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Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

That is also stupid rare and expensive.
I wasn't going to mention it because adding a £200 vintage model as bitz for conversion is generally a bad idea.

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in de
Dakka Veteran





The GW Dwarven Flame Cannon has a certain fantasy charm to it with the stylized muzzle. You can, but do not have to, use it as a regular cannon. Although it is a bit large.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/07/20 08:02:21


Rick, the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/ 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

It would be a questionable fit on the Stygian barge anyway.

I would go with an stl variant of the screaming skull catapult. You can replace the grill on the bow with the turntable and thus have the mount removable.

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in gb
Stubborn Dark Angels Veteran Sergeant





Teesside

Impact Miniatures have some licensed versions of some very old school artillery, including an undead catapult... I picked my one up from their Kickstarter but it's for retail sale here:

https://www.impactminiatures.com/index.php?option=heartbreaker_profile&id=HB_ARTL

My painting & modelling blog: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/699224.page

Serpent King Games: Dragon Warriors Reborn!
http://serpentking.com/

 
   
Made in us
Dangerous Outrider




Baltimore, MD USA

I will finally get to assemble my Reaper ship this weekend. Will post some pics when i do.
   
Made in us
Dangerous Outrider




Baltimore, MD USA

I assembled my Sophie’s revenge… though am thinking of calling her “Witchcraft”…

some thoughts.

fairly easy assembly… but…

hatches… any hatch cover that has something above it, is hard to fit, and has to be in a “half open” state as it can’t full open… so I did not add all the hatches…

cannons… the cannons themselves are pretty cool… but… you can’t put them on both sides of the gun deck… you have to remove the upper deck to put the cannons, as they won’t fit just though the hatches. So to get them In to the gun hatches you have to tilt the ship and squeeze them in… you can’t do this to both sides as one side would always have to be elevated.

this is why all 20 cannons are on my upper decks.

here are some photos. One with Sir pug-scale… (Zoey) who is 15…
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/07/24 18:15:06


 
   
Made in de
Dakka Veteran





Thanks for sharing the photos and your experience with it. She is a beautiful ship.

Looks like stern chasers, fore and aft, were not a consideration of the shipwright when her keel was laid.

I am a bit confused why you were not able to put the cannon in the lower deck gun ports. I have reread what you have written several times and I just can not get my head around the problem.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/07/24 18:50:09


Rick, the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/ 
   
Made in us
Dangerous Outrider




Baltimore, MD USA

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:

I am a bit confused why you were not able to put the cannon in the lower deck gun ports. I have reread what you have written several times and I just can not get my head around the problem.


The Gun deck is flat, no walls. The walls are provided by the deck above it which is removed to access the gun deck. The cannons, can all fit in the interior of the gun deck, but will not be in a firing position out the gun ports.

To get the cannons sticking out the gun ports, you have to tilt the upper deck (as you cant access the gun deck while the upper deck is attached). By tilting the upper deck, you can maneuver the cannons on one side to be slightly elevated but sticking through the gun ports on the side that is tilted. But the gun ports on the other side are now(because of the tilting) too high to be able to put that sides cannons as well. You can put that side down, and try to repeat the process on the otherside... but the cannons you already arranged will now be elevated and knocked out of place.

I will try and take some pics to show what I mean

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This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/07/24 19:30:51


 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

 Smokestack wrote:
I assembled my Sophie’s revenge… though am thinking of calling her “Witchcraft”…


Call her the "Crusher"



Stand on that poop deck in battle, you will know why. The ropes on cannon were to cope with the huge recoil, and allowed the cannon to buck, but only so far. Crew injuries were common, you cannot tightly pack cannon, if you want to arm the poop deck, and there is no reason why you wouldn't consider it, add swivel guns or uncategorised man portable small cannon with negligible recoil, like a 3pdr.

 Smokestack wrote:


fairly easy assembly…


Not easy enough landlubber.


 Smokestack wrote:

but…

hatches… any hatch cover that has something above it, is hard to fit, and has to be in a “half open” state as it can’t full open… so I did not add all the hatches…


I can explain this one. You have been very unkind to your Sophie and installed her gun ports back to front. Now tell her you are sorry.



Reaper stock image. You got the masts right though, Reaper are worse landlubbers than you.

 Smokestack wrote:

cannons… the cannons themselves are pretty cool… but… you can’t put them on both sides of the gun deck… you have to remove the upper deck to put the cannons, as they won’t fit just though the hatches. So to get them In to the gun hatches you have to tilt the ship and squeeze them in… you can’t do this to both sides as one side would always have to be elevated.


This is something I have sympathy with. Sophie is a fine ship, but Reaper seperated the decks at the wrong place. I will be taking a long look at mine to see if there is merit in cuting both the main deck and the quarterdeck free from the hull timbers and glue hull timber to the deck below. I will not seperate the poop deck as the elevated space is not actually usable but confers a taller ceiling to the great cabin.

