As you'll recall (maybe) from March, I was playtesting a supplement for Ganesha Games' great Galleys & Galleons age of sail/pirate rules by Nic Wright, and those rules are now out!
And available here: http://www.ganeshagames.net/product_info.php?cPath=1_25&products_id=308
The blurb covers what's in the book at a high level, I'll mainly be using it to make my voodoo and ghost pirate factions more spooky, and give the good guys some options to fight them.
It also comes with a ton (or tonne) of newly rated ships as well (don't think the blurb mentions that) - over 20 pages worth! It gets the game into some new periods or genres too, so all those unpainted Uncharted Seas ships I have sitting in a box could be used with these rules, though Wessex's Strange Tydes was originally slated for them. I think you could even do fast and furious ACW Ironclads rules with them, though the purists will probably freak out.
Showing posts with label naval. Show all posts
Showing posts with label naval. Show all posts
Monday, November 7, 2016
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Playtesting new Galleys & Galleons material
I've volunteered to help playtest a new supplement - "Fayre Winds & Foul Tides" - for Ganesha Games' excellent Galleys & Galleons ruleset for games of pirate ships and other age of sail (and age of oars) battles. The supplement is intended to add more fantasy elements to the game, running from our now "traditional" fantasy of orks, elves, dwarves, magic-users and the undread, to more ways to portray ghost ships and sea monsters, to "lacepunk" contraptions (e.g. steam-powered ornithopters). There are also new "terrain" types (not sure what naval terrain is supposed to be called!) and a ton of ship profiles, including additional ancient and Asian ships (e.g. turtle ships).
So while I can't give away the meat and mechanics of the supplement, I can say it gives you options for all the standard fantasy tropes and then some, so steam-powered ironclads and brutal (literally - there's a trait called Brutal) taskmasters and more. For me, I'm particularly interested in (and testing) the rules for advanced ghost ships, sea monsters, and magic-users (specifically voodoo kings, maybe necromancers). So ghost ships can now be Spectral and hard to hit, and your voodoo ships can have a Mindbender to take over the opposition's crews; on the other hand, you can now have Inquisitors (or your local name for them) and Blessed Ordnance to counter those traits.
Sea monsters get the option of having an Alpha creature, sort of like a monster hero and leader. Some of the new terrain includes icebergs, fog, seaweed banks, maelstorms (whirlpools), and the big S, Scylla, herself.
So here are some pics from my initial playtests, I won't get into too much detail other than to set the scenarios and give the results.
First up was a massive Ghostly Galleon (called here the Ghost) with a Mindbender on board up against three pirate brigantines (called brigs henceforth for brevity's sake) and an Exaggerated Pirate - who has a fearsome reputation that can cow not only merchants but all ships, but is also under pressure to live up to that rep by his (potentially Mutinous) crew. This is one of the ship types pre-created in the game. The Ghost (top left) had to run the blockade the pirates had thrown up across the sea.
The Ghost herself:
Yellowbeard's jacht:
Shortly after the pivotal action of the fight, before the Ghost was able to slip through the blockade and off the board - a gust of wind had blown one of the brigs into the side of the Ghost, and the brig took all the damage. On her turn, the brig decided to Swashbuckle (grapple and board in one action, a pirate thing) and were promptly routed, surrendering the ship.
The Mindbender didn't get much chance to do anything in this battle, one failed attempt at a spell, so I set the Ghost up against a Spanish ghost hunter, the Argonauta, with Blessed Ordnance and an Inquisitor aboard, negating part of the Ghost's powers (the ghost had a pyromancer aboard this time). Icebergs were also on the table (you can see some in background below), but didn't play a role. I'm saying the battle was in the South Atlantic.
The battle, however, was brief. The Argonauta was able to close quickly under favourable winds and a calm sea, but after her initial attack, the Ghost was able to get in a full broadside at close range. This is what it looked like:
And this:
The broadside delivered two damage dice and a critical hit to the Argonauta. The critical hit roll was a 12, so up blew the Argonauta. The next day I remembered I needed to check for the Ghost, but she was ok.
I wanted to change things up for my next test, so the Ghost and Argonauta went away, and back out came Yellowbeard and three Pirate "pinnances" (call 'em sloops this time). On the map was an island (top) with Scylla there to attack any wayward ships, and three banks of seaweed. The smaller one in the middle also hid vicious mer-creatures that would attempt to board any ship crossing into the bank.
