WW1 Alternative History

My desire is to be able to extend the length of the First World War for two reasons.

First, it will allow me to field the interesting Liberty tank and Char 2C, neither of which were fielded. I just like them, what more can I say.

Secondly, it will allow me slide into an alternate British Civil war scenario, based on the unrest and strikes that were part of the unrest that resulted from the effects on Britain during the war years. So I talked to my uncle-in-law about this to get some solid ideas.

As I understand it the Ludendorff Offensive failed due to the poor logistical follow-up due to a lack of transport and tanks that prevented the Germans from obtaining their strategic goal. This offensive is discussed in Julian Thompson's book Lifeblood of War: Logistics in Armed Conflict, pp.46/47. Also at the tactical level the Germans had little or no armour, and no battlefield radios, so having initially succeeded they were unable to maintain momentum. All the Allies had to do was keep their nerve until the German offensive ran out of steam.

Therefore this operation by the Germans seems to me to be the key thing that needs changing in my alternative WW1 history. The strategic goal, to drive a wedge between the French and British Armies in France, and thereby forcing the British back on to the Channel ports (for effectively a 1918 version of Dunkirk), was clearly a key to any German victory the reality was the best they could do was negotiate peace terms.

Ironically, the unforeseen consequence of the Ludendorff Offensive was to ‘unlock’ the three and a half years of stalemate on the Western Front, and therefore restore mobility to the battlefield again. The Allies were able to take advantage of this new situation due to superior logistics and the new combined arms evolution from fielding tanks. This is seen quite clearly at Amiens in August 1918, when the British Armies under Haig inflicted the "Black Day" on the German Army, which the Germans were not able to recover from. For more read Why the Germans lose at War, by Kenneth Macksey. See pp. 52/53. Summary; the German military have brilliant tacticians, and are outstanding at the operational level, most of the time, but are lousy strategists.

Therefore the Germans best chance of prolonging the war was to have:

1. Not embarked on a policy of unrestricted U-boat warfare, which brought the USA in on the side of the Allies, but I want Americans so I need to leave this in.

2. Stayed on the defensive on the Western Front behind their hugely strong positions, which means no Ludendorff Offensive. I can use that.

3. Instead offer to make real concessions in the interests of peace. For example dropping one of their conditions that keep the French territory they had overrun at the beginning of the War. Easily enough assumed to have occurred.

Balkrunia and Karagoz - The War at Sea

One of the facets of an early 20th century ‘imagi-nation’ that I intend to take full advantage of is the naval side. As my two protagonists are based on the Balkan nations and the forces of Ottoman Turkey then the potential for much in the way of naval activity is very high. The ‘terrain’ I will be fighting over makes use of the 1914 -1918 maps of the Mediterranean available in the board game ‘The Great War at Sea: The Mediterranean’ although some of the national boundaries will need to be modified. For the ship models for the two sides I have been extremely fortunate to have acquired a substantial reinforcement to my existing collection of old Minifigs 1/1200th scale WW1 ships and so these models will furnish all of my needs in respect of hardware. The first batch had been acquired from ebay but far and away the largest portion came from Bob Cordery ; to whom once again I extend my most grateful thanks.

I will post a fuller background to the composition of the fleets once I have decided how best to split them up. My feeling at the moment is to have a Karagozian fleet mostly of earlier vessels but with a couple of ‘state of the art’ types whilst the opposition has more modern types overall but is mostly lighter in weight. In any event, I want the fleets to be quite different in their composition in order to present each side with differing tactical challenges.

For the rule I will probably use a variant of Axis and Allies: War at Sea as these are simple and great to use for a club night game. I will also be making use of the aerial dimension as well and plan to make use of the Irregular miniatures 2mm biplanes and probably some Brigade models dirigibles for air support.

The models themselves will be easy to paint as detail wise they are very basic. It was a great shame that Minifigs never expanded the range (German ships were mooted but never materialised) and indeed, the moulds seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth. When the fleets are ready I will post some pictures to the blog of the Eastern Mediterranean’s finest in action.

