Thinking about hexes

The following blog post is the result of some ideas I had whilst I was unwell a week or so ago. Rather like my recent blog posts about psychogeography, I haven't come to any firm conclusions ... but I think that my thoughts are worth sharing online.

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I own Hexon II hex terrain ... a LOAD of Hexon II hex terrain! I like using it in my wargames and my Portable Wargame rules were designed to use them.

There is – however – a problem. Ever since I broke my leg and ended up finding out that I have axonal polyneuropathy – and its related mobility problems – I've only had access to a small part of my collection of hexes. Most of them are in our storage unit, and I only have enough to fill my Portable Wargame warboard. I am missing most of the roads, rivers, hills, and mountains ... and I am not sure when I will be able to rectify this.

That said, I haven't stopped thinking about putting it to good use, especially in conjunction with my Belle Époque project. Regular blog readers will already know that I have been somewhat in the doldrums regarding the the maps I want to use for this project ... other than my decision to try to use the Wargame Map Tool program to create them.

My initial thoughts about the hex maps was to create maps that used one map hex = one Hexon II hex ... but that meant that the maps I created either had to have lots of detail on them – and would take me a long time to create – or would be 'empty' until I 'populated' them with terrain.

I then began thinking about creating a very simple strategic campaign hex map and only worrying about the specific terrain in each hex once opposing forces entered it. This then led to me thinking about whether I could break up each map hex into a number of terrain hexes.

Initially, I looked at the smallest number of hexes I can fit inside a map hex. This was seven:

I then expanded the 'ring' of hexes around the central one, and ended up with nineteen hexes inside the larger hex.

I then expanded it even further until I could get thirty-seven hexes inside the larger hex. This compares with the forty-eight hexes I can fit on my Portable Wargame warboard. In other words, this large hex/small hexes combination is 23% smaller. (I estimate that it will be approximately 70cm/27.5-inches tall and 60cm/24-inches wide ... which will just about fit on my 90cm/36-inches x 60cm/24-inches wargame table)

Hexon II hexes come in two sizes ... a six-hex piece and a single-hex piece. To create my large hex from thirty-seven smaller hexes I could use four of the former and thirteen of the latter.

This rather appeals to me, and I hope to be able to look into this in more detail when time permits.

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I subsequently looked at a battle (The evacuation of Abou Nasir) that I fought on my Portable Wargame warboard as part of my MORE TROUBLE IN ZUBIA mini-campaign. The terrain for the battle looked like this:

I then converted it to fit on my thirty-seven small hex/one large hex map. The result looked like this:

On the strategic map, the hex containing the village of Abou Nasir would look like this:

HMS Bellisle and HMS Rupert

HMS Belleisle and HMS Rupert had somewhat lacklustre and inactive careers in the Royal Navy. In the case of HMS Belleisle (and her sistership HMS Orion), they were designed for the Turkish Navy and bought at the time of a Russian war scare in the late 1870s. As a result, they were oddities and were – in my opinion – only kept in service to help maintain the apparent strength of the Royal Navy. HMS Rupert – on the other hand – was a combination of two previous designs, HMS Hotspur (which was an armoured ram with a fixed turret) and HMS Glatton.

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HMS Belleisle

She was designed by a Turkish naval architect, Ahmed Pasha, and was originally ordered by the Ottoman Navy as the Peik-i-Sheref from the Samuda Brothers shipyard at Cubitt Town, London. She was laid down in 1874, launched on 12th February 1876, commissioned on 2nd July 1878, and completed seventeen days later.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 4,870 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 245ft (75m)
• Beam: 52ft (16m)
• Draught: 21ft (6.4m)
• Propulsion: 4 x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Maudslay Sons & Field horizontal steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 12.1 knots
• Complement: 249
• Armament:
• 4 x single 12-inch (305mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 4 x single 20-pdr breech-loading guns
• 4 x single 3-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns (added in the 1880s)
• 2 x torpedo launching carriages
• Armour:
• Belt: 6-inches to 12-inches (150mm to 300mm)
• Battery: 8-inches to 10-inches (200mm to 250mm)
• Bulkheads: 5-inches to 9-inches (130 mm to 230mm)
• Conning tower: 9-inches (230mm)
• Deck: 1-inch to 3-inches (25mm to 76mm)

HMS Belleisle served as coastguard ship at Kingstown, Ireland from 1878 until 1892, and other than undertaking live firing practice four times each year, a short annual squadron cruise, and a single refit at Devonport, she was inactive. In 1879, her funnel was raised by 16ft (4.9m). She paid off into the "B" Reserve in April 1893, then into the Fleet Reserve in May 1894, and was finally paid off in May 1900 when she was converted into a target ship. She was sunk during tests to see if cellulose could be used to automatically swell and plug holes caused by torpedoes hits and her wreck was raised and sold in October 1903 for scrapping in Germany.

