My Belle Époque project is currently stalled ... but there might be a way forward

As I have not mentioned my Belle Époque project for some time, I imagine that it will come as little or no surprise to my regular blog readers to discover that this project is currently stalled.

Now, I could come up with all sorts of valid reasons why this has happened, but to be truthful, the project has reached a point where it really should be coming together and a conclusion should be in sight, but I just could not seem to get the enthusiasm together to push things forward ... and in particular, to create the maps that I need. I had hoped that taking a break would help, but it hasn't.

So, what could I do to overcome this impasse?

What I chose to do was to begin by looking back at one of the things that inspired me to begin this project, namely, John Ruddle's garden wargames. One paragraph stood out:

'John's garden was laid out to represent six countries: Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, and Turkey, and areas that include Flanders, Africa, Arabia, and Northern Italy are regularly fought over. The actual layout was in no way geographically accurate, with the lawn acting as the 'sea', the paths as 'rivers', and the various flowerbeds and rockeries as the countries.'

My Belle Époque imagi-nations almost coincide with John's even though I have called them by different names:

• Austria = No Belle Époque project equivalent ... as yet
• France = The Republic of Burgundy
• Germany = The Kingdom of Schwarzenberg
• Great Britain = The Commonwealth of Britannia
• Turkey = Sultanate of Khakistan
• India = The Principality of Hyderapore & Emirate of Khyberistan
• North Africa = The Khedivate of Zubia & the Sultanate of Sahel
• South Africa = The Kingdom of the Obele & the Kingdom of Ashona
• Arabia = The Sultanate of Harabia
• Northern Italy = The Principality of Stalbania

Although my project is not going to be a garden wargaming one, I decided to look at the layout of our garden to see if I could get any inspiration for an imagi-world map.

A (very) rough sketch map of our garden. The house and patio are to the left.

Although the layout of our garden is not suitable for 'conversion' into a Belle Époque imagi-world map, it certainly made me think that a U-shaped layout – similar to that seen on some model railway layouts – had distinct possibilities.

A map of the famous final version of P D Hancock's Craig & Mertonford model railway layout. It took up a room that was approximately 14' 6" x 10' 6"  (4.4m x 3.20m) (© P D Hancock)

After a brief period of time – during which I entertained the idea of building a permanent or semi-permanent model railway-like terrain for the entire Belle Époque imagi-nation project – I decided that it would take up far more room than I would ever have access to, even if we moved house to a much bigger home. (It was, however, something that I would have loved to have done; in other words, to replicate a quarter-sized, indoor version of John Ruddle's garden wargames.)

So, I decided to start with a U-shaped layout for my imagi-world map and add to it.

A simple working diagram that shows the relative positions of the various imagi-nations to one another.

The result wasn't quite U-shaped, neither was it like our garden ... but the relative positions of the various countries seemed to work.

I now had a starting point for my imagi-world map ... and I began thinking of adopting a style of map for each country that is similar in style to the one that I used when I produced a version of the PORTABLE WARGAME rules that I could use to fight SHAMBATTLE-style mini-campaigns.

The map I drew for the play-test of the version of the Portable Wargame rules that I developed to fight Shambattle-style mini-campaigns.

The terrain as seen from the Blue City end of the tabletop battlefield.

The terrain as seen from the Blueburg/Red City side of the tabletop battlefield.

The terrain as seen from the Redton end of the tabletop battlefield.

I think that each imagi-nation's map could comprise a number of these 8 x 6 hex grids. For example, by using six of the hex grids it is possible to create a map that is 16 hexes x 18 hexes:

I now have a starting point from which I can now move forward with regard to the maps I need for this project ... and more importantly, my enthusiasm to do so seems to be returning.

Hare & Hounds meets ShamBattle? Well, sort of ...

After giving it some more thought, I took my adapted version of the Hare & Hounds board ...

... and redrew it with each square as a 3 x 3 grid. The result looked like this:

The capital cities and towns are indicated by a central light grey square in the centre of six of the 3 x 3 grid squares and the border is shown by the red line running across the centre of the Hare & Hounds/ShamBattle hybrid board.

