The initial clash of the Spartan-Athenian Naval War of 1890

In obedience with his orders, the captain of the Artemis set sail from Crete at daybreak. He ordered his ship to sail toward the northwest with the intention of intercepting the Spartan battleship off the coast near Cape Spatha..

Just before the end of the forenoon watch, one of Artemis’s lookouts spotted smoke on the horizon. The ship’s captain ordered the helm to be put over so that she was on a course that would intercept the unknown vessel. Just as eight bells was sounded (i.e. it was midday and the end of the forenoon watch and beginning of the afternoon watch) the lookout reported that the unknown ship’s white upperworks were visible, and that it was a battleship.

Some minutes later the lookout reported that the ship’s hull was now visible and that it was black, indicating that it was painted in the colours of the Spartan Navy.

The First Lieutenant remarked, ‘It sounds as if it’s the Leonidas, Sir.’

‘I hope so, Number One … otherwise we’ve been wasting our time and our coal!’

Soon afterwards, the lookout confirmed that the approaching ship was flying the ensign of the Spartan Navy.

‘Yeoman, make the following signal. Please heave to as I have a message to pass to you.’

‘Aye aye, Sir!’

The signal flags were quickly attached to signal halyard and hoisted aloft.

‘The other ship is replying Sir. Signal reads C-A-N-N-O-T C-O-M-P-L-Y S-T-O-P A-M C-A-R-R-Y-I-N-G D-I-P-L-O-M-A-T-I-C D-E-S-P-A-T-C-H F-O-R A-M-B-A-S-S-A-D-O-R S-T-O-P.’

‘Yeoman, repeat our signal.’

‘Aye aye, Sir!’

The signal flags were again hoisted aloft and the Yeoman kept his telescope trained on the other ship.

‘The other ships has replied, Sir … and repeated their previous message.’

‘Guns!’

‘Sir!’

‘Prepare to fire a shot across the bows of that ships if he does not comply with my next signal.’

‘Aye aye, Sir!’

‘Yeoman, make the following signal. Be advised that I am acting on orders from the Cretan Government who require you to remain outside their territorial waters.’

The signal was made, and a reply was not long coming.

‘Sir, reply reads C-A-N-N-O-T C-O-M-P-L-Y S-T-O-P.’

‘Guns, fire a warning shot across the bows of that ship!’

‘Aye aye, Sir!’

A shell was fired from the Artemis’s forward turret, and a shell splash was seen some distance ahead of the Leonidas.

The Yeoman spoke. ‘Sir. The ship is not replying by signal but I can see that she is hoisting battle ensigns!’

Looking around the bridge the captain of Artemis said, ‘Gentlemen, it seems as if we have a battle on our hands. Bugler, sound battle stations! Yeoman, hoist our battle ensigns. Guns, prepare your men for action. Number One, move to the aft conning position and prepare to take over if I am incapacitated.’

A chorus of ‘Aye aye’ sounded around the bridge as the bugler began to play the call to action stations and the Yeoman supervised the hoisting of the battle ensigns. Minutes later, the battle began.

---

THE BATTLE OF CAPE SPATHA

Initial Positions

Artemis was sailing on a roughly north-westerly course and Leonidas was on a reciprocal south-easterly course.

Turn 1

As they were both still out of range of each other, the ships maintained their existing courses.

Turn 2

Although the distance between the two ships was shortening, they both remained out of range of each other.

Turn 3

Artemis turned to starboard in the hope that she could shorten the distance between the two ships whereas Leonidas continued on her existing course.

Turn 4

Leonidas opened fire with both her main guns as Artemis was now abeam of her and within range. She threw 2D6 dice and scored 3 and 4, thus scoring a minor hit on the Artemis and reducing her to 11 FPs.

In reply, the Artemis fired her forward main gun at the Leonidas. She threw a D6 die and scored 6, thus scoring a major hit on Leonidas. Leonidas immediately lost 1 FP and a second D6 die was thrown. The score of 1 meant that the ship suffered an additional loss of Flotation Points and was reduced to 10 FPs.

Leonidas now turned to starboard to ensure that she could continue to engage Artemis and the latter also turned to starboard in the hope that she could use both her main guns against Leonidas.

Turn 5

Both ships fired at each other with their forward main guns. Leonidas threw a D6 die and scored 2 and Artemis threw a D6 die and scored 3. Both ships had therefore missed their targets!

Leonidas continued its starboard turn and Artemis maintained its existing course ... thus reducing the distance between the two ships quite considerably!

Turn 6

Both ships were now able to fire broadsides at their opponent.

Leonidas threw 2D6 dice and scored 2 and 2 and missed! In reply, Artemis threw 2D6 dice and scored 6 and 4. The 4 - being a minor hit - caused Leonidas to immediately lose another Flotation Point and the 6 - being a major hit -required Artemis to throw a D6 die to see what additional damage had been caused. The D6 die score was 2, causing Leonidas to catch fire! Leonidas was now reduced to 8 FP and was on fire.

Both ships continued on their existing courses, thus passing each other as they did.

Turn 7

Now that the range was much closer, both ships threw 4D6 dice to determine the effectiveness of their gunfire.

Leonidas scored 2, 2, 2, and 1 ... which was appalling shooting as they missed Artemis completely! In reply, Artemis scored 6, 4, 3, and 2, thus inflicting a major hit and a minor hit. Leonidas was immediately reduced to 6 FPs and had reached her Critical Point. In addition, the D6 die thrown by the Artemis to determine the additional damage scored 5, knocking out the ship's aft main gun turret.

