The Balkan War Afloat

Whilst in something of a naval vein I noticed that the indefatigable Mr. David Manley has been ‘at it again’. He has just written and published this rather spiffy tome which is, as is usual with output, a stonkingly good piece of work!

Available from the Wargames Vault this is a really great publication covering, as it does, a smallish war that is ideal for a mini campaign and would not cost vast amounts of money to set up.

The PDF contains a potted history of the war and the combatants, the Broadside and Salvo fast play rules and a campaign system including a map and the appropriate counters etc. I am probably biased but this is a Great War to fight naval battles in as the numbers are modest which makes it ideal for solo play or a club mini campaign. Just to help out I have listed the ships available and their proxies from the Navwar list as follows:

Greece

N8704 Hydra, Psara and Spetsai
N8732 Georgia’s Averoff
N8754 Aetos Class - Aetos, Hierax, Leon and Panther
N8152 Thyella Class - (use Austrian Huszar Class - Thyella, Lonchi, Nafkratousa, Spendoni
N3511 Keravnos Class - (use German V1 class) - Keravnos, Nea Genea
N1529 Niki Class - (use British C class) - Aspis, Dora, Niki, Velos

Bulgaria

N5722 (use Japanese T67 class) - Drazki, Smeli, Hrabri, Shumni, Letyashti, Strogi

Turkey

N8P10A Mesudiye
N3112 (use German Worth class) - Torgud Reis, Hayreddin Barbarossa
N8P08 - Asar-i-Tewfik
N8P33/33A - Hamidiye, Mecidiye
N8P32 - Peyk-i-Sevket, Berk-i-Sevket
N2521 - Samsun Class - (use French Durandel class) - Samsun, Yarhisar, Tasoz, Basra
N3508 - Muavenet-i-Milliye class (use German T/S165 class) Muavenet-i-Milliye, Yadigar-i-Milliye, Numune-Hamiyet, Gayret-i-Vataniye
N4702 Akhisar/Antalya class (use Italian Saffo class) - Akhisar, Alpagot*, Antalya, Urfa, Ankara*, Tokad, Drac, Kutahya, Musul 

*Sunk by the Italians in the 1911/12 war

N5722 Demirhisar Class (use Japanese T67 class) - Demirhisar, Sultanhisar, Sivrihisar, Hamidabad

The codes are the Navwar numbers and hopefully these are still the same. You may want to check some of the names - the Ottoman Steam Navy is a pretty good for this - as there are many ways of spelling these and naturally sources do not always agree!

For the non-naval gamer I cannot recommend this highly enough as it is manageable, tactically challenging and a great introduction to naval wargames.

On the Road to Constantinople - First Catalca, 17th November, 1912....Game Number 47

A Bulgarian postcard depicting the earlier battle of Luleburgaz

The opening weeks of the First Balkan War were little short of disastrous for the Ottoman Turks. They had been comprehensively defeated by the Bulgarians at Kirkilisse and Lulaburgaz and were being steadily pushed back towards Constantinople in a state of complete disarray. The Turks were harried from one defensive position to another and were frequently overrun at bayonet point by the seemingly unstoppable Bulgarians. Fortunately for the Turks, the Bulgarians were somewhat tardy in following up having completely outrun their logistical support, so rapid and unexpected had their successes thus far been. The Turks were eventually able to disengage  relatively easily whilst the Bulgarians paused to draw breath and so were able to both consolidate and reorganise their shattered armies. Being a lot closer to their supply centre than the Bulgarians (Constantinople was a major centre of supply and was only some 40 kilometres from the Catalca position), they were able to take full advantage of the unexpected lull in the fighting and so the already strong position was rendered virtually impregnable. On the overall scale of things though, it was very much a damage limitation exercise as the war was effectively lost already. However, the Bulgarians would not be allowed to take Constantinople!

The Catalca position has been described as the strongest position in Europe and it is easy to see why. From the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara the peninsula has a single ridge bisecting the entire distance. In some places this rises to 200 meters above sea level and is fronted but flat and gently rolling grass land. The attackers would need to cross this and attack uphill in the face of a heavily fortified and dug in Turkish army - an army that was desperate to avoid the Bulgarians marching on Constantinople. At the Black Sea end of the ridge line (the right hand side of the picture) the Turks also had the support of the Turkish Navy although the gunfire, whilst morale boosting for the Ottomans, was largely ineffective.

