Tuesday 8 February 2022

Wargaming the interwar period

CROSSPOSTED FROM WARGAMING MISCELLANY

This year’s VCOW (Virtual Conference of Wargamers) took place over the weekend, and I was able to take part in several sessions.

On Saturday, alongside two other members of WD (Wargame Developments) who are experienced intercellular wargamers, I was a ‘talking head’ about wargaming the interwar period. My contribution was to give a brief outline of the conflicts that took place and some sources of inspiration that potential players might find useful. These took the form of two short MS PowerPoint presentations.

Wargaming the Interwar period

Wargaming the Interwar period: Some sources of inspiration

Tuesday 5 April 2016

Sources For The Interwar Gamer

I have been meaning to add some content here for a long time, apparently three years of a long time in fact, how time flies. So with this post I hope to kick-start some interest in the Interbellum once more.

Sources for the Interwar period continue to grow as content is added and I thought I would contribute a few that I have found useful at various times and for various things.

Historical

French Ministry of Defence Archive of photos of the French and Vichy French forces in WWII

Blog covering 20th Century French Militaria in the main.

Nice site covering French armour of the 20th Century.

Really useful site which has a series of War Establishment tables for Britain, Australia, Canada, the U.S.A. and some 'colonial' forces in WWII. Some nice Pre-WWII tables hidden away here too!

A blog devoted to the photographic records of Vickers Ltd. Some rare and unique photos of Vickers vehicles and those of their subsidiaries in the '20s and '30s. The same gent who created this blog has a Vintage Wargaming Blog too, which is also worth a look for its 'Old School' wargaming content.


Non-Historical

The Abyssinian Crisis Blog
My sometime partner in crime, who we shall call the 'Happy Wanderer' and to a lesser extent myself, created a fictional scenario where Britain and subsequently France intervened in the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935 (albeit on different sides).

Besides our ramblings on the 'ifs', 'buts' and 'maybes' of the scenario, there is a fair bit of information on the colonial forces of Italy, France and Britain into the bargain, some of which has application outside of the colonial sphere of the 1930s.     

Tuesday 15 January 2013

The Battle for Vilnov (Rusland Civil War)

During the Rusland Civil War most of the fighting took place between small forces who were trying to take control of the towns and villages that were spread across the country. A typical small force would comprise six to ten Infantry Units, an Artillery Unit, and other troops that might be available. Such a force would usually be commanded by a Colonel or low-ranking General and could not expect any reinforcements if it found itself fighting an enemy force. Scenario The town of Vilnov was situated in an area of undulating countryside that was dotted with small woods. It had not declared its support for either side in the Civil War and both the Reds and the Whites were determined to take it for themselves. To achieve this both sides sent a small force to seize the town, purge it of any members of the opposition, and construct defences that would ensure that it would be defendable from any possible counter-attack. The Opposing Forces The Red column consisted of:
  • Six Infantry Units
  • An Naval Artillery Unit
  • A Commander
The White column consisted of:
  • Five Infantry Units
  • A Machine Gun Unit
  • An Artillery Unit
  • A Commander
The opposing side were therefore fairly evenly matched, although the Machine Gun Unit did give the Whites a slight advantage. The Terrain
Both sides entered from opposite ends of the battlefield. The Red column's first four Unit entered at 8f, 8e, 8d, and 8c, and White's first four Units entered at 1f, 1e, 1d, and 1 c. Turn 1 The playing card tiles were 'dealt' face down to both Red ...
... and White Units.
These were then turned over by the Reds ...
... and the Whites.
It was clear from this that the Reds would have a slight advantage this turn. Each side then activated its Units by suit and card value, starting with the Red Unit that had been 'dealt' the Ace (or 1) of Hearts, then the White Unit with the 4 of Spades, then the Red Unit with the 8 of Clubs, etc, etc. As no Units were in range of each other there was no combat during the turn, and the Units ended up in the following positions:
Turn 2 Further Red ...
... and White Units entered the battlefield.
Playing card tiles were again 'dealt' to each side face down, and then turned over.
Yet again Units were activated in turn by suit and card value. Both sides moved their forces forward until they clashed in the town of Vilnov ...
... where Infantry Units of both sides became embroiled in a number of Close Combats.
By the end of the turn both sides had Units in the town, but so far the Whites seemed to be in the ascendancy.
Turn 3 The playing cards were 'dealt' out ...
... but before they were turned over, the Red Artillery Unit opened fire on the White Infantry Unit that was directly in front of them in the town. The White Infantry Unit was hit ...
... and was forced to retreat ...
... thus reducing the White hold on Vilnov.
The playing card tile allocated to the Red Artillery Unit was removed and the rest were then turned over and the remaining Units were activated in turn by suit and card value.
The Whites used their advantage to move their Commander forward and then the Machine Gun Unit, which opened fire on a nearby Red Infantry Unit.
The latter was hit and destroyed ...
... which left a gap on the Red force's left wing.
The Reds countered by moving an Infantry Unit forward so that it could attack a White Infantry Unit in the flank, but the Reds threw a very poor die score whereas the Whites threw a high die score, ...
... which resulted in the attacking Red Infantry Unit being destroyed!
This now left a gap on Red's right flank and ...
... and brought them dangerously close to reaching their Exhaustion Point. The White Infantry Unit that had been forced to retreat due to the very effective firing by Red's Artillery Unit now reoccupied the part of town they had previously vacated and attacked a Red Infantry Unit in the flank.
Their attack was not only successful but also caused the destruction of the Red Infantry Unit.
The Red force had now reached its Exhaustion Point and was no longer able to mount any further attacks.
The Whites, on the other hand, were still able to mount offensive operations and attacked in the flank one of Red Force's right-hand Infantry Units ...
... but the attack was ineffective and both sides were unable to inflict any casualties upon their opponents.
This brought the turn – and the battle – to an end.
The Reds were unable to occupy Vilnov, which was firmly in White hands. Furthermore they had been unable to inflict any serious casualties on the White forces and their Commander knew that he would need reinforcements if he were to capture the town. On the other hand the Whites felt confident that they could fortify and hold the town should the Reds mount a further attack. Only time will tell which of the opposing sides will be correct ...

