French Sea-Wolves (Part II of III)

The French Formation Turns:

The French fleet (ahem, OK their two ship squadron) turns in succession (see below):

The British suffer 'lost sails' which makes an already  tactically challenging situation with an unfavourable "weather gauge" even more challenging (see below):

The Gun Fight Continues: 

The French have scored early hits. The British however do at last get a telling reply in from their 100 gun broadside and French sails come crashing down (see below):

The alternating shots (as the French fire 'every other go') from the French Squadron at least give them continuous fire (see below):

The Royal Navy are suffering. The expected devastating broadside of the 100 gunner is not manifesting itself as the Death Star it was expected to be. In fact the British gunners are statistically "missing" more than expected. The lead French ship is taking hits and her compatriot is bunching up to her because of her reduced speed (see below):

The second French ship is now freed for independent action rather than be masked by or mask the guns of her admiral in the lead.

French Sea-Wolves (Part I of III)

Time to stack the odds against the Royal Navy who so far have trounced the French Navy good and proper in one-to-one encounters. Two French third-rate 74's (with a total of 154 guns, er do the math?) come across a mighty second-rate RN 100 gunner "alone" at sea. It was thought that the 100 gunner would be such a devastating force in a fight the French were still likely to be blown away. Will it be the hour of the French Sea-Wolves or more broken French match-sticks floating in the sea? The scene is set below, bottom for the French, top for the British):

The fleets slowly converge with the French being slightly favoured with the "weather gauge" as the wind is blowing across at the British ship (a very nice GHQ 1/1200 model from another wargamer) so the Brit would have trouble trying to sail at the French as he would have head into the wind. The "weather gauge" was a random factor not written into the scenario (see below):

The French Commander or should I say Admiral (me) decided to take the initiative and close the range with the Brit (see below):

By choosing to close the range in the same fashion again for another consecutive turn (can anybody else see the parallel with The Battle of the Denmark Straits?) rapidly decreased the distance but caused the Royal Navy Commander to burst at the seems with an opportunity to deal a 100 gun bow -rake, though a long range (see below):

The Frenchman had the luck of the devil as the British gunners uncharacteristically missed. The helm was brought about and the lead French shipped fired. Tears and gaping holes in the British sails boasted of good French dice rolls. (see below):

The French had yet to bring the full squadron broadside into play as the French formation was turning in succession. This evened up the tactics rather than letting the French duo split up right from the start. The second French ship is constrained to play follow the leader until circumstances (such as battle damage) dictate otherwise.

PS I think the sea is pretty cool, being a relatively cheap table covering (that never saw a dinner service placed on it). I will have to keep an eye out for one!

HMS Implacable gets a "It's Rigging"

I had 'almost' finished drilling holes in the ship. One last one to do remained. Two thirds the way up the 'middle sail' a hole needed to be gently drilled to fix a rope to the top of the 'aft sail'. Instead of a quick clean turn I seemed to have to resort to more force than usual. As I was wondering why this should be so I felt a peculiar and unpleasant sensation in my forefinger :(

Warning: Small metal modelling drills can be more dangerous than you think! OK not quite a trip to A&E (aka a UK hospital) but a stinging reminder to keep drill points sharp so you can keep more control over the drilling process (see below the result of complacency):

Medic! Looks like I'll live!

But please note the small (nay tiny) diameter of the puncture wound, but I drilled it quite deep all because of the "gunked-up" super-glue on the end of the drill tip. Please don't try this at home (see below):

After a medicinal "cup of tea" I got back to the business of rigging, a slow and tedious affair which I am still trying to perfect (see below):

Steady as she goes, no need to rush this bit (see below):

Otherwise you will curse yourself as you see your beloved model tumble before your eyes and bounce off the carpet. Maybe it was down to the numb finger, or maybe I should have just taken a break, but I was almost finished before tragedy struck :(

Sigh, I twisted and straightened it but the bow-spit still looks a bit bent (see below):

I soldiered (or should that be sailor-ed) on and finally finished her to join the squadron of Royal Navy 74's ready to serve the crown (see below):  

Next (after a small healing interlude): Some opposition from the French Navy

HMS Implacable gets a "Lick of Paint"

My third Navwar 1/1200 Royal Navy "ship of the line" circa third rate (74), HMS Implacable, comes across the Painting Tray. The sails and deck and wooden walls get the standard three colour (shade, base and highlight) treatment and 'most' of the holes are already pre-drilled for the rigging stage (see below, sails to the foreground):

HMS Implacable is another example of a captured French warship (aka the ex-French Duguay-Trouin) that provided useful service to the Royal Navy. 

To distinguish her from the other captured Frenchman, aka HMS Canopus (previously the Le Franklin) I painted the top of her deck cabins red. Hence she can now be identified at a distance as the "red" ship so the base does not have to be picked up and annoyingly moved (never to be put back into quite the same place) from the wargames table (see below, hull now to the foreground):

While still in the painting phase I did a small trial run with the masts as a precursor to the fiddly rigging stage to see that all was well (see below):

Can you spot the difference?

I do tend to stare a lot at the 1/1200 Napoleonic Ships after I've finished the initial "painting stage" and before the treacherous "rigging stage". I think it is just a case of building up confidence before going on (see below):

Answer: The difference between the two shots being the consumption of a cup of tea by me. ;)

In Formation:

My squadron of Royal Navy 74's or 74'ish as HMS Canopus is technically an 80 gunner. I am also viewing basing sizes for the "card stock" sea I have to mount them on. There has been enough tumbling ships to date to fill my lifetime, so a more secure means of handling my Napoleonic ships is sought (see below, going left to right  HMS Thunderer, HMS Canopus and the "red" HMS Implacable):

Next: The Damned Rigging (Again)

HMS Implacable's Sails and Deck (1/1200 Navwar)

 The painting programme of HMS Implacable continues (see below):

Three colours of (Game) Vallejo paints:

• Plague Brown (Shade)
• Off White (Mid-Tone)
• Dead White (Highlight)

Next: I need to work on the outer hull.

HMS Implacable Takes Shape (1/1200 Napoleonic Naval)

The third 'ship of the line' in the British Squadron, HMS Implacable, is on the stocks (see below):  

Early days yet, but the metal has been cleared of flash and the hull has been drilled for the rigging lines, the model under coated and given a base shade. All the sail bits go together nicely and it is now a case of painting her up, working her inside out and fitting the rigging (see below):

Despite being nominally "British" HMS Implacable is another example of a ship that fought on both sides in the Napoleonic Wars, starting life as the French Duguay-Trouin, but being captured in 1805 and then used by the British (notably in the 1808 Anglo-Russian War, when she captured a Russian 74).

Note: The capture took place post Trafalgar (which she fought in) at the subsequent The Battle of Cape Ortegal

This means on her completion the naval actions can move to a 2:1 ships against the (elite crews of the) Royal Navy.