On Wednesday night at the club Rob and I played a game of the Warhammer Historical Trafalgar rules.
Both fleets were provided by Rob, being the 1/1200 Langton ships, and we played on his gorgeous atlantic terrain seascape mat.
The fleets were both 1100 points, with us each having a first rate, 3 or 4 third rates, and a frigate each. The French also have a few upgrades to their 1st rate to balance the points.
Again we played the basic intro scenario. Rob soon held the initiative with his ships tending to ‘control the weather guage’.
We started late around 8.30pm, so only really allowed ourselves 2 hours (less given the number of stops we took). With my brief understanding of the rules gained from the game against Glenn (and even then picking up errors which had been played in the previous game…) Rob was maoving his fleet fairly quickly. In fact movement tended to be resolved very quickly each turn.
The game mechnics are fairly simple and easy to pick up. Again we played a very basic stripped down game without most of the upgrades so that we could get a feel of the fundamentals of the game.
At the end of the game again I found my French fleet having suffered some significant damage to the hulls of a few of the ships, whilst the British found a few of their ships starting to lose masts. It was unfortunate that we didn’t really achieve a serious resolution as we ran out of time. Once we’re up to speed with the rules I see us achieving a good result within 2 and a half hours.
This game was played in 1/1200 scale, these are available in metal from a variety of sources, though the popular one seems to be Langton (available with brass sails and ratlines). An alternative is to use the WizzKids Pirates ships which are roughly to the sdame scale, and offer ships for the British, French, Spanish and Americans (as well as the pirate fleets). These ships offer a very cheap way into the game, as with the demise of WiZZ Kids these ships tend to go for very cheap values on eBay.
I did enjoy this game again, and the new rules identified definately added to the game. This time we experience fog, as well as seeing my 1st rate and one of my large 3rd rates colliding early on.
Again, I will continue to recommend giving this game a go, and intend do so myself. If these rules aren’t your cup of tea, you could try the Too Fat Lardies rules for the period called ‘Kiss Me Hardy’ – another set which has been well recieved by members of the club.
Cheers
Warren