Black Seas trial

A pre-game close-up of undercoated ships.

Busy with my Thirty Years War project, I've been holding back on Black Seas. My friend Ian, however, put his ships together and suggested a game which I was happy to take up. The game more-or-less confirmed some thoughts I’d been having so let me get them out of the way first.

The rules are very nicely produced and appear to be fairly clear. I think the 1/700 model ships are very good but very light. I would want to mount them on my normal MDF and steel bases for storage, transport and playing. I don't think this would interfere with how the game is played, as long as I kept them as small as possible.

The playing aids provided are useful for getting you started but they are very flimsy. I'd want to replace most of these with more substantial MDF or metal pieces, and to have proper 3D scenery.

I really don't like the wake markers which are fiddly and ugly. For now I think it’s much better to keep these with the ship cards, aligning the sail setting on the wake with the bottom of the ship card, but I'm hoping for a more elegant solution.

Talking of the ship cards, I also don’t like the red clips used to indicate hull damage, but perhaps someone will market an MDF holder with a peg track as has been done for the sister game, Cruel Seas.

Now on to the game.

I made a strong start, crossing the T and raking one of Ian's frigates which subsequently struck its colours.

It takes time to get used to the manoeuvre rules. I suffered a number of collisions and ended up very scattered. I think I won but this view was not unanimous.

We got through about 5 or 6 of the 15 turns. I really don't think we'd ever get through a game using the massed fleets being marketed by Warlord Games.

We used only the basic rules in our game, but we both now consider it essential to use the more advanced and realistic wind rules and Fire As She Bears.

Overall we judged the game a success, so I may proceed with it if and when I have the time and inclination.

My original intention was to model an American force, but I’m hesitating to order yet another set when the first one is still in its box. I’m naturally suspicious of games tied to one company, and I can see this one proliferating and soaking up a great deal of money.

My French squadron crosses the T. The British frigate (left centre) will strike its colours. In this game I experimented with placing the wake markers alongside the ships. It was less fiddly but they still got in the way. Needless to say, they are an ugly distraction from what would otherwise be a good-looking game. I am lost to explain why the author went down this design path when the ship models are so fine to look at.

New projects: Black Seas and 6mm Thirty Years War

It's at times like these that I need to think of new wargames armies!

I have lots of ongoing projects to fill in and complete, but most of these are actually now at a stage where I could soon put them on the table, somewhat anaemic (undercoated) though they might appear. There are various 28mm Fantasy armies for Dragon Rampant about which I've so far revealed very little but have much to illustrate, 28mm Buccaneer and Spanish armies for The Pikeman's Lament and 28mm Militia and Insurgent forces (1798) for Rebels and Patriots. I would like to get some 28mm Woodland Indians, Southern Militia and Riflemen in hunting-shirts for AWI (Rebels and Patriots) and some 28mm Sudanese and Bashi-Bazouks for my Colonial Egyptians (The Men Who Would Be Kings) but these would be all relatively small acquisitions.

Since emerging from the operating theatre, I've come up with two new projects to provide retail therapy. The first is the 1/700 Napoleonic naval game, Black Seas from Warlord Games. For those who don't know, this is one of those out-of-the-box games of which I thoroughly approve. I saw it demonstrated at Salute and it looked user-friendly.

It is designed by Gabrio Talentino, author of Cruel Seas and a regular nice guy. Cruel Seas didn't appeal to me and apparently had lots of errors, but I'm confident that mistakes have been learnt. Anyway, I pressed the button to pre-order a Master and Commander starter set, and look forward in particular to the release of the Americans. The ships need a little assembly but are essentially ready-made and the customisation options have been very cleverly thought out.

The other project that has been consuming my attention is Steven Thomas' Tilly's Very Bad Day Thirty Years War rules. Over the years, lots of years, I've have been all over the place with different ideas for scales and basing arrangements, but I woke up this morning with thoughts of 6mm figures on 60mm x 30mm bases and just settling on one generic infantry type! It's the smallest one can go and still see character, and it will be very straightforward to complete.