Golden Oldie - Battlefleet Gothic

I was trawling my boxes of unpainted and painted miniatures when I came across a few boxes of spaceships. My collection was a haphazard array of ships, reflecting my numerous attempts to enter this genre. The miniatures included a few fleets from Space Dreadnought 3000, Battlefleet Gothic and some modern additions, like Dropleet Commander.

This discovery coincided with Ross Lockwood's new set of space combat rules, 'Hyperspace Hack'. Therefore, after discovering an old treasure and some new rules, I had an excellent fill-in game as I continued painting for my next project. 

Spaceship Rules

Oh, if things could be that simple.  I immediately dug out some old spaceship combat rules in my collection. The aim was to fight fleet skirmishes and battles rather than worry about controlling an individual starship array of systems. 

Unlike historical games, there is nothing factual against which to judge any rules. The rules must fire your imagination and reflect how you imagine space combat. I started my intergalactic altic quest by reading all the rules I had in my collection. In the end, I returned to a golden oldie, Battlefleet Gothic. Why?

Spaceship Gothic  

The rules, beautifully written by Andy Chambers, have stood the test of time. They contain everything you expect from spaceship battles, giant ships, planet killers, speedy flights, interplanetary defence systems, and an array of space matter. I own the original 1999 rules. The edition comes in landscape rather than my preferred portrait. However, fans have produced a remastered (live) edition in a portrait setting.

Personally, I do not like the 40,000 Universe, but the rules can be adapted to a homemade setting. I came across some settings that appealed to me more in my reading. 

Battlefleet Solo

For me, the lack of solo mechanics is the main area for improvement in the Battlefleet rules. However, other rules have solo mechanisms that could be adapted. Horizon Wars Infinity Dark has a playing card activation system that establishes the activation order, the actions to be taken, and any course corrections. This system was used in conjunction with the Battlefleet Gothic rules.

The Scenario 

A convoy of colony ships had been ambushed in the Carian Sector by pirates who infest these outer world systems. However, the main merchantman, CSS New Beginnings, survived the onslaught but lost all power. As the pirates considered boarding their prize, a portal opened, and the cruiser, Iron Duke and two support frigates (Alpha and Omega) entered the sector. The pirates clocked or hid and waited for their opportunity.

The Objective.

To win the Imperial squadron, the crew had to board the stricken New Begining, pass a successful test to reboot her systems, and then escort the colony ship to safety. Simple rules using the leadership test catered for the docking procedures between the two friendly ships and the system reboot. 

The pirate fleet of smaller reconditioned frigates and raiders had to prevent the colony ship from leaving the sector without destroying it. They would also earn bonuses for killing or capturing any Imperial ship.

Tactics

The Imperial commander's tactics were simple. The two frigates would attempt to dock with the stricken vessel while the Iron Duke stood off in case the pirates returned. The pirate tactics were to wait until a ship tried to start docking with their prize and launch an attack, using their mobility to maximum impact while the ships were entangled.

The Game

The Imperial ships made a quick approach to the stranded colony ship. However, only some things went to plan. The Alpha overshot her docking portal and had to exercise a sharp turn to make another approach. The Omega was more successful and docked successfully, but this left the now static frigate vulnerable to attack. It was at this moment that the pirates launched their raid. 

The Iron Duke made mincemeat of several vessels, but the attacks came from all sides. The captain of Omega ordered 'Brace for Impact', which allowed the frigate to survive the first onslaught. However, the Alpha, exposed during her turning manoeuvre, suddenly exploded as an array blast hit the ship.

The next turn, the Omega engineers managed to re-fire the New Beginnings engines, and she started to lumber forward. The Iron Duke, impervious to the horde of small ships, continued to exact damage.

The final moves saw the New Beginning move to the safety of the jump portal as the Iron Duke covered her and the Omega retreat. The cruiser was too powerful for the small pirate vessel, and the Imperial squadron completed its mission.

Some Thoughts

The game was short and brutal, and I had forgotten how entertaining these rules were. However, my adapted solo system did not work as I wanted. The card activations led to some peculiar movements, especially for the pirates. The generated options needed to be more sophisticated, and the pre-programmed orders must be adapted for the ship type. In brief, back to the drawing board. 

Britcon 2024

Last year, I made my first visit to Britcon Gaming Day and enjoyed the weekend, so this August, I returned to Nottingham. Like last year, I attended the Two Fat Lardies workshop, where there were there was a wide variety of participation games, from a pirate raid to 1968 Vietnam.  I choose to play a naval action and a battle from the Trojan War.

Spanish Breakout

My first game was a Napoleonic naval engagement using Charley Walker's new version of Kiss Me Hardy rules. The original game's mechanics have been streamlined by using some ideas from What a Cowboy, but maintain the feeling that you are in command of great sailing ships of the era. My command was the British inshore squadron, which included a 3rd Rate and a frigate, the Gibberish. My partner had the larger ships that had come to reinforce the inshore ships to prevent the Spanish breakout. Whilst the British had the advantage of better crews, the Spanish admirals had size on their side. One ship had 118 guns! As the British would find out, these monsters could absorb a lot of damage.

In the early moves, I thought we had the Spanish, with their advance squadron, trapped between the British larger ships and the shoreline. Whilst my inshore squadron managed to get some close broadside off. Even the Gibberish managed to land a few blows without getting blown out of the water by the larger ships.

However, after the first run, the British ship found it hard to turn in the narrow confines of the bay, especially with the wind against them. Therefore, the Spanish made it to open waters, although they were severely damaged.

