From PeterD More Sino-Japanese War Ships (24 points)

I've got some more ships for this obscure war, all are 1:2400 scale castings from Tumbling Dice. These are mostly tidying up loose ends so that I can fight out the climactic Battle of the Yalu River, and most of the ships are sisters of ones completed earlier in the challenge.  I want to give a shout out to TD for prompt and excellent service here.  I placed two orders from them during the Challenge and they arrived in time for me to fully paint the first and mostly paint the second lot before the Spring Solstice.  Plus he didn't have one of the packs of TBs that I'd ordered, so sent me three other packs instead.

Three Japanese cruisers.  Takachiho was sister to the Naniwa and had a long career, until she was sunk by a German destroyer in 1914 during the siege of Tsingtao.  Hashidate was a member of the overmanned Matshushima class, and the only one of the three built in Japan. Akitshushima was intended to be a fourth Matshushima but the design was changed (and made more sensible) after the pro-Biritsh faction of the IJN intervened.

When I went to I glue the labels on last night, I found that I didn't have one for Saien.

Some Chinese ships, or at least they started that way.  The battleship Zhenyuan was the sister to the flagship Dingyuan.  Damaged at Yale River, she was repaired in Port Arthur.  Forced to relocate to Weihaiwei before the Japanese captured Port Arthur, she was badly damaged hitting a rock entering that port.  With no dry dock available she was unable to go to sea afterwards and was scuttled before the port fell.  Raised and repaired by the Japanese, she served as their first battleship under the name Chin Yen.  The cruiser Jiyuan had the most checkered career of all.  Originally ordered as a third Dingyaun, she was downsized by budget cuts.  She was badly damaged and lucky to escape the Battle of Pungdo, with her captain accused of cowardice.  She fled the Yalu River battle early and was the least damaged of the four Chinese ships to survive the battle.  This time her captain was executed for his actions.  Captured after the siege of Weihaiwei she was commissioned into the IJN as the Saien in time to be used against her former owners.  She was  finally being sunk by a Russian mine in 1904.  The TD pack came with two hulls, even though she was a single ship class.  I therefore completed one as the Japanese Saien.

Next a grab bag of smaller ships.  Two small unarmoured Japanese Cruisers used as despatch vessels and 2 torpedo boats for each side.  Total of 12 hulls is 24 points, leaving me just over 30 points shy of my official goal.

I've got a few odds and ends to finish off the full campaign list, but these give me the forces for Yalu River.

I didn't meet my goal but I've enjoyed this year's challenge.  This was a nice change from last year when I burnt out and got overwhelmed by the lead mountain and lack of space to fit new work. I ended up parking my challnge in January.  This year I focused on enjoying the painting and working on pieces that spoke to me, and did stuff that stowed easily.  I've also been inspired to order in some BoB stuff by DaveD.  Now I just need to sell of some stuff to store it.

From DaveD . Well that’s a fine array of little obscure ships  indeed . A mid challenge top up is always an indication of mad progress I think . I look forward to seeing some BoB stuff next year . There are lots of options and an ability to interpret it your own way .  Challenge total is just a number , and you say you have enjoyed it - so that is a win . 

From PeterD: Sino-Japanese War and Skulls (26 Points)

A few more ships for my ongoing Sino-Japanese war project.  No long history rants this week, as these mostly repeats as I finish off the two starter packs that I got from Tumbling Dice.  The smaller vessels were packaged in twos and in a few cases threes, so I did one of each pack to start with.  Now I am coming back to pick off the second and third models.

First up four Chinese ships - the cruisers Jingyuen, Jiyuan, and Yangwei, plus the torpedo gunboat Kwangyi.  These are all sisters of ships in my last week's posts, so there's not much to add.  Torpedo gunboats (TGBs) were built by most navies in the early 1890s to counter the emerging menace of enemy torpedo boats.  Basically they were a top down approach, small cruisers armed with guns and torpedoes.  They proved too slow to catch a torpedo boat so navies developed the torpedo boat destroyer, soon shortened to destroyer, built as larger torpedo boats and with enough speed to do the job.

Next some Japanese ships, the ironclad Kongo (sister of the Hiei) and the gunboats Yamato (no not that one), Atago and Chokai again sisters of ships posted last week.   Note that I've tried to vary the rigs or flag position of sister ships to provide visual differences.  In the Chokai's case, lost or banjaxed masts meant that she hers were repurposed to other ships and she got wire masts instead.  Also a torpedo boat flotilla to run away from the Chinese TGBs. 

