Nile Gunboats

I recently found this site, which goes nicely with both the "How to build a Nile Gunboat" article I posted a little while ago (look in the Modelling Hints category) and yesterday's entry regarding Admiral Cowan.

This site has a number of great fact and figs on the Nile gunboat flotilla, the men who served in them, and the wars in which they served - enjoy!

http://www.melik.org.uk/gunboats.htm

Admiral Sir Walter Cowan

A true fighting naval officer I have recently been reading about is worthy of much admiration, and I am pleased to share with you my research into a man who is simply inspirational. So much so that I have started a new article category for him: Gentlemen of Renown and Infamy. If you have one of your own to suggest, I would greatly welcome your submission.

Admiral Sir Walter Henry "Titch" Cowan, 1st Baronet, KCB, DSO and bar, MVO

b.1871, joined the RN in 1884 (aged 13), d.1956

Early years - served in verious expeditions in West Africa, commanded the gunboat HMS SULTAN during the Battle of Omdurman and the whole gunboat squadron during the Fashoda Incident with the French during which he was awarded the DSO. Cowan then went south to participate in the Second Boer War, saw extensive sea service as a Destroyer Captain afterwards and then service the the Battlecruiser force during WW1 (including the Battle of Jutland where his ship was heavily damaged) during which he was known to be one of "the most offensively minded of the Grand-Fleet officers."

In his great book "The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command", Andrew Gordon writes:

"Walter Cowan, Captain of the [Lion class battlecruiser] Princess Royal, had been a close friend of [Admiral] Beatty's from both midshipman and Nile-gunboat days. He was a ferocious midget who loved war so much that he spent his leave periods in the trenches in France and wept when the Armistice was announced. "

It was also said that he "was the only Officer in the Grand Fleet that was sorry the war was over"

Gordon continues: "He became the scourge of the Bolsheviks in the Baltic in 1919 [As a Rear-Admiral he commanded a Light Cruiser Squadron from his flagship Delhi and sank 2 Russian Battleships and 1 destroyer], and ended his naval career as Admiral of the Fleet.[not quite true, but he was a full Admiral]"

Cowan came out of retirement in 1940, accepting demotion to the rank of Commander, to join an Indian armoured regiment in North Africa. He was captured by the Italians when he personally attacked a tank by himself armed with only a revolver! Subsequently released by the Italians on humanitarian grounds he joined the Commandos as a Naval liasion officer, aged 72. He saw further action in clandestine actions in Italy and the Med from 1943 where he won a second DSO in 1944 (more than 40 years after earning his first one) before retiring once more.

There are 2 books dedicaed to his service which would be fascinating reading:

• Lionel George Dawson, Sound of the guns, being an account of the wars and service of Admiral Sir Walter Cowan (Pen-in-hand, Oxford, 1949);
• Geoffrey Bennett, Cowan's war: the story of British naval operations in the Baltic, 1918-1920 (Collins, London, 1964) - reprinted in 2002 as "Freeing the Baltic" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freeing-Baltic-Geoffrey-Bennett/dp/184341001X)
  
  His Service biography is:

Naval cadet 1884; Benin, Nigeria 1887; Cdr, HMS REDBREAST, Red Sea 1893-1895; HMS BARROSA, Cape Station 1895; Brass River and Mwele Expeditions 1897; commanding gunboat flotilla, Nile during Sudan operations 1898; Aide-de-camp to Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum and Naval Aide-de-camp to FM Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford, during South African War 1901; World War I 1914-1918; HMS ZEALANDIA, Grand Fleet 1914; Capt, HMS PRINCESS ROYAL 1915-1917; Battle of Jutland 1916; commanding 1 Light Cruiser Sqn of the Grand Fleet 1917-1920; Baltic Force 1919-1920; Battle Cruiser Sqn, Atlantic Fleet 1921-1922; Commanding Officer, Coast of Scotland 1925-1926; Commander-in-Chief North America and West Indies Station 1926-1928; retired 1931; Commando Forces, World War II 1939-1945; liaison officer with Commando Bde, Eastern Mediterranean 1941; attached to Indian Regt, Western Desert 1941-1942; captured at Bir Hakeim 1942; repatriated 1943, Cdo forces 1943-45

King Solomon's Mines

by Rider Haggard
Published 1885

Wikipedia reports that "The book was first published in September 1885 amid considerable fanfare, with billboards and posters around London announcing "The Most Amazing Book Ever Written". It became an immediate best seller. By the late 19th century explorers were uncovering lost civilizations around the world, such as Egypt's Valley of the Kings, and the empire of Assyria. Africa remained largely unexplored and King Solomon's Mines, the first novel of African adventure published in English, captured the public's imagination."

