ACW Naval Scratchbuilding....Pressing Ever Onwards

The picture above is of the Ellet Ram USS Switzerland which, with her 'sister' ship USS Lancaster are currently on the construction table together with a further Ellet Ram, two copies of the Queen of the West (both sides used her, rather like the General Price), USS Vindicator and the CSS Webb for 7 models in all - all being side wheel rams. I hope to have all these finished in the next day or so - SWMBO's birthday festivities permitting!

This particular ship was what I would call a 'double decker' steamer in that she had an extra deck which gives her that rather imposing profile. Quite what all the artillery on the top deck would do the vessel's stability is anyone's guess!

The model has presented a couple of challenges which I will describe when they are finished in the inevitable photo shoot - nothing major, merely an exercise in right angles.

River Wars or another example of Wargaming Synchronicity

This was a piece of pure indulgence: because it was there! I received an email this morning from the Wargames Vault http://www.wargamevault.com/product_info.php?products_id=88110 and this was at the top of the list. I am as weak willed as the next wargamer and so, after a nano-second of lofty contemplation, the £ equivalent of US$ 7.99 was rapidly winging its way across the Atlantic and, as is the usual way with such purchases, the PDF duly arrived in very short order.

The production vales look very nice although I was a little surprised to see the name of the USS Tuscumbia spelt incorrectly and the models used for the ship cards (based on the gorgeous 1/600th Thoroughbred Miniatures)of the Ellet rams were almost like seeing a class of ships - they were all the same! The best of my research has shown that at least the USS Lancaster and the USS Switzerland were sufficiently different looking to warrant a separate model. These two ships are on my construction list and you can be certain that they will look different to the rest of the ram fleet for sure!

I cannot comment on the rules themselves as, to be honest, I only purchased them for the ideas contained therein and to see if there were any concepts I could easily adapt for my own purposes. They appear to be a little too detailed for my use (the whole file is 51 pages including turning circles etc) but are a sterling piece of work nevertheless.

On this very subject (rules that is) I can happily state that my own ACW river based naval rules are very close to being ready to play test and will of course be made available to anybody that would like to see a set.

Plans (NOT) Surviving First Contact with the Enemy....

And so it was. I had planned to complete the first batch of 24 models in the ACW naval collection and then paint them prior to building the last group of vessels. After a weekend of consideration this idea has now gone out of the window. I have drawn up a list of the models are want to build in order to complete the project and it involves only another 15 ships. This sounds a lot but when you consider that most of these are variations of those that I have built thus far you can see the sense behind the decision. At the time of writing I have a further 6 side wheel steamers under construction - soon to be 8 when I have cut the hulls out - that lend themselves to production line building. These are four groups of two so will differ from what I have built already and will enhance the collection no end. Finishing the remaining models makes better sense in my opinion if only because it means that the painting can then be tackled in batches of similar vessels e.g. all the casemates, all the rams etc.



I have only two large vessels to build for the Union - USS Tuscumbia and USS Chilicothe - and another pair of casemate ironclads for the Confederates so the rest of the numbers are made up of rams and gunboats of various types. I have also, in the meantime, made a lot of progress with the rules I shall be using which, although designed as a fast play set, feature a level of detail I do not usually employ for my naval rules.



More to follow....

CSS Baltic and the USS Essex

Pictured above are the twentieth and twenty first models for my ACW scratch building project - the CSS Baltic (on the left) and the USS Essex (on the right). For the size of paddle boxes the casemate should have been longer and narrower (according to Gibbon's Warships and Naval Battles of the Civil War) but the only pictures I have been able to find of her were line drawings from Harpers's Weekly and she looks very 'boxy' and hunched up in profile so I guess this is a reasonable compromise. She was quite straightforward to build aside from the rectangular paddle box housing added on to the standard sloped casemate - even then it was more a case of time rather than difficulty.

USS Essex presented a challenge in the shape of the rear end of the casemate which was curved, rather like the end of a bath. I had numerous ideas on how best to make this but opted for using a single piece of balsa and carving it out. This was surprisingly easy to do but it did take a while and of course, needed care. Her distinctive circular pilot house originated from the top of a two stud 'Mega Blok' building brick and although a little small does convey the look of the original rather well. Essex will be joining her squadron mates comprising the four Cairo class gunboats and the Benton to form two sub divisions of three vessels each - historically it was often Benton with a pair of Cairos and the Essex with a pair.

With the completion of these two models I am now only three ships away from the 24 vessel threshold and planned at that point to take a break from the construction process and get down to some serious brush work. I am leaning away from this now as I only have a further 15 models to build in total (I am not including coal barges, mortar rafts and some very small gunboats in the total) and would really like to maintain the momentum. Some of the forthcoming attractions are similar to what I have built thus far so painting the whole batch of, say, casemate ironclads, makes a degree of sense. With this is mind then, I am going to compete the 'big build' first before I get any painting tackled. I am however, well advanced with the rules and in any event, am now looking to begin the paintwork at the end of the month.

Command and Colours: Napoleonics

....And now for something not-so-completely different! I am a huge fan and owner of some of some of Richard Borg's Command and Colours series of games including Battle Cry (ACW) and Memoir '44 (WW2) and so when GMT Games decided to release a Napoleonic version as a follow up to their highly successful Ancients series (which is next on the shopping list!) the temptation was pretty much more than mortal man could reasonably endure. I purchased a copy and boy was I pleased to do so!

