The Anglo-Turkish War of 1880 and Madasahatta

15mm Mike’s Models Colonials. Sudan British for 1882/85 and the later Omdurman period. Camels, rifles and a naval landing party. Egyptian infantry, cavalry and camelry along with Sudanese Askaris (I think). A single artillery piece and a Gatling gun along with a small Boer contingent.

The Anglo-Turkish War of 1880 was originally an idea I had in order to get some later ‘blue water’ ironclads built. My plan was to fight a battle between the two opposing fleets for inclusion in Developing The Portable Ironclads Wargame - the addition of ‘The American Civil War’ to the title came about when it decided that  the between the two books the focus was primarily on the war between the states. A fictional conflict felt a little out of place surrounded by ships and battles of the American Civil War - despite the ‘what if’ nature of many of the combats I fought! 

The ironclads for the Royal Navy and the Ottoman Turks are still under constriction - they have been started but thus far only the hulls have been prepared - but for now will have to wait to get finished because of a fairly exciting development. The development that I am talking is my acquisition of a selection of painted 15mm Colonial figures - British, Egyptian, Boer and Askari types - produced by Mike’s Models. I will let the pictures do the talking.

British infantry followed by what looks like a Zulu War era volunteer mounted rifle unit(?) - I do not know the period well enough to comment.

More British followed by the Egyptians and Sudanese (on the left) and the Boers in the rear.

Rifles, British cavalry, mounted infantry and the artillery park.

The collection is by no means complete but there is more than enough to form the basis of a good 1880 set up featuring the British Army along with a smattering of Egyptian and Boer opposition. For organisation the available types would be ideally suited to something akin to Bob Cordery’s Portable Colonial Wargame meaning three figure infantry bases, two figures cavalry and skirmishers and for artillery/mgs a gun and two crew. There is a distinct shortage of artillery so I will need to raid Irregular Miniatures to bolster this arm.

The first order of business will be some tidying up of the figures - a lot of the riders have become unhorsed - in respect of the paint job. I am not planning on any extensive repaints but there are a few chips here and there. The painting technique is very old school and would be easy enough to replicate - even for me! There is also the rebasing - luckily these are on cardboard bases so that should not be difficult to do. I shall also give them a coat of satin varnish just to freshen them up but other than that there will be little to do. 

The Siren Lure of Madasahatta….

So how does this all tie in with Madasahatta? Well, it doesn’t, at least not yet but that is where my thoughts are heading. The problem is changing the back story of the island to accommodate forces for 1880. Madasahatta as we know it only really came to prominence in 1891 with the discovery of gold in the Bloeminstip mountains. The Germans moved in first and established Hansaland followed by the British two years later with New Surrey. The border between the two colonies, running along the centreline of the Bloeminstip Mountains, was set in the Treaty of Badlikortout agreed in 1898. Taking the history of the island back to 1880 changes things a little so I will need to get my head around a feasible prequel. I have an idea about this but need to flesh it out first. I will say no more than other than it was a good job that there featured an Arab Concession centred on Port Maleesh!

Once the figures have been repurposed and reorganised, and the ships built, the plan is to make use of Eric’s marvellous creation once again - either through the Portable Colonial Wargame or possibly even Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet.

I am delighted to have secured this little lot as it will save me a heap of time getting the collection to the tabletop and enjoying these vintage warriors.

The Final, Final Piece….

CSS New Orleans - 20 guns and gun carriages painted in what is supposed to be Vallejo Light Sea Grey!

A Unions drone’s eye view

OK, I know, I know - I said that I would build one at some point BUT - that point arrived much sooner than expected!

I have spent some unexpected free time working on the sister ship to the CSS Memphis - the CSS New Orleans. It was a fiddly build for sure - mainly due to the close proximity of the guns to one another - but I am pleased to have tackled it as it will be useful for river actions.

The start of the process - the hull and the first of the gun carriages. The pencil lines help to position things - and by a happy coincidence these are usually more or less in the right place….

All the gun carriages in place, two sets of deck hatches and the central citadel. The CSS Memphis gives an idea of what the CSS New Orleans will look like.

The next step was to add the gunwales - this was a fiddly job for sure! The citadel was quite straightforward and used as the core an old, 1970s vintage wooden D6.

Prior to painting - the two rectangular blocks in the centre foreground are the deck houses that were placed either side of the citadel. The forest of cocktail sticks mounted on the Jenga block turned into  gun barrels - the black length you see to the right of the block is now the flagstaff. The bamboo barbecue skewer - at least the white end of it - is now the ‘funnel’. Note the two deck houses in the foreground - these will be added to the model once painted.

The start of the painting - the decks are in Vallejo Buff whilst the Jenga block mounted cocktail sticks in Vallejo Black will ultimately be turned into gun barrels. The black cocktail stick next to the block will be the flagstaff whilst the bamboo barbecue skewer has a black end that will ultimately be turned into the funnel.

