Victory at Sea: The spring Clean

Up next on the assembly list is the Merchant Convoy, a great little set that opens up plenty of gameplay opportunities for scenario based gameplay for a whole host of naval wargames. The set has 3 Victory and 3 Liberty Ships along with a Tanker in the form of SS Ohio.

The minis are great quality with a good amount of detail to the level expected across the rest of the range. Assembly requires some patience as there are a number of metal parts to be added, but the process is simple and straight forward once you find a rhythm.

I would be remiss again to not mention the price of this set, I remember picking this up for the sum of £40 and thinking at the time that was a little steep, the current RRP is £69 (as of 2024) so roughly £10 per ship. If you’ve bought into the Victory at Sea range of miniatures and enjoy naval wargaming then its probably still a set worth considering, but worth saving to pickup when on sale.

The Liberty Ships where a mass produced and low cost cargo ship built to replace losses and a symbol of US industrial might with over  2,710 being built between 1941 and 1945.

Victory Ships where a later and slightly improved design, being larger and importantly faster, over 530 being built.

SS Ohio was an US built oil tanker requisitioned by the United Kingdom during Operation Pedestal to re-supply Malta. She was heavily damaged during the run and limped into Valletta supported by two destroyers lashed to her, the vital supplies of fuel and oil kept Malta going though the siege.

Its well worth some further reading on her and the convoy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ohio_(1940)