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Naval Wargames Society - Wessex Branch

The aim is to hold meetings on the third Sunday of February, April, June, August, October and December, although the exact week may vary so as to avoid clashes with other wargaming events in the region, or clashes with other NWS events.

The branch shares the Sunday bookings with local wargamers of the Abbey Wood Irregulars. AWI meetings are held in the intervening months, and generally cover land or air actions. AWI members often participate in NWS games at Patchway. Connections between the AWI and the Wessex Branch are quite strong, as several members of the branch are also AWI members, and the AWI has supported the NWS at Southern Militaire and in displays at several shows in the South West.

The list of dates for 2002 is as follows:

• 9th December - Stephen Welford has this slot booked, but no details of the game yet.

In addition the Abbey Wood Irregulars will be running games on:

• 3rd November

NWS members are very welcome to attend Abbey Wood games on these dates.

The provisionall list of dates for 2003 is as follows:

• 16th February Anglo-Dutch Wars in 1/1200, arranged by David Hatcher
• 13th April WW2 Alternative history - October 1941, 1/3000th scale GQ rules. Peter Colbeck continues the 'What if…' series of engagements.
• 8th June WW 2 Naval, probably using GQ rules - Stuart Machin organising
• 12h October 1/1200th Napoleonic
• 7th December Modern GQ mini campaign - either 1966 or 1971, depending upon how many attend. Peter Colbeck will be organising this one.

Note: there is no game scheduled for August, due to the holiday season

In addition the Abbey Wood Irregulars will be running games on:

• 12th January DBM 500 points per army from any of the 4 Army list books (doubles).
• 9th March
• 11th May 25 mm Napoleonics (unless people want it in March)
• 27th July
• 7th September
• 2nd November

If anyone would like to run a game at Wessex please contact me and I'll make the necessary arrangements. Peter Colbeck has now taken over as Regional Co-ordinator for Wessex, but I can pass messages on to him.

Previous Actions

The Wessex Group of the NWS was founded by David Manley and Nigel Cox in 1995 and originally met at the Legion hall in North Bradley, near Trowbridge. Three successful gammes were run there:

• June 1996 - "Singora Bound", the Repulse and Prince of Wales off Singapore in December 1941
• August 1996 - 1/1200 Napoleonic fleet action
• October 1996 - 1/1200 WW2 action using rules written by Andy Jose

Unfortunately in October 1996 DM left Trowbridge to do an MSc in naval architecture at UCL, London, and the group was suspended. It was reformed in August 1998 following DM's return from London (having learnt how to design submarines as well as surface ships), this time meeting at the North Patchway Hall in North Bristol. To reduce costs a sharing arrangement was negotiated with local wargames club, the Abbey Wood Irregulars. Since then, the following naval actions have been fought out:

