Return to Madasahatta ... or somewhere nearby (3)

Recently, I was able to retrieve the 15mm figures and model ships that I used for my Dammallian, Mankanikan, and Marzibarian wargames.

British Dammalia

The senior commanders of the British forces in Dammallia.

The Royal Essex (front) and Queen's Own Rifles (back) infantry battalions.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions, Dammallian African Rifles.

The British Dammallian Police Battalion (front) and the Dammallian Native Police Battalion (back). In time of war, these two police units would be placed under military command.

The locally-recruited Port Albert Infantry Battalion (front) and Port Albert Artillery (back).

Officer and men of the Royal Navy.

HMS Insolent, a flatiron gunboat.

German Mankanika

The senior commanders of the German forces in Mankanika..

The 1st (German) Schutztruppen (front), 2nd (African) Schutztruppen (middle), and 3rd (African) Schutztruppen (back) Battalions.

German Schutztruppen Artillery (left) and 1st and 2nd Mankanikan Native Police Battalions (right). In time of war, these two police units would be incorporated into the Schutztruppen.

Officer and men of the Imperial German Navy.

SMS Meteor, a small cruiser/colonial gunboat.

The Sultanate of Marzibar

The senior commanders of the Marzibarian armed forces (front) and 1st and 2nd Battalions, Sultan of Marizibar's Guard (middle and back).

Marzibarian Artillery (left), 1st and 2nd Battalions, Marzibarian Zouaves (right front and middle) and officers and men of the Marzibarian Navy (back).

Sultan Abdulla, a small gunboat/ram.

Arab forces

Arab artillery (left) and four bands of Arab riflemen..

Miscellaneous

Two coastal passenger steamers.

Three sailing dhows.

Return to Madasahatta ... or somewhere nearby (2)

Eric Knowles' Madasahatta Campaign served as a model for my own colonial imagi-nation setup. It featured three countries:

British Dammallia

Named by Sir Archibald Creep, the first European explorer to set foot there. It is reputed that the name resulted from Sir Archibald's Portuguese cartographer and man-servant mis-hearing his master's comments about the county; ‘There's damn all 'ere!’.

The Colony is administered for the Crown by the Colonial Office in London, and there is a Colonial Governor resident in the capital, Port Albert, but the main power lies with the British Afro-Asian Colonial Company which owns the rights to almost everything.

German Mankanika

Named by Doctor Franz Mattengloss, the first European explorer to set foot there.

The Colony is administered for the Imperial German Government by the Colonial Ministry in Berlin, and there is a Colonial Governor in the Capital, Port Wilhelm.

The Sultanate of Marizbar

It is ruled by the Sultan of Marzibar, who owes titular allegiance to the Sublime Porte, but who rules Marzibar as a despot. Marzibar is an island that is eight miles long by two miles wide on which are situated several small villages and a town, Marzibar City. The latter was called the ‘Venice of Africa’ by Arab explorers and traders during the 17th Century; it has also been described as ‘the worst, pestilential hell-hole on the coast of Africa’ by Sir Archibald Creep.

I have used these Madasahatta-like colonies as a background for several mini-campaigns and one-off battles in the past ... and methinks that I ought to do so again!

Return to Madasahatta ... or somewhere nearby (1)

I recently had a conversation with my old friend David Crook about the Madasahatta Campaign that we both took part in many years ago. In particular, we talked about how the late Eric Knowles used figures from his huge collection to create the various armies that were fielded during the land campaign as well as the naval battles we fought using Eric's extensive 1/1200th-scale fleets of warships dating from the 1880s to the 1910s.