The range was so close that both ships were also able to fire their secondary armament. Leonidas threw 2D6 dice and scored 4 and 3, thus causing Artemis to lose a Flotation Point. In reply, Artemis threw 2D6 dice and scored 5 and 1, thereby reducing Leonidas to 5 FPs.

Artemis turned to starboard in the hope that she would now be able to rake Leonidas, and Leonidas did the same ... but only so that she could withdraw as quickly as she could from the battle!

Leonidas attempted to put out the fire and threw a D6 die and scored 2. This was not enough to douse the flames and the fire continued to burn.

Turn 8

Both ships were now within torpedo range of each other, and each fired a torpedo at the other. Leonidas threw a D6 die and scored 3, thus missing Artemis. Artemis threw a D6 die and scored 5. As this was another minor hit, Leonidas lost another Flotation Point and now only had 4 FPs.

Both ship fired their main armament at their opponent. Leonidas threw a D6 die as she only had one main gun still in action. It scored 4 and this minor hit reduced Artemis to 10 FPs. Artemis threw 2D6 dice and scored 4 and 1, thus inflicting another minor hit on the Leonidas and reducing her to 3 FPs.

Leonidas attempted to put out the fire that was raging aboard her and threw a D6 die and scored 1. This meant that the fire reached her main magazine and she exploded and sank in a matter of seconds.

Artemis immediately hove to and lowered her boats in the hope that she could rescue any survivors ... but only a dozen souls were rescued.

Artemis had done all that had been asked of her and had stopped Leonidas from reaching Crete ... but an all-out war with Sparta was now in full swing and the Spartans would want their revenge sooner rather than later.

Joseph Morschauser's Frontier Wargame Rules

The following is the text of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargame rules. They were intended to be used on a square gridded tabletop, and I hope to play test them as written in the near future.

---

The text comes from the WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER No.62 (May 1967). Donald Featherstone wrote the following introduction to the rules:

GRIDDED WARGAMES

The leading exponent of this unique, and perhaps stylised, form of wargaming is Joe Morschauser of U.S.A. (author of "How to Play Wargames in Miniature" Walker & Co. Few York, 1962).

Joe uses boards gridded with 3" squares, on which he fights with 54mm troops on trays - 3 foot or 2 cavalry; 1 gun and 2 gunners per tray. A tray is handled and used just as a single figure could be – Joe's "Roster System" is not used. Flexibility is gained by narrowing the area controlled by a tray to merely the adjacent square.

Movement is always across side of grid square and to move on a diagonal requires the use of 2 for 1 so to speak. Trays control only grid square directly in front of them thus enemy could pass aside or to rear in adjacent square, provided no facing of trays is involved. This is what really gives you "space" on such a small table top. Guns fire 7 or 8 squares again using "across sides of square" for counting – the 2 for 1 on diagonal deal. There is of course no shooting of guns a la Wells, only dice rolling and troops do not fire as such but come into "battle-contact" when facing across sides of adjacent grid squares, Cannon "fire" (by dice) longer distances of course.

Joe has built a “city”, some hills, tree areas and a village for this set-up all of which look pretty impressive on the board, set up. Yet not one bit of this accessory material uses up a single grid square of space. Every one of the 144 grid squares on this board (it’s 12 by 12 grid squares in size) can be used to set troops in or move through. This was accomplished by having things like walls, houses in “flat” form running along the grid lines between the grid squares.

Here are Joe’s rules for “Frontier” type gridded wargames.

TROOP TYPES

Infantry Moves: 2 squares; Battle Powers: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Cavalry Moves: 2 squares; Battle Powers: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Maxim Guns Move: 2 squares; Battle Powers: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Light Field Artillery Move: 2 squares; Battle Powers 1; Range: 4 Squares.

Field Artillery Move: 1 square; Battle Powers: 1; Range: 6 Squares.

Position Artillery Move: None; Battle Powers: 1; Range: 10 Squares.

Command Units Move: 3 squares; Battle Powers: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Notes

Infantry & Cavalry: Native State units of this type have 1 point less Battle Power.

Other units: will not move forward to replace enemy after successful attack.

No Battle Power will drop below 1 regardless of other rules.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

1. First conduct fire. All cannon in range will fire before cannon hit are removed. Fire is thus simultaneous.

2. Now roll dice to see which side takes first move this sequence. High number takes first turn this sequence.

3. First-turn-side moves all pieces, then conducts battles indicated by contacts, removing casualties at once. Then second-turn-side the same. This completes the sequence and a new sequence will begin with conduct of fire again.

FIRE RULES

1. Move no pieces, fire cannon as they stand and face.

2. For each gun firing; point out target square then roll a die for shot fall location. A 5 or 6 indicates a hit will fall on designated target. . A 1 indicates fall at 9 o’clock, a 2 indicates fall at 12 o’clock, a 3 indicates a fall at 3 o’clock, and a 4 indicates fall at 6 o’clock thus…

3. Now roll a die to determine effectiveness of shot on the location already indicated.

DIRECT FIRE HIT roll a 2, 4 or a 6 (**).

INDIRECT FIRE HIT roll a 4 or a 6 (**).

** Command Units: Direct Fire Hit requires a 4 or 6, Indirect Fire Hit requires a 6.

4. Range is counted off across sides of grid squares. If entire tray base (not troops on it) can be seen from gun, use direct fire. If tray base cannot be seen or is in town or wood, use indirect fire.

5. Fire is simultaneous. If cannon is hit it may still fire that sequence before removal. Roll only once per gun per sequence. Cannon in battle contact during firing segment of sequence may not fire.

