Expanding the World of Madasahatta

Bob Cordery’s excellent compilation of the Madasahatta archives.

The new map of the island, again prepared by Bob Cordery.

Sometime ago I gave serious thought to expanding the scope of Madasahatta to include the Arabian peninsula, the Red Sea and East Africa. I even went as far as raising the required naval forces in 1:2400th via the excellent models produced by Tumbling Dice. It was a sound idea but I could not get over the feeling that I was undertaking the project because I could rather than because I should. It would have been a challenge, nay heresy to essentially rewrite the history of Madasahatta and so, out of due reverence for the events of early 1914 on the island, I decided to leave well alone. I also flirted with an idea to involve the French in the history of the island but aside from a blog post never really pursued the idea.

The French also never featured in Eric’s WW1 South East Asian naval campaign which was a shame as they had some wonderfully bonkers looking ships for the period. I never knew why he left them out but am sure that it was for reasons of practicality around the availability of models rather than anything else.

Anyways, all of this has gotten me thinking once again about the island and how I could add to its history in a plausible fashion. The answer actually came to me whilst I was busy building the Royal Navy ironclads for the Portable Ironclads Wargame: Definitive Edition, to be followed by the Turks.

The Anglo-Turkish War of 1883 will feature Madasahatta as both a casus belli as well as a casus foederis but I need to fine tune the details of exactly how the island became involved in the affairs of the British Empire and that of the Ottoman Turks. Oh, and with a nod to the Germans.

I am unable to furnish any further details about this at present, mainly due to the need to weave an alternate history into the alternate history of the actual history of the period. It may be fictional but there is no excuse for sloppiness with the timeline. In a sense I am hoping that my undertaking will serve as a kind of prequel to the events, people and places outlined in The Madasahatta Campaign, the book compiled and written by Bob Cordery based on Eric’s notes etc.

There is more to follow with this idea and I hope to report back with more details in due course but for now it is back to the ironclad building.

 

Angels 20/Bandits High Reinforcements

After what seems like an age my Angels 20/Bandits High reinforcements have finally arrived from the US of A. The collection is coming along nicely and so the next tranche should finish it off - at least as far as the official models are concerned. Without further ado, here are the all-important pictures.

A pair of FW190Ds and a solitary Wildcat.

A Typhoon and a pair of Spitfire Mk 9s

A Sturmovik along with pairs of Yak1s and Polikarpov I16s.

Needless to say I am delighted to add these to my collection and the selection will really increase the scenario options. I shall look to apply some suitable decals and where needed I will add to the paint jobs. There are a few total repaints - Wildcats into Martlets, 109 Fs and Gs and some lend lease Hurricanes - but for much of the collection just some decals is all that will needed.

As mentioned I will look to complete the collection in due course with the final batch of additions but for now I have plenty to be cracking on with.

Boot Sales and Counters

Following on from previous post below are the close up pictures of the counter from The Far Seas.

These are the counters that are used when playing solo. In this version you play the British whilst the bot controls the Germans.

The Royal Navy and yes, there is rather a lot of them but there is a fair amount of scrap metal in evidence!

The Germans along with the French, Japanese and a pair of Russian cruisers to add to the fun!

Three more for the library with the SAS book being really handy as a resource for the board game SAS Rogue Regiment. Damian Lewis has written a number of titles about the SAS during WW2 and this volume covers the operations in France and then in Germany towards the end of the Second World War. The other two titles are something of a departure from the norm in that I have never really looked at the Baltic in WW1, or submarines from the period. Something to rectify methinks and at 50p each they do not break the bank!

Although we missed last week at our usual boot sale, Laurel and I managed to get to it today and once again, I was able to score a few bargains. Three books again, the SAS title costing £1 and the other two 50p each.

Of immediate use is the SAS title as it will provide some useful inspiration for SAS Rogue Regiment, the board game covering the period of the book and not the more usual desert. The other two title cover subjects I am not overly familiar with so are welcome additions to the Great War naval part of my library.

All in all then, it was a worthwhile trip out today and best of all, the coffers are relatively unscathed for The Other Partizan on October the 11th!

The Far Seas

The box art….

….and the rear showing some of the counters and a section of the map

I have probably mentioned on more than occasion that I am hugely fond of ‘hunt the raider’ style naval games. With this in mind I recently acquired the card based game The Kaiser’s Pirates but what I really wanted was a good board game covering the subject. I owned a copy of Cruiser Warfare by Avalanche Games but for a variety of reasons, as with most of the same series, it never really ‘did it’ for me. There was magazine produced game called The Far Seas many years ago that was highly regarded but I do not recall ever getting around to getting a copy.

Anyways, fast forward to 2026 and VUCA Simulations have released a game called The Far Seas that covers German cruiser operations at the outset of WW1. I have had my eye on this for sometime and so finally pulled the trigger and acquired a copy.

What can I say? Well, to begin with the production quality is of the highest standard. All the components, counters, the mounted map board, tokens, charts and tables and the rule book are quite frankly, outstanding! 

The game is designed for two players but does come with a full solo system and a dedicated counter sheet for this version. I will let the pictures do the talking.

The rulebook, record pad and charts etc. Note the solo version of the game charts.

The three counter sheets. Number three is for the solo game.

The mounted map board. The rectangular section along the bottom edge is used for resolving tactical battles.

The rest of the components, a D6, wooden cubes etc and three drawstring bags.

