Napoleonic Naval Spanish Third Rates

It's back from the holiday so back to the workbench to finish off three 1/2400th Third Rates for the Spanish Fleet. These are the 80 gun San Rafael with the 75 gun Algerciras and Bahama. I have another four of these to assemble, hopefully by the end of the week, after which I'm going to wrap up the summer production line with a handful of Royal Navy second rates. 

Napoleonic Naval Spanish Frigates

I'm almost at the end of the assembly line for the 1/2400th Napoleonic Naval ships, the penultimate launch being these sixth rate 34 gun Spanish Mahonesa class frigates alongside an unrated 18 gun Xebec, which as yet has no name. I really like the Tumbling Dice 28/32 gun frigate model (ASN11) which comes with an integral base and is easy to assemble. I've used it for the 34 gun frigates as it is just about the right size and layout compared to contemporary illustrations, as you can see from the painting. 

Napoleonic Naval Spanish Heavies

 

I'm onto the Spanish Fleet now, starting off with three 112 gun second rates, Santa Ana, Principe de Asturias and Mejicano, alongside the 130 gun Santissima Trinidad, as you can't really have a Spanish fleet without her. The models are the Tumbling Dice First Rate (ASN1) and Second Rate (ASN2) which do the job nicely. Next will be some third rate 80 and 74 gun sloggers, before I wrap things up with a couple of sixth rate frigates. 

Fighting Ships

Quite possibly my penultimate book of the summer holidays, one which I've read before in parts but which deserves more focused attention, something that I don't usually have time for outside the occasional weekend. This is a very well written and concise study in two halves, the first detailing the ship designs, crews, tactics and day to day fleet organisation of the period, while the second explains the principal campaigns and significant battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The emphasis is on the Royal Navy but that doesn't detract from the overall narrative or from a balanced, objective discussion of the French, Spanish and Dutch. A good read! 

Solo Napoleonic Naval Campaigning

This campaign system for Age of Sail games, specifically for use with Firm Line of Battle but also other rules, is now available from Long Face Games via Wargame Vault. I've wanted to do some more solo naval campaigning after really enjoying my What If? South American pre-dreadnought campaign a couple of years ago, so this looks like just the ticket. 

A while back Nick Jones was working on a Napoleonic campaign set up based on the Caribbean, which I thought sounded really good fun, so I may well take a leaf out of his book and run a small solo campaign myself. This would involve a limited number of ships but could expand to include full squadrons, should things escalate. 

The rules would probably be Far Distant Ships as I'm sure these will be compatible with Gales, Guns and Glory, as the author has written both. David also has a set of rules for frigate actions in the works, so that might also be an option for some of the games in the solo campaign. I just need to download a copy of the campaign system and work out how to set things up! 

Napoleonic Naval Royal Navy Sixty Fours

Continuing the expansion of my 1/2400th scale Napoleonic Royal Navy fleet, I've added two more fourth rate two decker 64's to the existing complement of one, namely HMS Diadem. The two new models represent HMS Africa and HMS Polyphemus, both of which had long and successful service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. I was going to include the equally famous HMS Agamemnon but discovered that I didn't have an mdf base in the correct size, so she will have to be launched at a later date. The models are ASN6 from the Tumbling Dice range and very nice too! 

INWarD 2026 Napoleonic Naval Game

A few photos of my Napoleonic Naval game for INWarD 2026 this year, using Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail. This is a great set of rules and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to play, even for small solo games like this one. In the end it was a convincing, if not decisive victory for the Royal Navy, with the French sent packing and the 74 gun third rate Pluton battered into a wreck. In return, the British suffered minimal damage, while the French had some repairs to carry out back in Toulon. Admiral Lord Wensleydale is pleased to inform his lordships that duty has been done in the highest traditions of the senior service - Huzzah! - but Contre Admiral Roblochon will have a few questions to answer on his return...Zut Alors! 

INWarD X Game Plan

It's International Naval Wargaming Day Ten on Thursday and I'm planning ahead to do a Napoleonic Naval game in 1/2400th. This was going to be a frigate game but I'm going back to my original idea of using Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail for a small ship of the line clash. There will only be half a dozen ships per side, to keep things manageable as I'll be playing solo, but I don't think that will matter too much. The game is scheduled for Wednesday as I will have the place to myself, so jumping the gun a bit, but plenty of time to enjoy some naval wargaming without interruptions. 

Pointe de Espagnols

A nice day out to visit the defences of the Pointe de Espagnols opposite Brest today, which I last explored about ten years ago before the site had been restored. It's an impressive site, made eveb more do by the addition of a massive 32cm coastal artillery piece, recovered from a test range and positioned in an original emlacement, albeit on a different gun mounting. It's much more accessible than before and we'll worth a visit if you are in the locale. 