6. Arc of fire is 90-degrees forward, sweeping from one 45=degree diagonal line of squares to other. If location of shot fall is beyond range, or out of arc of fire, shot is ineffective. If shot fall indicates fall on friendly piece, die throw for effectiveness of fire is conducted by enemy commander.

MOVEMENT RULES

1. Each piece may be moved only once per sequence. All moves are made across sides of grid, squares, never across diagonals.

2. A piece may be moved through grid squares adjacent to flank or rear of enemy piece provided its own front does not face the enemy during the move past the enemy.

3. A piece may not move through grid squares adjacent to the front of an enemy piece. It must stop in that grid square, face the enemy, thus ending its move that turn. If it moves into a square faced by several enemy it may face any of enemy; it then does battle with that enemy during its turn using the numbers v one rules listed in Battle Rules section.

4. A piece facing or being faced by an enemy piece or pieces in adjacent square (s) at start of its move may break contact with enemy piece(s) and move away. It may not come in contact with any enemy piece this turn after breaking contact.

BATTLE RULES

1. Battle contact is made when one piece faces an enemy in an adjacent square. A piece may fight only one battle during its turn, that is attack only once during its turn.

2. When attacker moves into contact with flank or rear of enemy the latter is faced to meet attacker at once. If several attackers contact one enemy, enemy faces last attacker to be moved into contact. If attacker loses battle it is faced attacker that should be removed.

3. If attacker is successful, remove defender at once. Then move attacker whom defender faced into defender's square if desired (optional). If this results in new contact attacker still may not conduct another battle this turn. If defender is successful attacker re faces should be removed as noted above in (2).

4. When several attackers assault one, defender's Battle Power is reduced thus;

2 ATTACKERS - defender's Battle Power reduced 1.

3 ATTACKERS - defender's Battle Power reduced 2'

4 ATTACKERS - defender's Battle Power reduced 3.

The Battle Power used for several attackers is Battle Power of attacker defender faces.

Battle Conduct

Side taking turn (attacker) rolls one die for its piece (or pieces), a different colour die for enemy piece. Roll only once per attack.

(a) Both dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less – remove both (if several attackers against one), remove defender and attacker he faced.

(b) Neither dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less - stalemate, all pieces remain on board in position.

(c) One die shows number pertaining or less, other does not – remove other piece (if loser is several attackers, remove attacker faced by the defender's tray).

SPECIAL RULES

1. Hills - Take one point of Battle Power from attacker up 1 hill step, 2 from attacker up vertical two-step. Take one point from defender v attacker down one or two steps. Includes square adjacent to base of hill. Cavalry, Artillery, Maxim may not move up or clown two-step but may attack up or down same.

2. Roads - Each square on road uses only one half square of move. Standard move on or off, odd ½ square lost. Towns are roads.

3. Rivers - Two squares of move used to cross one of river or river line. Take one point of Battle Power from attacker across river. Pieces in adjacent square with river between are in contact or not depending on attacker's decision.

4. Trees – Take one point of Battle Power from cavalry attacking in or into woods or defending in woods.

The Artemis and Leonidas

All the battleships serving in the Athenian and Spartan Navies were built in the shipyards of Corinth to almost identical designs. They were coastal defence battleships and were armed as follows:

• Main armament: 2 x single-mounted 11.8inch/30cm rifled breech-loading guns in fore and aft turrets.
• Secondary armament: 4 x single-mounted 5.9-inch/15cm quick-firing guns, with two in casemate on each side.
• Torpedoes: 4 x 17.7-inch/45cm submerged torpedo tubes, with one mounted in the bow, one mounted in the stern, and one mounted on each beam.

Artemis

Leonidas

Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Possibly … but I think that I can see a way forward

Back in the middle of last December, I decided to concentrate most of my wargaming efforts on my Belle Époque project. Since then I've been thinking about this project and wondering if I might just have taken on a much larger project than I originally conceived ... especially as I still have quite a few more figures that I could add to it.

I am enjoying the process of creating these armies (and navies) and their backstories, but I want to avoid ending up doing just that and not actually using them. I am therefore trying to find a way to actually get at least two of the armies onto my tabletop as soon as possible … and I think that I can achieve this without having to take my terrain out of storage. (Trying to get anything out of storage at present is something that is rather challenging due to my reduced mobility.)

This is one of the reasons why I’ve been looking afresh at Joseph Morschauser’s FRONTIER rules. They use a grid that is made up of squares that are large enough to take a single base, and as my bases are 40mm wide and between 20mm and 40mm deep, I need to make a grid of 40mm or 50mm squares.

Tesco sell cork-faced pinboards that are 40cms x 40cms and I could easily use one to make a 10 x 10 or a 8 x 8 grid. If I used two or more, I could create an even bigger battlefield. I am therefore planning a trip to our local branch of Tesco to buy some.

Revised simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules

After further thought, I have modified my original rules again, and the text now reads as follows.

---

Simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules

Ship Flotation Values

• Ships have 12 Flotation Points and a Critical Point of 6 Flotation Points

Rules

• All hits are cumulative.
• When a ship’s Flotation Points (FP) are reduced by gunfire, torpedo hits, or ramming to the ship’s Critical Point, the ship must break off from battle and sail towards safety. It may engage enemy ships as it passes them but may not initiate any aggressive action.
• When a ship's Flotation Points reach zero (0), it sinks.

Turn Sequence

1. Both sides fire their main armament.
2. Both sides fire their secondary armament.
3. Both sides fire their torpedoes. (N.B. Firing guns and torpedoes is deemed to be simultaneous, and a ship that has been hit and sunk may fire its guns and/or torpedoes that turn – as it sinks – if a suitable target is in range.)
4. Both sides throw a D6 die. The side with the highest score moves its ships first that turn.
5. Once the first side has moved its ships, the other side moves its ships.
6. Once both sides have had the opportunity to fire and move, the turn is complete, and the next turn can commence.