I chose to divide each large square into a 3 x 3 Fast Play Portable Wargame (3 x 3 FPPW) tabletop so that the above could be used as a campaign aid for wargamers who want to generate battles using the 3 x 3 FPPW rules but who don't want to burden themselves with a large campaign map.

Here are my suggested campaign rules:

1. Each side divides its forces* into several numbered formations (e.g. 1st Infantry Division, 2nd Cavalry Brigade) and garrison troops.
2. Each formation must comprise at least two units and may begin the war in any large square on their side of the frontier but not in a frontier square.
3. Each side's garrison troops are stationed in their city square (two units) and the town squares (one unit per town) and they may not move away from that square. (These garrison troops are always Poor quality militia and/or Invalid# troops.)
4. Each turn represents one day.
5. At the start of each campaign turn both sides roll a D6 die. The side that scores the highest die score moves its troops first. (N.B. If both sides D6 die scores are the same, both sides roll their D6 dies score again.)
6. The side moving first rolls a further D6 die and this determines how many of their formations they may move. (N.B. No formation may be moved more than once each campaign turn.)
7. Formations may move from one large square to another along the links between those large squares.
8. If one side moves a formation into a large square that is already occupied by an enemy formation that enemy formation can decide to immediately retreat or to fight.
• If it chooses to retreat, this is permitted and does not count as its movement for that turn.
• If it chooses to fight, that side is deemed to be the defender and the formation that has moved into the large square is deemed to be the attacker.
9. Any battles are resolved using the 3 x 3 FPPW rules (or a similar set of rules) before the next campaign turn takes place.

These rules are as yet untested ... but I hope that they will work reasonably well.

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* It is recommended that both sides have the same total strength points.

# Invalid troops are veteran troops who are no longer fit enough for frontline service.

Hare & Hounds: A simple campaign aid?

Thomas Gleason - one of the contributors to the Portable Wargame Facebook page - posed an interesting question a few days ago:

Not sure if anyone is familiar with a Hare & Hounds board. ... The layout got me thinking about utilizing this type of movement for certain types of terrain ....

A typical Hare & Hounds board.

He then goes on to suggest that units in built-up area might be able to move diagonally whereas those in forests would have to move in a straight line up and down the board unless they were on a road. He then asked:

Has anyone attempted to use this style of movement in a 3 x 3 game. Maybe (it) would add too much complexity and blocking within such a small space.

Hare & Hounds is a two-player strategy game that was popular in northern Europe from the medieval period until the 19th century. The rules are very simple: The hare is trying to get past three hounds who are trying to surround and trap it. The three hounds are represented by three playing pieces that start on the circular spaces at one end of the board, and the hare is represented by single playing piece that normally starts the game in a square in the middle of the board or on any of the vacant squares.

1. Having decided which player moves first, they alternate their turns.
2. The Hounds can only move straight forward, diagonally forward, or sideways.
3. Hounds cannot move backwards.
4. Hounds can only move one space per turn but only onto a vacant square,
5. Only one Hound may be moved each turn.
6. The Hare can move one space per turn in any direction but only into a vacant square.
7. If the Hare successfully passes the three Hounds or reaches the other end of the board and lands on a circle, the Hare wins.
8. If the Hounds surround the Hare so that it cannot move, the Hounds win.

Interestingly, my first thought when I looked at the Hare & Hounds board was that it sort of resembled a ShamBattle board. I played around with it by turning the whole thing through ninety degrees and placed a single circle at each end to represent each side's capital city. The end result looked like this:

I then added another line of squares as well as two towns to each side and then marked the border between the two countries. My new version of the Hare & Hounds board looked like this:

I am now thinking about what simple campaign rules I could use with this board, but I'd like to base them on the original Hare & Hounds rules if it is at all possible.