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HMS Rupert

She was designed in the period after the Battle of Lissa (1866) and her primary weapon was intended to be her ram. Unlike the earlier ram built for the Royal Navy – HMS Hotspur – she was fitted with a turret similar to that fitted to HMS Glatton. HMS Rupert was constructed at Chatham Dockyard, Kent, laid down on 6th June 1870, launched of 12th March 1872, and completed on 1st July 1874.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 5,440 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 250ft (76m)
• Beam: 53ft (16m)
• Draught: 22ft 6in (6.86m)
• Propulsion: ? x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Napier steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 13.6 knots
• Complement: 217
• Armament (As built):
• 1 x twin 10-inch (254mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 2 x single 60-pdr smoothbore guns
• Armament (1887):
• 1 x twin 10-inch (254mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 2 x single 6-inch breech-loading guns
• 4 x single 6-pounder quick-firing guns
• 8 x machine guns
• 4 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo tubes
• Armament (1892):
• 1 x twin 9.2-inch (234mm) rifled breech-loading guns
• 2 x single 6-inch breech-loading guns
• 4 x single 6-pounder quick-firing guns
• 8 x machine guns
• 4 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo tubes
• Armour:
• Belt: 9-inches to 11-inches (230mm to 280mm)
• Breastwork: 12-inches (305mm)
• Turret: 14-inches (360mm) on the turret face & 12-inches (305mm) on the sides
• Conning towers: 12-inches (305mm)
• Deck: 2-inches to 3-inches (51mm to 76mm)

Although HMS Rupert was built in Chatham, she was commissioned at Devonport Dockyard. She then served in the Mediterranean from 1876 to 1880 before joining the Reserve at Portsmouth. She was recommissioned during the 1885 Russian war scare for service as part of the Particular Service Squadron, and once the scare was over, she became the guard ship at Hull until 1890.

HMS Rupert was reconstructed and rearmed between 1891 and 1893, and then she became the guardship at Pembroke until 1895. This was followed by a spell as guard ship at Gibraltar and then Port Said. In April 1902 HMS Rupert returned to Plymouth, where she paid off on 28th May. She then formed part of the Fleet Reserve until 1904, when she was sent to Bermuda to act as guard ship. She was sold for scrapping in 1907.

My hopes have been dashed ... and then restored!

I began today full of hope that the engineer from the stairlift company would be able to repair mine so that I could use it to access the top floor of our house ... but the reality has not quite matched my expectations, as the following blog post will relate!

The engineer arrived at 9.30am, and by 10.45am he had replaced the carriage (i.e. the mechanical part of the chair that moves it up and down the fixed rails) and upgraded the software to enable it to cope with the sharp bends the stairlift has to negotiate. He tested it, and it worked perfectly ... and then he dropped a verbal bombshell!

When I checked about the carrying capacity, it turned out that according to the technical specification for that model chair, I am too heavy to use it safely! As my weight gain was cited as the reason why the chair needed to be repaired in the first place, it sounded as if replacing the carriage and upgrading the software had been a massive waste of time.

He then telephoned the technical department and checked with them, and they advised him to tell me not to use the stairlift until I had had a phone call from the customer service department. I duly waited for that phone call ... and I was told that it was unsafe for me to use the stairlift until I was within its safe weight-carrying capacity! Needless to say, after waiting a month for this problem to be solved, I was not very happy about this and made my displeasure known.

That phone call had barely finished when I received a second phone call from somebody else at the company asking if an engineer could pay me a visit on Friday to fix a faulty flipper switch on the stairlift! When I explained the situation, they seemed as bemused as I was, and promised to investigate why a heavy-duty stairlift chair that would be able to cope with my weight had not been installed. (At the time, I thought that I knew the reason; the rails on my stairlift go round several sharp bends and the heavy-duty chair listed in the company's catalogue can only go in straight lines.)

