Summer 2024

It has been some time since I posted on the blog.  Some games have been taking place, but I just haven't got around to reporting them.  Being summer other commitments come to the fore and so this is by way of a postcard from my travels.

At the Riverside Museum in Glasgow I came across this display featuring the Glasgow built ships which ran the Union blockade to trade with the Confederate states,

The last picture was a trip down memory lane.  Way back in my youth a company which produced bubblegum decided to boost sales by including rather graphic picture cards depicting the ACW.  In addition the packs included facsimiles of Confederate currency.  Now I have never liked bubblegum, but like all my classmates I collected the cards and the money.  The latter was used in games of pontoon, fortunately not leading to a life of gambling.

I have posted about the Riverside Museum before, and included photos of ship models, but here are two more

On another day, further west we visited Tarbert on Loch Fyne.  Of interest to me here were the remains of the castle.

It was quite a climb, but the view over the harbour was worth it

Earlier ion the summer we went to Cornwall and while there we visited St Michael's Mount.  In the museum there were several artefacts collected by the family.

Flag captured at the battle of El Teb

A shield from the same source

Plan for the year

Uncertain as the times are, it is always best to at least make an effort to have a bit of structure to what you would like to do for the next few months.  Up to easter the main project will be the Austrian fleet for the battle of Lissa (1866).  This is my part of a joint project with Steve, who will be painting up the Italian fleet.  The ships are produced by Spithead Models and come in four batches, the first at the end of last year and the remainder at monthly intervals this year, starting this month.  They are 1:1200 scale

Here are the first squadron of gunboats, four more are nearing completion

Hum, with her sisters Vellabich and Dalmat

Steve has assembled the Italians' frigate squadron, here are two of them

The next batch are Austrian Avisos and Italian ironclads, plenty to look forward to.  

In between the ship painting and rigging I hope to plod on with the Eastern Renaissance collections, Ottomans, Poles and Cossacks in particular, though at some stage I would like to fit in a couple of units of reiter for the Muscovites.

Black Seas

At the RECON show in December, Steve purchased the "Master and Commander" starter set for Black Seas.  With 6 of the ships completed, 2 frigates and 4 brigs, he felt it was time to try out the basic rules and get a feel for the game.

Two views of the completed frigate model.  The ships are fairly easy to assemble and Steve found that painting the parts while they sere still on the sprue made the painting process easier.  What proved to be more fiddly was the rigging, but there are tutorials on You tube and good diagrams in the rule book which comes with the starter set.

Our first game, of one frigate each, was very short.  A couple of broadsides which did minimal damage and then in my next broadside I rolled a 1 (which means a critical hit).  A d6 roll came up '6' which caused a fire on Steve's frigate.  He attempted to put the fire out, but failed and his ship exploded!

The British fire a close range broadside

For our second game, we introduced a brig to each side and this time there was more manoeuvring to gain the 'weather gauge'.  Once again the initial broadsides did little damage, it was only when the range closed that the effects were felt.  Steve's British frigate seized the advantage of sailing with the wind and got in the first close range broadside, which did a good bit of damage.  The French response was poor and when an ill-advised manoeuvre gave the British the opportunity of raking the hapless French, they seized it with both hands.  With casualties on the gun deck and struggling to increase speed, the French were sitting ducks for a final broadside which caused them to strike their colours.

After lunch we played a third game, this time using three ships a side.  This game lasted c 90 minutes and once again was a pounding match between the various ships.  A shift in the wind caused problems for the French and the British gained an advantage which  they held to the end.

Overall we found the games enjoyable.  We used the basic rules, all the crews were trained and the types of ships had the same characteristics, (advanced rules allow for variety in these areas and for marines and special factors).  Gaining the advantage of the wind was an important element of the tactics of the time and this is well represented in the game.  There were one or two minor quibbles over the design of some of the playing aids, (measuring sticks and ship cards) which we thought could have been better designed.  However, the game is easy to pick up and although lacking some detail for combat between small numbers of ships, on a larger scale, with fleets, it will allow big actions to be fought.  (That is if you can afford the models)

RECON 2019 report

A nice way to end the wargaming year.  This show always has a good selection of traders and there were seemed to be more games on offer this year.  We managed to run through our fictional Clifton 1475 scenario four times; with Strickland winning each one.

Lowther on the attack, but things soon begin to unravel

Next to us was a 2mm scale Napoleonic game using the Blucher rules, run by the Chesterfield group

Nearby was another 2mm game, by James Mitchell, this time featuring Culloden and using a gridded map

Warlord Games had a large trade presence, but also ran participation games of their rule sets, the "Black Seas" one caught my eye

Upstairs was another naval game using the Blood and Plunder rules, run by the Ribble Warriors.

Also near the bring and buy stall was a  Terry Pratchett themed game by Grantham Witch Racing

and a Battletech game by Bradford Battletech Battalion

One trade stand that caught my eye was that for Irongate Scenery.  Their 3D printed scenery is very impressive

Many thanks to Bob, Dave, Lynne, Steve and Will for help with the game.  Also to John, who joined us to try out the rules and stayed for a second game!

More photos can be found on Will's blog and a video of the games on you tube

Trying out some new naval rules

This week we tried out "Broadside and Ram" by David Manley.  They are a fast play set of rules specifically for the Battle of Lissa, 1866.  Not having any models for this conflict we turned to  the internet and downloaded some paper cut-out ships.

Our scenario was based on an attempted break out by the Austrian navy to in the face of an Italian blockade.  The picture below shows the Austrian fleet leaving the estuary with the small blockading Italian squadron of wooden warships observing them.  The Austrians have a two squadrons of 3 ships each (wooden on right of picture, iron on left).  Just out of shot the Italians have a squadron of ironclads.

