War Plan Red: Part 3

The British Plan
...or at least, the US planners' assessment of the likely British plan...

The War in the Atlantic
This was assessed to be the dominant, but not only, theatre of maritime operations.  The RN would initially seize control of the North Atlantic by combining their Home and Mediterranean Fleets and operating from a forward base at Bermuda.  British cruiser and submarine forces would try to cut US Atlantic lines of communications from bases in Halifax and Jamaica.  The Royal Navy would blockade the East Coast of the US, disrupt commerce, harass coastal areas with bombardment, and conduct Air and Amphibious raids to further degrade the economy and, ultimately, popular will of the US people for the war.

The British would expect the US to immediately redeploy the bulk of their Pacific Feet to the Atlantic via the Panama canal, and generate a Fleet in being with which to contest this blockade.  If this was achieved, no decisive engagement would be sought initially as both sides were well balanced and the result could go either way.

Accordingly, the US Navy would remain in a defensive posture concentrated in the Western North Atlantic, threaten British lines of communication, wear down Royal Naval strength and await  favourable opportunity for Fleet Action.  Of course, if the Panama Canal could be disrupted or sabotaged, this would be a different story...

Panama Cana - a vital Strategic link

The War in the Pacific
The British Asiatic Fleet would be concentrated at Singapore with only light, inshore forces remaining at Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.  Indian troops would muster and link up wight he Fleet before for assaulting the Philippines to neutralise the US naval facilities holdings in Manilla.   This would safeguard threats to British trade and commercial interests and subsequently, the Asiatic Fleet would be utilised to destroy any residual US Naval island holdings throughout the Pacific.

With the bulk of Empire assets investing the US East Coast, Hawaii was expected to remain a safe bastion and while it might be attacked to disrupt and commerce raiders operating from there, no invasion or landing was expected.

Alaska was expected to be raided from Canada, but only lightly and this was seen as acceptable.

Landings by ANZAC and Indian troops on the West Coast of the US where seen as acceptable risks

The Land War
The pivotal US territory was seen to be the industrial North East region of continental US.  Possible landings by ANZAC and Indian focus on the West Coast or striking south from Canada could and would be tolerated in order to maintain a strong defensive perimeter to safeguard the industrial heartland of the USA.

Should the Royal Navy manage to defeat the US Atlantic Fleet and establish sea control (either though battle or should the Panama Canal be disputed and the Pacific Fleet trapped) it was expected that invasion would come via sea with amphibious landings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  These forces would then strike westward through Connecticut, disrupt the region generally and threaten New York.  This would greatly shorten the period of conflict and try to overcome the US mobilisation effort while also degrading industrial capacity.

War planners concluded that the British Empire could achieve this outcome, the US choice would be reduced to what kind of terms to ask for in their surrender...

War Plan Red: Part 2

Having discovered the 1920/30s era US Military plans to engage in hostilities with the British Empire (here), I had to delve deeper.  Admittedly, neither side considered such a war remotely probable, but it was certainly not impossible should issues regarding international trade route and overseas territories come to a head.

Archives were searched, journals read and the odd book discovered.  For the discerning strategist, the following detail is provided.  Note that the UK never committed such plan to paper, but some good guesswork assessed their likely operations.

Pre Conflict Comparison

The Royal Navy had slightly more naval power, with the main battle line spread between the Home Fleet and the Mediterranean.  It would be able to rapidly concentrate and venture across the Atlantic to have significant presence at Nova Scotia within 13 days.  In comparison, the bulk of the US Navy battlewagons were in the Pacific and the timely use of the Panama Canal was critical in being able to face off against the British fleet in the Atlantic.

                               Royal Navy         US Navy
       Battleships             16                     18 (12 in the Pacific)
       Battlecruisers         4                       0
       Aircraft Carriers     6                      3 (larger capacity than RN equivalents, all in the Pacific)
       Cruisers                  62                    18
       Destroyers              175                  221
       Submarines             57                    68

Air Force strength was significantly in favour of the British, though redeploying it to Canada would take significant sea lift capacity.  The British could muster such lift capacity but it would have to be balanced with other priorities, such as ground forces.

                                      RAF              US
Fighter Squadrons           12                3 Pursuit, 2 Attack
Observer Squadrons         5                 9
Bomber Squadrons          11                2

Manpower wise, the British Army could rapidly mobilise more soldiers from across their dominions than the US, but the US could build a greater land force over time.

