The League of Augsburg

Action from St James's Day 1666


6 x 4 table 1/4800 scale

An express taken by the yacht Zwole from Michiel de Ruyter to The States General following an action on July 24th 1666

It is my misfortune to report to the States General that in an encounter with the English fleet under His Highness and the Lord Albemarle, my own squadron was unable to impress upon the enemy that a conflict between our nations leaves no winner. With the...

Action Replay - the MIGHTY Fighting White

 

Set up on a 6 x 4 table

Where to begin? The last battle was a decisive victory for the English fleet. This encounter sees de Ruyter’s large 1stsquadron of the Dutch fleet, badly battered after a day of engaging the Duke of Albemarle off the Suffolk coast. Having broken off in the late afternoon, the Dutch are heading southeast to regroup, repair and replenish when to windward, they spot twenty-one...

Fighting White!


The action begins with John Harman's lead ships engaging van Nes's vanguard



Whilst I am still smarting from the total drubbing I received at the hands of Admiral Colin, I thought it might be useful to get down on e-paper what actually happened. 

The setting was 1666 - a big year for fires. We are in North Sea, off the Suffolk coast and Prince Rupert with a clutch of admirals meets Michiel de Ruyter...

Happy New Year Freebie



I worked on a lot of scenario stuff during the holiday break being confined to bed with the lurgy. One such was the latest free 4Play scenario set focused on Mad for War. 


It is imaginatively titled - Mad for Wargaming! It features three unusual scenarios


The first has a lone VOC ship facing a flotilla of Chinese pirate junks and fireships of various sizes in the spice islands of Indonesia. If you...

Down in the laboratory.......




I have been working on a Fleet level version of Mad for War which slots in very well with the current rules. It is a while since I managed to make any videos so I crammed this one in before the turn of the year.


It is a walk through the mechanics as worked out using 2D ship counters before I go for the 3d model versions. I chose a section of the fleets from the famous Four Days Battle of 1666. 






Happ...

Ark Royal 1/1200 Ancient ships range

 

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....

Sicilian milk run 259 BC

 

The game set up - 1/1200 scale, 2 x 4 table Mad for War rules

This encounter, set around 255 BC sees a Carthaginian relief fleet attempting to land supplies to support a hard-pressed army on the western tip of Sicily near Trapani. The Romans are blockading the island and the escort must penetrate the screen of Roman ships and navigate through narrow island channels to reach a bay in which other...

Part 1: I am looking forward to Christmas because...

Capital units of the Swedish fleet head north towards Stockholm, June 1st 1676

..... I will get to play my Christmas game which this year I have decided is a version of the Battle of Öland, June 1st 1676. This will be my largest effort with 1/1200 17th century ships and my target is to included 36 models. That leaves me about four weeks to paint up 7-8 ships several of which are big 'uns.


Highly...

Greenwich - hub of maritime history

Pool of London to London Bridge circa 1710

Pool of London at the Tower circa 1710 - 1/1200 scale model


I love Greenwich. Not only is it a really interesting area with fantastic restaurants, bars and quaint shops, it is a hugely important centre of maritime history. On my second visit I manage to do lots of things I missed on the first like finding the most best galleries in the National Maritime...

Let's be positive... it was an outstanding victory!


The Greek line spots the attacking Egyptians

Dave and Colin were introduced to the delights of galley warfare through a little Friday night scenario. Dave assumed the mantle of the heroic Greeks whilst Colin donned the robes of the Persian Empire as an Egyptian squadron off the eastern coast of Greece in 480 BC.


The Greek squadron turns to face the threat

Equal forces and a variation on the scenario...

Way off period... but it was fun

Triremes - aphract and cataphract - very common for over 200 years.

Warfare Miniatures will soon be releasing an extensive range of 1/1200 metal warships covering the period 500 BC till the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. This is a further consolidation of our naval offer. The ships are designed by the same talented artist who created the Anglo-Dutch Wars ships range.


The scenario...

Pimping up terrain

28mm set up for Prince Rupert's shore foray at Dakar, Africa 1652 - finished boards

I recently acquired a number of TSS terrain boards. I have always tinkered with these when using them and decided to do a quick terrain building project just to stimulate my creative needs. There has been too much business, casting, orders, packing etc recently and I needed to get back to what I really enjoy which...