This was another fiddly part - painting the gun carriages. When I say fiddly it is probably relative as a better painter than I would have little difficulty this phase - it is all the ‘cutting in’ that is, for me, tedious!

The gunwales and viewing hatch on the top of the central citadel are now painted. The two deck houses have also had the first part of their paint job attended to. Next up will be the central citadel, the four deck hatches and the two deck houses will get their roofs painted. Once that is done I will varnish the entire model prior to adding the gun barrels, funnel and flagstaff.

Nearly there! The two deck houses are now in place, along with the funnel and flagstaff. I will varnish this and then add the gun barrels and the all important flag - that is first picture on this post.

Rebel defences - a coastal fort and a pair of floating batteries. I need to think about a river fort but this lot will do for now methinks!

The ‘hull’ for this model was fashioned from basswood as I did not have any MDF of a suitable size as it is larger than my MDF hull template supply measuring as it does some 11 cm by 3.5 cm. The central citadel on both models has an old D6 at the core - when I say old I mean 1960s vintage with the ‘dots’ barely visible - with wooden craft stick sides. The gunwales are made from 3mm square balsa wood strip, the gun carriages from 10mm by 5mm grey card, the deck hatches and observation port (on the top of the central citadel) from 5mm square pieces of card, the gun barrels and flagstaffs are from cocktail sticks and the ‘funnel’ is from a bamboo barbecue skewer. The two deck houses are from basswood strip.

Painting was straightforward but, as mentioned, fiddly due to the number of tight places that the brush had to go. The end result though, was definitely worth it. The Confederate part of the collection at last has some meaningful defences to use.

The Final, Final, Final Piece(s)…..

A chance remark by me to David Manley about how both of these two floating batteries seemed to resemble ironclads led me to think about the Union ‘Black Terror’ - a dummy ironclad built from timber used to scare off the Confederates attempting to salvage the grounded USS Indianola. Needless to say you can probably guess what is coming next….

I shall be building the USS Indianola and the ‘Black Terror’ - the former I had plans to tackle at some point to round out the Union river ironclads in my collection - at some point. Mr Manley sent me copies of the pictures he uses to advertise his STL files on Wargame Vault as part of the conversation so my fate was effectively sealed….

By way of a ‘one-two’ I also had the pleasure of finally speaking with that well known ‘purveyor of projects and painter of aircraft/ships/figures/vehicles (delete as appropriate!)’ the blogging legend that is Jim Jackaman. We spoke of matters many and varied and during the conversation the subject of Union ironclad the USS Choctaw came about.

Believe it or not but this rather handsome model was made from paper! The USS Choctaw - now that is an ironclad!

We both agreed that this is a fine looking vessel for sure but also that some of the curves would be tricky to accommodate. Needless to say after the conversation had finished - he really is a most delightful chap - I made the fatal mistake of looking into the USS Choctaw….you can probably guess the inevitable outcome of all this.

I cannot in all conscience blame either Mr Manley or Mr Jackaman for their subliminal encouragement - at least not at the moment anyway although when I get snarled up in a particularly tricky of the construction I may think otherwise! ;-)

Thanks chaps!

The Final Piece

CSS Memphis - a floating battery converted from a drydock. Based on the images I have seen of her  I am of the opinion that the Confedrates deliberately designed her to look like an ironclad!

An overhead view - as mentioned previously, the CSS New Orleans was very similar in layout except she was longer and was designed to mount two broadsides, each of ten guns (and yes, I shall be building one)!

Well that is it! I have at last completed the final model required for the grand finale battle that will appear in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War.

Now that all is ready from the model perspective I can get down to the serious business of completing the map that will have the initial dispositions for both sides. 

The battle will be fought on May 21st all being well and the after action report will be available in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War when published.

The final lap is in sight!

ACW ‘Stuff’….

A modest but useful title - pocket-sized and costing £1. 

Yesterday, Laurel and I headed out to our local boot sale where I scored the title you see above. By no means is this a definitive history of the war between the states but it does look at events from the war in 16 of them, along with some 74 maps and photos. It also contains details on the various battlefield sites and parks etc. It is a useful guidebook to the civil war in those areas and whilst basic certainly comes across as a great primer for the period.

Work on the final model required for the grand finale of Developing the Portable Ironclad Wargame: The American Civil War, is well in hand and the scenario is being fine tuned to be run at the club on May 21.

Converted from a dry dock the CSS Memphis also had a much larger ‘sister’ - the CSS New Orleans.

Aside from the fort the Confederates will also have the services of the floating battery you see above - the CSS Memphis.

The order of battle has been settled and I am also finalising the terrain. The area to be fought over will be 21 x 12 hexes so plenty of room to move about in - which is just as well as there will be 12 ships taking part!

It is the Fort that counts….Part 4

Despite a bout of the dreaded ‘white varnish on a newly painted model’ syndrome, I have finished the large coastal fort for my American Civil War collection! It has been the most ambitious scratch build I have undertaken within the context of the project and I really enjoyed the process - even the angles.