By way of an explanation I should point out that Napoleonics were my first gaming 'love' as I cut my wargaming teeth on them back in the early 1970's with great hordes of Airfix 20mm plastic figures (including many conversions) used, inevitably, for the 1815 campaign. Aside from the British I owned at one time an 1812 Russian army of Hinchcliffe metal figures but as time passed and other periods of history came and went my interest in gaming the era withered. Despite keeping a small quantity of books (primarily for 1815) and a brief flirtation with 15mm figures about 10years ago, I have not actively played the period for some time. I own a couple of very good boardgames covering both the 1815 campaign and the Battle of Waterloo and have been content to use them but I have missed the tactical side. My immediate problem is that I have absolutely no desire to paint armies for the period - in any scale - so my gaming hankerings have been few and far between. Not any more.

The game primarily covers the Peninsula (although I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of 1815 scenarios included) although does not include the Spanish - these have made the cut for the first expansion (ho hum....). The components are absolutely first class - even the box is reassuringly heavy - and the wooden blocks used to represent the units look splendid when the unit stickers have been applied. The components you can see in the picture above and everything oozes quality.

The game mechanics are the familiar C and C card based system but the Napoleonic 'feel' has been added by introducing a number of period specific features including:

• Infantry Squares
• Varying weights of cavalry
• Militia/Line/Elite and Guard infantry
• Horse and foot artillery
• Riflemen
• Combined arms attacks
• Cavalry 'retire and reform'

As a frustrated Napoleonic gamer this set represents a wonderful opportunity for me to indulge in my long held passion for the period without a financial outlay the size of the national debt. I am sure that the other powers will follow in due course (I wonder if the Turks will feature at some point?) and so I will happily acquire these armies as and when released.

I am hoping to get the labels tackled over the weekend with a view to having my first game in a couple of weeks but one thing is certain: whilst it is a sad farewell to any ideas of acquiring and painting armies for this period (I do have a figure based soul after all!), as a substitute this game is a more than adequate replacement.

A Sharp Intake of Breath at the Battle Cry of Defeat

I managed to get to Modelzone yesterday lunchtime (the branch closest to my office is in Holborn) and was able to acquire the appropriately sized balsa wood, a replacement saw blade for my trusty X-Acto (this was long overdue as the blade I had been using was over 25 years old!) and some green putty. I was hoping to see if any more of the Zvezda early WW2 Russian Front kit for 'the Art of Tactic' was available but sadly not as yet.

I am now in the position of being able to continue the great ACW build-fest and so will resume work on the CSS Baltic and the USS Essex this evening. The USS Vindicator will now have to be put to one side as the spare parts I planned to use for her - specifically the angled superstructure - are in fact too short so will need to be used for something else instead.

The sharp intake of breath came about as I reviewed the collection built so far - now at 19 models as I completed the fourth Cairo class gunboat at a little after 5:30am yesterday morning. They are looking pretty impressive (if I say so myself!) and I am really looking forward to building more of them, getting them painted and based and using them in the game or two.

I also played my first game of the new edition of Battle Cry last night at the club and it was tremendous fun. The game is subtly different from the original version - the command cards have a few changes to begin with; not to mention the increase in artillery models in a unit and infantry firepower - and plays very smoothly with the all important period feel being enhanced as a result of these 'tweaks'. My thanks to Steve for the game and Mr Fox for organising the action. The scenario was set in Arkansas and the heavily outnumbered gentlemen of the South, under the command of that celebrated bob vivant, wit and raconteur: General Ignatious Gaylord Crook, lost 4 - 2 on the night, although the Union did have four other units down to a single figure each!

Great fun and hugely enjoyable.

A Minor Logistical Problem

I sat down yesterday evening to tackle the next phase of my ACW ship building program when I made the horrible discovery that I only had a single piece of 1cm square balsa wood 1 ½” long! I use this size as the ‘core’ for all of my casemate based models and the pack of assorted sizes of balsa wood I recently acquired only had a single length in the selection. A visit to Modelzone will now be needed (tomorrow I suspect as I will not have a chance today) in order to get some more in stock. I could laminate some smaller pieces but prefer not to – it is easier just to use a single piece, it makes for a more solid model.

This meant that the CSS Baltic had to wait; as did the USS Essex (although I could have started the latter). The single piece of balsa wood I have though is sufficient for the additional Cairo class gunboat I needed so I was able to build the casemate for her with a view to fitting out and finishing the model this evening. Also underway (and not a model I had envisaged building until later) is the USS Vindicator – yet another side wheel ram that looks not unlike the General Price except that the front of her superstructure is angled and her guns are carried internally so some gun ports will be needed. As built she was pretty fast and touched 12 knots. To be honest, the sole reason I am building her is because I have a ready-made superstructure in the spares box and it would be a shame to waste it!

That will bring the total of models built up to 20 and I hope to have another couple ready for the weekend – assuming I can get the correctly sized balsa wood in time. If that does not happen then I can easily work on another couple of models instead as I have a number of alternative options I can explore.