AKULA's Little Wars thread - Pg2 - Merchantman, another sub & fleet photo

[AKULA]

Time for a new project...



Ok...so I'm not an "early adopter" and the image above is AI-generated ... its almost two years since Mark Copplestone's "Little Wars" range was released, and despite being one of the first posters on Nick's thread heralding the new range, its taken this long for me to put my money where my mouth is.  To be honest, its far worse than that... Like many gamers I was brought up on Donald Featherstone's rules ... what we'd probably call "fast-play" or "simplified" rules these days.  Showing my age, but I can remember when Wargames Illustrated magazine numbers were in single digits, and it was one of the yellow cover Special Editions (Wargames World?) that featured the imagination of the late great John Ruddle.  John during a period spanning 60+ years created a fictional wargames world in his garden populated by whole nations, cities, ports, armies and navies (photo below from Wargames World).  Since those early days I've been lucky enough to play some epic Fletcher Pratt naval battles (guessing the range, and marking the shell splashes), and it is definitely something that I want to incorporate in my new project.



In many ways, John's ambition fuelled my own megalomania, so when Mark released his Little Wars range, the mental fermentation process began ... Some elements have been in my head for a while, but I've been struggling with how I want my own game to look ... rules still in a state of flux, and I've still not decided how I want the tabletop/terrain to look like, but I'm now at a stage where I want to get on with it.

So, as I said, it has been a while, but here I go 



The first (small) order of Copplestone Little Wars are inbound, but I suspect that my first offering may end up being of a more nautical nature

[carlos marighela]

Looking forward to further instalments mate!

[fusilierdan]

The Copplestone figures are an excellent choice for such a project. The right amount of detail and a good variety of figures. I've bought twice the amount I planned for and will be getting more.

Looking forward to your project reports.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Excellent,  I look forward to developments.

[AKULA]

First up a few "pseudo-nolstagic" warships ... in the style of John Ruddle

As much as I'd love to be able to build a fleet of 1920s tin warships I'll have to make do with some stand-ins as the originals are now worth a small (or even a large) fortune.

The following "battleship" can be found on eBay for as little as a fiver (although admittedly prices may have risen a bit in the last week or so).  It's pretty flimsy, but this actually works in my favour - it comes with a cheap windup mechanism, which can easily be removed as the hull has some give in it.  The gun turrets could be moved if needed, although I'm glueing them, and everything else down with a bit of superglue to stop the rattling.

I've gone for a very basic paint scheme...Ruddle's vessels were pretty much grey, but I'm adding a bit of variety to the hull to differentiate between various navies/squadrons that might use this generic looking vessel.

Its c20 cm in length ... I'll be calling it an armoured cruiser rather than a battleship.





The submarine is actually "vintage" ... I think it is from the 1950s - I love the simplicity




Group shot

[voltan]

The following "battleship" can be found on eBay for as little as a fiver (although admittedly prices may have risen a bit in the last week or so). 

Did you leave any for anyone else?

Its c20 cm in length ... I'll be calling it an armoured cruiser rather than a battleship.

How about Coastal battleship, was a popular term before WWII. there was a couple of Norwegian ships taken over by the Royal navy during WWI, which they forgot to hand back afterwards, admittedly they did accidentally blow one of them up.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Very nice.

[carlos marighela]

Really cool little ships!

Bob Cordery was doing something along similar lines. Might have something of use to you.

https://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2012/02/next-monopoly-inspired-battleship-model.html

[leadboy]

John Ruddle's stuff is such an inspiration, isn't it ?

Bob Cordery's blog has got quite a few photographs of his garden layout,
and I've done a few posts on him, including his submarine which was
not seen in Wargames World (photo from the subsequent auction),
and his interview by, and garden walkabout with, late 1970s TV:

https://hereford1938avbcwtng.blogspot.com/search?q=ruddle

Very much looking forward to what you do with Mark's Little Soldiers, and
only sorry (from a VBCW point of view) that you don't have another 10 foot
aircraft carrier planned!

[Freddy]

Can't wait to see this project develop! Any chance to find more info on John Ruddles project on the internet?

[AKULA]

Thanks everyone for your comments… good motivation 

Did you leave any for anyone else?

Of course…. a few at least 

Really cool little ships!

Bob Cordery was doing something along similar lines. Might have something of use to you.

https://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2012/02/next-monopoly-inspired-battleship-model.html

Thanks mate. Bob’s project is v.inspiring…I could spend hours on his blog 

Can't wait to see this project develop! Any chance to find more info on John Ruddles project on the internet?

Funnily enough Bob’s blog (posted by Carlos above) has some more photos of John Ruddles Garden Wargames. Apart from that Wargames Illustrated would be your best bet - the article that first inspired me was in one of the Wargames World specials.

[AKULA]

My first small parcel of Little Soldiers arrived from North Star - fantastic service as always from Nick.

Lovely crisp castings with no need to tidy them up before priming.

The first imagi-nation on my todo list is Berglund.





According to the Washington Bugle: "Berglund is a land of contrasts...it's wealthy, well-educated gentry and it's oafish... at times brutish workers.  Berglund boasts (frequently) of its advanced industrial base, but the majority of its people can barely read or write. Berglund's Foreign Minister talks of peaceful co-existence with its neighbours, while the armament factories in its capital, Bergstadt are reportedly working 3 shifts a day."

Paint scheme
I've gone with a similar colour scheme to Mark's Berglanders - the base coat is Army Painter Wolf Grey.  I've gone with a neutral colour for the base...I haven't decided upon the final colour yet as I'm still thinking about the scenery, so I may repaint the bases to match the table.





These were a joy to paint, the crispness of the castings, and the minimal detailing makes them relatively easy to paint up. 

Already thinking about my next (larger) order.

[Captain Blood]

Shiny  (in a good way). Following with interest Matt 

[carlos marighela]

Very nicely done. Got that Britain's/ Elastolin look down perfectly.

[AKULA]

Thanks both ...I'm enjoying painting these