A Portable Wargame mini-campaign game board: A YouTube video

One of the best wargame purchases I have ever made was to buy Hexon II hexagonal terrain boards. I bought enough to easily cover my extended wargame table. (It is actually two IKEA extending tables. When they are not extended, each is 3' x 2' (90mm x 60mm), so normally I can use an area that is 3' x 4' (90mm x 120mm), but when they are both extended, I have a tabletop that is either 3' x 8' (90mm x 240mm) or 6' x 4' (180mm x 120mm).)

When space in my toy/wargame room became tight and it was difficult to extend my tables (can a wargamer ever have enough storage space?), I looked around for some way that I could wargame on a much smaller terrain board but still use my Hexon II terrain board. In the end, I opted to buy a 3' x 2' (90mm x 60mm) magnetic white board which – after a small amount of modification – could accommodate a 6 x 8 hex grid of Hexon II terrain boards.

Since then I have used it to fight all sorts of wargames, most of which were part of mini-campaigns. As I have found this so useful, I decided to create a short YouTube video to share its usefulness with my fellow Portable Wargamers and YouTube followers.

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

Archduke Piccolo’s huge ShamBattle game

Before my recent accident and subsequent immobility, I had been looking at whether it might be possible to meld my PORTABLE WARGAME rules with elements drawn from SHAMBATTLE. I even managed to fight a wargame to test the concept … and was so pleased with the result that I hoped to develop this project further.

To date I’ve been unable to do so, but Archduke Piccolo has, and the results are even better than I could have envisaged.

His work has firmly convinced me that if and when I regain my mobility, this will be a project that I will definitely want to pursue further.

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Please note that photographs featured above are © Archduke Piccolo.

Working on the ShamBattle/Portable Wargame battleboard (Part 2)

Once I had glued the first layer of foamcore to my baseboard, I marked the 8cm x 8cm grid on it using a long ruler and a Sharpie pen.

I did this to give me some idea what the end result would look like. I already had a rough plan of the grid I wanted to create ...

... and having a full-sized grid to look at helped me to finalise my ideas as to where various terrain features would go.

The board is intended to be used to fight battles using the ShamBattle/Portable Wargame hybrid rules that I play-tested back in November 2023.

I then began the process of gluing the second layer of foamcore on top of the first layer. Whereas the first layer had been glued on landscape (i.e. the longer edge of the A4 sheet of foamcore was glued parallel with the longer edge of the baseboard), the second was glued on in portrait (i.e. the shorter edge of the A4 sheet of foamcore was glued parallel to the longer edge of the baseboard), thus:

You will note that I cut the outline of the river into the foamcore sheets as I glued them in place. (I also made a small mistake when doing this and made the river end in the wrong grid square! I will need to amend my rough plan for the finished layout accordingly.)

I also marked the 8cm x 8cm grid onto the top layer of foamcore as I went along as I thought that this would be of assistance at the next stage of the baseboard's development.

Working on the ShamBattle/Portable Wargame battleboard (Part 1)

I began work on the baseboard some time ago, and got as far as adding some cross-bracing to the underside of the board …

… and giving the top surface two coats of PVA glue to seal it.

Originally, I intended to use the baseboard as it was, but drawing on the experience I gained building my Mucking Flats & Fobbing Marsh Light Railway layout, I decided to cover it with two layers of 5mm-thick foamcore board so that I could include streams or rivers that were inset into the terrain. It also meant that when it is finished, it will be compatible with my model railway layout.

I used A4-sized sheets of foamcore board as this was what I had to hand. These were trimmed to fit.

The first layer was glued in place using PVA glue as follows:

The decluttering of my toy/wargame room is almost complete

I have almost finished decluttering my toy/wargame room, having spent almost all my spare time over the past week packing stuff into crates and taking it to the storage unit we have rented. I have retained my Belle Époque collection and my model railway layout as well as most of my books so that the room doesn’t look totally denuded and I still have the opportunity to fight a wargame if I want to and to run my locomotives and rolling stock should the mood take me.

