Pass in Review: Blood & Plunder Quick Pic Collage

(Image from Living in the Past--Wooden Ships)

 Because I've been dealing with major health issues for the past two years now, I don't get a chance to do full-blown photo shoots.  

Lately I've been taking some quick snapshots of figures on my workbench dining room table and posting them on the Pacific Northwest Miniature Painters Society page for their "# Miniature Monday" and their "#WIP [Work in Progress] Wednesday."

Last week, I realized I haven't posted any of my "quick pics" directly here on my blog.  And as I started rummaging through my photo gallery on my Ipad Pro, I was shocked to discover how many quick pics I took--and how far behind I am at posting material.

So to make up for lost blog-fodder, this will be Part 1 of a collage of projects I've worked on for the past several months.

For this week, we'll turn back to the Age of Sail and the so-called Golden Age of Piracy.

Here's a 28mm bark I recently assembled, painted and rigged.  This comes from Firelock Games' Blood & Plunder:

The rigging is rather elastic and I learned--the hard way--to be careful.  My first attempt brought down the ship's foremast.  After re-supergluing the mast, I re-rigged the vessel, but kept the lines loose.

The bark is just the latest addition to my Blood & Plunder "fleet." I bought two pre-painted and assembled vessels several years ago, off The Miniature Market website.  These are:

 1. A sloop 

2. A brigantine:

The bark isn't the first vessel I painted.  I first "practiced" on the following:

3. A Caribbean native piragua: 

4. Some dugout "canoas:" 

I plan on using these as suitable substitutes for Woodland Indian canoes in my French and Indian War (F&IW) collection.

5. Some longboats: 

These boats will be suitable for any Age of Sail gaming.  

The plastic bags in each boat contain a painted, yet unmounted swivel gun.

While I don't have any Golden Age of Piracy crew figures, I do have some Napoleonic naval crew figures in the process of being painted by a friend, and I'm trying to get my 2 dozen Woodland Indian figures painted to complete my F&IW collection.

My justification for having these vessels is that I feel ship design differences from the 17th to 19th Centuries wouldn't be much of a concern due to the small size of the vessels and at this level of gaming. 

Firelock Games  makes high-quality products--when they make them.  The company seems to manufacture a limited supply of items then halt production.  I've had to search around the internet for items that are not listed on their website.  And while every vessel larger than a longboat is powered by sails--there's no guidelines for making sails, or even a template to use on paper or fabric of your choosing.

For now, adding sails to my bark and piragua will be on the back-burner.

The next Quick Pic Collage will focus on 20th Century vessels, so no "sail cloth" will be necessary.

Pass in Review: Shell Splashes and Explosions for Cruel Seas

(Image:  Sinking of the Robin Moor)

 I'm not sadistic, but but when it comes to wargaming, I like seeing clear indications that a vessel's been hit and damaged.

The Starter and Fleet Sets for Cruel Seas all come with plastic, blue plume markers.

These are fine for indicating shots fired by machine guns or light cannons.

But if you want to show hits and near-misses from larger caliber weapons, larger explosion and plume markers can be used.

For medium-size guns, there's the standard-size water plumes that come in two shapes (10 in a pack).  

Once again, my “Kobayashi Maru” will be used as target practice.

For large caliber guns, torpedo hits, or depth charge explosions, there's the large water plumes (2 in a pack).

I painted all the shell splashes with the remnants of some Craft Smart acrylic paint, specifically, a mixture of Dark Blue, Pool Blue and Aqua, followed by an overall coating of White.

But these Warlord Games products aren't the only hit indicators in my arsenal.

I’ve been a fan of pre-painted, cardboard terrain for years, and one of my favorite producers of such products is Paper Terrain.

A few years ago, I bought a package of blast markers for my land-based miniatures games.  Shortly after starting my spending spree on Cruel Seas, I bought another pack more appropriate for naval battles.  I glued the bases to pennies, or washers, then painted and flocked them either white or grey to indicate near misses or direct hits.

Here’s the Kobayashi Maru receiving a small near miss...

...and a direct hit.

Now the vessel’s subjected to a medium-size near miss...

...and a direct hit.

Finally, the Kobayashi Maru takes a large near miss...

...and a direct hit.

I don’t think even Captain Kirk and his time-traveling crew can save the ship from this one.

Speaking of ship crews, I haven’t mounted any of the crew figures on to any of my ships.  I want to keep my options open, so I’ll be looking for tiny washers I can mount the crews figures, and optional weapons onto.  This way I can move them around on-deck, or add and remove them as needed.

Here’s what I painted-up so far:

I’m not sure when my next post will be, because it’s back to the paint desk for me...

Great War Naval Games

A few weeks ago, I came across another great Great War buy at Half Price Books.  This time it was the Avalon Hill (AH) classic Jutland.  My brother use to have this game when we were teenagers, but it somehow disappeared after we both joined the military.

So I was happy to re-acquire the game for $15.  This is on the lower end of the price spectrum which ranges from $9.99 to $29.99, depending on the game's condition.

Neither the box, nor the counters showed any significant wear-and-tear.  Only one strategic map/time record was used, along with a British Hit Record Sheet and a German Hit Record Sheet.  Oh, and a minor quibble--my game didn't come with a die.

