I have been to Heaven (again): Barter Books

When in Alnwick I always try to go to Barter Books. It is the biggest eclectic collection of second hand books I have ever had the pleasure to see. More library than bookstore. You never quite know what to expect as the stock turns over so quickly. So,f you see something you like, you had better get it otherwise (and I have been there) you will regret it. It also helps that it has a lovely cafe in this former railway station, that in itself adds character to the place. The is also a "O Gauge" (or bigger) tainset that rumbles around over your heads [so cool] - in one part of the shop (see below, my favourite sign that translates as "heaven" to me):  

Even "just looking" you will find something that you cannot put back on the shelves (see below. what is not to like about early war RN Destroyer Actions in The Phoney War and my inner "WWI Dreadnought Battleship Gunnery" nerd had to get the Barr and Stroud history - they made the ranging instruments for the Grand Fleet amongst other achievements):    

As well as the books I got the Barter Books Plastic Bag and infamous Keep Calm and Carry On mug, to replaced the demised previous one I had (see below, the place is quality that gives out bargains - highly recommended): 

In the words or Arnold Schwarzenegger "I will be back!" 

The Battle of Dogger Bank YouTube Video: Bayesian Analysis

Dug up from some old saved emails to myself, I think they came from a Simulating War Group thread.

Video Link: 
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgxmTnXMdfNLVrtLjxfKRFBbsWbKl?projector=1

Slides:
http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~nm15/MacKayUSNWC.pdf

Full article and another related article:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01615440.2015.1072071
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146491

Jutland Re-Fight done earlier this year (by the USN)

Now this is what I call a Jutland re-fight (even if they did use cards instead of models, Fletcher Pratt will be turning in his grave):

https://wargamingcommunity.wordpress.com/2016/06/05/battle-of-jutland-centennial-2/

But even the US Naval War College did not finish it! Respect for even hosting it though ;)

Notes to self: Musings on WWI Naval rules (North Sea) Part #2

WWI North Sea Battle Cruiser-Actions, Beatty versus Hipper: Round One 1914.

"Now you see them now you don't, Battle Cruisers in the mist!"

Hipper's First Scouting Group of December 1914 comprising of: SMS Seydlitz, SMS Molke, SMS Von der Tann, SMS Derfflinger and SMS Blucher (see below):

Beatty's depleted Battle Cruiser Fleet (BCF) of December 1914 comprising of: HMS Lion, HMS Queen Mary, HMS Tiger and HMS New Zealand (see below):

Note: Unbeknownst to the Germans, in terms of Capitol Ships, they actually possessed a numerical superiority of ONE. Despite this they were always thinking in effect they were numerically inferior. This was due to RN Battle Cruiser commitment to other theatres, namely fighting the Goeban and Von Spee. However this superiority is somewhat artificial as the SMS Blucher is technically an Armoured Cruiser rather than a true blood modern Battle Cruiser.

The goal is to develop a solitaire card and dice driven naval combat system (because it is so hard to find an opponent and it is good to replay scenarios over and over again).

The assumption is that the active player is the RN Commander (aka Beatty), for WWI 'contact' naval actions in the North Sea. The RN's goal, with the aid of secret intelligence (courtesy of Admiralty Room 40), is to ambush a German raiding force (aka Hipper) with superior forces and bring about it's destruction. The logic being that Command and Control problems for RN player is far greater, whereas the High Seas Fleet (HSF) is more concentrated, easier to control and is intent more on escape.

This type of scenario was played out several times during the course of the war (particularly 1914 to 1916) and seems an ideal test-vehicle for solo play.

Raw Game Ingredients:

• Formations
• Orders 
• Command Dice

"This is a  new idea since last posting. As I have been playing a lot of Chain of Command, it's Command Dice mechanic seems much more sophisticated and appropriate that my initial musings using PiP points (aka DBA)"

• Simultaneous Movement and Combat
• Morale Status

Next: A historical scenario "The Scarborough Raid December 1914"

Notes to self: Musings on WWI Naval rules (North Sea) Part #1

Recent sources of Inspiration: Dreadnought Gunnery Book
Michael Brooks

Though please note, my version was the good old fashioned paper edition.

And a long standing favorite:

What I want from a set of naval rules?

• Fast Play
• Historical Accuracy
• No "fiddle and widdle, billimeter twaddle"

Rules that come the closest?