The pirates were a'hunting great sea beasts - two giant sharks (Sea Monsters from the core rules), one of which was an Alpha shark. The sharks had great mobility and turning ability, and attempted to sucker the ships in to where the ships were be burdened by trying to avoid the seaweek.
The plan mostly worked, the top two ships below did an end run to the right, but one ship wasn't too careful and did get attacked by Scylla, taking a die of damage.
Just after Scylla's attack:
The fight was a long one, maybe 20 turns, but it ended fairly quickly. The pirates didn't help themselves with rolls like this on short-range full broadsides...
The Alpha shark did a Jaws re-creation on Yellowbeard, ramming the rear of his ship and damaging him, prompting Yellowbeard to grapple the Alpha and attempting to board the great beast. Despite using their Derring-Do advantage, the Alpha ate most of the crew in the first round of fighting, and the rest of the crew on the next, leaving an empty ship floating around the sea. The other three pirate ships lasted longer but the end, when it came, was quick. The three red markers show where the ships went down from ram attacks by the Alpha (helped by some earlier damage by Shark 2). Two ships were sunk on the second last turn, as the Alpha rammed, turned, and rammed in a flurry of actions. The final ship was taken down on the last turn, after one final ram by the Alpha.
I plan to get some more gaming in this week, testing out the magic-users further with some other terrain types thrown in.
So while I can't give away the meat and mechanics of the supplement, I can say it gives you options for all the standard fantasy tropes and then some, so steam-powered ironclads and brutal (literally - there's a trait called Brutal) taskmasters and more. For me, I'm particularly interested in (and testing) the rules for advanced ghost ships, sea monsters, and magic-users (specifically voodoo kings, maybe necromancers). So ghost ships can now be Spectral and hard to hit, and your voodoo ships can have a Mindbender to take over the opposition's crews; on the other hand, you can now have Inquisitors (or your local name for them) and Blessed Ordnance to counter those traits.
Sea monsters get the option of having an Alpha creature, sort of like a monster hero and leader. Some of the new terrain includes icebergs, fog, seaweed banks, maelstorms (whirlpools), and the big S, Scylla, herself.
So here are some pics from my initial playtests, I won't get into too much detail other than to set the scenarios and give the results.
First up was a massive Ghostly Galleon (called here the Ghost) with a Mindbender on board up against three pirate brigantines (called brigs henceforth for brevity's sake) and an Exaggerated Pirate - who has a fearsome reputation that can cow not only merchants but all ships, but is also under pressure to live up to that rep by his (potentially Mutinous) crew. This is one of the ship types pre-created in the game. The Ghost (top left) had to run the blockade the pirates had thrown up across the sea.
The battle, however, was brief. The Argonauta was able to close quickly under favourable winds and a calm sea, but after her initial attack, the Ghost was able to get in a full broadside at close range. This is what it looked like:
I wanted to change things up for my next test, so the Ghost and Argonauta went away, and back out came Yellowbeard and three Pirate "pinnances" (call 'em sloops this time). On the map was an island (top) with Scylla there to attack any wayward ships, and three banks of seaweed. The smaller one in the middle also hid vicious mer-creatures that would attempt to board any ship crossing into the bank.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
ACW Naval Action at Hotlead - Union Triumphant!
Real-life work has dampened my ability to post often, plus, as I think I've mentioned before, Blogger's stupid interface has dampened my enthusiasm to load picture-heavy posts. But anyway, here's my Saturday afternoon battle from Hotlead back in March. It was a 1/600 ACW river action, four Union ships vs. three damn Rebel ships and three shore batteries.
The battle started with the Union fleet set up in the middle of the stretch of river, not knowing which (or both) ends of the river the Rebs would show up in, nor knowing where the shore batteries were. So we (Union) started in the naval equivalent of a square, facing off every which way. Turns out (lesson learned) that doesn't really work for ships. Once we started peeling off to engage the Rebels, we were a bit disorganized for a while - it was sort of like that fire drill you aren't allowed to mention in polite company any more. I won't mentioned that I accidently rammed a fellow Union ship in the process - luckily it was bigger and ironclad, so I didn't do any serious damage.
