"The Uncharted Seas"

[ushistoryprof]

Hey Folks, my son gave me a copy of these rules for Fathers Day.
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(the beach in this pic is in Ventura, CA on a beautiful 75 degree June 21)

They seem playable with lots of room for House Rules and home designed ships. I just have a few questions for anyone who has had any experience with the rules or Spartan Games.
-If you have played these do you have any house rules you would like to share?
-Has anyone ordered items from Spartan Games?  If so how was the service (as I am in California I am especially interested in responses from anyone out West)?
-Does anyone have any of the Spartan Games ship miniatures, how do they look and paint up?
As always any asssistance or ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Prof

http://worldhistoryprof.blogspot.com/

[Doc Twilight]

Hello, Prof.

I've played both Uncharted Seas and Firestorm Armada, and have fleets for both.

In answer to some of your questions:
-If you have played these do you have any house rules you would like to share?

The biggest suggestion I can make is that a smaller table size is better for most of the fleets, even in multi-player affairs, as the movement rates in US are relatively slow, which means that they may take some time to get to an engagement area in played on a table that is "too big". I'd say 6x4 at the most for most engagements, if not smaller (I believe they recommend a 4x4, and they aren't kidding.)

As for home built ships, there are rules for this in FA, but not in US. Theoretically, it could work in US, but I'm not sure how I'd approach it. Do be sure to get any downloads from the website. They do have more fluff/background/and rules for newer ships available for download.

-Has anyone ordered items from Spartan Games?  If so how was the service (as I am in California I am especially interested in responses from anyone out West)?

I have, and I'm in California as well. Mixed experience. Ordering direct doesn't take too long, but customer service resolution (ie: replacing damaged, miscast, or missing parts) can take weeks, or even months. I'd suggest trying a US distributor (the Warstore, for example) first, just as a general rule of thumb. This is doubly true because Spartan sends its new stuff to distributors -first-, so these guys usually have the new stuff for sale before Spartan does.

-Does anyone have any of the Spartan Games ship miniatures, how do they look and paint up?

Beautiful sculpts that paint up very well. However, be sure to scrub them thoroughly, as mold release residue has been a major issue for me with my last two orders (The paint bubbles up and peels off pretty quickly if you haven't adequately washed them.)

There have been some serious casting issues with FA, but I'm told these have been corrected in the latest FA and US releases. If you can get past those, they are lovely ships, and certainly very, very nice to look at when complete.

One thing that I regret is that they recently discontinued the specialized bases available for the US ships through Litko. These are very nice accessories. The ships don't necessary need basing, but they look great with the bases, nevertheless. Either way, though you should be fine.

-Doc

[ushistoryprof]

Thanks for the quick response Doc.  This is exactly the info I was looking for, and will help with my plans for our fleets and games.
Prof

[Funghy-Fipps]

I should be picking up the rulebook and a couple of fleets in July.  I have fond memories of playing Man O' War in the early nineties and from what I gather US is a very enjoyable and well-supported system.  What I like about naval gaming is that it requires very little terrain; a few islands and a blue bed-sheet are all you need, which of course reduces set-up time to a minimum! 

Incidentally, does anybody have any advice on which races to plump for?  I'm thinking Iron Dwarves (because they're cheap), but am not sure about who I should get to oppose them...

[Tomsche]

I finished my Shroud Mages fleet recently (kind of Chaos Dwarfs) and hopefully will get my first games under the belt in the comming month somewhere.

Anyways, the picture of a fleet as asked above

[Funghy-Fipps]

Superb!  Really like the smoke effect.  I was thinking of getting those helpful chaps at Warbases to knock up some specific 2mm MDF bases when I get my ships, but first would like to ask whether they interfere with the game mechanics in any way (I mean, seeing as they're not provided with the miniatures)? 

Let us know how you fare in your first engagement, Tomsche.

[Tomsche]

Well, as far as I read the rules, it *could* be a small issue in collisions, but I guess most sensible gamers can easily work around that with a (smallish) bit of leeway rulebends (as in, instead of ships touching, bases touching or the likes.)

[Sinewgrab]

I and a couple of friends have played the rules - very simple, but extremely workable. Fast playing - two starter fleets are done in about an hour to an hour and a half. Loved it myself - reminded me of Man O War without the blasted bookkeeping.

And Litko does a counter set that is very nice.

[Argonor]

Motre and more tempting... also the space rules....