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!

It is the Fort that counts….Part 3

The two internal buildings are still not fixed in place but that is where they will finish up. Everything you see that is currently white will be grey - including the gun carriages. Vallejo Iraqi Sand for the walkways and Humbrol Matt 29 enamel for the doors and hatches etc. Gun barrels and flagstaffs will be black.

I had a couple of hours spare today so I set to work with making a start on painting the fort. The colour scheme will be the same as used for the earlier, rectangular version which means grey for the stonework, sand coloured walkways and brown for doors and hatches. I plan to completely paint and varnish the fort before I add the gun barrels and flagstaffs - mainly for protection purposes as it will get a lot of handling whilst its ‘teeth’ are being put into place.

Once this is finished it is them on to the floating batteries.

It is the Fort that counts….Part 2

 The next fiddly phase has been completed and so the model has now been sealed prior to undercoating and painting. The final fiddly phase will of course, adding the ‘teeth’ - the gun barrels.

Students of military architecture should look away methinks….

The two interior buildings are not fixed in place yet. This stage was adding the gates, doors and shutters - all from laser cut grey card. As the interior is rather more expansive that on the earlier model I also had to do the same with the inside as you can see.

A clearer view of the interior and the two internal buildings. The larger of the two will be glued against the flat front wall on the inside. This will give a more secure join to the two blocks that are currently only glued at the ends.

The model has been sealed prior to undercoating and painting so my next step will be the former. I will also need to jig up the enquired number of cocktail sticks for the gun barrels and flagstaffs. I will also need to drill a few holes and also address the rather embarrassing lack of entrance points to the gun deck….

It is definitely getting there though and I am pretty pleased with the progress so far.

It is the Fort that counts….

 When I first started the project that eventually morphed into The Portable Ironclads Wargame I had always planned to build forts, shore and floating batteries. Aside from the two Jenga block blockhouse style buildings I had built sometime ago I had not, up until now, really made any further progress. Anyways, for reasons that will become obvious in due course, I needed to build something rather more ambitious than my earlier models.

This is still a work in progress but I am rather taken with how it is coming along. So without further ado, here is what will eventually be Fort Squaragon.

Made from two full sized ‘not Jenga blocks’, six three quarter length and a single quarter length (a full sized block is 63mm long, 12mm high and 21mm wide), 10mm by 5mm grey card pieces for the gun carriages and 3mm square wood strips for the battlements. I have yet to add the window shutters, doors and gates, gun barrels and flagstaffs although the latter two will be added last, after the painting.

An unusually tidy work station with the earlier fort alongside the newer and larger version.

To give an idea of the size of this the hexes you see above are four inches across the flat sides. The two interior buildings have yet to fixed in place but I plan to paint these first.

Alongside the fort I am also building a couple of floating batteries so Fort Squaragon (named after a local Native American chieftain) will be well protected from any Union naval activity. That and the torpedo barrage…

In Other News….

Laurel and I headed out to our local boot sale today and whilst for the most part it was fairly low key I was able to score the book you see below for the princely sum of £1.

A nice addition to the Battle of Britain part of my library which has also given me something of dilemma with a part of my collection!

All in all then, not a bad way to spend part of Sunday - and with a roast leg of lamb to look forward to for dinner!

Pictures Telling Stories

Just a brief post for today as a lot is going on. Just three pictures of some of the ACW naval collection, posed for the camera, but why?

A menacing looking Confederate squadron.

A rather more menacing looking Union squadron.

A rather less menacing Union Squadron

A tease? Maybe, but for now that is all there is….

Till the next time that is!

CSS Atlanta: Ready for Action!

 

Finally got the Spar Torpedo fitted. A simple construction although the original had a much more complex system for lowering the spar boom.

First of all, a happy Easter to all! It has been a busy bank holiday weekend as I am also involved in some DIY so gaming related stuff has taken a bit of a back seat. The available ‘me time’ has been spect preparing for the battle to be fought for Developing the Portable IroncladsWargame: The American Civil war. The scenario has been designed and aside from finishing the CSS Atlanta I also have a terrain piece to get ready - this is currently underway and should be finished in a couple of days or so.

For the spar torpedo rig I used two small pieces of MDF, cut from a Warbases dice frame ‘sprue’. these were placed either side of the bow with a length of cocktail stick for the spar. A large dollop of superglue placed between the two pieces of MDF and on the deck itself ensures that the spar is solidly positioned and hopefully table usage proof!

I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to model the spar torpedo - truthfully I have, as usual, overthought the whole thing. The end result was very much from the school of bodgery but it will suffice!

On with the terrain piece….(once the DIY is finished, naturally!).

Not Quite The Battle of the River Plate - 1864 style

Yesterday evening at the club another Portable Ironclads Wargame was fought and as usual, I managed to fail once again in the picture and reporting stakes! The action was based upon the famous WW2 Battle of the River Plate but in this case the Graf Spee was represented by the ironclad CSS Stonewall under the command of Mr Huband. The Union squadron, commanded by Mr Fox, ably assisted by Messrs Kightly and Slater commanded the frigate the USS Wabash and the sloops the USS Watchusett and USS Kearsage. As befitted his seniority, Mr Fox flew his flag in the frigate.

The scenario was a simple one in that the Stonewall had to exit the opposite board edge whilst the Union had to stop her. The action was brief, mainly due to the fact that the Stonewall ‘went for it’ in a big way before finally being stopped in a rather freakish way. As ever, the pictures tell some of the story.

Starting positions. The CSS Stonewall on the left with the USS Wabash bottom right and the USS Watchusett and USS Kearsage top right.

USS Kearsage in the foreground with the USS Watchusett following

CSS Stonewall. I have two of these and they are among the first models I built for this project. They are scheduled to be rebuilt to my current standard and I will make sure that the turret is replaced by a gun house!

CSS Stonewall bearing down on the Union Frigate - who will blink first?

Meanwhile the two sloops (no sign of Julie Waters for readers of a certain vintage!) manoeuvre for position against the oncoming rebel ship. 

It was the USS Wabash and so the CSS Stonewall duly rammed her.

The damage inflicted on the USS Wabash from the ram attack was heavy but not fatal and so both ships pivoted away. Unfortunately for the CSS Stonewall, this left her facing a full broadside at point blank range! Luckily for the rebel ship the gunnery from the Union frigate, no doubt suffering from the after effects of the recent ram attack, was abysmal - the armour of the CSS Stonewall proved to be a tough nut to crack.

Unfortunately this was the last picture I took but the action ended shortly after as the CSS Stonewall succumbed to damage whilst ramming the USS Watchusett. In the rules a ship that damages another from a ram attack has the chance of being ‘attacked’ themselves - the rule represents damage sustained whilst attempting to back away from the target ship. In this case the counter attack was supremely effective - two 6s and a 5 being rolled for 5 points of damage! The CSS Stonewall had already taken damage from gunfire earlier in the action and so the resultant ram attack was enough to sink her. The next move she would have exited the playing area and secured the victory!

The River Plate scenario always plays well in my experience and this was no exception. The firing rules once again demonstrated to my satisfaction the value of armour and just how vulnerable unarmoured ships are. The CSS Stonewall was fortunate to avoid serious damage when at point blank range under the guns of a full broadside from the USS Wabash - the damage rolls were at a net -1 - but her luck turned in spectacular fashion with the final ram attack. The result raised eyebrows and so I have been giving this some additional thought.

At the battle of Hampton Roads the CSS Virginia was nearly lost when she rammed the USS Cumberland. Her ram was stuck fast in the Union ship and was being pulled under when her ram broke off. This was what I had in mind when I allowed for rammed ship, assuming it had suffered damage, to effectively counterattack the ramming ship. I am satisfied with the thought process behind the rule but am mindful that the execution may be seen to be over the top. I have a couple of ideas to try to mitigate this so will see  how they play out before adjusting the rule. Adjusting is the right word for this as a wholesale change of the process is not needed - of that I am certain.

Once again, I would like to extend my thanks to Messrs Huband, Fox, Kightly and Slater for their enthusiastic participation as well as providing me with much to think about. In a good way, naturally!

Endgame in Sight!

Two of the final pieces required for the battle report to be found in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War. No prizes for guessing what the Jenga blocks are for. A bonus point if anyone can tell me what needs to be done to the Confederate ironclad - super detailing it or replacing it with a commercially available model as an answer will earn you instant disqualification!

Thanks to a mahoosive amount of work by the Editor-in-Chief, Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War, is now really close to being ready for publication! I have some pictures to organise and the battle contained therein needs to be fought and written up but once that has done it is off for proofreading. There will then be some tidying up to take care of and then bingo! “Thar she blows!” 