Vickers 75mm Anti-Aircraft Gun

Some years ago I visited the Military Museum situated in Montjuich Castle, Barcelona.

One of the weapons on show was described as being a Vickers M31 75mm Anti-aircraft Gun (which seems to have a lot of mount for not much barrel!).

There was no information available about this gun and its mounting, and it looks very different from any of the photographs that I have seen of the Vickers M31 75mm Anti-aircraft Gun. In fact the mounting looks more like that used for the Krupps 88mm Anti-aircraft Gun, but the barrel was definitely not a cut-down 88mm one!

Protecting the Border - The Fortification of the Borka's Western Banks

Several rotating batteries overlooking the bridgehead at Uldiva.

Too many invasion from the east have left Alcovians feeling vulnerable and exposed in the past but the new leadership of the country has promised to strengthen the defenses of the country to make sure that the nation needn't suffer yet another invasion.

Building off of the increased presence of aerial scouts and the always present APA river service, Princes Ukko and Ullo, co-commanders in chief of Alcovia's armed forces have undertaken a massive construction effort designed to fortify the western bank of the Borka against invasion from neighboring Iqenistan. Included in these plans are bunkered batteries and reinforced block houses on the Alcovian side of all bridges spanning the Borka River.

The construction of these defenses has alarmed the Iqeni people who find themselves suddenly in range of some very large guns. Despite official diplomatic protests, Alcovia has not seen fit to dismantle any of their emplacements and batteries instead offering their assurances that the fortifications are purely for defense and really serve no substantial or effective offensive purpose. In fact, the number of emplaced batteries that can strike at any Iqeni holdings are few and generally only located around the heaviest of bridgeheads. There are still plenty of places where there are no river fortifications or where the type of emplacements are of limited range.

Second Foray

I'm having a week off work, busy doing nothing other than a bit of painting and recharging my batteries. Today I finished reading Volumes 5 & 6 of Charley's War, which I bought as inspiration for my WW1 games. I'm at the stage in the story where Charley is at Étaples, where the mutiny kicked-off. The writers notes refer to the use of a "red" flag and the suggestion of socialist revolutionary ideas, which makes for a fascinating kick off point for an earlier "Very British Civil War".

I imagine had a successful revolution taken place then Britain would have withdrawn from the war, leaving France to face Germany, perhaps with American help? Alternatively, the British civil war would have caused enormous turmoil within the Empire, but ultimately failed then we might have seen the German army splitting British forces from the French and demanding terms for the French to surrender. One could then imagine that the Americans then arrive to draw the war out for another two or three years before some new resolution is achieved.

Malta Fever by C.V.Usborne

Now this is a rare gem of a book. Published in 1936 and written by C.V.Usborne (a Rear Admiral that served in the Mediterranean in WW1 - more of which later) the novel has Malta as the backdrop to what is essentially a spy story with an 'imagi-nation' twist. The story revolves around two brothers in the navy and the fact that one is in debt and the other has just been passed over for promotion and has the misfortune to have some secret war plans stolen from him and is thus accused of being a traitor. After various twists and turns including a court martial the older brother is cleared and promoted to Captain. As, perhaps, a sign of the times in which this was written (mid 30's), the story contains the obligatory 'oily foreigner', a plucky and game English rose (I keep having this image of Kate Winslett portraying her!), a bluff old Admiral in charge of the Mediterranean fleet, some cocktail parties, horse racing and even the essential 'salt of the earth' cockney type gunners. The character of the Admiral seems to have been loosely based on Admiral Cunningham - even down to the 'drooping and watery eyes' and the forthright nature in which the said Admiral conducted himself. To be honest the story is very shallow and borderline jingoistic and could not by any stretch of the imagination be classed as a great work of literature but nevertheless it does have a lot of commendable content and a certain period charm.

I enjoyed the description of the court martial from the procedural perspective and the references to naval protocol but the book is relatively light in terms of technical detail (again probably a reflection of the times as much as anything).