I have also retained the unused half of the pasting table that I used for my model railway layout, and I am thinking of using it to create a SHAMBATTLE/3 x 3 PORTABLE WARGAME terrain board. It would certainly give me the opportunity to build upon my recent model railway terrain building experience and will help to occupy my downtime whilst I declutter our home office. (I find that I need a break every couple of hours when decluttering to stop me getting too bored and our home office is on the same floor as my toy/wargame room. I can easily slip from one to the other without having to climb up and down stairs.)

COVID ... five days on

This variant of COVID has proven to be the worst I have suffered from. Despite having had all my vaccinations, I have still been laid low by it since last Tuesday, although looking back I now realise that I was in the early stages of it on Monday or possibly even Sunday.

The worst now seems to be over, but I am still suffering from the symptoms of loss of appetite, a bunged up and runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, poor concentration, and a general feeling of debility. I can watch TV ... but I don't always remember what I've watched as I often doze off halfway through a programme and wake up again after the next one has started. Mind you, the latter might be more age-related than down to COVID!

I will be taking another lateral flow test later today to see if there is any sign of the virus's grip diminishing. In the meantime, the things that I wanted to do before Christmas – most especially to finish my model railway and to fight another ShamBattle/Portable Wargame – are on hold until I feel a lot better.

Some possible ShamBattle map/battlefield variants.

One of the topics that has arisen from the feedback I have received with regard to the SHAMBATTLE map/battlefields featured in some recent blog posts was the fact that the bridges were chokepoints that restricted the strategies the players could adopt. In my own play-test, the majority of the fighting took place within a couple of grid areas from one or more of the bridges.

As a result of this feedback, I looked at the original map/battlefield I had drawn to see if I could change it for the better.

My first variant saw the replacement of the river by a range of hills and the swamps by forests. The chokepoints were now passes through the hills, but troops from both sides were no longer restricted to using them to advance into enemy territory.

My second variant retained the river, but saw it narrowed so that troops could ford it at any point.

In the third variant I kept the narrow river, removed the swamps and central road, and added a traversing road in Redina from Red City to Redville.

This third variant seems to open up the centre of the map/battlefield and might make a significant difference to the amount of manoeuvering the armies can undertake. 

I now own a facsimile copy of ShamBattle

Thanks to The Saint Bookshop, I now own a facsimile copy of SHAMBATTLE.

The book is actually longer than I expected as I had previously relied on extracts from the Thortrains blog, Phil Dutre's webpage, and the Tiny Tin Men blog. The cover is a generic one produced by the publisher, Literary Licensing ...

... and in no way replicates the cover of the original book. However, the text is a replica of the original, including all the wonderful line drawings and maps.

The contents of the book is split up as follows:

CHAPTER I. SHAMBATTLE IS A GAME

• Safety
• Fairness
• Officers
• Military Terms

A LIEUTENANT'S GAME

CHAPTER II. A LIEUTENANT'S TRAINING

• Redina and Bluvia
• The Reason for Using a Map
• Symbols for a Military Map
• A Lieutenant's Map

A Lieutenant's Map

• Directions for Making a Lieutenant's Map

CHAPTER III: RULES FOR A LIEUTENANT'S GAME

• The Armies
• The Spinner*
• Choosing an Army
• The Curtain
• Placing the Troops
• Time Limit
• An Introduction to SHAMBATTLE Rules
• General Rules
• Rules on Movement
• Rules on Combat
• Bayonet Combat
• Artillery Fire
• Making an Artillery Square
• Using an Artillery Square
• Rules on Capture

CHAPTER IV. MINOR TACTICS IN A LIEUTENANT'S GAME

• A Game Between Lt. Williams and Lt. Blackmore
• Positions of the Troops

The positions of the troops at the beginning of the Lieutenant's Battle.