As mentioned previously, this has taken me a lot longer than I originally envisaged to produce and if I am completely honest, it will be with some degree of relief that it gets ‘out there’, so to speak.

For the battle that will feature in the book I have to slightly modify one of the Confederate ships being used and I will also have to complete an item of terrain that will feature. I should also mention that any resemblance to the battle and anything remotely historical will be purely coincidental….

In the words of ‘Ol Blue Eyes….”and now, the end is near….” 

Turtle Ships and Samurai

Between 1592 and 1598, Japan invaded Korea twice, with the ultimate aim of conquering China. The expectation that Korea could be subdued easily en route to China but ultimately this was not the case. The Koreans, assisted by the Chinese, fought the vaunted Samurai armies to a standstill until they finally withdrew in 1598, following the death of the Taiko: Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The two invasions were marked by unbelievably savage fighting on land - in which the Koreans certainly gave as good they got - and some quite remarkable battles at sea. At it is the war at sea that has formed a new post ACW project for me for which, mercifully, I will not be making the models!

The starter set from MT Miniatures with the list of contents listed on the box.

The Indefatigable David Manley drafted the rules which come in the starter set as well as being available on Wargames Vault under his Long Face Games label. He has also penned a set designed for large scale actions of the period called “Those Who Seek Death” as well as a couple of scenario PDFs. Aside from the rules, David has also included a potted history of the war as well as descriptions of the main ship types - in short everything one would need to get started in the period.

Game accessories - all laminated but needing to be carefully cut out

The ships that come with the starter set (1:1200th scale white metal) - needless to say I have expanded the choice and number available somewhat!

A painting guide for the Korean ships - note the famous ‘turtle ship’ in the centre….

….and also for the Japanese.

The ‘Imjin War’ and the later ‘Chongyu War’ (essentially the first and second invasion respectively) are not exactly mainstream naval history in the West but a very useful history of the period has been penned by the renowned expert on matters Far Eastern - Stephen Turnbull. By chance I saw a copy of this on ebay for next to nothing and immediately hoovered it up - and am really glad that I did! Although it is not a naval history as such, the exploits of the famous Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin - celebrated as a national hero in the same way that Nelson is - with his turtle ships against the Japanese invading forces feature throughout. 

A really useful book on the period - as are his other titles, primarily focussed on the Samurai

In a nutshell the Koreans largely dominated the naval scene wherever they found the Japanese ships so on the face of it the conflict would appear to be pretty one-sided. However, whilst the Koreans had stronger ships with better artillery, the Japanese had numbers, lighter and possibly handier ships (although with far fewer guns) and a willingness to get into hand to hand combat wherever possible. It was the outstanding leadership of Admiral Yi that provided the command expertise to the technological edge the Koreans possessed. The Japanese did have a few successes but not against Admiral Yi.

A modern replica of a Korean ‘Geobukseon’ - the ‘Turtle Ship’.

Gaming Thoughts

I must admit that this is not a period of naval warfare I would have considered were it not for David Manley’s rules and the models from MT Miniatures. In fact I would go further and say that I had never even heard of such a conflict other than as a mention in the book Shogun by James Clavell!

Despite the relatively obscure nature of this conflict, at least in the West, there is plenty to get one’s naval teeth into. Much of the combat was fought in sight of land so there is scope for some terrain in the form of fishing villages and small islands etc. The ships are quite simple in terms of design and paint scheme (a BIG advantage for me!) and have a distinctive look about them. There is little rigging to speak of and the ships use both sails and oars for propulsion. There are plenty of exotic weapon types in use and even early mines! Aside from the Koreans and Japanese there is also the Chinese including the inevitable war junk - a model that is useful for all sides.

I like the two differing tactical approaches so you have the ‘stand off and batter using gunfire’ doctrine used by the Koreans as opposed to the faster ‘get up close, board and butcher’ system favoured by the Japanese.

I have fancied tackling something 16th century based from a naval perspective but had never considered this conflict but I reckon it will be a lot of fun in an anarchic sort of way.

The land side of the war could possibly be catered for using Command and Colours: Samurai Battles although there are no rules that I am aware of that cater for the Koreans, or the Chinese for that matter. A trawl through the various facebook groups that cover the Command and Colours series may prove fruitful but that will be for another day.

First things first  though - ACW and DTPIW!