First post of the year here - it's been a bit of a slow start this year, wargaming-wise. This is
mainly because I've been away on business - twice - to Istanbul, and
it's not even February yet.
However, having managed to get the
German East Asia Squadron sorted out here are some pics of their heroic and ill-fated opponents - the ships of Admiral Kit Craddock's squadron. As before these are Navwar 1/3000 scale vessels.
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| HMS Good Hope |
Craddock's flagship, HMS Good Hope (1902) - so outdated that the broadside batteries could not be used in rough seas - which was naturally a significant factor in her loss at the Battle of Coronel (1 November 1914).
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| HMS Monmouth |
HMS Monmouth - an obsolete armoured cruiser (1903) that was just as useless in bad weather as HMS Good Hope. Also lost at Coronel.
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| HMS Glasgow |
HMS Glasgow (1911) - by far the fastest of Craddock's ships (she looks it) but unarmoured and armed only wth two 6" and ten 4" guns. However, she was fast enough (at 25 kts) to evade destruction at Coronel and later to take part in the Battle of the Falklands where revenge was exacted, lucky for Captain Luce.
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| Otranto |
The Otranto, a relatively slow and unarmoured 12,000 liner fitted with eight 4.7" guns and not really fit to form part of a light-cruiser hunting squadron. I thought I'd paint this in cruise liner colours, just for a change.
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| HMS Canopus |
HMS Canpus is the big old battleship (1900) that got left behind at the Falkland Islands, that may, or may not, have made a difference at the Battle of Coronel.
Having finished these, I'm ordering a few more ships from Navwar to try to work though a planned mini campaign (using the
Berthier Campaign Manager) recreating (sort of) the voyage of the German East Asia Squadon from the Pacific into the Atlantic. It's all written down on paper - I just need time to put it into action....