Kandavia as a Mediterranean power was deemed to be up there with both France and Italy in the estimation of the Foreign Office and the Admiralty. The country arose out of the turmoil at the end of WW1 and although not located specifically has been attempting to negotiate with another 'imagi-nation' - Urgay - for a large Mediterranean port to make use of the economic boom occasioned by the discovery of numerous gold reserves. The country has a British trained navy based on small vessels - destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines as well as a powerful air force. Key to the story is the location of a squadron of 'super bombers' made from an elasticated metal that is impervious to bullets. This bullet proof skin is eventually overcome by the scientists operating in Woolwich (specifically a Scottish scientist!) designing a special type of ammunition that is able to penetrate the metal.

The whereabouts of the squadron of super bombers is eventually traced to Kandavia and the discovery of the same is what enables the older of the two brothers to eventually clear his name.

The threat to Malta is emphasised although the air defences are far better than what was historically available. The impact of Franco's Spain and Hitler's Germany is also thrown into the mix as well as the relative impotence of the League of Nations.

The author has written a couple of non fiction titles including one which covers small scale naval actions in the Mediterranean during WW1 as well as the invasion of Morocco so I will endeavour to locate these as well as both subjects are of interest to me.

I must confess that the idea of Kandavia really appeals to me and so I shall try to research both the author and the background to see if any further details can be gleaned.

At the very least both Balkrunia and Karagoz will now have some company......................;-)

The Chaco War - Resources on YouTube

Having watched part of today’s football match between Paraguay and Slovakia (which the Paraguayans won by two goals to nil) prompted me to do some online research into the Chaco War. What surprised me was how much there was available on YouTube!

By using the simple search request ‘Chaco War’ I found the following :

• Chaco War – Paraguay-Bolivia 1932-1935
• La Guerra Del Chaco, Petróleo?
• Guerra del Chaco
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
  • Part 4
  • Part 5
  • Part 6
  • Part 7
  • Part 8
  • Part 9
  • Part 10
  • Part 11
• The Chaco War (N.B. It is worth noting that this was produced by a High School pupil!)

The quality of some of the film used is quite poor, but this does not detract from the fact that these are a very useful source of inspiration to anyone interested in the Interbellum period.

There are probably a lot more such resources out there; it is just a case of finding them!

Latest draft of my Interbellum rules is now available

After a few struggles and diversions along the way, I have finally managed to complete the latest draft of my INTERBELLUM rules, and they are available in PDF format as a download from my Interbellum website.

Please note that the rules are password protected; the password is 'interbellum'.

The rules do incorporate some ideas from my previous rules, WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!. In particular there are now rules for the use of Transport Units as well as a whole new section at the end that sets out rules for the use of aircraft over the battlefield. The rules have yet to be play-tested (or even properly proof read!), but I set myself the goal of finishing the draft today ... and managed it!

New 15mm Montenegrans

Irregular Miniatures have just released 15mm WW1 Montenegrans:

SBWM1	Montenegran infantry (in many assorted positions) 22/5/10	A
SBWM2	Montenegran Machine gun & 2 crew 22/5/10	F
SBWM3	Montenegran officer 22/5/10	A
SBWM4	Montenegran gun & 4 crew 22/5/10

No pics but they should be perfect for 'Bolkans' imagi-wars whether as regular or irregular forces.

There's also more pics of the 15/20mm guns on their Really Useful Gun page.

Cheers
Mark

More truth from THE TRUTH?

Further to their recent revelations, THE TRUTH has published more images of prototype self-propelled artillery based on the FT-17 chassis.

The first picture shows one of the previously featured prototypes, but this time the photograph has been taken from the side of the vehicle.

The second prototype is different from those already featured in that the armament is reputed to be a 149mm howitzer. The latter has been fitted with an armoured shield that offers some protection to the crew.

It is worth noting that none of these designs allow the armament to traverse more than a few degrees, and that half the designs have armament that faces towards the rear of the chassis. These designs give the artillery mobility, but not the ability to be used offensively.