When I first saw mention of Warlord Games new game, Cruel Seas, I was both intrigued and a little tempted.
In Cruel Seas, you take on the role of a naval crew manning their fragile coastal craft as they head out day and night to take on both the sea and the enemy. Command your flotilla of small ships as they head out to attack a convoy, drop off Commandoes for a behind-the-lines mission or task them with one of the other myriads of missions this small and versatile craft would perform.
Be it the Coastal waters of England or across the Channel to France, on to the Mediterranean waters or on further to the vast Island chains of the Pacific, Cruel Seas will ensure your small ships see plenty of adrenaline-fuelled action.
Cruel Seas is a 1/300th scale tabletop miniatures game where you command flotillas of small ships in battle. Action in the game is fast-paced – with six or more ships per side, a thrilling seaborne dogfight can be fought in forty-five minutes or less.
So when I saw that the December 2018 issue of Wargames Illustrated was going to come with a free plastic ship sprue, I thought this was an opportunity.
The magazine would come with either two Royal Navy Vosper MTBs or two German Kriegsmarine S-Boats. Well thinking that really I would need both, I also thought this is the kind of issue that would sell out very quickly. I decided in the end to see if WHSmith would carry both. I was in luck they did carry both, so on release day, I bought two magazines, one with MTBs and one with S-Boats.
The fact that these days that gaming companies can produce such excellent plastic model kits and give them away free on the cover of a magazine demonstrates how far the gaming industry has come over the last few years (or is it decades).
I really like the plastic models, and certainly gives you some great models to start playing Cruel Seas.