My GHQ Micronauts

My second contact with the battle of Jutland came in the late eighties, with the little group of wargame enthusiasts that played around Bordeaux. At that time, we used The MicroFleet series to play naval battles, especially the WW1 pack that allowed you to recreate the whole of Jutland – we never tried ! – and more simply, battle cruisers battles.

That brought me to purchasing models from Navwar – much less expensive that GHQ’s, to accommodate my modest purchasing power then – and with a friend, we used these to play the Run to the South (the 5th Battle squadron was there, but for them I used the Microfleet counters). In that battle – sorry, no pics – I remember the German player decided to rapidly  close the distance as the Brits were  turning to bring all guns to bear and he feared their longer range. In that instance, he allowed his T to be crossed, with devastating effect – Beatty would have been happy ! – and broke the engagement after losing a battlecruiser to nothing for the Brits. The 5th Battle squadron never had a chance to close the distance.

Nearly forty years later, and with a bigger purse, I decided it was time to replace these long sold Navwar models with GHQ ships. They still have to see the tabletop, perhaps using the WW1 NIMITZ rules set spinoff you can find on Sam Mustafa’s Facebook group. Or, if I’m lucky to find an able & willing  opponent and have the wherewithal to hang on through the game, Harry Pratt’s excellent NAVAL THUNDER rules.

First, a  topdown view of the 4 German classes, highlighting the evolution of their design (bigger size, superfiring turrets)

SMS -Seine Majestäts Schiff - Von der Tann took but a mere 18th months from order to launching, and as much again to commission.  Bewildering times as we see know how long it takes to build a mere frigate… Anyways, Von der Tann sank HMS Indefatigable, but  took a beating at Jutland, losing all her primary battery guns, but gamely staying in formation to attract British fire.

SMS Moltke – sister ship of the infamous Goeben also took but 3 years from order to commission. She too was also heavily damaged at Jutland, coping 15’’ shells from the 5th Battle squadron.

SMS Seydlitz, a one-class ship, ordered March 1910, commissioned May 1913. She was nearly sunk in 1915 at the Dogger Bank, and at Jutland, was once more so heavily damaged that she barely made port again, miraculously escaping the clutches of a vengeful Grand Fleet.

SMS Lützow was the2nd  of the German Battlecruisers to be commissioned after the start of the Great War, beginning her career in may 1915, and becoming Admiral Hipper’s flagship. Unlike her predecessors, she sported 12’’ guns instead of their 11 », with superfiring turrets both fore and aft. Jutland was the only time she ever saw action, as she was too badly damaged to get back to port and had to be scuttled. She was the most advanced ship lost by any side during the battle.

SMS Derfflinger was Lützow’s sistership, being commissioned on September 1st 1914, less than a month after Great Britain’ s entry into the war. She took part in the battle of the Dogger Bank, and was heavily damaged at Jutland, suffering KIA losses of 1 man for every 7 crew member in the occurrence.

Lastly, some German S Class Torpedoboote, part of a modern and numerous class that saw combat at most of the naval engagements of World War 1

I started collecting WW1 Micronauts with the ships present at the battle of Coronel. At the time, you couldn't find a GHQ model for SMS Nürnberg, so I substituted SMS Bremen in its stead, and acquired both HMS Canopus and SS Otranto from another manufacturer. I added HMS Defense, which barely missed being present in the South East Pacific at that time.

Coronel… A forgotten battle today, but one from which the mind recedes with horror at te image of the savagery of the combat, of its  terrifying conditions, of the horrible butcher’s bill at the end of it, of the utter absurdity of it all : 2 commanders trapped in the rigid code of honor of 19th century European aristocracy fought a battle that could but doom them and their crews to destruction : Craddock, hopelessly outmatched by the superior German squadron, Von Spee trapped by geography and logistics, fully aware that after his victory, a merciless chase would be on. And yet they fought, in the cold water of Southern Chile, in a stormy November night…

The British

Good Hope, launched in 1901, and already an obsolete design, with half of her secondary 6’’ battery out of action in moderate weather conditions, without modern targeting equipment, barely good enough to show the White Ensign in far off backwaters. Sunk with all hands.

Monmouth, throwing a heavy, but desperately outranged punch, one of the 10 County class cruisers launched in 1901. Sunk with all hands.