Thursday 29 November 2012

The Shape of Things To Come


History is full of "what ifs", I'm sure you've all come across them in your reading on whatever it is that floats your wargaming 'boat'. You're sat there reading whatever and into your head pops the question "What if that had; gone wrong/hadn't happened/gone differently"? Sometimes they are minor ripples on the historical pool, other times they are veritable tidal waves. The 'Lost Message' that might have stopped the Battle of Gettysburg, or Hitler being executed following the 'Beer Hall Putsch' of 1923, instead of being imprisoned, both have their obvious impacts on history.

Take VBCW for example. Personally I don't think it would have happened they way it's been developed, but of course that's merely my opinion. How I see it, is that the point of departure (POD), would have been Edward's refusal to abdicate and his taking up Churchill's offer of forming a "King's Party". The BUF however was a rapidly declining force after 1936 and its participation would be minimal... but you have to have your 'bad guys' I suppose.

Any resultant Civil War (if it had even actually come to that) might have resembled the English Civil War in its make-up. Quite possibly the 'Parliamentarians' would have seen Socialists and Communists become the modern day equivalents of the 'Diggers' and 'Levellers' and other radicals that became active within their military. It's quite possible that a potentially victorious 'Royalist' regime might have gone extremely right-wing, as seen in Loncraine's Richard III, but not in the BUF style, they had no political credibility or support.

The impact of a British Civil War in the 1930s would have been far more important than the Spanish Civil War, given Britain's position in the World. By 1936 Spain was the 'sick man of Europe', its moment in the sun ended by the Spanish American War of 1898. The messages taken from it; 'Tanks are only useful as infantry support weapons' by the British and French, and 'This seems to work well' by Germany, did have their effects on the subsequent campaigns of 1940, but other than that there was little impact on world events. Overall though the impact of the Spanish Civil War was that fear was spread, via the news reels of the war, of the concept of Total War.

Ralph Richardson as 'The Boss', the local post-war warlord in 'Things to Come' (1936), adapted from Wells's book, directed by Alexander Korda, with input from Wells as screenwriter. Unlike the book, Britain is directly involved after being attacked by an un-named English-speaking enemy. 

In 1933 H.G. Wells's "The Shape of Things To Come" was published. While not his best work, it proved curiously prophetic. A war beginning in 1940, due to German-Polish tensions over the city of Danzig, is obviously perhaps the most uncanny.  Bearing in mind that we are talking 1933, Wells's conception of the World was somewhat different to what it would become. He saw the Germans as militarily weak (which they were in 1933) and the Poles as the aggressor, the Polish Government being itself a military dictatorship.

Italy is the main villain of the piece and with its allies; Bulgaria, Hungary and Albania embarks on a conquest of Yugoslavia. A Central European Alliance is formed between Germany, Italy and Austria, and despite the British, French and Czechs attempting to broker a peace, the war continues. Britain and the U.S.A. adopt a stance of 'impartiality', which produces a period of economic growth and prosperity for them, dragging them out of the depression.

Russia involves itself indirectly, supporting 'partisans' in the Polish Ukraine and encouraging Lithuania to seize disputed territory in Poland, like Britain and the U.S.A. it is likely that it grows economically and spreads its influence, rather than being involved and ultimately weakened, as it was in the real world. France had tried to broker peace, but finally is forced to honour its treaty commitments and declares war on the Central Alliance in 1943, as do Yugoslavia's allies; Romania and Czechoslovakia, becoming allies of Poland in the process.

