Plastic ships and imaginary men

Greetings,

As previously mentioned I thought I’d start to use my blog properly and provide my opinions on the games or models that I’m currently obsessing over. Without further ado welcome to my first venture into Age of Sail gaming.

Black Seas by Warlord Games. 3 lovely little brigs

So in November (I think) last year Warlord games released their first foray into Age of Sail gaming called Black Seas. At the time I was interested mainly because of the model ships (they are ships not boats, accordingly that’s a faux pas in traditional AoS gaming circles), they are charming and it’s hard to deny the appeal of tiny sailing ships on the table top. Having looked at Black Seas and read some of the reviews of the rules however I wasn’t as convinced. The rules are very simple (there is a section called advanced rules that I think should have just been part of the standard section) and are intended for fleet actions (not too surprising for a game for Ships of the Line, if there was only one ship it would be more of a dot). Whilst the sight of a line of 1st, 2nd and 3rd rates cruising across the table and unleashing devastating broadsides was appealing, I am supposed to be reducing my collection not just adding another pile of shame to it, so I held off.

About a month ago, having stared so hard at the delightful little 1/700 scale ships I could see them when I closed my eyes, I started to look for rules I might enjoy so I’d have an excuse to purchase some. I have played other AoS games before, my favourite being the Avalon Hill classic Wooden Ships and Iron Men (counter based and all included in the box, well worth the purchase if you see it at a reasonable price) but what I really wanted wasn’t a fleet based game but rather something focused on single ship to ship actions.

Black Seas American Frigate by Warlord Games.

Through some scouring of the backwaters of the internet I discovered a game called Post Captain by ODGW games. This seemed right up my street stream, it was detailed and really seemed to make the gamer feel like they were sailing the little ships across the table. I took a gamble and purchased the rules from Caliver books (no link for you as you tried to make me pay a surcharge for using PayPal, barbarians) and was pleased to see that upon purchasing a hard copy you got access to a digital version from ODGW. Now I haven’t played the rules properly yet (just sailed a couple of ships around a table badly) so can’t give a fair review of the game, I can say that I’m really impressed with the rules from reading through them. They are detailed, well written and laid out, including the best written description on how sailing works I’ve ever read. Rules in hand I asked my mum for a box of the Warlord Frigates and Brigs as a birthday present and started to get excited.

Post Captain by ODGW games. It’s thorough, well written and bizarrely loose leaf and punched in a system only used by our American friends.  Off to Tesco for a binder and poly pockets I went.

Models in hand I scoured the internet for inspiration and found a truly excellent blog written by a true artist. JJ’s Wargames is written by the eponymous JJ and covers a broad range of subjects, what caught my eye was the 1/700 naval category and when I clicked on it I was blown away (seriously stop reading this now and check it out, come back though) his level of work on the Warlord ships was amazing. He had done the standing and running rigging, pennants and flags and in some cases had added some tiny photo etched crew to the decks. I scoured his site and was inspired.

Isn’t she beautiful, I’m in love and have spent many hours just staring at her. Some things need improving but she’ll be my ship whenever I can use her. There’s even a little gig on davits I modelled on the back in case, as her Captain, I have to abandon her. Room for me and my parrot and not much else.

So this is my first attempt at a Brig of war, temporarily entitled the ‘Salty Lass’, and whilst the rigging was a learning process (the next will be much easier) I really enjoyed the time spent. She will be my British privateer for running down the French and plundering merchantmen on the high seas. There is a little bit of rigging left to do: from the mizzenmast to the foremast and down to the bowsprit, and the rigging on the sprit itself still need to be done. I decided trying to do the running rigging might be too much for my nerves currently and reasoned that they were intended as gaming pieces (doesn’t stop JJ but I’m not on his level... yet), I did add some brass etched ratlines (instead of the perfectly serviceable acetate ones included in the kits) by Meridian from Navy Models and Books (excellent service, fast friendly and very reasonable; a true pleasure to deal with) which whilst fiddly to install do look amazing and add a level of structural rigidity to the model. I also shamelessly copied JJ’s idea of using clear perspex pill bases from Fluid 3D Workshop. They have an excellent range of bases for all the ships (Brigs, Frigates, 2nd/3rd rates and 1st rates can all be found here) and were very reasonably priced with a blistering fast delivery time. The bases I chose were 2mm thick so my ships would have a robust base that would be easy enough to pick up and prolong the models tabletop lifespan. They extend about 3-4mm from the outmost points of the yards and give a nice amount of space in front and behind the model. I may try to add some waves or water effects using PVA or a water effect material in the future but haven’t researched this enough yet (I’ll let you know how that goes).

So that’s it, my first (and definitely just the start) of my adventures in little ships. I’ll try and review PC as soon as I have played it. I’ve bought a couple of beautiful Warlord merchantmen to use as targets in my privateering enterprises and have a miniature shipyard sat on my workbench.

Black Seas merchantmen by Warlord Games. Merchantmen were often older ships that had been in service for some time so these little beauties have a classic age of sail look to them. Here’s hoping Warlord tackle earlier periods than the Napoleonic in the future. 