 Smokestack wrote:

this is why all 20 cannons are on my upper decks.


and is why the captain has not one but two peg legs.

 Smokestack wrote:

One with Sir pug-scale… (Zoey) who is 15...


Adorably ugly in a way only a pug can be.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:
Thanks for sharing the photos and your experience with it. She is a beautiful ship.


I cant wait for mine.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:

Looks like stern chasers, fore and aft, were not a consideration of the shipwright when her keel was laid.


Actually less of a consideration than it might appear. the pros is one place where you might find a freely positioned deck gun, in earlier centuries this would be a place for a long range culverin for a stern chase. But in reality that was just a waste of ammo. Later years would have a carronade on the prow, with a good traverse of fire.

Stern chasers were also from an earlier age. This is not a flush decked ship but it is not especially tall either. Sophie is no galleon. There is no room for a forecastle with permanent bow chasers, or a tall stern with room for sterm chasers. You could add some to the gun deck but it is a very bad idea, low prow gunports are just unpleasant, and low stern gun ports are just impractical. You need elevation to mount long range chase guns.

However the real issue is that there is room on a ship of Sophies kind, but sadly not this model for a pair of stern chasers. The gun ports are staring you in the face.

Spoiler:
There you go.



Due to the vulnerability of glazed windows in a combat situation the great cabin would be cleared of all furniture and the window frames would be removed. Also the wood panelling between the great cabin and the rest of tghe guin deck would be removed. All would be stored in the ships hold. Cannon would be rolled through into the great cabin to place additional two guns to the broadside, four on larger ships. These guns could easily be redirected as stern chasers. Each gun deck will have a similar cabin or wardroom, so a 1st or 2nd rate warship could redirect a dozen guns into stern chasers if it needed to retreat from battle, far more than any chasing ship could mount as prow armament. This is why trying to run down a battleship was a bad idea.

Sophie's stern is fully armed and operational. You will just have to indicate that in play by laying two cannon against the stern windows,rthough active play with the gun positioning is only possible if the play surface have walls that are are deck rather than ceiling fastened.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:

I am a bit confused why you were not able to put the cannon in the lower deck gun ports. I have reread what you have written several times and I just can not get my head around the problem.


Imagine Dungeons & Lasers sets except where the walls were attached to the ceiling and not the floor. Not quite as useful now!

Edit. As I was typing this was demonstrated ably by Smokestack.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2021/07/24 20:10:04


n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in us
Dangerous Outrider




Baltimore, MD USA

You were right. I went back and fixed them... well most of them. There are 3 that were too tight to get in...
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

 Smokestack wrote:
You were right. I went back and fixed them... well most of them. There are 3 that were too tight to get in...


Use tweezers to loosen the connection perhaps.

As you have fitted them twice once they are all the right way around would leave them in now, and undercoat and paint them in place. Open the portholes before you spray and give each one a little wiggle with a cocktail stick immediately afterwards.

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in de
Dakka Veteran





As always, thanks for the information Orlanth. I knew about the stern cabin breakdown but for some reason forgot about that due to focusing on the model of Sophie's Revenge.

The deck/cannon issue makes sense now. I completely did not take into account that the hull walls were attached to the upper not lower deck. It is one of those things that I have seen in Reaper videos but completely did not consider the effect of. Seems the model lacked proper play testing.

Awkward though it would be, could you remove the cannon barrels, glue the carriages down, put the deck and walls down and then reinsert the barrels?

Rick, the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/ 
   
Made in us
Dangerous Outrider




Baltimore, MD USA

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:

Awkward though it would be, could you remove the cannon barrels, glue the carriages down, put the deck and walls down and then reinsert the barrels?


Its possible... but.. the Barrel of the cannon is pretty long, the carriage part base would hit the side of the wall, but the connection point that lines up with the barrell is a little bit back, so might be awkward lining up blind. But it does seem possible...

Not for me... as the first thing i did was glue the cannons together...

Another possibility is tying a string around each assembled cannon's barrel... place the cannons on the gun deck and pull the string through the gun ports... Fix the upper deck in place then pull the cannons in to position... seems like a lot of effort, but I may do this.
   
Made in de
Dakka Veteran





I wonder if that is why Reaper was only going to include 10 cannon at one point.

Seems like a real headache, so most likely I will just not “run out the guns” when it is all together and only put the gun deck cannons on when playing with the upper deck off, ie during a boarding action.

Rick, the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/ 
   
Made in us
Focused Fire Warrior




Les Etats Unis

Does anyone have suggestions for places to learn more about naval/shipmaking terminology, as well as the Age of Sail/Piracy in general? I've recently taken an interest in the subject, but I'm not too sure where to go next. Recommendations for good pieces of media in the genre would also be appreciated!

