Even More Masts, Even More Spars….

Again, none of the masts are fixed in place - they are merely there whilst the glue dries. Deck fittings next - hatches, funnels and deck mounted artillery - and then sealing and painting.

I seem to have gotten a bee in my bonnet in respect of building ships with masts - incidentally this augers well for the age of sail in due course - and so spent a couple of hours this afternoon making the masts and spars for the remaining pair of sloops. The plan now is to get the hull deck fittings tackled next - that will take all of half and hour or so - before the ‘sealing’ and painting. 

I want to get these models finished in advance of the five that I have half painted for no other reason than it will mean that I will have completed the ‘masted’ section of the collection. 

Wow! That will be the first part of the project done and dusted…(pauses to take a deep breath…)!

For the record I will have built ten ships  - four Confederate and six Union - that have a full sailing rig and yes, I am rather pleased with how they came out!

More Masts, More Spars….

Good to be building masts again for sure!

It has been a mad busy day today so painting was off the agenda but building was not! There are a number of things I could/should have worked on but I had the urge to tackle some masts and spars - the result of which you can see above. It takes around an hour to build three masts and a bowsprit and without a doubt, it is a hugely therapeutic and relaxing way to spend the time.

The usual technique and materials - bamboo skewers for the masts, wooden cocktail sticks for the spars, custom cut MDF fighting tops and lashings of superglue. 

The hull you see is not the final destination for this rig, I was merely using it to hold the masts in place whilst the glue was drying. In fact the final destination for this lot is for the second Union frigate - the rig for the sloops is lighter by comparison.

All being well I hope to get some painting in tomorrow but at least everything with the final batch of models is moving in the right direction, albeit as meandering as the ‘Great Father of Waters’!

This is not the post you are looking for….

Curiouser and curiouser…

This will be a bit of mixed bag of a post as a few things have traversed the crosshairs so to speak.

Should be fun and hopefully generating plenty of naval wargames after action reports across the blogosphere. The picture is courtesy of JJs Wargames 

I have yet to fight the battle mentioned in my previous post but there is a very good reason. August the 6th is the International Naval Wargames Day so I have decided to fight the battle then in keeping with the occasion. Besides, I am not quite ready to fight the action as there are a few administrative issues to tackle first.

I remember reading the book and watching the above TV series and even the film version - basically an edit of the TV series that was brutally short, roughly a quarter of the size of the original.

James Clavell’s epic novel Shogun needs little introduction from me, neither does the 1980s TV adaptation starring Richard Chamberlain and the late, great Toshiro Mifune as lord Toranaga. I note that a remake of the TV series is in the offing, spread over ten episodes and coming out later in the year I believe. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the original TV series and so am looking forward to the new version. Back in the day (late 1970s and early 1980s) the novel of Shogun was hugely influential at the Newham Wargames Club in respect of providing some good background material for use with the Bushido role playing game - it was huge fun and many hours were spent in the company of Ronin, Samurai, Ninja, Shujenga, Yakuza and peasant characters. 

I am still on the hunt for a cheap copy of the Shogun/Samurai Swords board game - the one with four hundred 1:72nd scale plastic figures in.

I was moving a few bits and pieces around in the man cave when I came across the gaming mats you see below. These were originally from the Axis and Allies WW2 collectible miniatures game. They are double sided and with hexes around 3” or so across (I forgot to measure them so will do the next time I am upstairs) - ideal for 15mm which of course they were designed for. I have used them a couple of times for some block based gaming, the last of which was here.

As a reminder this is what they look like.

You can see that there are two distinct styles in respect of the artwork used so the sets do not really fit together well but that is a minor point. There is more than enough variety of layout for my needs though so I shall certainly be hanging on to them.

Work on the ACW ships has moved along slightly and now that my replacement tin of MDF sealer has arrived I can make further progress. I have been looking at some smaller gunboats, mortar rafts and flat boats. There are a few other models to consider so I will need to get some drawings over to Warbases for some bits and pieces.

I reckon that has just about covered everything for now!

Gone, With The Wind….Game Number 73….Part 1

The combatants - at the top the frigate the U.S.S. John Adams, below the two sloops the C.S.S. Tara (left) and the U.S.S. Slattery (right)

Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, a day south of Mobile Bay….

Captain Butler, commander of the Confederate commerce raider the C.S.S. Tara, surveyed the two rapidly approaching Yankee vessels with trepidation. His ship had been racing along under full sail, bound for Mobile Bay, until earlier in the day when it dropped away to little more than a breeze. Initially this was not a problem as he had planned to make the run into Mobile under cover of darkness so as to avoid any patrolling Yankees. That plan had been scuppered by the appearance of a pair of Yankee warships - a frigate and a sloop by the look of it - and so he ordered the engines started and full steam ahead.