• THE BATTLE, PLAY BY PLAY
• Bluvian Troops Started Attack in the West
• Redinan Cavalry Rushed to Stop Bluvian Attack
• Bluvian Soldiers in Blue City Deployed
• Weak Redinan Defense Retreated
• Attacking Bluvians Entered Redina
• Small Redinan Force Met Bluvian Attack
• Bluvian Attack Approached Redton
• Redinan Cavalry Turned Back Toward Redton
• Bluvian Cavalry Divided
• The Turning Point

The positions and movements of the troops at the turning point of the Lieutenant's Battle.

• Comments

A CAPTAIN'S GAME

CHAPTER V. A CAPTAIN'S TRAINING

• More Than Two Boys Can Play
• A Captain's Map

A Captain's Map

• Forests and Swamps
• Directions for Making a Captain's Map
• Effect of the New Map
• The Final Test in Map-Making

CHAPTER VI. RULES FOR A CAPTAIN'S GAME

• Placing the Troops
• The Task
• General Rules
• Rules on Movement
• Rules on Combat
• Bayonet Combat
• Artillery Fire
• Rules on Capture

CHAPTER VII. OFFICERS, MEDALS AND SPIES

• Selecting Officers
• Medals for Bravery
• Spies
• Spy Papers
• Punishing Spies
• Claiming a Spy

CHAPTER VIII. MINOR TACTICS IN A CAPTAIN'S GAME

• A Model Battle
• Positions of the Troops
• Choice of Spies

The positions of the troops at the beginning of the Captain's Battle.

• THE BATTLE, PLAY BY PLAY
• Bluvia Invaded by Redinans
• Capt. Holcomb Remains Inactive
• Redinans Made Effective Cannon Fire
• Capt. Holcomb Refused to Issue Orders for Movement
• Combats in Blueburg Caused Heavy Casualties
• Bluvian Officers Conferred on Strategy
• Bluvian Forces Overcome in Blueberg
• Bluvian Troops Ordered into Action
• Bluvian Attack Weakened by Cannon Fire
• Bluvian Infantry Attack Recalled
• Redinans Unable to Fire Cannon
• Bluvian Cavalry Force Divided
• Aid Rushed to Capt. Wright
• Bluvian Cannon Brought into Blueford
• Redinan Artillery Fire Resumes
• Capt. Wright Made a Casualty
• Redinan Defense Weakened
• Redinan Spy Claimed
• The Turning Point

The positions and movements of the troops at the turning point of the Captain's Battle.

• Comments
• Useless Troops
• Veterans in Minor Tactics

A GENERAL'S GAME

CHAPTER IX. A GENERAL'S TRAINING

• A General's Problems
• A General's Map

A General's Map. This is almost identical to the Captain's Map save for the addition of hills.

• Hills and Contour Lines
• Adding the Hills

CHAPTER X. RULES FOR A GENERAL'S GAME

• Placing the Troops
• Machine Guns and Hospitals
• General Rules
• Rules on Movement
• Combat
• Bayonet Combat
• Machine Guns
• Artillery Fire
• Rules on Capture
• Medical Corps

CHAPTER XI. STRATEGY IN A GENERAL'S BATTLE

• The First Problem
• The Expected Strategy
• The Unexpected Strategy
• Dividing the Enemy's Fire
• The Defense
• The Medical Corps
• Positions of the Enemy Troops
• Possible Strategies
• The Duty of a General
• SUGGESTIONS
• Artillery Fire
• Rifle Fire

Having read the book in its entirety rather than an abbreviated version of the General's Game, it becomes immediately apparent that players are expected to start off with the simple Lieutenant's Game, and once the rules and nuances of that game are mastered, they can move onto the Captain's Game and then the General's Game. As such, this made SHAMBATTLE an ideal way to introduce youngsters or novice wargamers to the hobby and is a pattern that we might well adopt nowadays.

