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| Royal Ruberian Navy: 1st Battle Squadron and 12th Destroyer Flotilla. |
For the last several weeks I have been working on the armed forces for my Chromatic Wars. These feature the armed forces of Ruberia (RED) and Izumrud-Zeleniya (GREEN) on the one side, and Azuria (BLUE) and Turcowaz (TURQUOISE) on the other. The latter countries in the respective alliances featured in the Kavkaz Campaign of a couple of years or so back. The armies - especially the larger Azurian andd Ruberian - have been reorganised into Army Corps. Izumrud-Zeleniya has an extra Division, building up to four.
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| 1st Battle Squadron: top to bottom of pic: HMSS Thunderer, Victoria and earlier 'Admiral class'. |
But the major work has been the ship building. Here are the lists:
I had to build the Ruberian sea-going fleet from nothing. It now comprises:
- 1st Battle Squadron of 3 early ironclad and pre-dreadnought battleships
- 2nd Battle Squadron of 3 later pre-dreadnought battleships
- 8th Destroyer Flotilla of 1 'S' Class and 2 'R(iver)' class destroyer/torpedo boats
- 12th Destoyer Flotilla, ditto
- Protected Cruiser Endymion (Capt. Sir Horatio Trumpeter)
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| The powerful 2nd Battle Squadron: HMSS Royal Sovereign (leading), Agamemnon and Commonwealth. |
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| Ruberian cruiser Endymion |
- 2 early pre-dreadnought battleships
- 1 early ironclad battleship
- Destroyer/Torpedo boat flotilla of 4 vessels
- 2 'Flatiron' gunboats of the Acheron class
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| Azurian Navy: Hoche (leading), Carnot and Amiral Duperre |
This fleet is based upon the French of the pre-dreadnought era, a time at which its ship designers seemed to be exploring the 'steam-punk' genre of naval architecture. Very weird designs - and I had to find ships that had fewer than the five or six funnels they favoured. I may add a later pre-dreadnought to the fleet to give the Azurian Navy a bit more beef.
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| ANS Hoche |
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| ANS Carnot |
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| Ironclad battleship Amiral Duperre |
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| Azurian Torpedo Boat flotilla. |
Finally, I gave the Izumrud-Zeleniya two pre-dreadnought battleships. The Ekaterina II is, of course, Russian, and a fine looking unit it looks, too.
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| Izumrud-Zeleniya battleship Tsarina Ekaterina II |
Although the second ship has a Russian sounding name, it is derived, in fact, from the Austrian - one of the last pre-dreadnoughts ever built. It is the powerful Radetzky - match for any single ship in my Chromatic World.
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| The powerful Izumrud-Zeleniyan battleship Radetzky |
- Pre-dreadnought Ekaterina II (Bolshaya Katya - Big Kate)
- Pre-dreadnought Radetzky
- Light cruiser Elizaveta
- 3 small torpedo boats
The last two 'dot' items have been 'requisitioned from the 'Rhumbaba' navy, which is not itself an 'actor' in this drama.
The Turcowaz navy has featured in an earlier campaign, the First Blacklands War. As a reminder, here is its composition:
The Turcowaz navy has featured in an earlier campaign, the First Blacklands War. As a reminder, here is its composition:
- 2 pre-dreadnought battleships of the Turgut Reis class
- 1 ironclad battleship
- 1 protected cruiser
- 4 Destroyer/ Torpedo boats.
Later, I will talk about the armies, and perhaps make some preliminary remarks about how the war looks to be developing.
Nice fleet build up. That's a lot of ships over a short period of time. Looking forward to the naval clash.
ReplyDeleteI'm especially interested to see how the land reorganization goes. Your land campaigns are always very inspirational.
WEK3Thank you for your comment. Once on a roll, one can assemble a ship fairly quickly.
DeleteThe Ruberian and Azurian armies are quite large as Portable Armies go. We're talking 40+ infantry stands for the Ruberian, and 36-40 for the Azurian. But one of the Ruberian Army Corps (the IVth) might well be assigned to the Medifluvian front, which might mean the Azurians seeing an 'opportunity' ... IF they can get by the Ruberian fleet.
Meanwhile the Turcowaz war is at the far end of the Mesogesean Sea... So far, these are just faint stirrings of ideas. No doubt matters will come to a head in due course...
Cheers,
Ion
Very nice! I'm looking forward to the opening of hostilities. Will the action open on the high seas? Or on land?
ReplyDeleteHi Mark -
DeleteHard to say where the first clash will come, nor whether the action will be on land or sea. It may begin with a single ship battle at sea. I have modified the naval rule set I'm wanting to use, and it needs a play test. Maybe the 'casus belli' will arise from a naval clash between a Turcowaz and a Hellenic warship... Don't know yet.
Cheers,
Ion
Great models Ion - are they mainly balsa?
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack -
DeleteMainly balsa, with a side order of toothpick, plastic tube, and drinking straw. Occasionally pins (bits of) for the jack staffs and small calibre guns. Held together with great dollops of 'Sullivans Craft + Hobby Glue' - a very fine glue for adhesiveness... and for stringing all over the place.