And finally two merchantmen.  The Kowshing was a British flagged vessel sunk in the Battle of Pungdo, initiated by the Japanese before the formal declaration of war (sense a pattern?).   The Cassius (having been born on the Ides of March,  am partial to Big Julie themed names) was repurposed from the second ship in the pack of Guangia class corvettes.   Info on the ships of the Guandong fleet is sparse, but the Guangjia appears to not have had any sister ships.  However, her generally lines were similar to older merchants of the age.

Finally because Barks asked, here's some photos from a recent Skull Tour put on by a colleague's Bio class at our University.

These are various cats.  The big one is a lion with a bullet hole in the forehead.  There wasn't much difference between the bobcat and house cat skulls.

Moose, top and bottom

Beavers.  As any Canadian 5 year old will tell you, those teeth never stop growing and they need to keep chewing wood.

Grizzly, Black and Polar bears.  Note the responsible emphasis on safe boning.

Various weasels and the like (not the ones holding public office).

Back to the ships, there's a total of 12 hulls in 1/2400 scale for a total of 24 points.   

I'm going claim two squirrels points here.  I have completed 13 Chinese hulls (9 posted last week and 4 this week) for 26 points.  I have also completed 16 Japanese hulls (10 last week and 6 this week for 32 points).

My squirrel total now stands at 6:

• Badass Female Pulp Heroines
• Badass Female Nordic Resistance Fighters
• US Navy 1898 (including transports)
• European Intervention squadrons 1898
• Japanese navy 1894-5
• Chinese navy 1894-5 

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SylvainR: With bright yellow to identify the Chinese fleet, there is no risk of friendly fire. As usual, very fine paint job on your ships and I hope we can try them out on Friday. I will add 2 points for the flags, as per Minion's right. Your display of "Canadian" skulls was very amusing.  Extraordinaire! 

From PeterD: The Beiyang Fleet (22 points)

 

More naval oddities from me this week, this time the opposing fleet in the Sino- Japanese War, The Beiyang (or Northern Seas) fleet was the largest of the four fleets operated by the Qing dynasty in 1894, operating from the ports of Lushunkou (also known as Port Arthur) and Weihaiwei.   Both ports were captured by the Japanese in the war, but ended up being in Russian and British control due to European skullduggery.  The fleet operated two reasonable but dated battleships and an assortment of rather lousy cruisers.  Information on the Imperial Chinese navy is sketchy and often contradictory.  It doesn't help that there are two sets of Chinese characters and three different English translations used by different sources.  It can be a handle keeping track of ships under all the different names used.

She flies the rainbow flag of Admiral Ding Ruchang.  Love the Dragon on the Imperial Ensign.

First up is the flagship, the battleship Dingyuan.  She was built in Germany in the early 1880s along with a sister ship in the mail from Tumbling Dice.  A turret ship with her 12" guns in the then fashionable en echelon arrangement, she was typical of her time.  Similar ships were operating in the Royal Navy's front line squadrons in 1894.   She was damaged at the Yalu River, but still operational due to her armour.  After repairs in Lushunkou, she left for Weihaiwei before the Japanese army could lay siege.  She was then involved in the siege of Weihaiwei, being torpedoed in a night time attack on the anchorage and eventually blow up by her crew to prevent her capture.  In 2005 the Chinese state finished a replica of her which is now operated as a museum ship (Trip Advisor Review).

To my very Anglocentric eyes, Chinese names are very similar and I expect confusion on ship names among my gamers.  Therefore I gave each ship label a number as well.

Next up the Pingyaun and Jingyaun  Pingyaun was a costal defence battleship, with a 10" gun in a turret.  She was captured at Weihaiwei and incorporated into the IJN as the Heien and then lost to Russian mines in 1904..  Unlike most of the fleet which were purchased overseas, she was built in China.  She managed to damage the Japanese flagship at Yalu.Jingyaun was an armoured cruiser built in Germany.  She had decent protection but was slow (as were her guns).     

Next a couple of UK built cruisers  from Elswick, providers of cruisers to the world's smaller navies before 1914.  Zhiyaun was a protected cruiser and better than most of Chinese fleet, but lacked the larger QF guns of the IJN.  Her captain is a folk hero in modern China and apparently they've built a replica of the ship.  Chaoyong was another attempt to overstuff a small hull, with a pair of 10" and no armour.  She and a sister were both sunk at Yalu River.  Oddly enough a third sister served in the Japanese fleet, wisely kept out of battle.