So here's the Union at game start:
I'm the USS Switzerland (the "all brown" ship), we also had the Benton (my ironclad friend), the General Price, and one other ship I can't remember - but it was the "one that sank".
Once we got sorted out, I started heading upriver, only to find the CSS Webb, with a lovely spar torpedo on its bow, aiming for me. The game ("Steam and Sail", I think) is broken into two movement phases (part of the reason I rammed the Benton was because I hadn't quite figured that out), so with the initiative, I begged our CinC to go first so I could dodge the danger.
I did escape the Webb, and then found on the second movement phase that I had a lovely shot at the CSS Indianola, and I took it! She sank like a rock (I rolled a crazy number of criticals) and I was the hero of the moment.
Here's the fast-sinking wreck of the Indianola, and me stuck (and gloating) beside her, with zero movement.
And now the Webb is coming back for me, angry over missing me the first time, angrier for me having sunk the Indianola, and not sated after sinking a Union ship along the way (the "can't remember").
Luckily the Webb was also slowed by sinking a ship, so I was able to get my speed back up and started roaring around in circles to avoid her, while looking for another target - the rest of the action had been going on downstream, where a Union and Rebel ram had been taking potshots at each other. The Rebel ship had also been avoiding our slow but deadly Benton as well. The Rebel shore batteries were taking pot-shots whenever they could.
Our other ram, the General Price, finally got to nail the CSS Queen of the West, but wasn't able to sink her - and you can see the Webb lurking and waiting to get its shot in.
And so after the Price rams the Queen, and gets turned sideways, in comes the Webb with another spar torpedo!
But the Webb misses! The torpedo doesn't hit and the Webb glances off the Price.
After some more maneuvering, the badly damaged Queen of the West gets nailed again by the Price, and finally sinks. At this time the game gets called - the Rebels were down to one ship, we had three (two of us in good shape).
One more shot of the game at the end:
This was a fun game, the rules were relatively easy to pick up, and we were helped a lot by our host, Glen B. I'm not sure I'd use the rules for my own ACW gaming, as I have a couple sets I think will work, and these ones were heavy on damage tracking, but for real rivet-heads, they'd be the cat's meow.
As a result, I promptly spent about another $300 on 1/1200 ACW ships to add to my collection, although I'm sure it will be 2019 before I get to painting them!
The battle started with the Union fleet set up in the middle of the stretch of river, not knowing which (or both) ends of the river the Rebs would show up in, nor knowing where the shore batteries were. So we (Union) started in the naval equivalent of a square, facing off every which way. Turns out (lesson learned) that doesn't really work for ships. Once we started peeling off to engage the Rebels, we were a bit disorganized for a while - it was sort of like that fire drill you aren't allowed to mention in polite company any more. I won't mentioned that I accidently rammed a fellow Union ship in the process - luckily it was bigger and ironclad, so I didn't do any serious damage.
So here's the Union at game start:
One more shot of the game at the end:
This was a fun game, the rules were relatively easy to pick up, and we were helped a lot by our host, Glen B. I'm not sure I'd use the rules for my own ACW gaming, as I have a couple sets I think will work, and these ones were heavy on damage tracking, but for real rivet-heads, they'd be the cat's meow.
As a result, I promptly spent about another $300 on 1/1200 ACW ships to add to my collection, although I'm sure it will be 2019 before I get to painting them!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Hotleaded
Last weekend was the Hotlead convention in Stratford, Ontario, and I made my second pilgramage there and once again had a great time. I stayed at a brother's in Kitchener, about 40 minutes away, and travelled over daily (which problem helps keep me out of trouble). Several other members of my Toronto gaming group were there, particularly Saturday morning, when Glenn and Ron ran the Guilford Courthouse battle again in 6mm using a pending Polemos rule set. I seemed to be the only 3 day attendee from our group though.
Once again I played in all five time slots, and again one objective was to play either rules or periods I was interested in. I wasn't able to get into the Friday night game I had as a first choice (Skopje 1912, using Triumph of the Will rules), but I had a backup game in mind and was glad I did.
That game was Coastal Patrol, found in Too Fat Lardie's Summer 2011 Special, and is a set of rules for WWII coastal actions. This game was the Royal Navy vs. Kriegsmarine, and saw seven of us go at it. When the game started (a night action), we were all on blinds, and only a couple of players knew who their teammates were. I was one of the ones in the dark (figuratively and literally), having to escort a slow as molasses German tanker from one end of the table to the other, with a converted trawler and a well-armed R-Boat to do it.