Jutland was initially published in 1967, and a second edition was released in 1974.  I think my copy is the second edition.  I remember the Maneuver Gauges and Battle Area Markers of my brother's game being made of thick cardboard, while in my copy they're only made of thin cardstock.

Jutland isn't the only Great War wargame that I own.  Several years ago, I purchased Great War at Sea: Jutland...

(Box cover from Avalanche Press's GWAS: Jutland)

...along with several other Great War at Sea (GWAS) games.

Unlike AH's Jutland, GWAS games have two distinct differences.  First, while AH's Jutland used a hex-grid map to plot fleet movements with a pencil, GWAS games come with operational maps for counters, representing task forces to maneuver on.  Second, even though AH's Jutland is considered a boardgame, there is no board.  It's more of a miniatures game using cardboard counters.  The GWAS games on the other hand, have a hexagonal tactical map that is used when two opposing task forces encounter each other on the operational map.

About the same time I began collecting GWAS material, a local game store (that is now out of business when the owner retired), had it's annual Christmas Sale.  One of the items I acquired was the hefty Fear God and Dread Nought (FG&DN).

(FG&DN is part of Larry Bond's Admiralty Trilogy)

 

And when I mean hefty, I'm not just talking about actual weight, but price and the depth of detailed material. 

 

FG&DN is not a wargame--it's a World War I tactical naval simulation, or a naval reference publication with a naval simulation included in the package.

 

However, in addition to the scholarly research that went into making FG&DN, the ship counters are GORGEOUS!  Who needs miniatures with playing pieces this fine looking? 

 

They certainly make AH's Jutland counters look amateurish by today's art and printing standards.

 

So which game do I like the best?

 

I can't really say.  Even though I've read the rules to GWAS several years ago, and AH's Jutland a few decades ago, I haven't played any of them.

 

Sad, I know, but I'm sure many other gamers have similar difficulties getting together with friends--and deciding on what game to play--especially ones that require multi-day commitments.

 

But for a "shot across the bow" first impression, I'd say these are the best aspects of each game, along with detailed reviews by other players:

 

FG&DN--The detailed research and the counters; review by Mitch Freedman on The Boardgaming Way.

 

GWAS--the operational maps, along with the corresponding rules; review by Paul Comben on The Boardgaming Life

 

Jutland--the miniature-style rules*, which are simple in comparison to the other games; review of the 1974 Edition by "The Maverick" on Boardgamegeek.

 

*Note:  The GWAS tactical rules are actually simpler, but don't give players a sense of naval tactics, other than closing within range of ships' guns and blasting enemy vessels with "buckets of dice" salvoes.

 

As the Centennial Anniversary of the actual battle is less than six months away, my New Year's Resolution New Year's Hope is to play at least one scenario from one of these games before 2016 comes to a close. 

 

(Image found on Think Link)

 





Product Review: Axis & Allies WWI 1914

Years ago, I played a few games of Axis & Allies (originally part of Milton Bradley's Gamemaster Series).

I enjoyed both the original game and the new versions produced by Wizards of the Coast.

But I've held off on buying any of the World War II strategy games.  The miniatures, especially the War at Sea, are another matter.

Anyway, my wife and I made another trip to a second Half Price Books store on Sunday before Veterans Day.  In the game section, I stumbled across a copy of Axis & Allies WWI 1914 on sale for $50.

I hesitated on buying it because the box top had quite a divot in it, which often happens when you stack smaller and heavier boxes on a such a large box.

Despite the divot, I decided to buy this game, primarily because I had a 50% off the most expensive item coupon.

And I made sure this was the most expensive item my wife and I bought.

There was one of the later versions of the World War II game, Axis & Allies Europe 1940, available but I wasn't interested in that.  I felt a Risk-style game of The Great War felt more "appropriate" somehow than any of the World War II versions.

Besides, I only had one 50% off coupon.

The only thing cooler than getting a $69--$145 game for $25 would have been if I purchased it at 11 AM on November 11th, "...when the guns fell silent."

As to the game itself, Axis & Allies WWI 1914 gets a good review, 7.18 out of 10 stars, on Boardgame Geek.

There are 8 storage boxes for each of the factions representing the Allies (5) and Central Powers (3).  It took me less than two hours to do some additional bagging.  Not having to punch out the cardboard counters also helped. 

The only issue I have with the playing pieces are with the cruiser and transport ships.  Their thin, and with my copy they're slightly bent, which I don't think is due to the game being second-hand.  This makes these vessels more likely to "capsize" on the playing board.  The larger battleships are wider and therefore more "sea worthy."

I haven't played this game yet, and want to before the 100-Year Anniversary of the Great War comes to a close.

Hey, I'm lucky if I get a chance to play a handful of games per year.

Anyway, since I don't have any experience yet on playing the game, here's Neptune Underground's First Look at Axis & Allies WWI 1914.

Well, good, bad, or indifferent, I'm happy to add this game to the handful of Great War naval games I own.

I don't know if I'll by any more World War I games.  For now, I think I'll steer clear of the "mud, blood and poetry" of the tabletop trenches.