• GQ I and GQ II Rules (over thirty five years old now)
• (Best bit) Gunnery abstraction is excellent
• (Worst) Movement and Command & Control

Thoughts of my own, time to devise "Battle Cruiser Fleet" (BCF) Battles, my Great War Naval Rules for "Battle-cruiser clashes in the North Sea"

BCF Actions in the North Sea (Version 1)

Context of Rules

Mainstay of the naval actions in the North Sea was between the Battle Cruiser Fleet (BCF) and the High Seas Fleet (HSF) Scouting Groups (SG), as running engagements rarely got to the point of battle squadrons of the Grand Fleet (GF) engaging the battle squadrons of the High Seas Fleet (HSF).

Miniatures/Counters: 
Each ship will be represented 1-to-1 on the ‘table-top’, therefore there is a high element count to the game.
(Note: This could mean quite a lot of counters)

Formations:
However the counters are not moved individually (bar ‘exceptional  circumstances’ – i.e. ships being damages and sunk) but moved in squadrons relative to one another. Counters/Ships are held in a fixed position within the formation.

Movement:
Absolute movement is not measured, rather relative movements (sea areas) between squadrons.  The umpire may have to have a form of master map (to be confirmed).

Movement ‘orders’ are maintained as: Close (decrease distance), Maintain and Open (increase distance) and issued to squadrons. The success of the intention is based on simultaneous order declarations.  

Gunnery:
Gunnery is handled as per General Quarters (GQI and GQII) is abstracted into fire-power factors and ‘quartered’ reductions (I like the way the traditional GQ does it) rather than counting turrets and shells.

Command:
Command and Control is based on the relative position to the Flagship. Command “PiPs” are used/spent by the Admiral to control his formations (signalling), messaging (intelligence to GF and HSF admirals and ‘over the horizon’ scouting formations) and gunnery (target priority).  

Individual battle squadrons or formations have their own initiative and morale levels.

Design Goal:
German and British doctrines are different and will be reflected in the orders allowed to be played by the admirals. Note: This is a form of constraint propagation to make the rules specific to North Sea actions (1914-1918 WWI period). The personal and national characteristics of the commanders (Beatty, Jellicoe, Hipper and Scheer) also will effect the 'freedom of movement' to perform certain actions.

I hope the "festive period" turns out to be a fertile period of naval wargaming experimentation. Note I an trying to keep the context of the game scope quite tight to re-fight historical scenarios and the "what-if" permutations.   

Notes to self on: WWI Naval Technical Reference Resources

This is a random 'pull together' of my current WWI (and slightly earlier Pre-Dreadnought) Naval Resources:  
Primary Data Sources (Books):
Conway's Pre (blue) and Dreadnought (green), as both types fought in WWI (see below):

Jane's, although it could be argued that it is a mixture of fact and fiction it certainly gives the flavour of the era (see below):

Brown who describes in great detail the RN's ship building programme (see below):

Source of "Ship counters/models and maps" to cover all nations and theatres in WWI:

Avalanche Press, Great War at Sea Series: 

Russo-Japanese War 1904-05 (see above), I also have these ships in 1/3000 courtesy of Navwar Tsushima Pack and extending out to cover the pre-Tsushima "Yellow Sea" and the like battles around Port Arthur
 

Board Game Vol. I - The Mediterranean (see above), I had been after this one for a while (seeing it for £60 at Salute in London years ago when I was in London I didn't mind buying it for £25 and waiting while it came from America). Likewise, I have the combatant nations ships (down to and including a representative few destroyers) in Navwar's 1/3000. 

Board Game Vol. II - The North Sea, where the big boys play. Jutland and everything else that went on in the North Sea including the American Sixth Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet. Yes I have the Navwar 1/3000 models (gaining a flying start with the Jutland Battle Pack and expanding afterwards) for this (down to the representative destroyer level), including the Americans, Baltic Russians and Swedish Fleets.

The remaining Avalanche Press WWI naval game of interest is the Cruiser Warfare (more "commerce raider" global strategy than "Fleet Action"). This would cover Von Spee's East Asiatic Squadron (which did have small squadron actions at Coronel and The Falklands), SMS Emden, SMS Karlschruhe and the SMS Konigsberg.

The Navwar lists have now by and large have been 'plundered' regarding WWI 'standard fair' and I seem to be now extracting the more and more exotic or "ships that never made it off the drawing board"

What Next?:
What is needed is to put all the above to some good use in a "Naval Wargame Campaign"