Something I haven’t said is that accordingly (to those that know their stuff) the Warlord plastic ships aren’t super accurate and take some liberties with structure to make the ships more robust and suitable for gaming. This doesn’t really bother me and could easily be remedied by some advanced modelling and if cared that much I could buy accurate replacement masts and sprits/sails from Meridian, it would add about £20 to the cost of each model but is simply above my needs for gaming.

Thanks for taking the time to read all that, hopefully it will inspire you to have a go at AoS gaming. So from me it’s “Blah’de’blah” for now (first person to comment and get where that reference comes from can have a free gift from my mountain of lead, as soon as I’m not on lock down and can get to a post office).

Stay safe

BALM

Blogging time could be hobby time.

It seems that I am doomed to face the particular human problem of having too little time. The few snatched moments I get to spend staring at tiny metal men I spend doing just that. As this blog is intended as a long term diary of my progress, it is predominantly about allowing me to easily check on what I've done in the past. That some people read it is brilliant, even if, like me, it's just another insomniac in the early hours trying to bore themselves to sleep.

So since D-Day I've been quite productive I just haven't documented anything. This will be a not so brief list and I'll try and get pics up in the next week.

Warlord plastics for Normandy Pacific Firefight:

I've put together seven USMC chaps, each in three poses (Standing/Crouching/Prone or crawling) and they just need some final kit additions and detail sculpting (sleeves, trouser detail etc) to get the three poses as close to identical as my sanity will allow. This is an interesting point: I'll admit I can be meticulous (My words) or obsessive (My FOE's words (paraphrasing and editing for language)) and I still don't know how far I'm going to push myself in the attempt to get each pose looking like the same character. The camo is complex and life too short. We'll have to see. When it stops raining I'm going to spray them up in PSC's Olive drab and try and do one chap (three poses) a night. Check out a painting guide on Bolt Action.net . As an alternative I'm also going to start sticking the Japanese together and I've earmarked spare bits from both for a side project. Which is.....

Wargames Factory Zombie survivors - Men:

Originally I'd intended to buy both the men and the women box set and make up a couple of converted sets to paint and sell on eBay. This is generally the only way I can afford to have my hobby (on the scale I like it:). 

I want to say that "I Hate" these models. They have angered me. My hobby should be relaxing. It should be noted that I've previously fallen out with their Vikings too: So it could be me.

They are hard to mix the parts as they are not really universal and any unique poses will take cutting and re-positioning and sometimes sculpting. For me, if I'd bought a box of 30 chaps for a zombie game I would be looking for characters not clones. I know design isn't that easy and It's not that bad: they are cheap and will allow you to quickly form a character pool for something like ATZ:FFO. I would just like them to be a bit easier to use (and I intend to use 15mm and sculpt my own characters if needed).. 

One interesting point is the weapon choices. I realise that we are no longer the only real country but the weapon choices are, in my mind, firstly America-centric (Which is fine as zombies there is better than zombies here) ands the ratios are bizarre. There are few shotguns but tons of assault rifles, which is great for America/Middle Eastern/Ex-USSR stuff but not great for us Brits. Yes there are SA80's (or whatever the current version is) but who needs ten of each. Chainsaws: As a aboriculturist I love the machines of spinning doom. They'd be unwieldy, are hard to use (I've seen bulked up gym lovers find using a saw all day or even a few hours, too much), they are noisy: you don't want more zombies, but they are as iconic and plain ridiculous as ninja's in black, vikings with horned helms and chanbara (which I love). But they are cool. I'd liked to have seen MP5's, shotgun variations but I have the bits from other stuff and I'm going to get creative. 

These are low on my priority list. I do however want to get them out of my hobby mine as they are taking up valuable space; so that may motivate me.

15mm WW2 Germans for BA and CoC:

I've painted the pandashrek for the basic platoon (finishing it for CoC) and replaced the leader. The original chap will still be useful he just isn't what I was looking for.

I've done a few more supports for CoC; including a MMG, Medics, Compound charge, a goliath and team and some other bits and bobs with a few left to do.

My 251 Ambulance made from a PSC 251 and procreate.

PSC are having a painting competition and I'm considering entering. It's not my best painting but I hope the scratchbuilding will help.

I have no specific use for it but it's another weird german non-combative vehicle to add to my motorpool.

I've painted my Wirbelwind and my 251 Ambulance and have the majority of the rest basecoated. I'm still not really sure I'm doing it right but at least they getting done. I've also modified my basing scheme and I'm really happy with it; I'll cover this in the finished platoon pictures I'll take as soon a it's sunny again.

Currently my 15mm mojo is flowing, I just need to maintain it through my hundreds of FJ's.

Other 15mm stuff:

Cafe Gondree by 4ground. Which is nice.

15mm 4ground fences and walls: I finally gave in and assembled these packs. I'd been unsure whether to leave them and use them in fixed positions on landscaped bases for my church etc. I gave in and figured if I needed more I would have to buy them. I sanded a bevel onto the bases (outside, wearing a mask with a dust extracting sander - MDF is no fun) and whilst taking a day out at my mums (makes alaska seem densely populated) I added sand and basecoated them in light grey. I've now just got to find colour schemes I like.