The Bulgarians, under Lt. General Radko Dimitiev, outnumbered the Turks but not excessively so. In truth, their hard fought but easily gained victories had served to make the Bulgarian high command somewhat over confident in their abilities - it was felt that cold steel would carry the day as it had done so far. They had not reckoned on the Turkish obstinacy when defending a secure position - a position flanked by the sea at either end and with forts and trenches in between, all overlooking the gently rolling countryside over which the Bulgarians would have to advance.

The Battle

I used Bob Cordery's Memoir of Battle rules to fight the action - the version with the use of the Battle Cry/Napoleonics combat dice to determine how many units could be activated each turn. The only amendment I incorporated was to allow any rolled pairs of icons to be exchanged for a single unit type of the players choice e.g. two cavalry symbols rolled could be changed for a single infantry figure. The net effect was to lose a symbol from the number rolled (in this case 6 dice each side) but with a slightly better degree of control over the orders of a game turn. The action was fought on a 9 x 8 hexed playing area and with the majority of the Turks on the ridge. The infantry and machine guns were in trenches with the artillery in the two fortifications. I chose to have the action starting at relatively close range as the actual battle started under a morning mist which served to disorder the advancing Bulgarians.

The Turks

1 x 1 Commander (Nazim Pasha)
6 x 4 Infantry (elements of the 1st and 2nd Eastern Armies - regulars in the front line, reserve or Redif infantry in the rear)
1 x 3 Cavalry
1 x 2 Machine Gun
2 x 3 Field Artillery

33 strength points with an exhaustion level of 16.

The Bulgarians

1 x 1 Commander (Lt. General Radko Dimitriev)
8 x 4 Infantry (1st and 3rd Armies)
1 x 3 Cavalry
2 x 2 Field Artillery

40 strength points with an exhaustion level of 13.

The Catalca, European Turkey, 5am the 17th November, 1912....

The initial dispositions with the Turks deployed behind their formidable and extensive defences with the Bulgarians drawn up to face them. 

Turn 1. The Bulgarian right advances under artillery support and is immediately met with massed Turkish rifle and heavy gunfire. The extreme right hand Bulgarian infantry units take minor casualties but is forced back by the charging Turkish horsemen. Meanwhile the central infantry units suffers grievously from a deluge of rifle and shellfire. The attack grinds to a halt.... 

Turn 2. The Bulgarian artillery continues to hammer the Turkish positions whilst the victorious Turkish cavalry falls back to the main line. The Bulgarian infantry takes the opportunity to reorganise and ready itself for the next attack.

Turn 3. The Bulgarian artillery continues to hammer at the Turkish positions. Sensing an opportunity, the Turkish cavalry, with supporting fire from the artillery, once again charge into the fray. With a crash they charge into the Bulgarian infantry and despite devastating casualties, put the Bulgarian invaders to the sword! With the casualties sustained thus far the Bulgarian attack on the southern end of the Turkish position has failed.

Turn 4. In the south the Bulgarians manage to reorganise their infantry but the damage has been done and they are no longer strong enough to trouble the Turkish defences. Whilst the Bulgarian artillery continues to plaster the forward Turkish positions their cavalry manages to destroy the last of the Ottoman horsemen but for now all eyes are turned to the north.

Turn 5. the Bulgarians launch three infantry units into the attack but the combination of Turkish rifle, machine gun and artillery fire proves to be too much. One unit is reduced by half and pushed back whilst a second manages, in the face of a veritable maelstrom of fire, to hold their position. From his command post n the centre of the Bulgarian start line Lt. General Dimitriev reluctantly gives the order for his infantry to fall back - the advance of Constantinople is over.

Final score: Turkey 7, Bulgaria 14

Aftermath

By no stretch of the imagination was this the most enthralling of scenarios but I was really glad to have fought it. Essentially it was a frontal assault against a very well prepared defensive position - the shape of things to come in the Great War - and the end result was hardly surprising. Historically the Bulgarians were very over confident but were beginning to suffer the effects of Cholera and so their previous elan was on the wane. Their approach to the position was lethargic and the Turks were ready for them with pre-ranged artillery and masses of fortifications. The Bulgarians in the actual battle managed to bypass one of the ten forts and penetrate the Turkish lines to the depth of some 500 yards before the Turuks were able to eject them. This particular attack was actually at night. I want to fight this action again on a larger and more representative scale (representing some 25 kms of terrain on 8 hexes is a little extreme even for me!) at some point but for now the action ensured that the Turkish military could extract at least a crumb of comfort from a war that was already lost.

