The League of Augsburg

Let's start with code ARD014 Frigates

This code is one of the most popular in the range. It comprises 2 x 38 gun frigates and 1 x 26 gun. These ships are extremely utilitarian. They can be used from the period of the 1620s through to 1700. English, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Venetian, Swedish, Danish, Ottoman, Berber fleets can all deploy them.

In the Martime Nations they would be used for...

It's a while since I have blogged but that is simply because social media and life are not always compatible. Live one, neglect the other! Trying to do both is NO LIFE at all.  This post gets to the nub straight away. It is a Noobs guide to the Ark Royal range and its models. It provides, context to the use of each in gaming terms. It may have a few parts as I am writing this off the cuff...

REMEM...

Being just one of millions hit by the blight makes me nothing special. Some of my friends have had it three times. All I can say is that my usual drive to get things done disappeared for over two weeks and a couple of sobering visits to the local hospital led me to even more admiration for health care professionals and calibrated my expectations about going to bed early and having less energy than...

Dekeres, Hexeres, Quinqureme

Here is the scope and detail of the range as we come close to launch. All packs contain metal bases for each ship.Sails and masts can be bought separately as many who game with galleys do not use sails on the their models and making them an accessory seemed the best way to offer the range. I will go to a pre order stage first with delivery scheduled for January 2022....

Some new and unique pieces which I will be selling off.

I tinker with stuff. It's an illness and I have had for years. I can't just leave things alone. I have to be chopping up figures, converting them and generally mucking about. Having been fixated with river crossings in Ireland (it all started with the Boyne you see) for quite some time, I have accrued a lot of what was once described by a...

An end to end walk through of how I made the boards for the Scilly Isles game between Blake / Tromp and the Royalists. Watch the 10 minute video here:

Some shots of the game here. 

Full scenario in the soon to be released 4Play pack 036 Seas Ablaze!

I managed to complete three of the 15 sipahis which will be released in the Autumn. I really enjoyed these. Simple, easy to paint and very dramatic looking. I intend to share them all mounted singly first before I put them into units which will be at the core of the strike force for the Ottoman Army.

These fellas will be suitable across an extremely wide time span depending on what equipment I...

Sophia Amalia - 3D printed @ 1/1200 with scratchbuilding on masts

I bought a 1/600 scale 3D print file of a 17th century ship and got a friend to print the Sovereign of the Seas file in 1/1200 scale as I have no printer. I wanted to see the quality and have a go at painting the model. We also printed in 1/600 scale. The file was from Gilded Sails/Wargaming 3D.

Photo show the 3D print in 1/600 beside...

I have finally finished this slightly longer video. There is a lot in it and hopefully, it will decode the dark art of rigging for everyone remotely interested in trying it!

 It's easy to put these little beauties together. Here is a quick five minute run through...

More lovely work from Gareth's growing collection. It will be a real joy to see this collection on a table at a show somewhere when we finally settle down to normal once more. 

Gareth's lovely warm painting style is set off by great basing and of course, Clarence's wonderful flags. 

What better unit to show case the work than the Gard te Voet.