A new YouTube video: The Battle of Britain, 1985

I have just uploaded a new YouTube video to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

It lasts approximately fourteen minutes.

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

More 1/1200th-scale ship models added to my collection

I've continued to trawl through eBay for more ships to add to my growing collection of 1/1200th-scale model ships and picked up the following bargains:

A US Navy Northampton-class heavy cruiser, ...

(9.195 tons; 33 knots; 9 x 8-inch guns; 8 x 5-inch AA guns; 6 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; 4 aircraft; 2 catapults)

... a French Navy Duguay-Trouin-class light cruiser, ...

(9,350 tons; 30 knots; 8 x 6-inch guns; 4 x 3-inch AA guns; 12 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; 2 aircraft; 1 catapult)

... a US Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender, ...

(2,551 tons; 20 knots; 3 x 5-inch AA guns; 8 x 20mm AA guns; depth charges)

... and a Landing Ship Tank (LST) (possibly a diesel-powered LST Mk.2)

Nothing Japanese this time ... for a change!

Britannia's Bluff: The ships

Back in September, I wrote a blog post that included images of some of the ships that were going to be featured in Antoine Vanner's forthcoming novel (BRITANNIA'S BLUFF), which was published recently.

The book includes illustrations of the most important ships featured in the book. These are shown below.

© Antoine Vanner

© Antoine Vanner

© Antoine Vanner

© Antoine Vanner

© Antoine Vanner

© Antoine Vanner

© Antoine Vanner

I am particularly pleased that Antoine Vanner has included a battleship (the Memduhiye) that is based on one of my favourite Turkish ships, the Mesudiye.

The Mesudiye (Turkish: Happiness) was built as a central-battery ironclad for the Ottoman Navy in the 1870s. She was ordered – along with a sister ship – from Thames Iron Works and delivered in December 1875. (Her sister ship – the Hamidieh – was compulsorily purchased by the British Government at the time of the Russian war scare of 1878 and completed as HMS Sultan.)

By the end of the nineteenth century, she was obsolete and poorly maintained, and in 1898 the Ottoman government decided to have her reconstructed by the Gio. Ansaldo & C. shipyard in Genoa. When she returned to service in 1904, she was a coastal defence pre-dreadnought battleship.

Her characteristics when built were:

• Displacement: 8,797 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 101.02m (331ft 5in)
• Beam: 17.98m (59.0ft)
• Draught: 7.9m (25ft 11in)
• Propulsion: 8 x box boilers producing steam to power 1 x 7,431 ihp compound steam engine driving a single propeller
• Speed: 13.7 knots
• Complement: 700
• Armament: 12 × 10-inch RML guns; 3 × 7-inch RML guns
• Armour: Belt: 305mm (12-inches); Battery: 254mm (10-inches)

Her characteristics after being reconstructed were:

• Displacement: 8,980 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 101.02m (331ft 5in)
• Beam: 17.98m (59.0ft)
• Draught: 7.9m (25ft 11in)
• Propulsion: 16 x Niclausse boilers producing steam to power 2 x 5,500 ihp triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a propeller
• Speed: 17 knots
• Complement: 800
• Armament: 2 × 9.2-inch Vickers A guns (Not fitted); 12 × 5.9-inch Vickers D QF guns; 16 x 3-inch Vickers N QF guns; 10 x 57mm Hotchkiss QF guns; 2 x 47mm Hotchkiss QF guns
• Armour: Belt: 305mm (12-inches); Battery: 254mm (10-inches)

The Mesudiye.

Coming to a decision

Some time ago, I mentioned that I was having a serious rethink about my future wargaming. Whilst I have been doing that, I have managed to publish the FOURTH PORTABLE WARGAME COMPENDIUM and paint quite a few HO/15mm-scale buildings ... and it was doing the latter that helped to formulate my ideas. I have therefore come to the following conclusions:

1. That I will concentrate most of my efforts for the foreseeable future on my 15mm Belle Époque project.
2. That I will continue to acquire 1/1200th-scale model ships for future naval wargames.
3. That I will down-size my Napoleonic 25/28mm collection so that it is more manageable ... and thus more likely to be used!
4. Suspend further work on my 20mm Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project until such time as my 15mm Belle Époque project is as near complete as it is likely to be ... or until I need a break from it!

I also plan to carry on with my 009/H09 narrow gauge railway modelling and – if possible – to link it to my Belle Époque project.

Princess, a PECO 009-gauge 0-4-0 tender locomotive.

Britannia's Bluff: The newest addition to the Dawlish Chronicles

The latest addition to Antoine Vanner's DAWLISH CHRONICLES was published yesterday ... just in time for Christmas! I have already bought my copy and hope to read it over Christmas ... if I can put to one side the temptation of reading it at once!