The model is not based on anything in particular, it is more like a ‘Coastal Forts of America during the 19th century’ greatest hits kind of idea - so based upon and purely representational it is then! The pictures will do (most of) the talking.

The landward side of the fort with the Confederate flag - the seaward side features the early war naval ensign.

The view from the seaward side

Looking across one of the seaward angles….

….and from one of the landward.

The model used six and a quarter Jenga blocks, eight cocktail sticks and a copious amount of cardboard squares and rectangles. The angles were packed out with balsa wood wedges and then covered with filler. The battlements were fashioned from 5mm square wooden strips, cut to size. I used Vallejo Iraqi Sand for the walkways, Vallejo Sea Grey for the walls, Humbrol Matt 29 enamel for the doors and gates, a mixed Sea Grey and White (equal parts) for the gun carriages and Black for the gun barrels and flagstaffs.

I now have a pair of floating batteries to build and that will be it for the time being - I have a game to plan for and guess what? The fort will certainly be featuring!

Cleanse and Burn in the name of the Emperor!

That well known indefatigable painter of miniatures and all round good guy, Lee Gramson, has been a busier beaver than usual and has made a humongous amount of progress on my 1st edition Space Hulk and Advanced Space Crusade collection. If you recall, this came about as a kind of a swap deal in that a copy of the ACW boardgame Battle Cry and a complete set of the Time Life ACW books went from me to him in exchange for the 60 odd figures he is painting. Lee is currently two thirds of the way through the collection and so he sent me a selection of photos and a video from his YouTube channel which can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/@legrambo

Both his blog and his YouTube channel are worth a visit if you need some inspiration as his painting covers a wide range of historical periods and scales. His work is quite simple, stunning!

I had opted for an old school look to the Genestealers and as for the terminator marines I chose green as the base colour - mainly as it looks a little more military rather than the usual GW schemes. I fully intend using the collection for other games beyond Space Hulk and the first of these will probably be Xenos Rampant or possibly Grimdark, maybe even the Portable Science Fiction Wargame if that is even a thing! Anyways, enough of the waffle and onto to the pictures 

Marine Command group, a power sword wielding Captain and a pair of Librarians

Chainfist equipped Sergeants

Assault Cannons - the only way to be sure! The two Sergeants, the Assault Cannons and the Captain were conversions I made from the base figure.

Ready to face the alien horde

24 Genestealers and the first two of the 6 Tyrannids

Bio weapons to the fore!

“Bugs Mr Rico, Zillions of ‘em - I’m ‘a Burning them down!”

I am really pleased with these and Lee has done a superb job. As it stands all that are left are a further four marines, four Tyrannids (one more with the bio weapon and three with bio swords) and fifteen scout marines.

All being well I shall be collecting the whole lot a little later in the year and am looking forward to getting them into action.

Lee has done a superb job on these and I am absolutely delighted!

The Boshin War - The Penultimate Samurai

Despite being chock full of historical clangers, there is no denying that the Tom Cruise file: The Last Samurai is a splendid piece of entertainment. Although the film technically covers the later Satsuma rebellion it does serve as a great scene setter for the events of the period as Japan grappled her way into the modern world. Besides, any film that has given me a memorable quote will always get my vote!

A few ships, a simple campaign system suitable to fight to a conclusion potentially in a few hours and mental images of Samurai fighting modern troops means that this is probably a no brainer for me! The reality of the conflict is somewhat different though, but no less interesting for all that.

The Boshin War  was fought between 1868 and 1869 and is the subject of a supplement available from David Manley’s Longface Games label on the Wargames Vault. 

I rather fancy cobbling up the forces required for the naval side of this - I reckon I could probably do so from stock - and in any event, I am due to remodel the former Confederate ironclad the CSS Stonewall that became the Japanese Kotetsu. The Portable Ironclads Wargame would cater for the ships involved readily enough and for the land side I am thinking along the lines of Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet for speedy resolution on any actions or perhaps the Portable Colonial Wargame for greater depth. I do not possess any figures for the period BUT, I know a man that does - and he has, ahem, volunteered to take part in this Oriental flight of fancy.

Covering the later Satsuma Rebellion but very useful for the earlier period as well.

The later and final rebellion, that of the Satsuma, is the one that is depicted in a stylised, Hollywood interpretation of the events in the Tom Cruise film: The Last Samurai. It also features in the supplement to the Dan Mersey “The MenWho Would Be Kings” rules and is chock full of information and scenario ideas. I also splashed out £3.98 on a copy of the book by Mark Ravina about Saigo Takamori - who also featured in the earlier rebellion and is today revered in Japan. The Samurai leader Katsumoto is based on Saigo Takamori.

I feel a quote coming on:

“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.”

I am not sure if Takamori said this but I like to think that he did!