Before the Walls of Troy

My afternoon game, run by James Morris, used the Midgard rules, hopefully to be published later this year, in a fight between the Amazons and the Greeks. The game started with a duel between two champions, which the Amazons lost. This immediately led to a full-blown conflict between the Greeks and the Amazon. This time, I was the Amason queen Penthesilla, daughter of Ares, who commanded the right flank.

However, this was a battle when the dice god Hermes was firmly on the side of the Greeks. In the opening move, a rabble of Greek skirmishers managed to kill one of the Amazon champions. The ravens soon picked over her body as she threw successive ones ( a raven on these dice) to save herself from the Greek arrows. When the second Amazon champion fell on the left, things began to look bad. However, the Amazons fought bravely and launched a counterattack that nearly killed Achilles 'of the winged feet', but once again, Hermes came to the Greek's aid, and Achilles managed to escape almost certain death.

On the right, my Amazon was slowly being pushed back by the Greek's superior close combat skills, although Penthesilla managed to kill one of the Greek champions in single combat. Despite the glimpse of success, the day would be with the Greeks.

In both these games, the scenery and the miniatures were beautiful, as you will see from the photos. More importantly, the games were full of banter and laughter. Win or lose, you had a great game and a story to tell.

The Traders and Other Games

Elsewhere in the Hall, numerous trade stands were similar to the ones at last year's show. A floor plan for this area would have helped, although an earlier e-mail gave you the basic outline. Beyond the trade stand were the competition games with ranks of the tables. Those who follow this blog will know that this type of gaming is not my thing. However, numerous games were displayed, and the whole place buzzed.

Wrap Up

The day was rounded off by a few pints and a curry. During this evening session, my discussions involved the push and shove in pre-gun powder warfare, how wargame rules have changed since the 70s and the wonders of French cheeses—an enjoyable evening.

More Projects

I have come back with some great ideas for new projects: dark dwarves and sea witches will invade Romano-Britian. Will Arthur save the day? Playing Charley‘s revised version of Kiss Me Hardy has ‘forced’ me to invest in some 1:700 ships because they look fantastic. James’ bloody Trojan escapade has led me to explore my ‘pile of lead’, and I have found some Greek chariots. It looks like Troy might be coming to East Anglia.

Final Thanks

Overall behind-the-scenes? Thanks to Don Avis, despite commanding a Greek wing, for his spreadsheet wizardry and good humour. Also, the Britcon organisers for their fantastic attention to detail and speedy service.

Action in the Northwest Approaches

Dystopian Wars is a game that I came across by accident. I had seen the various adverts in the hobby press but I had resisted. However, at the end of 2023, I gave up on Legion Imperialis due to Games Workshop's poor logistics in getting the minis out to an enthusiastic fan base. This led to some store credits so I bought a few sets of Dysthopian Wars.

The Game

The game is set in an alternative timeline in the Victorian age, where steampunk navies fight for the interests of their empires. It has a great backstory but in my opinion aimed at the competitive wargamer. People who have read my previous posts will know that I dislike tournament Wargaming. For me, the hobby is about fun and a good narrative story. However, I thought the game had potential, although making it truly solo would be a challenge.

I had also been researching a WWII naval campaign in the Mediterranean, which I thought could be moved to a Dystopian War setting.

The Malta Crisis 1872

The opening of the Suez Chanel and its aerodrome nexus in 1867 led to increased competition in the Mediterranean. More about this  and each power's objectives will be discussed in later post. Here, we will concentrate on the Commonwealth and the old Tsarist claim to be the head of the Hospitaller order. This bit is is true in our timeline. The Commonwealth also needed access to more bases that allowed them to deploy their navel without fear of weather or rival powers, the Imperium (German Empire) and the Sultanate (Ottoman Empire), controlling vital straits that hindered the Tzar’s fleets.

Therefore, the Commonwealth High Command decided to move the Borodino battle group under the commander of Vice Admiral Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich Bolov to the Western Mediterranean. His secret orders were to develop alliances that would allow Malta to be taken over. In early November, the Borodino battle group left its Artic base to take up its new station.

Crown Intelligence

In London, Mycroft Holmes, head of British intelligence, received reports of the Borodino’s departure but had no idea of its intentions. Mycroft decided to instruct the Admiralty to send cruiser squadrons from the Home Fleet to find the Borodino and its escorts.

Hours later, Commodore Cunningham, the commander of the 5th Support Group, read his orders from Admiralty Arch. He was to locate the Borodino and delay her until the arrival of the Crown battleship Prince Regent.

The Storm

Nature intervened on these instructions when a fierce autumnal storm blew from the west. The Borodino lost most of her escort and was now accompanied by a single cruiser. The other elements of Bolov’s command were scattered west of the Faroe Islands. Cunningham had spread his command across the Northwest approaches, and it was two cruisers, HMS Albion and HMS Mercia with a squadron of frigates that stumbled across the Borodino and its solitary escort near some skerries west of the Faroes.

The Engagement

Harry Cunningham, his binoculars pressed to his face, bravely identified the looming silhouette of the Commonwealth battleship, the Borodino. Without hesitation, he commanded his communications officer to relay the discovery to his squadron, a mere 16.5 nautical miles west of the Faroe Islands.

Cunningham gazed at the majestic battleship. He knew his small squadron of two Albion class cruisers supported by three frigates would not be able to stop her. The only strategy was to delay her until the Crown battle group could reach the northern water.

Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Bolov spotted the Crown ships spread between the dangerous rocks that formed the outer reaches of the Faroes. He decided that there was no point taking on the small ships. First, it might cause a diplomatic incident and second, it would delay the regrouping of his fleet. Even a ship of the size of the Borodino could be vulnerable when isolated. He commanded his cruises Kushov to take an eastern approach around the scaries. The Borodino would continue on an unaltered course. His hope was that Kushov eastly approach would confuse the British commander and force him to divide his forces. 

The Commonwealth cruiser shifting to a new bearing forced Cunningham to deploy a line of  frigates to cover all possibilities. However, Commodore Cunningham continued with his original plan to hamper and slow down the Borodino, the main threat to the Crown in these disputed Waters

The Borodino slumbered forward and launched a salvo at the Crown’s frigates, quickly sinking two of the frigate squadron. Cunningham, shocked by the power of the salvo, started to reposition his cruisers. The Albion, came dangerous close to the rock as the two ships hit the Borodino with a broadside.  Borov answered the attack by firing his main guns at the Mercia, crippling the ships steering.

As the weather worsened and the rain lashed across the decks, both sides let off closing shots. The Mercia regained control of her steering and Cunningham closed with both his cruisers. Two further broadside seem to bounce off the Commonwealth ship’s armour. Now Bolov  brought the Borodino next to the Albion and fired its full armament. amazingly Cunningham’s ship survived, although badly crippled. Cunningham decided that he could not damage this monster and let her disappear into the growing storm. He instructed the remaining frigate, HMS Orb to follow the Commonwealth ships so the main battle group could engage at a later date.

What's next

A really enjoyable introduction to the game. The models are fantastic with a lot of character. However, the game was designed for a versus mode and not the solo wargamer.  Dystopian Wars at its heart a tournament/competition game. Despite this I want to play more, so I am now putting forward some solo mechanism. Here are my preliminary thoughts.

1. Group the ships into squadron cards with each card having a a value of 300 to 400 points. On ecard would be the flag group then the player would draw at random. This would allow some uneven forces and reflect that rarely did an admiral get the all ships he wanted.
2. I going to name the ships and introduce a few heroic captains that will give their ships and advantage. This captains can progress in a campaign and generic (non-hero) captions may become heroes as they earn experience. This I hope will improve the narrative aspects that is important to solo wargamers.
3. Look at some pre-battle movement system. The WWII came Nimitz has some interesting mechanism on this aspect.

Next will be another short game when the Crown fleet finds the other Commonwealth ships that became dispersed in the storm. 

Workbench 2024

This blog is always self-indulgent because it aims to set out my projects and ambitions for the forthcoming year. A similar bit of self-indulgence occurred last year, although personal circumstances made many of my ambitions attainable. However, it would be wrong to blame the vagaries of life on my failure to deliver all my projects last year. The most crucial factor was that I was too ambitious, a common trait with wargamers. Therefore, this year, I have been more constrained in my aims; although the project list is still as long, some will not see the light of day during 2024.

Campaigns

Last year, I had two campaigns that I planned to play during the year. The first was a fantasy campaign, the Second Shadow Wars, using the rules of the Fantastic Battles. This campaign saw little action since the early months of 2023. First, the campaign took an unusual turn when Umbarji Khan ( my Orcs ) suddenly died, leading to a succession crisis. I had not drawn up the maps for all the Umbarji realms, nor did I have detailed biographies of the various brothers and sons that would contest the Blood Throne. Finally, I needed rules to cover these surprise developments. 

I have learnt from this campaign to stop trying to develop everything myself and take some of the work the other enthusiasts have placed on the web. Therefore, I plan to play the Umbarji Civil War by adapting some one-page campaign rules and personality-driven mechanics in Henry Hyde's 'Wargaming Campaigns'.

In the meantime, the original campaign centred on the Wilderness Steppes will concentrate on the struggle for the Lakeside towns. Due to his father's death, Ozbeg has been drawn into the struggles with his family and has left the Wilderness campaign to one of the leading generals, Doba Skullcrusher, to conduct the war on his southern border. Again, this will involve looking at off-the-shelf campaign roles, using a hex system, or even returning to such old favourites as Mighty Empires. 

The Tomb of the Serpent

The second campaign used the Pulp Alley and their Tomb of the Serpent campaign.  This is now halfway through, and I plan to complete this during the year. Slade Horton and his companions from the Mace Institute are now crossing the desert in search of the Serpent’s tomb, where they will come face-to-face with the Egyptian God of chaos, Apophis. I have fallen in love with this band of adventures and plan to translate them to other game systems, so expect to see the Mace Institute appear in alternative World War II adventures. 

Recreating Battles.

I have two recreations near completion in painting and research, and they will hit the table in the first quarter of 2024. The first is the Battle of Crediton in 1643, where I'll reenact the battle using the Twilight of Divine Right rules, and maybe another replay, using For King and Parliament. 

Marius and the German Invasion

The next set of battles re-fight the battles between Marius and the Germans, Aquae Sextiae (102BC) and  Vercellae (101BC). These will be played using Strength and Honour rules. However, these battles are essentially holding games whilst I start to work on the big projects of 2024, Hellenistic World and Rome's Expansion. Why start this new development? 

Partly anticipating Mark Backhouse's supplement to cover this early period; it is my favourite era of Ancient History.  The main difference is this era will be played using 6mm figures rather than 2mm because I have a box of painted minis that have been unloved for several years. Rebasing and some in-filling of figures will be required, but hopefully, this will not be too burdensome. Unsure of the first battle, try to get to the table, but the following are on the list: Paraitatiene (317 BC), Ilipa (206 BC) and Pynda (168 BC).

