Having had so much fun with my paper ships from the Helion Trafalgar book I fancied something similar. When I spotted the Helion Spanish Armada book on Ebay for £6.49 I jumped in.
Monday 14 December 2020
Galleys and Galleons
Sunday 8 November 2020
Some old stuff.
Since I am still concentrating on the paper ships I thought I would post some old images that never got posted.
From 2015 some Bolt Action.
Some Conan from 2017.
And some Lion Rampant from 2017 with 15mm little mans.
Monday 2 November 2020
Fighting Sail-the old and the new.
When the esteemed blogger Archduke Piccolo asked me about the SPI Fighting Sail game from back in the day I fancied giving it a go.
It is rather tatty nowadays. A bit like meself.
The rulebook is clear but heavy going for me.
The scenario I played was the USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere. The game was okay but a bit dull for my taste, it was hard to solo due to the secret pre-planned move system.Here are the old and the new. The Osprey rules are designed for fleet actions as it states on the cover, while the SPI game is geared to smaller actions.
Saturday 31 October 2020
Fighting Sail - Action
A small Royal Navy fleet consisting of six Ships of the Line and a brace of frigates clash with a Spanish fleet of six Ships of the Line.
The British are led by Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood aboard his flagship Royal Sovereign while the Spanish have the huge Santisima Trinidad for their flagship.
A spot of long range gunnery starts the action.
As Bellerophon scores some hits upon San Juan.
And sails swiftly to close the range.
The Spanish have turned in towards the attacking British and look to cross some T's.
The San Francisco de Asis lines up the frigate Euryalus as an easy target but in doing so finds HMS Temeraire in position for a bow rake.San Francisco de Asis is forced to strike!. HMS Temeraire takes damage from the Spanish 1st rates in return.
But someone who isn't very good at Age of Sail games hasn't spotted the massive Santisima Trinidad...
A close range broadside from the biggest battleship in the world is not much fun and Bellerophon is forced to strike.
The Spanish 3rd rate San Juan Nepomuceno having escaped a stern rake from Billy Ruffian bravely grapples with Collingwoods Flagship and attempts to board her.
As the Spanish 1st rate Santa Ana tries to rake HMS Neptune she takes a fearsome broadside from HMS Prince.
The Santisima Trinidad and Rayo unleash their broadsides on Prince, the horrendous carnage taking her out of the battle.
The fierce fighting continues down the line and it is the good discipline of the British that keeps them in the fight.
The larger complement of the British flagship eventually get the better of their brave opponents and San Juan Nepomuceno is taken as a prize!.
The 1st rate HMS Britannia is in prime position to rake the Spanish flagship with a devastating broadside. The Santisima Trinidad strikes her colours and the Royal Navy get a narrow and hard won victory.
A smashing game was had by Paul and while my sailing skills are abysmal it all added to the narrative.