Other people’s wargames: Nick Huband’s Egyptians vs, Nubians Fast Play 3 x 3 Portable Wargame battle report

Recently, Nick Huband fought an Egyptians vs. Nubians Fast Play 3 x 3 Portable Wargame using a modified version of Mark Cordone’s Ancients adaptation of the rules for a 6 x 6 squared grid.

The battle report:

In the 8th year of his reign the Divine Senusret set out on an expedition to subdue the wretched Kush. This is an account of his victory:

The Egyptians gained the initiative in the first turn and stood fast relying on their archery to wear the Nubians down. They scored 3 hits,  but the Egyptians elected to absorb the hits rather than retreating as the Nubians only hope was to get to close quarters. The warband charged home on the central Egyptian archers using the +1 bonus to contact. In the ensuing melee both sides took a hit with Pharaoh luckily avoiding getting hurt. This was enough to wipe out one of the warbands which had already suffered 1 hit from the bows.

On the second turn the Nubians took the initiative and fired on the Egyptians causing one hit on the spears. On the Egyptian's turn, the spearmen charged the light infantry who, taken by surprise, were unable to evade and suffered one hit and had to retreat. Against the other unit of spearmen the Nubians also doubled their score and wiped the spearmen out.

In the centre the melee continued with the two units backed up by their respective leaders clashing first. An additional modifier was applied in the melee, the difference in strength between the units. The Egyptians threw 6 and the Nubians 5. The Nubians had expended their charge bonus during the last turn, there was no difference in SPs, but the Egyptians gained +1 for having a unit in support. The Egyptians however suffered a -1 modifier being bowmen. The result was that the Nubians lost (just!) and the warband suffered 1 hit. The unit, already having lost 1 SP, was eliminated and the Nubian chief, having thrown a 3 was killed with his men.

At this point the Nubians had lost 8 SPs and fled the field.

Conclusion:

The odds were in the Egyptian's favour but if the pell mell charge by the Nubian warband had succeeded in killing Pharaoh, the Nubians might have won. The massed archery worked well but it was a close run thing!

The rule changes:

Because the 3 x 3 board is smaller than the 6 x 6 board used in Mark Cordone’s rules, the following changes were made:

• Bows had a range of 4 grid areas.
• Nubian warband was rated as barbarians.
• The remaining Nubian infantry was rated as light infantry.
• During activation, only 1 activation point is expended to move all the units in a grid area if they are all moving into the same new grid area.

The initial starting positions. The Egyptians are on the left and the Nubians are on the right.

Massed Egyptian archers. The Pharaoh has taken up a position just behind them.

The Kush (Nubians).

The Egyptian camp ... with all the comforts of home!

The Nubian encampment.

The Egyptian archers and Nubian warbands clash.

The critical clash!

The Nubian army is broken and flees from the battlefield.

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Please note that the photographs featured above are © Nick Huband.

The nineteenth century South American naval arms race (Part 1): The situation in 1883

I recently wrote a short review of Osprey Publication’s SOUTH AMERICAN BATTLESHIPS 1908–59: BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE'S GREAT DREADNOUGHT RACE. The book concentrates on the period from 1908 to 1959, but the rivalry - and an associated naval arms race - went much further back, and saw the Argentinian, Brazilian, and Chilean Navies acquire a number of warships in the period up 1908, some of which were ground-breaking designs at the time.

The Chilean victory in the War of the Pacific (1879 to 1883) was in no small part due to her navy, which in 1883 comprised the following vessels:

• Abtao (Steam Corvette): Originally ordered for the Confederate Navy as the CSS Texas (later Cyclone) and built by Dennis Brothers of Glasgow. She was completed but not delivered by the end of the American Civil War and sold to Chile in time to just to miss service during the Chinchas Islands War. (1866 to 1922)
• Chacabuco (Steam Corvette) (1868 to 1890)
• O’Higgins (Steam Corvette) (1868 to 1895)
• Magallanes (Steam Corvette) (1874 to 1906)
• Huascar (Turreted Ironclad): Captured from the Peruvians at the Battle of Angamos on 8th October 1879 and incorporated into the Chilean Navy. (1864 to the present)
• Almirante Cochrane (Central Battery Ironclad) (1874 to 1933)
• Blanco Encalada (Central Battery Ironclad) (1875 to 1891)
• Janequeo (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1891)
• Lauca (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1891)
• Rucumilla (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1902)
• Quidora (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1902)
• Tegualda (Torpedo Boat) (1891 to 1901)
• Guale (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1899)
• Glaura (Torpedo Boat): Sold to Japan (1881 to 1885)
• Fresia (Torpedo Boat) (1882 to 1884)
• Guacolda (Torpedo Boat) (1882 to ?)