                                               British Empire

       Regular Forces       100,000 man Expeditionary Force (4 Divisions, 2 Cavalry Brigades)
                                      Deployable to Nova Scotia within 30 days

       Overseas Forces     Canada: 52,000 (increasing to 120,000 in 11 Divisions in 30 Days)
                                      India and ANZAC forces: 13 Divisions available at short notice

       Territorial Army     13 Divisions available within 6 months

                                                US 

       Regular Forces       100,000 men at home,
                                       9 Divisions

       Overseas Forces     40,000 in Panama, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Hawaii

       National Guard       175, 000 (60 days to mobilise)
                                       18 Divisions (understrength), 9 Cavalry Brigades


More to Follow...

Imperial Germany's Invasion plans for New York

Following some comments on my War Plan Red post, I did a bit more digging on Kaiser Bill's plans to 'put America in her place'.

Apparently, this increasingly ambitious series of late 19th Century plans included dispatching a significant fleet to cross the Atlantic, conducting a decisive engagement in the vicinity of Norfolk Virgina, dashing north to shell Boston, and then sending battalions of Prussian chaps ashore in New York to install panic and plunder the city.

Cheeky Blighter!

Not sure how successful that might have been but there has to be some games in that!

http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa050902a.htm
http://www.americanheritage.com/content/german-plan-invade-america
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/09/kateconnolly
http://en.potiori.com/Imperial_German_plans_for_the_invasion_of_the_United_States.html
http://io9.com/the-secret-german-scheme-to-invade-america-before-the-f-1628063060

War Plan Red

In doing some research into the US War Plan Orange this week, I stumbled across some other interesting plans developed in the aftermath of WW1, mostly to exercise War Planning and Strategic staffs learning, but also useful as the basis for contingencies.

Of striking interest to me was the US War Plan Red, which was to fight a war against England, and potentially Japan also as per the provisions of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.  War Plan Red had a number of subset plans, notably War Plan Scarlet against Australian, New Zealand and Commonwealth interests in the Pacific, and War Plan Crimson against Canada.  Interestingly, War Plan Red had the US assume a strategically defensive posture against what they saw would be a mostly Atlantic affair and prepare for a landing of British Troops on the east coast of the Continental USA.  At the same time, the planner saw that a invasion of British interests in Canada and the Caribbean would be the best way to reduce British interests on the continent.

All very interesting, particularly when one then lays on top of that the Canadian Defence Scheme Number 1 which was for a counter invasion of the US to stall for time and allow British support to cross the Atlantic.  The Canadian plan saw flying columns seizing territory along the Pacific and Atlantic US coasts.  An audacious plan indeed but one that was seen as sufficiently desperate it might just succeed if the dice rolled correctly.

And so were laid the plans of what might have been, but more interesting is to consider them being executed in the 1890s...with a few VSF elements thrown in...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Red
http://tarpley.net/online-books/against-oligarchy/britains-pacific-war-against-the-united-states-in-the-age-of-the-anglo-american-special-relationship/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Scheme_No._1
http://www.glasnost.de/hist/usa/1935invasion.html

Tsushima

Scenes from a Japanese film "Clouds on the Hill", which I have been unable to get a copy of so far.  Some good imagery in these clips, particularly the low freeboard on the capital ships.

  
There is also a great (and unfortunately hard to find) Japanese film "Battle of the Japan Sea" made in 1969.  The first few minutes are available on YouTube.

One of the more interesting written accounts of the whole battle that I have read is "The Fleet that had to Die" by Richard Hough.  Originally written by a Russian only a year or so after the battle, it has some very interesting perspectives regarding the Baltic Fleet and its epic journey from Russia to Tsushima and its subsequent destruction.  Well worth tracking a copy down.

And if you ever find yourself in Japan near Tokyo, you must go to the outlying city of Yokosuka and go onboard Admiral Togo's Flagship: the Battleship Mikasa.  I had the privilege in 1995 and it was fantastic.

Maine Maritime Museum

The Maine Maritime Museum in Bath is mainly focused on the old wooden schooners built there in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.  However like the great Museum in Paris (see here), there are some lovely warship models and these caught my eye during my visit last week:

USS Katahdin
Built in 1893, she was an innovative ironclad ram designed for inner harbour defence.  Armament was four 6pdrs but the maim weapon was the ram.  Rendered rapidly obsolete she was decommissioned and sunk as a target vessel in 1909.

pic from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Katahdin_(1893)

USS Machias
Built in 1893 this was a schooner rigged gunboat.  Her main armament was eight 4 inch guns, backed up by four 6 pdrs and four 1 pdrs.  She had three separate commissions and ranged far and wide before being sold to the Mexican Navy in 1920.

pic from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Machias_(PG-5)

USS Dahlgren

Coastal Torpedo Boat built in 1900 she was fitted with four 1 pdrs and 2 torpedo tubes

Pic from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Dahlgren_(TB-9)

Awesome Aeronef scale terrain

I was visiting the Boston City Hall this week and received a brief from the town planners.  In their office they had this fantastic model of the downtown area.  Superbly detailed and yes its in 1:1200 scale just like the Aeronef model range!  I can also see it with Tripods marching their way downtown sweeping all before them with their heat rays...