It was not long before not one but two problems arose. To begin with his chief engineer informed him that the remaining supply of coal in the bunkers was dangerously low - there would be sufficient to get to Mobile but that would be about it - and that any attempt to out run the Yankees would deplete it entirely. The second problem was that the shortest route into Mobile from their current position would mean having to break through the Yankee patrol lines in broad daylight - right across the path of the approaching  enemy ships.

Captain Butler pondered his limited options. It was a big risk but if he could slow one or preferably both of the oncoming enemy ships he could then make straight for the extensive defences at Mobile. He was confident that the C.S.S. Tara could outmanoeuvre the frigate but the sloop would be a different matter. Taking on two ships would be a risk but he was confident in his ship, his crew and more importantly, his gunnery. The approaching enemy formation - line ahead - was better for sailing than for fighting and so he reasoned that the C.S.S. Tara should be able to get her blows in first. With his decision made he ordered the guns manned and the helm put hard over. 

Starting positions.

Captain Wilkerson, commander of the sloop the U.S.S. Slattery, had spotted the Rebel raider heading towards the north east and had immediately deduced where she was heading. A quick exchange of signals with the closely following frigate, the U.S.S. John Adams, meant that both Union warships were now heading on an intercept course with the enemy raider. Captain Wilkerson fully expected the rebel ship to run before them which would lead her straight into the path of other friendly patrolling ships. He felt confident that the Confederate ship was heading into a trap.

Neither Captain Wilkerson, nor the commander of the U.S.S. John Adams, were quite prepared for what happened next….

Action in the Gulf of Mexico

Overview

I wanted to fight a quick action using my newly renovated 2ft square gaming board - now with 4” squares and with models occupying two rather than just the one. I opted for the high seas rather than the rivers for the simple reason that I had the models to hand! Seriously though, battles at sea usually have the potential for more manoeuvring than the rivers so this would make a better test for the change in the rules. Besides, it would be fun to do!

The action itself will be fought tomorrow so expect the AAR on Wednesday at some point, all being well. 

To be continued….

Dotting the Skies and Crossing the T’s

Now a 6 x 6 board but with ships occupying two squares rather than one so would still work for 3 x 3 style games - probably better than using the original 8” square grid. Note the ‘T’ being crossed….

The two ships again showing the ‘increased’ playing area.

OK I know it is not really a board for use in aerial games - I will be doing so though - but as a small footprint playing area it has stood me in good stead! Following on from the decision to revert to using two squares per model rather than one I took the opportunity this afternoon to add the additional dots to the board. Now it is not perfect by any means but this is really test bed until I organise something a little more permanent. The ships on the board are of course the two sloops I refurbished earlier in the week and are there just so you can see how it looks.

Downstairs Work Station

Whilst the majority of the collection resides in the man cave I took the decision to organise some bits and pieces that I could tackle in the lounge at my temporary work station. Just a tray full of bits and pieces as I have a mast and spar building session planned. The three ships you see will be replicated so I needed to measure the masts and spars and get them assembled as these will be the next batch of models after the ones I am currently painting are finished.

The tray of goodies. A knife, ruler, cutters, emery board, superglue, bamboo skewers, wooden cocktail sticks, MDF fighting tops and the obligatory cutting mat.

My temporary home office with a view out on to the garden

The view from the patio doors. If you look closely you might see one of the cats - clue: they are black and white!

Not shown here but also dragged out of the man cave my copy of Dahlgren and Colombiad and By Sea and By Water so that I can make a start on the new ship specification charts.

All in all then, not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday.

The Scale of the Revision

David Manley’s excellent campaign supplement for his Dahlgren and Colombiad rules - both are available from the Wargames Vault, as well as the rest of naval wargame rules.

I was able to spend some time yesterday going through the draft of my ACW rules to see what needs to be done to incorporate the two square per model revision. As expected there is a fair amount of work but I have managed to trim a lot of the incidental text within the rules. The main areas of revision that are left are firing arcs and the ship specification charts. The former I am prepared for and the latter will give me an opportunity to expand them quite considerably. As you may recall the original list of these was modelled on those contained in David Manley’s excellent Dahlgren and Colombiad rules. The campaign supplement supporting these rules - By Sea and By River - contains a far more extensive list of ship specifications which is also broken down by vessel types. This will prove invaluable to anyone that is new to the period.

Firing arcs are now far more logical in their application than using the previous single square method but obviously I will need to redo the explanatory diagrams. This is not difficult to do (especially now that I worked how to design them!) but it is time consuming. No matter - it will all come to pass in due course but for now though, it is back to the ships.