Most navies' TBs were painted black to make them harder to spot, and that's certainly the case here.  I wish to confirm that there are two TB hulls on that one base.

Finally some smaller ships, very similar to ones that served in most navies.  The Guangjia was a Chinese built corvette which was on loan from the Guangdong fleet.  She was probably sunk at Yalu River (but may have escaped).  Kwangping was a torpedo gunboat, captured at Weihaiwei put into service by the IJN.  Lastly, a base of two torpedo boats.

I make that 9 hulls for 18 points, and most of a squirrel. The rest of the squirrel will appear next week.

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Sylvain: As usual, very informative post. You're my weekly dose of naval history! And your ships are lovely. When we get to play these ships, it will be a fun game: fun because new strategies will have to be used and fun because trying to pronounce the names of the ships will be a challenge. I will add 4 points for the flags. Fabuleux!

From PeterD: Imperial Japanese Navy 1894 (25 points)

Over the years, I have developed a taste for rather obscure naval campaigns.  Challenge veterans might remember my Chilean and Peruvian fleets from the War of the Pacific in 1879, as well as my more recent Spanish American War fleets.  David Manley of Long Face Games has just this week released a campaign book for another bucket list obscure naval war, the Sino Japanese war of 1894-5. I got an advanced copy and provided feedback, so was ahead of the game and had my fleets ordered back in January.  Here's the first set of ships for the campaign, all from the IJN and all 1:2400 scale from Tumbling Dice.  The IJN had no battleships, but had some good modern cruisers supplemented with older ships.

First we have two ships from the Flying Squadron, which was composed of four modern fast cruisers.  Naniwa was built at Elswick in the UK and was one of the earliest protected cruisers.  She as given two 10.2" guns in the hopes of giving her a ship killing role and some secondaries, but was over gunned for her size.   She played key roles in the Battle of the Pungdo and the Yalu River her shooting was very good.  She was also active in the Russo Japanese War by which time she was rearmed with 6" quick firers.  Yoshino was considered one of the best Elswick cruisers, being fast, sea worthy and armed with 6" and 4.7" QF guns.  She was still considered a first rate cruiser in the RJW, but was lost when she was run down in the fog by a larger Japanese cruiser.  She flies the flag of Rear Admiral Kozo.

I would like to confirm that the first two ships are facing and steaming the same direction, to the left.

Next we take a step further into the weeds.  The three Matsushima class cruisers were French designed and took ship killing up a notch.  Each had a single 12.6" gun plus 4.7" QFs, which actually formed her main armament given the slow reload time on the big gun.  On two of the ships the large gun was sensibly in the bow facing forward, but on Matsushima it was in the stern facing aft.  Matsushima was the flagship of Vice Admiral Ito and was the most heavily damaged Japanese ships at the Yalu River.  Chiyoda was built in Scotland, and was originally intended to have the same 12.6" guns.  However, the design was changed and she was given a more sensible armament of 4.7" QF instead.

Finally some supporting ships.  Fuso was an ironclad central battery ship and Hiei an ironclad corvette.  They were reasonably well protected but were slow and armed with older slower firing weapons.  However they served in the main fleet and were heavily engaged at Yalu River.  Katsuragi was a composite (wooden hulled but iron framed) corvette, useful but suitable to be in a major battle.   Saikyo Maru was a passenger ship requisitioned as an armed merchant cruiser and carried the flag of Rear Admiral Sukenori at Yalu River.  Akagi was a small gunboat, tasked with guarding Saikyo Maru.

That's 10 hulls in 1:2400 scale, for 20 points.  Next week I should have some opposition, in the form of the Beiyang fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

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Sylvain: Ship design was indeed crazy in those early days of big guns. Your miniatures are superb and I like that you added the Japanese ideograms (called "kanji") to your ship bases. Your ships look clean and convey an aura of 19th century. I will add 5 points for the festival of flags. Génial!

 

 

 

From PeterD: German Asian Squadron 1898 (8 points)

 

SMS Kaiser leads her squadron.