This set me thinking, and I have spent some time since reading the book I wrote about the campaign. The PDF edition of the book included a colour map of Madasahatta that I drew:

At the outbreak of the campaign, the various forces deployed on the island were as follows:

Garrison of New Surrey (The British Colony)

• Port Victoria
• 3rd Battalion, Connaught Rangers (less 1 Company) [3 Infantry Units]
• 47th Mountain Battery (2 x 12pdr. Guns) [1 Mountain Artillery Unit]
• Rumbletum’s Kraal
• 1 Company, 3rd Battalion, Connaught Rangers [1 Infantry Unit]
• Clinkajeer's Kraal
• 1 Squadron, Bengal Lancers [1 Cavalry Unit]
• Fort Chupatty
• HQ and 2 Companies, 1st Battalion, Ludhiana Sikhs [2 Infantry Units]
• Fort George
• 2 Companies, 1st Battalion, Ludhiana Sikhs [2 Infantry Units]

Garrison of Hansaland (The German Colony)

• Festung Teufel
• 2 Companies, 1st Battalion Askari Infanterie [2 Infantry Units]
• 1 gun (1 x 88mm Howitzer)
• Hansaland Kolonial Artillerie [½ Mountain Artillery Unit]
• Festung Askari
• 2 Companies, 1st Battalion Askari Infanterie [2 Infantry Units]
• 1 gun (1 x 88mm Howitzer), Hansaland Kolonial Artillerie [½ Mountain Artillery Unit]
• Festung Amelia
• 1 Company, 12th Marine Battalion [1 Infantry Unit]
• Seemanstadt
• 12th Marine Battalion (less 1 Company) [3 Infantry Units]
• Bluchershafen
• 10th Wurttemburg Artillerie Batterie (2 x105mm Guns) [1 Field Artillery Unit]

Garrison of the Arab Concession (The Arab/Turkish Colony)

• Port Maleesh
• 1 Battalion, State Guard (4 Infantry Units]
• 1 Battery, Artillery (2 x 88mn Howitzers) [1 Mountain Artillery Unit]

Whoppituppas Tribal Forces (The local native tribes)

• Hornikraal
• Royal Bodyguard [4 Infantry Units]
• The Elephant Regiment [4 Infantry Units]
• Militini's Kraal
• The Lion Regiment [4 Infantry Units]
• Gindrinka's Kraal
• The Leopard Regiment [4 Infantry Units]

In theory, it would not be too difficult to reproduce these forces using 28mm, 15mm, or even 10mm figures ... and it is something that I have considered doing several times over the years.

Eric was a great enthusiast for puns, and this becomes clear when one looks at names he chose for the (fictional) people - and tribes - who were involved in events on Madasahatta:

• Sir Charles Buckpasser-Cleverly Bt.
• Governor of the British Colony of New Surrey
• Ambitious, able, snobbish, but not a soldier.
• Major General Sir Harry Hopeful
• British Military Commander
• Brave, unimaginative, dogged.
• Father Ignatius Stoppit S.J.
• Stern, fervent, Jesuit missionary. Utterly opposed to drinking, wenching, raiding, cattle stealing, cannibalism, pontoon, solo and other savage amusements. Despite advice to the contrary, he has insisted on establishing a mission station in Whoppituppa country, near to their capital, Hornikraal.
• General Freiherr Wilhelm von Boozy, Iron Cross (First Class)
• Governor and Military Commander of the German Colony of Hansaland
• Old Junker family, stiff necked Prussian. Always wears full dress uniform. Cruel and proud, veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. Able tactician. Hates German Colonies, any overseas service, British, Africans and French (in that order). Is a darn sight too friendly with ...
• Jakob Geltmeister
• Local representative of the German trading company HANSA OST AFRIKA. Greedy, gluttonous, sottish. Renowned for his complete lack of either moral or business scruples. Derives considerable profit from shady deals with Makmi Anoffah.
• Makmi Anoffah
• Unscrupulous Levantine trader known to be trading with the Whoppituppas, dealing in slaves, gold, guns, ivory, Daz, Mars Bars, and other dangerous goods. He is supported by an Arab band led by the ...
• Wazir Aminitago
• An Arab Emir noted for organising lightning raids and ambushes and then disappearing as swiftly and suddenly as he came.
• The Firkawi
• A tribe of southern Madasahatta. Fishermen and cattle herders. Their Paramount Chief is Rumbletum. There are two subordinate chiefs, Boosoobi and Clinkajeer. The Firkawi are not very brave. They are employed by the British as porters, guides, askaris, etc. Famous for their inability to navigate off tracks in the bush.
• The Whoppituppas
• Large fierce inland warrior tribe of Bantu stock. Famed for their savage fighting spirit and untiring virility. They are led by their great war-chief King Gottawhippetindali, the bravest and most lecherous of them all. There are two sub-chiefs, Gindrinka and Militini, the two eldest of the King's ninety-seven surviving sons.
• The Bairasses
• A very poor downtrodden tribe of Kaffir stock living in Hansaland. Heavily oppressed and exploited by the Germans, who use them as porters, miners, askaris, etc., at a standard rate of one Reichsmark per decade and a daily food ration of as much sauerkraut as they can hold between finger and thumb. Their Headman is Chief Ardup who spends his time trying to please the Germans, the Whoppituppas, and the Arabs all at once and wondering where the next meal is coming from. The Bairasses expect a short life and a sticky finish and are rarely disappointed.
• The Dodgilot
• A tribe of nomads living in the unexplored Bush country of North Madasahatta. They are very elusive, hostile to all other men, and are led by a very fat, indolent chieftain called King Stukinakarsi. After one or two border clashes, the Germans have decided to leave them well alone and get on with the profitable pastimes of gold mining and Bairass whacking.
• The British have never met them, doubt whether they exist, and consider that they are a figment of German propaganda designed to keep British gold prospectors out of Hansaland.