Dudeface wrote:
 Eldarain wrote:
Is there another game where players consistently blame each other for the failings of the creator?

If you want to get existential, life for some.
 
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

Someone did an update of the chaos dwarf cannon but I can't remember who

 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:


Awkward though it would be, could you remove the cannon barrels, glue the carriages down, put the deck and walls down and then reinsert the barrels?


If you did that you will never be able to open the decks, it would be a screaming waste.

You could also glue the cannon to the hull, so they lift off with the main deck, but while that would free the space you couldnt interact with it. Both options mandate having a ship with gun ports open despite having moving gun ports and separate cannon.

I think the only solution that frees up the space for active play it to separate the main deck from the hull piece below it. This will likely cause structural problems for the model, but they can be resolved with supports on the deck below. I will continue the masts down through the gun deck to the base of the model, that will provide a lot of structural support. Hull ribbing with magnets or dry pins can fix the hull timbers to the underside of the main deck.

Also this would require a careful review of the mode. Smokestack, can you picture the two deck pieces side by side, no masts or other items, then show them both again with the main deck upside down.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Flipsiders wrote:
Does anyone have suggestions for places to learn more about naval/shipmaking terminology, as well as the Age of Sail/Piracy in general? I've recently taken an interest in the subject, but I'm not too sure where to go next. Recommendations for good pieces of media in the genre would also be appreciated!


I can give you some pointers to start. Frankly I think you would be better just looking at cutaway diagrams of ships rather than trawling through a book.

https://www.navalanalyses.com/2015/10/infographics-18-age-of-sail-warships.html

Let the above sink in for , rapid download primer on Age of Sail warships.

Next claim this link:

https://threedecks.org/index.php

This resource is a database of all commonly known age of sail vessels collated from original reports, plans etc. I cannot guarantee its completion and much of the information will be of no use to us, but it gives strong indication of progression of scaling.

Some useful wiki pages

Sail plan - Basic information on the types of sail arrangement technologies for crude identification.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail_plan

Fully rigged ship - The primary rigging system for a later age of sail warship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-rigged_ship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_rig

How to use them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_ship_tactics

The naval rating system, as employed by the Royal Navy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rating_system_of_the_Royal_Navy
Useful for ratios of warship classes. Different nations would have different systems but a vessel is commonly identified by how the RN Admiralty would identify it. This is practical as the RN had employed the greatest number and variety of prize vessels, and these definitions persist today.
This would also work for plausible non historical ships. Should a RN officer see Sophie in his eyepiece he might estimate her as a 5th/6th Rate frigate and note such in the log. Should she be taken as a prize she would enter either category based on armament. Her size would strongly point her to being a 5th Rate if main deck armament was included, or a 6th Rate otherwise.

These three instructional videos give a primer on how to sail a large fully rigged sailing vessel. The below would apply to any multiple mast vessels with square rigs and is entirely relevant then as now.
Basic sailing of a full rig ship


Turning your ship under unfavourable winds





All the above could be and would be undertaken while engaged in active combat.
All sailing would be handled by the Sailing Master, an officer outside the chain of command, who would give orders to rigging crew for each stage in a manoeuver. The Captain would then be able to concentrate on speed and heading and fighting the ship.
On an active warship the Captain would also give direction via his officers to the Gunner (a ship would have one gunner, or one per deck) who would calculate trajectory of shot and order the cannon to fire. Anyone wishing to pass an Leiutenants examination* must be able to operate as ships Gunner and Sailing Master both, but do not occupy either role. Both Sailing Master and Gunner were often non commissioned veteran crewmen.

Some game reviews. I have listed two that give a creditable nod to realism in game physics and capabilities or real vessels - though only up to a point. Though in fairness anything other than a top down command simulation will likely involve compressed time and quality of play features. Especially if you want to RPG an age of sail game, unless you want the players to be twiddling thumbs in port for several months after every naval engagement, so expect 'healing surges' (by another name).







This should do . You could instead read some long books, and will be better off as the period is well documented and the above will not give you the mentality, only a documented eye witness account will.



* You could buy a commission in the Army, you could not buy a commission in the Navy. The nobility tended to gravitate towards army command roles, which was also better for handling domestic order. Middle classes gravitated towards the Navy as it allowed promotion based on merit.
As for pirates, most operated under a democratic system. Pirates elected their captain and could vote one off if he overly risked the crew or failed to provide booty, which was divvied under a share system.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/07/28 09:14:40


n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in gb
Stubborn Dark Angels Veteran Sergeant





Teesside

For pirate facts, I really rate the Osprey Men-At-Arms pirates books, as for most wargaming purposes. They have a Golden Age of Piracy one which will cover most of your needs:

https://ospreypublishing.com/pirates-1660-1730

There's a novel called Long John Silver that's a fun sequel to Treasure Island, written by a sailor, that has a rep for being well-researched and is definitely huge fun... might be worth a look if you're after more pirate culture stuff rather than arms and armour.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410721.Long_John_Silver?rating=1

And Black Sails (TV) is pretty accurate for pirate culture and history, though I've little idea as to whether the sailing stuff is right.

