A Christmas break

As Christmas is almost upon us, I have decided to take a short break from blogging so that I can recharge my mental and physical batteries.

Getting older (I am now seventy-five years old) tends to mean that one has to inevitably slow down a bit ... but hopefully not too much! The colder, darker, and shorter days can easily bring on a dose of SADness (Seasonally Affective Disorder) and its inherent susceptibility to visits from the 'Black Dog', and I have found that the best way to cope is:

• To try to get exposure to as much gentle sunlight as possible (and/or to take vitamin D tablets).
• To eat well ... but not to overindulge.
• To rest when I feel tired (i.e. taking a short doze in the afternoon!).
• To tackle projects that are not too physically and/or mentally demanding ... although doing the odd crossword or quiz (or fighting a wargame!) in order to exercise the 'little grey cells' is no bad thing!
• To try to have as much fun as I can and to laugh as often as possible ... even if the cause of the laughter is due to my own stupidity!

None of the above are positive defences against SADness ... but they sure help to keep it at bay!

I intend to return to regular blogging in the New Year ... or possibly even before then if the mood takes me. In the meantime, may I wish my blog readers Merry Christmas and hope that they and their families all enjoy the festivities and stay fit and healthy so that they can look forward to having a great 2026.

A visit to our storage unit yields a lot of useful surprises (5)

The contents of the fifth REALLY USEFUL BOX I brought home from the storage unit included:

Three sailing vessels:

Two river/coastal passenger vessels:

A Turkish coastal gunboat and a German colonial cruiser:

NB. All of the above were made from FIMO coloured polymer clay for my British Dammallia, German Mankanika, and Sultan of Marzibar project. One vessel is currently 'missing' ... the British flatiron gunboat HMS Indolent.

A 1/1200th-scale model of the unbuilt Lion-class battleship:

It was scratchbuilt using parts from Revell models of a King George V-class battleship and a Missouri-class battleship.

A visit to our storage unit yields a lot of useful surprises (4)

The contents of the fourth REALLY USEFUL BOX I brought home from the storage unit included:

The senior commanders of the German Mankanikan armed forces.

A unit of German Schutztruppen and two units of locally-recruited native Schutztruppen.

German Schutztruppen gunners and two units of armed Native Police. In time of war, these two police units would be incorporated into the Schutztruppen.

German Navy figures.

The senior commanders of British Dammallia's armed forces.

Two units of British infantry.

Two units of British Dammallian African infantry.

A unit of British Dammallian Police and a unit of British Dammallian Native Police. In time of war, these two police units would be placed under military command.

Locally-recruited reserve troops of the Port Albert Infantry and Port Albert Artillery.

Royal Navy figures.

All of the figures shown above were manufactured by Essex Miniatures.

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The contents of these four storage boxes have given me pause for though, and in particular the contents of this and the previously featured storage box. I could rebase all the British Dammallia, German Mankanika, and Sultanate of Marzibar figures and incorporate them into my Belle Époque project ... or I could keep them as a separate project that is to all intents and purposes ready to use.

It is something that I seriously need to think about.

A visit to our storage unit yields a lot of useful surprises (3)

The contents of the third REALLY USEFUL BOX I brought home from the storage unit included:

Minifig American World War I infantry figures painted by Nick Huband.

Four Arab warbands and five Arab gunners. The figures were manufactured by Essex Miniatures and were painted for a currently-defunct Colonial imagi-nation project .

The senior commanders of the Marzibarian armed forces and two units of the Sultan of Marizibar's Guard.. These are all Essex Miniatures figures.

Two units of the Marzibarian Zouaves and some members of the Marzibarain Artillery and Navy. These are all Essex Miniatures figures

I started work on the nineteenth century colonial imagi-nations project that involved British Dammallia, German Mankanika, and the Sultanate of Marzibar over ten years ago, but over time it got relegated to storage ... which – on reflection – might have been a rather silly decision.

A visit to our storage unit yields a lot of useful surprises (2)

The contents of the second REALLY USEFUL BOX I brought home from the storage unit included:

Four scratch-built coastal defence guns and three scratch-built Vickers Six-ton tanks. The latter were built using the hulls of Airfix Universal Carriers.

