Colonial Wargaming website update

I have added details of my most recent acquisition – WARSHIP 2010 – to the Books pages of the Inspiration section of my Colonial Wargaming website.

Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules

I realised this morning that the version of Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules that I had made available as a download in PDF format from the Colonial Wargame Rules section of my Colonial Wargaming website contain several errors.

I have now corrected them and the new version of the rules can now be downloaded.

Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules

Further to my last two blog entries, I have now re-written Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules in the hope that modern wargamers will find them clearer and easier to understand.

They can now be downloaded in PDF format from the Colonial Wargame Rules section of my Colonial Wargaming website. Like all the other rules available in that section, they are not password protected.

Its quiet out there ... too quiet ... or is it?

The following images of what I think are the 'Frontier' rules in use on the tabletop are from Joseph Morschauser's HOW TO PLAY WAR GAMES IN MINIATURE and Donald Featherstone's ADVANCED WAR GAMES.

Its very quiet out there ... too quiet ...

Despite several people asking if I have given up on Colonial wargaming, the truth is that for the last few months my attention has been elsewhere. I have continue to develop my version of Joseph Morschauser's wargame rules, and have helped set up a blog that deals with the interwar era (from 1919 to 1939, give or take a few years).

The result is that I have had little time to do any actual Colonial wargaming but ...

One byproduct of my work on Morschauser's rules is that I now have a copy of his 'Frontier' rules. These are the ones that I think he used in the games that are featured in the famous photographs in Donald Featherstone's ADVANCED WAR GAMES. I intend to demonstrate these rules at the next COW (Conference of Wargamers) in July, and this will entail doing some work on the layout of the rules as their current format is a little dated.

A second byproduct is that I have begun to realise that there were a considerable number of Colonial conflicts during the interwar era, and that this is a fertile area for my Colonial wargaming in the future.

So things have bee quite out there for a few weeks ... but not too quiet!

Colonial Wargaming website update

I have added details of my recent acquisitions to the Books and Videos and DVDs pages of the Inspiration section of my Colonial Wargaming website.

Recent additions

Since my last blog entry I have acquired a couple of items that might be of interest to the colonial wargamer.

The first is a DVD entitled OMAR MUKHTAR: LION OF THE DESERT.

This film is set in the late 1920s, and tells the story of the Italian attempts to crush the remnants of Libyan resistance to Italian colonial rule. This resistance was led by Omar Mukhtar who proved to be a very able leader of irregular forces. The films stars Anthony Quinn as Omar Mukhtar, Oliver Reed as General Rodolfo Graziani, and Rod Steiger as Mussolini, and features a large number of recreated and restored vehicles, including some Fiat tanks.

I managed to see this film when it first came out in 1981, but only recently discovered that it had been released as a DVD. When I saw a copy on sale at a recent wargames show, I had to buy it!

My other recent purchase is a copy of the Osprey book about the OTTOMAN INFANTRYMAN 1914-18.

The book's author is David Nicolle, who is well known writer on medieval and Islamic warfare, and the illustrator is Christa Hook.

The book is the latest volume in the WARRIOR series (No.145 [ISBN 978 1 84603 506 7]) and includes chapters on:

• Enlistment
• Training
• Daily Life
• Appearance and Weaponry
• Belief and Belonging
• Life on Campaign
• The Soldier in battle
• Museums, Re-enactment and Collecting

The book as a short Introduction, a Chronology of the main events affecting the Ottoman Empire from 1914 to 1918, a Bibliography, and a very useful Glossary of Turkish military terms.

An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Uniforms of the 19th Century

I recently acquired a copy of AN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MILITARY UNIFORMS OF THE 19TH CENTURY via Amazon. The book was published in 2010 by Lorenz Press (an imprint of Anness Publishing Ltd: ISBN 978 0 7548 1901 1) and was written by Kevin F Kiley and Digby Smith, with Jeremy Black MBE acting as a consultant.