All Square and Everything to play for….

An earlier action fought using the ‘two square - one model’ convention. A Confederate ironclad commerce raider attempts to evade her Union pursuers

There is a final piece of the puzzle to add to the ACW/Ironclad rules I have been developing which should see them finished or at least at the final draft stage. It is not a huge change per se but it will require rewriting a substantial amount of text which of course takes time. No matter - the end result will be worth it and more importantly it means that I would have been honest with myself about how I wanted to do this!

Single square action loosely inspired by Mobile Bay. Great fun to fight but moving down a tricky path.

I am reverting back to using two squares for a model rather than having them in a single square.

I rather allowed myself to be swept up in the Fast Play Portable Wargame 3 x 3 frenzy of a while back - mainly because I saw it as a bit of challenge to see if it could work (it did and surprisingly better than I expected it to) - and this had the effect of making me look at the rules from the wrong starting point. In effect I was looking from the bottom up rather than the top down. What I should have done was to have the main set of rules WITH a 3 x 3 variant rather than vice versa. 

It is by no means a major change to the rules - this is where they started from originally - rather it is more of a ‘pressing the reset button’ kind of thing.

As mentioned previously the use of two squares for a model was something I originally saw in an old age of sail set of rules called ‘Ship ‘O the Line written by the late S. Craig Taylor of Flat Top (and other board games) fame. The rules were originally written for use with miniatures and were eventually redeveloped and simplified to become the hex based award winning Avalon Hill board game Wooden Ships and Iron Men. 

So what does this mean?

The most significant thing about this revision is that more of the playing area will be available to use. Using a single square meant that a model ship appeared to be taking up an awful lot of sea room/table space which in turn meant that close range combat within a square - gunfire or ramming attacks - became quite clumsy to work out in respect of arcs of fire or point of impact etc. It felt really cumbersome in operation.

Ship speeds can be modelled far more effectively - essentially movement allowances are doubled - and manoeuvrability is enhanced. The latter may not be wholly accurate but it does make for a better game. 

Gunfire ranges are now tidier as they can be shaped far more effectively to the type of weapon in use. It also means that firing arcs are far more logical looking.

In Closing

This is a revision that in my mind is quite simple but in reality will mean a fairly extensive redraft of the rules to incorporate. I am not unduly concerned by this as I absolutely believe this is the correct thing to do to get the rules to where I want them to be and to be honest, it is something I should have considered sooner but hey ho, we live and learn - besides, it is all part of the fun!

Two Sloops or the Sloop of the Day

Refreshed and ready to take to the high seas once more - a pair of modern sloops, previously used as the  U.S.S. Kearsage and the C.S.S. Alabama

Whilst the five ACW ships currently being painted are waiting patiently for some TLC I pressed ahead with the paint refurbishment of a pair of sloops. The two models above have seen service when I refought the Kearsage/Alabama action. The only difference is my version of the white edging commonly applied to the top of the hull. I think it looks rather smart although is probably a little on the thick side.

As mentioned previously, my usual method for painting this type of effect is to paint around the edge of the layer of MDF before assembly. This ensures a really sharp finish. To achieve the above after assembly meant breaking out my trusty roll of Tamiya Masking tape. I have no idea how long I have owned this but I remember buying from Beatties the model shop when it was in High Holborn and pre Model Zone! It still works a treat though and I have loads of it left.

Once the temperature has dropped a little - the man cave is rather warm at present, even with the windows open - I shall get the other five attended to as well as starting a great mast building exercise for the remaining frigate and another pair of sloops.

It is good to moving forwards again though!

“The Dreamers of the Day….”

Part of my T.E. Lawrence library - gotta love a Rolls Royce armoured car!

So today is scheduled to be the hottest on record and with a Red weather warning to boot. I have some spare time today but suspect that the man cave may well be out. So what does one do whilst trying to keep cool? I shall probably catch up on some reading and so one of the two titles you see above will be the choice for today.

Reading about the campaigns of Lawrence in the desert whilst the country bakes in circa. 40 degree heat - I have previous form for this only the last time it was Seven Pillars of Wisdom - may be considered by some to be mildly eccentric but I like to think of it as method reading….

I have had a hankering to game something Arab Revolt based for sometime although it is not currently on the radar, at least not in the Lawrentian sense - Arabs will of course appear in Madasahatta but these are not going to be nomadic Bedouin types though. Having said that it might make sense to use Bedouin style Arabs as there would be more flexibility with them. Something to think about anyway.

The title of this post comes from a quote from the Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T.E. Lawrence as follows:

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”

That could be describing a wargamer in many ways, especially when contemplating yet another new project!

