A Naval 'Volte-Face'....

A postcard of the Turkish navy featuring the Goeben (or Yavuz Sultan Selim) in the foreground. Not quite the Spithead review though!

I have been giving a lot of thought to the composition of the fleets of both Fezia and Rusland using the 1:2400th models from Stonewall. I had even gone as far as creating a mini back story as to how the fleets came about and how their geographical requirements influenced their respective ship designs. I had likelend the Rusland navy as having much in common with the WW1 German fleet whilst the Fezians followed the British line. The latter decision was partially aided by the the fact that the historical Turkish Navy could have had HMS Agincourt and HMS Erin had they not be taken over by the RN.

It was all very tidy and though I say so myself, quite plausible within the historical context of what I planned to represent.

That was the plan.

'Was' being the operative word.

I have decided to completely turn this idea on its head and so now the Rusland navy will be made up of British ships whilst the Turks will get the Germans. My reason for this comes down quite simply to the fact that as the historical Turks had a number of ex-German ships and were also allied to the Germans it made more sense to have them being primarily German looking. I also have some older 1:2400th German models from Viking Forge that can be used as well which adds a degree of extra justification. I realise that as this is an imaginery set up then it really does not matter who has what but since these two worthies are mirroring their historical prototypes up to a point having an alternate history that ties back makes for a more comfortable fit in my experience rather than purely hypothetical forces.

This will be how I approach the project in any event - and I will also adopt a similar standpoint for the WW2 Middle Eastern project.