Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: Widows Son on August 14, 2017, 08:54:50 AM
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I would like to start by thanking all those fellow LAF-ers whose posts on here provided inspiration and guidance for this project; there is some really great work out there, and whilst mine is not up to their standards, I am nevertheless happy with it for a first attempt (and I shall continue to make improvements to it over time). As per the title, I aim to give a short overview of the project, followed by a brief AAR of our first game.
This project started about 15 years ago when I purchased a Foundry Pirate Collection; over the years I would paint a few figures every now and then, but the poor old pirates always seemed to get queue-jumped by newer interests, and so progress was slow. The trigger to bring this project to the front of the queue was me finishing the final series of Black Sails, with all the fabulous landings and battles that occurred. Of course pirates need a ship, and I was fortunate to see one in a charity shop window for £3.50 that appeared to be right for size (it was, as it turned out). Please see the picture below of the SpongeBob SquarePants ship:
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Umm, no pic?
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I removed the shields from the sides and gave the ship a good wash in warm soapy water and the clean water, to get rid of any grease, and then sprayed it with a black undercoat. From there it was a brown spray for the inside, followed by a dark brown wash to bring out the deck planking:
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Next step was a brown paint followed by some dry-brush highlighting. I wanted the figures to stand out clearly on the deck when it was on the table:
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Here are a couple of the Foundry pirates… as you can see, the size is just right:
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Whilst finishing the first ship, I bought a Playmobil one as a next conversion project from Ebay, and it came with a small rowing boat that I decided to convert as well. Here is a pic of the work in progress, showing the planking that will cover the bottom of the boat. There is a picture of the finished boat to come:
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And here is a picture of the finished(-ish) ship ready for its first game. The sails are made out of model canvas and the rope from waxed thread - all found on Ebay. A special mention of thanks goes to my chum Larry for making the gun ports for me - thanks pal!
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Here is a closer view. I replaced the wheel using one from Games of War and added a few other items to the deck:
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And so to the game. We used a mix of figures that I have painted and some that I have bought, and my good chum Clive lent some of his figures too (thanks pal!). I intend to rebase them all to achieve better visual harmony, and to not have any with grass on their bases, as I do not like the way they look when on board ship.
The rules were a homegrown adaptation of various sets from Dan Mersey of the 'Lion / Dragon Rampant, TMWWBKs, and Pikemans Lament' stable of rules. We felt that they worked very well, with plenty of characterful additions to the rules, for example bringing out the fierceness and toughness of those pirates that were members of the Vanguard.
The scenario was a raid on a slavers town (an old former Spanish place) on the coast of West Africa. The story was that the well-liked Quartermaster had gone ashore to recce the place ahead of a possible raid, but had been recognised in an inn, and had been thrown in jail pending trial by the Governor, who was currently out of town. The crew were keen to rescue the Quartermaster and to wreak havoc on the town, and hence an early morning raid was underway…
This is a view of the table at the end - please excuse all the detritus on the table! The jail is at the bottom left, the army barracks next to it to the right, and the Governors house above it. There is an old and run-down fort and a number of jetties to which the pirates would have to row to, as the ship could not get in too close:
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The raiding parties setting off for shore in the dawn light:
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Ned 'Diamond Geezer' Lowe leads his men up the steps of the old fort… At this point the pirates did not know if the first was manned, or not. As they went up the steps Ned paused as he thought he heard a noise (failed the unit activation test), meanwhile the slaver gunners were waking up and starting to make the morning chai:
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…rounding the corner at the top of the fort Ned sees the gunners and leads a charge to cut them down, but before the deadly melee, the gunners manage to fire the cannon and alert the town! o_o
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Ned gives orders for the gun to be turned around and dragged over to the other side of the fort, thus dominating the town and the Governors residence. While this was happening, other parties had landed and were being engaged by local mounted militia (which they drove off with just one volley!) and a unit of tough soldiers:
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This picture shows the fight around the barracks. This was a 'battle of the giants' with a unit of Vanguard facing off against the veteran soldiers. The Vanguard drove the soldiers from the barracks with a smoke grenade and eventually the soldiers were cut down by musket fire and retreated:
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Lovely looking game :)
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The gun now in position it bombards the Governors residence, and in the background more parties are rowing ashore. The 2IC of the raid (Ben) chose to come ashore last, something that has caused murmurings amongst the crew afterwards...
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Apologies for the double picture above - if anyone can remove it or advise me how to do so, I would be most grateful. Thank you.
Bens party finally get to shore. The rowing boat in the background is the one that came with the Playmobil ship that I referenced above and converted. The bow chaser is also from Games of War.
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Thank you for the kind words Malamute!