Wellington in the Peninsula 

This project was on the list last year and is slowly progressing in 2 mm. 2mm is ideal for this era because it gives the authentic flavour of the mass movement of large bodies of men across the battle field. Once the painting is completed for the Battle of Vimero (1808), moving on to the other conflicts of the Peninsula campaign will be easy. 

Lion Rampart, Saga and Midgard 

The one campaign I completed last year was my Feud campaign set in the period before the Magna Carta. I plan to turn my interests to the Early Medieval period, where I will experiment with several rules, including Lion Rampart, Saga and yet-to-be-released Midgard. All three games have the potential to play a Fantasy version, so I may dig out some old 28mm Citadel miniatures to set up some small-scale fantasy battles. I plan to have some extra stuff painted by the excellent Matt Slade to give some of my old armies a new flavour. Ultimately, I may extend these one-off battles into some form of campaign. I'm interested in doing an alternative breakdown of Roman authority in Britain. Where the invaders may have been dwarves and their allies. 

Skirmish Games and Roleplay

Besides using Pulp Alley for the Tomb of the Serpent campaign. I have employed 7TV to bring the swashbuckling character of the Leopard to life as he fights his way through politics in war and the time of the English Civil War. I plan to join these adventures together and publish them as a set of scenarios. 7TV system is also being used for my Sword and Sandles project where a Greek demi-god will take on numerous quests, a mixture of Xena, Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts. However, this idea is still in its early days.  

Superhero Genre

The last area skirmish is superheroes. In 2023, I played the first part of my mini-campaign when the evil Dr Nicholas Amargus (DNA) attempted to brainwash San Diego with his mind-bending gases. I adapted Pulp Alley for this first game, but for the second instalment, I will use Super Mission Force, which is designed for the genre using the gaol system. While these adventures are going on, I am building two teams of superheroes from the Golden Age who will fight Hitler's minions. 

Dungeon and Dragons

Connected to the skirmish games is my renewed interest in role-play, where the character develops even more. A magazine I found in the supermarkets made me to re-look at Dungeons & Dragons. I have found that since I last role-played – in the 1980s- enthusiasts have done much work on playing solo adventures. I plan to use these ideas and employ AI as a tool to help the game master.  I hope to post a blog on my thinking behind this and how it can generally impact wargaming. 

Naval 

I am planning a small Kiss Me Hardy game based on the scenario in one of the Lardies' magazines that is set off the island of Corsica. I am still struggling to find a set of ancient naval roles that reflect the era's sea battles. At the moment, I'm tempted to take up one of the ideas that came out of a discussion between Henry Hyde and Simon Miller of using To the Strongest mechanism for naval engagements. This could be a large project if I decide to undertake this challenge. Whatever, nothing is likely to appear next year. 

 

Some Final Thoughts

No doubt, as a wargaming magpie, some other distraction will draw me off in an unforeseen direction. Games Workshop has re-hacked the old Epic 40,000 as Legion Imperialis. A reminder of time playing Warhammer, so I am likely to give the game a try. No doubt there will be others.

I also hope to attend a couple of shows and a 'Lardie Day'. Whilst, I remain mainly a solo warmer, the hobby has a fantastic community that always gives me a boost. However, these events often provide the seeds for another project. Chain of Command has lingered in the back of my mind since my outing to Nottingham last year.

Cape Ortegal - The Replay

The setup for this game, including the ships involved, can be found here. This is my first major game in this genre, so apologies for the lack of nautical terminology.

The Wind in their Sails

British fleet started with the initiative, and Strachan decided to close the gap between the two fleets as rapidly as possible. With the wind in their sails, the British squadron made rapid pace towards the French fleet, although the Caesar at the fore of the British Line came under heavy fire and took substantial damage. 

Unfortunately for Caesar, my novice interpretation of the partial broadside probably led to her sustaining more damage than necessary. However, be aware that these fighting gun platforms can absorb a lot before they begin to weaken.

Cutting the Line

However, as the British line approached, it swung to starboard at close range, and both fleets exchanged some devastating broadsides. After these exchanges, the honours were even. However, the British gained the first movement chit next turn, allowing them to cut the French line,  racking the Dugray and the Formidable. Both took heavy damage; the Dugray received a critical hit and lost her steering. Meanwhile, the Hero and Courage concentrated their fire on the Mont Blanc, which suffered heavy damage but remained actionable. After this divesting turn, the French fleet was in disarray. Dugray was sailing away from the action, and the Formidable's poor crew, an unlucky set-up throw, struggled to execute a turn to rejoin the Mont Blanc and the Scipion.

Dumanoir Strikes Back

By turn four, it looked like a British victory was assured, especially as the Namur had now come into the sight of the main action. However, the French were not defeated. A lucky broadside from the Formidable found its mark felling the Caesar's main sail, which collapsed onto the poop deck, injuring Strachen and the Caesars' senior officers. Strachan was forced to transfer the flag to Captain Gardner on the Hero.

This success against Caesar boosted French resolve, and the Formidable now managed to turn back onto the main action.  The plucky Scipion, which would prove to have the bravest crew on the day, continued to fight on regardless despite coming under heavy bombardment from the Hero and the Courageux. Finally, the two remaining French ships joined, enabling them to provide mutual support to each other.