There were certain things that did particularly catch my attention:

• In the Safety section of the first chapter it states 'The safety of the players and soldiers is provided for by the rules. No cannons which might endanger the eyesight of the players are used.' I don't know if this is a reference to the dangers inherent in HG Wells' LITTLE WARS, where spring-firing cannons were used, but one has a feeling that it may well do!
• In the Suggestions section in the last chapter the rules there are three alternative methods for resolving artillery fire:
• First: A toy cannon may be employed. However, care must be taken that the cannon is not so strong that it will break the toy soldiers. To preserve the value of deploying, it is rules that all soldiers who fall before the fire of a cannon are casualties or partial casualties, whether they have been struck directly or are knocked over by other soldiers who have been struck. All "unprotected" soldiers falling are made casualties and all "protected" soldiers are partial casualties. (This use of firing toy cannons seems to run contrary to the warning in the earlier chapter, but it may well be the those using the General's Game rules will have understood the need for safety by then.)
• Second: A small sandbag, one inch square, may be used. A player firing his cannon seats himself behind the cannon and tosses the bag three feet into the air in the direction of his target. The bag must never be thrown directly at the soldiers. All soldiers falling over by the descending bag are made casualties or partial casualties according to the ruling for the use of the toy cannon.
• Third: A sandbag, such as described above, may be placed on the end of a yard stick. The player firing, raises the stick three feet above the map and holds the end with the sandbag over his target. When he thinks that the sandbag is directly above the target, he tilts the stick and allows the bag to fall. Casualties and partial casualties are made according to the ruling for the use of the toy cannon. (Interestingly, the second and third methods are not that dissimilar from some of the methods that have been used in some of the FUNNY LITTLE WARS battles I have taken part in.)
• There is also a suggestion regarding rifle fire. It states that 'No cavalry or infantry soldiers, unless accompanied by a machine gun, can be advanced close than within 1 inch of the enemy until they have gained superiority by rifle fire. To gain superiority of rifle fire the dial is spun once. IF number 1, 2, or 3 appears, superiority of rifle fire has been gained and all soldiers are moved according to the rules,' (This suggestion makes a lot of sense to me, and I think that it would improve the rules no end if this were included in the main body of the rules.)

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* The Spinner or Dial is numbered 1 to 6 and could easily be replaced by a standard D6 die of the sort most wargamers are used to using.

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SHAMBATTLE: HOW TO PLAY WITH TOY SOLDIERS was written by by Lieutenant Harry G Dowdall (US Army) and Joseph H Gleason and published in 1929 by Alfred A Knoff (New York). My facsimile was published by Literary Licensing (ISBN 978 1254 6818 7).

Might it be possible to meld ShamBattle with the Portable Wargame?: Part 7: Different-sized grids?

The first play-test was fought on a map/tabletop that was a 6 x 8 hexed grid that measured 55cm x 85cm (21.7" x 33.5"). The battle was very enjoyable, and I had great fun trying out the first draft of the rules BUT I wonder if a bigger grid might have produced a longer and somewhat more tactically interesting battle.

This set me thinking, and I looked at what the map/tabletop might have looked like has a doubled the dimensions of the grid in both direction and ended up with a 12 x 16 hexed grid. I therefore took the original map ...

... and superimposed a red 12 x 16 hex on it.

My immediate reaction was to think that something along these lines would produce a potentially much more interesting series of battles as there was lots more to manoeuvre and the cities would be large enough for some FIBUA to take place. There would also be space to add some hills, something that was missing from my first play-test map/tabletop.

I then 'converted' this so that the main terrain elements would fit on a 12 x 16 hexed grid.

I then repeated this process, this time using an overlaying the original map with a red 12 x 20 squared grid ...

... which I then 'converted' so that the main terrain elements would fit on a 12 x 20 squared grid.

To me, the result looked a little unbalanced, and I altered the map slightly by moving everything one column to the left. The end result looked like this:

I think that this is a much better map as it looks far more balanced.

If I used 4-inch/10cm squares, this map would produce a 48-inch/120cm x 80-inch/200cm tabletop, which is a bit too large for my wargame table BUT if I used 2-inch/5cm squares, it would result in a 24-inch/60cm x 40-inch/100cm tabletop … which would easily fit on my table or even a large coffee table.

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Please note that you can enlarge the maps shown above by clicking on them.