My painting & modelling blog: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/699224.page

Serpent King Games: Dragon Warriors Reborn!
http://serpentking.com/

 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

I am super excited right now. Just received my shipping notification for Bones 5. My Sophie is on her way.

Now I am determined to free the hull from the main deck, and also free the quarterdeck and poop deck as one unit from the stern upper.

I am equally determined not to mess this up, it sounds like a scary job as I could quite easily ruin my Sophie. I will be examining the model in detail before I begin.

Now it is my turn to ask some advice. I want to separate the deck with minimum damage, I dont know if that means a fine knife or a razor saw.
Anyone know more?

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in us
Using Inks and Washes





San Francisco, CA

Hoo boy. You'll want to take a good, hard look before you chop it up. It's THICC.

Maybe a fresh exacto (ie, thin) blade on a recently boiled (you're gonna need a bigger pot!) model? Wearing crazy gloves because the model will need to be hot to make it easy enough to do. You'll probably need more than one blade.

Anything with a serrated blade would chew up the plastic too much, making a rough edge, and very hard to put back together again, I think...

The thing is so large, I just can't see doing this easily. Bit of a bummer, but I've made peace that the guns will be "imaginary" below decks, and that it's more for gameplay than any semblance of accuracy...

I play...

Sigh.

Who am I kidding? I only paint these days... 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

I know this isn't going to be easy. Will see if it is doable after tomorrow.

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in us
Using Inks and Washes





San Francisco, CA

Post pics or blog how it goes if you don't mind, I'd be very curious to hear what you're able to do

I play...

Sigh.

Who am I kidding? I only paint these days... 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

Sadly I have no camera, and there will be delays.

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in de
Dakka Veteran





Sorry, Orlanth I was not clear. My suggestion for a possible option to glue the carriages was based on the idea of not gluing the barrels, so they would be removable to allow the deck to be removed as well as allow gun port covers to open and close.

But ultimately I think this is more work than worth the effort.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/07/30 06:14:17


Rick, the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/ 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:
Sorry, Orlanth I was not clear. My suggestion for a possible option to glue the carriages was based on the idea of not gluing the barrels, so they would be removable to allow the deck to be removed as well as allow gun port covers to open and close.

But ultimately I think this is more work than worth the effort.


You cant easily switch action between decks this way and will either have to split the ship or keep it whole in display with long transitions between. However you could do so with the gun barrels off and the gun ports closed for optical benefits, and then reattach the guns post play.

Maybe this is what Reaper intended. First thing I will do for you when my Sophie arrives (today!!) is test the cannon and see if the barrels stay in unglued.

If you do this you will need to carefully pencil mark the position of each gun port on the gun deck hull rim, and use wood glue to glue down the first gun. so it stays in place while assembling the main deck, but is easy to adjust. Once that is correct glue the gun next to it correctly and work down the deck. You will have no choice but to glue down the guns on a gun deck as you will not be able to slot in barrels unless the guns were secure point to apply pressure.

It sounds workable but clumsy, so I will be looking at cutting the deck instead,

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







My package hasn't moved at all in the 7 days since I got my shipping notification.

Posters on ignore list: 36

40k Potica Edition - 40k patch with reactions, suppression and all that good stuff. Feedback thread here.

Gangs of Nu Ork - Necromunda / Gorkamorka expansion supporting all faction. Feedback thread here
   
Made in de
Dakka Veteran





My plan at this point is to just leave the gun deck cannon off until I need to access the gun deck for a boarding action or something.

Rick, the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/ 
   
Made in us
Dangerous Outrider




Baltimore, MD USA

So, not an ideal solution, but this was posted on the reaper forum.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:807498

I can probably make something similar with mantic square bases and some reaper canon barrels... Not sure if i want to go this direction yet though.
   
Made in us
Dangerous Outrider




Baltimore, MD USA

Raise the Black posted some layout pics for the sprues of the Bermuda Sloop ship.

"With everything in mind, we are currently expecting Raise the Black to start shipping to backers in January 2022."

and

"The Pledge Manager will close on October 30th."
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[Thumb - 2.png]

[Thumb - 3.png]

[Thumb - 4.png]

   
Made in us
Using Inks and Washes





San Francisco, CA

Super stoked about that Blood and Plunder starter set, all in HIPS! Maybe the two sloops could give Sophie a run for her money?

Unlikely

I play...

Sigh.

Who am I kidding? I only paint these days... 
   
 
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