A Single Double Ender….

A Union ‘double ender’

The top down view shows the symmetrical outline of the hull and the paddle boxes centrally fixed. Sadly my pair of these ships will not look very much the above….

Despite the ‘disastrous heat’ (a prize will be given if someone can name the actor and the film that the phrase in commas came from - please don’t expect any fancy!) I was able to get into the man cave and crack on with some painting and modelling. 

The modelling was limited to organising the fighting tops, masts and spars for the frigate and pair of sloops I need to build and sorting out the funnels for four of the five models currently being painted. I should point out that this part of the build has been rather haphazard as opposed to the well organised earlier efforts. It has caused me a couple of issues but to be honest I will live with them as neither are ‘deal breakers’.

To begin with two of the Confederate gunboats I am building have been constructed slightly out of synch. Each model has a white hull top strip that I would normally paint before assembly. For example, a hull with four layers of MDF would have the top layer edged white with the other three layers in black or whatever. Once painted the white strip would then be fixed to the lower hull. This approach ensures a razor sharp line. Sadly on this occasion I had assembled the entire hull, including paddle boxes meaning that I would need to paint the stripe freehand. Out came my trusty and seemingly inexhaustible roll of yellow Tamiya masking tape which was duly applied to the two gunboats. It worked a treat and so now the hulls look suitably smart and business like. 

I also planned to do the same on two completed models mentioned as being refurbished on my previous post - a pair of sloops, one for each side. Again te masking tape came into play and it worked really well. All I need to do to the pair of sloops is to varnish the new stripe and they are then both ready for action.

The building issue concerns the rather nice looking model you see at the start of this post. As a ‘double ender’ this class of vessel was pretty manoeuvrable due to being able to be conned from either bow or stern by reversing the engines - very handy in confined spaces or if needing to make a quick getaway. The bow and the stern are the same shape and the paddle wheels and associated machinery were centrally located. All this is obvious from the numerous pictures of this vessel and other like it.

Obvious to all that is, except me….

I have two double enders under construction that are simply wrong. To start with I used a standard hull template which is, to put it unscientifically, pointed at one end and curved at the other. I also have the paddle boxes slightly off centre and more to the aft of the vessel. In short they are single double enders….

I was a little disappointed by this but given how approximate most of the collection is to any perceived reality I can live with it - when they are finished they will look the part anyway. In a game situation all I need to do will be to turn the model 180 degrees if it changes its direction to take advantage of its double ended configuration. After all, at least the pointed end will show the direction it is currently travelling in…

(Note to self: Look a little more closely at the pictures next time….)

Back to the Main Event

Confederate hardware - the ironclad may well be retired but the jury is still out on that

The quick and easy fort I knocked up - I shall build another like this and then something larger

A selection of Union ships

Right then, after all my profound observations, soul searching and general thinking about ‘stuff’ it is now back to the main event in earnest! I mentioned about the remaining models to be built for the ACW project  and so I thought it would help to detail where my thoughts are with this final batch of ships. Aside from the new builds there are some models that need some refurbishing - nothing major, just a few additions here and there.

Union

To Build

1 x frigate (under construction)

1 x sloop (under construction)

2 x ‘double enders’ (under construction)

1 x Ozark (under construction)

1 x Varuna

1 x City class gunboat

To Refurbish

2 x City class gunboats (change of pilot house and repainting of funnel bands)

1 x sloop (additional deck guns and white hull lining)

3/4 x paddle steamers (addition of artillery)

Confederate

To Build

3 x Casemate ironclads (one replacement and two new types)

4 x paddle steamers (all under construction)

1 x sloop (under construction)

2 x blockade runners

To Refurbish

8 x paddle steamers (addition of artillery)

In addition to the above I shall look to build some mortar rafts and another couple of forts - one large and one the same as my previous version depicted above.

I currently have ten vessels under construction and a further seven that will be new. Of the vessels currently under construction five are at the painting stage - these should be ready in a few days - whilst the others have at least been started.

In tandem with the current painting and building I also need to get some combat example shots to illustrate the rules and so it will be nice to have some new models for this.

The finishing line is in sight!

Evolving the Schwerpunkt

Four of the most useful titles in my library for the ACW project. Battles and Leaders is also very helpful as is Mahan’s Gulf and Inland Waters. There is also the Gibbons title for plenty of eye candy.

As anyone that knows me will undoubtedly testify, I usually have a rather short attention span when it comes to the majority of my gaming endeavours. The one thing recently that I have persevered with and for far longer than I would have expected is of course the ACW naval project. For sure I have had the occasional dip in effort - real life has seen to that - but I have always come back to it, if not with renewed vigour then certainly with  a very definite idea of what comes next. I think in many ways this project has evolved and developed by accident and I believe that because of this it is why I have stayed with it for so long.