Note: The dates in brackets show the year when the ship was ordered/bought and when is was scrapped/discarded.

Huascar

Almirante Cochrane

Blanco Encalada

Soon the war with Peru and Bolivia was over, a simmering dispute between Chile and Argentina about Patagonia intensified. The border was ill-defined and this led to growing tension between the two countries, and this manifested itself as a naval arms race.

In 1883, the Argentinian Navy had the following ships in service:

• Los Andes (Coastal Defence Turret Ship) (1875 to 1927)
• El Plata (Coastal Defence Turret Ship) (1875 to 1927)
• Almirante Brown (Central Battery Ironclad) (1882 to 1932)
• Maipú (Paddle Torpedo Boat) (1871 to 1902)
• Paraná (Gunboat) (1874 to 1900)
• Uraguay (Gunboat) (1874 to 1903)
• Pilcomayo (Flatiron Gunboat) (1876 to 1896)
• Bermejo (Flatiron Gunboat) (1876 to 1898)
• República (Flatiron Gunboat) (1876 to 1911)
• Constitución (Flatiron Gunboat) (1876 to 1915)

Los Andes

El Plata

Almirante Brown

Other people’s wargames: Gary Sheffield’s refight of the Battle of Wavre

Recently, my old friend Professor Gary Sheffield refought the Battle of Wavre using Martin Rapier’s hex version of Neil Thomas’s ONE HOUR WARGAMES.

The following is based on Gary’s description of the battle:

The French started aggressively by attacking at all the crossing points, Limale in the west, Bierges in centre right, and Wavre in the east. The French got into action quite quickly and made good use of light infantry at Bierges and Wavre to attrit the defenders. The Prussians defended well and held off the French at all three crossing points while relieving battered units from the front line and sending off units to Waterloo.

Wavre became a meat grinder, with both sides taking heavy losses and having to rally off them off. But on turn 8 the Prussian garrison at Limale routed, and since the other infantry unit had departed for Waterloo, it was down to a heavy cavalry division to guard the crossing.

It got worse for the Prussians on turn 9, as the division defending Bierges was routed and the French finally crossed the River Dyle and threatened to outflank Wavre.

Turn 10 threatened to be a complete disaster for the Prussians. The Landwehr unit holding the Bridge of Christ at Wavre was attacked, failed a morale test and bolted, and so French infantry at last forced their way into Wavre. Then General Thielmann was killed while rallying a Prussian Regular unit. The only bright spot for the Prussians was that the Swiss unit finally routed because of the pummelling it had received.

On turn 11 French light cavalry crossed the Dyle at Bierges, and threatened to cut the Wavre-Brussels road, while the French heavy cavalry fought an inconclusive melee with Prussian heavies on the north bank of the River Dyle. At that point darkness came and the fighting ended.

The result was an honourable draw. The French had captured Wavre but failed to exit two units along the Brussels road (they had no chance of doing this by end of turn 12) while the Prussians had sent off 5 units to Waterloo at the appropriate times as per their victory conditions, but had lost Wavre. Had the French managed to force the crossing of the Dyle at Bierges only one or two turns earlier, things might have been very different.

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Please note that the photographs featured above are © Gary Sheffield.

Nugget 366

Last night the editor of THE NUGGET sent me the original of the latest issue. I will be sending it to the printer (Macauley Scott Printing Company, Welling, Kent) later today and I hope that I will be able to collect it early next week. I will then post it out to members of Wargame Developments.

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IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the third issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2024-2025 subscription year.

If you wish to subscribe for the 2024-2025 subscription year and have not yet done so, please request a PayPal invoice or the bank transfer information from the Treasurer or follow the instructions on the relevant page of the website.

Some new books added to my library

Over the past week or so I’ve taken delivery of three books that filled definite holes in my naval history library. They are:

• THE WINDFALL BATTLESHIPS: AGINCOURT, CANADA, ERIN, EAGLE AND THE BALKAN & LATIN-AMERICAN ARMS RACES
• BRITISH BATTLESHIPS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA
• BRITISH CRUISERS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA

These books were recommended tome by the naval historian Toby Ewin and my fellow blogger David Crook … and they are excellent!

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THE WINDFALL BATTLESHIPS: AGINCOURT, CANADA, ERIN, EAGLE AND THE BALKAN & LATIN-AMERICAN ARMS RACES

The book's contents are as follows:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Abbreviations and Conventions
• 1. August 1914 and Beyond
• 2. The Latin-American Connection
• 3. The Balkan Connection
• 4. With the Grand Fleet
• 5. Alternative Service: Erin, Canada, and Agincourt
• 6. Alternative Service: Eagle
• 7. Ends and New Beginnings
• 8. The Ageing Queens of Latin America
• 9. Retrospect
• Appendix: Warships Under Construction for Foreign Customers in August 1914
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

This is a very comprehensive history of the naval arms races that were taking place in the Balkans and Latin America during the early years of the twentieth century and is lavishly illustrated with photographs and line drawings of the ships. many of the latter were drawn by John Jordan and Ian Sturton, both of whom are well-known to students of naval history.

