My favourite pre-dreadnought action is the clash of Vice Admiral Karl Jessen Vladivostok Independent Cruiser Squadron (armored cruisers: Rossia, Rurik, and Gromoboi) and Japanese 2nd Fleet under Admiral Kamimura (four armored cruisers Izumo, Azuma, Tokiwa, Iwate, and two protected cruisers Naniwa and Takachih) off Ulsan in the Korean Strait on 14 August 1904.
The Imperial Japanese Navy close in on the Vladivostok Cruiser Squadron on my newly made
naval gaming mat.
It's a great scenario for a relatively quick game (although pretty challenging for the Russian player) and a good one for testing out new rules. For me, it highlights the great range of outcomes possible in naval gaming. I've played it about eight times now and each game has been quite different. Only one or two, by memory, have see the Imperial Russian Navy prevail, alas!
Now, to get yourself in the pre-dred mindset I can always recommend watching the clip from Turning Point (that you all know so well, I'm sure) if you can put up wth the soundtrack:
Not being a devotee of the rivet-counting end of naval wargaming rules, my go-to rules for a fun game (especially when playing solo) are Coaling Stations by Twylight Games. What I like most is the card-based order mechanism where each squadron allocated a series of individual orders (move, turn, fire, make smoke, evade etc) by placing the cards in the order you wish to enact them, and then the player rolls against their allocated command rating (7 inferior commander, 8 average commander, 9 superior commander) using 2d6 and if the roll is equal to or less than the command rating, that number of orders are put in place.
In this case the IJN protected cruiser squadron (command of 9) had rolled a 6 and were able to put all four orders into action. They have to be performed int he order they are laid out in (L to R in this picture).
Alas, in this case, the shift to flank speed meant they steamed right past the Russians (top of picture) before being able to launch their torpedoes!
So, if you have a command rating of 8 for your squadron and you lay out five orders (eg. cruise speed, fire main guns, fire secondary guns, turn 90 degrees and make smoke), a roll of 7 means you get to move forward at cruising speed, then for your main guns only that turn.
It's an interesting and easy to use mechanism. I place my cards for each squadron face down in order (top to bottom) before rolling against the commend. Sometimes I accidentally mix up the order which I put down to fog of war style mistakes by the crew. As you will see below, sometimes this has devastating consequences.
So, here's a photo-story of how the game played out.
The fleets sight each other
First IJN salvo mostly straddles the Russian cruisers, but one shot finds its mark.
Naniwa and Takachih swing to port to close on the Russians.
The second IJN salvo bites hard at the Russian cruisers
Vice Admiral Jessen steers to port to try and distance himself from Admiral Kamimura's heavy guns.
Another IJN salvo starts to slow the Russian cruisers. Naniwa and Takachih close on the rear of the Russian line of battle in the hope of coming within torpedo range.
Naniwa and Takachih pull within range of their primary guns and start to hammer the tail end of the Russian line.
The effect of the furious salvos from the IJN must have interrupted communications - no Russian orders are passed on this turn.
Jessen's gunnery officers finally receive the command to open fire as the stokers shovel coal for all they are worth. The Russian armored cruisers swing back parallel tot he IJN and open fire. Alas, to little effect.
Another salvo from the Japanese takes out a forward turret on the Gromoboi.
Rurik receives more hot stuff from the protected cruisers. The Russian fleet is badly damaged and
only limping along.
Lines of command in Admiral Kamimura's division are winning the day for the IJN, four orders are executed in one turn!
Jessen orders a punishing salvo - with several shots penetrating the Japanese armour.
But, it is too little, too late?
Fore form the main and secondary guns of the IJN protected cruisers hits home with devastating
effect on the Rurik.
Five hits and the Rurik is slowly sinking from the damage.
Steaming past the Russian line, the Takachih bring her starboard side torpedo tubes into action.
Jessen orders his crippled ships to make smoke in a last ditch attempt to avoid destruction.
Another Japanese salvo (not pictured) sends the Rurik, and Gromoboi to the icy depths. But then disaster strikes the IJN. After exercising excellent command under fire, Admiral Kamimura's orders are misinterpreted and his armoured cruisers are ordered to steer hard to port and slice through the Naniwa sending her to the bottom with all hands.
Admiral Kamimura reels with the shame of ramming his own shipas the IJN prepares to
annihilate the Russians.
Takachih avenges the loss of her sister ship by dealing a fatal blow to the Rossia.
As always, Coaling Stations and the Battle off Ulsan gives exciting results! However, a Russian victory seems always just beyond reach in this scenario.
Having spent the last few weekends focused on study, I decided to treat myself to an hour in the shed today to finish off my third gaming mat. My 2mm Thirty Years War project (see previous post) requires more attention than I can give it at present, so I was looking for an easy task.
I've had a sea mat half-made for some time and wanted to get it done to encourage me to return to some naval gaming. It's been some time since my 1:2400 Russo-Japanese War, Second Balkan War Ottoman and Greek fleets and WW1 ships have seen any action.
I've been pleased with the results I've had from gaming mats constructed from a painter's drop-sheet with acrylic caulking compound applied to provide some texture.
