Sea Wars Fleet Actions

I've been hunting for a copy of these rules for years, as they are out of print and usually quite over priced, but I've tracked down a copy in good nick for a reasonable price tag. I played a game with these rules many years ago and really liked them, as they played at pace but without a loss of detail and historical depth, and with the potential to handle scenarios involving a significant number of ships. I'm looking forward to reading them through and perhaps trying them out for a play test game or two over the holidays. 

2mm ECW Royalist Cornish Regiments

Now that I'm in the final stretch with the Aeroclub Bristol Scout, I've organised the remaining bases of the Cornish Royalist army into something more specific. I've been itching to get on with this project, as I want to complete the Royalist forces for the solo OHW campaign before the holidays in about four weeks time.

These include three stands with large pike and shot blocks to represent the larger regiments of Sir Bevil Grenville, Lord Mohun and Colonel William Godolphin. A base with three smaller pike and shot stands is also included to represent the smaller, under strength regiment of Colonel John Trevanion. 

To complete the infantry there's a final base of four smaller size pike and shot stands to represent a regiment of the Cornish Trained Bands, although I'm thinking of changing that to something that looks a bit more pike heavy. The cavalry base is Colonel John Digby's Horse, for which I've used figures in helmets for a change. 

I've also glued up a base of artillery, which is a bit of overkill as there were limited use of ordnance in the 1642-43 campaign, but I thought 'why not?'. I could add a couple more infantry bases but, together with the ones I've already painted, this will give me ten bases in total, so more than enough for a One Hour Wargame battle.

Aeroclub Bristol Scout Update

I'm slowly getting there with the Aeroclub Bristol Scout kit, with the upper wing now glued in position to prevent the fragile interplane struts from getting damaged, which has happened a couple of times during the building stages. I am now going to attempt the cabane struts, which will be a very tricky job, so I'll need to tackle them when I have some time. If that goes according to plan it's just the rudder, wheels and propeller to glue in place and it will be sorted. Fingers crossed.

Bag the Hun Stalin's Eagles club game

2mm ECW Project Reading

This should be a really useful guide for the regiments of the Cornish Royalist army in 1642-43, which is very much the focus of my 2mm One Hour Wargame project. It was reduced by 33% which meant that my pocket money could stretch to cover the cost, without taking too much of a dent to the wallet. 

2mm ECW Royalist Artillery

I've been up to other things this weekend as far as painting goes but squeezed in this test base of artillery for the One Hour Wargame solo project late this afternoon. It's difficult to make much of the castings as the figures are blobs, even though the guns are nicely sculpted. I debated about labelling these as sakers or drakes but just went with artillery as a catch all title. I'm going to crack on with some more pike and shot regiments next as the core of the Royalist Cornish army.

Aeroclub Bristol Scout Kit Update

I've made good progress with the old limited run Aeroclub Bristol Scout kit over the last couple of days, with the fuselage and upper wing painted, ready for the final assembly stage. I've learned not to count my chickens when it comes to this last bit, which has a tendency to go horribly wrong if you're not careful, so I won't tempt fate and say it's nearly completed. I've had enough of it today, so will leave the kit until mid-week when I will have time to glue it all together.

Bag the Hun Nonomhan Flight Stands

I got round to scratch building a load of flight stands for Bag the Hun today, designed to complement the hex mat that I got for Xmas last year, which gives you some idea of how long that job has been hanging around. They're nothing special and not quite right but will do the job, with a double dice frame to show altitude in blue and aircraft identity in red, green, yellow or white. It's a simple and cheap way to make it easier to track which aircraft is which  and to keep a handle on positioning. Tally Ho!

Bag the Hun Club Game?

It looks like I 'might' have a two player game of Bag the Hun to run at the club next week. If so, I'm going to set up the Stalin's Eagles scenario from the Red Star Rampant article in the 2021 Lard Mag. This is a good one as it has evenly matched Japanese and Soviet forces and lots of character cards for added fun. It's also one that I have all the cards, sheets and models ready to use, so minimal effort required. I might even get to use my nice new hex mat. Banzai!