I am very glad that I have added this book to my collection ... and in my opinion, the appendix alone was worth what I paid for the book. It lists the seventy-six warships being built in France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States for Austria-Hungary, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Turkey, and records their ultimate fates.

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BRITISH BATTLESHIPS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA

The book's contents are as follows:

• List of Abbreviations
• Acknowledgements
• 1. British Strategy And The Admiralty
• 2. Revolutions In Ship design
• 3. Racing The French
• 4. The Reed Era: Monster Guns
• 5. The Captain Disaster And The Committee On Designs
• 6. A New Kind Of Warship
• Colour Section: Original Admiralty Draughts
• 7. The Naval Defence Act
• 8. A Continuing Programme
• 9. The Export Market
• 10. The Victorian Battle Fleet At Sea
• Notes
• bibliography
• Ship Data
• Ship List
• Index

Any book covering the history and development of British battleships is inevitably going to be compared with the book written by the late Dr Oscar Parkes. His book BRITISH BATTLESHIPS: WARRIOR, 1860 TO VANGUARD, 1950. A HISTORY OF DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND ARMAMENT is regarded by many – me included – as the definitive source of information about the subject. So. how do the two books compare?

Well, in my opinion, BRITISH BATTLESHIPS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA tells the history of the development of the British battleship during that period rather well indeed. It is well illustrated, and I especially liked the fold-out colour section in the middle of the book. It is also a somewhat lighter tome and easier to read when seated in one's favourite armchair, although I did find some of the type rather small. It is also available to buy for less than £20.00 on the second-hand market whereas the cheapest price I could find for Dr Parkes's book was £45.00 ... and the most expensive was in excess of £200.00!

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BRITISH CRUISERS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA

The book's contents are as follows:

• Acknowledgements
• Illustrator's Notes
• Introduction
• 1. Steam, Sail and Wooden Hulls
• 2. Iron Hulls
• 3. The First Armoured Cruisers
• 4. Fast Steel Cruisers
• 5. Torpedo And Small Cruisers
• 6. Big Cruisers To Protect Commerce
• 7. The Fast Wing Of The Battle Fleet
• Appendix: Vickers Designs
• 8. Epilogue: Fisher's Revolution
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Data List (Specifications)
• List Of Ships
• Abbreviations
• Index

The steam-powered cruiser was the equivalent of the frigate that was used during the Age of Sail. They were designed and built to serve a variety of purposes, ranging from showing the flag to protecting the nation's commerce from attacks by enemy warships. Some were even destined to form part of the main battle fleet where they were destined to serve as scouts and to even engage enemy heavy units.

This book tells the story of the development of the British cruiser from its earliest days until the First World War. It is well illustrated with photographs and line drawings and describes in some detail each of the classes and types of cruiser that were built. It also covers the designs built for foreign navies – such as the heavily-armed and fast Elswick-built cruisers – that influenced the development of the British cruisers.

Although it was written and published before Dr Friedman's book about British battleships, it is an excellent companion publication and one that I have no hesitation in recommending.

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THE WINDFALL BATTLESHIPS: AGINCOURT, CANADA, ERIN, EAGLE AND THE BALKAN & LATIN-AMERICAN ARMS RACES was written by Professor Aidan Dodson and published in 2023 by Seaforth Publishing (ISBN 978 1 3990 6322 7).

BRITISH BATTLESHIPS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA was written by Norman Friedman and published in 2018 by Seaforth Publishing (ISBN 978 1 5267 0325 5).

BRITISH CRUISERS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA was written by Norman Friedman (with drawings by A B Baker III) and published in 2012 by Seaforth Publishing (ISBN 978 1 8483 2099 4).

Additions to my 009/H09 model railway locomotives and rolling stock

Kev Robertson (one of my very regular blog readers) very kindly sold me a brand-new 009 locomotive and some rolling stock to add to my collection.

The locomotive is a PECO 0-4-0 tender locomotive named Princess …

… and the rolling stock are a PECO bogie coach ...

.. and a PECO Guard's Van.

The locomotive is an excellent runner, but the bogie coach is a bit too long for the sharp curves on my current layout and it tends to derail on them if I am not careful. However, I have tried it on the bigger radius curves that I own, and it has no problems on them.

Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering

Yesterday I took part in the Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering.

This started - along with the annual Virtual Conference of Wargamers (VCOW) - as a result of the COVID pandemic and is a combination of Zoom presentations and online discussions, This year’s programme was as follows:

• 14.00: Welcome.
• 14.02: The Military History of Cyprus, Part Two: 1572 to 2024, a presentation.
• 15.00: Break.
• 15.10: The Future of Designer’s Notes in Wargames, a moderated forum.
• 16.25: Break.
• 16.35: Combat Photography 1914-1975: Control and Revolution, a presentation.
• 17.50: Break.
• 18.00: Tetrarchs, Barbarians, Heretics and Eunuchs: Wargaming the Later Roman Empire 284-641 AD, a discussion.
• 19.00: Break.
• 20.15: WATU, the real story, a presentation that might challenge the existing orthodoxy about the success of the WATU games.
• 21.15: Formal close of AVG 2024.
• 21.30: From Kaiserschlacht to Khe Sanh, an after-hours historical lecture and singalong on 1918 and 1968.

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This was probably the best of these events I have attended ... and I have been an attendee at the previous three.

The mixture of presentations and discussions meant that attendees were able to take an active part, and I must admit that I learned a great deal from the three presentations. I knew very little about the military history of Cyprus, almost nothing about the history of combat photography, and although I knew about the role of WATU, I had not realised that it was only one of several such training establishments across the world.

I found the discussion about designer's notes extremely interesting (I happen to be a great fan of them!) and I am already drafting a short article about this topic for possible publication in a future issue of THE NUGGET.

The session about wargaming the end of the Roman Empire was very interesting for me in view of Archduke Piccolo's article in the latest PORTABLE WARGAME COMPENDIUM entitled 'Constantinople Beleaguered'. Having taken part, I understood much more about the events leading to the split into the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

This event was only open to members of Wargame Developments and is one of the major benefits of being a member of the organisation.

My 009/H09 model railway locomotives and rolling stock

Some time ag I promised Kev Robertson (one of my regular blog readers) that I would photograph the collection of locomotives and rolling stock that I’ve acquired to run on my 009/H09 model railway. When I did, I discovered that I own a lot more than I realised!

Locomotives (Runners)

Locomotives (Non-runners)

Passenger Carriages

Vans/Covered Goods Wagons

Open Wagons and Hopper Wagons

Most of the above were bought second-hand via eBay. Most of the ‘non-runners’ have faulty motors or drive systems, and several of the ‘runners’ have been brought back to life by cleaning the drive mechanisms, judicious use of oil on dry wheel bearings, and cannibalising some parts from the ‘non-runners’.

Let’s All Go And Fly (In) A Kite!!

(Apologies to Disney’s film ‘Mary Poppins’ for misquoting the title of one of the film’s songs.)

I finally got my two Blériot aircraft out of their boxes and ‘flying’ across some terrain … in this case, part of the Fobbing Marsh on my MUCKING FLATS AND FOBBING MARSH LIGHT RAILWAY model layout.

I am thinking about adding some markings to the model aircraft so that I can distinguish which of my imagi-nations they belong to, but at present that is not very high on my list of ‘things to do’.

Military parades in Chile

Since I broke my leg six months ago, I have become quite a devotee of YouTube, so much so that I have even started my own YouTube channel. Recently I discovered a number of videos from Chile that show its armed forces undertaking formal parades ... and they certainly go if for impressive displays!

For historical reasons, the Chilean Army has a very Prussian style when it comes to its dress uniforms, its music (including using the Preussischer Präsentiermarsch), and the way it mounts its parades. Its troops even use the traditional goosestep or Stechschritt (literally, 'piercing step') as the following photographs show:

Troopers of the 1st Cavalry (Horse Guards) Regiment 'Grenadiers' in their dress uniforms.

Soldiers from the NCO School still wear the German steel helmet (stahlhelm) on parade.

Gunners of the 1st Artillery Regiment in their dress uniforms. Note that the traditional spike on the pickelhaube helmet has been replaced by a ball, just as it was in the Prussian Army.

Only a few weeks ago, the Chilean public broadcaster, TVN (Televisión Nacional de Chile), broadcast a parade that lasted just under three and a half hours! (The first fifty-five minutes is a celebration of Chilean culture and features folk dance and music.)

It featured units from across the Chilean armed forces and was entitled Gran Parada Militar de Chile en el día de las Glorias del Ejército – 2024 and can be seen on YouTube here. It was interesting to see that some of those troops marching past wore uniforms that looked as if they dated from the Chilean War of Independence.

Watching this parade (and several others) certainly gave me a few ideas for uniforms for late nineteenth and early twentieth century imagi-nations.