The Wrong Trousers

Yesterday morning I was sent an invitation to attend a Masonic meeting in just under a fortnight's time, my first since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. I was on the verge of accepting the invitation when my wife asked me if I had tried on my suit or my Morning Dress since I had had my operation in December. I had not ... and when I did, I discovered that the trousers no longer fit!

The waistbands of both my suit and my Morning Dress trousers sit exactly over my stoma, which means that it cannot do its job properly. The problem had not arisen before as I have been wearing jogging bottoms since the operation as I have had no occasion to wear anything vaguely formal. Luckily, I have been able to buy a new suit with a larger waistband online, and it should be available for me to collect this afternoon. In the meantime, I now have to go through my wardrobe and check if the rest of my trousers still fit! If they don’t, it looks as if I will be paying a few visits to the local gentleman's outfitters over the next week or so.

The Battle of Dva Kholma

Yesterday, for the first time in months, I took part in a wargame!

Thanks to the good offices of Gary Sheffield, I was able to take command of the Russian forces in an online battle that he organised. He has developed an advanced Corps-level set of Napoleonic rules based on the rules in THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME, and this battle gave me the opportunity to see them in action ... and mighty fine they are!

The rules place greater emphasis on Command and Control than the originals and are designed to be used on a much larger gridded surface. Yesterday's game was fought on a squared grid that was 14 grid areas x 14 grid areas (see map below), and the 'extra' space made it possible to field two large Corps per side and yet to still have plenty of room to manoeuvre the units.

I took on the role of General Lev Yashin, Commander of the Rear-Guard Corps of the Army of the West. I had the following units under my command:

• 1st Grenadier Division (Elite): 4 Brigades @ 3 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 2nd Line Infantry Division (Average): 4 Brigades @ 2 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 3rd Line Infantry Division (Average): 4 Brigades @ 2 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 4th Heavy Cavalry Division (Elite): 3 Brigades @ 3 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 5th Cossack Division (Poor): 3 Brigades @ 1 SP each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 6th Artillery Regiment: 3 Batteries @ 2 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• Total Strength: 70 SPs
• Exhaustion Point: 24 SPs

My opponent was General Thierry Henri (who bore a remarkable resemblance to Gary Sheffield!), Commander of the Advanced Guard of the Army of the Grand Army. He had the following units under his command:

• 1st Line Infantry Division (Average): 4 Brigades @ 2 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 2nd Light Infantry Division (Elite): 4 Brigades @ 3 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 3rd Parisian Municipal Guard Division (Average): 4 Brigades @ 2 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 4th Saxon Division (Poor): 4 Brigades @ 1 SP each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 5th Swiss Division (Average): 4 Brigades @ 2 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 6th Heavy Cavalry Division (Elite): 3 Brigades @ 3 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• 7th Artillery Regiment: 2 Batteries @ 2 SPs each + a subordinate commander (3 SPs)
• Total Strength: 80 SPs
• Exhaustion Point: 27 SPs

My orders were to delay the French advance for a day (15 turns) to allow the rest of the army to concentrate around Smolensk. The French orders were to push up the Smolensk road as quickly as possible to disrupt the chance of a Russian concentration. The stage was set for the Battle of Dva Kholma!

The battlefield

I concentrate most of my troops on and behind the larger hill (G3 to G5 & H3 to H5), but detached the Cossack Division, which I placed behind the smaller hill (I11 to I12 & J11 to J12). The French advanced up the road to Smolensk (A10 to N10).

The battle

Although neither of us kept detailed records of events, from my point of view the battle unfolded as I had hoped. My Cossacks were able to harass the advancing French units until the French were able to destroy them, having first skirmished with the French Heavy Cavalry in order to break out into the open country in the bottom right area of the map.

I menaced those French units that reached the uppermost end of the road with my elite units (1st Grenadier Division [which was under my personal command] and 4th Heavy Cavalry Division), thus halting the French advance. The French attempted to attack the troops I had positioned on and around the hill, but after some fierce fighting in the town (G6 & H6), they were no able to achieve their goal of driving my troops away.

By Turn 10, it was becoming apparent that the French advance was stalled, and by Turn 12 the battle was effectively over. The Russians had achieved their objective, and despite the loss of the Cossack Division, had inflicted great casualties than they had suffered.