A lot of paint and MDF has been expended since this picture was taken! U.S.S. Carondelet (top right) is earmarked for a minor refurbishment - the pilot house is going to be replaced with an octagonal version and the funnel bands will be repainted.

When I first set out on the project it was only ever going to be around a dozen or so models and would be using a variant of Bob Cordery’s ACW rules found in his excellent book Gridded Naval Wargames. Writing my own rules would come rather later. 

What changed? Well, to begin with, the associated research I was undertaking was pretty inspiring and so I soon found myself looking at specific vessels - which in turn extended the building program so as to include them. I suppose that makes me guilty of the heinous sin of project creep!

It didn’t stop there as inevitably my horizons expanded beyond the campaigns along the rivers so as to include coastal areas and the high seas. These were never part of the original plan so again, a degree of escalation ensued. As an aside, building fully masted ship models for the ACW has given me the confidence and techniques to tackle some age of sail gaming at a later date - a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one (no prizes for guessing which film that quote came from….)

The building continued until I reached the point - I think I had three dozen models ready at the time - where I wanted a set of rules that would better enable me to model the unique attributes of specific ships. It was at that point that it all became a rather more serious undertaking than merely cobbling together a handful of generic looking models!

Since then work has continued apace and the models are again being built (and indeed some will be replaced) and the rules are pretty close to where I want them to be. I have needed to resist the urge on occasion to ‘tinker’ with them though!

I have had some wobbles along the way - not so much with the overall direction of the project, more to do with the occasional sticking point during production as well as real life dramas - but then have consciously made a determined effort to press on.

So here we are, nearly two years on, with a collection when complete of some seventy scratch built model ships, a set of rules, some terrain pieces and a custom built playing area. 

According to Google Translate ‘Schwerpunkt’ means ‘Main Emphasis’ and as you probably know historically it was a term used by the German army to indicate the point of maximum effort of a military operation, typically used when discussing the finer points of Blitzkreig. It assumes that all resources and effort are applied at the point of contact - the tip of the spear if you prefer - when engaging the enemy. In this case I used the term to best describe my approach to the ACW project and how the scope and scale evolved over time - call it a form of tactical flexibility if you like - but crucially stayed ‘pointing in the same overall direction’ as at the outset.

If I sound rather pleased with myself with this project and the progress thus far then I offer no apologies because by and large I am. It has been enormously satisfying in respect of the modelling, the gaming and the writing about it but most of all I have proven to myself that I can take something on of this  magnitude and be able to stay the course to see it through - this after years of stopping and starting a myriad of projects. Had I planned something of this size from the outset it may well have been a different story but I like to think that by persevering with this project I have taken my first steps into a wider universe, simply because I have proven to myself that I can do it!

Some of the more ambitious projects I mentioned in my previous post will certainly not be started with a view to having everything from the outset. Take Madasahatta 1891 for example. Yes I plan to have a number of Portable Wargame sized armies and the associated naval support BUT, and this is the key thing, I fully intend to tackle it in bite sized chunks which will serve two purposes. Firstly, it will enable me to ‘silo’ those parts I am tackling until completion and secondly, it will enable me to maintain the enthusiasm required as I move between the various strands making up the overall project. I was able to do this with the ACW project as the overall set up is made up of separate but linked strands - river based vessels, those that served at sea and on the rivers and finally the blue water element. Add in the rules and terrain considerations and you can see that there was enough diversity to maintain the  enthusiasm - which was crucial for me!

We all have our own way of working and so what is good for one may be less so for someone else. For me the key thing is to have an overall ‘big picture’ but with numerous self contained chapters that can be tackled independently if required. That has been the key lesson I have taken from the ACW project.

A Head Full of Good Intentions

One of my top ten military books and a constant companion since the early 1970s

A charity shop find for a mere £2 - I have not played it as yet but it is fully complete and is likely to be games at some point

Set up and ready to go. Seeing this map still giver me the same thrill as it did way back in the 1970s!

I am not sure why but for some reason I am feeling unusually optimistic about the various projects I have either on the go or at the planning stage - or even those I am ‘just thinking about’!

I think resuming work on the ACW ships and the rules has kind of acted as a form of ‘motivational reset’ and so many of the others bits and pieces I am looking at suddenly seem to be more achievable. Am I kidding myself? Possibly, but one should make hay whilst the sun shines (it has certainly been doing that over the past few days!) and so I have organised my plans into some kind of order which I have listed below. When I say order I mean what I am going to do with the idea - not necessarily when it is going to happen!

