Dead in the Water Projects

Excuse the pun, but today let's look at one of those projects that I'm sure all gamers have that is simply dead in the water. You know. The kind entered into with great enthusiasm. One that perhaps struck a chord as one of your primary interests. One that got started, but then never went anywhere.

Such was the case with 1/4800 WW2 naval for me.

The original concept seemed sound. Replace the counters in the classic Avalon Hill game Bismarck with 3D minis. At the time (keep in mind by "at the time," I mean circa 1994. Yikes!), I had dug out the venerable old game from my 80s stash and reintroduced it to some colleagues. We actually had a couple good games out of it. For those who may not know, the advanced rules in the game are for all intents and purposes a miniatures rules set, building on the board game aspects of the basic and intermediate rules.

So somehow, and honestly I don't recall precisely how this small fleet came into my possession, I acquired these C-in-C 1/4800 miniatures. Lovely minis, actually. They painted up well, and look good mounted on thin card, a la the original game counters. I probably used Testors enamels at this stage. Clearly the Hood is in the mix, along with what looks like the Repulse. Then a few cruisers of indeterminate class, and some destroyers. Destroyers never played a huge role in the game, but I figured they could be useful for something.

Problem is, I never got around to acquiring any German ships. So these have sat in a small box all these years, following me on multiple moves. I occasionally wonder, "what's in that box?" So I get them out, look at them, then back they go, tucked into some dark recess of the cabinet. Sad, huh?

I probably should just order some other ships, but then I wonder who would I play? And with so many other projects vying for my time, well, you know. But it probably wouldn't take long to paint up a handful of ships. I just haven't been inspired yet. I mean, all I  really need are a Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, right?

I've always liked ships, and naval subjects. And the Bismarck campaign is nothing if not fascinating. There's also the issue of that Airfix Hood waiting patiently for me to build.



Some day. At least these are small and don't take up much room.