Firing Guns

• Main armament has a range of 9 grid areas and a maximum of 3D6 dice per gun.
• Secondary armament has a range of 5 grid areas and a maximum of 2D6 dice per gun.

Rules

• All ranges are measured in grid areas, thus:

Firing arcs. The forward and aft firing arcs are coloured grey; the abeam firing arcs are coloured white. The numbers in each square indicate the number of D6 die per gun. Where there are two numbers, the one after the slash refers to Secondary Armament. The white arrow in the black square indicates the orthogonal and diagonal direction in which the firing ship is travelling.

• No ship may fire its main armament at more than one target each turn.
• No ship may fire its port secondary armament at more than one target each turn.
• No ship may fire its starboard secondary armament at more than one target each turn. (N.B. Ships are not obliged to fire their main and secondary armaments at the same target.)
• No ship may fire its guns at a target that is not in direct line-of-sight. (N.B. Secondary armament may only fire at targets that are abeam of the firing ship.)
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP plus throw another D6 die.
• Die score = 6: target ship’s bridge is hit and the target ship must maintain its current course and may not fire for three turns.
• Die score = 5: one of the target ship’s main turrets is hit and destroyed.
• Dice score = 4: the target ship’s engines are damaged and her movement is reduced to 1 grid area per turn.
• Die score = 3: that part of the target ship’s secondary armament that is closest to the firing ship is hit and destroyed.
• Die score = 2: the target ship catches fire. At the start of each subsequent turn, the target ship throws a D6 die. If the score is 5 or 6, the fire is extinguished; if the score is 2, 3, or 4, the fire continues to burn; if the score is 1, the fire has reached the ship’s magazine and the ship explodes.
• Die score = 1: target ship loses another FP.
• Die score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP.
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3 = Gunfire has been ineffective.

Firing Torpedoes

Rules

• Torpedoes have a range of three grid areas and throw a maximum of 3D6 dice.

Torpedo firing arcs for fixed torpedo tubes. The white arrow in the black square indicates the orthogonal and diagonal direction in which the firing ship is travelling.

• No ship may fire more than one torpedo each turn and a maximum of 4 torpedoes during a battle.
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP plus throw another D6 die.
• Die score = 6: target ship’s rudder is hit and the ship and must maintain its current course for D6 turns.
• Die score = 5: target ship’s engine and boiler rooms are flooded, and her movement is reduced to 1 grid area per turn.
• Die score = 3 or 4: target ship loses another 2 FPs.
• Die score = 1 or 2: target ship loses another FP.
• Die score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP.
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3: Torpedo has been ineffective.

Movement

• Ships move up to 2 grid areas per turn.

Rules

• Movement is measured in grid areas.
• Ships may turn 45-degrees after moving forward one grid area. The turn 'costs' the loss of one grid area of movement.
• No ship may end its movement in the same grid area as another ship.
• Any ship that attempts to end its movement in the same grid area as another ship is deemed to have accidentally or deliberately rammed the other ship.

Ramming

• Ramming occurs when a ship either accidentally or deliberately tries to enter the same grid area as another ship. In both cases the rammed ship (i.e., the ship that is in the grid area) and the ramming ship (i.e., the ship that is trying to enter the grid area) may be damaged.

Rules for a head-on ramming

• A head-on ramming occurs when the ramming ship hits the rammed ship from directly ahead or astern.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 4 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is not equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship and the ramming ship is 2.
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Ramming has caused major ‘damage’: ship loses 2 FP
• Die score = 4 or 5: Ramming has caused minor ‘damage’: ship loses 1 FP
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3: Ramming has been ineffective.

Rules for a side-on ramming

• A side-on ramming occurs when the ramming ship hits the rammed ship from the side.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 6 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is not equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 3 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• Results:
• Die score = 6: Ramming has caused major ‘damage’: ship loses 2 FP
• Die score = 4 or 5: Ramming has caused minor ‘damage’: ship loses 1 FP
• Die score = 1, 2, or 3: Ramming has been ineffective.

---

A Word document version of these rules are available for download from Google Docs here.

These rules may only be downloaded and printed for personal use and may not be distributed in any way to third parties without the permission of the author. © Bob Cordery 2025.

The Athenian and Spartan fleets … and another bit of chrome!

I have now painted eight of my Monopoly battleships to represent the Athenian and Spartan fleets.

The four Athenian battleships are named:

• Artemis (red)
• Aristotle (white)
• Plato (blue)
• Socrates (green)

The Athenian colour scheme is white hulls and upperworks with buff funnels.

The four Spartan battleships are named:

• Leonidas (red)
• Helen (white)
• Gorgo (blue)
• Menelaus (green)

The Spartan colour scheme is black hulls with buff funnels and upperworks.

Each ship is identified by the colour of their top mast. These are shown after each ship’s name.

In a comment on my previous post about my simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules, Chris suggested that I include some slightly more detailed rules for torpedo hits … and here they are:

• Results:
• Dice score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP plus throw another D6 die.
• Dice score = 6: target ship’s rudder is hit and the ship and must maintain its current course for D6 turns.
• Dice score = 5: target ship’s engine and boiler rooms are flooded and her movement is reduced to 1 grid area per turn.
• Dice score = 3 or 4: target ship loses another 2 FPs.
• Dice score = 1 or 2: target ship loses another FP.
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP.
• Dice score = 1, 2, or 3: Torpedo has been ineffective.

I think that this addition to the rules improves them.