I am really delighted to have a copy of this and am looking forward to getting it to the table. The rulebook is fairly daunting but mercifully is not written in bible print and features many diagrams and examples of play etc. The learning scenario is a straightforward tactical battle - Coronel to be exact, with the Falklands featuring as well - to ease you into the system and already I have plans featuring models….

For a variety of reasons, specifically a very trying couple of weeks, this arrival has given my weary spirit a much needed boost!

Ironclad Hulls - Phase 1 Complete!

The twelve ships of the Royal Navy sans their main decks and any kind of sailing rig. For reference the hexes you see are 4” between the flat sides. The top two ships are a pair from the Minotaur class and will both feature five masts!

All twelve of the Royal Navy lower hulls have been completed - and quite splendid they look! The next step will be to tackle the main decks - hatches and similar odds and ends - and then to finish off will be the masts and spars. Of the twelve ships under construction eight of them are quite straightforward in that they have a main deck that will need a few hatches and a funnel or two. Four of them however, will need rather more care and attention. These are H.M.S. Monarch, H.M.S. Devastation and the two Belleisle class ironclad rams. For all that though, I should be able to get their main decks completed en masse so that is the next task.

A side view of the hull of (either) H.M.S. Belleisle or H.M.S. Orion.

A rather lovely model of H.M.S. Devastation. My version will be considerably simpler looking!

Really pleased with how these are shaping up and I am looking forward to getting the Turks completed next, along with a few Germans.

There is a cunning plan afoot….

Boot Topping Using 1mm MDF

Step 1. Draw an outline of the required shape - in this case a spare 3mm hull template.

Step 2. Cut a rectangle around the shape and where possible line this up along one side of the hull.

Step 3. Trim the layer to the rough outline of the template. 

Step 4. File the layer to match the template being sure to make sure that it fits the template. It is not a good idea using am already painted hull section as a template as you only end up having to to paint over it again!

I have just completed the preparation stage of the Royal Navy ironclads ‘boot topping’ - the white line along the side of hull between the main hull colour and the red anti-fouling paint - using a single sheet of 1mm thick MDF. This means that the twelve Royal Navy ironclads can finally have their lower hulls assembled which in turn translates into ‘I can get all the hulls fully completed over the course of the next week.’ Tomorrow I shall complete the assembly of the lower part of the hulls with the main deck next. For the most part these have white edging so I shall tackle the paint job first and then add them to the rest of the hulls before painting the decks.

That is the end result. The above has nit been assembled as such but I wanted to show the finished effect. The above model is one of four similar vessels that require a top deck edged white. A mention in despatches if anyone can work out what ship this is meant to be!

In truth the boot topping was straightforward enough to implement but it would have been a lot simpler if I could have gotten the hull layers laser cut. The material is easy enough to work with but it did involve rather a lot of cutting and filing. At one point I was thinking that maybe using masking tape was not such a bad idea after all! Seriously though, I am very pleased with the results - I will post pictures when the hulls are fully completed, just before I start on the deck fittings, masts and spars.

Originally I had ten hulls to prepare and it was only when I had started them that I realised I had forgotten the two armoured rams - H.M.S. Belleisle and H.M.S. Orion. Originally I was going to leave them fully black sided but decided that a uniform scheme with the rest of the Royal Navy would look better from an aesthetic point of view.

Whilst the paint was drying I took the opportunity to spend sometime on the models of H.M.S. Devastation and H.M.S. Monarch. The first thing that I realised is that my planned turret size of 1/2” is actually correct and not the new 15mm versions I ordered. The smaller size did look too small but of course, the layout of both ships means that they really need to be that size as there is a degree of deck fixtures and fittings to be taken into account. Plus the fact I based the measurements of the aforementioned fixtures and fittings on the smaller size of turret! 

All in all then, a fair amount of progress has been made and, for a variety of reasons too tedious to recount, a welcome distraction from the trials of this week!

Blog Woes

For some reason my blog reading list has barely updated for some three days now. I understand this has affected a number of bloggers and it is really frustrating. If anyone has any solutions to this please let me know - I am getting further and further out of date!

The Spanish Civil War Afloat

Designed with the author’s Find, Fix and Strike WW2 naval rules in mind but would be readily usable with any rules set. From the pen of the renowned naval wargamer and all round good chap, Mr David Manley. Available as usual from Wargames Vault under his Long Face Games label.

The naval section of my Spanish Civil War library. I also have a copy of the 1922 to 1946 edition of Conway’s Fighting Ships. More than enough to be getting on with methinks!

Following on from my acquisition of a painted 1:3000th Spanish Civil War naval collection awhile ago, I have been occasionally dipping in to my modest selection of books on the subject with a view to getting some games in. I was in no particular hurry to do so, simply because I needed to rebase the models and also add a few more models to the collection. Two things then happened to push this idea a little further up the ‘to do’ list - the release of the latest offering from the indefatigable David Manley and the appearance of a new book on the subject.

A more detailed description of A Fleet Torn Asunder and much more besides can be found on Bob Cordery’s blog - Wargaming Miscellany.  I can add little to what he has written other than to say it really is a cracking piece of work. 

The Fleet that Fought Itself by Laurence R. Heinz (published by Seaforth, ISBN 978 1 0361 1398 8) tells the story of the naval dimension of the Spanish Civil War from what I would describe as ‘the big picture’ level. There are plenty of maps and descriptions of various battles, blockades and bombardments, along with technical details so all in all it is a pretty good one volume history from what I would have read thus far. A worthy addition to the library.

Meanwhile, back to the ironclads….