Admiral Lazarev and Greig.

Hey Internet,

I painted some more ships and thought I'd put them up on me old blog.

In an effort to make my Ironclad games a little more balanced, I've done two of the most powerful warships in the Tsar Alexander's navy, the Admiral Lazarev and the Admiral Greig.

Both were interesting ships, both triple-turreted Frigates. Despite their appearance and low freeboard they were not monitors but sea-going warships.

The models are triple-turreted ACW monitors from 'Tumbling Dice's 1/2400th Range. Like all ships in this scale that dont have sails they were a joy to paint and took near to no time to get finished.

I've also, well, glued a little bit of paper to, the my model of the Great Eastern, meaning that she is now finished and ready for battle.

Ive got some more bits on the go, will post them once they are done.

MM.

Magnets!

One more thing. I have now started storing my model ships in tins by magnetising their bases. Its a much better way of doing it, both cheaper than foam storage and less likely to break their masts as they dont move at all or have to rest against any surface.

Ironclad Update

I posted up a few almost-finished Ironclads the other day...here they are finished!















MM.

1868 Anglo-Russian War Game at the Club t'uther night.

Ran a game of 'Ironclads' the other night at the Club. The Royal Navy gave the White Bear a damned good thrashing, crippling or sinking three large ships of the line for no loss or significant damage to their own numbers.  Everyone appeared to have a bit of fun, even if there was a little universal bafflement at the rules (what with it being their first time playing.)


^ The British let loose a broadside, ripping apart the Russian line. 

MM.

1877 Peter The Great 1/2400

Hey all.
As anyone who's had a peer though my blog will know, I have been for some time putting together a considerable Russian fleet in 1/2400 scale. It has annoyed me throughout making this collection that I could not find a suitable model to represent my Flagship, the most powerful ship in the Russian Navy, the turret ironclad 'Peter the Great'. I have tried to use some models from the fantastic Tumbling Dice range, first the HMS Devastation - a turret ship that was far too short (about 100' in scale!) - and then the HMS Monarch - who matches the Peter The Great in all dimensions and in her armament but otherwise looks nothing like her. Anyway, what I am rambling into saying is that, dissatisfy with these models I did the one thing that I could do - made the damned thing myself.



The model is converted from the Tumbling Dice model of the USS Colossus. I have fairly simply cut the original model up and rearranged it so that it looked roughly like the Peter The Great, then built a new hull out of cardstock and milliput, cut down and re-built the turrets, added masts, flagpoles and flags, a new smokestack, some 1/1200 scale deck funnels - then I just had to paint it up. Rather easy really - if rather time consuming. This is by far the most ambitious shipwright-ing project that I have undertaken so far and I am really rather happy with the result. In my little wave of enthusiasm following the realization that I could have an accurate model for one of my favorite ships of all time I finished the whole project - from the thought popping into my head whilst walking the dog to posting the finished photos on my blog - in under 48 hours.

So, yes, without further adieu - the Photos.















MM

The Second Battle for Callao

A nice little friendly game of Ironclads using the ‘Ironclads and Either Flyers’ rules from the other afternoon. 

The game was a semi-historical scenario based on the Chilean naval attack on the Peruvian port of Callao – the most major changes being the ships being used. To make the game less one sided, Peru retained the use of both of her Ironclads and Chile still had the Esmeralda.

The Chilean objective was to bombard the forts on the cost, whilst the Peruvians had to prevent them from doing this.

A photograph of how things were at the outset of the battle. The Chilean fleet approaches from the bottom of the photograph, counting two armoured ships and three wooden corvettes. To the upper right of the photograph the Peruvian harbour defence ships can be seen rushing to engage, three monitors….

Whilst, in harbour, the rest of the Peruvian fleet hurry’s to make steam so that they may engage their attackers. They count two ironclads and two wooden ships. 

The Chilean fleet makes its way forward towards the cost at full speed. The monitor squadron slowly continues to meet them head on. Much to the surprise of both players, the Ironclad Huascar raises steam and makes water in almost no time at all. Some fire is exchanged, but little damage is taken by either side. 

The Chileans keep rushing forward, their cannons ringing out as they do. The Ironclad Independence raises steam and comes out of port alongside the Huascar – both of them taking some damage but nothing all too critical. The monitors start to open up on the Chilean ironclads, but to little effect. The Chilean wooden ships begin to turn engade the Peruvian ironclads. 

The Chilean fleet speeds on hoping to outrun the Peruvian ironclads – encoring considerable damage as they do. A large fire broke out on the lead Chilean ironclad Blanco, started by a shell from one of the monitors. Lower down the aged Chilean corvette Esmeralda takes considerable damage and falls behind the rest of the attacking fleet. The Ironclad Huascar takes some important damage – both with a small fire starting on deck and the rudder becoming jammed.

 

The Chileans start their bombardment of the costal forts – smashing them down – and also sinking the monitor Victoria. Huascar, repairing her rudder turns and rams the corvette Esmeralda causing massive damage and making her flood uncontrollably. The rear surviving Chilean corvette, O’Higgins, also ends her roll in the battle, encoring too many crew casualties – dropping her anchor and raising the white flag. 

The battle ends with the Chilean ironclads finishing their bombardment of the first fort, but having to break away before they could make any real impact on the second. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Chileans had failed to achieve their objective and had encored terrible casualties.

1/2400th SS Grear Eastern

Third post tonight......

I’ve also based the SS Great Eastern, Brunel’s enormous trans-Atlantic steamer. Adding the base has given this model a really ‘chunky’ feeling when you pick it up. I really want to try out a commerce raiding scenario at some point in the near future centering around this model. 

Just to show that the Eastern is 2+1/2 normal ships long. 

1/2400th US Ironclads

Just a few US Ironclads that I have painted up and posted before, but now on little bases.



Left to right, USS Dictator, USS Dunderburg and USS Puritan.

1/2400th Chilean Navy Circa 1879

I finished painting up all of my Chilean ships about a foughtnight ago but was out of bases – I ordered some and they turned up this morning. I’ve spent the evening sat on the floor painting them and cutting out and gluing on little flags. I was sat on the floor as the only place to sit I have is on my sofa-bed, which has jammed, meaning I have spent all day sat on the floor.

Anyway, here are the Chilean forces to face off against my Peruvians in the Battle of the Pacific.

The two powerful Ironclad Corvettes - Almirante Cochrane and Blanco Encalada.

The wooden Sloops and Corvettes - O’Higgins, Chacabuco and Esmeralda.

1/2400th Peruvian Navy Circa 1879

Last week I finished my second set of models of the Peruvian navy circa the War of the Pacific (1879-1882), this time in 1/2400^th scale. All the models are from tumbling dice, a wonderful little company that makes a great and very reasonably priced range of 2400^th ships from the age of steam and iron – Including all the ships needed to wargame the War of the Pacific.

The Fleet all together.

From furthest to closest – the Sloop Pilcomayo, The Turret ship Huáscar and the Corvette Unión.

Whilst Tumbling Dice make a very nice model of the Huáscar, I took it upon myself to adjust it slightly to capture the character of the original ship, I did a very simple conversion, removing the masts and bow section and replacing them with a narrow flag pole out of brass wire and resulting the bow out of miliput. I’m really rather chuffed with how it turned out.

I have also painted up the Chilean fleet and will post some photos of it once the bases for them have turned up and they can be finished.

Oh, I also pained up some Brigade Models Airships for use with my Russian Fleet.

Tell me what you think

Marx

Battle Report: 1877 The Russio-Turkish War

It was a nature-deifyingly hot day out, so for the first time ever, I played a wargame outside!

1877 The Russio-Turkish War, A Squadron of the Black Seas fleet, Reinforced by Ships rushed in from the Baltic face off an Ottoman Squadron of Ironclads.

As the two squadrens come into range of one another head-on, they manuver into their formations for the battle.

The Russians form their frigates in a line on their left whilst Khaptain attempts to go-it-alone down the right, all with the circular ironclad Novgrod dawdling along giving long range supporting fire.  

The Ottomans take a different approach, advancing in-line, with their ironclads screening their more vulnerable unarmoured ships.

As the two squadrons close, the concentrated fire of the ottoman ships jams the rudder of the lead Russian Armoured Frigate, forcing her to cut to starboard, destroying a number of her guns and starting a sizeable fire below decks. No other ships take any sizeable damage, and move on unmolested. 

As the ships speed on, exchanging shells at distance, an unexpected catastrophe befalls the Russian Armoured Frigate Kreml, who takes a hit to her boiler, causing her to explode with unrivalled violence, killing all aboard and sending the previously undamaged ship, in pieces, to the bottom of the Black Sea. 

The Ottoman Fleet breaks into two wings and takes significant but not crippling damage from Russian fire, and contuse onward doing considerable damage. The now one-ship-column of the Russians speeds on firing ineffective volleys at the large Ottoman Ironclad Messudieh, the Russian General Admiral, that had previously taken a rudder hit was left dead in the water, but still returning fire, and Khaptain continued her wide arc towards the enemy fleet, cannons blazing as she goes.