Three Minifig American Civil War gunners (painted up as Confederates), two Peter Laing Miniatures cannons, and ten painted Peter Laing Miniatures World War I figures (nine infantry and a Vickers machine gun and crewman.

A whole gun park of Peter Laing Miniatures World War I artillery pieces! Six German and nine Russian field guns.

More Peter Laing Miniatures artillery pieces ... and two Essex Miniatures guns, a field gun and a Gatling machine gun.

Eight Peter Laing Miniatures artillery limbers.

Thirty-one painted Peter Laing Miniatures draught horses!

Lots of stuff that I can use with my Belle Époque project!

A visit to our storage unit yields a lot of useful surprises (1)

In the run up to Christmas, Sue and I paid a visit to our storage unit to collect some bits and pieces we thought that we might need.

Whilst we were there, I found several REALLY USEFUL BOXES full of 15mm figures and equipment and brought them home. The contents of the first box included:

The original toy soldiers used to develop the first version of the Portable Wargame rules. They were originally painted and based for the Wargame Development's participation Matrix Game, SAVE GORDON!

Peter Pig World War II British infantry. These were painted and based by Nick Huband for use in a Wargame Development participation game.

Painted Egyptian/Sudanese troops.

The Battle of Scrobbesburh: The rules

In the recent wargame I fought with Richard Watson, I used a set of rules that were heavily based on Donald Featherstone's Ancient rules.

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FEATHERSTONE-STYLE VIKING & ANGLO-SAXON WARGAME RULES

1. SCALES AND UNITS

•  Ground scale: 1" = 20 yards.
• Time scale: 1 turn = 5 to10 minutes.
• Units:
• Huscarls: 12 to 16 figures.
• Fyrd/Bondi: 16 to 20 figures.
• Archers: 8 to12 figures.
• Skirmishers: 6 to 8 figures.

2. TURN SEQUENCE

1. Movement.
2. Missile Fire.
3. Melee (Both sides take part).
4. Morale.
5. Repeat for other side.

3. MOVEMENT

•  Armoured Infantry: 4”.
• Shieldwall Infantry: 3" (Cannot charge).
• Unarmoured Infantry: 6".
• Archers/Skirmishers: 8".
• Cavalry: 10".
• Routing units: 10”.
• Charge: +2” (Must roll 3 or more on a D6).

4. MISSILE FIRE

• 1D6 per 2 firing figures.
• Archery Short Range (6”): Score of 5 or 6 hits.
• Archery Long Range (12”): Score of 6 hits.
• Spear (3”): Score of 6 hits.
• -1 against shieldwall.
• 1 hit removes 1 figure.

5. MELEE

• 1D6 per 3 figures.
• Modifiers:
• +2 Huscarls.
• +1 Shieldwall (in defence).
• +1 Charge.
• +1 Uphill.
• +2 Flank/Rear.
• -1 Disordered.
• Score of 5 or 6 hits.
• Every 2 hits = 1 casualty.
• Loser tests morale.

6. SHIELDWALL RULES

• Movement: 3".
• +1 defence.
• Missile fire against it: -1.
• Breaks if flanked, loses melee, or takes 25% casualties.

7. MORALE

• Test when losing melee, taking losses, or seeing routs.
• Rolls 2D6 + modifiers:
• +2 Huscarls.
• +1 Leader within 6”.
• +1 In shieldwall.
• -1 Fyrd.
• -1 At half strength.
• Results:
• Score is 10+: No effect.
• Score is 7 to 9: Unit cannot move next turn.
• Score is 6 or less: Unit routs and leaves the battlefield at 10” per turn.
• Rallying: Leader must join the unit and rolls 2D6.
• Results:
• Score is 8 or more: Unit rallies but cannot move next turn.
• Score is 7 or less: Unit cannot be rallied and continues to rout.

8. LEADERS

• +1 morale within 6"
• +1 melee if attached.
• Risk if unit loses melee by 3 hits. Rolls a D6:
• Results:
• Score is 1: Slain.
• Score is 2: Wounded and loses all bonuses.
• Score is 3 or more: Unharmed.