The war on land and sea resembles that of the Great War, with trench lines and periodic offensives, of limited result. Poison gas, 'slime pits' (sections of chemical 'moat') and barbed wire predominate on the respective 'fronts' and guerrilla warfare in the difficult terrain areas. France invades Italy, but is halted at Milan. At sea the centre of the war is the Mediterranean, where the Central Alliance attempts to break the 'bridge' between French North Africa and France.

It is in the air where the war is being fought however. The watch word is that 'the bomber will always get through' and huge devastation is wrought on cities by the opposition's bombers. There are air assaults, or 'raids' by forces against targets otherwise protected by the heavily fortified front lines, which eventually results in the abandonment of the concept of the front line entirely, in favour of chains of 'redoubts' or 'fortress towns'.  

'Things to Come' was clearly the inspiration for Musketeer Miniatures' BCW08 Brigands... 'The Boss' is there second from right.

It all ends badly of course. The cities of those nations involved in the war become hell-holes, as those who aren't soldiers, essentially become either factory workers, or a slave labour force, which is constantly engaged in digging bomb shelters, repairing or building defences and of course the digging out of areas flattened by aerial bombing. Food becomes scarce and rationing becomes the norm too, in ever-dwindling amounts.

Britain and the U.S.A., whilst initially benefiting from their war-profiteering, suffer economic collapse as their customers default on their war-debt payments, resulting in mass-unemployment, social unrest and eventually civil war in effect. Then 'Maculated Fever' aka 'The Wandering Sickness' appears, whether it is 'germ warfare' or just a natural organism, that is able to take advantage of a malnourished and run-down world population is anyone's guess. Regardless however, the world's population is halved by the time 1960 comes.

Warlord Games's Carden-Loyd carrier, a veritable 'David' amongst the 'Goliaths' of the Inter-War era.

Wells then illustrates the 'World of Tomorrow' of 1960, a world where unburied, and in some cases partially gnawed, skeletons, lie in the streets of abandoned towns. In some areas a formal local government structure still exists, while in many others unpaid soldiers, or local levies, having no work to return to, have set themselves up as a ruling elite. There are no forms of national logistics in operation; no oil being produced, no vast factories at work, no means of food distribution. A new Dark Age descends on the world, as what planes, ships and vehicles survive, become useless, as there is no fuel for them.  

The Copplestone Castings Vickers Medium Tank Mk.II, mighty beast of war H.G. Wells style. 

Okay the book itself is a bit dull and is written as a 'History' from some future point, where all is happy and rose-coloured under the World Government. If I had to recommend bits of it, I'd just say read "The Last War Cyclone 1940 to 1950" and as far as you can stand after that, up to the start of Book 3. It doesn't offer excessive detail, but provides the general concept of the Second World War, as Wells imagined it in 1933. The film itself can be watched on You Tube and is not bad for depicting the 'horror of war' at the start and there's some really cool footage in the first half an hour or so.

T-35 Landship... you know you want one!

From the Wargaming perspective it's potentially brilliant however, particularly if you're a fan of Inter-War vehicles and aircraft. While there's no reason you can't use them, the Panzers, Messerschmitts, Stukas, Cruiser tanks, Hurricanes and Spitfires, can be ignored and instead the Vickers Mediums, Hawker Furies, Heinkel 51s and other 1930s stuff can be introduced in their stead. If you play the Great War, you can supplement your collections with the above, as largely the equipment and uniforms in use in 1918, were still in use in 1936. Britain remains uninvolved in the book, but in the 1936 film, it is one of the nations at war and the action is centred on 'Everytown'.

The Neubaufahrzeug V or 'Großtraktor'. Germany still gets some cool stuff.

If you are 'Dieselpunk' or 'Decopunk' at heart, it's a bit of a dream come true. The U.S.A. militarises, but does not become involved in the war (although it does fight a brief war with Japan). American planes, tanks and weapons supply both sides (as do Britain's). The potential for the establishment of 'air mercenaries', a la 'Sky Captain' or the real world 'Flying Tigers', as well as Pulp Era adventures set on the periphery of a European War, are also there too.

You can take what you will from the setting offered, be it an alternate Second World War, a background to Adventure or 'Back of Beyond' style games, you could even use it as an alternate timeline for a Post-Apocalypse World, without the radiation of a nuclear holocaust. If you wished, the 'Wandering Sickness' could even be the beginnings of the Zombie Apocalypse. All of the potential is there, as viewed from H.G. Wells's view of the future in 1933.

Saturday 10 March 2012

German Pre-Dreadnought Battleship

I finally finished my 'cartoon' model of a German pre-dreadnought battleship. It is supposed to represent the Schleswig-Holstein, one of the pre-dreadnought battleships that the Germans were allowed to keep after World War I.
I painted her in all over light grey, and I think that it looks quite effective and 'right' for the period.