If a bridge could be sexy....

  In other 4ground news they sent my replacement chimneys for my farmhouse and were kind enough to give me one of their memorial sets. Stunning customer service like GW in the eighties/early nineties. Buy their things. They are awesome and whilst I enjoy modelling and intend to scratchbuild some buildings the time saved and quality achieved in 4grounds new builds are hard to ignore. Next up I'll save for the beneouville bridge and hotel complex. Whilst contacting customer services about my chimneys I took the opppurtunity to slip in some ninja-esque questions and can (maybe even) exclusively reveal that higher walls, a manor house and detailed stick on roof sheets to hide the roof tabs are on their way to 15mm. All good stuff.

My farm has just made me want more. So glad I'm not playing in 28mm.

Peter Pig cowboys for gunslinger: I'm still undecided between this scale as its cheap and compact and can be charming enough, or 28mm because of these. In the mean time I've done up a few chaps to use as prettier markers for the excellent Gunslinger by avalon hill. I've played it a couple of times recently and thought it may interest some people who have never heard of a diceless skirmish game. I'll attack this when it's too damp to spraypaint.

Warhammer 40K:

The first and the best. I am loving the new codex art. You get a real sense of ownership of the piece instead of feeling like a it's copied from other people.

I had lost interest in 40k due to cost and more interesting things (Chain of Command) and I may now be heading slowly back. I love my army but having not finished it due to the ridiculous nature of the conversions I was simply overwhelmed at the cost to complete it. And Chain of Command was more fun. The unbound army list options that will allow me to merge Space Marine and IG to get a better representation of the squats is quite attractive and it would allow me to use my dreads. I'm still not as excited as FOE (his eldar and space sharks are mustering) but this is more due to lack of funds and fascination with WW2 in 15mm than anything else. It would certainly be nice to have an army to use at events/clubs actually done.

I realise that's a lot with very little of interest but that's hopefully to come (I haven't even covered everything I've done but I just started boring myself). Thank you for taking the time,

BALM

Normandy Firefight and a Warlord sale.

A couple of days ago my FOE ( Favourite Opponent Ever) texted me to say he'd found an excellent deal on a ruleset we'd been contemplating. The game is Normandy Firefight by Warwick Kinrade (also author of Battle Group series with PSC). It's a small scale skirmish game using between 1-5 combatants on each side. And most importantly Northstar had it for £2.50 (less than a fiver with postage). I splurged and a day or so later this drops through my door.

 It's relatively simple (basic maths and percentage calculations are needed) and yet quite elegant and initially reminded me of Phoenix Command (a game so beautifully complicated and 'accurate' it's damn near impossible to play) that had been streamlined and made more accessible. It is very dependent on terrain (like any decent skirmish games e.g. Infinity) but table sizes are small due to the overall scope. The game uses different stances and it's suggested that the ideal situation would be to have each character have a number of different appropriately positioned miniatures to represent it. Prone, Kneeling, Standing and also Running are all necessary. The author suggests 1/35 Tamiya or Airfix kits as they are accurate, detailed and relatively affordable. I couldn't find any I really liked though and decided to explore other options. Whilst perusing the Bolt Action forum I randomly looked at the web-store and starting investigating the plastics. It seemed possible to get 5 characters in all poses out of one plastic infantry box. The only problem was I was limited for theaters. None of the British or Late War Germans had prone poses so I had to choose between Early-Mid war Eastern front (the Soviet box and the Blitzkrieg Germans) or the P.T.O between USMC and Japan.

If you ever get the chance pick up either Battle Hymn or the E.T.O version Ambush. They are great, replayable solo adventuring at it's best.

The Pacific instantly appealed as I don't have any PTO stuff in 15mm (yet) (I love games like Ambush, Battle Hymn and Leatherneck - where you took a small group of characters through their part of a much bigger war). I did some mental shopping to realise that for less than £50 I could have a playable game. It got added to my mental to-do list or as an impulse splurge at a show. I'm prone to stockpiling and planning ahead so I can still find something to cut up,glue or paint when I can't afford any new toys.

Today I am gazing at the net after many long and arduous adventures to see that Warlord is having a sale on its individual sprues. A 50% sale. After some rapid 'add to cart' work I manage to get the equivalent of the two boxes worth of chaps for less than £30 all in (Just no packaging: something I'm fine with). Normandy Firefight and two complete forces (and the first 28mm WWII I've painted) for £30. A good search of the Lead Mountain and a visit to eBay should adequately pay for my shopping trip. I'm leaning towards a sandbox table with copious jungle and a few buildings (Sarissa precision have a nice set of P.T.O theater scenery). I've also realised I'd have an excuse to buy an LVT (strictly as scenery you understand) in a bigger scale (I have waterline and full ones for 15mm but still need more).

The one other option is in 15mm and from Peter Pig. You can do whole/late war germans vs brits as all the poses are available. This is something I'll probably buy into in the future as a portable set. Back to beheading and re-heading nazis whilst I await my postal supplies.

Thanks for reading,

BALM