CSS Louisiana or Model Number 30

Above is the picture of scratch built model number 30 for my ACW naval project - the CSS Louisiana. She comes in at 3 1/2" long which is the maximum size I can really go to if I want to keep the model on a single Hexon tile. The ship was constructed using my tried and tested casemate ironclad building technique and the only difference was with the structure on the top of the casemate itself. Historically the ship had two tandem centre wheels (the two curved structures to see to the rear of the funnel) and a pair of screws. the wheels did not work out as they got in each others way and so she was towed into position as the screws were non-operational. She mounted 16 guns but the broadsides had the five gunports you see on the model in a line whilst the other side had them grouped as a three and a two - see the following diagram for details. I have represented this but not the ports that have plated over. The wheel housing and funnel were surrounded by an armoured breastwork designed as protection from sharpshooters and I have reflected this on the model as well.

I am quite pleased with this model as it now means that I have only six more to go before the first batch are completed and I can start painting. The CSS Mississippi is also at the fitting out stage and I am hoping to finish her tomorrow evening before tackling the remaining three Confederate cotton clad gunboats which will in turn set me up nicely for the grand finale of the USS Tuscumbia and the USS Chilicothe.

Nearly there!

Cruising down the River....

CSS Atlanta - derived from the design of the unfinished CSS Mississippi

....on a Sunday afternoon....

Well not exactly, but I thought I had best mention the state of play in respect of my river based ACW scratch built collection. CSS Louisiana and Mississippi are now at the fitting out stage of funnels, hatches, pilot houses and gun ports. The Louisiana is in fact merely needing the 16 gunports to be ready so they are both very close to completion. Of the two ships I would say that I am on firmer ground with the Louisiana in respect of what she actually looked like - the Mississippi is very much a best guess although the design was later used for the CSS/USS Atlanta (yes, she was another ship that served 'under two flags') so that gives us a clue as to how she was configured. The picture above is of the Atlanta - the Mississippi has a lot more artillery (20 guns in fact!) with 3 guns facing forward and aft and 14 on the broadside (7 a side). She also has two funnels mounted in tandem.

I hope to have these two finished over the next few days and will then tackle the 3 cotton clad gunboats prior to the grand construction finale of the USS Tuscumbia and USS Chilicothe.

The French Foreign Legion 1872 to 1914

I recently acquired the Osprey Men at Arms title above (number 461) which covers the colonial period described in Martin Windrow's 'Our Friends Beneath The Sands' and this is very much a companion volume. For completeness I will need to acquire the volume that covers 1914 to 1945 but that will be for a later date. The book follows the usual Osprey format and the one thing that has really intrigued me is the role of the Legion in the Sino-French war. I was hugely inspired by the pictures of French gunboats (including some paddle wheel driven vessels!) accompanied by sampans and junks etc. Much of the theatre of operations had no road network to speak of so much use was made of the rivers for transport and troop movements etc. The ships look quite 'scratchbuildable' and so this is yet another obscure project for consideration....;-)

Why, oh why do we do this?

I have been to....Rye

Taking advantage of the half term break and the fact that my daughter was staying away at a friends for a few days; Laurel and I decided to spend a night in one of our favourite towns, Rye. The drive down took a little over an hour or so and travels along the A21 which is not a bad stretch of road when the traffic is light. The route took us pass the turn off for the Tonbridge show (today but I will not be there) and we had virtually got to Hastings before swinging left down a B road at Battle, just past Bodiam, for the 11 mile run to the ancient Cinque port of Rye. This route takes us to the rail station at Rye and we opted to part there - next to the railway station cafe called 'The Fat Controller' - although with no signs of Thomas etc....

Rye is a lovely old town - full of of small shops without a supermarket to stifle the local businesses. We stopped for a small lunch at a tearoom called Poppys and thus refuelled went for a wander. Rye is built on what can best be described as a smaller version of Ayres Rock in Australia in that it all appears to be built upwards - which is hardly surprising given that it used to be a port although the sea has long since receded. The top end of the town is very 'old English village' pretty - with lots of timber framed buildings and cobbled streets, complete with Narnia-esque street lamps.

The Ypres Tower approached from the town side.

We headed up to the Ypres tower which was built in 1249 and has over the years been used as a police station, a prison and the local mortuary. It was the only major building left standing in Rye during a major French raid in 1377. This speeded the building of the defences and so when the French tried again in 1449 they were easily held off. The town wall was allowed to fall into disrepair although some parts are still visible. Only a single gate remains - the Landgate - from this period. Ypres Tower was named after Jean d'Ypres who owned it for sometime between 1439 and 1452. It is quite small but with some great views and also has an Elizabethan walled garden added to the side . The whole place overlooks what was the coastline and just below the tower if Gun garden where some Napoleonic era artillery was mounted.

The Elizabethan Garden viewed from the battlements of the Ypres Tower.

The big thing during the 18th century here was smuggling and there are many tales associated with the exploits of these determined and ruthless men - my immediate thoughts were along the lines of 'there must be a good game here somewhere!'