The Weather Gods

Dumanoir le Pell now decided to isolate and destroy the Namur before she could join the main British squadron. Formidable and the Scipion sailed parallel to sandwich the Namur between their broadsides. However, the firepower of these ships had been diminished by the previous action, and minor damage was done. The Namur finally linked up with the Hero and the Courageux to form a new battle line that launched a vicious attack on the remaining French ships. The game has now turned into a series of fleeting exchanges as the ships passed between each other, and any kind of formation was now lost.

The advantage was now with the British, and it looked likely that the reenactment would create the historical outcome.  Again, when victory seemed inevitable, nature intervened. The wind turned more to the south, and on the next turn, the waters became choppy.  It appeared that the infamous lousy weather of the Bay of Biscay would have the last laugh because the conditions gave the French the chance to escape the clutches of the British warships. However, this proved to be a false hope. Another bombardment from the British ships forced the brave Scipion to strike its colours. Finally, the Namur and the Courageux caught up with the French flagship, forcing Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley to surrender.

Some Thoughts

It was an enjoyable game with lots of twists and turns. As I am still learning the intricacies of KMH, mistakes were made, partial broadside and tacking being the two I spotted during the game. Also I think I will make two minor changes to the rules,

1. A test  to break the line. It is, from my reading that this was a tricky manoeuvre.
2. Introduce a call by the admiral to allow the ships to fight individually.  At what point in the game should you introduce ship cards/chits for individual ships and then squadron cards removed?   

Battle of Cape Ortegal 1805.

This re-enactment is an early venture into Napoleonic naval warfare, using the Kiss Me Hardy (KMH) rules. My route to this battle and why I used the KMH rules can be found in my two previous blogs, Land Lubber and Age of Sail. This small battle is perfect for Kiss Me Hardy and solo play because of the few ships involved, although it can be played with two to four players. 

Battle of Cape Ortegal, November 4th 1805

The Battle of Cape Ortegal, or Strachan's Action, was the final action of the Trafalgar campaign. It was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet under Vice Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley that had escaped the Battle of Trafalgar. On 22 October, Dumanoir le Pelley sailed towards Rochefort. However, on entering the Bay of Biscay, he sighted the British frigate the Phoenix and gave chase. The Phoenix led Dumanoir’s to Starchan’s squadron. At this point, the commanders tried to gather their ships, although both suffered from slow-moving or damaged vessels. Strachan had to press on without the Bellona, and the Namur was probably foul-bottomed and was dragging behind the main line. For Dumanoir, most of his ships had sustained some damage at Trafalgar or in the following storms. The Scipion had difficulty keeping up with the main French formation and was harassed by the British frigates before the main action commenced.

The Battle 

The battle was reported in the Lloyds List on Tuesday, November 12 November,

The Formidable, of 80 guns, Dugay Trouin, Mont Blanc, Scipion, of 74 guns each, separated from the remains of the Combined Fleet. After the action of Cape Trafalgar, were taken the 4th Inst. of Rochefort, by the Squadron under the command of Sir Richard Strachan, consisting of The Caesar, Hero, Courageux, and Namur Men of War, Revolutionaire, Phoenix, Santa Margaritta, and Aoleus Frigates, after an Action of 3 hours and a half. The Enemy had 5 and 600 killed and wounded; our losses about 300 killed and 100 wounded. – The Caesar, Courageux, Hero and Revolutionaire arrived in Plymouth the 10th with prizes, which are all dismasted.

Refighting the Battle

Two options are available in setting up the game. 

1. Ship of the Line Engagements. In most battles, the frigates played a limited role so that the battle could be played without the frigates. The skirmishing between the frigates and the Scipion can be built into the Scipion profile to reflect the damage the ship had sustained. The advantage of this approach is that there are fewer ships to handle for solo play.
2. Including the Frigates. The British frigates played a part in Strachan’s plans. Besides harassing the Scipion, they would later swing around the rear of the French squadron, forming a secondary line.

The set-up below is for the first of these two option, without frigates.

Commanders and Organisation

The scenarios involve few squadrons, so it is unnecessary to detail the commanders' capabilities and skills. If you want to add this command element, the following is  If you want to add this command element the following is suggested, based on Nic Skinner’s, “I wish to amuse the fleet with a signal.”

Captain Sir Richard Strachan, ............ Intrepid Admiral

Rear Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley,.....  Patriotic

The French are organised as one squadron and the British into two groups. The main squadron and the Namur as a single ship command.

The Ships

I utilised Brian Weathersby’s “Messing Around with Boats” extension with some of the Fires as She Bears Trafalgar pack suggestions to model the ships for this action. All the British crew are classed as Jolly Jack Tars with their morale status being determined randomly.

The British Ships of the Line.

Name	Rate	Damage Points	Gun Dice	Speed	Notes
Caesar	Large 3	88	10	12	Flag Ship
Hero	3	70	9	12	Carronades
Courageux	3	74	9	12	French Prize ship.
Namur	3	70	9	11	Foul Bottomed

 

The French Fleet

Name	Rate	Damage Points	Gun Dice	Speed	Notes
Formidable	Large 3	95	9	12	Reduce damage Pts by 1d10+3 to reflect the damage taken at Trafalgar. Broadside reduced to 9 dice.
Mount Blanc	3	82	10	12
Duguay Trouin	3	82	10	12
Scipion	3	82	10	12	But reduced by earlier frigate action. See below.

 

Notes on French Ships

All crew are Sans Cullottes with their with their morale status being determined randomly.

The Formidable
The Formidable was a large 80-gun third-rate, somewhat reduced in offensive capability due to damage taken during the Battle of Trafalgar. She had lost fifteen of her 12-pounders. This damage had been reflected in her Hull and Broadside ratings, by a dice roll and a reduced firepower.