Then came the most dynamic moment of the game. Khaptain, moving in at full speed rammed the damaged Ironclad Corvette Muin-I-Zaffer, splitting her in two, before successfully ramming the Side-wheeler Torpedoship Squab and reducing her to matchwood. Khaptain then took the brunt of the fire from the remaining Ottoman ships at very close range, destroying many of her guns. 

The game ended with the Khaptain ramming into Messudieh to little avail. The few remaining guns of the ships exchanged blows, before, with all ships badly damaged, night approaching and all crew exhausted from the days events both squadrons disengaged. The game was a draw in Russia’s favour.

Ottoman Navy - First Three.

Ive have got the first three of my Ottomen Ironclads up and ready, giveing me enough to play a game. Yippie.


The large and powerful Ironclad Frigate, Messudieh. She has a main armliment of twelve (!) 10" muzzle-loaders.



The Ironclad Corvettes Avni Illah and Muin-I-Zaffer. Both are compact and powerful ships, each armed with with four 9" guns and procted by a good thickness of armour. Very powerful for their size, they can confidently lock horns with the larger ships of the Russian fleet.

I dont know how well these photos show it, but these ships are painted dark green rather than the usual 'ironclad grey', as as far as I can tell, the ottoman navy was painted green thoughout swathes of the late 1800s and early twentyeth centry. Im rather happy with them. Not sure if the dark green looks so great really, but they dont look awful. Please feel free to tell me what you think.

Over the next few days (by the weekend) I plan most of the rest of the ships I have painted and ready for battle, including some nice paddle-sloops and the worlds last and most advanced Ship of the Line. I have also (finaly) got around to ordering some RE magnets, so can my pile of airships into the air as soon as they get here.

Khaptain

Got this one painted up tonight so I thought Id post it up too. Without further adue, the third hand Turret Ironclad, Khaptain.



The model is that of the infamous and unique British warship HMS Captain. For those that dont know the fatefull history of this ship she was designed as the royal navys first large oceangoing warship to mount its main battery in the revolutionary revolving turret. It was the grand design of the famous Captain Cowper Coles, the man responceable for the Coles turret. It was built as a responce to public and political pressure rather than because the admeralty wanted it. Although a valid but kinda 'out there' design, errors were made in construction that resulted in her having a dangeriously low freeboard, be dangeriously overweight and have a dangeriously high center of gravity. She passed her trials, but within months of her launch she capsized in mild seas in the Bay of Biscay with the loss of all but 18 crew (her compliment was over 500). This caused reprocussions in British Naval History, with the admeralty gaining greater control over themselves (they blamed the deaths on the fact the ship was built due to public pressure) and in general the total falure of this state-of-the-art ship led the admeralty to avoid adopting new developments in technology without the greatest of caution.




Clealy though, I appear to have modeled this sunken ship and placed it in Russian Survice. I did this for two reasons - First, I really liked the ship and the model (from Tumbling Dice) and Second, I needed a major capital ship to bulk up the Russian Black Sea Fleet for a Ottoman/Russian naval campain that I am going to run for my friends.

So, I present the following counter-factual situation to allow the HMS Captain to become the Khaptain;

Rather than being lost at sea, the Captain of the Captain, took the desision to run the ship aground, wrecking her on the Southern Cost of France. In the insueing politcal arguments over the disaster, the disision is made not to recover the ship and to sell her off to avoid further embarisment. She would most probably end up in the hands of the French and then move from there into Russian hands.

Russian Ironclads

Ive got a fair bit done this week towards finishing my little 1/24th scale ironclad project ready for games.



Russian Baltic squadren. General Admiral on the left, Petr Veliki to the center and Kreml to the right.


Close up of the armoured cruiser General Admiral


Petr Veliki



Kreml



Tsesarevich


All of these ships have been shown before, but since last-time I have added 3mm bases made out of balsa wood that allow me to acctualy pick the things up and move them around the gaming table. They should also greatly increase the durability of the models as people will be much less inclined to handel them by the model. I have also added small flags to the rear starbord quater of the model to denote its nationality. The ships names and ID numbers are unde the bases, but you cant see them.


Also, three Black Sea Cost Defence Monitors




The two larger monitors are the Russalka and the Chichgov.






The smaller, circular monitor is the infamous Novgrod. I have the rules written up for her, including a rule for her spining out of control! No model is avalable in this scale, so I made one. Its a goblin shield with vairous bits and peices added to it. Im really rather happy with it.

 

WIP photo.


Also, a trio of murchantmen to be targets in some cruiser games. Im not sure what little flags to put in the corner of their bases. Any ideas are welcome.







Hope you like them. Tell me what you think!