ACW - Ships, rules and assorted battles

As mentioned work has resumed on the ship models and I have in mind some additional work in respect of certain refurbishments. Some earlier models will be retired and newer models built to replace them - there are more retiring than will be replaced - along with some terrain pieces. The rules need some combat examples and then they will be off to the play testing team for what I hope will be the last time. I also want to look at getting some land actions in - Portable Wargame style and other sets.

War in the Pacific

I rather fancy building the ships for this as it would be a quite self contained mini project. I reckon a dozen  or so models would suffice and naturally I would use my ironclad rules as a starting point. I may try some of the land battles using ‘It’s Getting a Bit Chile’ by Trebian (currently in the Wargames Vault sale) and my block armies.

Russo - Turkish War

I am thinking that the naval side of this may not happen as planned despite having started on the models. No matter as the Turkish ships will certainly feature as part of the Madasahatta: the Prequel project. For sure there is plenty of scope in the Russo Turkish War - probably more so from a gaming perspective than occurred historically - but I am thinking my efforts would be better employed a little later than 1877/78. I have fought a few land actions from the period which have been great fun and may dabble again with the block armies at some point but for now I think it is safe to say that the period is parked.

Samurai

You may recall me mentioning my acquisition of a copy of Command and Colours: Samurai Battles. The latter half of the 16th century in Japan is a perennial favourite of mine - I blame Akira Kurosawa and James Clavell - and so I am quite keen to get some games in with this. I am also looking to get hold of a copy of the old Milton Bradley game Shogun that has over 400 assorted Samurai era foot figures (sadly no mounted but the figures fit perfectly with Zvezda 1:72nd scale figures) with a view to painting up some representative forces. That in itself is a mighty bold statement from someone that is ordinarily a reluctant figure painter at best! Seriously though, a brace of Portable Wargame sized forces or even tailoring something to suit the Command and Colours version is not beyond the realms of possibility. Detail wise the figures in the board game are probably the only one I would consider painting in any event.

If anyone has a copy of this game or would be happily to sell some of the figures please let me know!

Charge!

I still rather fancy trying this using the block armies but there would be some work to do beforehand in respect of terrain. I will get to it at some point but have no idea when!

 Waterloo

There is an air on inevitably that I will revisit this campaign at some point. At the present time I am thinking about the blocks and a large scale map - large enough for me to use my 6ft by 4ft table, thereby satisfying my inner Napoleon… Of course the map would need to be prepared but one get a little detail like that get in the way of such a grand design. 

Madasahatta

This is going to be the big one. Aside from the naval dimension I am looking at the armies using the War in the Age of Imperialism figures supplemented by other ranges of 1:72nd plastics. Very much in the planning stages (and yes, I am already having problems with this, mainly around ships) and I am looking forward to this. It will be a slow burner and a long runner.

Colonial/VSF

You know I mentioned that the standard infantry figure from the WITAOI board game looked very much like a Zulu War period figure? Well, as a little side hustle I am seriously concerning a Portable Colonial Wargame Zulu War set up. The VSF part is a ‘side hustle of a side hustle’ in that I rather fancy using the Hat Biblical era Sea Peoples as Red Martians for some Space 1889 style gaming and yes, Sky Galleons and Cloudships will feature.

DBA/HOTT

I have an awful lot of plastic Risk: Medieval figures (loosely based on Viking, Byzantine, Frankish and Saracen types) that are crying out for something to be done with them - the only problem is that they are quite small so may look out pf place with certain 1:72nd scale plastics. I will look at his more closely in due course but for now my thinking is very much along the imagi-nation route.

WW1 and 2

For WW1 East Africa and the Arab Revolt continue to inspire and will feature in one capacity or another - for the former the Lake Tanganyika campaign and possibly something involving S.M.S. Konigsberg. I raher like the idea of something aerial but that would be some way away.

WW2 presents a whole world of challenges - mainly due to the fact that I am interested in many facets of the conflict. I am unsure what I would tackle although Wing Leader: Victories certainly has some potential. 

I fancy some special forces style games - SAS, SBS, SOE etc which will mean very much skirmish level. If I am honest I am thinking that board games will satisfy the bulk of my aspirations in respect of WW2.

Sci Fi

A few ideas are currently being considered. Mechs - gotta love a large stompy fighting machine - are certainly on the agenda as well as some kind of skirmish set up. I am aware that Dan Mersey has a Sci Fi skirmish set from the ‘Rampant’ stable which should be fun. I also have the small matter of starships to consider - I have some models but am planning on building some for something rather unusual - I will say no more for now.