The Battle of Kanca Ciftlik, May 1913....Game Number 39

I am not ashamed to admit that the inspiration for this action came solely from the excellent article in Miniature Wargames Number 361 by Arthur Harman - Little Wars for little money in little space. The article was described by the author himself as 'Being an adaptation of Mr HG Wells' toy soldier kriegsspiel according to the principles of Messrs Morschauser and Cordery, for the entertainment of impecunious gentlefolk in these recessionary times, by Arthur Harman, resplendent in his stripy blazer and straw boater.'

The following action represents a further spin on the immortal Battle of Hook's Farm in that I am using a hexed grid (my Hexon tiles), Bob Cordery's Memoir of Battle rules and my own particular homage to wargames in days gone by - my wooden block armies.

The Set Up

The combatants for this action comprised the Turks and the Bulgarians rather than Red and Blue and each side consisted of the following forces:

1 x 2 block command unit

6 x 4 block Infantry units

3 x 3 block cavalry units

3 x 2 block artillery units

This means a total of 41 strength points each and both sides had an exhaustion level of 14. As a game turn consists of both sides completing their respective actions I decided that in the event of both sides reaching their exhaustion level in the same game turn then the side that had lost the least casualties was deemed the victor.

The battlefield was a standard Command and Colours sized 13 x 9 hexed playing area. The buildings are from my collection of ceramic souvenirs. 

The Battle of Kanca Ciftlik, May 1913

The initial dispositions viewed from the Bulgarian start line. Kanca Ciftlik is to the left of the central clump of pine trees whilst Yangin Kilise is the blue roofed building on the right. The Bulgarians are fairly concentrated with the infantry deployed to either flank and the bulk of the artillery in the centre and most of the cavalry on the left.

The view along the opposing battle lines with the Turks on the left of the picture. The Turks have four of their six infantry regiments facing Kanca Ciftlik and their cavalry deployed in the centre and left flank.

Turn 1 sees the Turkish advancing on either flank and securing Yangin Kilise (the church at the top of the picture) unopposed. Meanwhile the Bulgarians move up their artillery with infantry support for the assault on Kanca Ciftlik.

The Turkish advance guard secure Yangin Kilise with the cavalry screening their left flank and the artillery moving up in support.

Turn 2 and whilst the Turks are able to move into Kanca Ciftlik the Bulgarians response is swift and deadly as the farm is assaulted by their infantry and heavy casualties are inflicted on the defenders.

Meanwhile the Turks consolidate their hold on the church with infantry moving up in support.

Turn 3 sees the battle for the farm swinging first one way and then the other as the Bulgarian assault inflicts a further casualty on the Turks whilst they suffer heavily in return. The Turkish artillery joins the fray and opens up on the massing Bulgarian infantry in the centre.

Turn 4 and the massed Bulgarian infantry in the centre secure the central building, thereby threatening both Turkish flanks. The Turks manage to beat off the assault on the farm and on the other flank, send the cavalry around to attack the Bulgarian rear.

The gallant Turkish horsemen are driven back by the Bulgarians but a further regiment of Ottoman cavalry is on the way.

Turn 5 and at last the Bulgarian attack in the centre begins to take shape although casualties are suffered  from Turkish artillery and long range rifle fire. The Turks supporting the church are temporarily pushed back by the Bulgarian artillery.

The Turkish cavalry are repulsed by the Bulgarian horsemen.

Turn 6 and the remaining Bulgarian cavalry push into the wooded area on the left of Kanca Ciftlik whilst the infantry make ready to assault the farm.

Disaster for the Turks! The Bulgarian infantry assault the farm and the remaining Turkish defenders are forced out (note the two flag results). The Bulgarians rush in to occupy the scattered buildings formerly occupied by the Ottomans.

Turn 7 and the Turkish cavalry fight back against the Bulgarian horseman at the bottom of the picture.