Some ten minutes later, I had a third phone call from the customer services department. The caller apologised for all the confusion and told me that the stairlift was safe for me to use. Apparently, the new carriage was an upgraded one with stronger rollers and bearings that were designed to carry a heavier weight than the previous one. They also arranged for the engineer to come on Friday to fix the faulty flipper switch.

So far, my day has been one of emotional ups and downs ... and I have yet to try out the refurbished stairlift!

Hopefully I’ll be regaining some mobility today

By the time this blog post appears, an engineer should be replacing the stairlift that has been out of action for a month. If he is successful, I will be able to access my toy/wargame room without having to struggle up a steep flight of stairs to the top floor of our house … and life will be a lot easier for me.

Four more British ironclads in 1/1200th-scale

I managed to find four more 1/1200th-scale ironclads on sale on eBay ... and could not resist buying them!

I am now the proud owner of models of HMS Belleisle, ...

... HMS Rupert, ...

... HMS Nile, ...

... and HMS Collingwood.

This brings the size of my collection to eight models ... and I suspect that it will continue to grow.

The side effects of this season's influenza vaccination

As I am over seventy-five-years-old, I would automatically qualify to have an NHS influenza vaccination, but because my immune system is compromised as a result of the chemotherapy and radiotherapy I had to to combat my prostate cancer, I have been having this every year for several years. Normally, I have the injection, feel a bit under the weather for a few days, and then everything returns to normal. However, this year I have really not had an easy time since I had my injection.

In fact, I first realised that my body was reacting to the vaccination within a few hours. I felt very hot and began sweating profusely, and by evening I was exhibiting the following symptoms of influenza, namely:

• Sudden high temperature and sweating
• Muscle and body aches, especially in my back, legs, and arms
• A persistent headache
• Extreme tiredness and bone-deep exhaustion
• Persistent weakness and much reduced energy levels
• Difficulty with sleeping

This lasted two days, after which I began to feel a lot better ... and then the symptoms returned. I checked with the NHS Helpline, and they advised me to stay indoors, take painkillers, and keep hydrated. I was also told that if the symptoms persist for more that two days, I should contact my doctor.

That two days have now passed ... and I an certainly better than I was. I still feel rather weary and my joints ache ... but the painkillers seem to be working and I am at least able to go out again.

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According to the NHS ...

How flu vaccines work

• Flu vaccines contain inactivated (killed) fragments of influenza viruses or weakened live influenza viruses that cannot cause the disease itself
• Flu vaccines help your immune system to recognise and respond to influenza viruses
• After vaccination, your immune system produces protective proteins called antibodies that learn how to fight off the infection if encountered in the future
• Flu vaccines cannot give you flu. Protection through vaccination helps to reduce the risk of becoming seriously unwell from flu, and can help reduce the risk of hospitalisation and complications

HMVS Cerberus and HMS Glatton

The period between 1860 and 1900 saw massive developments in warship designs. Iron and then steel replaced wood, sail was replaced by steam-power, and the calibre of guns grew as the numbers of guns carried aboard a warship diminished. Things developed so fast at times that ships could be designed, built, and then be obsolete by the time they entered service.

In the UK, the old enemy France was first an ally (during the Crimean War), then a threat (in the run up to the Franco-German War), and then a colonial rival. At the same time, the power of Imperial Russia waxed and waned and the new German Empire began to emerge as a serious rival.

It is against this background that HMVS Cerberus and HMAS Glatton were built.

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HMVS Cerberus

By the middle of the 1860s, Russia was expanding its influence in the Pacific and this was perceived as a threat to the British colonies in Australia. As a result, the government of the Victoria ordered a ship to supplement the existing coastal defences at Port Philip Bay. The ship was a breastwork monitor and was named HMVS Cerberus.

She and her sistership HMS Magdala (which was built by Thames Iron Works, Blackwall) were designed by designed by Edward James Reed, Chief Constructor to the Royal Navy and was constructed by Palmers Shipbuilding at their Jarrow-on-Tyne shipyard. (HMS Magdala was ordered by the India Office for the Bombay Marine and was based at Bombay, now Mumbai.)

