Mini Ship Gaming

With my recent order to Waterloo Minis, I added a sampling of the Langton War of 1812 ships:




Here we have a pair of schooners that could be used for either faction on the Great Lakes.  Each model is comprised of five cast pieces - hull and masts - and a set of photo-etch sails.  Beautifully cast in the Langton manner, and oh my, are they small.  Each square on the grid in the pics is ¼" (6.35mm) - the hulls are less than 1" (25mm) in length.

The second pair of miniatures for my Anglo-Dutch naval project recently arrived.  These ships are Langton, and they were purchased through Waterloo Minis:



This is Langton AD8, a British 4th Rate vessel, 48-56 guns.  13 pieces total.  I decided to try cast sails for this batch, just to see how much difference there will be in assembly compared to the photo-etch variety, plus they were a bit less expensive.  Beautifully detailed, as one would expect from Langton.






This is Langton AD14, a Dutch 4th Rate of 46 guns.  Again, 13 pieces make up this model, and again beautifully detailed.  It is interesting to note the size difference between the two 4th rates - the British ships are a fair amount larger than their Dutch counterparts.


The easy part is now complete!  Next is to figure out basing and rigging essentials, as I want to have all of the supplies present before I start any assembly.

This is the start of my newest naval project; just a pair of ships but I find it to be very daunting.  The rigging of these ships will be the hard part for me to overcome!


Here is the first step - a pair of lovely 3rd rates in 1/1200 scale from Langton.  (Edit:  purchased from Waterloo Miniatures)  (and the ratlines are sold separately!).

Inside the box one will find:


Above are the parts for the Dutch 3rd rate (Langton AD19).  The hull is three pieces, while the masts and sails comprise a total of 15 pieces.  All of the wonderful details that one expects from a Langton miniature are here.





The parts of the English kit (Langton AD9) are similar.

Please note that these miniatures are not very large.  The pics above are on a ¼" (6.35 mm) grid.  The hulls are less than 2" (51mm) long overall.

After a multitude of delays, from holidays to a pronounced avoidance of the painting table, a small measure of progress has been made.  Here is a pic:


This is the assembled Figurehead small English squadron for the Armada period, in 1/2400 scale.  These vessels are not very large - those bases are 40mm long and 20mm wide!  But, for small miniatures they are very nice.

Here are some close-ups:


The largest ships are these:  FR30 Race built galleons, based on Ark Royal.  One can see that there is a good amount of detail, including flags from each mast.  These miniatures are three-piece kits, with the fore and main masts being separate from the hull.




The other two large galleons are:  FR31, based on Revenge.  These are also three piece miniatures.




Here are three of the six small galleons (FR32).  This pic only shows three, as I had misplaced the other pack until just before the squadron pic was taken.  In contrast to the larger galleons, these smaller galleons are one piece castings, making assembly just a matter of removing a small amount of flash and making sure the bottom of the hull is flat.



Last but not least:


This is pack FR34, showing a large pinnace (left) and a galleass (right).  One piece castings, these small ships still have a lot of detail.


Unfortunately, my slow pace of assembly/painting means that the next game of Galleys & Galleons will use the counters again...

Last weekend, my lovely wife and I sat down to give Galleys & Galleons, the renaissance-era naval rules now in playtest, a go.  You will need to forgive the pics, as I do not have miniatures painted up, and I forgot to get my blue felt out for an appropriate backdrop!


This pic was taken after the full first turn.  The table is roughly 3 feet square, and we are using counters out of the Close Action game by Clash of Arms.  We kept details simple for this first game - 3 galleons each, with equal stats.  My wife is closing fast, as she rolled very aggressively (and well) throughout the game.  At this point, two of my ships are in irons - i.e. pointed into the wind.  It is an omen of things to come!



A few more turns in, and I am trying to shake my squadron back into a line.  My ships are taking damage, and Little Miss Horatio Nelson is about to break my line!



Even though one of her ships is out of contact, things are not looking good for me.  Yes, that ship of mine got raked and will strike its colors in the next turn, and the one on the right side is about to get raked, catch fire, and explode (!) in the next turn.



Here is the next to last turn - my last ship is trying to get off the board. She agreed that if my last ship could sail off the table, that it would escape as my wife's ships would need to return and claim the surrendered vessel.  Fortunately for me, my last vessel escaped...


So far, the verdict on the rules is quite favorable.  Even my lovely wife enjoys them, and she is a hard sell on sailing ship games.

As I would rather play with miniatures than counters:


Here is the start of a fleet of Figurehead 1/2400 ships on the workbench.  The bases are just temporary until I can order some better ones.

It has been a little quiet here at this mini-shipyard, so as an aid to get back into gear I'm listing the current naval projects:

1. 1/2400 Armada - The discovery of some long-lost Hallmark ships was a pleasant surprise, but I have not done anything else to them since. The two small squadron packs contain plenty of ships for now, but I am thinking of spicing them up a bit. I discovered just the trick for that - Tiny Tin Troops has a set of flags for Armada-era ships, so that has been placed on the To-Buy list. After that, just some paint and a set of rules then I'm set!

2. 1/2400 Ironclads - Ten Italian ironclads have been mostly finished, and there are 8 Austrian ships - 5 armored, 3 unarmored - waiting. I'm hoping to try a variant of DBSA to start once some Austrians are done.

3. 1/3000 WW1 - Still work to be done on these Baltic squadrons. Rurik and Novik are still not finished, and most of the German ships are only partially complete. These, however, have been stashed away since my recent move, but just a smidge of work would get this project afloat. DBSA will be the starter rules for this project as well.


And now for the 'other' naval projects I have been puttering around with lately:

4. 1/600 Tékumel naval - Fantasy gaming in the world of M.A.R. Barker - follow this link for a little bit of info.

5. 1/1200 Half-Continent naval - Also known as Monster Blood Tattoo or The Foundling's Tale, this set of novels details a blend of the fantastic with alchemy and the 18th-century. More information on my take of the story here.


Apologies for the lack of pics, and thanks for all the votes and comments on the previous post!

Far too slowly, but it is finally done - the hobby table is set up for business: