"Wargaming the unification of Hawaii" Topic

Looking at the new US quarter for Hawaii (with the image of Kamehameha) had me thinking about wargaming the unification of Hawaii. Eureka has a very nice 15mm range that would be suitable for the land battles. How about the naval conflict? Seems like it was a mix of native catamarans & canoes with some captured european vessels (brigs, schooners, etc.). Any Hawaiian ships availabe (maybe 1/300 scale or something)? I remember in a previous discussion somebody mentioning a book about the military history of Hawaii. Its on my Amazon wishlist, is it any good? Are there resources available on how one would paint up the armies or how they would be typically organized? What rules would work best for the land battles? Thanks so much!

I'd use "Limeys and Slimeys" or Man O' War (GW) for ship to ship, and modified WAB for the land combat.
Check old National Geographics for a series of articles on Hawaiian Unification by Kamehameha; very nicely done illustrations.

I used balsa for my 25mm catamarans; the rounded triangular style, with brass rod and string.

IIRC, Kamehameha's double hulled war canoe that carried Lopaka (a swivel gun) had a European style triangular sail & rigging, instead of the traditional kapa "crab claw" style sail. I should still have my old books on the subject somewhere at home, but since I live on Maui, finding local sources should not be too hard…(Kepanawai was one of the critical battles of the conflict & was fought in Iao valley here on Maui.)Don't forget to depict Kekaulike's completely black tatooed elite warriors & his man-eating dogs! A skirmish game revolving around the capture of the brig "Fair American" might be interesting. (it occurred right off of Olowalu, here on Maui also. It would become part of Kamehameha's navy) I'm not sure if WAB would be a good choice of rules, as units in this time period had mixed weapon types within the unit. There would be one handed clubs & thrusting shortswords mixed with spearmen & two handed shark-toothed clubs, as well as slingers & "grenadiers" carrying medium sized rocks that had slings attached & were thrown after being whirled about to build up momentum. There were also skirmishers with javelins/throwing spears and wrestling/grappling Lua practioners. Add in more than a few Alii with western firearms and some chanting Kahuna, conch shell horns & standard bearers (Kahili) and you have a large mob of warriors facing off against another similar mob. Kamehameha also had a swivel gun lashed to a log with crosstrees so it could be carried by men as a form of light artillery (crewed by John Young & Issac Davis, captured sailors who decided to work for Kamehameha. Let's see…die or work for the Chief & be treated like royalty? hmmm….tough choice…)Well, that's my 2 cents for now, I'll help you find the answers for any questions you might have…

Here's a beautiful painting by Herb Kane of the vessels & guns mentioned above:

picture

Caption of the artwork: "Herb Kane's depiction of the Fair American being put to use in the battle of the Puwaha‘ula‘ula [battle of the redmouthed gun], a sea battle that took place in the waters off of Waimanu." "This painting shows the Fair American," Hannah explains, "with one of the mighty men of Kamehameha holding Kuka‘ilimoku in the form of feather ki‘i on the decks of the ship. The Fair American, by virtue of its size and its height above the skin of the sea—above the ‘ilikai—paints a unique image of Hawaiian sea battles that I don't think was ever seen again: this one tall ship surrounded by a sea of peleleu or the Hawaiian war canoes, and every form of marshall implement is being employed, from sling stones and spears to muskets and cannons. And the muskets and cannons are what give rise to the name Puwaha‘ula‘ula: the pu—the explosion—from the waha (‘mouth') of the cannon that is red (‘ula‘ula)."

Here's another artwork showing Kamehameha and some of his warriors/chiefs in war attire picture

Aloha, Dean

How about Impetus or Basic Impetus, something where an element has both melee and missile capabilities to represent the mix of javelins, slings and warclubs, paddles, etc.? I would think the Pike would be fairly homogenous and should be strictly pike elements? If I was to do this, I'd prefer 15mm. Any suitable figures with muskets and loin cloths that could pass as Hawaiians?

Kamehameha used the pikes in a type of phalanx at the Battle of Nu'uanu Pali picture link
When they were building the road below at the turn of the last century, the workers found hundreds of skulls & other remains of the Oahu warriors. The Pali is a spooky place, even during the daytime.

Here's a link to the battle of Kepaniwai
link
That's another place where even in the daytime, you get what we locals call "chicken skin"…I often wondered if the pike phalanx was taught by Young & Davis, because Kamehameha seems to be the main user of that tactic, as well as having a skirmish line of muskets before his main body, something the other Ali'i really did not do…(not to mention having two man-packed light artillery pieces)

I often wondered if the pike phalanx was taught by Young & Davis,

Quite possible, Kamehameha definitely had no problem using foreign technology or tactics if it worked. Everything written about him paints a picture of a true warrior who's primary focus was warfare (at least in his younger days) and willing to experiment for the sake of improvement.

Well anyone in SE England can fight my approx 160-200 15mm, just have to get to Luton.

LutonJames: what rules do you use for your Hawaiians? Are the Blood Axe, MY or Eureka?

Half MY, half Eureaka (a lot nicer).

Used my own generic DBX, which worked ok. Give anything a go, they give a quick battle under most rules, or should as the troops ain't heavy armoured etc.