The latest book deals with the Gallipoli campaign, and sees the retired Admiral Sir Nicholas Dawlish recalled to service in order mount an operation that will divert Turkish attention from the forthcoming evacuation so that it can be carried out with the minimum casualties. As the book's blurb on Amazon states, this will involve 'a colossal bluff. Drawing on his half century’s experience of conflict, guile, new technology and outright daring, he plans a lightning diversionary campaign at sea, on land and by air. Speed and surprise will be the deciding factors.'

As I have commented before, the thing that marks out Antoine Vanner's work is the level of background research he does into the history, politics, and technological developments of the era he is writing about, and for that reason alone his books are worth reading.

---

The thirteen books in the series that have been published to date are (in chronological order):

• BRITANNIA’S INNOCENT: THE DALISH CHRONICLES: FEBRUARY 1864 – MAY 1864
• BRITANNIA’S INTERESTS: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: JULY 1866 – NOVEMBER 1866
• BRITANNIA’S GUILE: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: JANUARY 1877 – AUGUST 1877
• BRITANNIA'S WOLF: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: SEPTEMBER 1877 – FEBRUARY 1878
• BRITANNIA'S REACH: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: NOVEMBER 1879 – APRIL 1880
• BRITANNIA'S SHARK: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: APRIL 1881 – SEPTEMBER 1881
• BRITANNIA'S SPARTAN: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: JUNE 1859 AND APRIL 1882 – AUGUST 1882
• BRITANNIA'S AMAZON: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: APRIL 1882 – AUGUST 1882
• BRITANNIA'S MISSION: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: AUGUST 1883 – FEBRUARY 1884
• BRITANNIA'S GAMBLE: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: MARCH 1884 – FEBRUARY 1885
• BRITANNIA’S MORASS: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: SEPTEMBER 1884 – DECEMBER 1884
• BRITANNIA’S RULE: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: SEPTEMBER 1886 – APRIL 1888
• BRITANNIA’S BLUFF: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: NOVEMBER 1915 – JANUARY 1916

---

BRITANNIA’S BLUFF: THE DAWLISH CHRONICLES: NOVEMBER 1915 – JANUARY 1916 was written by Antoine Vanner and published in 2025 by Old Salt Press (ISBN 9781 943 40470 4) and can be purchased via Amazon in paperback or Kindle editions.

Constructing some more model buildings

During my recent 'breather', I decided to build some more HO/15mm-scale Faller model buildings. So far I have made the following ones:

I have constructing examples of these models before, so this time I modified each one so that they are not identical.

I have several more to put together, and once they are completed, I'll get around to basing and painting them.

Nugget 376

I collected the latest issue of THE NUGGET from the printer (Macaulay Scott Printing Company of Welling, Kent) yesterday, and I will post it out to members as soon as I can.

I will also send the PDF copy to the webmaster as soon as I can so that members can read this issue of THE NUGGET online.

---

IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the fourth issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2025-2026 subscription year.

If you wish to subscribe for the 2025-2026 subscription year and have not yet done so, please request a PayPal invoice or the bank transfer information from the Treasurer or follow the instructions on the relevant page of the website.

Soldiers of the Queen (SOTQ) Issue 193

The latest issue of the Victorian Military Society's SOTQ (Soldiers of the Queen) was delivered last Friday, and I spent a very interesting time reading it over the weekend.

The articles included in this issue are:

• La Trobe, Redcoats and Mounted Police, 1839-1846 by Dr Andrew Kisby
• The Diehards at Detling: Military Odyssey 2025 by Tim Rose
• Kolhapur 1844 by David Howell
• Obituary: Professor John Laband (1947-2025) by Ian Knight
• Officers of the Victorian Military Society
• Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria Tuesday 1st July 2025 to Sunday 1st November 2026 at the National Army Museum (In my last review, I used the wrong end date for this exhibition! Mea culpa!)

Another excellent collection of articles ... as usual! I must admit that if I had taken up re-enactment, I’d have liked to have joined the ranks of the Diehards … but I am now of an age when the only military group I could honestly re-enact would have to be the Chelsea Pensioners!

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])

My opinion still remains that this magazine is well worth the cost of the annual subscription.

Nugget 376

The editor of THE NUGGET sent me the latest issue on Saturday and I sent it to the printer (Macauley Scott Printing Company, Welling, Kent) on Sunday morning. I hope to be able to collect it later this week and post it out to members of Wargame Developments as soon as I can afterwards.

---

IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the fourth issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2025-2026 subscription year.

If you wish to subscribe for the 2025-2026 subscription year and have not yet done so, please request a PayPal invoice or the bank transfer information from the Treasurer or follow the instructions on the relevant page of the website.

Taking a breather

Now that THE FOURTH PORTABLE WARGAME COMPENDIUM has been published, I intend to take a few days off from blogging so that I can return to it with my mental batteries fully recharged.

I intend to spend the break constructing some more buildings to paint and base, and possibly visiting our storage unit with Sue to have a bit of a sort out. If we manage to do the latter, I hope that I might find and bring home a few more of the wargaming bits and pieces that I put there nearly two years ago.