Steve took command of the Austrian fleet, his flagship, Kaiser Max leading the ironclads with Don Juan de Austria and Drache following.  The wooden ships were led by Schwarzenberg followed by Radetzky and Novarra.  I had Duca de Genova observing the estuary, with Gaeta and Maria Adelaide in support.  The ironclad squadron steaming to their assistance comprised Formidabile, Re d' Italia and Re de Portogallo.

The Austrian fleet prepares to leave the estuary

Detail of the "Junior General" ships

Outnumbered 6:1 the Duca de Genova wisely made for the support of the remainder of the squadron.  Having formed line of battle they made for the Austrian wooden ship squadron.  The first salvo from Duca de Genova fell short, but the second struck home, causing moderate damage.  Pressing forward the Italian ship fired another salvo which devastated the Schwarzenberg's gun deck silencing her guns and wrecking the engines, leaving her a drifting hulk.

The Radetzky and Novarra sail past the wrecked Scwarzenberg and head for their ironclads

The two opposing ironclad squadrons were still out of range of each other, but with his squadron of wooden ships coming under such pressure (one ship sunk and the others sustaining damage), Steve directed the fire of Kaiser Max towards Gaete at the rear of the Italian line.  A first salvo missed, but successive ones soon silenced the Gaete's guns.  When  Don Juan de Austria joined in the writing was on the wall and soon the Gaete was reduced to a wreck, later slipping beneath the waves.

Novarra and Radetzky altered course to escape the attentions of Duca de Genova and Maria Adelaide and also bring them closer their ironclad squadron.  The Italian ironclads had been too far away to intercept the Austrian break out and they only arrived in time to try and prevent the Austrian wooden ships escaping.  The Formidabile, at the head of the line received significant damage when Novarra and Radetzky concentrated their fire on her.  This deterred the Italian ships from pursuit and the Austrian fleet sailed away to their home port.

Following lunch we tried the rules again with three squadrons a side and had an indecisive game, with only minor damage inflicted as the two fleets threaded through each other.

In review, the rules are quick and thus suited for fleet action, though the balancing factor is that the fine detail of gun calibre and armour thickness is lost.  The sequence is side A moves, side B fires; side B moves, side A fires which calls for some thoughtful manoeuvring.  As we used the paper ships rather than the 1/2400 models the rules were designed for all the distances were doubled, though tripling may have needed to maintain the proportions.  One thing that appealed to us is that the rules come complete with a section enabling you to carry out a campaign.  Perhaps this will encourage us to make the financial commitment necessary to build the two fleets?

Short break

Five days on the east coast, in February?  We must have been mad.  When we arrived at Whitby, it looked like a bad decision.  Rain and thick fog the order of the day.

The view from our room

Happily, things brightened up considerably the following day and we had sunshine for the remainder of our stay.

Down by the harbour is Battery Parade and in recognition of it's former purpose a 12lb naval gun is on display.

By the beginning of the 20th century the battery was long gone.  In 1914, the Germans found the town undefended when they bombarded it.  [details here] .  A memorial to the event can be found on the cliff top.

The clock on the mantlepiece and the cat silhouette by the window are nice touches.

We had a trip over to Pickering and visited the parish church.  On the walls of the nave can be seen some wall paintings dating from the mid 15th century.

S George

Martyrdom of St Edmund

If you haven't visited the North Yorkshire coast already there is plenty to see.  However, if go in any season other than summer be sure to take warm clothing, (even in summer it is a good idea to have some with you).

Rage at the Armouries and a short break

The busy schedule continued with a visit last weekend to Leeds for the Rage event which showcased the Hundred Years War to mark the move of the Agincourt diorama to Leeds.  Several clubs attended with games and a good range of photographs can be seen on Will's blog.  The Lance & Longbow Society had two games on show;  Simon Chick's Agincourt game and Steve's Bauge game.  He had adapted the scenario to use our version of Lion Rampant so we could offer it as a participation game. Happily we had several 'willing volunteers'.  The two run throughs gave differing games.  In the first Clarence led the English knights across the bridge into Bauge and perished as in history.  The supporting force led by his illegitimate son was crushed by the French.  Fortunately, the archers led by Salisbury managed to drive off the Scots and recover Clarence's corpse.  In the second game, Clarence survived, his unit destroyed the Scots in Bauge almost handed and Salisbury arrived in time to make sure the Scots reinforcements were driven off.  The French were fought to a standstill by Clarence's son and so the result was a clear English victory.  Thanks to Dave, Will, Steve and Martin for making the game such a success.

Layout for the game

Scots in Bauge

Scots in Bauge form up

Clarence prepares for battle

During our short break in the Aylesbury area we visited Bletchley Park.  This was a fascinating day, with plenty of things of interest.  Having watched the film "The Imitation Game" the display on the 'Bombe' was particularly interesting. Museum staff explained the processes involved in trying to determine the settings of the Enigma machine.  One was left with admiration for the skills of Turing in envisioning how such a machine could be built.  If you get the chance the museum is well worth a visit and your ticket will allow admission for twelve months.

Enigma machine

Bombe machine used in the film

Set used for the film set up in Bletchley Mansion

We also had time to visit Oxford and whilst there went to the Pitt-Rivers Museum.  It is a treasure trove of artefacts from around the world.  On the top floor is a collection of arms and armour.  Amongst the exhibits was a grenade launcher from the 18th century.

I had never seen one before and assumed that any grenades used were thrown by hand.  On the ground floor are several cases with models of eighteenth century ships.

On the way home we stopped at Coughton Court a Tudor house with links to the Gunpowder Plot. The Throckmorton family have lived there for 600 years.  Among the exhibits is a relic from Edgehill