Age of Sail

I am confident that my building technique would work just as well for the age of sail as it does for the steam and sail period. I have a couple of ideas in mind for something Napoleonic related in a modest way - no Trafalgar sized slugfests - involving Frigates and smaller, possibly with the odd ship of the line for good measure. There may even be some shore raids in evidence using 1:72nd plastics but this will be for another day. The challenge I have at present is designing a hull template although I have a stack of Warlord Black Seas models I could play around with.

So what is missing?

The obvious omission is the whole pre dreadnought thing. Madasahatta will be a late ironclad/early pre dreadnought set up (currently I am looking at the period 1885 to 1895 for the ships) and for sure there will be a few historical liberties taken with what is available to the combatants. Naval combat in the Madasahatta world will be relatively low level in turns of the amount of material - remember that this is essentially a Colonial style set up - and will feature ships that are for the most part ‘second division’ types with the odd smattering of more modern vessels, typically ‘showing the flag’.

In closing

The above is very much a work in progress and by no stretch of the imagination is carved in stone. It is merely a snapshot of where I am at in terms of the current crop of projects and ideas. I have to say that I find it very therapeutic to sit and plan these kind of things and to be honest it is the first time I have really felt like doing so this year. I am sure that these ideas will wax and wane in terms of feasibility over time but it does not hurt to indulge one’s imagination from time to time. Some of these will be tackled, some will be discarded and no doubt newer ‘Ooh shiny!’ Things will appear but that is half the fun!

A Portable Waterloo Wargame?

 

“I can't believe my ears. You all stand before me, waving a piece of paper, crying 'abdicate, abdicate!' I WILL NOT! I WILL NOT, NOT, NOT!” (A similar scene played out at Number 10 Downing Street earlier in the week methinks….)

A thought occurred to me after the blog post before last concerning the Battle of Waterloo. Some years ago I owned a copy of the third edition of Columbia Games Napoleon - a block based game covering the Waterloo campaign. The game was organised at division level meaning that there was a block per divisional level formation or for smaller formations combined for ease of play. It was huge fun and when a battle arose from the map movement the blocks involved were transferred to a battle board to resolve combat. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I drew up a roster based on the order of battle contained in the game with a view to gaming the campaign at some point, probably using my block armies. My thinking was to use a block per strength point so in effect a typical infantry division would have 3 or 4 blocks. It was all good fun planning this but for one reason or another it never got off the ground.

A quick glance at the order of battle and immediately the Portable Napoleonic Wargame suddenly looms large!

Sadly the electronic version of the file has long gone so the sole printed copy I have is all that remains but I figured that posting the pictures of the same would at least make it available to anyone that would be interested. I may yet get around to using these as intended - I had this fanciful notion of drawing up a 6ft by 4ft map of the campaign area and taking it from there. Something for my retirement I think!

French Armee Du Nord Central Reserve

French Armee Du Nord Left and Right Wing

Anglo-Dutch Army of the Low Countries

Prussian Armee Des Niederrheins

I may get around to this rather ambitious undertaking at some point but there are no immediate plans to do so. There is something about moving units around on a map that taps in to the inner commander in us all in a way that figures or models never can - at least that is what I believe and it was part of the rationale behind my block armies.

One day perhaps.

Figuring the Figures

Hat Industries British Zulu War Command, Artillery and Gatling Guns. 

The rear of the boxes showing poses and construction where appropriate. The small box contains the ‘red’ contingent from the board game sans the gun model.

As mentioned previously I had decided to source some extra figures to go with the pose available from the War in the Age of Imperialism board game. It is safe to say that for those gamers that choose to use 1:72nd  scale plastic figures - either by chance (in my case) or by design - enjoy an availability of such that is a quantum leap from what is was way back when I first started out in the hobby! One of the most prominent companies producing plastic figures is Hat Industries and so it was to them that I first turned for some additional bits and pieces.

I had checked out the figures on the really useful Plastic Soldier Review website so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting in terms of how they looked but until I could physically place one of them alongside the standing firing infantry figure that was gong to be the rank and file for my planned forces I simply had no clue as to how they would look together.

The acid test. On the left are a brace of Hat British commanders and on the right are the infantry from the board game with the ruler to illustrate the respective heights.

As I expected the Hat figures are obviously far more detailed and anatomically better built (probably not on a diet of ‘Horse meat in axle grease’ as served to the rank and file….) but height wise are not too far apart, certainly not enough to cause any difficulties that is.  The infantryman is scrawny by comparison with the command figure and has a noticeably smaller head and a shorter firearm although in the case of the latter the bayonet is not fixed. As the infantry will be on multiple figure bases and the number of command figures will be limited it should not be too much of a visual issue.