Scipion
In this non-frigate scenario, the British may fire three unmodified broadsides, Long, Medium and Short, at Scipion prior to start of battle. This represents the duel between the British frigates Santa-Margarita and Phoenix prior to the main action. The three broadsides occurred an extreme, long, and close range. Critical damage caused by these broadsides is applied to the Scipion. If this option is used the British frigates play no part in the subsequent game.

Set Up

The action took place in November off the coast of Spain in the Bay of Biscay. A stretch of sea noted for its fiercest weather conditions. Therefore, the Wind Change and the Choppy Waters rules should be used.
The initial Wind direction given in Strachan’s report is in the south-east. Therefore, the British Ships have the Wind on the Quarter and the French Wind on the Bow. 

The British have the initiative, and the Sea Conditions were normal when the main action commenced.  

The Namur

The Namur dragged some miles behind the British formation when the action commenced. To show this, the Namur will not appear before Turn 4. In this turn, throw 1d6

1. Turn 4 if a 6 is thrown the Namur enters the table at the same point as the main squadron started the game and on the same heading.
2. Turn 5 The Namur enters the game on 3, 4, 5, and 6, as described above.
3. Turn 6 The Manor enters as described above.

On entering, add a Namur chit or card to the game sequence.

The Reenactment

The game that followed from this set-up can be found here.

Age of Sail

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my first venture into Age of Sail was to bring the battle of Cape Ortegal to my tabletop. More about the action later, but it was a small action, fought between two squadrons, twelve ships in total, rather than a significant fleet action. However, my ambition is to refight the great clashes of the era, Glorious 1 July, Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar, so the rules I choose ideally should accommodate these significant engagements. This focus eliminated many rule sets that focused on ship-to-ship duels.

Rules and Constraints

The first step in my quest involved reading several rules sets to establish which ones appealed. Rules that a wargamer chooses are a personal choice to fit their requirements. Three constraints impacted my selection. First, I have limited space, so any option had to be played on a 6’ x 4’ table. Second, I mainly play solo, so any dedicated rules to aid solo play would be attractive. Last, I wanted to test the period with a limited financial budget. This led me down 1:2400 scale ships. Although War Artisan card ships tempted me, I thought they were too large because of my restricted space.

The Rules

I had previously tried tabletop board games, like the Sails of Glory and Oak and Iron, but they did not allow me to recreate large engagements. Therefore, I concentrated on five sets of rules.

Grand Fleet Actions (GFA) by Andrew Finch and Alan Butler, A & A Game Engineering,

Far and Distant Ships (FDS) by David Manley, Long Face Games,

Fighting Sail (FS) by Ryan Miller, Osprey Publishing,

Fire as She Bears (FASB) by Phil C Fry, Starboard Tack Press,

Kiss Me Hardy (KMH) by Nic Skinner, Two Fat Lardies.

Please look at my earlier post for site links for these rules.

Period Covered

Before looking at the individual rules, a few general comments. First, only some of these rules covered the same period. Kiss Me Hardy is focused on the ‘Age of Nelson, whilst GFA and FASB can be used to refight engagements from the 16th Century. Fighting Sail is the most restrictive covering the 18th century and the first two decades of the next century. Therefore, most of these rules can cover a period from the Anglo-Dutch wars to the end of the Napoleonic conflicts.

General Comments

First, most rules are pdf downloads that you must print if you want a hard copy. The notable exception is Fighting Sail from Osprey, produced to that company’s high standard. Few of these rules are indexed, and only FDS and FS have a QRS sheet. However, QRSs can be found online and in various Facebook groups for most of the rules. Fighting Sail and KMH have the best online support with dedicated forums and Facebook groups. All the rules have online tutorials to help land lubbers like me learn the rules. The naval arena is poorly served compared to the plethora of excellently produced rules for Napoleonic land battles. This is best illustrated by the lack of templates (movement and gunnery) needed to play the games. Only KMH has commercial templates, so in most cases, homemade solutions are required.

None of the rules has dedicated solo extensions, although the activation system, card or token driven, in Kiss Me Hardy makes solo adaptation easier. Although I have not tried it at this stage in my research, some of the ideas on command in a KMH supplement can be transferred.

Initial Thoughts.

Whilst the rule might be lacking in swish presentation, they make up for it in playability. Most rules are quick to learn that concentrate on the command aspects rather than the details of seamanship. This design approach produces some friendly mechanisms and improves playability. Boardgames Geek scored most rules below 2.50 out of 5.00 on complexity.

Play Testing

My initial thoughts on my read-through and some limited play testing are,

Far Distant Ships (FDS)

Designed for significant naval actions, they are low complexity, quick to learn and have the advantage of no off-table bookkeeping. The rules played like a DBA game, so opposing dice with a handful of modifiers. This led to a fast, easy-to-learn game that captured the problems faced by the age of sail fleet commodore. The advanced rules that include a signal system would undoubtedly add to this impression and the fog of war.
My main criticisms are that the rules would have benefited from detailed examples of some key concepts. Secondly, the carronade fire at close range is lethal, but there is no information on which ships carried them. However, these comments on ship details apply to all the rules I reviewed. The excellent site is the best starting point for most enquiries.

Two free scenarios, Glorious 1st June (1794) and Camperdown (1797) are available. Beyond these two scenarios, the rules currently need more online support.