For this mat I used a dark grey caulk which provided a good base color. Over this I laid a wash of ultramarine blue then, after that dried, I picked up the texture with a dry-brush of off-white acrylic house paint. Once the paint was dry I applied an acrylic, semi-gloss clear sealant I purchased from an automotive supplies shop (for another job).
The result is a moody sea with a slight hint of reflection provided by the sealant (it was looking a little too matt without that). Someone with more patience than I would, no doubt, find the ideal method to provide the impression of the white caps on the waves. Perhaps using a sponge might have been the way to go?
For less than 2 hours work in total (not including drying time), I'm happy with the outcome and can't wait to get the ships out (well, I already have, as you will see!).
Update 22/04/18
The mat will be good for my air war over the Falklands project too.
Argentine Mirages send some 'hot stuff' towards a Vulcan bomber and its escort.
The wreck of the breastwork monitor HMVS Cerberus sits in Half Moon Bay, Melbourne, Australia, where she was sunk in 1926 as a breakwater. She sits there, decaying away, despite valiant efforts to preserve what is one of the last of the monitors. See: http://www.cerberus.com.au
Since reading an interesting account of the birth of the Victorian Navy (eg. of the Colony of Victoria ... not the era) by Wilson P Evans - "Deeds Not Words: The Victorian Navy", The Hawthorn Press, Melbourne 1971 - I've longed to have a scale model I could do some "what if" naval gaming with.
Why buy, when you can build, I say! Here is the first steps towards bring the Three Headed Dog back to life again - if only on the gaming table. The scale is 1:600.
With the basic turret roof in place, the pile of PVC begins to reflect the Three Headed Dog!
Interior of the aft turret awaiting the gun ports to be cut and the main guns fitted.
Gun ports cut and barrels fitted.
With the upper deck sitting in place, it's not looking right - too thick? Maybe it'll improve when the superstructure, mast and ship's boats are in place.
Well, the Flying Deck did improve visually when I cut it to the correct width (original was 20 feet wide). Then I've added the mast, fighting top, funnel and rear access to gangway.
Several years ago I invested in a fair number of Tumbling Dice 1:2400 ships with the aim of moving into some ACW naval gaming. They are nice little ships that come at a great price - but lacked the detail I wanted. In the end, they found a new home via Ebay.
Now, I find myself on the brink of a new era of ACW naval gaming thanks to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough! 'What the ...?', I hear you say. Thanks for asking, let me explain! :)
My first grand venture into 6mm was with a pair of the excellent War of Spanish Succession starter armies from Baccus. They were great little guys and I really enjoyed painting up my Anglo-Dutch and Franco-Bavarian armies. However, as so often happens with me, I have all the energy in the world with a new project right up to the point of gaming with the freshly painted armies. They sat for a couple of years and I recently decided to sell them to finance new projects.
Well, there was great interest on Ebay, but none more determined than a gentlemanly request from the east coast of the US asking if I would consider shipping these guys half way around the world (I'd said no international shipping in my listing). The short version of events is that I quickly warmed to this buyer in the US and happily offered to ship them if he won. He did, and I'm glad. The tale is eloquently told elsewhere, but let me just say that I can thank the Duke of Marlborough - or at least my new mate Rob's interest in the fine gent - for linking me up with a great new wargaming pal across the pond (the very big one to the east).
I quickly discovered that Rob was a decent and very generous guy, and hearing I was pining for some riverine ironclad biffo, he took pity on this penniless Antipodean and very kindly sent a care package from the most wonderful Langton 1:1200 ACW range (available from Waterloo Minis in the US).
In the weeks since, I've been agonising over painting techniques for these estuarine monsters and the various other gunboats included in my package from Rob. I make no claims of being any good at this style of painting as yet - for instance, sails somehow defeat me, despite many attempts. But, on the weekend I finished painting the ships to my initial level of satisfaction and based them in preparation for a trial run of David Manley's Iron and Fire rules for the Ironclad period (1850-1880).
I don't have any dedicated terrain for this scale of naval/riverine gaming, so I pulled together what I could with my usual naval gaming cloth (yes, the blue tablecloth from my buddy Elaine!) and some pieces of a cut up terrain mat. A few pictures follow.
Confederate ironclads sortie out from a river to intercept some of the Union blockading fleet that ventured too close.
The CSS Merrimack (ACW1) and CSS Richmond (ACW9) steam out to intercept the Federals.
Elements of the the Federal blockading fleet - (L to R) a captured Confederate Commerce Raider (ACW25), USS Gen. Bragg (ACW53) and USS Cumberland (ACW2).
Langton 'Commercial Steamer (ACW25) rigged as a Confederate Commerce Raider
Langton USS Cumberland (ACW2) - needing some rigging, a challenge for another day!
Langton USS/CSS Gen. Bragg (ACW53).
Langton CSS Merrimack (ACW1)
Langton CSS Richmond Class ironclad (ACW9)
Not pictured here were the twin turreted monitor USS Onondaga (ACW29) and USS New Ironsides (ACW42) that was also included. Thanks Rob, I love them! I can't wait to get out and start hammering' some iron!
Thanks for dropping by! I've been interested in model soldiers, board gaming, reenacting and miniatures wargaming for over 40 years. This blog is to share occasional gaming reports, my painting and scratch building attempts and to connect with gamers worldwide. I've had a range of interests over the years from ancients to modern and 2mm to 28mm.