Review of Ragnarok 60

SFSFW have released issue 60 of their journal Ragnarok.

This issue has some great articles and among my favourites are: an Aeronef Campaign set in the Dark Continent, a scenario for Land Ironclads set during the British invasion of France, a variant for Zombies!!! that pits one against a horde of Triffids, and an article regarding gaming in a Battlestar Galactica setting.

Issue 60 continues the new format started in #59 and the editor (Steve Blease of Wessex Games fame) has done a great job with it.   Its clear, crisp and easy to read with lots of nice colour pics throughout.

Highly Recommended -  get your copy from Wargame Vault, or you can join SFSFW here:

http://www.sfsfw.org/

2025 Edit: This still remains the last issue of Ragnarok sadly

Reviewed in a White Wine Sauce

If you are a follower of the Steampunk Miniatures Review blog, you may have seen last week that I have joined a growing team of contributors there.  I'm looking forward to writing a few bits and bobs as I get to them.

Of course, if you aren't a follower of the Steampunk Miniature Review, you're probably wondering what the heck it is!  Well its pretty much exactly as the title promises: reviews of a range of steampunk miniatures in a variety of scales and styles.  Click on the link and check it out.

http://steampunkminiaturesreview.blogspot.com

Blown Away

If you haven't seen it yet, pop over to Brigade Model's blog and look at the report of the weekend's Aeronef gaming - some rather fetching looking aerial warships in action!  You'll also see the new 2mm fortifications in play.
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Blog/2014/07/blown-away/

Pic from Brigade Models blog at the link above

Thoughts on Sleeping Dragon, Rising Sun (IHMN)

Mr Amazon delivered this goody to my door last week and I've been immersed in its pages ever since.  Its very similar in style to the first supplement Heroes, Villains and Fiends, and is jam packed with new companies, descriptive texts, a few new weapons and even a gunboat design.

I particularly like the Royal Navy Landing Party which is a very different take to my own Armoured Naval Landing Parties (which one may find at this blog).  Mine were designed to be heavily armed parties landed from capital ships, while these ones are more ad-hoc gunboats crews at the ready to storm ashore.

On the down side, I think the addition of some colour artwork and pics of new figs would help fire the imagination but this was clearly a deliberate decision to maximise the written content (as seen here).  However, you certainly can't complain about the amount of great written content that was packed in instead.

[EDIT: Author Craig Cartmell has subsequently advised me that they didn't have any choice about the artwork, so I think they made the best of it by adding more written content instead]

Overall, if you are into IHMN this is a must get addition to your collection.

The Queen's Martian Rifles

Just finished this little known book by M.E. Brines, delivered to me by Amazon this week and which delivers a cracking good yarn.  

The Queen's Martian Rifles are an Infantry Battalion based on Mars and defend the British quarter of the European Conclave in the Martian Capital.  Along with contingents from the Royal and French Navies, and some foreign chaps from La Legion Etrangere, they protect the trading outpost that the Earthmen have with the technologically backward Martians.  But life is a dull on the Red Planet where nothing much ever happens- until the High Priests start getting Johnny Martian all excited and upset that is!

I really enjoyed this book, which is very much in the Space 1889 genre.  I won't give anything away but there are some scenes in it which are gratifyingly reminiscent of some of the classic movies I know appeal to many readers of this blog.  Its got a few overly religious undertones but they don't detract badly, and neither do the numerous typesetting issues along the way (it looks like a low budget, style production).

Overall, a most enjoyable and recommended yard that will have to reaching for your Space 1889 books with glee.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1491289449/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Steampunk Soldiers

Just found this upcoming title on pre-order on Amazon.
Looks like it might be worth the wait until November, just in time for one's Christmas stocking!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steampunk-Soldiers-Osprey-Philip-Smith/dp/1472807022

Happy Birthday to me!

While I'm unlikely to enjoy much gaming on my imminent journey,  I took the liberty of treating myself to some new reading material to pack in my trunk.  

Should be sufficient to keep one amused  at least a little while methinks!

Pack yer kit- we're off to the Martian Frontier!

Artizan Designs have released four figures in their new Martian Frontier Force range.  I love Artizan figs and these models have their usual character and flair.  I can feel a new IHMN company coming on - Queen's Own Parhoon Rifles anyone?
http://www.artizandesigns.com/list.php?man=22&cat=157&sub=209&page=1

In the meantime my batman is currently packing my steam in kit and a portable drinks cabinet for a new voyage.  Not quite as far as the Red Planet, but to a far off location nonetheless.  Expect more interference with my Aethergram updates!