I strongly suspect that much of the above is no longer acceptable to members of the general public as they reflect the somewhat different views at the time ... but back then we didn't know better.

Madasahatta, the prequel

Due to my ongoing mobility problems, I was unable to the to ‘The Other Partizan’ last weekend. Luckily for me, my old friend and fellow blogger David Crook did go … and was able to take some photographs of the League of Gentlemen Anti Alchemists’ anti-slavery game.

I understand that the driving force behind the game was Chris Hardman, who – along with Eric’s son William, David Crook, Neil Fox, and myself – took part in Eric Knowles’ Madasahatta Campaign, and it was great to see that he used it as a setting for this wargame.

Eric's original Madasahatta map. Click on the image to enlarge it.

A recently re-drawn and coloured version of the Madasahatta map. Click on the image to enlarge it.

The Royal Navy action against the slavers took place forty years before the Madasahatta Campaign took place, and featured some typical Knowlesian characters:

Royal Navy Landing Force

• Major Boote-Necke (Royal Marines)
• Sergeant Wilson (Royal Marines)
• Captain Povey (Royal Navy)
• Lieutenant Phillips (Royal Navy)
• CPO Pertwee (Royal Navy)
• Lieutenant Strange-Wayze (Royal Marine Artilery)
• Major Bloodnok (Zanzibarian Army)

Zanzibarian Slavers

• Mustafa Leikh
• Shufti Khush
• Ali Oop
• Abdul the Terrible
• Bungdit Dhin
• Randhi Bhugah
• Omar Bhang

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Please note that the photographs featured above are © David Crook and Chris Hardman.

Eric Knowles: A wargaming original: A YouTube video tribute

Eric Knowles was one of the small group of wargamers who were active in the later 1950s and early 1960s. He was an extensive collector and painter of figures etc., and took part in the famous 1965 refight of the Battle of Waterloo ...

... where he took on the role of Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton.

When he took early retirement from the newspaper industry, he bought Wall Models Ltd., in East Ham, London, and renamed it New Model Army. It then became the focal meeting point for a large number of wargamers – including me – and its basement became the venue for the battles fought as part of the famous Madasahatta Campaign.

Eventually, Eric sold his shop and moved – with his wife Ivy – to Lincolnshire. He remained very active and continued to wargame until he died in 2017.

I have added a video about Eric to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel. It is my tribute to him and everything he gave to the hobby of wargaming.