• August 1998 - Aboukir Bay: The inaugural meeting, where Nelson's famous victory was repeated, this time in 1/1200 using Form Line of Battle 2 rules.
• October 1998 - Midway - the ever popular Pacific campaign, this time with a twist as ORBATs were expanded to include ships which could possibly have been present.
• December 1998 - Malta 1941 - a WW2 mini campaign using GQ2 rules.
• February 1999 - Breakout from Oran - WW2 mini campaign using GQ2, based on the action at Mers El Kebir, but based on the assumption that the French had prior warning and could go to sea before the British arrived. A close run action, but in the end a clear French victory.
• February 1999 - Aboukir Bay (again) - run as a demo game at the Napoleonic Fair in London.
• April 1999 - The 1999 "Social"; an enjoyable but quiet visit to the FAA museum at Yeovilton.
• April 1999 - "Crisis Management '99" - a modern action using 1/1200 minis and a very simplified version of Harpoon. Set amidst an African civil war a UK task group pulls civilans off the beach amidst a confusion of government and rebel forces, and some "assiting" Russians. Lots of fun, with the RN saving the day and the Russians dishing out some grief to boot!
• June 1999 - "Grab the U-20" - Peter Colbeck's mystery WW1 scenario turned out to be a scramble to capture two German submarines stranded on the Danish coast. Fought out in atrocious visibility (using 1/6000 scale models and "Battlefleet: The Dreadnoughts" computer rules) this was an excellent action which answered the question "How long would the SMS KAISER last against the Queen Elizabeth and Valiant at a range of 1000 yards?" The answer turned out to be 6 minutes!
• August 1999 - a small but enjoyable Napoleonic action fought out using "Form Line of Battle 2", based on the French attempts to invade Ireland. This time the invasion fleet made it to Bantry Bay but was roughed up by a squadron of British frigates. A close run thing, with victory for the British only secured in the last few minutes of the game!
• October 1999 - As promised this was a WW1 campaign with a difference. Chris Webb ran a good game here, all the more so as it was his first foray into the world of game organising (well done Chris!). However we are keeping quiet about this as we want to take the game to Mortimer sometime in 2000 and run it there, and we don't want to spoil the surprise!
• December 1999 - mayhem on the rivers and coatlines of North America, circa 1863. On the rivers a Confederate attempt to destroy Union mortar rafts and an observation balloon were thwarted after a bloody pitched battle, whilst at sea the Confederates had mixed fortunes getting their blockade runners to sea (2 succeeded in the fist game, only 1 in the second, plus most ofthe Confederate covering force was heavily damaged or sunk). The day went very well and now everyone wants to do more ironclads! Rules in use were the projected revised version of "Iron and Fire"
• February 2000 - Stephen Welford treated us to a unusual WW2 action in the bay of Biscay. Various convoys, search aircraft and raider groups criss-crossed the area for several days of game time but studiously failed to encounter each other (apart from a brief but bloody action between Force H and an Italian (?!!) task force that had fought its way past Gibralter). Through the midst of this confusion a lonely Gernam blockade runner made her way quietly across the Eastern atlantic to the French coast, and victory (guess what ship I was driving!!)
• February 2000 - the Wessex annual trip to the Napoleonic Fair went well - based on the French attempted landings in Ireland in 1796 (and a larger action than the one we ran in August 1999). It went down well with the organisers and we've been invited back again next year!
• April 2000 - Modern actions using "Shipwreck". We had afew problems getting to grips with the rules, but then things sped up and soon the dice were flying (which is more than could be said the the Russki Su-24s that tried to attack an RN task Group!. DM left early to go to Rosyth, so Stuart Machin took the helm and ran through some more scenarios. Good fun and a probable start to more modern gaming at Patchway.
• May 2000 - Naval Weekend, Portsmouth. The Wessex Group (well, Dave and Steve Welford, ably suported by Jeff Crane from Thames Valley) took the "Cod War" participation game to the Royal naval Museum, Portsmouth. We played several games over the 2 days, with the Icelandic gunboats victorious in 5 out of 8 encounters.
• June 2000 - Stuart Machin's Guadalcanal mini-campaign.The Americans slaughtered the Japanese in the first battle, sinking the entire force. This went against the early run of play when it looked like the USN was going to be swept from the seas. The Japanese defeat was so complete that the second battle was never fought (there being no Japanese cruisers available to support the newy arriving ships). The third battle was a nightmare for the Americans, who expected the Hiei and Krishima to turn up, only to be faced with nagato and Mutsu! 8" shells made little impression on the japanese battleships so the US cruiser force legged it, taking heavy casualties. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time for the last battle, so Washington and South Dakota had to stay in the box.
• August 2000 - Napoloeonics again (this is becoming a "thing" for August!). Two battles were fought. The larger was a hypothetical action, assuming that nelson engaged de Brueys' fleet heading for Egypt in mid-ocean. The French successfully extricated themselves fromthe fray (helped largely by V. Admiral Hendy sailing off in the wrong direction - again!). In the second battle a Batavian squadron sought refuge in Amsterdam from a rampaging British squadron. This was a hard fought battle in confined waters and the result was an admirable draw. FLoB3 was tested on this occasion and performed well!
• October 2000 - I should have written the report sooner as I've just about forgotten what happened. Forces loyal to the President staved off a coup in support of the loser in the presidential elections (topical stuff!), and prevented the former King from returning to (possibly) restore the monarchy. Highspot of the game was the torpedoing of the fleet admiral's flagship by his supposed escorts on the grounds that he was showing "poor command ability"!
• December 2000 - Thanks to Stephen Welford for stepping into the breach and running a WW2 light forces game set in the Adriatic whilst I was called away to Scotland. Unfortunately only three players turned up so it was a bit quiet. Hopefully things will pick up in 2001!!
• January 2001 - Napoleonic Fair. Again another successful demo, this time we ran Trafalgar in 1/2400 using Hallmark models and a set of developing rules from A&AGE. Stuart Machin played Villeneuve with more aggressiveness than his real life counterpart and as a result the game was a lot closer than the real thing!
• February 2001 - Full Thrust. Our first foray into the world of SF naval wargaming (or at least wargaming in space with things that are based on warships!). An interesting scenario where the defending forces decided that saving their starbase and repair facilities was a lost cause, so they went on the offensive - bad move! The game was played on the hall floor over an area 40 feet by 20, so the feel of the game was completely different to the normal FT game played on a table. We will definitely be doing this again!
• April 2001 - Matapan(ish) using GQ2. Stuart Machin ran this mini-campaign. Large Axis forces under the command of Jerry Hendy, Peter Colbeck and Stephen Welford were ambushed by the smaller British force commanded by me and Mat Beasley. We had the advantage of superior aerial recce (especially Sunderlands with ASV radar - veeery useful) so we brought them to battle as and when we felt it was best. I missed the end of the game (an appointment with Sandra Bullock, at least on the big screen) but news from the front suggests that two Italian battleships were sunk. Highspot of the game (for me at least) was a totally successful bombardment of the Axis airfields on Rhodes by the Warspite, Valiant and Malaya - after which Rhodes was a smoking ruin!
• There have been many, many agnes since April 2002, but pressure of time has prevented me from writing them up! Apologies to all our readers!!!