A WW1 Imagi-Naval Project

The African Queen, before she reached the lake (the Gin had already been dumped at this point....).

Now that the first phase of the Lake Tanganyika project has been completed, I have spent some time thinking about how best to take this idea further. I had previously mentioned about the Madasahatta expanded campaign idea that would include both East Africa and the Red Sea. The main thrust of this assumed that the German East Asia squadron headed west rather than east and based itself on the island of Madasahatta. The rest of the setting kind of designed itself with ships being added as required - making use of German East Africa and the Arabian peninsula up to the Red Sea.

I also wanted to factor in the operations in West Africa - mainly as it would provide as good excuse to add in the French as well as some more gunboats - which although challenging from a geographic point of view will make the overall situation more interesting.

I have been compiling a list of ships to run with this and despite the potential scale of the area of operations this is relatively modest. However, some of the models themselves will be quite challenging to build - especially as I will need a lot of bits and bobs custom cut by Warbases. What I will need to do is to ensure that there is a lot of commonality in terms of parts etc in order to make it a more cost effective exercise.

I have had a bit of a thought about the whole Scharnhorst/Gneisenau East Asia Squadron angle and have decided to change this a little. I am instead going to use a pair of fictional German Cruisers - SMS Blucher from 'Shout at the Devil' and the SMS Ziethen from C.S. Forestor's Brown on Resolution. They will be sisters and in my mind's eye will look like the love child of the actual Blucher of Dogger Bank fame and the Scharnhorst/Gneisenau. I will have to research both as far as I am able first of all before starting on the build - which is down the batting order in any event.

On the subject of fictional ships I could not resist making a model of the African Queen and as soon as I have worked out how to 'weaponise' her in game terms will pit her against the Louisa and the 6pdr. Incidentally, the Louisa in the film of the African Queen was played by the MV Liemba - formerly the Graf Von Goetzen and still, I believe, in service on Lake Tanganyika.

Finished at Last!

HMS Mimi and Toutou with HMS Fifi (ex Kingani) at the top of the picture

Graft Von Goetzen at the top with the Hedwig Von Wissman (left) and the Kingani (right). The latter has a flag but the camera angle does not show it!

No varnish dramas and with flags proudly flying! I have to say that this little mini project (should that be Mimi project?) has really given me a boost and so I am looking forward to getting them into action and also adding to the collection. There are another half a dozen or so models for Lake Tanganyika and then it will be on to the Rufiji Delta, West Africa and then the Red Sea.

Methinks that Warbases are going to be busy….

First of all though, redoing some pictures and fighting a battle, possibly two!

Lake Tanganyika - Going Forth With Mimi and Toutou

With apologies for the picture quality - Graf Von Gotzen at the top, Hedwig Von Wissman below the Graf, Kingani/Fifi - the same ship but will feature both the German and then the Royal Navy ensign following her capture and finally Mimi and Toutou. Just the varnishing needed and the all important flags and then - to battle!

Ok then, the models are built and merely need varnishing and the all important ensigns and we are ready to go! I need to get some pictures redone for Steamer Wars: Hexed once they are ready so, all being well, it should be available via the Wargames Vault next month.

The build was quite a learning curve in many ways as well as being a useful way to get back into the construction groove.

The main takeaways are as follows:

1. Plan and use plans (the internet is your friend, along with Jane’s, Conway’s and a whole host of other titles!

2. Paint items prior to assembly- especially where overhangs are involved!

3. Make sure any holes are drilled out with the right sized bit….

4. Think about ‘universal pieces’ - items of superstructure or hull that can be designed and produced by Warbases across as many models as required.

5. In short, remember the 7 P’s!

 

The First of the Few....

Ready to boss Lake Tanganyika and probably suitable for commerce raiding duties as well. 5" long and 1 1/4" across the beam. Solely painted with Vallejo acrylics and made from MDF for the hulls, elements of the superstructure, gun shields and the boats, card for the hatch covers, dowel for the funnel, bamboo skewers for the crane uprights and cocktail sticks for the crane arm and flagstaff. 

No, I am not talking about Spitfires or anything aerial related - rather the model you see above is the first of the few needed for my WW1 Lake Tanganyika project. She is the largest of the lot and is based upon or inspired by the German Graf Von Goetzen.

I am pleased with how she turned out but since that picture was taken I have had a bit of a nightmare with her! My tin of satin varnish - admittedly a few years old - seemed to have 'gone off' and after a coat of the same the model had all manner of dirty streaks everywhere although the varnish itself was lovely and satin. The result was probably accurate but not the look I was aiming for. Anyways, I have gone over the offending pieces with some fresh paint and have applied a coat of brand new varnish so hopefully all will be well. 

