Readers of Funny Little Wars and Garden Campaigns will be well aware that there has always been a 'naval' component to the garden game. This fascination with pre-dreadnoughts began for me in the 1970's - with 1/1200 scale models and the discovery of the Fred T Jane naval wargame, which is the contemporary game to HG's Little Wars.
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This aspect of FLW really took off in 2003 when I played 'Baltic Battles' with the naval wargames writer, Ken Fisher. Most appropriately these early games were played in Dover Castle. The imaginary 'Herring War' series of battles took this concept into the garden, with 28mm ships, tarpaulin seas, 1/32 forts and a fusion of rules that included FT Jane's, Ken Fisher's and the lovely Boilers and Breechloaders system from Patrick Wilson - the first publisher of FLW.
The games then moved to the Spanish American War and the Russo Japanese War.
This 'winter quarters' will be dedicated to a FLW naval campaign based in North America in 190? It will be feature a fascinating connection between FT Jane and Canada, the Great White Fleet of Teddy Roosevelt and it may lead to the publication of 'Funny Little Fleets' - if everything goes to plan ...
