Royal Arsenal Community History Day

Firepower – the Royal Artillery Museum – hosted a community history day today. The museum, which is located in the old Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, is putting on a programme of events this summer – including two wargaming shows – and as both my wife and I are interest in the history of our local area, we went along to see what it was like.

Besides a small re-enactment group, there was a talk by Brigadier General Ken Timbers about the history of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and a guided walk – led by local historian Frances Ward – around the main buildings on the Royal Arsenal site.

Of particular interest to me was the presence in the museum of a new exhibit – a multi-barrelled, crank operated machine gun built in Germany in 1881.

The weapon looks very similar to the Nordenfelt and Gardner machine guns of the same era but the only details I could glean were that it was built at Gussstahl und Waffenfabrik in Witten.

Naval wargames … where did I get that idea?

The reference by Ogrefencer to NAVAL WARGAMES – WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II by Barry J Carter on his blog made me scurry off my bookshelves to look at my copy. I knew I had one … I just did not know where!

I found it in the storage box that I use for those wargames books that I want to keep, but that limited space on my bookshelves does not allow me to have on show. I have re-read it over the past two days … and have come to the conclusion that it must have had a lot more influence on my thinking than I had ever realised.

I bought my copy back in 1975 when it was published, and at the time I remember reading it with considerable interest. However I had just moved from a job in Harlow, Essex to one in London, and my time for wargaming was rather limited. The book went onto my bookshelves, and I have probably only glanced at it a dozen or so times since – hence its relegation to the ‘to keep for future reference’ box.

The book contains sections on how to create wargames navies as well as a set of rules for re-fighting naval battles from the First and Second Word Wars … on a squared playing surface. Having looked at the diagrams that illustrate certain aspects of the rules, they must have stuck in my memory because some of the diagrams that I have produced over the years are very similar.

This book now occupies a place of honour on my bookshelves … and I am very thankful that I kept it for all those years!

If you go down to the shed today … again!

No work today, so after doing all the chores I had I set off again to examine the contents of the shed.

This time I managed to get all the storage boxes out and was able to spread them out on the lawn. In addition to what I already knew that I had, I found the following:

• A boxful of assorted die cast vehicles including nine agricultural-style tracked tractors of the sort used by the Red Army to tow heavy artillery, at least a dozen saloon cars suitable for use as staff cars, and various generic 1930s and 1940s trucks.
• A box that contained enough painted vehicles to equip a MEGABLITZ Panzer division and two painted WWII Hungarian infantry battalions (plus supporting artillery) based for COMMAND DECISION (2nd Edition). The latter could easily be re-based and would provide enough figures and equipment for at least four or five MEGABLITZ Hungarian infantry divisions!
• Two more boxes of unmade 1:72nd and 1:76th scale military vehicle kits
• Another boxful of various unmade plastic kits, including two 1:350th scale models of the American battleship USS OREGON, three 1:87th scale barges/coasters, three 1:87th scale Tugs, and six AIRFIX 1:72nd scale warships (three Vosper MTBs, two ASRs, and an E-Boat).
• A boxful of ‘bits’ – mainly spare parts from models, but including some complete unmade kits.
• Two 1:300th scale painted Spanish Civil War armies (a real bonus as I thought I had lost them long ago!).
• Two boxfuls of unpainted lead figures in plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and loose, including some original Minifig 25mm Crimean War Russian infantry.
• Two boxfuls of board games – including Avalon Hill’s GUNS OF AUGUST – and gaming equipment. The latter included numerous game counters and dice.

I just had not realised how much stuff I had stored in the shed, and it has given me pause for thought as to what I will do with it all. In the meantime I have put it all back, but this time I will have my blog to remind me of what is there!

What to do with my Minifigs Warships?

After a very busy day yesterday, I have had a somewhat less stressful day today.

The only wargames-related task I managed to do yesterday was to help Ogrefencer with his adaptation of Phil Barker’s DAMN BATTLESHIPS AGAIN for a gridded square tabletop. He had created the original in Microsoft Excel, and I re-typeset them for him in Microsoft Word with the addition of several diagrams that I produced using Microsoft Visio.

Doing that set me thinking about what I want to do with my Minifigs World War I model warships. Because I have eight battlecruisers and only three Dreadnoughts, my options are somewhat limited. Also, because further supply of the models is non-existent, any project must use what I have and not reply on future ‘reinforcements’.

After some thought – and a look at Conway’s ALL THE WORLD’S WARSHIPS 1906 – 1921 – I decided that I could create three ‘South American’ navies, based loosely on the Argentinian, Brazilian, and Chilean Navies of the 1914 to 1920s. They all had at least one or two Dreadnought battleship, a couple of cruisers, and a flotilla or two of destroyers. I could easily manage this from what model warships I have, and I would still have a few models over.