Fire as She Bears (FASB) 

A Medium-complexity game designed to fight fleet actions. However, it involves off-table bookkeeping, limiting the number of ships that can be handled in solo play. One annoying feature is the rules is that examples are found in a separate download file making referencing awkward. A significant downside is the special basing requirement (octagonal bases) that will limit future options if you are still experimenting.
There is a limited number of scenarios. The Trafalgar extension contains four scenarios, including Cape Ortegal, but I am still looking for other official scenarios. Overall, an excellent rule set for a club where players command a squadron of six to ten ships.

Kiss Me Hardy (KMH) 

Designed for fleet and single-ship engagement, with low complexity but requires off-table bookkeeping. I found KMH more enjoyable with some excellent mechanisms that, when played, would quickly become intuitive. The British and the Americans have the highest quality, the ‘Jolly Jack Tars’, whilst the French forces, ‘Sans Culottes’, are average. Poor Spanish crews get the lowest category, ‘Land Lubbers’. Further customisation can be made using Brian Weatherby's ‘Messing around with Boats’ article in the Lardies’ 2011 Magazine. Generally, the British have better crews, but the French have bigger and better-gunned ships.

However, this customisation comes at a cost, off-the-table record-keeping. Although this is not onerous, it does impact the number of ships a single player handle. Another potential downside is that the initiative is driven by cards, which are unavailable commercially. So, a home production job is required. However, movement templates are available from Warbases or the game’s supporters on Facebook. These templates make movement more straightforward than the other games I examined.

Fighting Sail (FS) 

An Osprey Wargames book, so the best-presented and most straightforward rule I examined. However, they need more feel for the era but are actively supported, and enthusiasts have filled in several of the weakness. Therefore, with some research, you have an easy-to-learn game that covers fleet actions and frigate duels with no bookkeeping. Overall, the rules are streamlined, but for me, they leave some historical flavours behind.

Grand Fleet Actions (GFA)

Aimed at squadron and fleet actions and have a similar feel to FDS. But the detail incorporated in these rules is impressive. However, I found these rules more challenging to learn than FDS. For this reason, I nearly abandoned them, but on the second reading, I decided to keep them on the playtest list. The authors state that you need a squadron of ships to benefit from their rule design, so there are better engagements than Cape Ortegal to do them justice.

Playtesting and Interim Conclusions

The game I set up was a simplified Cape Ortegal, with three 3rd Rates, one 80 guns and two 74 guns per side. The wind, as in the battle, was from the northeast. The simple objective for the French side was to leave the northern edge of a 4’ by 4’ table, which the British had to prevent.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to provide a detailed battle report that will be saved for the refight of the actual engagement. However, the test battles played out similarly, with the French failing to break through the British blockade. In both games, the French lead ship, Duguay, suffered substantial damage, and in Kiss Me Hardy, the French flag, the Formidable, struck her colours. The British ships did not go unscathed and received significant damage to their rigging, which nearly allowed the French squadron to escape.

Which Rules?

In brief, I liked both sets of rules, FDS and KMH. I think KMH are the more evocative of the period, but the recording limits the number of ships a player can handle. Between 8-10 ships, so whilst refighting Cape Ortegal is possible, they would not stretch to more significant engagements, although for clubs with several players aside, this is possible.

I will use KMH for the more minor engagements because of the extra flavour they bring to the gaming experience. FDS has a DBA feel and lends itself to the more significant battles. Then there is the slow burner among the rules I explored, GDA. These rules, like FDS, will come into their own in more significant clashes, so I plan to further playtest FDS and GDA, probably by replaying ‘Calder’s Action’.

Overall, whilst the genre might lack visually appealing rules, it makes up for it with some clever design mechanism that allows replaying the naval battles of the era as a commander rather than getting swamped by sail settings, etc.

Land Lubber

Nelson, Hornblower, Bothilo and Jack Aubrey are historical and fictional heroes from the Age of Sail. An era where a ship's captain took on a romantic demeanour, in many ways like a mediaeval knight, as his vessel ploughed the oceans in search of adventure and glory. Despite the apparent appeal of these heroes, naval wargaming has never achieved the attention of its land-based equivalents. Before starting this project, I had to learn more about this genre and the specialist maritime language.

Naval Gaming - The Learning Barrier

I have made several abortive attempts at naval gaming but have yet to overcome the learning barrier. Recently, Long Face Games' set of naval wargames rules has persuaded me to have another go. I decided on three periods. First, the classic Age of Sail and the nautical heroes it attracted. Second, the ancient period because I have a long-term project on the First Punic War. A conflict where naval engagements were critical to winning the land war. Last is World War II, something entirely outside my comfort zone, but I have recently read some books on the naval conflicts in the Mediterranean. A theatre of warfare I constantly return, whatever the period. However, the rest of this blog is about my entry into the Age of Sail, particularly from 1793-1816.

Scale

The aim was to focus on fleet and squadron actions in the period rather than individual ship actions. I am more interested in the problems of command than seamanship. I also wanted a tabletop game rather than a board game. This brought in the need for scale because my wargames table is 6’ x 4’, and sea battles could roam over miles of ocean. I, therefore, decided on 1:2400 and the range supplied by Magister Militium because of the breadth of its coverage. Tumbling Dice also produces nice ships, but these are larger than the Hallmark and GHQ ships marketed by Magister Militum.

Low Entry Cost

Assembling my starter fleets highlighted one of the advantages of naval wargaming—the low entry costs. The workhorse ship, for fleet actions, the 3rd Rate cost under seven pounds (2023 prices), and my first project to refight the Battle of Cape Ortegal involved eight 3rd Rates and 3 or 4 frigates. A total outlay of under £85 as the terrain was the open ocean, some blue cloth would suffice.