The game got off to a fast and furious start at the other end of the table, at my end I played peekaboo with what turned out to be a comrade - a U-Boat unable to submerge. After various adventures that didn't involve me, I used my R-Boat to beat down a British Fairmile that had shot up the U-Boat, eventually driving it back off the table. However, as I was doing that a British MTB that I'd thought my comrades at the end of the table had dealt with scooted into the open and launched two torpedoes at the tanker. On my activation I blew him out of the water, but had to wait a turn for those torpedoes to intersect with the tanker...and miss! Each needed an 8 or less to hit on 2d6, and both times the player rolled 9s. That pretty much wrapped up the game as a German victory. The rules were fun and I'm going to have to round up my few 1/600 coastal ships soon.
Saturday morning I played a game of Cold War Commander in 6mm. I was the Poles in a mishmash Warsaw Pact assault on a mishmash of NATO forces. Basically Poles, Russian Naval Infantry and Airborne Assault units vs. US Marines, Danish Home Guard, and Canadians. As the least capable force, I was to be the anvil, but just getting into position left me open to a hammering (my ranges were such that I couldn't fight back with most of my battalion). I did divert the Marines to me, tying up both them and the bulk of the Danes. Unfortunately our other flank bogged down and was stopped by the Canadians, who'd beat us into town.
I struggled coming in relatively cold to the CWC rules, though I do have them and have plans for them in 3mm. Figuring out units/forces, etc. was tough, and my teammates were little Napoleons, which doesn't help.
Saturday afternoon I played in Mike M. and Nick's Poltava 1709 game, using Might of Arms rules. Yes, MoA is an ancients-medieval ruleset, but Mike has made a few tweeks and the rules work well for early gunpowder. I had an easier time with MoA this year, probably because the unit types were fewer, and the situation simpler (straight ahead charge for us Swedes). We were winning, but barely, when on the last turn one of my units fired on Peter the Great's bodyguard and killed him!
Saturday night was a game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum, which of course is the set of rules I plan on using with my 6mm forces. I commanded a German platoon, with another player controlled a second platoon, and a third player being in overall command and controlling two small SPG/TD units. We were charged with defending the bridge and ford in a Russian village from a Soviet assault, which could come from any table edge. We were up against five Soviet players, who controlled what turned out to be a Soviet infantry company bulked up with a tank platoon.
We set up what we hoped was an all-round defence, only to have the Russians come out right on top of me! I had one squad hidden in the woods, intending to use them as an ambush in one direction, only to have a Soviet platoon charge straight into me. My surprise attack hurt them, but on the next turn they were able to launch a human wave attack on me with two platoons that essentially wiped out two of my squads. I fought back for a while, but took most of the Soviet heat for the first half of the game and eventually succumbed. When all was said and done, the Soviets won a marginal victory - they got the river crossings but didn't have much left.
Sunday morning saw me in a game of the preview version of Maurice, fighting a general SYW battle of Russians vs. Prussians. I was one of two Russian commanders. The rules were fun and convinced me to pre-order them. I'm happy with King of the Battlefield for SYW etc., but I'll be looking to these for WSS gaming; I haven't really found rules that satisfy me for that period. We lost the game, but like I said, it was fun.
I'm sure you're asking if I did any shopping, and while I'm going to try to hide the damage done - yes, some things were bought. RAFM had brought me an order of 15mm sci-fi (their Traveller line) and 28mm Space 1889. I also picked up some more pulp figures from Artizan - French Foreign Legionaires, British detectives, and cossacks. I also picked up an ECW Osprey, a painted 15mm government building that will work for Solomon Kane, pirates, and pretty much any other period.
I also picked up a 1/72 Sherman for my smaller scale WWII gaming, and a pack of wooden fortifications for colonial North America.
Here are some other blogs/photos from the convention:
Friday
Saturday 1
Saturday 2
Sunday
Overview
Once again I played in all five time slots, and again one objective was to play either rules or periods I was interested in. I wasn't able to get into the Friday night game I had as a first choice (Skopje 1912, using Triumph of the Will rules), but I had a backup game in mind and was glad I did.