The other five models are painted but are awaiting their weapons which I had hoped to have been able to attend to today but for the varnish incident.

I have learned a lot from this build and for sure there are certain things I would do differently going forwards. Painting pieces prior to assembly being one of them!

WW1 in 200 Pages

Not my usual style of reading material but….

….it covers all the bases and has some wonderful battle scenes. Besides, at the cost of £1 it was too good to turn down - so I didn’t!

First piece of WW1 related news - the models for Lake Tanganyika are roughly 80% finished with everything painted but requiring final assembly, last minute touching up, varnishing and the addition of the all important flags. I shall be spending some more time on them this evening with a view to finishing them all off tomorrow. An action or two will then follow shortly - using the hexed version of Steamer Wars and Bob Cordery’s Mimi and Toutou go Forth rules found in his excellent book: Gridded Naval Wargames.

Second piece of WW1 related news - I picked up the book above at our local boot sale this morning for the princely sum of £1. It is by no means a detailed account of the battles included but serves as a good primer. It is chock full of colour pictures and some very nice battle scenes. I suppose you would class it as a coffee table book but it is nice to own and serves as a great taster for the battles of the Great War.

There are some other titles in the series - WW2, the ACW, Battles of the Great Commanders and Great Battlefields of the World.

The ACW version may be worth digging out but we shall see.

Carry On Up The Jungle By Following That Camel....

Two theatres of the Great War of a particular interest....

East Africa - obviously nowhere near as detailed as the board game Schutztruppe but a great primer all the same

The siren call of the desert.... I can almost hear Maurice Jarre's epic soundtrack to one of my all-time favourite films.....

No, this is not about the two Carry On films - rather it is fleshing out the why's and wherefore's of my current flight of fancy, a WW1 naval campaign based around East Africa, the Arabian peninsula and Madasahatta.

By a huge twist of fate - aka a convoluted internet search - and following an industrial quantity of assorted disposals, I was able to acquire the two games you see above. These are by Decision Games and are part of their 'Mini Games' series. Of the two the Lawrence of Arabia title is a solitaire game whilst Lettow-Vorbeck is designed for two players. Either way I reckon that both can be played solo - I have 'form' in doing this so it will not be a problem!

There is no real connection with my planned campaign style set up with either of these two games other than that the subject matter is of relevance. Having said that, the idea of 'point to point' movement would translate into a Portable Wargame  Campaign type of set up - especially if Madasahatta could be accorded similar treatment.

That is not something I would do BUT, I know a man that might..... :-)

Madasahatta would of course be a naval hub in all this as its location would be astride the routes into the Red Sea as well as towards East Africa. 

Needless to say I now have rather a lot to think about!

Madasahatta Meandering and Arabian Activity

A smattering of inspirational reading material for my ‘no so latest’ flight of fancy!

This is not really a new post as such - more like a ‘the story so far’ kind of thing! If you look through the Madasahatta folder you will see a number of ideas I have bounced around over the years - mainly from the naval side and incorporating Madasahatta, East Africa and the Red Sea/Arabian peninsula. Originally I worked on the basis that the German East Asia squadron - centred on the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau - headed west rather than east, to be based on Madasahatta. In fact I have acquired the models for this in 1:2400th from Tumbling Dice. 

Fast forward to today and with the Lake Tanganyika project in full flow - serious painting starts today - I am now looking to revisit the earlier idea, albeit on a smaller scale. 

Previously I had included the Goeben and Breslau, a brace of ‘I’ class Royal Navy battlecruisers, HMS Triumph and Swiftsure and a random selection of assorted obsolete cruisers etc. Looking at this from the perspective of building the models myself the project itself now will be at a lower level. There will be a degree of fudging in terms of the ships involved but being as this is designed firmly with Steamer Wars or similar in mind, that will be no bad thing. As it stands the largest ship that will appear will probably be the odd predreadnought battleship so no battlecruisers. 

As it stands the list of models to build is surprisingly small but overall there will be more work involved in the construction of them. As far as possible I will use what bits and pieces I have from stock but there will certainly need to be some bespoke pieces ordered from Warbases, mainly hull pieces.

This will be naval war of older and extemporised warships, gunboats and second line types with the odd more modern vessel - mainly of the light cruiser variety. 

As yet I have given no thought to the land side - either in Africa or Arabia - but in either theatre the rules of choice will probably be the Portable Colonial Wargame or maybe even When Empires Clash. The block armies will be used for this.

As far as naval rules are concerned I will need to think about this as Steamer Wars is fine for the gunboat level stuff but would rolling out light cruisers be a step too far? In any event I do not have to worry about that for now as the first batch of building will feature nothing larger than a gunboat or possibly an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). I will need to think about merchantmen though, primarily as targets methinks!