HMVS Cerberus was laid down on 1st August 1867, launched on 2nd December 1868, and completed in August 1870. The British Admiralty paid 80% of the cost (£117,556) on the understanding that if she required to perform any role other than the defence of Victoria, she would come under Admiralty control.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 3,340 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 225ft (68.6m)
• Beam: 45ft 1in (13.7m)
• Draught: 15ft 6in (4.7m)
• Propulsion: 5 x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Maudslay Sons & Field horizontal twin-cylinder, double-acting, steam engines each driving a propellor
• Speed: 9.75 knots (maximum); 6 knots (economical)
• Complement: 12 officers, 84 sailors (plus 40 additional in wartime)
• Armament:
• 2 x twin 10-inch (254mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 2 x single 12-pdr bronze howitzers
• 4 x 4-barrel 1-inch Nordenfelt revolving barrel guns (1883)
• 2 x single Nordenfelt 6-pdr quick-firing guns (1890)
• 2 x single Maxim-Nordenfelt 14-pdr quick-firing guns (1897)
• Armour:
• Belt: 6-inches to 8-inches (150mm to 200 mm), backed by 9-inches to 11-inches (230mm to 280mm) of teak
• Breastwork: 8-inches to 9-inches (200mm to 230mm)
• Turrets: 9-inches to 10-inches (23mm to 250mm)
• Deck: 1-inch to 1.25-inches (25mm to 32mm)

In 1887, HMVS Cerberus was fitted with torpedo nets, but soon afterwards she was reclassified as a storeship. When the Federation of Australia was created in 1901, she became part of the Commonwealth Naval Force. When the Commonwealth Naval Force became the Royal Australian Navy in 1911, she became HMAS Cerberus.

During the Great War she served as a guard ship and storeship even though her main armament was no longer operable. Her low freeboard made her an ideal candidate to act as a submarine tender when six J-class submarines were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, and she was re-named HMAS Platypus II on 1st April 1921. She kept this name until she was sold for scrapping on 23rd April 1924.

After all the salvageable material had been removed, the remains of her hull was sold to Sandringham Council who scuttled her on 26th September 1926 at Half Moon Bay to serve as a breakwater for the Black Rock Yacht Club ... and her hull still remains in situ.

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HMS Glatton

Whereas HMVS Cerberus was designed with the threat of the Imperial Russian Navy in mind, HMS Glatton's expected opponent was the French Navy. Like HMVS Cerberus, HMS Glatton was designed by Edward Reed ... but her task in time of war was to defend Britain's coast and to maintain a close blockage on enemy (i.e. French) ports. As a result, her design was quite different from that of HMVS Cerberus. For example, she had a deeper draught so that she could operate in deeper water and a higher top speed.

HMS Glatton was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 10th August 1868, launched on 8th March 1871 and completed on 24th February 1872. She was immediately commissioned into the Dockyard reserve and served as a tender to the school of naval gunnery, HMS Excellent.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 4,912 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 245ft 9in (74.9m)
• Beam: 54ft (16m)
• Draught: 19ft 5in (5.92m)
• Propulsion: 2? x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Laird​ twin-cylinder steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 12.11 knots
• Complement: 185
• Armament:
• 1 x twin 12-inch (305mm) 25-ton rifled muzzle loading guns
• 3 x single 6-pdr Hotchkiss quick-firing guns (1881)
• 3 x single machine guns (1881)
• 2 or 3 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo launchers (1881)
• Armour:
• Belt: 10-inches to 12-inches (250mm to 300 mm)
• Breastwork: 12-inches (3000mm)
• Turrets: 14-inches (360mm) on the turret face & 12-inches (300mm) on the sides and back
• Deck: 3-inches (76mm)

HMS Glatton joined the Particular Service Squadron in 1873 and was fired at during a live firing exercise. In 1881 she was fitted with the equipment needed to launch 14-inch (360mm) torpedoes as well as three 6 pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns and 4 machine guns. She was then returned to the reserve.

Six years later HMS Glatton was fully commissioned so that she could take part in that year's fleet manoeuvres, and 'defended' the Thames estuary alongside HMS Prince Albert. She then became part of the fleet's second class reserve, where she remained until she was sold in for scrap in July1903 as part of Admiral Fisher's pruning of the reserve fleet.

Forging the First Fantasy Wargame

The History of Wargaming Project is a wargame publishing house that was started in 2008 by John Curry to preserve, reprint, and expand classic and professional wargaming materials. By 2015 it had published sixty books and by 2015 this number had reached over a hundred ... and the total continues to grow.