It was also the best selling book of 1885 and is arguably the first of the "Lost World" genre of fiction. I love the book's dedication, which reads:

This faithful but unpretending recordof a remarkable adventureis hereby respectfully dedicatedby the narrator,ALLAN QUATERMAIN,to all the big and little boys who read it.

And of course any novel with a Naval Officer named "Captain Good" cant be bad at all!

http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/H/HaggardRider/prose/kingsolomonmines/index.html

Sketchmap of the route to King Solomon’s Mines

Aeronef terrain on the cheap

http://www.boardgamedesign.com/pages/goshopping.htm#HOUSES

They are technically Monopoly™ houses and hotels, but with the right paint job, I suspect they'd make good ground targets and table decoration.

Electric Blockhaus

Another treasure direct from the Vanvlak archives!


Its always reminded me of a mobile steampunk version of the Rebel batteries on Hoth, in "The Empire Strikes Back". Mssr V scratchbuilt this little beauty about 2 years ago from gosh-knows-what components...

Boys Own Adventure!

A new VSF blog has popped up on the horizon:

Having claimed this heretofore blank space of the Web, forestalling the odious French, ghastly Huns and dastardly Russians, I welcome you to Boys' Own Adventure! Under the aegis of the Union Jack, and the protection of the Queen Empress it affords, on these pages you will be able to absorb the mores and morals of yesteryear when all that was needed to subjugate the globe to Commerce and Civilisation was a stiff upper lip, handsome moustaches, a pith helmet and the occasional recourse to one's .455 Mk. IV Webley. Huzzah!

Here you will find information on literature, films, games and more which all bear the stamp of Boys' Own. "But, hold on, Sir," I hear you cry, "just what is Boys' Own? What its characteristics? Whence its origins? Wherefore its heyday?"

That, dear Reader, is the subject of another post...

And it must be a top-hole kind of place because there is a link to Yours in a White Wine Sauce under the banner 'The Right Sort of Chaps" - guess it takes one to know one eh?

http://boys-own.blogspot.com/

Vanvlak Industries financial report

It wasnt like this in the Sudan you know...

...or maybe it was, now I think about it!

The silly buggers over at the VSF and 15mm Wargaming Blog (http://vsf15mm.blogspot.com/) posted a great link the other day, and I have been perusing it with great interest.

http://sudan1883.blogspot.com/

Lots of great stuff there for the colonial and VSF gamer. I particularly like the recent emphasis on the Royal Marines, who often seem to be get sidelined for those smart looking chaps in their redcoats.

Thankyou Gentlemen!

Sad Loss Of Inspiration

From Graham Evans at Science versus Pluck

********************************************************
If any of you haven't noticed, that fine chronicler of Victorian
colonial warfare, George MacDonald Fraser died earlier this
week. I attach the notification from the BBC website.This is
obviously very sad for all fans of his writing & not just the
Harry Flashman books. Inevitably all of us who have read
and loved the books can only lament at the information we
will now never know. How did Flash Harry get to Mexico?
How did he fight on both sides of the ACW? How did he get
back from China?
*********************************************************
The only answer is for a noted author and fan of Victorian
memoirs to take up the challenge and complete
the series from GMF's notes.

*********************************************************
Anyway, to all members of the group, if you haven't already done
so, raise a glass to the memory of the finest historical novelist ever
this evening.

Graham

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7169047.stm

Gaming Resources

Here are some nifty sites that you might find useful:

Official seal generator:

http://www.says-it.com/seal/

Latin Motto generator

http://www.inrebus.com/latinmottogenerator.php

Newspaper article generators

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

http://www.getclippings.com/

Vanvlak Industries

We've had a slight reorganisation here at WWS and introduced a new article category: Vanvlak Industries

Now you can quickly and easily peruse the many and varied works of Mssr Vanvlak and be reminded of his impressive imagination and skills.

We here at WWS are honoured to hold the exclusive rights to display the products of Vanvlak Industries!