Rules

However, like all my projects, I buy many rule books before venturing into my first game. The rules I checked out were.

Grand Fleet Actions by Andrew Finch and Alan Butler, A & A Game Engineering

Far and Distant Ships by David Manley, Long Face Games

Fighting Sail by Ryan Miller, Osprey Publishing

Fire as She Bears by Phil C Fry, Starboard Tack Press

Kiss Me, Hardy, by Nic Skinner, Two Fat Lardies

This list needs to be completed; several rule sets mentioned in the gaming forums are not included because I wanted to keep to a tight budget.

Reading List

Barry (2017), Far Distant Ships: The Royal Navy and the Blockade of Breast 1793-1815.

Davey (2015), In Nelson's Wake; The Navy and the Napoleonic Wars.

Fremont-Barnes

Knight (2022), Convoys: The British Struggle Against the Napoleonic Empire.

Willis (2008), Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century.

Winfield (2005), The British Warfare in the Age of Sail (1793-1817).

Next Step.

The following blog looks at the rules, yes, more than one set, I plan to use in my refight of Cape Ortegal.

Workbench 2023

This blog is self-indulgent; it is just a list of the projects I hope to complete in 2023. However, it might give the reader inspiration or ideas for their games. Like most wargamers, I have long project lists, which I am always willing to add despite their minimal chances of reaching the table.

My Campaigns

My first group are those projects I started in 2022 and need to continue or complete. Overall, in 2022 I was better at getting games to the table and averaged about two games a month. I also started two campaigns. The first is a Fantastic Battles campaign, using my own campaign rules to fight the 2nd Shadow Wars. In 2023 I need to continue to develop the rules and move to the next campaign year as an Umbarji (Orc) civil war begins to brew. The second is my Pulp Alley campaign, Tomb of the Serpent, which has now moved to Cario as the heroes try to stop the ancient Egyptian god, Apophis. 

Strength & Honour and Lion Rampant

The other two ‘banker’ games are Strength & Honour and Lion Rampant. For the former, 2023 is the year of the phalanx, as I see how the rules deal with these hedgehogs of the ancient world. Initially, the focus was on Rome’s wars against Mithradates, but the aim was to run a 1st Punic War or Hellenistic campaign. Hopefully, Mark Backhouse will have completed his early Roman supplement to the game and coupled with my research; the campaign will be ready to play in 2024. For Lion Rampart, the first objective is to play the last battle of my Feud campaign before moving eastwards to play something from the Early Medieval period, including the twelfth-century Latin East (Outremer).

Two other projects are centred around games that use the Lion Rampart framework. The first employs the ‘The Men Who Would be King’ (TMWWBK) rules, where the idea is to follow the campaigns of Neil’s Blue Caps (The 1st Madras Fusiliers) during the Indian Mutiny/Rebellion. Most of the preparation has been done, so I should be able to play the first game in 2023. The second is to use the 'Xenos Rampant' game to fight an alternative WWII setting, where Dad’s Army takes on Cthulhu-led Third Reich. This is planned for the last quarter of my painting schedule goes to plan.

God’s Scale 2mm.

The next group of projects centres around the 2mm and can be briefly but inaccurately described as Black Powder games. I recently played the Napoleonic corp-level game, Blucher, using card markers, which I found very enjoyable. I am looking at some other divisional/operational rules, and the plan is to play several Peninsula War battles at both the corp (battle) and divisional levels. The first battle on the list is Vimeiro (1808). The second element of the 2mm adventure is the English Civil War and other conflicts from the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. I will use the Twilight Rules (Divine Right and the Sun King). The first game will be the Battle of Cheriton (1644), followed by Edgehill (1642). I am also reading about other battles of this era and may try something from the Thirty Years' War or the Great Northern War. One of the Twilight rules is that they are well served with historical battle scenarios.

Naval Wargaming

Naval wargaming is the third main area and a genre often ignored by landlubbers. I plan to use small scales to refight some classic naval actions. The adventure starts with the Age of Sail, with a refight of small engagements after Trafalgar, Cape Ortegal (1805). Ecnomus (256 BCE) will be the ancient venture which will link into my preparations for a1st Punic War or Hellenistic campaign. Last on the list is Cape Matapan (1941) from WWII, a period I have never played before. For each period, the starting point is the rules by Long Face Games.

Workbench

The last area is my workbench, where I have several skirmish games. This range from swashbuckling rules, ‘Flashing Steel’ to the Superhero genre employing Four Color Studios rules. I also want to try out 7TV rules and scenarios because of the excellent narrative element. The last pile on the list is some old Kickstarter board games I need to play or sell. What's familiar about all the games on the workbench, they involve a small number of figures and terrain, which I already have in my collection.
The Brown Book Initiative

Brown Books!

I love to write down ideas and how my thinking on a game develops. This motivates the blog, but I wanted something more spontaneous. So I bought some cheap brown notebooks and labelled them for each project under development. Each book will have my thoughts on the scale, rules, some research and how I plan a game or campaign. These will feed into this blog here, so there is more of a narrative between blogs.
Closing Remarks

Well, it's longer than I thought, and I have bitten off too much, but isn't that what all wargamers do? To this list, I have to add the new shiny rules and figures that appear in 2023, which will distract me in new directions. Already, I heard that the Two Fat Lardies are publishing a western gunslinger skirmish game; now that is a setting I have not tried!

Enjoy your gaming.