Background to the Spartan-Athenian Naval War of 1890

This imaginary war was created so that I had a background against which I could try out my recently written SIMPLE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY BATTLESHIP VS. BATTLESHIP NAVAL WARGAME RULES. The inspiration for the setting came from the recent mini-camapigns being fought using Mark Cordone's HOPLITE Portable Wargame mini-campaign.

---

During the latter part of the nineteenth century the rivalry between the Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens was growing. The Spartans particularly resented the growing links between the Athenians and the Cretans, especially after the Athenians signed a treaty with the Cretans that gave them exclusive rights to buy the Cretan agricultural surpluses.

Sparta's growing population needed that food supply, and despite diplomatic requests to both the Athenians and Cretans to allow the Spartans to be party to the treaty, they were rebuffed. In order to intimidate the Cretans, the Spartan king ordered the Corinthian-built battleship Leonidas to Crete ... not knowing that the Athenian battleship Artemis (which was also built in Corinth) was already there on a goodwill visit.

On receiving information that the Leonidas had set sail for Crete, the Athenian Admiralty sent a coded telegram to the captain of the Artemis, ordering him to prevent the Spartan warship from reaching Crete.

The stage was set for a confrontation ...

---

Note about the Corinthian shipbuilders

Corinth was the major centre for shipbuilding in the region and built warships for all the local nations. As a result, both the Spartan and Athenian fleets had identical battleships.

Back to Square One?

After trying many of the potential solutions to my computer problems that I could find on the internet, I finally found one that works for me. It isn’t perfect, but it meets my requirements for the present.

I have opted for a combination of 512GB USB flash drives to save the files I am currently working on as well as the files that I want to be able to access on my laptop. In addition, I will have a backup on a removable hard drive. I am also going to reactivate my old desktop PC as it has a 1Tb hard drive that I can use as an additional device on which to save files.

Eventually I would like to store my backup files on OneDrive (or something similar), but rather than try to do it in a rush, I want to take my time and get it right.

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and support. I am now able to move forward … and I already have several wargaming topics that I want to write blog posts about.

---

According to THE GUARDIAN newspaper, the phrase 'Back to Square One' originates from the 1920s and 1930s when football fans regularly listened radio commentaries of matches. To help listeners follow play, the pitch was divided up into a grid of imaginary squares, with Square One being one of the nearest to a goalmouth.

The pitch plan published in the press for radio listeners of the match that took place at Crystal Palace Football Ground (Selhurst Park) on Saturday 29th January 1927. The Corinthians (a non-League team) played Newcastle United in the Fourth Round of F.A. Cup, and Newcastle United won 3-1. This was the first football commentary of an F.A. Cup match broadcast over the radio by the BBC, and took place a week after they had broadcast the first commentary of a First Division match. This had been between Arsenal and Sheffield United and the result was a 1-1 draw.

The phrase may also have originated with games like ‘Snakes and Ladders’ where players can end up sliding down a Snake to the start of the game’s track (i.e. square one).

Two steps forward, one step back

I thought that I’d finally cracked my current computer problem … but it turned out that I hadn’t!

I spent yesterday setting up my OneDrive to be the repository for my recovered files so that I can access them from the cloud regardless of which computer I am working on. I had to move from Office 365 Basic to Office 365 Personal in order to get access to 1Tb of storage space, and then I began the process of moving the files onto it … but then I started to get a number of error messages telling me that there was a problem with OneDrive and that that I had to restart my computer.

After I had done this numerous times, I then got an error message telling me to reinstall Office 365 Personal. When I tried to do this, my computer informed me that there was insufficient memory to do this!

At this point I switched my computer off and walked away. I see no point in banging my head against a brick wall, and have learned from experience that if I persist with trying to solve a seemingly intractable problem, I get stressed … and the more I get stressed, the more likely it is that any solution I try won’t work.

As the title of this blog post makes clear, I feel as if every time I take two steps forward, I have to take one backwards.

Recovering my ‘lost’ computer files is turning into a much bigger job than I thought it would be

I am continuing the long, slow process of reclaiming my ‘lost’ computer files and saving them into my new file structure … and as I am doing it, I am discovering all sorts of stuff that I initially thought that I had copies of but that have actually gone missing.

This task is taking me much longer that I thought it would take and until it is completed, I will only be writing blog posts as and when I can. I have a couple already written in draft form, but they need tidying up and I don’t want to spend time doing that when I could be getting my computer problem sorted.

As they used to say on the TV years ago … normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

‘You don't know what you got till it's gone’

Apologies to Joni Mitchell for borrowing a line from the lyrics of her song, BIG YELLOW TAXI … but it sums up how I feel as a result of the recent failure of my laptop’s removable hard drive.

I have spent a large part of the last forty-eight hours trying to retrieve as many files as I can, and so far I’ve recovered about 95% of ‘lost’ files. However, what has really annoyed me is the apparent randomness of the files that I’ve not been able to recover. For example, the Wargame Developments membership database has survived intact inside the WD file, but the spreadsheet that records the organisation’s accounts for the current year - and which was in the same file - is completely lost. Luckily, I had sent a copy of a recent version of the spreadsheet to the Assistant Treasurer, and I was able to use it as the basis for a new version of the spreadsheet.

After the initial panic, I began to think that rather than ‘weeping and gnashing my teeth’ (its seems to be my day for quotes!), I ought to seriously consider what file structure and files I need for the future.

To be truthful, like most people’s computers, the organisation of my existing files was borderline chaotic. I followed the directory structure laid down by Microsoft, namely having directories called Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos, and within which I had created subdirectories with names like ‘Blogpix’, ‘Blog Diaries’, ‘WD Files’, ‘Books’, etc. My files were then saved in the most appropriate subdirectory.