Meanwhile, the battle for farm increases in intensity as the Bulgarians come under heavy rifle fire from no less than three Turkish units. Can the Bulgarians hang on?

Over on the Bulgarian right flank the last of the Turkish horseman are driven off and the Bulgarian artillery pounds the Ottoman infantry by the church.

Turn 8 and at last the Turks begin to prevail against the Bulgarian right flank. The second Turkish cavalry unit gallantly charges into the Bulgarian horse and routs them whilst the Ottoman artillery continues to pound the Bulgarian infantry on the crest. The Bulgarian return rifle fire inflicts heavy casualties on the Turks by the church by way of returning the compliment.

Meanwhile the farm of Kanca Ciftlik changes hands for the final time as the remaining Bulgarian defenders are destroyed and the Turks reoccupy the buildings although not without heavy losses. The Bulgarian cavalry engage with the Turkish infantry at the far side of the wood with each side suffering minor casualties.

At this point both sides has reached their respective exhaustion levels - Turkey 15 and Bulgaria 17 so the Turks were declared the victors in a hard fought and close run action.

Aftermath

I really enjoyed the battle as it is the first game I have played for a while. The rules (Bob Cordery's Memoir of Battle) worked really well although I may incorporate the 'battle back' facility whereby units can fight back against attackers if they are not destroyed as per the normal combat rules (not against artillery though). The solo mechanisms worked well but I will think about banking activations in some way - I will post about this in more detail later, once I have thought about it - so that game turns can potentially have a little more control over them.

It was great fun to fight and many thanks to Arthur Harman for the idea - along with, of course, Messrs, Wells, Morschauser and Cordery....;-)

The (Ottoman) Empire Strikes Back

The beginning of the end - note the cavalry attacking the entrenched Turks on the left.

In turn 3 of my recent block game the Greek cavalry launched an attack against the Turkish infantry in their trenches. the position was carried with great dash and gusto but it struck me as rather unlikely. The fact that the same cavalry unit then went on to more or less clear the the other Turkish trench further convinced me that something was slightly awry. Far be it from me to cast aspersions about the effectiveness of cavalry when engaged in such follies but it really felt plain wrong. I thought about this after the action had ended and attempted to justify this turn of events. Certainly the cavalry attacked with the initiative on both turns (if you recall the Greek army won the initiative on every turn) but would they really be able to carry not one but two trenches full of Ottoman soldiery? (Beersheba doesn't count as strictly speaking it hadn't happened yet!).

I finally decided that this would, under normal circumstances, be pretty unlikely.

The solution came about very quickly and in fact features within the Command and Colours system already. The concept is known as the 'Battle Back'. Essentially, after an attacker has carried out their close combat attack a defending unit, as long as it does not retreat or is destroyed, fights back against its attacker using the normal rules for combat. This means that a close combat could be potentially a bad move for the attacker as they could actually come off worse in the exchange. In the case of cavalry I believe that it will ensure that they are used rather more historically - riding down isolated detachments (especially units that have suffered casualties and so are likely to be destroyed outright) and dashing hither and thither rather than taking on the role of some kind of mounted stormtrooper.

I have added this amendment in to my list of home grown tweaks and will use this going forward.

Greek Delight, Turkish Tragedy, October 1912....Game Number 27

Evzones in campaign dress during the Balkan War

This blog post came about as a result of the generosity of Mr Fox. Every so often he has a clear out from his collection of wargames magazines as he now has most of them on disc. His usual MO is to cut out those articles of interest and pass them on to whosoever has an interest in that particular period. I have received numerous bits and pieces from him over the years in this fashion and very handy much of it has proven to be.  The scenario I am running in the following post is based on such an article concerning the Battle of Sarantoporou fought between the Greeks and the Turks at the the start of the Balkan War in 1912.

Historically the Greek Army of Thessaly, consisting of six infantry divisions, a cavalry brigade and four independent Evzone battalions, under the command of the Crown Prince Constantine crossed the frontier and manged to push back the Turkish covering forces to the previously prepared fortified positions in the Sarantaporon Passes. The terrain favoured the Turks and the passes were easily defended by the smaller force they had available of some 25 battalions (11 of which were reserve formations), 24 guns and three machine gun companies under the command of Tahsin Pasha. Many of the Turkish formations were under strength and so holding the positions was the only viable option for the Turkish command.  The positions had been constructed under German supervision before the war and the Turkish plan was for the frontier force to fall back to it.