A view of some of the French and Russian units in action.

The situation at the end of the battle.

---

This was an excellent battle, well umpired by Gary, and which proved to my satisfaction that his changes to my original rules have considerably enhanced then without detracting from their simplicity. I look forward to crossing swords with him again in the near future!

---

Please note that the map and photographs featured above are © Gary Sheffield.

For his version of events, please see his recent Facebook post on The Portable Wargame Facebook page.

Bob can bodge it!

What do you get if you cross a Pzkpfw III ...

... with a Jagdtiger?

A Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B!

Looking through my box of ROCO bits and pieces, I found a Pzkpfw III hull and the casemate from a Jadgtiger. I wondered if I could utilise these to build a self-propelled gun, and after a quick look through my reference books and at a photo on Wikipedia, ...

... I realised that I could bodge a Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B from the parts.

I downloaded a drawing of the Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B from the Internet, ...

... which I then scaled down so that it was 1/87th-scale. Using the drawings as a guide, I cut the Jagdtiger casemate to the right length (it was already the right width), and after cutting away part of the Pzkpfw III’s upper hull, I was able to glue the casemate into place. I then added a suitably shortened gun barrel from my spares box, and used thin pieces of plastic to blank off the open end of the casemate. Some further detail (e.g. hatches, jerrycans, a storage box) was added using more bits from the spares box ... and the model was finished!

The resultant model is not a 100% accurate scale model, but I think that it’s good enough for wargaming.

It is a long time since I bodged together something like this ... but I have proved to myself that ‘Bob can bodge it!’ (With apologies to the lyrics of the BOB THE BUILDER theme tune!).

Is it worth publishing a simple terrain generator booklet?

Since I published my simple terrain generator as part of THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME book, I have had several requests for just that section of the book. I am therefore thinking about publishing that section of the book as a separate booklet so that non-Colonial wargamers can have access to it.

Doing this would take very little time and effort and would seemingly meet a need. I’m not currently rushed off my feet with other projects (my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project is progressing slowly but surely), and I could easily fit it in quite literally whilst I am waiting for the paint to dry!

In Darkest Aithiops: The Battle of Limpopo Bend: first battle of the campaign has been fought

The first battle between the Azeitonians and the m'Butu has been fought ... and a report on the battle can be found on Archduke Piccolo's blog.

The location of the Battle of Limpopo Bend is indicated by the red arrow.

I enjoyed this battle report so much that I almost (and it was very touch-and-go!) stopped work on my present Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project to get some of my Colonial figures out of storage and onto the tabletop. The temptation was great, but I managed to resist it ... this time! I am not so sure that if this campaign proves to be as enjoyable to read about as it obviously was to take part in, I know that my resistance will be sorely tested.

---

Please note that the map and photographs featured above are © Archduke Piccolo.

The new German vehicles for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project

Yesterday, I finished painting three new German vehicles for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project. They are a Kubelwagen, a heavy passenger car (what I think is a Steyr 1500A Kommandeurwagen Kfz 21), and a 6-wheeled SdKfz 231 armoured car.

The rather poor-quality photographs do not do them justice, but the vehicles will make useful additions to my collection. I have a few ideas what vehicles I want to tackle next, but for the moment I am undecided whether to do some German, Russian, or possibly even Hungarian vehicles.

In Darkest Aithiops: The m'Butuland Expedition

If my regular blog readers have not already paid Archduke Piccolo's blog a visit in the past few days, I thoroughly recommend that they do as soon as possible!

He has started a new campaign, this time set in Darkest Aithiops (Africa), where one of the major Colonial powers (the Azeitonians ... who are based on the Portuguese) are mounting an operation to reach the semi-mystical Montanhas Diamante (Diamond Mountains).

An expedition, led by Tenente-Coronel Joao Pablo Relaxado (the Governor), is advancing into the territory controlled by the m'Butu. The m'Butu are a peaceable people, but their Chief (Bara Kuta) will not sit idly by whilst the Azeitonians march through his tribal area, taking what they want as they proceed.