This is a post of make do and mend modelling.  Admiral Von Diedrichs' German squadron based in Tsingtao China (now Qingdao) nearly came to blows with Admiral Dewey's American fleet in Manilla Bay.  It's the lost what if scenario for major European powers intervening in the Spanish American War.  Unfortunately, 1:2400 scale models are not available for Diedrichs' ships.  My Toy Story entry was his flagship SMS Kaiser.  This one will look at his other four ships.  In each case I used Tumbling Dice models for other nations' cruisers. 

First up the protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta.  For her I noted that the French cruiser Tage was a similar size and had a similar hull shape, but had different funnel and mast arrangements.  She served in the Mediterranean and was involved in some gunboat diplomacy in Morocco and Greece, before being sent to China late in 1897.

Kaiserin Augusta on the left, Tage on the right.  Not too different, I just had to move the foremast back and spread the funnels apart

Next the sister ships Irene and Prinzess Wilhelm, basically older and smaller versions off Kaiserin Augusta.  They escorted Kaiser Bill II's yacht early in their career, before being sent east to China.  I used French Linois class cruisers to represent these two without modifications.  There are differences between the designs, but I decided they were close enough for Government work.  And finally the gunboat Cormoran.  I used a Spanish Isla de Cuba class cruiser for her, it's a reach but it's what I had on hand and at this scale it'll do. 

Irene on the left, a Linois class on the right.  Close enough for me.

I have received some nice comments on my basing, so I thought I'd share my method.  I put my ships on 30x60mm pdf bases (2mm thick) which I get from Warbases or Sarissa.  

1. After priming, I do the base sea colour first using Paynes' Grey, which is actually a dark blue and has tons of uses.   It's an artist colour, so I don't that you'll find in the model paint ranges.   But then again I wouldn't know as I use artists' acrylics as my regular medium.  I then paint the ship completely before returning to the base.  Normally I'll need to touch up where the hull colour has slopped onto the base.  In this case, I have white hulls and wasn't too sloppy so I'll just use the white in the wave patterns. 
2. For the first layer of wave I mix Payne's grey with a bit of white.  You can look at aerial photographs of ship for ideas, but generally there will be a bow wave, some disturbance along the sides and then a quarter wave angling off of the stern.  There isn't really that much colour difference except at the bow and where the screws are, but it gives the effect.  Basically, I'm using colour to represent surface textures and depths.  I will also add general waves around the ship.
3. I then add some white caps using titanium white where I figure they add something.
4. Once everything dries, I use a coat of acrylic glossy medium.  It's a bit nerve wracking to use this the first time as it goes on milky white, which I think shows in the photo.  But it dries to a clear glossy colour.
5. I find Payne's grey gives a good deep water grey blue, but I'd use a different sea colour depending on conditions.  For my Anglo Dutch Wars ships I use a greenish blue and sculpt waves with modelling gel etc to look like a de Velde painting.  For ACW river actions you'll want muddy brown etc. 

Rambling over, I'll claim the 8 points for the 4 ships.  Together with the Kaiser from the weekend, this brings my European Intervention force over the 13 ships required for another Squirrel point.

Squirrels to date

1. Badass Pulp Heroines
2. Women of the Nordic Resistance
3. US Navy Spanish American War
4. European Intervention Spanish American War

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Sylvain: Another great example of your scholarship and craftsmanship in ships! I hope you will soon set up the sea mat and indulge us Reginans with a turn of the century naval game. Génial!

From:PeterD European Coalition Squadron (22 points)

For my second post this week I have a squadron of ships from a European coalition formed in response to American aggressions against the North American colony of a European nation in 1898.  The Long Face Game campaign pack for the Spanish American War allows for Europeans to come to the aid of the Spanish.  There is a coalition squadron that can cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean and an German Asian squadron that can operate in the Philippines.  Historically, Spain was on its own.  However, the German Asian squadron did enter into a long staring match with Admiral Dewey in Manilla Bay.

First up the German Battleships Wörth (with VizAdmiral flag) and Brandenburg. These were half of the German Navy's first class of pre dreadnought battleships.  This pair survived into WW1, but were disarmed and converted to accommodation ships during the conflict. Their two   two ships were sold to Turkey in 1910 and had had more "interesting" late careers.  They lost a couple of battles to the Greek fleet in the Balkan Wars, and one was torpedoed by a British submarine during the Gallipoli campaign.  The Germans had no great connection with the Spanish, but were also keen to pick up any colonial crumbs that might fall their way.