I now have a 1:1200th-scale 'as built' model of the IJNS Fuso

I recently wrote a blog post about buying a 1:1200th-scale model of IJNS Fuso and lamenting the fact that it depicted the ship as it appeared after its reconstruction in the 1920s and late 1930s. In response to this, one of blog readers – Neil Pattertson – suggested that I contact XP Forge, who include a 3D-printed resin model of IJNS Fuso 'as built' in the range of products that they sell. I looked at the website, saw that the cost of the model was only £10.00 (plus postage) ... and bought one!

It has now been delivered, and it looks like this:

It needs to be painted, but at least I now have a model of IJNS Fuso as she was when she became the 'Furious Fuso' during the Madasahatta Campaign.

The East Africa Campaign 1914-18: Von Lettow Vorbeck’s Masterpiece

In yet another example of apparent synchronicity, a copy of David Smith’s THE EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN 1914-18: VON LETTOW VORBECK’S MASTERPIECE was delivered. This campaign was one of the main inspirations for Eric Knowles’s Madasahatta Campaign and coming so soon after Carl Luxford’s wonderful gift of Askaris, Arabs, and African Colonial figures, I have an urge to set up and fight a mini-campaign set somewhere in a mythical version of Africa.

The book nine sections and an index:

• Origins of the Campaign
• Chronology
• Opposing Commanders
• British
• German
• South African
• Opposing Forces
• Orders of Battle
• Opposing Plans
• The East African Campaign
• Part I: The British offensive
• Part II: The railway war
• Part III: The South African offensive
• Part IV: The Germans withdraw
• Part V: The final stage
• Aftermath
• The battlefield today
• Further reading
• Index

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THE EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN 1914-18: VON LETTOW VORBECK’S MASTERPIECE was written by David Smith, illustrated by Graham Turner, and published in 2022 by Osprey Publishing as No.379 in their Campaign series (ISBN 978 1 4728 4891 8).

A wonderful gift

Yesterday I mentioned that Carl Luxford paid me an all too fleeting visit to give me a gift. It consisted of a card with a wonderful picture of Whitby on the cover ...

... and a sealed metal box with ‘Hotel Chocolat’ on the lid.

When I opened the card, it contained a ‘Thank You’ for some books that I sent him and included a cryptic message that hinted at what the box contained … and when I opened it, I was gobsmacked! It contained what Carl described as an African Colonial playset … and in my opinion, this was a massive understatement!

As the following photograph shows, the ‘playset’ consisted of a number of Askaris and European officers, native and Arab troops (including cavalry), and native bearers. They are all beautifully painted and based … and my first thought was that these figures cry out to be used for a Madasahatta-type game.

Thank you, Carl, for your wonderful gift!

Three more book PDFs are now available

I have continued to add further titles to the list of book PDFs that are available to buy from Wargames Vault.

The books are:

The Portable Napoleonic Wargame

The Portable Colonial Wargame

The Madasahatta Campaign

The PDFs are US Letter size rather than A5 size, and as it previous books, the text and illustrations have been adjusted to to make the best of the increased page size. In the case of The Madasahatta Campaign, recently drawn coloured versions of the campaign maps have also been added to the text.

Fletcher Pratt Naval War Game

This morning I am off to central London to take part in a naval battle that is being put on by members of the Jockey's Fields Irregulars. The rules that are going to be used are a version of Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame rules, and my role will be to act as the admiral commanding one of the opposing fleets. I have even bought a suitable hat for the occasion!

When I was younger and fitter, I used to enjoy being one of the active participants in a Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame, but age and infirmity (mainly arthritis) mean that although I can get down without any problems, getting back up is somewhat difficult ... and I cannot spend the entire day crawling about on the floor!

I was first read about Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame in Donald Featherstone's book NAVAL WAR GAMES but never used the rules until I took part in Eric Knowles's Madasahatta Campaign. During one of the battles we fought during that campaign, I commanded the Imperial Japanese battleship Fuso ... with deadly results for the combined German/Turkish squadron opposing me!