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Played my first game of Sails of Glory today. It was just the basic game with four ships total. I went a little overboard (lol) on the kickstarter and got a giant mouse pad / play mat. I played the French ship of the line Genereaux and the frigate Courageuse. My opponent played the HMS Vanguard and HMS Terpischore. Neither of us were good admirals and basically circled eachother until the frigates were both sunk. Then, I broke off "reaching" away. The battle continued but luck of the draw and poor captaining proved the death of the French for this engagement. I am TERRIBLE at games but I love the toys and these are what we boys dreamed of a long long LONG time ago.

Speaking of "long ago"... While I was waiting for the kickstarter rewards, I bought XWing. This game will inevitably be compared to Xwing because of the simultaneous mechanic. This game is substantially more complex however and will raise some pretty intriguing tactical questions about the age of sail. You historical gamers will like this game. I think you'll find that it's a pretty fun distraction from what I bet y'all consider more serious table-top infantry/artillery gaming. But these naval games I think predate HG Wells "Little Wars", and with no decent competition on the market I think this will be a hit. I was a big backer ($250) and got a total of 16 ships, basic game, mat, extra counters, and costal defenses so I was pretty stoked about the Kickstarter. I don't know how good the maneuvers compare tithe actual ships and attitude to the wind, but the amount of planning involved with the standard and advanced rules will add a lot of depth. You have to issue orders 2 turns ahead! The grappling problem that plagued "wooden ships and iron men" is relegated to advanced and optional rules with the ability to break away once entangled. My opponents previous experience w this game made him hesitant. He liked it though I think.

Pros:
- Scalable Rules w increased depth added as needed
- prepainted minis
- 2 options per mini
- historical accuracy

Cons:
- the rule book is stapled, and I would've prefered perfect bound
- I would've liked some historical info about each of the ships and other tactical stuff. Maybe personality profiles? Horatio Nelson or others. Just would add some flavor IMO.
- the graphics are all in color and I found no type-o's or anything wrong with the content, but the ship mat's design makes them slightly fragile. Not a big deal for most careful historical folks but my butter fingers bent one when I was taking the counters out. No biggie.

Overall, I like it. I predict it will be Ares Games biggest seller. It's just so über classic (age of sail war gaming). I was looking on their website and they also have a war of the ring board game that kinda looks like axis and allies... So... That could be fun. Ok that's it! Hope someone will play with me in this neck of the woods!

$250 is a good deal for the amount of ready assembled and painted ships. Making Napoleonic ships in 1/1200 scale (the usual model scale) is a huge PITA.

Do they sell the ships separately?

I suspect they will. As it is a kickstarter I can't say for sure but the giant box that I recieved on Christmas Eve contained several separate ships that would be packaged for independent sale. They come in a cardboard box with a tab to hang from a hook or post. I'll try to get some pics up soon and a battle report.

Being pretty rural here, I was pleased that there are some solo play scenerios where you have to navigate through a reef and attack ships at anchor in a harbor and another with a sea bombardment of shore batteries.

Cutting out expeditions and attacking batteries were common operations, and it is a good idea to make them solo games given that the defending side doesn't manoeuvre.

Sounds fun. I will keep my eyes out for this.

Hey folks here's the video link on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clLxysCO6nQ&feature=em-upload_owner&noredirect=1

It looks really good. Now I regret not signing up for the Kickstarter.

It seems they will be coming to the UK but they are going to be F expensive.

http://www.365games.co.uk/search/sails/sort-relevance