Knights of the Sky BE2c Sheet

The Knights of the Sky game in a couple of weeks features two or three BE2c aircraft so I thought it would be handy to modify a generic two seater record sheet to fit. About five minutes work so no big deal, although it does add a bit of historical detail for the players piloting the much maligned 'Fokker Fodder". 

Aeroclub Bristol Scout Kit Bash

Much to my surprise the kit assembly of the Aeroclub Bristol Scout has gone fairly smoothly today, although the really tricky bit is yet to come when I have to attach the upper wing. Before that I will need to paint the fuselage and wing sections that I've constructed, as well as the small parts which include an offset Lewis Gun mounting, the propeller and the wheels. I've had enough of it today, however, so will do that all at the weekend.

Knights of the Sky Bristol Scout Sheet

I spent half a hour yesterday working up a record sheet for the Bristol Scout in Knights of the Sky, using the Airco DH2 as a template, given its comparable performance and armament. The end result looks like it will do the job after a few tweaks and the addition of some background blurb, so I now need to crack on and build the old Aeroclub kit. It will be a bit hairy raising, being fairly basic and mixed media, but I am thinking of a few shortcuts to make it less problematic, including using a surplus Sopwith Camel for various useful bits. Tally Ho!

2mm ECW Royalist Regiment of Horse

I painted a 2mm English Civil War regiment of horse today for the One Hour Wargame project. This was a bit more fiddly than the pike and shot regiment I painted at the weekend but I think it came out looking okay. This was very much a test piece, which is why it took me longer than I'd expect, but I think I'm getting my method sorted so will be able to speed up when I tackle the rest of the Cornish Royalist army.

Boarding in Broadside and Ram

There are no rules for boarding actions in Broadside and Ram, which came up as a thing in the game last night, so I have roughed out a possible system.

A ship will need a boarding factor (BF) which is calculated by taking the crew complement, dividing it by 100, halving the result then rounding up to a minimum of 1. For example, HMS Agincourt, with a very large crew works out this: 800 ÷ 100 = 8 ÷ 2 = 4.

To board, two ships must be in base to base contact. The boarding step takes place after ramming / collision step in the sequence of play. I did think about making boarding only possible after a ramming attack, as this would mean the two ships would be locked together, which is the only time it would conceivably take place.

To resolve boarding, the ship that is in its active phase (the attacker) and the defending ship both roll a D6 and add their ship's BF. This is modified by -1 if damaged, -2 if silenced and -3 if crippled (shattered ships cannot board but may be boarded unopposed if desired). The final total is reduced to a minimum value of 0. The winner with the greater total number wins the boarding action. 

If there is a draw the action will carry on in the next phase or turn, in which case counter boarding will be attempted by the defender. Neither ship may disengage, move or fire while a boarding action is underway, just to keep things simple.

After a successful boarding action, when a ship has been captured, a prize crew will take over the ship. This prize crew cannot use the captured vessel in combat but may conduct movement actions as an independent vessel, unless it subsequently attaches itself to a division. If the prize ship is boarded, the prize crew has a BF of half the of original crew BF rating. The ship from which the prize crew is drawn will also have it's BF halved for the rest of the game.

If a prize is recaptured it will move as an independent ship until it can rejoin a division. It may move, fire and manoeuvre normally, subject to existing damage. However, its BF will be halved due to crew casualties in the preceding boarding action for the remainder of the game.

I'm not sure this will work but it's worth a try out. I've tried to keep it simple but also to mirror the existing mechanics of the rules, while taking account of the possible outcomes in an actual game. I'd be interested to hear your opinions and suggestions. 

Broadside and Ram Club Game Photos

A very enjoyable game of Broadside and Ram at the club tonight. It was a pretty close game until the last few turns, when the Royal Navy managed to cripple or shatter enough of the French fleet to gain an upper hand. Good fun!

2mm ECW Woodland Terrain

 

I'm starting to look at terrain for the 2mm ECW project and cane across these resin woodland sections from Battlescale Miniatures. They are just what I'm looking for, even if I can probably scratch build something similar using bobble bath mats or scenic foam. Very nifty!

https://battlescale.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGgWoZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHW_4-eN0bVCeEeBdaQw3NSwqmqPHwzyKBTfK7DqLy1n0u9nhv5Vv9WcNKA_aem_a-MMZxBPG3ynTtNB7PeKxw