After a very pleasant afternoon (which included searching for a suitable eating house for the evening meal) we to our guest house located just outside Rye in order to refresh ourselves and to prepare the evening. We headed into town and dined at a pub called the Standard which was absolutely first class in respect of the quality of food and service. Walking back to the car through the old town at night was quite eerie and evocative of days gone by - especially around the old part of the town with its cobbles and timber framed buildings.

Our guest house was an old farmhouse just outside of town on the road to Peasmarsh and it is a lovely peaceful place to stay with some fantastic views and a breakfast that will last you until the evening! Sadly I missed the Rye Scallop festival (it was the week before!) but the quality of the local food and beer was a more than adequate compensation.

Whenever I go to a piece of old England I always come over all 'English Heritage' and start thinking about the great shame that my wargaming interests do not include such things as the English Civil War, or of any of the numerous medieval conflicts or even the smuggling option - small numbers of figures and ideal for a skirmish game.

It was a lovely relaxing couple of days and although nothing tangible resulted in respect of any purchases for my hobby I nevertheless came away inspired, albeit in a small way.

C and C Napoleonics with 400 not out....

Apologies for the repeated picture above but it was the only one I had to hand and I do not have the time this evening to take anything more up to date. Last night at the club I had my first game of this variant of the Command and Colours system against the redoubtable Mr. Fox. The scenario we tackled was the Rolica (French Second Position) which in a nutshell had the British trying to catch up with the withdrawing French that had turned to fight a rearguard action along a line of hills. The only way the British could get to the Fench was along 4 very rugged gullys. Mr Fox was the French whilst yours truly was the Duke (and if anyone has ever seen my nose they will understand exactly why I am eminently suited for the part!). I will not describe the action on a turn by turn basis - suffice it to say the French won 5 - 3 - simply because I want to concentrate on the rules etc themselves. All credit though to Mr Fox who handled the defence in a masterly fashion and successfully made a meal in pieces of the British piecemeal attacks! Briefly, the British were only able to attack from the flanks due to the cards and although these attacks were able to force the heights it was always with insufficient strength to make it stick and so these isolated forays were easily overwhelmed. Mention should be made though, of the 'kamikaze' Portuguese cavalry unit that, had it been as historically effective as the unit in question in the game, could have given the Duke some interesting options....

The order cards for the game really capture the feel of the era and the use of a block based system for resolving combat rather than having units fight at full strength until they are destroyed works well but does take a little getting used to after Battle Cry and Memoir 44. The effect of stationary infantry being more effective than moving is nicely captured and the effectiveness of light troops is handled well although I suspect that this area of the rules will be subject to some debate. The rules for infantry squares seemed to work well - an infantry square parked on a hill with enemy cavalry hovering close by and under attack by two enemy foot units should really not expect to be around for long and this was indeed the case.

Inevitably after reading the rules after the game I have realised that a few things were not handled correctly but will obviously be taken under consideration for the next outing which I hope will not be too long in coming. I want to use the blocks on my Hexon terrain on a 3d basis and believe that this will look good - even to the extent of deploying the blocks in formations as the game board hexes are too small to be able to do this.

All in all it was very good first run out and my thanks once again to Mr Fox for the game and the object lesson in how not to attack an enemy parked on a hill line!

Today also sees my 400th post and as ever, I am truly thankful to everybody for their comments and observations, hints and ideas and continued support for my efforts. It is no exaggeration to say that without these contributions and unstinting support many of my projects would still be languishing on the back burner and so I thank you all for taking the time out to keep me ticking over!

Here's to the next 400!!

Bigger and Smaller Hulls with a dash of Napoleonics....

I shaped the hulls last night for the CSS Louisiana and Mississippi and they are LARGE! In order to maintain a small degree of relative size differential between the Confederate casemates I have very slightly reduced the hull sizes of the existing models hulls. Merely filing a couple of millimetres off the bow and stern has made a significant but subtle difference in maintaining the relative sizes. This has also served to help maintain the look compared to the Union ships as well so this was an added bonus although they are not true to an exact scale. I should be able to get these two models finished in fairly short order although the 36 gun ports will be interesting....;-)

C and C Napoleonics this evening at the club and I am really looking forward to trying the game out and will report the results in due course.

'Cry Havoc, and let slip the Blocks of War!'

The 35 Minute Ironclad

Why the 35 minute ironclad? Very simple really, as that is exactly how long it took me to build this model of the CSS Manassas - formerly the icebreaker Enoch Train. The hull was shaped from a single piece of Balsa wood with the inevitable plastic trimmings and she comes in at around 1 3/4" long so is the smallest of all the models I have thus far built. I think she sits a little taller than she should but that was a conscious descision on my part and I have done this with the whole collection, primarily for visual impact.

I also marked out the hulls for the CSS Louisiana and Mississippi - these will be 3 1/2" long and is the limit I can go to if I want to keep a ship within a single Hexon tile - and will begin construction in earnest on these two ships this evening.