The m'Butu are not the only native power in the area. Sheikh El Bazir controls the nomadic desert-dwelling Touaouin (pronounced Twawin), who are renown fighters, and ooperating from the island of Zanzingabar there is a force of corsairs led by Wazir Yezdi. The Touaouin and Zanzingabar can be relied upon to exploit any opportunities for plunder and mayhem ... should they arise.

The stage is set, and the Azeitonians are on the march ...

---

Please note that the map featured above is © Archduke Piccolo.

Two tanks

I finished painted the bases of the two tanks that had been languishing hlaf-finished on my worktable sine last year.

They are by no means masterpieces, but they will suit my purposes, and will fit in with the other vehicles I have painted for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project.

I have already undercoated the next batch of vehicles and hope to get them finished over the next few days.

Working on my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project

Before I began the rationalisation of my modelling paints and tools, I had planned to begin work on renovating, basing, and varnishing a large number of 25/28mm pre-painted Del Prado Russian Napoleonic figures to add to my existing collection. However, after finding the two half-finished tanks on my worktable during my recent sort out, I decided to deal with them first ... and this led to me recommence work on my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project. Besides the two tanks, I now have a Kubelwagen, a heavy passenger car (probably a Steyr 1500A Kommandeurwagen Kfz 21), and a 6-wheeled SdKfz 231 armoured car on my worktable in various stages of being painted and based.

After the current batch of vehicles is finished, I may well work on some more before going back to my Napoleonic project. I have no definite plans or timescale as such, and just intend to 'go with the flow'. Experience has shown that life tends to be far less stressful if I do that.

Warships after London

I bought my copy of WARSHIPS AFTER LONDON: THE END OF THE TREATY ERA IN THE FIVE MAJOR FLEETS, 1930 – 1936 when it was published a year ago, and I have just finished re-reading it.

The book is a follow-up to John Jordan’s earlier WARSHIPS AFTER WASHINGTON: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIVE MAJOR FLEETS 1922 – 1930, which was published in 2011. In the latest book, the author looks at the developments in warship design that took place in Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy during the period immediately after the signing of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 had already placed limited on the total tonnage of capital ships and aircraft carriers each of the signatory nations could build as well as set upper limits on the tonnage and armament of cruisers. The London Naval Treaty sought to extend those limits to cover smaller warships. The changes can be summarised as follows:

• The maximum tonnage of an individual submarine was set at 2,000 tons standard displacement, and it could be armed with 6.1-inch/155mm calibre guns. Great Britain, the United States, and Japan could build up to three submarines of 2,800 tons standard tonnage and the French could keep the Surcouf, which was armed with 8-inch/203mm guns.
• Cruisers were split into two categories, Light Cruisers (armed with 6.1-inch/155mm calibre guns and Heavy Cruisers (armed with 8-inch/203mm guns), and the major nations were limited as to the total tonnage of Light Cruisers they could build (192,200 tons for the British, 143,500 tons for the Americans, and 100,450 tons for the Japanese) and number and total tonnage of Heavy Cruisers that they could build (Great Britain was permitted 15 Heavy Cruisers with a total tonnage of 147,000 tons, the Americans 18 totalling 180,000 tons, and the Japanese 12 totalling 108,000 tons).
• The size, armament, and total tonnage of destroyers was also set as follows: 1,850 tons standard tonnage per vessel, which could be armed with guns of up to 5.1-inch/130mm calibre, with Great Britain and the United States being permitted up to a maximum tonnage of 150,000 tons and the Japanese 105,500 tons.
• Ships of less than 2,000 tons standard displacement, and with an armament not exceeding four 6.1-inch/155mm calibre (152 mm) and a maximum speed of 20 knots, were exempt from tonnage limitations.
• Ships of less than 600 tons standard displacement were completely exempt for limitations.

The ships that were built under the terms of the London Naval Treaty were the most modern ships available when the Second World War broke out in 1939, and this book goes a long way to explain how each of the signatory nations designed and developed ships that would serve their particular requirements whilst remaining (not always very successfully!) within the limits set.

---

WARSHIPS AFTER LONDON: THE END OF THE TREATY ERA IN THE FIVE MAJOR FLEETS, 1930 – 1936 was written by John Jordan and published in 2020 by Seaforth Publishing (ISBN 978 1 6824 7610 9).