Cheers,
Ion
Your ability to churn out new models ever ceases to amaze me. What impressive fleets. I'd probably just make a dozen ships and use removable flags...
ReplyDeleteMartin -
DeleteThe removable flags is a great idea, but I'm finding I am giving them irremovable identities. Some of the names will change, but I'm still giving them historical ones - at least ones attaching to the ships that were the models from which my own ships were built. I thought of adding the 'Greek' ships to the Fre--- Azurian. Although the Hydra class seem OK-ish about it, American built Lemnos and Italian built Ghiorghios Averof don't wanna know.
That is why perhaps a Hellenia-Turcowaz 'incident' might be considered as a trigger that sets off the wider war (as well as a naval play test). Maybe.
Cheers,
Ion
Very nice models Ion, I really like the Radetzky, some real naval might there among contemporary pre-dreadnoughts. Perhaps only the Lord Nelsons and some larger French ships could match the class one vs. one.
ReplyDeleteThe Austro-Hungarian Navy ships had an interesting green paint job pre-WW1, which might be useful for your colour paired factions?
Andrew -
DeleteThat last note is something very useful to know. For these vessels I have looked to 'peacetime livery' rather than war time, simply for the differencing. I certainly would have given Radetzky a green hull had I known about it. I'll have to give it some thought!
The Radetzky, as finished, is the most the most powerful of the four (5!) navies - at least as far as 'flotation points' is concerned, although the Agamemnon and possibly the Commonwealth (that will certainly get another name) are close. The two Izumrud might give the three Turcowaz capital ships a run for their money, and all...
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful treat for my jaded eyes! Superb models that really make one want to use them … and they are all recognisable as to which ship and class they belong to! The style reminds me of larger versions of the ship models Fred Jane used in his wargames, where the length is in scale with the ground scale but the width and height were exaggerated to make them easier to pick up and to identify from a distance.
I must admit that I am currently in the doldrums with regard to my own Belle Epoque project … but seeing these wonderful models has rekindled my interest. Thank you for doing that!
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
DeleteIt's those bally masts and fighting tops, don't you reckon? They give the originals a touch of class, that I hoped to pass on to my model ships.
One runs, however, into the problem of the disparate types, especially in terms of guns carried - especially numbers, but also ranges and weight of shell. That is why I have in the past revisited your PNW gunnery system with the view to standardising on 4 guns (the usual main gun broadside) rather than ship type.
But, requiring a distinct stats list for every ship, the thing has in my view become too complicated, so I'm casting about for a 'per gun' method. The one I have come up with doesn't have your 'built in' crit hit system, so will have to have one tacked on.
I'll carry out a play test or two to see if what I come up with 'works'.
Meanwhile, I have been looking through my Armies. There will be a photo shoot later today. I hope that further ignites your enthusiasm for your Belle Epoque. You know, I think we are probably both at the sate of having our armed forces more or less prepared and ready to go, but the 'studium casus belli' is wanting.
Cheerw,
Ion
You appear to be starting a right old naval “arms race” there Ion 👏👏
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading how things develop ⚔️⚔️
Cheers,
Geoff
Geoff -
DeleteNot so much an 'arms race' - although, having had the 'plans' cluttering up the place for 2 years, the building pace has been pretty brisk. The inventories are pretty much complete, except for a possible addition to the Azurian navy of a more modern pre-dreadnought - still with, perhaps, a distinctive tumblehome. The French really went in for some peculiar designs, which gives their vessels a charm of their own.
Cheers,
Ion
I’d never heard the word “tumblehome” before - I had to use Google to find out what the heck it means. I’m now a fraction wiser, but still doubt it’s a word I’ll be able to squeeze much into normal, everyday conversation 😉
ReplyDeleteI’m not really much of a naval gamer. I toyed with the idea of a late c.19 naval campaign a few years ago - Belgium & Switzerland vying for control of the Brazilian chocolate plantations (clockwork powered Swiss & Belgian ships vs the old, worn out ACW vintage vessels of Brazil). Sadly my interest faded when I discovered some other bright, shiny new toys ☹️
Geoff -
DeleteTumblehome is a term I associated more with the era of sail. The design of ships tended when rolling to return back to upright. I didn't know until recently that during the age of steam, some ship designers, especially the French, apparently, built the tumblehome feature into their designs. A good many of the Russian ships that went to fight Japan in 1904-5 also had a distinct tumblehome.
I keeps my fleets small for manageability. The Ruberians have 13 vessels, 3 battleships, 1 cruiser and 6 destroyer/torpedo boats. For this project, that counts as a very big navy!
Cheers,
Ion
I can appreciate your eye,methods and speed constructing your fleets. Truly looking forward to your upcoming game reports.
ReplyDeletepancerni -
DeleteYes: a game! I needs a scenario for a test battle that will 'fit' the campaign narrative. Methinks I might have found one - one that offers a role, however brief, for my Hellenic (Greek) navy. And its sort of historical, too!
I'm also starting to come around to adding just one more battleship to the Azurian fleet...
Cheers,
Ion
Cheers,
Ion