28mm NAVAL VBCW (PART THREE) - JOHN RUDDLE'S GARDEN

The sight of a large scale Ark Royal "sailing" contentedly across a lawn brought back to mind the 54mm "naval fleets" of  John Ruddle, as documented in very early editions of Wargames Illustrated/Wargames World:

John Ruddle was for many years involved with the British Model Soldier Society ("BMSS"), and ran a complete 54mm "imaginary world" - approximately based in the 1880s to 1890's period - in the happy tranquility of his own back garden. Concrete towns and ports were constructed in flowerbeds, and battleships hand made of metal and/or wood traversed the "seas" of lawn. The whole set up had to be sufficiently robust to stand all kinds of English weather....

 

A "port" with docked battleship

A better shot of another battleship, with accompanying torpedo boats and small vessels.

Tragardmastre, of the Duchy of Tragardland Blog, has recently dug up this fantastic video link:

https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/406874286352274/

being a short clip from a 1978 "Nationwide" BBC Programme of John Ruddle wandering round his wargames garden, explaining everything to a bearded BBC reporter. Well worth a look....

Lessons from John Ruddle's experience for anyone contemplating building a "28mm scale" VBCW Aircraft Carrier Group:

(1). Get a garden. A big one. And an understanding wife. But not a pet.

(2). Make Akula look positively sane.

(3). Choose a wargames period too early for aircraft carriers (of whatever scale).

(4). Don't worry too much about "scale", provided that the "look" (which can be cartoony) is right. "The look" is in turn dependent upon the inter-relationship between elements - "battleships" have to be larger than "cruisers", and "cruisers" larger than "destroyers" or "motor torpedo boats". Aircraft are a whole separate issue....

(5). Pray for decent weather. Enjoy.