The Bear and the Rising Sun

Wednesday evening saw yours truly taking part in a Russo Japanese War naval action along with Messrs Fox and Huband. I had command of the Russian squadron whilst Mr Fox channeled his inner samurai to take charge of the Japanese as well as supplying the home made hexed cloth (very nice it is as well). Mr Huband provided the models - the Minifigs copies of the old BMC range - and acted as the umpire meaning that all I had to do was to drive the ships and roll the dice. The rules were Mr Huband’s slightly  ‘pimped’ version of Bob Cordery’s Gridded Naval Wargames pre dreadnought rules.

The opposing fleets were made up as follows:

Russia

Sevastopol PB (Pre dreadnought Battleship) (flag)

Poltava PB

Potemkin PB

Dvenadsat Apostolov Old PB

Tri Sviatitelia Old PB

Rossiya AC (Armoured Cruiser)

Gromky DD (Destroyer)

Grozny DD

Japan

Shikishima PB (flag)

Kaga PB

Akagi PB

Asahi PB

Chitose PC (Protected Cruiser)

Ikazuchi DD

Inazuma DD

Oboro DD

Akebono DD

The two fleets approached each other from opposite corners of the table.

The Russian fleet deployed as follows: Tri Sviatitelia in the lead followed by Dvenadsat Apostolov, Sevastopol (flag), Poltava and Potemkin. The left hand column consists of the two destroyers - Grozny and Gromky - followed by the armoured cruiser, Rossiya.

The Japanese fleet deployed as follows: Shikishima (flag) leads Kaga, Akagi, Asahi with the protected cruiser Chitose bringing up the rear. The four destroyers, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Oboro and Akebono are in line ahead, starboard of the main battle line.

I will not be able to describe the action in detail as I was otherwise occupied at the time, dealing with the oncoming Japanese. A brief synopsis of the unfolding action reads something like this.

The Russian battle line had the two old pre dreadnoughts in the van whilst the more modern types were following on - this was a deliberate choice as the ‘post of honour’ was designed to do two things. To start with, they were designed to be ‘shell magnets’ - aka bait - and in doing so would hopefully distract the attention away from the more modern elements of the Russian squadron following behind.

The Russians are coming! The Tri Sviatitelia steaming through a forest of Japanese shell splashes

The Tri Sviatitelia, at the head of the Russian line, came under heavy and accurate fire from the Japanese battleships as they saluted her in turn as they passed by. Meanwhile, the Japanese destroyers raced ahead of their battleships in order to engage the Russian line from the rear.

The Russians on the left - note the two older ships attempting to head the Japanese off and cross their ‘T’. The Japanese destroyers at the top of the picture are heading towards the rear of the Russian line but are some distance away.

The ill fated Japanese turn.

Asahi and Chitose succumbing to massed gunfire and torpedoes.

At this point things changed in a rather dramatic fashion. The Russian battle line began a turn in succession to cross the rear of the Japanese squadron. In doing so, the Tri Sviatitelia closed to fairly short range against the Japanese protected cruiser the Chitose and the battleship, Asahi. The two old battleships also had the support of the pair of destroyers - the Gromky and the Grozny - and the looming bulk of the powerful armoured cruiser, Rossiya, along with the battleship Sevastopol. Meanwhile, the Japanese line began a turn from line ahead to line abreast with the destroyers hurtling around the outside. 

The firing at either end of the line was fast and furious. First the Chitose and then the Asahi - at the rear of the Japanese battle line - disappeared under a blizzard of gunfire and torpedoes with the destroyer Gromky paying the ultimate price. The Tri Sviatitelia was further battered but somehow managed to survive, albeit in a heavily damaged condition. Next in line, the Japanese Akagi, also came under a blistering fire as the Russians shifted their aim and was quickly in serious trouble.

At the rear of the Russian line, the Potemkin, Poltava and with the passing assistance of the Sevastopol, concentrated their fire against the Japanese flagship, the Shikishima. The withering deluge of heavy calibre artillery quickly reduced the Japanese battleship to a smoking wreck and she staggered out of line to escape her tormentors. 

It was by no means one sided. The Sevastopol and the Potemkin suffered minor damage, the Poltava rather more so.