The latest publication is FORGING THE FIRST FANTASY WARGAME: A COMPANION TO TONY BATH'S HYBORIAN CAMPAIGN, and it is probably the ultimate compilation of articles and documents that relate to Tony Bath's famous Hyboria campaign ... which was taking place as the earliest iteration of DUNGEON & DRAGONS was emerging.

The book is also a follow-on to TONY BATH'S ANCIENT WARGAMING: INCLUDING SETTING UP A WARGAMES CAMPAIGN AND THE HYBORIA CAMPAIGN, which included:

• The text of Tony’s PELAST AND PILA Ancient Wargame Rules
• The text of his campaign rules, which contained the following chapters:
• Map movement
• Contact, battles and after effects
• Playing with umpires and without
• Supplies and replacements
• Guidelines on running campaigns in other periods.

It has taken John Curry many years to search for and acquire copies of Tony Bath's numerous articles, maps, and other documents and meld them into a highly readable book that will fascinate anyone who has even a passing interested in this famous fantasy wargaming campaign.

The book has 246 pages and the following chapters and appendices:

• Foreword
• The Hyborian Campaign and Early Role-Playing Games
• Introduction to the World of Hyboria
• A Fantasy Game in an Ancient Setting
• Potted Biographies of the Main Characters of Hyboria
• Maps of Hyboria
• Part 1: Hyboria, the Campaign that Grew
• 1: Small Steps
• 2: Leaders with Personality
• 3: The Rise of Conan
• 4: The Road to Empire
• 5: Zembabwei and Shem
• 6: Treachery and Skullduggery
• 7: War for Sea Power
• 8: The Battle for Zembabwei
• 9: Battle for Kyblos
• 10: The Postal Campaign Begins
• 11: The Battle of the Wargaming Giants
• 12: The Battle of Nippur
• 13: Politics and Role-playing
• 14: The Battle of Zarka
• 15: Tax and Propaganda
• 16: The Final Settlement
• Part 2: A Wargamer's Guide to Hyboria
• 1: Empires, Confederacies Etc
• 2: Large National Units
• 3: Provinces, Principalities
• 4: Duchies, Counties, Etc
• 5: Towns
• 6: Royal Family Trees
• 7: General Notes
• 8: Sample Shadizar Herald
• Appendix A: Amphibious Campaigns: Greeks versus Persians
• Appendix B: Medieval Rules by Tony Bath
• Appendix C: Micro Ancients by Tony Bath
• Appendix D: Tony Bath's History of World War II
• Appendix E: The Society of Ancients
• Bibliography

The map of Hyboria that was included in the Second Portable Wargame Compendium.

Reading this book filled in a lot of the holes in my knowledge and understanding of the famous Hyboria Campaign and it now occupies a prominent position on my bookshelf of important wargame books ... and I suspect that a lot of other wargamers will enjoy reading and be inspired by this book.

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FORGING THE FIRST FANTASY WARGAME: A COMPANION TO TONY BATH'S HYBORIAN CAMPAIGN was written by Tony Bath, compiled by John Curry, and published in 2026 by The History of Wargaming Project (ISBN: 979 8 1747 6787 4 [Paperback]; ISBN: 979 8 1709 7398 9 [Hardback]).

New YouTube video: The Russian protected cruiser Aurora

I have just uploaded a new YouTube video to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel about the Russian protected cruiser Aurora.

It lasts approximately seven and three-quarter minutes.

The video can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

Two British coastal defence ironclads in 1/1200th-scale

I have always liked the look of the British mid-nineteenth century coastal defence ironclads ... so when 1/1200th-scale  models of a couple of them came on sale on eBay, I could not resist putting in some (successful) bids!

I am now the proud owner of models of HMVS (later HMAS) Cerberus ...

... and HMS Glatton.

In due course, I will write longer blog posts about these two ships, but it is worth mentioning that the hull of HMAS Cerberus is still extant!

She was sunk as a breakwater in Half Moon Bay in September 1926, and despite the ravages of time and tide, the hull and the remains of her turrets and funnel still remain. In 2001, the Friends of the Cerberus was formed, with the goal of preserving her, and since then they have raised funds to remove her guns for preservation and to combat corrosion in order to stabilize the wreck. This remains ongoing.