Over the Christmas period I read Antoine Vanner's latest book – BRITANNIA'S SPARTAN: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: JUNE 1859 AND APRIL - AUGUST 1882 – and it turned my mind to nautical matters. It is some time since I fought any naval wargames, and now that my re-fight of the 'Attack on Morobad' and modular fortress projects are over, I am giving some thought to fighting some naval wargames for a change.
Looking back through my blog entries, I find that I always seem to be drawn back to that period of naval history when ships were steam powered, clad in iron and/or steel armour, and fought against ships that they could see through the open sights of their guns ... in other words the latter part of the nineteenth century and early years of the twentieth.
I was somewhat amazed to realise that last January I also had one of these periodic flurries of interest in naval wargaming, which resulted in my building a couple of armoured cruiser/gunboats ...
... one of which then featured in a mini-campaign.
Bearing this in mind, I have a feeling that some of my forthcoming blog entries will have a distinct nautical feel or theme to them.
Looking back through my blog entries, I find that I always seem to be drawn back to that period of naval history when ships were steam powered, clad in iron and/or steel armour, and fought against ships that they could see through the open sights of their guns ... in other words the latter part of the nineteenth century and early years of the twentieth.
I was somewhat amazed to realise that last January I also had one of these periodic flurries of interest in naval wargaming, which resulted in my building a couple of armoured cruiser/gunboats ...
... one of which then featured in a mini-campaign.
Bearing this in mind, I have a feeling that some of my forthcoming blog entries will have a distinct nautical feel or theme to them.
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Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteIt will be really good to see those models being put through paces once again - assuming it does then I can see my project list being skewed slightly!
(Thoughts of 1880s ironclads in the Black sea spring to mind....)
All the best (and with an air of bowing to the inevitable),
DC
For some reason I find myself thinking of Alexandria and of Morobad. The new fortifications could be the basis of a mini amphibious campaign.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn view of your period interest you might be interested in this Osprey publication due out in March - "The Imperial Japanese Navy of the Russo-Japanese War". (New Vanguard) Paperback – 20 Mar 2016 by Mark Stille (Author),Paul Wright (Illustrator). Apologies if you are already aware.
David Crook,
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that there will be a flurry of shipbuilding taking place in the Shooters Hill shipyards in the near future ... and that the building programme may well include a number of generic ironclads of different types.
All the best,
Bob
Ross Mac,
ReplyDeleteIt will be no surprise for you to find out that I have been thinking along similar lines!
All the best,
Bob
David Bradley,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information. I have now ordered a copy and look forward to its arrival in March.
All the best,
Bob
I agree that the "Pre-Dreadnaught" period is one of the most entertaining of navel periods . . . and remember that through most of it they didn't even have 'wireless' to communicate with.
ReplyDeleteHave fun, Bob.
-- Jeff
Love the gunboats and the simple but very effective style you've achieved, Bob. I look forward to viewing and reading more !
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the Chibimaru battleship kit arrived from Japan a couple of days ago. Looks like it's going to be a fun build.
Steve
Bob, if you are interested in those Chibimaru kits, they are in my local store for about 1500 yen. Give me a shout at prufrock DOT japan AT gmail DOT com if you'd like me to send some over to you.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Aaron
Always look forward to seeing the Navy in action BOB- on land and on sea. Regards. KEV.
ReplyDeleteBluebear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that a ship or flotilla commander would be given general instructions or orders, but had to use their own initiative when it came to putting them into effect, just as they had done in Nelson's day.
All the best,
Bob
Corporal_Trim,
ReplyDeleteMy hope is that by keeping the models simple and robust I can use them as pretty well any generic ship that I need.
I will be interested to hear how the Chibi Maru model looks when finished as I am thinking about buying some.
All the best,
Bob
Prufrock (Aaron),
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer, and I will be in contact later this month about what you might be able to send me and how I can pay.
All the best,
Bob
Kev,
ReplyDeleteThe late Victorian era seemed to feature quite a few 'combined operations', and they can provide lots of inspiration for wargame scenarios.
All the best,
Bob