The Greek army duly pushed the Turks back to the fortifications and engaged the main force with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions. Meanwhile, the 4th and 5th Divisions probed to the west with a view to outflanking the Turkish defensive line. While the centre was occupied (and sustaining heavy casualties from the Turkish artillery) the flanking attack succeeded in driving the Turks away and so, faced with potential encirclement, the remaining Ottoman troops abandoned the key Sarantaporon pass, leaving virtually all their artillery behind. German Field Marshal Von Der Goltz had confidently proclaimed that the passes would be the 'Graveyard of the Greek Army'. Events proved to be otherwise.

The game was fought using Bob Cordery's memoir of Battle rules with some minor changes. I made use of the exhaustion level idea and also allowed machine gun units to deploy in a hex with another unit, together with making the Turkish infantry strength 3 instead of the usual 4 - and that was the extent of the changes.

The Greeks

1 x Commander (1)
7 x Infantry (4)
1 x Cavalry (3)
1 x Machine Gun (2)
2 x Artillery (2) - 2 field

38 Strength Points, Exhaustion Level 13

The Turks


1 x Commander (1)
5 x Infantry (3) - 3 points each as they were under strength.
1 x Machine Gun (2)
2 x Artillery (2) - 1 field, 1 heavy

22 Strength Points, Exhaustion Level 8

The initial set up - the Greeks are at the bottom of the picture. Note the central Turkish position and the Greek flanking force on the left.

The main Greek force preparing to force the main pass.

The Greek flanking force - two infantry divisions and the cavalry brigade.

Turn 1. The Greek 1st and 2nd Division advance to engage the Ottoman position and come under Turkish rifle and artillery fire. Each side suffers casualties, with the Greek attack coming off worse.

Turn 2. Both sides artillery get into their stride with the Turkish machine guns being knocked out by a combination of field guns and rifle fire with the two Greek infantry units sustaining further casualties.

Turn 3. While the attack in the centre falters, over on the left the Greek infantry advance and the cavalry charge into the entrenched Turks.

Turn 4. The Greek attack on the left destroys first one Turkish infantry unit and severely damages the remaining one. Although the attack in the centre has faltered the Turkish flank has been driven in and so the main position can be outflanked at leisure. The Turks have been defeated and so the stain on Greece's honour dating back to 1897 has been removed!

The final scores - Greece 8, Turkey 10.

That was very quick indeed but in four turns more or less followed the historical action almost to the letter. The Greek attack in the centre was plastered with rifle fire and artillery and duly faltered. The left flank attack  made cunning use of the initiative (in fact the Greeks won the initiative on every turn) in order to carry the position - added by some poor Turkish dice rolls - and this proved to be the key to the Turkish defensive line. 

I really enjoyed revisiting Memoir of Battle and the rules worked very well for this action. The one thing that has come out of this though is that I need to get some mountainous looking terrain - I believe that Hexon make some rocky outcrops - as this part of the world is quite craggy.

All in all then, a very pleasant way to pass an hour or so.

Defeat in Detail? - The Balkans 1912....Game Number 13

Despite feeling dreadful for most of the day with this wretched cold/sore throat/chesty cough I rallied sufficiently this afternoon to tackle a small action based on the Balkan  war of 1912. As per usual, the block armies were out to play with my Hexon terrain as usual providing the backdrop. I kept the number of units down to quite a small level as I was unsure as to how long my concentration would last for! The rules were an earlier version of Bob Cordery's Memoir of Battle 19th century set but with a couple of house rules thrown in - one of which raised a point for further consideration, more of which later.

Somewhere in European Turkey, November 1912....

The Bulgarian advance continues as the Turkish front line is breached in several places. A small but vital crossroads, running through a ramshackle village, lies along the line of advance of the leading Bulgarian corps and if captured would allow the next Turkish position to be speedily outflanked. A force has been hastily assembled to take the crossroads and village - known locally as Dort Kollari - and comprises the following:

Bulgaria

6 x 4 Infantry units armed with magazine rifles
2 x 3 Cavalry units
2 x 2 Artillery units armed with rifled field artillery
1 x 1 Commander

35 strength points - exhaustion level 12 points

Despite the magnitude of both the losses in men and material the Turks had thus far sustained fighting the Bulgarians they were able to rapidly identify the threat posed by losing this position and so a force was detached from the main army in order to defend the village whilst their shattered armies regrouped and reformed in the rear. The Turks were outnumbered for sure but were able to quickly entrench a number of key positions on the outskirts of the village and there nervously awaited the Bulgarian assault.