At this point the decision was taken to call it for a number of reasons. The Japanese flagship was limping away and on the verge of sinking. Asahi and the Chitose were sunk and the Akagi was heavily damaged (and flooding). The Kaga was undamaged, as were all the destroyers.

Aside from the Dvenadsat Apostolov, all the Russian ships had sustained damage, especially the Tri Sviatitelia that would have to retire. As the Russians only had a single destroyer left - the damaged Grozny - a pursuit of the remaining Japanese ships in the face of an aggressive destroyer screen would be fraught with difficulties. Reluctantly, the Russians abandoned any thoughts of a pursuit and so the Japanese limped away.

Thoughts and Observations

It was a lot of fun to play - the rules worked very nicely and with plenty of the all important period ‘feel’ - and has certainly bump started my pre dreadnought thoughts!

The two standouts from the action were the timing of the Japanese formation change and the concentrated Russian gunfire.

The former - changing formation in range of the enemy - is generally considered NOT to be a good idea and so was duly punished by the Russian concentration of fire against either end of the Japanese line. Mr Fox generously admitted that this was a mistake on his part but he was unfortunate in that the Russian fire was horribly effective and in retrospect maybe too much so. After email exchanges with Messrs Fox, Huband and Cordery, a simple amendment to the firing should serve to reduce the effect of this by penalising ships firing at the same target after the first.

The Japanese destroyers were well placed to tackle the rear of the Russian battle line but for the destruction that had been wreaked on their own heavy units. Their close support in screening the battleships meant that any offensive action would have to be abandoned.

Once again my thanks to Messrs Fox and Huband for the vastly entertaining game and the pictures and of course, Bob Cordery for his original rules found in the Gridded Naval Wargame (suitably, in true Portable Wargame aficionado fashion, tweaked by Mr Huband).

The Nelson Touch

An oldie but goodie, as some might say - at least I certainly would!

Wargames set during the age of sail have given me some cracking games over the years. Initially I mangled to refight Trafalgar using the old SPI game Frigate and then moved on to Wooden Ships and Iron Men. I have never fought this most famous of sea battles using models but who knows? Maybe one day I shall! Having said that, I have a couple of up to date boardgames covering the battle and campaign which need to see the light of day - the prospect of painting up umpteen ships of the line is a daunting one for sure!

I have a modest collection of books on the naval dimension of the Napoleonic Wars - including Mark Adkin’s opus The Trafalgar companion - but not the book you see in the picture above. I recall reading this years ago - mainly because the author wrote the splendid book on the battle of Waterloo: Waterloo: A Near Run Thing. Trafalgar: The Nelson Touch is written in very much the same style as the Waterloo title in that it is an account of the battle heavily laced with anecdotes, diary entries and extracts from letters etc from those that were there. It is not a detailed account of the battle in the same way that A Near Run Thing  was not but it is a cracking read all the same.

I am really pleased to add this title to the collection and again, who knows? The Portable Age of Sail Wargame with scratch built models anyone?

Hmmm…. ;-)

The Zulu War

Been after this for a while and its arrival is doubly welcome following the recent Mike’s Models 15mm Colonial collection

As is my usual modus operandi when embarking upon a new(ish) project, I carried out a quick trawl through eBay for some suitable background material. My library for this particular Colonial adventure takes frugality to new levels as it consists of three, now four, books! The volume you see above I was particularly pleased to get hold of as it is one of the more useful Osprey hardback compilations.

The title contains material previously published as Campaign series 14: Zulu War 1879, Elite series 32: British Forces in Zululand 1879 and Elite series 21: The Zulus. Written by the renowned Zulu War experts Ian Knight and Ian Castle and featuring artwork by the late Rick Scollins and the late Angus McBride, it is east to see what I was so keen to grab a copy of this 2004 publication. 

15mm Colonials

The Zulus War collection I posted about recently - the unpainted horde of Zulus with a smattering of British and Boers - should be with me shortly so I will at last be able to enjoy some Colonial games (once the rebasing has been completed and the Zulus painted that is!). 

Needless to say, the Portable Colonial Wargame and Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet will feature once I get to the tabletop.

