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Battle of Salamis, 306 BC

Saturday the local HMGS-South group played a game of Hail, Agrippa! at the Dogs of War shop. The Hail, Agrippa! rules are a modification of Hail Caesar published in Issue 66 of ‘Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy’ magazine. [Hail Agrippa! rules link]

The scenario was based on the Battle of Salamis (Crete), 306 BCE fought between an Antigonid fleet led by Demetrius and a Ptolemaic fleet led by Ptolemy in person. The main source for the battle is Diodorus.

The units in the game (4 models on a base) represent about 10 ships each. Miniatures are primarily Langton 1:1200 and Navwar 1:1200, with a few Valiant 1:900 and scratch-built ships.

As described in Diodorus, the Antigonid fleet deploys first, and the Ptolemaic fleet second.

Ptolemy has chosen to deploy to seaward (east) of Demetrius. His lightest ships are on the right wing.

Ptolemy advances rapidly while Demetrius pivots.

The left wings and centers clash and both right wings are delayed by failed orders. Ptolemy loses a unit.

Most of Ptolemy’s center is destroyed by bad rolls on break tests. Demetrius swings his right wing inward. The remaining Ptolemaic ships flee.

Flying Colors Naval Game

Saturday the local HMGS-South group played a Revolutionary War naval game at the Dogs of War shop using the Flying Colors rules. The scenario was a simplified version of the battle of Cape Henry, 16 March 1781. Old Glory miniatures were used instead of the games ship counters.

The British line split into two formations and attempted to double the French van, but the French maneuvered downwind to avoid this. A 120 degree wind shift then gave the French the weather gage. The British sustained more damage overall, although the leading French ship accumulated enough hull damage to strike her colors.

With nine ships in each fleet, only the leading ships fit on the table at the start.

On the second turn the British split into two formations. The French maneuver in a single line for several more turns.

A stern rake forces the leading French ship to strike.

The British switch from formation commands to group commands.

The rear of the French line comes into action at long range.

The flagship of the British second in command is nearly dis-masted. The British struggle to maneuver around the crippled French ship which has struck.

Diadochi Era Siege Ship

seige

This is a very speculative attempt to model a double-hulled ship carrying a siege tower in 1/1200 scale. Demetrius I Poliorcetes or Lysimachus may have used something like this for siege operations against cities in the early 3rd Century BCE. See Chapter 6 of “The Age of Titans” by Murray.

The model uses the hulls of two 1/900 scale Ramming Speed ships by Valiant Enterprises. The tower is 30 meters tall in 1/1200 scale, or about 3/4 of the estimated height of Helepolis.

Empire Napoleonics Introductory Game

Saturday the local HMGS-South group played a Napoleonic game at the Dogs of War shop using a modified version of the Empire V rules. The game was a introduction to the rules, so no specific historical battle was represented. Each player had a division of infantry, cavalry and artillery.

15mm figures from a variety of manufacturers.

Prussians and Russians (foreground) face Poles and other French allies.

Austrians and British (foreground) face French.

The Austrians advance in a compact mass in the center.

French cavalry quickly destroy the British and Austrian cavalry, then turn to face the exposed Allied infantry.

Prussian cavalry attempt a wide flanking move.

French cavalry hit an Austrian column in the flank and destroy it. They are then seen off by British infantry fire.

WWI Naval Battle – Bay of Algiers, 1914

This fleet action is based on the Triple Alliance naval convention of 1913, as described in “The Great War at Sea” by Sondhaus. The plan was for the Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets and any German ships in the Mediterranean to engage the French Fleet and block the Algerian troop transports. This scenario assumes that the war starts in February 1914, and that the British Mediterranean squadron joins the French.

Due to the generally longer ranges of the Triple Alliance guns, the French and British ships were under fire and unable to respond for the first few turns. Both sides had difficulty forming coherent battle lines due to the wide variation in ship speeds and capabilities. The Goeben and Dante Alighieri eventually destroyed the three British battlecruisers. Based on the situation when we quit, the French Algerian troops could be very late arriving in France.

Scale: 1/6000 miniatures, 500 yards/in ground scale.

Rules: Computer code in development.

Visibility 24,000 yards. Wind northwesterly at 6 knots. Seastate 2.

Status at the end of the game: Alg status

Damage output file: Alg-out

Plot of ship movements: Alg-plot