The latter part of the book deals exclusively with colonial conflicts and contains some excellent illustrations. These include pictures of the following:

Indian Mutiny: British

• Officer, Punjab Cavalry, 1857
• Private, King's Royal Rifle Corps, 1857
• Trooper, 9th Lancers, 1857
• Gunner, Bombay Horse Artillery, 1857
• Rissaldar, Hodson's Horse, 1857
• Trooper, 14th Light Dragoons, 1857
• Sowar, 2nd Punjab Cavalry, 1857
• Brigadier John Nicholson, 1857
• Major General Henry Havelock, 1857
• Lieutenant General Sir Colin Campbell, 1857
• Officer, 2nd Punjab Cavalry, 1857
• Sepoy, 4th Punjab Infantry, 1857
• Private, 95th Foot, 1857
• Private, Rifle Brigade, 1857
• Private, 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders, 1857

Indian Mutiny: Rebel Sepoys

• Rebel Sowar, 1857
• Sowar, 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, 1857
• Rebel Sepoy, 1857

French in Mexico

• Trooper, Chasseurs D'Afrique, Mexico, 1863
• Legionnaire, French Foreign Legion, Mexico, 1864
• Officer, Contra-Guerillas, Mexico, 1865

The Boer Wars: British

• Officer, 27th Foot, 1845
• Gunner, Royal Artillery, 1845
• Private, Rifle Brigade, 1845
• Private, 27th Foot, 1845
• General Officer, 1845
• Officer, Cape Mounted Rifles, 1845
• Trooper, 7th Dragoon Guards, 1845
• Private, 3rd Battalion, 60th Rifles, 1881
• Officer, 21st Foot, 1881
• Private, 94th Foot, 1881
• Civilian Colonial Volunteer, 1881
• Seaman, Naval Brigade, 1881
• Officer, Lancashire Fusiliers, 1898
• NCO, Infantry, 1898
• Private, King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC), 1898
• Officer, Highland Light Infantry, 1898
• Private, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 1898
• Private, Guards Regiments, 1898
• Officer, 92nd Highlanders, 1898
• Officer, Infantry, 1899
• Officer, Infantry, 1899
• Trooper, Natal Carabiniers, 1899
• Private, Royal Canadian Regiment, 1899
• Private, Mounted Infantry, 1900
• Trooper, 12th Lancers, 1900
• Staff Officer, 1900
• Officer, City Imperial Volunteers, 1900
• Native Scout, 1900
• Trooper, 5th Lancers, 1900
• Trooper, 17th Lancers, 1900
• Trumpeter, Cavalry, 1900
• Trooper, Rimington Scouts, 1900

The Boer Wars: Boers

• Boer Voortrekker, 1840
• Boer, 1870-80
• Boer Free State Commando, 1860
• Boer Commandant, 1881
• Corporal, Transvaal Staatsartillerie, 1898
• Boer Commando, 1899
• African Auxiliary (Agyterryer), 1900
• Gunner, Transvaal Staatsartillerie, 1900

North American Indian Wars

• Guidon Bearer, 7th United States Cavalry, 1876
• Cheyenne Warrior, 1876
• Apache Warrior, 1880
• NCO, 10th United States Cavalry Regiment, 1890

Zulu War: British

• Colour Sergeant Bourne, 24th Foot, 1879
• Gonville Bromhead, 24th Foot, 1879
• Private, 99th Foot, 1879
• Private, 91st Foot, 1879
• Sergeant, 3rd Battalion, 60th Rifles, 1879
• Officer, 3rd Battalion, 60th Rifles, 1879
• Bandsman, 24th Foot, 1879
• Officer, 17th Lancers, 1879
• Trooper, 1st King's Dragoon Guards, 1879
• Trooper, 17th Lancers, 1879
• Sapper, Royal Engineers, 1879
• Officer, Royal Artillery, 1879
• Private, Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI), 1879
• Officer, Royal Navy, 1879
• Trooper, Frontier Light Horse, 1879
• Trooper, Natal Carabiniers, 1879
• Private, Mounted Infantry, 1879
• Trooper, Durban Mounted Rifles, 1879

Zulu War: Zulus

• Zulu, 1879 (Four different illustrations)

Zulu War: Boers

• Boer, 1879 (Four different illustrations)

Egypt and the Sudan: British

• General Garnet Wolsely, 1873
• Private, 5th Gurkhas, 1878
• Officer, Queen's Own Corps of Guides, 1879
• Private, 42nd Foot (Black Watch), 1882
• General Stewart, 1884
• General Kitchener, 1898
• Trooper, 21st Lancers, 1898

Egypt and the Sudan: Mahdists

• Mahdist, 1898 (Two different illustrations)
• Mahdist Emir, 1898

Spanish-American War

• Bandmaster, United States Navy, 1897
• Private, 10th Pennsylvania Infantry, 1898
• Officer, United States Marine Corps, 1898
• Gunner, 4th Mounted Artillery Regiment, 1898

Boxer Rebellion: Allies

• Trooper, 16th Bengal Lancers, 1900
• Officer, Royal Welch Fusiliers, 1900
• Artillery Officer, United States Army, 1900
• Private, Royal Marine Light Infantry, 1900
• Private, United States Marine Corps, 1900
• Private, French Naval Infantry, 1900
• Private, German East Asian Brigade, 1900