That game was Coastal Patrol, found in Too Fat Lardie's Summer 2011 Special, and is a set of rules for WWII coastal actions. This game was the Royal Navy vs. Kriegsmarine, and saw seven of us go at it. When the game started (a night action), we were all on blinds, and only a couple of players knew who their teammates were. I was one of the ones in the dark (figuratively and literally), having to escort a slow as molasses German tanker from one end of the table to the other, with a converted trawler and a well-armed R-Boat to do it.
The game got off to a fast and furious start at the other end of the table, at my end I played peekaboo with what turned out to be a comrade - a U-Boat unable to submerge. After various adventures that didn't involve me, I used my R-Boat to beat down a British Fairmile that had shot up the U-Boat, eventually driving it back off the table. However, as I was doing that a British MTB that I'd thought my comrades at the end of the table had dealt with scooted into the open and launched two torpedoes at the tanker. On my activation I blew him out of the water, but had to wait a turn for those torpedoes to intersect with the tanker...and miss! Each needed an 8 or less to hit on 2d6, and both times the player rolled 9s. That pretty much wrapped up the game as a German victory. The rules were fun and I'm going to have to round up my few 1/600 coastal ships soon.
Saturday morning I played a game of Cold War Commander in 6mm. I was the Poles in a mishmash Warsaw Pact assault on a mishmash of NATO forces. Basically Poles, Russian Naval Infantry and Airborne Assault units vs. US Marines, Danish Home Guard, and Canadians. As the least capable force, I was to be the anvil, but just getting into position left me open to a hammering (my ranges were such that I couldn't fight back with most of my battalion). I did divert the Marines to me, tying up both them and the bulk of the Danes. Unfortunately our other flank bogged down and was stopped by the Canadians, who'd beat us into town.
I struggled coming in relatively cold to the CWC rules, though I do have them and have plans for them in 3mm. Figuring out units/forces, etc. was tough, and my teammates were little Napoleons, which doesn't help.
Saturday afternoon I played in Mike M. and Nick's Poltava 1709 game, using Might of Arms rules. Yes, MoA is an ancients-medieval ruleset, but Mike has made a few tweeks and the rules work well for early gunpowder. I had an easier time with MoA this year, probably because the unit types were fewer, and the situation simpler (straight ahead charge for us Swedes). We were winning, but barely, when on the last turn one of my units fired on Peter the Great's bodyguard and killed him!
Saturday night was a game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum, which of course is the set of rules I plan on using with my 6mm forces. I commanded a German platoon, with another player controlled a second platoon, and a third player being in overall command and controlling two small SPG/TD units. We were charged with defending the bridge and ford in a Russian village from a Soviet assault, which could come from any table edge. We were up against five Soviet players, who controlled what turned out to be a Soviet infantry company bulked up with a tank platoon.
We set up what we hoped was an all-round defence, only to have the Russians come out right on top of me! I had one squad hidden in the woods, intending to use them as an ambush in one direction, only to have a Soviet platoon charge straight into me. My surprise attack hurt them, but on the next turn they were able to launch a human wave attack on me with two platoons that essentially wiped out two of my squads. I fought back for a while, but took most of the Soviet heat for the first half of the game and eventually succumbed. When all was said and done, the Soviets won a marginal victory - they got the river crossings but didn't have much left.
Sunday morning saw me in a game of the preview version of Maurice, fighting a general SYW battle of Russians vs. Prussians. I was one of two Russian commanders. The rules were fun and convinced me to pre-order them. I'm happy with King of the Battlefield for SYW etc., but I'll be looking to these for WSS gaming; I haven't really found rules that satisfy me for that period. We lost the game, but like I said, it was fun.
I'm sure you're asking if I did any shopping, and while I'm going to try to hide the damage done - yes, some things were bought. RAFM had brought me an order of 15mm sci-fi (their Traveller line) and 28mm Space 1889. I also picked up some more pulp figures from Artizan - French Foreign Legionaires, British detectives, and cossacks. I also picked up an ECW Osprey, a painted 15mm government building that will work for Solomon Kane, pirates, and pretty much any other period.
I also picked up a 1/72 Sherman for my smaller scale WWII gaming, and a pack of wooden fortifications for colonial North America.
Here are some other blogs/photos from the convention:
Friday
Saturday 1
Saturday 2
Sunday
Overview
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