Sunday, 12 April 2020

War Plan Red 1871


I've been devising a 'What If?' background for a war between the United States and Great Britain to provide a rationale of sorts for some Broadside and Ram scenarios. The basic idea I've come up with is that following the outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1870, the United States sees an opportunity to grab the Dominion of Canada while the Royal Navy is preoccupied, massing troops on the border and sending a powerful squadron of monitors from Boston to blockade Halifax.


The US President, Ullysses S.Grant, reluctantly accedes to the plan on the basis that the British will come to a negotiated settlement, ceding territory and natural resources to the US rather than going to war. The influence of Louis Riel, the anti-British French Canadian rebel activist, helps to persuade the US administration that they can also destabilise the colony from within, making it impossible for the British to oppose a potential land invasion by US troops. The French also throw their weight behind the plan, promising to support the US in any potential outbreak of hostilities.


Unfortunately, the US misjudges the determination of the British Government under re-elected PM Benjamin Disraeli, who sends a powerful squadron of ironclads to break the blockade of Halifax and to give the United States a well-deserved bloody nose. Through their extensive spy network, the British are aware of the reluctance of the US President to actually go to war and also have intelligence that the invasion threat is not serious, so are convinced that a show of force by the Royal Navy will be sufficient to dissuade the US from any military action.

All this opens up the possibility of some interesting naval actions between the Royal Navy ironclad fleet and the US North Atlantic Squadron blockading Halifax, not to mention the French!

4 comments:

  1. A neat background to a 'what if' campaign.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought so but at least it's an excuse to try out the monitors against some broadside ironclads.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cool, I like it. Don't know if this is of interest to you, but Second Chance Games have an unpunched copy of War Plan Red from the Great War at Sea series. Might be handy for a campaign map? https://www.secondchancegames.com/index.php/ww1/us-navy-plan-red-usa-vs-britain-1st-edition-1-detail

    ReplyDelete

Labels

Bag The Hun (869) Books (512) AK47 (500) Ironclads (493) Wings at War (419) Pre-Dreadnoughts (248) Back of Beyond (243) Coastal Warfare (226) Napoleonic Naval (202) Britain's Small Wars (199) Bolt Action (175) Victory at Sea (174) Knights of the Sky (172) What a Tanker (172) Target Locked On (163) MiG Alley (162) Chain of Command (149) Old West (147) Find Fix and Strike (141) Bag The MiG (128) Naval Thunder (120) Sandbox Skirmish (119) Naval Command (118) Air War Over Khalkhin Gol (117) Pirates (117) Indo China / Vietnam (116) Fistful of Lead (109) Algernon Pulls It Off (108) 15mm Sci-Fi / Near Future (95) Darkest Africa (95) Strength and Honour (89) VBCW (89) Continuation War (85) Ancients (82) Shows (79) ACW (77) The Football War (76) Duel of Aces (75) Corsairs and Cavaliers (72) Boardgames (67) France's Small Wars (67) Shipwreck! (66) BKC (65) Rapid Fire (63) Saga (63) Saurian Safari (63) Air War C21 (60) Cruel Seas (60) Journals (60) The Men Who Would Be Kings (58) Nimitz (57) One Hour Wargames (55) Flashpoint Alto Cenepa (53) IABSM (53) International Naval Wargaming Day (53) Gladiators (51) Flashpoint Taiwan (50) Finest Hour (49) Fortifications (49) 2mm English Civil War (48) Red Actions! (47) Scramble for Britain (45) Flashpoint Baltic (42) Flames above the Falklands (40) War of the Pacific (40) Cold War (39) Death in the Dark Continent (38) Spandau and Lewis (38) Thud Ridge (37) SCW (36) Desert Spitfires (35) RCW (34) Atlantic Wall (32) English Civil War / Anglo Dutch War Naval (31) Lion Rampant (31) Post Apocalypse (31) Iron Cow (30) Bag the Springbok (29) Dreadnoughts (29) Mexican Revolution (28) Normandy Firefight (28) Full Thrust (27) It Rolls For Ivan (26) Bulldogs Away! (24) Samurai (24) Winter War (24) Jet Knights of the Sky (23) 28mm English Civil War (22) Arctic Eagles (22) Imaginations (22) Achtung Kommando! (21) AirWar:1918 (21) Flashpoint PVO (21) Ancient Naval (20) PITS (20) Steamer Wars (20) Galactic Heroes (19) Strontium Dog (19) Iron Cross (18) Portable Pike and Shot (18) Aeronef (15) Aircraft (15) Imperial Commander (15) Rate of Fire (15) Zulus! (15) Aliens (14) Dragon Rampant (14) Black Ops (13) CY6 Jet Age (13) Congo (13) Mad for War (13) Impetus (12) Wars of Insurgency (12) What's on the Workbench? (12) Flashpoint Fleet Air Arm (11) Gaslands (11) Get the Goeben! (11) Sharp Practice (11) 633 Squadron (10) Bohica (10) Franco Thai Air War (10) HYW (10) Jungle Green (10) 28mm Future Wars (9) Dux Britanniarum (9) Fire in the Sky (9) Merry Xmas Mr Sankara (9) Adventures in Jimland (8) Bombers over Germany (8) Cry Havoc (8) French Indian Wars (8) Lacquered Coffins (8) Ravenfeast (8) Renaissance Naval (8) Star Wars Legion (8) Sword and Spear (8) Through The Mud and Blood (8) Air War Angola (7) Frostgrave (7) Target for Tonight (7) A Mighty Fortress (6) Five Parsecs From Home (6) French Resistance (6) Check Your Six! (5) Five Men at Kursk (5) Fivecore Skirmish (5) Maurice (5) Seven Days to the River Rhine (5) Three Musketeers (5) What a Cowboy (5) Wings Over Suez (5) Arab Revolt (4) Blood Red Skies (4) Corvette Command (4) In Her Majesty's Name (4) Infamy Infamy (4) Medieval Naval (4) Never Mind The Billhooks (4) Battletech (3) Fivecore Company Command (3) Gangsters (3) HOTT (3) Hind Commander (3) Lord of the Sea (3) Luft 46 (3) Mourir Pour l'Indochine (3) Sturmovik Commander (3) Whispering Death (3) Black Powder (2) Chincha Islands War (2) Crom (2) Disposable Heroes (2) Fire and Steel (2) Iron Stars (2) Judge Dredd (2) Lethal Skies (2) NUTS! (2) No Go Zone (2) Pulp! (2) Starfighters! (2) War in El Dorado (2) 2mm Portable Ancient Wargames (1) A Billion Suns (1) Air War 1940 (1) Archibald (1) Battlegroup (1) Certainly Not! (1) Convoy (1) Dropzone Commander (1) Falklands War (1) Harpoon (1) If The Lord Spares Us (1) Indo-Pakistan War (1) Load and Return (1) MiG Hunters (1) Missile Threat (1) Missiles at Sea (1) Nam '68 (1) Naval Wargames Society (1) Norway 1940 (1) Oi Navarcoi! (1) Sea Wars Fleet Actions (1) Si Vis Pacem (1) Spanish American War (1) Sunray is Down (1) Thumbs Up! (1) Ultracombat Normandy (1) Wars of the Roses (1) Xenos Rampant (1)