Turkey

2 x 4 Infantry units armed with magazine rifles
2 x 3 Infantry units armed with magazine rifles (Redif reserve units)
1 x 3 Cavalry unit
1 x 2 Artillery unit armed with rifled field artillery
1 x 1 Commander

20 strength points - exhaustion level 7 points.

The initial dispositions with the Bulgarians attacking from the bottom of the picture

The Turkish defenders - note the fieldworks and the two 'Redif' formations on the left

The Bulgarians prepare to attack

First blood to the Turks as their artillery opens fire on the leading Bulgarian infantry (black counters are placed on artillery units that have fired whilst white counters represent hits inflicted)

The Bulgarians continue their advance taking casualties as they do whilst their artillery deploys on the hill in the foreground. The leading Bulgarian infantry unit is already locked in combat with the Turks in the centre, despite their earlier losses.

Although seemingly engaging the Turks on the own the leading Bulgarian infantry unit can at last see the support beginning to arrive. Will it be in time?

A murderous exchange of close range rifle fire leaves the Bulgarian infantry dashed against the Turkish positions. Ignoring the Bulgarian cavalry (admittedly out of sight on the other side of the hill) even the Redif unit of the extreme left moved out to engage the hated Bulgarians.

With some final exchanges of rifle and artillery fire the Bulgarians reach their exhaustion level and so fall back to regroup and await the rest of the army in order to renew the assault. With a final flourish the Turkish cavalry chase their Bulgarian counterparts off the hill. The Turks had held on!

The losses for each side

The final positions at the end of the action

Phew! It was a short and sharp action and great fun to play. The rifle fire was very effective and the Bulgarians arrived at the Turkish fieldworks both uncoordinated and badly cut up. Numbers would have prevailed eventually but they need to be at the right place and at the right time and the Bulgarians simply did not manage this. They arrived piecemeal and were made a meal of in pieces. The artillery would have been effective had it gotten into action sooner but the Bulgarians had gambled on the speed of their assault carrying them through as it had done so many times previously.

The rules worked very well although I am unsure about the ranges. When my head is clearer I will think about this further but I am leaning towards a 3 hex maximum for all firearms but with adjusted effects for range and quality of weapon being used. As I say, I will need to give this some further thought once the drugs kick in.

I am now convinced that Bob's idea of plus or minus a strength point for good or poor units is the right way to go as the effects of battlefield durability based on quality work very well using this idea.

All in all then, it was a pleasant way to spend an hour or so.

Fezia and Rusland, The Balkan Wars and that Groundhog Day Moment....

That Groundhog Day moment - Where did I put that Irregular Miniatures catalogue?

The Rusland, sorry Russian Army of 1890

One day I will learn to make up my mind and stick with it. To be fair I am probably not as bad as I was in my early years but I still have the capacity to occasionally swing wildly between ideas. The sole redeeming feature of this is that the number of hobby related financial disasters has diminished somewhat over the course of time or perhaps I now have a more realistic appraisal of what is viable and what is less so in monetary terms.

I am not going to use the Perry Plastics for my Fezian and Rusland armies. There, I've said it. I will use them for that which they were intended  - i.e. a long term 28mm plastic ACW project - in due course but for a variety of reasons I shall have to abandon my original plan.

The alternative is so blindingly obvious I am still wondering how on earth I managed to completely overlook it. I am going to use the Irregular Miniatures 15mm Balkan War Turkish and Bulgarian armies I have. If you recall I acquired these more of less when they were first released (see the following: Irregular Miniatures Balkan war) TWO YEARS AGO (oh the shame!) but never really did anything with them - other than to discover that the Bulgarian infantryman was in fact wearing the earlier uniform (earlier than 1912 that is) and so was not really suitable. It could have been mixed with figures correctly attired except for the fact that Irregular did make them and so they were consigned to the cupboard and were going to be ignominiously disposed of. However, by dint of some casual research I was able to discover that the Russian army of 1890 was dressed more or less identically to the offending Bulgarian and so I thought - why not? This means then the the Bulgarian Balkan Wars army will in fact be painted as Russian (in 15mm the uniform differences are easily addressed with some painting - the woollen leggings used by many Bulgarians can easily be painted as black boots). In effect then, I will have a pair of historical armies being used as 'imagi-nations.


