A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

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james4177 ( 156 )
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A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by james4177 »

I'm a fan of Mr. O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series and I'm wondering if there is a naval miniatures game that captures the spirit of the time?

I'd appreciate being pointed in the direction of any miniatures/models/rules that are appropriate. Links to forums or active groups would be great as well.

Any other O'Brian fans out there?

J--
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Hussar ( 606 )
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by Hussar »

There are a few very good Games for Sailing Combat I like Fire as she bears.... Or Trafalgar. Wooden ships is good just use minis instead counters
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by s_o_r_r_o_w »

I would recommend Trafalgar as well. However, if you want more detail (smaller actions) something more similar to Under Two Flags (ACW) might be more suitable.
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by Norseman »

How detailed is Trafalger. I have been interested in getting into some naval gaming as well.

How long would an average turn take and how many ships would you be using?
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by starsky »

i'm using 2 fleets with 4 ships each


british fleet is 1x 1st rate, 3x 3rd rate (74gun)
french fleet is 1x 2nd rate 3x 3rd rate (74gun)

and it is really fine
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TexasPI007 ( 16 )
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by TexasPI007 »

I play Trafalger and Woodenships & Iron Men. Many complain about Trafalgar but honestly it is a good set. Just one book to get, nothing else, and the the lists cover just about any nationality you want to play. You don't need to know how to actually sail to play the game but the basic mechanics of the sailing phase is sound.

Here is a copy of a recent batrep from Trafalgar:


We played a 1000 point game of Trafalgar today, British vs Spanish. Spaniards brought a 1st rate Ship of the Line, two 3rd rate Ships of the Line, and two 6th rate Sloops, they had a few upgrades in their fleet but I don't recall what they were now. British fielded the Royal Sovereign (1st rate SOL with Rear-Admiral, over-gunned, master gunners, and solidly built upgrades), the Cerebus and Macedonia (both are large 3rd rate SOL with master gunners and solidly built upgrades).

The scenario was a straight up fleet engagement, Brits were favored having the wind to their backs.
Image

Brits deploy in a battle line with the Royal Sovereign at the lead:
Image

Spanish fleet first deployed instead of facing into the wind and having their sails taken aback, deploy and then cut across the winds hoping for favorable wind change:
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The Spanish open fire first at long range with their heavy cannons but the solidly built British ships shrugs off the few hits. The Brit return volley causes light damage to the Spanish flagship the Satsuma Trinidad (1st rate SOL) but ignite her ablaze! The fire then progresses and spread to main mast sails and then to the mizzenmast sails.
Image

The Spanish strike their own critical hit in the way of a damaged rudder to the Royal Sovereign (no turns allowed until repaired on a roll of 6):
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As the two fleets continue to close the Spanish flagship continues to burn and the fire spreads completely consuming her sails and inflicting heavy casualties upon the crew, while the Brit guns give no quarter as the light cannons and carronades come into range.
Image

Brits maintain their formation and concentrate their fire as the Spanish their fleet falling apart:
Image

A second Spanish ship is set ablaze and heavy damage is inflicted upon the remainder of the fleet as the Satsuma Trinidad is crippled and becomes a sinking fire pit. The Spanish fleet strikes her colors, the battle belongs to the British!
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by Adunaphel »

Nice stuff Darren! How long did it take you to play through that particular game?

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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by Steven H. »

james4177 wrote:I'm a fan of Mr. O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series and I'm wondering if there is a naval miniatures game that captures the spirit of the time?

I'd appreciate being pointed in the direction of any miniatures/models/rules that are appropriate. Links to forums or active groups would be great as well.
WRT rules I've heard recommendations for _Close Action_, & also _Heart of Oak_ - the latter is for fewer ships.
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by TexasPI007 »

Adunaphel wrote:Nice stuff Darren! How long did it take you to play through that particular game?

Karl
About an hour and a half including building fleets and clean up.
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by friar.tuck »

Great job with the painting. Any idea how much $$ it takes to get started with a decent selection of ships on average for one of the aforementioned games?
Respectfully,

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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by Severo »

Oh boy, Napoleonic Naval! My favorite! I gotta weigh in on this one!

Free Naval rules for the period.

Master & Commander a Spanish gaming website I think. I have not tried these but they look good:
http://www.capitan-games.com/master-com ... downolads/

Men o War, it's an OK set of rules everything you need should be on this page. As always, Make sure that you double check freebies for malware and other stuff
http://www.box.com/shared/vcyatd35e1

Naval Rules that you pay for:

Trafalgar This is good clean fun. Like the old Games Workshop Manowar but without the magic and sea monsters. about$40USD before shipping costs but right now it's ON SALE for half price!!!
http://warhammer-historical.com/acatalog/Trafalgar.html

Signal Close Action - Fast Play - Good Introduction for people that LOVE details. Still pretty fast considering that the full rule set almost made me give up the genre. they run about $34USD including shipping from the UK

Signal Close Action - Regular rules. Woof. I didn't like them, too drawn out too complex. I'm a bit of a <not smart> when it comes to big rules. I've enough complications in my life, I prefer beer and pretzel type games. besides fewer rules equals more time for painting!

Both of the Signal Close Action sets are found here: http://www.rodlangton.com/napoleonic/frame.htm Just click on the links at the left side of the page to get around. Great guy! Great ships and terrain! Great service!

Ships: well, what scale? I like 1/1200 That limits you to Langton Miniatures and GHQ Miniatures
The most accurate description of the differences between the two sets was given to me by a fella at The Attactix store near Denver CO. he said," If you like real ships go with Langton, if you like technical drawings go with GHQ." I think that GHQ ships matched with Langton sails are the way to go. Expensive as sin, but what's your money for if not to buy toys?

Langton ships can be bought in the USA through Waterloo Minis: http://waterloominis.com/oscommerce/cat ... d8003ebc70
Or you can go straight to da man, Rod Langton using the link for Signal Close Action.

GHQ can be had here: http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/military ... nauts.html hit the links for the ships. Battle sails usually means that the Mainsails are furled to keep them out of the way.

There are smaller (1/2000) ships available but for the size you're better off using counters. You can also get a bit crazy and use "The Pirates of (insert name here)" little plastic card ships. Most sets like Trafalgar break it down into the English rating system for ship sizes. So all you need to make sure of is that everyone knows what ship is what.

Fair winds and following seas!
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by kangaroorex »

I have to chime in here, one of my favorite periods and it just doesn't see enough table time.

The best bang for the buck as far as ships go is the Navwar Napoleonic line. they run 3-5 dollars a ship with sails. The price is pretty good even if you have to import them from England. They aren't quite as detailed as the langston but they are 10-20 dollars less a ship. they are 1/1200 scale and cover most of the range from early med to post Napoleonic.

My favorite rule set is Fire as she bears. although it doesn't do anything for the smaller engagements, the effect on large battles is quite impressive. A group of 5 or 6 can pull off a trafalgar size engagement in under 4 hours.
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by Noble Korhedron »

Pardon the threadomancy, but I wanted to check this out. That game was played with a system called 'Trafalgar', you said? From what company? And those other games sound interesting, but what did you mean by "smaller fleets" used with 'Heart of Oak'? Nothing bigger than 3rd rates?
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Re: A sailing game to match the Patrick O'Brian novels

Post by Severo »

Hi Noble, "Trafalgar" is from the old Warhammer Historical Games people. Now, sadly out of business. It kind of plays like the game Man O War by GW but without magic....except for the British Fleet of course. :P

You should be able to find it rather inexpensively though. It wasn't their most popular game
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