June Digest #3

Naval Wargaming

Was updating my current inventory of 1/3000 naval ships, and was wondering if they're still available. My collection comes from the old defunct Skytrex range which was taken over by Davco (UK). Skytrex was my go-to back in the day but it was sold off when the owners chose to retire. 

But now in 2026 I'm curious to learn if that range is still available. Initial search was not helpful. One of the listings was a company that I know is not a model maker. They're known more as a second-hand trader. 

Anyway, of the two remaining online retailers that sell 1/3000 WW2 naval warships, the first proved a dead-end as the website is down. The second website was found but is also a trader of Davco minis. Relieved when I saw their listing is pretty much unchanged from when I saw decades ago. And they still selling them as separate battlepacks for a reasonable price. 

While there I noticed a couple of other ranges such as the 1/700 Trafalgar range that looked interesting to me. Potential for small-scale skirmish scenarios. 

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WOWS

Was sorely tempted to buy an Azure Lane ship in order to complete the Collection today. Needing just two more Collection tiles with one day left before event ends. And the Collection tiles will not be available through the Armoury so I will likely have to wait until event returns - most likely next year. 

But then the sudden blood rush to the head faded and ended up foregoing the temptation. AUD70+ was way too much of an asking price for some pixels just to complete a valueless and useless collection. 

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Usual Update day on Steam today (Wednesday). Read more about the new Event Pass in the News section. I think I'm due for at least 12+ million credit compensation - for a ship and special permanent camo that I already have - if what I read is correct. 

Was actually trying to verify the news that with the Update there's a chance to grab 11,000 dub compensation for a Tier VIII ship (if you have it). Couldn't find the verification. No probs.

Continued exclusively grinding the Cossack today while its special mission remains active. Just under two weeks to go. Will I make 21 points with its commander? Presently at 17 points. Doubt it though. Needing a total of 1.9 million Free XP.  

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Friday. Dawn of a Nation is an event that seems to be part of the overall WG 250 years of Independence celebration. Overhyped for sure but you ignore that because it's something to do in this game. Anyway, the DoaN is made of four chapters.

Just finished the first chapter and obtained all the rewards for that chapter. The rewards are earned by spending tokens which come in lots of 5 or 10. These can only be earned by playing the game and scoring respectively either 300 BASE XP or 500 BASE XP per game. 

Each chapter is released sequentially, one after the other. So the next one will be available in 5 days.

The event itself is active for another twenty-six days. Final reward is a Tier VIII USA premium ship, Congress. I reread the notification that if you have it already you will be compensated 11,000 doubloons. So, that's the incentive to continue completing this silly event. 

They are also releasing two historical commander, one of whom is the famous John Paul Jones who I think will be a Seasoned commander (guy with perks). 

Also released is a new Collection with the same name as the Event. Not sure if the Collection will be made available for purchase or if it's like the Azure Lane Comics which is a one-off, i.e. not available for purchase in the Armoury. 

The new Event Pass offers only one ship - Tier VI Arizona at the midway point. Nothing else apart from permanent camo and explosive effect. 

Bring on Santa crates and Christmas...!

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Wargaming Projects

Today I found a ruleset by Osprey Publishing that I will trial for my return to the SYW period. It's called Honours of War. Know nothing about it so some reading is required. Likely candidate for my paper armies.

Located several other rulesets as well. Nearly all I've been meaning to test but got shelved as I quickly got distracted...squirrel! One is even a set I've created myself using matchbox cars, but it's not like the popular post-apoc Gaslands. My game is set in an alternate universe that's more akin to the GTA franchise focusing on in-game objectives to win the game.

Among the other archived rulesets found was a campaign for the Battle of the Coral Sea (1942) conducted in the early 2000s by a US wargaming club. They did a write-up which impressed me enough to download the available details regarding the campaign. As with most things, it's no longer available online so rediscovering it was a big relief as I would like to replay it using my 1/3000 naval. I will either use General Quarters III or Stations Manned & Ready II as the ruleset for play modified to the campaign conditions imposed by the US gaming group.

Then there are two airwargames rulesets. In Clouds Of Glory is an old previous interest but I never got round to playtesting. The other, called Typhoon, is relatively "new". By "new" I mean untried. I can also use Check Your Six! Jet Age which was my original modern airwargame ruleset.

Typhoon uses 1/144 scale aircraft. At the moment, I have no 1/144 modern aircraft. Looking at either 3D printing them to scale or else buying Tumbling Dice 1/600 aircraft. TD have a limited range.

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