There are a number of reasons why this is a no-brainer.

•  To finish the 15mm armies will cost less than £20 - the projected Perry based set up is nearer £200
• All of my terrain is better suited to 15mm than 28mm
• I can paint the figures in a very simple 'old toy soldier' with a clear conscience
• The Irregular Miniatures Balkan Wars range is very extensive and so I can get everything I need from one place and easily.

The figures will be organised as per the Charge! based set up I had planned for the 28mms and they will based individually. I have a number of reasons for this but rules versatility is the most compelling.

Besides, I have two unopened tins of the old Humbrol Autheticolour Rifle Green and it would be a shame not to use them!

"Ladies, if this hill doesn't kill us it will surely break our hearts..." Keder Sirt, September 1912

The hex and block based wargame rules - The Blocks of War - are ready for their first play test and I have chosen to try a representative action from the Balkan war of 1912/13. The game will be fought on a 9 x 8 Hexon battlefield and will consist of a Bulgarian force attempting to capture a village being defended by the Turks. The defenders are outnumbered roughly two to one with a portion of their force hastily entrenched on a gentle hill. The units are as follows (all are expressed in terms of blocks):
Bulgaria - 1 x command, 8 x infantry, 2 x cavalry, 2 x artillery and 1 x machine gun
Turkey - 1 x command, 4 x infantry, 1 x cavalry, 1 x artillery and 1 x machine gun.
For the purposes of this action the infantry units are at 4 strength points each, the cavalry are at 3, the Turkish artillery and both the Turkish and Bulgarian Machine guns are at 2, the Bulgarian artillery is at 3 and both command units are at 2.
The Turks are able to use deploy detachments from two infantry units and the Bulgarians are able to dismount their cavalry.
The Turks have three hexes of trenches on the hill but are handicapped by being too few in number to cover the all of the approaches and the  village. This was fairly typical of the period - the Bulgarians usually managed to get more bodies at the point of contact and so the Turks often had to cover more ground than was practical.
The challenge for the Bulgarians will be to keep the attack moving which means that the command stand will need to be busy as units out of command are not able to move. The Turks will have to cover a lot of ground and so will have to flexible and not rely of the entrenchments too heavily. I will produce a map and pictures of the action when the game is fought (probably at the weekend, possibly sooner) together with the inevitable after action report
The Battle of Keder Sirt never happened as depicted although the scenario could easily have - and not just in the Balkan War either.
No prizes for guessing where the post title or even the name of the action came from - unashamedly one of my favourite films!

Contracting, Blocks, The ACW and Balkan Wars

My time has been impacted in recent weeks due to my employment situation. Basically I am contractor in the financial services sector - specifically in Compliance. I have been contracting since my redundancy in early 2009 and whilst it is financially attractive it does means that you seem to be permanently chasing the next contract. My existing contract finishes fairly shortly and so I have been endeavouring to set something up for when I return from my weeks holiday in Devon. Inevitably it means lots of interviews and these are usually at short notice and out of office hours. This was the case last night and so as a result I arrived home tired, lethargic and in a foul mood. By the time I had dined and unwound there was not a lot of the evening left and so I was not able to get very much done on the hobby front. I had a small session with the labels on the PC and pottered briefly in my den but very little else.
I have however, given some further thought to the vexing questions of what historical periods I should tackle using the block armies and what symbols I should use on the labels of the 20th century units. The ACW would seem to be a logical choice for a first period given the large amount of riverine models I have built and so having a land side would complement it nicely. I had in fact always intended doing this at some point so now would appear to be as good a time as any. This would also hopefully serve to kick start the painting of the stalled ACW ship models thereby killing two birds with one stone. Similarly, the Balkan armies were due to be next on the list after the ACW collection was completed so in real terms I have not greatly changed my project plans from a few months ago - merely the method of execution.
The ACW blocks will be easy enough in terms of the labels I have already constructed but for the Balkans I will need to add an MG into the unit mix. I will also need to source some good orders of battle for unit designations, together with some commanders names. The Balkans will not be existing in isolation as my previous ideas have indicated - I hope to add the Great Powers in one form or another and whilst the blocks may lack the dash of their metal brethren at least I will be able to deploy them this side of the next Olympic Games!
Incidentally, the font type on certain of my posts appears to vary as I have been using the email blog entry facility as well as the more direct post method. I keep meaning to change the font on the email version but keep forgetting to do so. I will rectify this at the earliest opportunity!