The Junior General

Zophiel kindly pointed me towards this great site today, which has a bunch of paper models ready to print and cut out for quick easy playing. They may not have the appeal of lead figures, but are cheapoer and quicker to play with, especially if you just want to try a game out without going to the expence of buying the models.

Pretty much anything you can think of is here, from Dinosaurs and Cavemen to Colonial Troopers of varying Nationalities and Regiments. There are also some great pre-dreadnought models which could work very well for Aquanef, such as the Russian Heavy Cruiser Admiral Makarow above, and these US Civil War Ironclads.

http://juniorgeneral.org/ancients.htm

CRYPTO-CRITTERS Anthology Series

CRYPTO-CRITTERS I

A terrific new collection of stories featuring crypto-zoological subjects from around the world! Everything from Big Foot to pink elephants is tackled in this one, and the most fun for visitors to this website, of course, is the fact that CJ has two stories in this one.

CRYPTO-CRITTERS II

In remote parts of the planet they lurk, the unknown, the unsuspected, the sometimes rumored ... they are the creatures of myth and legend, until someone finally finds one and pulls it whole and breathing into the modern age. This is it, the much anticipated follow-up to the original smash hit, Crypto-Critters, and it’s packed with the best crypto-zoological sci fi, fantasy and horror stories of all time. Join Bruce Gehweiler, Patrick Thomas, James Chambers, John Sunseri, Edmund R. Schubert, Diane Raetz, Scott Thomas, Graham Watkins and, as you might suspect, our own C.J., who brings three tales to this stunning sequel!

http://www.cjhenderson.com/store_anth.html

Scratchbuilt Aeronef protoype revealed!

Eli at "I see Lead People" has revealed his mate's first attempt at a Nef - I cant wait to see what else he comes up with!

http://leadpeople.blogspot.com/2007/12/ether-final-frontier.html

Mad Scientist President?

Just to prove that all is not well in the former colony (and you shouldnt have rebelled should you?), a mad Scientist is now running for President. Of course, he cant be a very good mad Scientist if he is actually going through the democratic process rather than just seizing power through some kind of doomsday device...

Just in time for the Iowa caucus and owing to the fact that I am not entirely pleased with any candidate being offered by the major parties, I am glad to announce my candidacy for President of the United States. As I recently stated on the Exile Games forum, I will be running on the Mad Scientist party ticket.

At a recent press conference, one of my carefully placed plants in the audience raised a cunningly scripted question about my stance on zombies. Here was my spontaneously pre-packaged response:

I'm glad you raised that issue. Millions of Americans such as yourselves are rightly concerned with this clear and present threat to our way of life. My voting record will show a strong and decisive response to this concern based on three key principals: preparation, research, and response.

Preparation: I have repeatedly stated that zombie survival hinges on resource management. Therefore, through tax incentives to private citizens and auto manufacturers, I will strive to ensure that every household in America is prepared with a basic survival kit including water, chainsaws for both utility and defense, lumber to board up windows, and car batteries that will insure every car made in this country will start on the first turn of the key, even in the dark with a legion of Oogie-Boogies shambling towards you.

Research: Some of my detractors have suggested that we should ban all zombie-related research. However, this would mean that Al Qaeda has won. Such strictures would weaken our nation's economy and erode our God-given right to play Prometheus in our basement laboratories. We cannot allow America to suffer from a Zombie Gap any more than we can afford a Giant Robot Gap or a Deathray Gap. In the past, those of us in the Mad Scientist party have been accused of not doing enough to ensure adequate safety procedures in our zombie research facilities based on a few isolated incidents of our studies spilling over into the general population and leading to plagues of brain-munching ghouls. I will insist on the highest attention to safety; under my budget, for every 8 billion dollars spent on zombie research, companies will be required to spend $3.79 on a really good padlock to keep the undead blighters in their pens. That ought to take care of it.

Response: In the event of the inevitable zombie breakout, I will personally parachute into the afflicted area equipped with running shoes, camouflage cargo shorts, my kukri, a pump action shot gun, and all the ammo bandoleers I can carry. Within forty-eight hours, the zombie threat will be quelled. That is my campaign promise to you.

I hope I can count on your vote in the upcoming primaries. Vote for me and I'll put a ninja on every corner and two in between. Thank you.

http://supersech.livejournal.com/32230.html