The models are not exactly right but … with a little bit of alteration here and there they might pass muster except in the eyes of real rivet counters.

The Brazilians were the least problematic as their battleships – SAO PAULO and MINAS GERAIS – were very similar to the original DREADNOUGHT.

The Argentinian RIVADAVIA and MORENO were very distinctive designs with two funnels separated by two en echelon turrets, but after looking at my model of HMS INVINCIBLE I realised that I could get the general ‘look’ right if I removed the centre funnel. Rather than do that and then discover I have made a terrible mistake, I used SERIF PHOTOPLUS to manipulate the existing image of the model … and in my opinion it passes muster.

I then did something similar with the image of the model of HMS LION/PRINESS ROYAL. By ‘removing’ the rearmost funnel, I have produced something that looks like the Chilean Super-Dreadnoughts ALMIRANTE COCHRANE and ALMIRANTE LATORRE.

I am still thinking about this project, but having seen the possibilities the models present, it has become a very attractive proposition to be added to my list of ‘to do’ projects for later this year.

A short breather …

Having found the two sets of painted and based 15mm Peter Laing figures in my shed, I thought that I would take a short but necessary breather from operational-level wargames design and see if I can use any of them with my modified version of the TABLE TOP BATTLES wargames rules.

I checked the size of the bases the figures are on and was very pleasantly surprised to find that they fit quite well into the 5cm squares. This means that I could use some of the Chaco War figures – which are paint conversions from Peter Laing’s range of WWI British and Russian figures – for my currently moribund Laurania campaign. This would be a diversion from my current plans, but …

If you go down to the shed today …

Well I did … and I did get a surprise! Now that I have had more time to search through the pile of plastic storage boxes I had put in the garden shed some years ago, I have found loads of wargaming stuff that I thought that I had lost or had forgotten that I had.

What I had 'found' includes:

• A boxful of ROCO Minitanks, some of which are painted but most of which are still in their original boxes.
• A boxful of made and unmade HO scale buildings.
• A boxful of unmade 1:72nd and 1:76th scale military vehicle kits.
• Two complete 15mm painted armies for the Chaco War (the figures are Peter Laing WWI figures organised into regiments of 20 figures).
• Two small 15mm painted nineteenth century ‘imagi-nation’ armies (again, these are all Peter Laing figures).
• A boxful of unmade 1:1200th scale plastic model ships.
• A boxful of various unmade plastic kits, including 1:400th scale models of the Russian battleship POTEMKIN and cruiser AURORA.

This is quite a lot of stuff that I will need sort out over the next few months. Some of it I can use almost immediately, but much of it will need to remain in storage until I can decide what I am going to do with it.

Operational-level Wargame Design 8: First draft complete

The first draft on my operational-level wargames rules – OPERATIONAL ART – has now been completed.

I have uploaded a PDF version to the RED HEX WARGAMES website so that anyone who wants to read them can do so. Please remember that they are still a working draft and not properly play-tested. I hope to begin this process later in the week. In the meantime I am putting the rules to one side so that when I read them again I will do so with a fresh set of eyes … which is when I will begin to see all the mistakes!

Operational-level Wargame Design 7: Progress report

Despite my best-laid plans, I have not yet finished the first draft of my operational-level wargames rules.

That said, I have made considerable progress and should have it finished sometime tomorrow. Writing the earlier blog entries about my design philosophy has really helped, as they have given me a structure – and some of the crucial mechanisms – to work with.

A naval diversion

This morning I spent an hour or two doing some work in my garden - not something that I do often. My main task was to dig away the earth that had been washed down the 1 in 10 slope in front of my shed. Once I managed to get the shed door open I found a whole load of wargaming stuff that I had 'forgotten' about.

Amongst this 'goldmine' was a box of World War I model warships that were made by Minifigs many years ago. They include:

No. 5: Lion/Princess Royal Class Battlecruiser

No. 7: Drake Class Cruiser

No. 11: Invincible Class Battlecruiser

No. 12: Dreadnought Class Battleship

No. 13: Cruiser (unknown class )

Note: No. 13 is listed as an Early Turret Battleship in the Minifigs catalogue

No. 15: Transport Ship

No. 20: Destroyer

No. 21: Destroyer

No. 24: Destroyer

No. 26: Submarine

Operational-level Wargame Design 6: Work of drafting begins

Having now decided on a name for my rules – the highly unoriginal OPERATIONAL ART – I have begun word-processing the first draft. With any luck – and a following wind – this should not take long as most of the work has been done already. My plan is to have the draft finished and ready for play-testing by Saturday, but one never knows what will crop up in the meantime …