RSS FeedAngus Konstam is an author and historian - visit his website at
www.anguskonstam.com or e-mail him at anguskonstam@aol.com
He's a member of the Orkney Wargames Club, which meets in Kirkwall on Thursday evenings.
See their Facebook page for more info.
Some of the ugliest ships known to man The mid-19th century was a real transition time for warship design – sail to steam, wood to iron, smoothbores to rifled guns, roundshot to shell – and the American Civil War landed plump in the middle of it all. While some wargamers dismiss this as a boring
Ironclads, Dawn of Iron, 1/600 scale As part of the ‘learning the rules’ drive, I staged another small American Civil War naval game at home, to see how less well-protected ships fared under these new rules. In the end I staged a slimmed-down version of Hampton Roads, and the fight between the Monitor and the
Ironclads, Dawn of Iron, 1/600 scale I’m sure I’m going to bore you over the next few weeks. First off, for various reasons I’ll have to skip two club nights. So, instead, I’m going to post a couple of American Civil War naval games, as I’m trying to learn this new set of rules. I’ll
Ironclads, Dahlgren & Columbiad, 1/600 scale This small game was an attempt to re-acquaint myself with these simple but effective rules. During the Prusso-Danish War of 1864, the Danes blockaded the Prussian naval base of Stralsund on the Baltic. In this fictitious game, Capt. Jachmann commanding the blockaded Prussian squadron is attempting to launch a
Ironclads, Sail & Steam Navies, 1/600 scale I missed the club night game this week thanks to Storm Babet. Both Sean 2 and I have to cross causeways – the Churchill Barriers – to get to town, and they were closed, with waves crashing over them. Fortunately, he was able to come round on Sunday,
Ironclads, Dahlgren & Columbiad, 1/600 scale We hadn’t played a naval game for a while, and so we opted for this – a sea battle in the era of ironclads, but without a single ironclad in sight! Still, David Manley’s excellent rules cope with wooden-walled steamships perfectly well. This game, a refight of the Battle
Ironclads, Dahlgren & Columbiad, 1/600 scale About seven years ago, I refought the Battle of Helgoland, the premier naval clash of the Prusso-Danish War of 1864. The battle actually involved the Austrians too, as allies of the Prussians, but the name of this little war sidestepped the awkwardness of a three-cornered title. Anyway, after being
The Ironclad Era, Dahlgren & Columbiad, 1/600 scale About ten years ago, during a trip to the States, I bought a load of Thoroughbred Models – lovely 1/600 scale metal kits. They were a mix of American Civil War ironclads and wooden-hulled steam-powered ships. On a whim though, I painted up the latter as Danish,
Ironclads, Bill’s Ironclad Rules, big toy variant, 1/50 scale This week Thursday was om a Tuesday. Rather, we usually meet on a Thursday, but this week Edinburgh’s Navy Club is being used as a polling station, so we switched days. We also swapped games. the plan was to play Napoleonic single ship actions using Post
Ironclads, Bill’s Ironclad Rules, 1/600 scale For more than a year now, my pal Bill Gilchrist has been developing a set of ironclad rules. At the moment’s they’re simply called Cap’n Bill’s Ironclad Rules (working title), but at some stage they’ll get a proper name. This game involved Fort Sumter – a very nice model
Ironclads, Bill’s Ironclad Rules, 1/600 scale We were all at see this week in Edinburgh, as Bill Gilchrist gave us another taster of his “Ironclad” rules. The battle was completely fictitious, involving Confederate ships more usually found on the Mississippi River, off Savannah and up in Pamlico Sound, as well as a more appropriate Union