Artillery (including the rather splendid Gatling Gun) does not present any such problem as there are no gun crew contained in the board game - there is a nice engineer figure though - and in any event are usually ‘distanced’ from the infantry. 

For cavalry I shall be using exclusively the figures from the board game - there is one with a sabre and one with a carbine - although Hat do produce a Zulu War lancer. Given the small number of mounted figures I envisage for the set up it would be difficult to justify buying a box of lancers - which undoubtedly means I will do at some point! I did note from the Plastic Soldier Review website that a box of Chasseurs D’Afrique are available which would be very difficult for me to resist for the French force!

I will be able to use the full range of Hat (and others) Colonial figures for the various opposition types but for now have more than sufficient to build the main bulk of the European contingents.

Summing it all up

Overall I can live with the discrepancies between the Hat figures and those from the board game and so I am hoping that once they have been painted the differences will be less obvious to the eye - especially when in the heat of battle. This will be a while away though as the ACW need finishing and in truth, there is probably more likelihood of the naval component of this project seeing the light of day first but we shall see.

Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

Well that should qualify for the prize of the least interesting leading picture on a blog post! It is blue and believe me when I say that you should never judge a book (or folder) by its cover!

A bit of a mixed bag today - mainly as what I had intended to post about has not arrived yet! At the present time Wargames Vault are having a sale and so it is a great opportunity to pick up some digital versions of many popular and perhaps lesser known rule sets and other bits and pieces. Bob Cordery, David Manley and Graham Evans (Trebian) all have items in t he sale so now is a great time to ‘fill your boots’ so to speak!

A Wargame set on an 8 x 8 grid using blocks and a limited number of units? It will never catch on….

I had a good look through and in truth probably could have blown the budget for several months but only came away with a single download. Wherever I see a set of rules that is grid based the chances are that my curiosity will be piqued - as it was when I saw the rules below which I then promptly purchased. I have not had a chance to read them in detail but they certainly look at first glance to be quite interesting with some novel ideas therein. I will post in more detail once I have taken a closer look.

The blue folder at the top of this post is the repository for my printed Portable Wargame and Memoir of Battle bits and pieces with a few other bits and pieces for good measure. In truth I had forgotten about some of the items that are in it but I am very pleased that I dragged it off the bookshelf and had a thumb through the contents - which look something like this:

A set devised by Kaptain Kobold - as I recall I used these for a block based ACW game some while back

Bob Cordery’s Excellent DBA/HOTT inspired Colonial rules 

David Manley’s DBA based spin on the Great War published in a magazine years ago. As I recall I believe that SEEMS used a version of these for a Russian Civil War game that did the show round some years ago - I stand to be corrected on this though!

Very pleased to have found this - Jane’s Fighting Ships gun ratings used and adapted for a set of naval rules I was working on - again this was ages ago.

DBN - a popular Napoleonic version of DBA

Waterloo A La Carte by Jay Ward - I fought a square grid based version of the battles a few years back and it was tremendous fun!

A QRS for the Brigade version of the Portable Napoleonic Wargame

My typed up and tweaked version of the large scale Napoleonic rules contained in Charles Wesencraft’s Practical Wargaming

Oh hello! A set of rules I drafted some years ago when I was messing around with naval versions of Battle Cry and Barry Carter’s Naval Wargaming book.

Jay Ward (aka Old Trousers) ‘hexed’ Neil Thomas’s Napoleonic Wargaming Rules

The order of battle for Columbia Games Napoleon - typed up for use with the block armies. Another idea I never got around to progressing!

It was great fun poring over these - many of which count as being ‘borrowed’ - and I was particularly pleased to rediscover the naval content. Many of these are quite old and I am unsure if I still have some of the files saved but at least there is sufficient for me to make use of in the meantime.

Although technically the ACW rules above count as being ‘new’ in respect of the titular reference there is something else that turned up as part of my Father’s Day gift card. The item in the picture definitely qualifies as ‘old’ and was picked up a boot sale a few weeks back. For some reason I never got posting about it and in truth I have barely flicked through it.

Old and New. Dan Mersey needs no introduction and given my planned Colonial adventures it seemed like a no brainer to get a copy of this handy wargamer’s guide. The other title is quite specialised but at first glance is an absolute goldmine of information concerning the aviation wing of the US Marine Corps during the war in the Pacific. I must admit that I have missed taking part in aerial games and it is certainly something on my ‘to do’ list at some point.

So there you have, a degree of nostalgic rediscovery with some new bits and pieces thrown in for good measure. Guess what? The item I wanted to post about originally has in fact just been delivered so I shall save that for tomorrow - I need to take a good look at it all first though.