The Lure of the Sublime Porte

A new history covering the campaigns that shaped the Ottoman Empire up to 1600. I was never going to be able to resist getting a copy!

I blame Eric Knowles for this! I first became acquainted with the Ottoman Turks via the Madasahatta campaign, the follow on WW1 South East naval camapign, along with an epic refight of the Siege of Vienna in 1683 fought using 25mm figures (mainly Minifigs and Hinchliffe) in the cellar beneath the New Model Army shop in Manor Park. As I recall - this was in the early 1980s - the result was the same as the historical version but the Turks came a whole lot closer, within a whisker even, of capturing Vienna. It was, as were most things Eric organised, large, brash and a whole lot of fun to take part in!

I have flirted with the idea of a Turkish army over the years and in a variety of scales, but never really settled on anything specific. To start with, the number of figures required to do the army justice tends to be on the large side which translates as a lot of painting. I was also undecided as to what scale of figures to use and indeed, I have looked at scales from 6mm to 28mm but have never settled on one. To be honest, for a long time I had given up on a land based set up for this very reason but instead focused on the naval side. This translates for the period in question (15th/16th century) to galleys and lots of them!

My thoughts on the naval dimension of the Ottoman Empire of the period will form a later post but as far as the land side is concerned I will, in the short term at least,  fall back on the use of my block armies. 

A long time ago in a man-cave, far, far away….

A good few years ago, when I chopped up umpteen sets of ‘not-quite-Jenga-blocks’ to make my block armies, I wanted to make a set that would be suitable for tribal or irregular armies. The formal armies consist of red, blue, green, light grey, brown and olive sets whilst the irregular set is a little more varied in colour.

The ‘Irregular’ blocks set. The blocks in the bottom three rows were designed as a ‘Zulu’ set whilst the two rows above are intended for use as Afghan/Arab types. The top row has some artillery and my version of the famous Janissaries.

The top left two sections contain the blocks that I organised to represent stylised Janissaries - the colours were deliberately chosen - with their famous white headdress, blue tunic and red leather boots. 

Jannisary blocks - although I made these best part of a decade ago up until now they have never been in action. The ‘Zulu’ and ‘Afghan/Arab’ sets have been used on a few occasions and have given some really good games (see the Games folder).

With my recent acquisition of the first two Portable Wargame compendiums - with all that 3 x 3 goodness and much else besides - as well as the ‘Dominion’ series, I have some very good rules to experiment with and so the lure of the Sublime Porte makes a compelling case for further investigation.

And of course, there is the naval dimension to consider - and consider it I am!

Thoughts on The Portable Ironclads Wargame

Then and now - a book of two halves. Could it have been written as one? It would have been more compact but probably less digestible!

The Portable Ironclads Wargame and the follow up Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War, have taken up the best part of five years from start to where we are now. During that time I have built (and rebuilt) some eighty-odd models, fought a significant number of battles (solo and face-to-face although for the latter I was mainly umpiring), and typed and re typed great swathes of text for the two books you see above as well as for the blog and The Gridded Naval Wargame Facebook group. All of this set against the backdrop of Laurel’s live-changing surgery and the seismic effect this has had on  us - physically and emotionally. It had been, to use just one of any number of emotive cliches, a roller-coaster of a ‘journey!’

I am of course, really delighted to have achieved all this - mainly because my attention span and follow through in terms of projects is notoriously ‘short-winded’. I have proven to myself that I can do it - which is a reward all of its own.

So what is next then?

Whilst I was away on holiday I was able to spend some time thinking about what comes next. As mentioned previously, I plan to pen a couple of campaign specific supplements with the fictional Anglo-Turkish War of 1880 being the first. This is some way off yet as I need to finish the ships first as well as organising the land components from the recently acquired Mike’s Models collection.In the meantime though, I have the capacity for a couple of smaller projects but, and it is a significant but, I am now deep in writing and research mode for my next book which has a year for the manuscript to be ready.

This will mean that projects will need to be modest in scope which points quite handily to Portable Wargame 3 x 3 or Dominion of style set ups. I suspect that I will be in good company pursuing such a modus operandi!