9. TERRAIN

• Woods: most troops disordered.
• Rough: -2" movement; no shieldwall can enter.
• Hills: +1 to defenders.

10. OPTIONAL RULES

• Berserkers:
• Move 8".
• +2 melee on first round.
• Rout if they lose melee.
• Fyrd:
• Morale –1.
• Need leader to charge.

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It is worth noting that the battle was fought on a pair of Chessex Megamat 1" reversible blue-green squares vinyl mats. These measured 34½" x 48" and we set them up side-by-side, giving us a tabletop that was just under 6' x 4'. Using a grid meant that we didn't have to measure any distances during the game, which considerably speeded up play.

Nine million hits!

9,000,000 hits!

This blog's hit counter hit eight million back in early October this year, having reached seven million in July. The sudden increase between July and October seems to have been due to web bots as other wargame bloggers also noticed this phenomenon affecting their hit counters. I was therefore surprised to see that my blog's hit counter has just passed nine million hits!

When I started blogging back in 2008, I never expected to reach more than a few thousand hits ... but it appears that my random thoughts have found an audience, and it is that audience - my regular blog readers - that I want to say a big THANK YOU to. Without your interest and comments, I doubt that I would ever have continued to blog after the first month or so.

Here's to reaching ten million hits!

The Battle of Scrobbesburh: Some more photographs

My opponent in my recent wargame – Richard Watson – also took some photographs and has shared them with me.

The Anglo-Saxons.

The Vikings.

The Viking skirmishers seize the hill.

The Anglo-Saxons archers capture the hill from the Viking skirmishers.

The Anglo-Saxon shieldwall is attacked by the Vikings.

The Anglo-Saxon right wing falls back.

The Anglo-Saxon shieldwall turns to counter a Viking attempt to outflank it.

The end of the battle ... and the Anglo-Saxons are the victors!

Please note that all the photographs featured above are © Richard Watson.

The Barnegat-class small seaplane tenders

I recently featured a photograph of a 1/1200th-scale model of a Barnegat-class small seaplane tender. It spurred me to do some research into the class ... and it turned out to be an interesting task.

The US Navy originally ordered forty-one Barnegat-class ships and thirty-five of them were built. Of these, thirty were completed as small seaplane tenders, four were used as motor torpedo boat/patrol torpedo boat tenders, and one was fitted with a catapult and used as a catapult training ship.

USS Casco (AVP-12).

After the end of World War II they were surplus to the US Navy’s requirements, but as they had been constructed to a high standard, they had a lot of potential life remaining. As a result, after they had been decommissioned, they were repurposed. Eighteen became US Coastguard cutters (the Casco-class), others became survey ships, and three were sold into Greek merchant service where they became passenger vessels. By the time the last of the class was decommissioned in 1993, ships of the class had served in the navies of the United States, Ethiopia, Greece, Italy, Norway, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

USCGC Bering Strait (WAVP-382).

The class’s characteristics were:

• Displacement: 2,040 tons standard/2,551 tons full load
• Dimensions:
• Length:  310ft 9in (94.72m)
• Beam: 41ft 1in (12.52m)
• Draught: 12ft 5in (3.78m)
• Propulsion:  2 x diesel engines (6,000 to 6,080 hp) driving two propellers
• Speed: 20 knots
• Range 6,000 nautical miles at 12 knots
• Complement: 215 (ship's company); 367 (including aviation unit); 138 (Coastguard personnel)
• Armament:
• As designed: 2 × 5-inch (127mm) (2 x 1) guns
• Assigned in 1942; 4 × 5-inch (127mm) (4 x 1) guns; 8 × 20mm (8 x 1) anti-aircraft guns; 2 × depth charge racks
• By 1944: Either 2 × 5-inch (127mm) (2 x 1) guns; 4 × 20 (4 x 1) mm anti-aircraft guns or 1 × 5-inch (127mm) gun; 8 × 40mm (1 x 4 & 2 x 2 ) anti-aircraft guns; 6 × 20mm (6 x 1) anti-aircraft guns
• As a Coastguard cutter: 1 × 5-inch (127mm) gun; 1 x Mk.10 (Hedgehog) anti-submarine projector