I have therefore decided not to copy everything that I have managed to reclaim onto my new day-to-day hard drive but to transfer files as and when I need them. I will also save these regularly used files onto my Cloud account so that I can minimise the possibility of a similar failure depriving me of valuable files.

It’s a plan … and hopefully it will help me turn what was otherwise a disaster into something positive.

A massive hard drive failure!

Yesterday, my laptop’s removable hard drive failed!

I have no idea how or why this happened, but without any warning my laptop was suddenly denied access to the hard drive. I tried all the recommended methods of repairing this … but none of them worked.

This could have been a massive disaster, but luckily I’d done a backup before Christmas and I’d only lost about a month’s work … which made it somewhat less of a disaster!

However, I’m so long in the tooth that I dredged my memory and remembered that I could get access to the files on the hard drive by using command lines, and that once I had done that, I should be able to copy the missing files onto a new hard drive or USB memory stick. The only problem is that this is not the quickest method of copying files and it looks as if I have a couple of days of laborious work ahead of me.

I suppose that I could have avoided this by putting everything in my cloud memory, but every time that I’ve tried to do this, I’ve failed. I have now learned a very valuable lesson, and once I have salvaged what I can from this mess, I will try again, hopefully with greater success!

Adding some chrome to my simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules

Even before I playtest my recently drafted rules, I decided that the gunfire results needed a bit of tweaking.

Currently that section of the rules read as follows:

• Results:
• Dice score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 2 FP.
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP.
• Dice score = 1, 2, or 3: Gunfire has been ineffective.

I have changed this to the following:

• Results:
• Dice score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP plus throw another D6 die.
• Dice score = 6: target ship’s bridge is hit and the target ship must maintain its current course and may not fire for three turns.
• Dice score = 5: one of the target ship’s main turrets is hit and destroyed.
• Dice score = 4: the target ship’s engines are damaged and her movement is reduced to 1 grid area per turn.
• Dice score = 3: that part of the target ship’s secondary armament that is closest to the firing ship is hit and destroyed.
• Dice score = 2: the target ship catches fire. At the start of each subsequent turn, the target ship throws a D6 die. If the score is 5 or 6, the fire is extinguished; if the score is 2, 3, or 4, the fire continues to burn; if the score is 6, the fire has reached the ship’s magazine and the ship explodes.
• Dice score = 1: target ship loses another FP.
• Dice score = 4 or 5: : Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP.
• Dice score = 1, 2, or 3 = Gunfire has been ineffective.

I think that this is a distinct improvement and will result in a much better battle.

The Battle Rules in Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' rules

I have recently been re-examining Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' (i.e. Colonial) wargame rules and his Battle Rules have been giving me a few problems. The wording of the relevant sections of his rules are as follows:

TROOP TYPES

Infantry: 2 squares; Battle Power: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Cavalry: 2 squares; Battle Power: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Maxim Gun: Move: 2 squares; Battle Power: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Light Field Artillery: Move: 2 squares; Battle Power 1; Range: 4 Squares.

Field Artillery Move: 1 square; Battle Power: 1; Range: 6 Squares.

Position Artillery: Move: None; Battle Power: 1; Range: 10 Squares.

Command Unit: Move: 3 squares; Battle Power: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Notes

Infantry & Cavalry: Native State units of this type have 1 point less Battle Power.

Other units: will not move forward to replace enemy after successful attack.

No Battle Power will drop below 1 regardless of other rules.

---

BATTLE RULES

1. Battle contact is made when one piece faces an enemy in an adjacent square. A piece may fight only one battle during its turn, that is attack only once during its turn.

2. When attacker moves into contact with flank or rear of enemy the latter is faced to meet attacker at once. If several attackers contact one enemy, enemy faces last attacker to be moved into contact. If attacker loses battle it is faced attacker that should be removed.

3. If attacker is successful, remove defender at once. Then move attacker whom defender faced into defender's square if desired (optional). If this results in new contact attacker still may not conduct another battle this turn. If defender is successful attacker re faces should be removed as noted above in (2).

4. When several attackers assault one, defender's Battle Power is reduced thus;

2 ATTACKERS – defender's Battle Power reduced 1

3 ATTACKERS – defender's Battle Power reduced 2

4 ATTACKERS – defender's Battle Power reduced 3

The Battle Power used for several attackers is Battle Power of attacker defender faces.

Battle Conduct

Side taking turn (attacker) rolls one die for its piece (or pieces), a different coloured die for enemy piece.

Roll only once per attack.

(a) Both dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less – remove both (if several attackers against one), remove defender and attacker he faced.

(b) Neither dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less – stalemate, all pieces remain on board in position.

(c) One die shows number pertaining or less, other does not – remove other piece (if loser is several attackers, remove attacker faced by the defender's tray).

---

The Frontier Rules in use with Britains 54mm figures. The original rules were designed to be used with a 12 x 12 square grid. In this photograph the playing surface appears to be marked off with a 24 x 16 square grid, allowing for more troops to be deployed on the tabletop.

The Frontier Rules in use with Britains 54mm figures on a 12 x 12 square grid.

Whilst reading this, I kept feeling that it was a counter-intuitive mechanism ... so I decided to do some worked examples.

Example 1

A Native Infantry unit (Battle Power = 4) attacks a European Infantry unit (Battle Power = 5). Each Infantry unit throws a D6 die and they score 6 and 3 respectively. The Native Infantry unit does not get a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. the European Infantry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the Native Infantry unit is removed.