Glasgow, a modern light cruiser, with the punch to outfight German light cruisers and the speed to outrun Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Heavily damaged, retreated and was present for retribution at the battle of the Falklands.

HMS Defense, somewhat of an unlucky ship. Flagship of Admiral Troubridge during the Goeben chase, its squadron retreated when admiral Troubridge, who was court-martialed for his decision, wisely renounced to intercept. It could have been present at Coronel as it was ordered to join Craddock’s forces but  the order was cancelled as the Germans were still in the Pacific at that time. It met a fiery death at Jutland, the 4th Royal Navy ship lost to a magazine explosion that day.

The Germans

SMS Scharnhorst & Gneisenau, possibly the best armored cruisers ever built. Heart of the East Asian Squadron, they were also reputed to be the best gunnery specialists of the whole German Navy. The reservists on board Good Hope & Monmouth never stood a chance against them. Likewise, they were utterly outgunned, out-sped, out-armored when they had to tackle HMS Invincible & Inflexible at the Falklands, 2 battlecruisers specifically designed to destroy marauding armored cruisers.

SMS Dresden, Leipzig & Bremen (to substitute for SMS Nürnberg). Unlike their heavier brothers, they were outdated ships, sporting a light armament compared to their British counterparts. Their crews, however, like in the rest of the squadron, were top notch.  Nürnberg also gave the derelict Monmouth the coup de grâce at Coronel.

The French

Lastly, and because I cannot think of another page to display it, the French semi-dreadnought Vergniaud of the Danton class. After taking part in the battle of Antivari at the beginning of the war, the Vergniaud spent the remainder of the war in lackluster - but risky, as illustrated by the torpedoing of its sister ship the Danton, -  blockading duties. Part of the allied task force at Sebastopol during teh Russian Civil War, its crew took part in the  mutiny that affected numerous French ships in that occurrence.

Since my youth, I’ve always been a fan of military history, especially naval history. I can date it back to my 14^th birthday, more than 50 years ago, when a friend offered me “Tonnerre sur le Pacifique” written by Commander Vulliez.

I’d always been an avid reader, but that was my first “long” non-fiction book. Vulliez had mostly made a shorter recapitulation of Morrison’s naval history, adding some colorful portraits & vignettes (McArthur’s voyage out of the Philippines and arrival in Australia, the last stand of the Houston...). All this captured my imagination, and I was enthralled. I started reading history, first about the Second World War, then about nearly every conflict that ever occurred.

A few years later, I stumbled upon an oddity, “La Bataille de l’Océan”, written by a retired French naval officer in 1932. It was a novel in a genre inaugurated by the late Emile Driant under the moniker of Capitaine Danrit, a genre which led to the works of Tom Clancy, a genre of novel based on available information,  in which the story revolves about a possible coming war. In that novel, Fernand Boverat imagined a war between France & Germany where the decision is made... on the open seas! The novel is made of two parts. In the 1^st one, the French Navy, hopelessly outmatched by the Germans’ Deutschland class, cannot protect the vital convoys carrying supplies from the United States. The 2^nd part revolves around the same theme, but this time France has built its Dunkerque class battlecruisers, and with these, victory is at hand.

Over the course of my studies, I managed to acquire a reasonable command of the English language, which opened to me the many treasures of English naval fiction. Too many books to quote them all, but if I had to pick one, Fullerton’s “The Blooding of the Guns “ made a lasting impression on me. This left me a strong supporter of Jellicoe’s in the everlasting Jutland controversy, and have had quite a few – gentlemanly, as naval fans are a civilized lot- debates on the web.

This is why I picked up wargaming some 40 years ago. I had a glimpse of my first GHQ Micronaut at that time. It was still unpainted, but the richness of detail and the quality of the cast didn’t fail to impress me. But the price of the models made it a challenge for a beginning teacher’s salary, a challenge unattainable at that time. I’ve grown older since, and richer, and thankfully, my eyesight and hand coordination are still good, good enough for me to be able to start a growing collection over the years.

There has been a few years interruption since I started collecting Micronauts however, and you’ll notice that some of the models are, well, not up to what I do now,as well as my photo technique (about a year ago, I started using backgrounds). Please be indulgent! We live & we learn! I will not want to delay you longer with these inane ramblings, just to give an illustration of the path that leads to GHQ addiction... and now, let’s form line of battle, and cross the enemy’s T!