Next two Austrian sister ships,  the protected cruisers Kaiser Franz Josef I and Kaiser Elisabeth named after the ruling Kaiser and his wife (there's an entertaining rabbit hole to fall down looking into the succession to Franz Josef).  The Habsburgs were closely connected to the Spanish royal family and wanted to help.  But they needed other nations' support, which in the end wasn't coming.   Another Austrian cruiser stumbled onto the end of the Battle of Santiago and nearly got attacked by the US Navy.

Then we move onto the French Navy, with the battleship Charles Martel, the armoured cruiser Bruix and the protected cruisers Linois and Lavoisier.   French naval designs were specularly bizarre in this period with exaggerated ram bows and tumbled home, odd turret placements and heavy military masts.  Sylvain likened spar torpedos to Space Orb weapons, and I think these ships are one that the Imperium could have produced.  I'm not sure but I've heard that absinthe makes the brain grow softer.  Tumbling Dice do fine model ships, but I don't think that 1;2400 really does these justice, so have include pictures of the Charles Martel and Bruix.

Charles Martel nose on, showing the tumblehome and fierce face military masts.  Note the Quick firers in the fighting top, wouldn't want to work those in a fight.

Bruix at anchor, note the shape of the bow and the general Steampunk look.

The flat grey shows off the Charles Martel's lozenge turret arrangement.  Russian ships with similar tall superstructures were lit up by Japanese quick firers at Tsushima.

Finally the Italians, the armoured cruiser Marco Polo and the protector cruisers Umbria and Lombardia.  The Marco Polo was considered under armed and the two protected cruisers a bit slow.  Umbria was stationed in South America in 1896, losing half her crew to yellow fever.

I make that eleven ships (two German, two Austrian, four French and three Italian), good for 22 points and just short of a full squirrel.  I have the German Asian squadron on the work bench to flesh out the squirrel. 

From DaveD . Peters second bite of the cherry today . That’s an interesting assortment of ships indeed l agree the French certainly have a dystopian steampunk vibe about them . Put them on a flight stand and they would not look out of place .22 it is .

From:PeterD Spanish American War Merchant Ships (12 points)

A collection of merchantmen and transports for my first post this week.  These are all from the excellent Tumbling Dice 1:2400 scale Age of Battleships range.  The US Navy used a lot of merchant men for its war effort against Spain.  Some were bought and incorporated into the US Navy (as Armed Merchant cruisers, transports or Armed yachts) but most were just hired out for the duration.

Leonidas of the Charlie ("Affirmative") line and Pompey of the Echo ("I am altering to starboard") line.  Sounds like these to have things worked out nicely.

 

I've not tried to represent any particular ships here but did them up as fairly generic vessels which I gave names selected from actual ships used  in 1898.  I went for classical names to make them useable serving for a bunch of fleets, and because I was born on the Ides of March.

Alexander of the Juliet ("I am on fire") line and Caesar of the Lima ("Stop Immediately") line.  Doesn't look good for the first but the second seems likely to keep clear of trouble.

For identification, I gave each ship a flag selected from among the International maritime signal flags.  These all have meanings beyond their alphabetic use and I'm sure than Admiral Paul will confirm what each is indicating.  I have seen pins based on theses flags and their meaning  meant to worn on nights drinking at the sailing club, where they take on whole new meanings.

Sorry for the bad photo.  Hector of the Delta ("I am having trouble manouvering") Line and Brutus of the Foxtrot ("I am disabled and require assistance") line.  This one likely won't end well.  Good thing that there's no vessels from the Bravo ("I am carrying dangerous goods") line nearby.  Hector is a side wheeler and I have found photos of similar vessels serving in 1898 (heck some served at Dunkirk in 1940).

The US Navy needed a big fleet of transports because of the wide scope of its operations, including:

• Maintaining coal supply at it's Caribbean bases of Key West and Miami
• Blockades of Spanish ports in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
• Amphibious landings on Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam
• Setting up a forward coaling base at Guantanamo once they got troops ashore.
• Keeping its Asiatic squadron and land forces supplied from across the Pacific (Dewey had no base before Manilla).

That's a long list of achievements for a Navy fighting its first overseas war, even without worrying about an enemy fleet.

That is 6 ships at 2 points a hull for a total of 12.  I am going to group these merchants with my US Navy ships posted earlier to claim another squirrel point.

From DaveD , my first substitute minion task , I am pleased to see one from Peter . Lovely little collection of transport you have there l must say . I like the back story on the ship names .  That a tidy little 12 points for you sir .