Example 2

Three European Cavalry units (Battle Power = 5) attack a European Infantry unit (Battle Power = 5, reduced to 3 because it is being attacked by three enemy units). The European Cavalry unit facing the European Infantry unit and the European Infantry unit each throw a D6 and they score 3 and 2 respectively. The European Cavalry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. The European Infantry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. As a result, both units are removed.

Example 3

Three European Cavalry units (Battle Power = 5) attack a European Infantry unit (Battle Power = 5, reduced to 3 because it is being attacked by three enemy units). The European Cavalry unit facing the European Infantry unit and the European Infantry unit each throw a D6 and they score 5 and 6 respectively. The European Cavalry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. The European Infantry unit does not get a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the European Infantry unit is removed.

Example 4

Two Native Cavalry units (Battle Power = 4 each) attack a European Light Artillery unit (Battle Power = 1 ... but not reduced as no Battle Power can be reduced to less than 1). The Native Cavalry unit facing the European Light Artillery unit and the European Light Artillery unit each throw a D6 die and they score 6 and 5 respectively. The Native Cavalry unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. The European Light Artillery unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the fighting is a stalemate and neither unit is removed.

Example 5

Two Native Cavalry units (Battle Power = 4 each) attack a European Light Artillery unit (Battle Power = 1 ... but not reduced as no Battle Power can be reduced to less than 1). The Native Cavalry unit facing the European Light Artillery unit and the European Light Artillery unit each throw a D6 die and they score 2 and 4 respectively. The Native Cavalry unit gets a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. The European Light Artillery unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the European Light Artillery unit is removed.

Example 6

Two Native Infantry units (Battle Power = 4 each) attack a European Maxim Gun unit (Battle Power = 6, reduced to 5 because it is being attacked by two enemy units). The Native Infantry unit facing the European Maxim Gun unit and the European Maxim Gun unit each throw a D6 die and they score 6 and 3 respectively. The Native Infantry unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. The European Maxim Gun unit gets a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the Native Infantry unit is removed.

---

These examples show that although the mechanism still feels counter-intuitive, it seems to work. Perhaps I need to try it out in a proper wargame to be firmly convinced that it does.

Some simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules

Having acquired some Monopoly Battleships, I decided to write some simple naval wargame rules that I can use with them. I already had a vinyl Chessex Double-sided Blue and Green Battle Mat that is marked with a grid of one-inch squares, and decide to use that as my playing surface.

The rules are based on the Ironclad and Pre-Dreadnought rules in my GRIDDED NAVAL: WARGAMES book and have been adjusted slightly to reflect the fact that the Monopoly Battleships only have a single gun in their fore and aft turrets.

---

Some simple late nineteenth century battleship vs. battleship naval wargame rules

Ship Flotation Values

• Ships have 12 Flotation Points and a Critical Point of 6 Flotation Points

Rules

• All hits are cumulative.
• When a ship’s Flotation Points (FP) are reduced by gunfire, torpedo hits, or ramming to the ship’s Critical Point, the ship must break off from battle and sail towards safety. It may engage enemy ships as it passes them but may not initiate any aggressive action.
• When a ship's Flotation Points reach zero (0), it sinks.

Turn Sequence

1. Both sides fire their main armament.
2. Both sides fire their secondary armament.
3. Both sides fire their torpedoes. (N.B. Firing guns and torpedoes is deemed to be simultaneous, and a ship that has been hit and sunk may fire its guns and/or torpedoes that turn – as it sinks – if a suitable target is in range.
4. Both sides throw a D6 die. The side with the highest score moves its ships first that turn.
5. Once the first side has moved its ships, the other side moves its ships.
6. Once both sides have had the opportunity to fire and move, the turn is complete, and the next turn can commence.

Firing Guns

• Main armament has a range of 6 grid areas and a maximum of 6D6 dice per gun.
• Secondary armament has a range of 4 grid areas and a maximum of 4D6 dice per gun.

Rules

• All ranges are measured in grid areas, thus:

Firing arcs. The forward and aft firing arcs are coloured white; the abeam firing arcs are coloured grey. The numbers in each square indicates the number of D6 dice thrown per gun at that range. Where there are two numbers, the one after the slash refers to Secondary Armament. The white arrow indicates the orthogonal and diagonal direction in which the firing ship is travelling.

• No ship may fire its main armament at more than one target each turn.
• No ship may fire its port secondary armament at more than one target each turn.
• No ship may fire its starboard secondary armament at more than one target each turn. (N.B. Ships are not obliged to fire their main and secondary armament at the same target.)
• No ship may fire its guns at a target that is not in direct line-of-sight. (N.B. Secondary armament may only fire at targets that are abeam of the firing ship.)
• Results:
• Dice score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 2 FP
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP
• Dice score = 1, 2, or 3: Gunfire has been ineffective.

Firing Torpedoes

Rules

• Torpedoes have a range of three grid areas and throw a maximum of 3D6 dice.

Torpedo firing arcs for fixed torpedo tubes. The numbers in each square indicates the number of D6 dice thrown per torpedo at that range. The white arrow indicates the orthogonal and diagonal direction in which the firing ship is travelling.

• No ship may fire more than one torpedo each turn and a maximum of 4 torpedoes during a battle.
• Results:
• Dice score = 6: Major ‘hit’: target ship loses 2 FP
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Minor ‘hit’: target ship loses 1 FP
• Dice score = 1, 2, or 3: Torpedo has been ineffective.

Movement

• Ships move up to 2 grid areas per turn.