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Of course the pirates certainly did not have it all their own way, and the defenders gave a very good account of themselves. It was tough for the defenders, as their forces came in piecemeal to represent them arriving from different local areas, at different times. Some here are in position on top of one of the buildings:
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Local militia attacking one of the buildings where a party of Vanguard are taking shelter in:
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The Governors house having been truly battered by the gun in the fort, a party of Vanguard prepares to storm it. Meanwhile other parties have searched the barracks and are skirting around the jail, but without having found out where the Quartermaster is being held. Some parties of pirates are now feeling the pressure from the defenders and are starting to fall back, whilst one party managed to take some barrels of gunpowder and get them back to their ship:
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…but a late disaster hit the pirates! With most of the crew ashore and only a few gunners left on the ship, Lady Luck danced with the Devil in the form of a dhow that sailed swiftly out of a nearby inlet, and headed straight for the pirate ship, with the slaver crew boarding her and taking it! :o
The game was called at this point and I think it fair to say that great fun was had by all (including the liberal use of bad pirate accents!). We shall link more games together in the future and take it in turns to advance the careers of the respective players pirate Capns…
And the overall result? Well clearly the crew were less than pleased at losing their ship, albeit they would have taken the town. Ned came out around about even in reputation terms, and Ben's Capn is on thin ice from his crew for not leading from the front (or even from 'the middle'!).
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Great stuff!
Love that old fort - is it a scratchbuild?
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Thanks TBC! Sorry to say that I bought the fort at a wargames show roughly 20 years ago now and I cannot recall the manufacturer. It has done occasional, but great service, ever since.
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This looks amazing, really fun.
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So what's the difference between and egg and a pirate wargame?
You can't beat a pirate wargame! ;)
Top AAR, looks like you had plenty of swashes to buckle.
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Yes indeed. Quite enjoyable looking over your pictures.
-Michael
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Thank you for the kind comments - very much appreciated. :)
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Looked like it was a great game. Like the scenario, bringing in some different opponents. I have to also say that you did a great job on that plastic pirate ship.
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For the ship: An excellent conversion :-*, very difficult for someone to imagine it once belonged to SpongeBob lol
A beautiful table setup and your AAR is a source of inspiration! It must have been an exciting and enjoyable game! Congratulations!
For deleting the double picture:
Go to the message you want to change.
Up right you see Modify. Click
Left bottom you see Additional Options. Click
You see two boxes with the same picture file name. Unclick one of them. Save
(Clicking Modify, you may also modify your text anytime- add or cut something, then Save)
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A superb skirmish adventure as I like them.
I also like the fact that the ship could not reach the beach and the crew had to row ashore, this was the case in most places in these times.
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Enjoyed the read
Cheers
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Very nice set up well worth all the time and effort
Very nice collection of miniatures as well :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
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Great looking table and miniatures, and a nice report of what sounds like a resoundingly good game!
-Michael
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I like that ruin as well. It reminds me of some of the hard foam terrain pieces Thomarillion carries, but I don't see it there.
http://www.thomarillion.de
-Michael
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Warm thanks for all the nice comments chaps - really appreciated! :)
mweaver: you are absolutley right in that the ruin does seem to be made out of a lightweight sort of foam.
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Here is a small update to the project; some Pirate gunners. The chap carrying the barrel on his back is actually one of a pair of Reaper dwarfs, with the other one filling his tankard from the barrel - see picture also. I thought this chap would make a nice one-off for the game, and he looks fine from above (war-games angle). I have yet to spray the figures with matt and also to finish the bases:
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And here is the barrel chap from a different angle. I made his cap out of 'green stuff' as he had a sort of fur hat on originally:
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Here is a mix of Pirates, with the second figure in from the left being a gunner originally, but now converted to take a flag (I have yet to make the flag). The two right hand figures are destined for one of the Vanguard Parties, while the Pirate in the middle is from the Foundry 'Boarding Pikes' pack, but altered slightly so he will become a boatman for one of the boats that take the crew to/from shore:
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Some British Royal Navy sailors. I understand that the RN did not have uniforms during the early part of the 18th century (when my games are set in), but I like to think of my RN Captains as being a little bit 'cutting edge' in that regard! (Pun intended). ;)
I have found that a number of the Foundry Pirate figures have the short jackets, certainly enough to have these figures painted up as navy sailors, and I have quite a bunch still to come. Otherwise I shall have them in the white shirts that can be partly seen on these figures.
The right hand chap is another one from the Boarding Pikes range and he will do service as an RN boatman:
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And finally for this update, the first of my British Army infantry, and a mounted local militia man from one of the large estates. I shall only have one unit of these and they will be rated in game terms as per their title, and not anything like 'cavalry':