"/50 double-purpose guns (2 aft on the boat deck, 5 forward and 2 aft on the promenade deck, 2 aft on the upper deck, and 2 aft on A deck), and 24-20mm AA guns (5 above and on the bridge wings, 4 aft on the 1st Class promenade deck, and 15 on the sun deck). " How much damage the .177 bb's would do against an attacking ship??? well, it would take forever for the Lafayette to sink. I can see how this would be easy build. I have been having problem finding plans.
