'Ricardian' Hay on Wye and the Napoleon of Notting Hill

 FLW HQ is now established in Hay, albeit as a 'forming up point' for retirement at some stage in the next few years, all being well.

Hay on Wye is the town of books, created in the 1960's by the gloriously eccentric Richard Booth - the self proclaimed King of Hay, on 1st April 1967.

https://boothbooks.co.uk/our-story/

https://www.haycastletrust.org/

The story is remarkable, and the new biography of Richard Booth paints a fascinating picture of the man - both light and shade.  His legacy is the thriving town of books.

Back in my first London sojourn, in 2009 I created an after dinner 'Napoleon of Notting Hill' game.  The parallels with Ricardian Hay on Wye offer some delightful ideas for a new campaign,

 with halberds, Elastolin Landsknechts and London buses ...

A walk around Edwardian Halifax - North American Campaign retrospective

 The main effort of this season has been the naval campaign set in 190? Halifax, Nova Scotia - with the new Canadian Naval Service taking on the Great White Fleet of Teddy Roosevelt.

I was fortunate to spend a couple of days in Halifax, and here are a few images of the campaign setting - 1:1 scale.

It was a remarkably warm welcome from our Canadian hosts, and it a great and historic maritime city.

First, the Citadel - and the Armstrong cannon, and barrack room

Then to Government House

including Sir Garnet's dispatch box - a lovely find

Echoes of the Army, Navy and the Church

And conflicts past, 1812, Crimea and the Great Explosion of 1917

Finally, on departure, a reminder of the first flight - and a very FLW flying machine.

Sieges, and rules

 

The nights are beginning to draw in after a simply glorious summer.  Activity in FLW land will now move to t'other blog, as new rules are developed for FLW.

https://funnylittlewars.blogspot.com/

Hard copies of FLW and Garden Campaigns have been re-stocked at the Armoury,  Piccadilly Arcade, London

https://armoury.co.uk/

And in September I will be hosting Erik, from Tradition in Stockholm, which sells the books.

https://traditionoflondonshop.com/index.php

The books are also available online from Lulu.

Here, garden and indoor sieges will resume after all the naval gaming.  Thank you for all the support.  

I realise I have now been painting, collecting and playing with toy soldiers for 55 years, and first discovered HG and Little Wars 49 years ago.   My Da Capo 'first paper book' edition of Little Wars was published, and purchased for me, in 1977.  It cost £4.95 and was a special order from Smith's of Wigan.  According to the Bank of England's Inflation calculator this would equate to £29.95. The Wellsian 'ethernet' calculates it at £39.92.  My parents were generous and encouraging.  It has proved to be the best purchase, and my favourite book.

North American Campaign - final thoughts

The North American campaign has now been packed away, and it was an enjoyable exercise in ship building (!) and rules testing.  Each game, and a few others, were played indoors with 1/1200 ships, and the same rule system - less the firing.

These pre-dreadnought games have been played with these rules since 2006, and they are inspired from Patrick Wilson's very fine creation, 'Boilers and Breechloaders' and Ken Fisher's 'Baltic Battles'.  They first appeared in the 'Herring war' games played at Dover Castle in that year.

The next step will be to write up 'Funny Little Fleets' in the winter, with Edwardian toy battleships, torpedo rams, Teddy Roosevelt, American invasions of Canada, the Herring wars, and  FT Jane, AT Mahan and HG Wells... 

but, before then, hopefully there can be some toy soldier actions outdoors as we continue to experience this astonishing summer.  That will be on the other blog.  

 

North American Campaign - final battle

 Glorious weather at FLW HQ, and finally some time off to finish the campaign.  The clash of the pre-dreadnoughts had been played with JW in London, and then a follow on solo game - with the results tied 1 - 1.  So this was the decider, and the chance to again play a squadron sized game with the proper ships.

Situation

Dawn. August, 190? 

With Halifax blockaded, and no sign of relief the Navy Red/Maple Leaf Naval Service commander decides it is time to break out.  The trawler Doris and the ships cutters successfully clear the mines, and the squadron departs at first light.  Commodore Armitage Shanks leads the way in HMS Uncertain, followed by Torpid and Thunderchild the Second.

 

Meanwhile Navy Red/White/Blue awaits off the harbour – the yacht Plutocrat scouts ahead.  Commodare Standard leads in the USS Bluster, followed by the Swank. 

The battleships engage, and in three rounds of firing the Bluster is struck by two direct hits that result in catastrophic 'special effect' hits, and she sinks before the Torpedo ram can deliver the the final blow.  Bluster sinks, and Swank retires.

Meanwhile, HMS Uncertain has received significant damage and is engulfed in steam and smoke.  The trawler Doris comes alongside to rescue the crew before she also sinks.  

It has proven to be an exciting couple of hours.  

 

So victory for Armitage Shanks, and a photo for the Illustrated News in the very bright sunshine...

Armitage Shanks triumphs over American Standard

 

North American Campaign - interlude - minelaying

 This little campaign is loosely based on events in the Spanish American War and Russo Japanese War.  As a test of the Funny Little Fleets pre-dreadnought rules there are a number of planned scenarios - ship to ship action, attack on a fort and all leading up to a squadron action.  In the margins other things are being tried out, such as minelaying - which had a key role at Port Arthur.

The model of the Red/White/Blue minelayer (USS Boom) is based on a toy which I came across online.

It is also an opportunity to deploy searchlights from the fort.

The searchlight troops are a Tunstill recruiting party, being redeployed here.

The mine rules are very much a work in progress - more to follow.

A lantern slide of mines in action at Port Arthur.

Searchlights at Port Arthur

A model of a toy Japanese minelayer, found online - with thanks.

North American Campaign - Game 2 - the attack on the fort

 

Dawn

 The Red/White/Blue squadron approaches the outer harbour defence fort.  The armed yacht Plutocrat leads the way, and the squadron then retires to open fire at first light.

The defenders are in place, and ready. 

Swank opens fire with her main armament, and Queasy fires from a closer position.  Both ships are ‘over’ with the first rounds.

Before the fort can return fire, there is a remarkable climactic interlude – high winds and a rain storm erupt!  The Plutocrat disappears! A percentage dice is rolled - Plutocrat receives 10% damage.

Alas rain stops play.  This is early summer in Hay on Wye - so all seasons can appear in one day.  

Everything is utterly soaked.

Alas, the toy soldiers and ships have to go away … but just for now.  The Red/White/Blue squadron retires over the horizon and in the fort, it is time for tea. 

The game continues …