NQSYW and Uncharted Seas Game Day

This past Saturday several members of our club got together at my game room to play a couple games. The first game we played was an Imagi-nation game, or as we call it in the club,  Not Quite the Seven Years War, or NQSYW. Rob Dean (who GM-ed the game) and I started this project over a decade ago, creating 18th century armies using 40 mm semi-round figures we made from home-cast Prince August molds. Though my participation waned over the years, Rob has been constantly keeping the project alive. He has been running games at many of the HMGS East cons using the armies he, I, and some other of the club members built.

The North Polenburg 32nd Dragoon Regiment (known for their all white steeds!) entered the table first on our side, and quickly raced for the bridge to gain control of it early, while the infantry moved up.

My armies are from the Imagi-nation of North Polenburg, and Rob's are from Schoeffen-Buschhagen, two small countries who share an oft-contested border. The other club members who have participated have built units from their own individual nations.
In the battle we fought this day, my armies, consisting of two infantry regiments, a cavalry regiment, and two batteries of artillery, were brigaded with an allied regiment from Hesse-Hattenstadt, into a "Northern Coalition" brigade. We faced off against an assortment of units formed into the "Pragmatic Alliance"; the largest contingent of which was from the nation of Wachovia. It was the first time I had got to command my armies in person in what must be a decade, and so I got my RennFest pirate hat out of the closet and wore it as my North Poleburg general's hat in honor of the event. The game was a great deal of fun, and this was helped by my troops winning a decisive victory over the enemy, with the help of the brothers, Generals Schlegel and General Schlegel, as well as General Nickel.
We used the vintage rule set "Charge!" which really has the perfect feel for this type of game using large toy soldier type figures. The scenario involved a contested bridge, with whoever controlled the bridge at the end of the game being determined the victor

Another shot of the dragoons pouring over the bridge

My personal figure on the table, General Palmer, along with my aide. Behind me are the lead elements of the North Polenburg 1st Regiment "The Hawks".  In the background, the North Polenburg artillery can be seen deploying, as the Hesse-Hattenstadt regiment moves up to secure our right flank by capturing a nearby walled chateau.

An overview of the battle, with me in my general's hat moving my regiment over the bridge to support the dragoons.

On the right flank of our bridge head the N. P. dragoons attempt to hold back a unit of Wachovian hussars.

Another shot of the table, looking from the North Polenburg side of the river.  A North Polenburg flanking force, made up of the Queen Jennifer Regiment with some cavalry support can be seen marching on from the left on the far river bank. 

On the N. P. right, the battle for the walled chateau heats up as a regiment of Wachovians (orange coats) assault the Hess-Hattenstadt defenders.  They enemy gained the building for a short while, but with their numbers dwindling they would not be able to hold it for long.

As the game winds down, the N. P. dragoons are still holding barely as the lead elements of the 1st regiment come across the river.  With my infantry now in position to  hold the bridge, and the Wachovian's flank attack petering out, we called the game and declared it a Northern Coalition Victory.

After the NQSYW game, we set up an Uncharted Seas battle that was part of the club's ongoing U.S. campaign.  In this game the Elves where trying to drive off some Human invaders.  The battle consisted of two Elven fleets and two Human fleets.  Each side rolled a d6 for islands and we ended up with 12! The players then took turns deploying the islands anywhere on the table.  This game was fun as both sides jockeyed for position around the islands.  In the end the Elves were deemed the victors, but the battle was bloody for both sides.

Near the beginning of the game as the fleets maneuver for best position around the many islands.

The end of the game came down to a slugging match between the two Elvish battleships and the Human battleship and flagship (the Elves didn't have a flagship present in this battle) After eliminating the Human flagship, which had started the game damaged from a previous fight, the two Elven battleships concentrated on the last human battleship, eventually sinking it.

Uncharted Seas Orc Flagship and Admiral

Just finished my Orc Flagship 'The Screaming Goblin' for Uncharted Seas. I modified the standard model by adding Wargames Factory round shields to the sides and a WF ancients banner to the stern. I also added a Games Workshop Goblin head to the top of the mast.

I also painted a 28mm Black Scorpion Miniatures' "Orc Admiral" figure to represent the Orc commander in our games. We play mostly multi-player Uncharted Seas games, and I'll place this figure in front of the player who is taking the role of the commander of the Orcs' side. I plan to also do a Dwarven counterpart to represent their commander.

Recent Uncharted Seas Game

I recently hosted a games day for our club, at which I ran an Uncharted Seas scenario. The scenario involved an Orc raid on a Dwarven mining/port facility. For this scenario I constructed out of pink and blue foam scraps three key terrain features: the base of the harbor, where the mines and port were located, and two land arms reaching out into the harbor. I also made two small islands to place in the mouth of the harbor. On the ends of each of the arms, and on each island I put a turret.

The turrets were constructed out of travel-sized dental floss containers with round plastic coffee stirrer guns, and a washer and plastic base for the top. On the top of the plastic base, I glued the back for a pierced earring. This has a small hole in it in which I plan to eventually insert a flagpole and flag.

I also constructed three dwarf ore barges. I traced the hull outline of a standard dwarf cruiser onto a sheet of balsa to form the basic shape. Then used balsa strips to form the edges of the hold. I build up a small mound with pink foam scraps in the hold area, and then glued ballast over it. Finally, I painted them

I did not get to complete the main harbor base in time for the game. Eventually, I hope to add more detailed mining structures and other buildings.
The game was a lot of fun, but turned out to be a bit lopsided in favor of the Orcs. One of the main problems was that I gave the turrets stats that were too weak, and the Orc Ships were able to quickly eliminate most of them at long range; before the Dwarves ever had a chance to fire them.
I plan to revisit this scenario, as the players really enjoyed it and I think it has great potential. I will keep you posted as it evolves.