The Balkan Wars....Redux - With a Dash of Gallic Whimsy

French Chasseurs D'Afrique - a possible addition?

A while back I posted a number of blog entries devoted to my intentions surrounding the Balkan Wars. If you recall the plan was originally going to be the acquisition of forces for a hypothetical 1900 set for both land and sea. Events however, have moved on and so I then decided to revert to the more usual and historical 1912 variant. This is the current state of my thinking and so I am now working towards the completion of the appropriate armies for 1912.

You could be forgiven that this seems perfectly straightforward and, dare I say it, normal....

However, what passes for normality in the Crook universe is often at odds with the real world and so, unsurprisingly perhaps, I am considering my own unique twist on war of 1912.

It goes something like this:

I will be including representative forces, both land and sea, for a selection of the Great Powers.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before as I was certainly going to do this with the abandoned 1900 project. The plan then is quite simple and in fact looks little different to how I am tackling the project in actuality. I will get the three Balkan armies completed over the second half of the year - the Turks, Bulgarians and the Greeks - and will then add on a 'drip feed' (that is one at a time) basis those Great Powers that take my fancy.

I fully intend that both land and naval aspects will be represented and the only casualty of this slight change is that I shall not be scratch building the Balkan fleets now as I already have these in 1/3000th and any new naval additions will need to be in that scale for consistency.

I have already decided that any Great Power additions on the land side will be in effect Colonial type overseas service troops thereby ensuring that limited nature of their size is correctly represented - it also gives me a very good excuse to indulge in some 'exotic' troop types!

For reasons that will become obvious my first foray into Great Power territory will probably be the French - simply because I shall be tackling a 1/3000th navy for them at some point. The choice of overseas troops for the French is huge and suitably exotic and will doubtless include elements of La Legion as well as any of the cavalry types including the famous Chasseurs D'Afrique.

But first - naval ship lists, ACW ship painting and Balkan armies....;-)

Balkan Air Power and the Wars of the Eighteenth Century

It has been a busy weekend one way or another and so I was delighted that our visit to our local boot sale was a successful one - although it was absolutely roasting and less than ideal for walking around in!

I managed to acquire a couple of very useful additions for the collection - the first of which is a Bleriot monoplane from the Corgi 'History of Flight' series. This is a lovely little die-cast model scaled (I think) at around 1/100th or 15mm. I picked this up for the princely sum of £1. I had seen this in various places for around the £5 to £7 mark which I would not have paid, simply because it is very much a 'nice to have' item rather than an essential. The reason I am pleased about acquiring this is because both the Bulgarians and the Turks used these in the First Balkan War. The variant was later than Bleriot's channel crossing special and the Bulgarians also used a two seat version. The model may not be 100% accurate but it does look very nice and will add a little extra eye candy to the ground action. The planes were used primarily for reconnaissance although the Bulgarians did carry out some bombing attacks using their Bleriot two seat versions. I am not sure if any kind of national insignia was used and so if not I could easily use the model for either side.

The second bargain was a pristine copy of Jeremy Black's Warfare in the 18th Century - published as one of the Cassell's 'History of Warfare' series. this is an overview of warfare in the 18th century and how it evolved from the time of Marlborough to the French Revolution. Rather refreshingly it looks at warfare across the globe and not merely from a Eurocentric perspective. I was very interested to see the fighting in the Balkans (Austrians against the Turks), the wars in India  - not just with the British and French involvement - and across the Middle East.

I have a strange relationship with the 18th century - I have played some hugely enjoyable games over the years using Charge! and various other rule sets but I have never managed to stay with the period for any length of time. Perhaps I am looking at the wrong part of it and should broaden my outlook a little - if so then this book would certainly be a good place to start.