Rules

• Movement is measured in grid areas.
• Ships may turn 45-degrees after moving forward one grid area. The turn 'costs' the loss of one grid area of movement.
• No ship may end its movement in the same grid area as another ship.
• Any ship that attempts to end its movement in the same grid area as another ship is deemed to have accidentally or deliberately rammed the other ship.

Ramming

• Ramming occurs when a ship either accidentally or deliberately tries to enter the same grid area as another ship. In both cases the rammed ship (i.e., the ship that is in the grid area) and the ramming ship (i.e., the ship that is trying to enter the grid area) may be damaged.
• Results:
• Dice score = 6: Ramming has caused major ‘damage’: ship loses 2 FP
• Dice score = 4 or 5: Ramming has caused minor ‘damage’: ship loses 1 FP
• Dice score = 1, 2, or 3: Ramming has been ineffective.

Rules for a head-on ramming

• A head-on ramming occurs when the ramming ship hits the rammed ship from directly ahead or astern.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 4 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is not equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship and the ramming ship is 2.

Rules for a side-on ramming

• A side-on ramming occurs when the ramming ship hits the rammed ship from the side.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 6 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.
• If the ship that is ramming the other is not equipped with a ram, the number of D6 dice thrown by the rammed ship is 3 and the number of D6 dice thrown by the ramming ship is 2.

A Monopoly Battleship ... or two

Whilst I was on my recent cruise, I began thinking about whether I could produce a naval wargame that would fit in a small box. This was inspired by the recent 'wargame in a matchbox' challenge ... and especially American Civil War naval wargame devised by Peter of the Grid Based Wargaming – but not always blog.

Rather than just copy what Peter had done, I wanted to create a naval wargame that used ironclads or pre-dreadnoughts. The homemade Greek and Turkish fleets that I made for my version of Jane's Naval War Game are in storage and were not immediately available so I looked around for another source of suitable models ... and remembered that years ago I'd considered building a scaled-up version of the Monopoly battleship token for my wargame navy. (The end result didn’t turn out to be that similar to the original, but it did feature in a number of battles.) A quick search of the Internet showed that these tokens are available to buy online ... so I bought twelve!

Once these arrive, I hope to play-test some rules that I have been drafting. When I have, I'll write a post on this blog.

Broadside and Boarding: Small scale action in the Age of Fighting Sail 1740 - 1815

I have been a fan of Antoine Vanner's writings since his first book about the fictional British naval officer Nicholas Dawlish was published. Recently he has published his first non-fiction book entitled BROADSIDE AND BOARDING: SMALL SCALE ACTION IN THE AGE OF FIGHTING SALE 1740-1815, and I reaad it whilst I was on our recent cruise.

The book is a collection of short articles that take five to fifteen minutes to read, some of which originally appeared on Antoine's blog. Most of the actions feature frigates and small vessels acting alone or in the company of other small ships. A number of cutting out operations are included as are a few attacks on coastal fortifications.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in naval warfare during the latter part of the eighteenth and the early years of the nineteenth centuries. It describes the different tactics used by the participants and also covers the sort of technical details that will appeal to those who want to understand how small warships fought each other. For example, the French tended to fire at masts and sails to reduce their opponent's ability to manoeuver whilst the British tended to fire at the hull to punch holes in the side of their opponent's ship and disable their armament. For the naval wargamer, this book contains a wealth of potential scenarios that they could easily reproduce on a tabletop.

---

BROADSIDE AND BOARDING: SMALL SCALE ACTION IN THE AGE OF FIGHTING SALE 1740-1815 was written by Antoine Vanner and published in Kindle and paperback formats in 2024 by Old Salt Press (ASIN B0DNBDFZDR/ISBN 978 1 9434 0455 1)

Soldiers of the Queen (SOTQ) Issue 190

The latest issue of the Victorian Military Society's SOTQ (Soldiers of the Queen) arrived by post just before the end of last year, and I have been reading it on and off ever since.

The articles included in this issue are:

• The Dooar War, a British Expedition into Bhutan 1864 by David Howell
• 'Polishing the Handle of the Big Front Door': W.H.Smith at the War Office by Professor Ian F W Beckett
• The Incident at Bushman's River Pass: 'The expedition can scarcely be called a success' by David Snape
• Sir Ian Hamilton (1853-1947): The Limits of Leadership by Kevin Lockyer
• Book Reviews by Jim Tanner, Steven Broomfield, Roger T Stearn, and Andy Smith
• Officers of the Victorian Military Society

Yet again there is lots in this issue for anyone with an interest in Britain's military history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The article about W.H.Smith brought back memories of my schooldays. Every year we put on a Gilbert and Sullivan light opera, and I well remember the song that included the line 'Polishing the Handle on the Big Front Door' from HMS Pinafore.

The article about 'The Incident at Bushman's River Pass' gave some interesting insights into Major (later Colonel) Durnford's attitudes to the native people of South Africa, and the one about Sir Ian Hamiliton gave me food for thought about the relationship between leadership - a quality much prized among British generals during the latter part of the nineteenth century - and command. It certainly goes some way to explain why those generals who had the former in abundance in 1914 did not always do well when commanding troops during the First World War.

---

The annual cost of membership of the Victorian Military Society is:

• UK: £30.00
• Overseas: £40.00 (except for Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore: £43.00) for a printed issue and £20.00 for an electronic issue.

As I have written many times before, in my opinion it is well worth it.

---

Coincidentally, yesterday I was watching the Redcoat History channel on YouTube ...

.

... and Chris Parkinson, who created the Redcoat History channel, endorsed the Victorian Military Society. He is a filmmaker, journalist, and qualified battlefield tour guide based in South Africa. He has a particular interest in the campaigns of the British army between the Napoleonic wars and World War Two.