INWarD 2026

It's hard to believe but this year is the tenth International Naval Wargaming Day on Thursday 6th August. I've been playing a naval wargame of some description almost every year since the beginning of INWarD, apart from the last couple of years when I couldn't fit one in, so it would be rude not to celebrate the ten year anniversary with a Napoleonic Naval fleet action. This was what I planned to do last year, so I will dig out my scenario and brush up on the rules, either Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail or Far Distant Ships, although the latter seems most appropriate for the occasion! 

The Battle of Quiberon Bay 1759

We went down to see some of the French relatives in Quiberon yesterday, which was a very enjoyable thing to do, especially as my wife's uncle took us out on his boat around the bay after lunch. Despite getting a bit soggy, this was great fun and, as you'd expect, started me thinking about wargaming the battle. Rather than 1/2400th scale, which would require a lot of time and cost, I was wondering about switching to 1/4800th scale for the mid-1700's, including the Seven Years War and War of Independence. The Tumbling Dice 1/4800th scale range is very nice and also requires no assembly, so much quicker and cheaper for large fleet actions. I'll have to work out what I need but this is another potential project to expand my Age of Sail wargaming this year. 

Napoleonic Naval Royal NavyFleet Box Fillers

 

A few more heavy weights for the Royal Navy yesterday, designed to fill up the gaps in my fleet storage box. These are, from left to right, HMS Neptune (98), HMS Tonnant (80), HMS Bellerophon, HMS Elephant and HMS Defence (74). I have a cut off of c1800 for my fleet, so all of these were in service on or around that point. To fill the remaining slots in the box I'm going to add some fourth rates and perhaps a couple more third rates, if I can squeeze them in, after which my focus will switch to playing some actual games. 

Napoleonic Naval Fleets Change of Tack

After some tinkering about I have decided to adapt my plans and use some of the 1/2400th Tumbling Dice models that I allocated to the Spanish to expand my Royal Navy fleet. These include an additional 98 gun second rate, some 74 gun third rates and some 64 gun fourth rates, so primarily ships of the line rather than frigates. These will fill up half of my storage box, leaving a tray free for a reduced number of Spanish ships, which I will tackle a bit later than originally planned. I've also ordered some extra models to replace the ones I've reallocated and to add another pair of second rates to the Royal Navy fleet, including HMS Victory. 

Broadsides and Glory Play Test

I've been given the opportunity to play test a new set of naval fast play rules for frigate actions devised by David Manley of Long Face Games, aptly titled Broadsides and Glory. I have a free weekend, so will set up a simple scenario between two frigates from my 1/2400th scale selection of models, probably including the 44 gun fifth rate razee frigate, HMS Anson, using the template for HMS Indefatigable, as the rules draft includes the latter record sheet. I'll write up a post action report and hopefully be able to provide some useful feedback for the author as well. 

Napoleonic French Fleet Frigates

A slow day but here are the additional fifth rate frigates for La Royale, all of which are the Tumbling Dice ASN10 model from the 1/2400th scale range. The two newly built models are both Coquille class 40 gun frigates, Sirene and Themis, while the one I had in the spares box will either be their sister ship Franchise or the 36 gun L'Insurgent. Ooh La La! 

Napoleonic French Fleet Extras

It's cooled down a bit here in Brittany which means I can get down to some wargaming model assembly without the superglue going off like concrete in split seconds. So, here we have three more third rates for La Royale c1800, Mont Blanc (74), Argonaute (74) and Indivisible (80), conveniently filling three spare slots in my storage box. Next up are three 40 gun fifth rate frigates to provide some scouting, patrol and repeating duties, assuming they ever get through the Royal Navy blockade? 

The Full Nelson

This should be published in the not too distant future, which has me wondering about the Black Seas plastic frigates, sloops and brigs that I picked up a couple of years ago, second hand. The rules are clearly aimed at the 1/700th scale end of the spectrum, judging from the play test reports I've been following, although no doubt suitable for other scales too. In fact, I have some Langton 1/1200th scale kits in a box somewhere that would do the trick. However, this does look like a good opportunity to build and paint those plastic models, specifically for smaller actions with frigates and unrated warships, so that's where I'm headed in the autumn I reckon, as I don't need to spend anything to get myself up and running. 

Napoleonic Naval Rules Review

I've brought a couple of sets of Age of Sail fleet level naval rules along for the holidays, only one of which I've played previously, to use with my 1/2400th scale ships. I really like the A&A Grand Fleet Actions rules, having played in a number of games at the local club, including Trafalgar a few years ago. They are ideal for 1/2400th and straight forward enough to work well for solo games. The other set is from Long Face Games and is a system I've been intending to try out for a long time, as it is also designed for fleet actions using smaller scale models. Finally, I've been asked by David Manley to play test a new set of rules he's working on for frigate actions, designed for 1/700th scale Black Seas models, but easily adapted to 1/2400th by swapping inches for centimetres (I hope!). They look ideal for the Quasi War amongst other things, so I'm looking forward to giving them a go! With the Full Nelson from Toofatlardies on the horizon, I'm even considering building some plastic frigates, sloops and brigs in 1/700th, as I have a second hand stash set aside but don't really like the Black Seas rules...another project for the second half of the year methinks?