Boxer Rebellion: Chinese

• Boxer, 1900 (Two different illustrations)
• Chinese Irregular Cavalryman, 1900

Colonial Troops

• Trooper, New South Wales Lancers, 1886
• Officer, 1st Skinner's Horse (Duke of York's Own Lancers), 1886
• Sowar, 19th Bengal Cavalry, 1888
• Sepoy, 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, 1888
• Officer, 27th Light Cavalry, 1888
• Spahi, French North Africa, 1900
• NCO, Philippine Constabulary, 1901

That is quite a lot of illustrations for the cost of the book ... and there are also other sections that cover:

• The Crimean War
• The Wars of German and Italian Unification
• The American Civil War

Colonial Wargaming website update

I have added details of some of my recent acquisitions to the Books pages of the Inspiration section of my Colonial Wargaming website.

I have also updated the Links page in the same section to take into account the demise of yet another dedicated Colonial wargames website.

The Great War in West Africa

One of the books I was given as a birthday present this year is a facsimile of Brigadier General E Howard Gorges's book THE GREAT WAR IN WEST AFRICA (The Naval & Military Press Ltd [2004] ISBN 1 845741 15 3).

The book contains chapters that cover the following topics:

• Chapter I: Soldiering on the “Coast” in the pre-war days – Sierra Leone – Freetown – The West African Regiment (W.A.R.) – The G.O.C. – the elements at play – Order to mobilise
• Chapter II: The Governor and the C.-in-. – The garrison – The railway – Armament – The West India Regiment – The West African Regiment and its officers – “Digging In” – Pidgin or Trade English – Togoland – German proposals for neutrality in Africa – Invasion of Togoland – Franco-British co-operation – Conquest and surrender of Togoland
• Chapter III: The Cameroons – Brief history – Boundaries – The country – The climate – Towns and communications – Products and industry – Fauna – Inhabitants
• Chapter IV: The inception of the Cameroon Expeditionary Force – the situation in Nigeria – First step towards an offensive – A cruiser ordered to Duala – Allied conference of 15th August 1914 – Movements of H.M.S. “Cumberland” – More German neutrality intrigues – Military forces in West Africa in 1914
• Chapter V: Naval operations off the Cameroon coast – The “Cumberland’s” reconnaissance – The Nigerian flotilla – Description of Duala neighbourhood – Proposed base in Ambas Bay – operations in Ambas Bay – base established off Suellaba
• Chapter VI: German preparations at Duala – Native disaffection – Terrorism – Naval activity 10th to 12th September – The “Nachtigal” episode – Torpedo attack on the “Dwarf” – Sinking of the “Nachtigal” – Further boat reconnaissance – Clearance and buoyage of the main channel 0- Military operations on the Nigerian frontier
• Chapter VII: Formation of the Expeditionary Force – Its concentration at Suellaba – Operation in the Lungasi River – Surrender of Duala – Situation following the surrender – Clearing the neighbourhood
• Chapter VIII: Continuance of amphibious operations – Capture of Jabassi, Edea, Victoria and Buea
• Chapter IX: Operations along the Northern Railway – Advance from railhead to Dschang – Capture of Dschang Fort – Withdrawal from Dschang – Germans attack the French at Edea – Revival of enemy activity in the Bare District
• Chapter X: Situation in march 1915 – naval activity – Brigadier General Cunliffe’s operations in Northern Cameroons ending with the capture of Ngaundere – General Dobell’s first advance against Yaunde – Jottings from the Northern Railway: heavy rains impede operations in the south – Attempt to reduce Mora – Conference at Duala
• Chapter XI: Situation in October 1915 – Converging columns move towards Yaunde – General Dobell’s operations – Through the Sanaganyong Forest – General Cunliffe’s drive from the north – Capture of Banyo Mountain – Occupation of Fumban
• Chapter XII: Fall of Yaunde – Situation mid-January 1916 – Germans escape into neutral territory – Capitulation of Mora – A medical memoir – Some acknowledgements and observations – “Thy kingdom is divided” – Valedictory
• Appendix I: Naval forces – Cameroons, 1914-1916
• Appendix II: Officers serving with the West African Regiment, July 1914
• Appendix III: Officers serving with the West African Regiment, 1915
• Appendix IV: First order of battle – General Dobell’s force and detail of the British Contingent, September 1914

Colonial Wargaming website update

After nearly five months I finally got round to updating my Colonial Wargaming website. Mind you, all I managed to do was to rename the old WHAT IS NEW? page to become WHAT WAS NEW IN 2009? and to create a new WHAT IS NEW? page.

The problem with the website has been twofold. Firstly, my blogging has rather taken precedence over updating my websites. Secondly, Microsoft have replaced FrontPage (the program I used to use to create my web pages) with Expression Web, and I have yet to get to grips with the latter. I am sure that once I have, I will be able to keep my websites up-to-date.

Modified Morschauser ‘19th Century’ Wargames Rules

The latest draft of these rules is now available in PDF format from the RED HEX WARGAMES website. The rules cover Colonial and European warfare from approximately 1875 to 1900.

The new draft includes all the changes outlined in my earlier blog entry, and will be play-tested as soon as possible.

My method of making profile mountains

The following information was originally part of my Colonial Wargaming website, but was removed when it got too large for the ISP I was then using. Somehow I never got round to adding it to my new website.

Stage 1: Using a pencil, draw three mountain profiles on to the sheet of thin plywood (see diagram). The large profile will form the back of the mountain, the middle profile will form the upper foothills, and the small profile will form the lower foothills of the mountain. Using the modelling knife, non-slip modelling ruler, and the cutting mat, carefully cut out the three profiles.

Stage 2: The middle profile is placed face down (i.e. with the back of the profile uppermost) on to your modelling area. Using the razor saw, cut the balsa wood into suitable lengths and glue them with the white glue on to the back of the middle profile (see diagram). It is recommended that some form of weight is carefully placed on the whole assembly, and that it is left there until the glue has dried. This should avoid any possibility of the wood warping during the drying process.

Stage 3: The same process is then applied to the small profile.

Stage 4: The large profile is placed face up on to your modelling area. Using white glue, the middle profile is then glued on to the large profile, and then the small profile is glued on to the middle profile (see diagram). Care must be taken to ensure that the bottom edges of each profile are level with one another. It is recommended that some form of weight is carefully placed on the whole assembly, and that it is left there until the glue has dried. This should avoid any possibility of the wood warping during the drying process.

Stage 5: The completed assembly should now be glued with white glue to a base made from the thin plywood left over after the profiles were cut from the original sheet of plywood. It is recommended that some form of weight is carefully placed on the whole assembly, and that it is left there until the glue has dried. This should avoid any possibility of the wood warping during the drying process.

Stage 6: The brown wrapping paper is now torn into small, randomly-shaped pieces (about 3" to 4" [75 mm to 100 mm] along their edges), screwed up, and flattened out. Using slightly watered-down white glue, these are then glued all over the vertical and horizontal surfaces of the mountain. This seals the surface of the wood, strengthens the glued joints, and gives the surface an uneven, rocky appearance. Once the glue has thoroughly dried, any loose bits of paper are trimmed off, and patches of scenic scatter material are glued (using slightly watered-down white glue) over the vertical surfaces of the mountain to enhance the rocky appearance of these surfaces. After the glue has dried, any loose scenic scatter material is brushed off.

Stage 7: The mountain is now ready to be painted and/or flocked.

Modified Morschauser ‘19th Century' Wargames Rules

I have scanned in the latest draft of my adaptation of Joseph Morschauser’s ‘Modern’ Period Rules for the 19th century era, and I have uploaded the rules to the Wargames Miscellany blog. As you will see, I have made several small but important changes.

These rules have not been written specifically for colonial wargaming, but with a few minor changes they should be very suitable. The sort of changes I envisage incorporate ideas from Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' Rules, which were designed for colonial conflicts. For example Native Infantry and Cavalry Units had different 'Battle Power' ratings (what I term Close Combat Power) that made them less effective in Close Combat.

Once I have play-tested the basic 19th century rules, I will adapt them so that they can be used for colonial wargames.

Modified Morschauser ‘19th Century' Wargames Rules

I have finally managed to scan in the first draft of my adaptation of Joseph Morschauser's 'Modern' Period Rules for the 19th century era, and I have uploaded the rules to the Wargames Miscellany blog.

The rules have not yet been play-tested, but I hope to begin this process in the very near future.

A version of Morschauser's rules for the late 19th century

Although they are not quite aimed at purely colonial conflicts, I have begun work on a version of my adaptation of Morschauser's 'Modern' Period Wargames Rules for the latter part of the 19th century.

I will adding a draft of these rules to my Wargaming Miscellany blog later today. Once I have play-tested them I will adapted them to include colonial armies as well.