The BIG pirate battle in Bordeaux

[Patrice]

Hi everybody.

I do not know if you have seen the photos of the VERY BIG pirate battle (28 mm) that happened in Bordeaux (south-west France) three weeks ago.

128 m2 of table, and more than 30 players (on two days) representing pirates, and French, Spanish, and English navies 

Many pics here (comments are in French):
http://argad.forumculture.net/louis-xiv-pirates-f7/week-end-pirate-des-caraibesle-reportage-t175.htm

[Colonel Tubby]

That looked like a great way to spend a weekend!


Not reading French and I can only assume that ships moved from table to table as they sailed around?

[Patrice]

Yes they did. I was a bit uneasy about that before attending, but in fact it was not a problem in the game.

The main problem for players is that you don't look at the next table often enough, and sometimes a ship comes near you before you noticed it was already approaching on the other table. But movement from one table to another (and even firing from one table at another) was no difficulty.

[Calimero]

Vous ne seriez pas un peu mégalo dans votre club de wargames?
Ceci étant dit "mégalo" et "wargames" vont très bien ensemble selon moi…

It look like a very nice game. I wish I could attend something like that one day

[OSHIROmodels]

What a fantastic idea for a game  Would it be possible for you to give us an idea of the figure/boat/building ranges there?

cheers

James

[Sheerluck Holmes]

            

Totally Freaking awesome!!!!!!!!

[Patrice]

Well, Jimbibbly it was all 25/28 mm ranges but there was a mixture of different things, depending on what the players brought with them. Pirates and Marines soldiers were a mix of Foundry, Old Glory, Front Rank, etc. Many ships have been built by their owners, a few other were modified (very nicely) from Megablocks pirate ship, etc. Same thing for the buildings : many had been created by players, many others had been purchased.

Add that some players were most interested in "pirate" free adventures, but that some others (including myself) were looking for a re-creation of a good-humoured historical context (c.1700 in the Carribean)...but there was fun for all.

Some more links about fortress construction and ship construction, etc (I am afraid it's all in french, but there are many pics):
http://argad.forumculture.net/louis-xiv-pirates-f7/castillo-de-san-marcos-t94.htm
http://euthanasor-wargamesetmodelisme.blogspot.com/
http://argad.forumculture.net/louis-xiv-pirates-f7/l-oiseau-blanc-a-l-horizon-t127.htm
http://argad.forumculture.net/decors-f10/auberge-medievale-t153.htm

[OSHIROmodels]

Thanks for the reply, I shall peruse those links at a later date 

cheers

James

[richarDISNEY]

All of those links looks great.
I just wish there was a translation for them...not being able to read French...

[Christian]

That looks like it was a lot of fun! This my favourite picture by far though:
http://www.argad-bzh.fr/heb/graine-pisse2.jpg

The rest is very, very good though. I can't believe the scale of the damn thing!

[Poiter50]

What an awesome game!! And the vision to set up a weekend of such epic proportions. The photography in such a setting really shows the work that went into and the action shots along the way.

Fortunately Google Chrome provided me with a translation so I did not have to challenge my school/tourist French. A couple of questions; You said that for the naval battles you used a local rule set - Turtles to Trafalgar. Is that available for our own use as we struggle to enjoy LOTHS as a ship to ship system? And what manufacturer is the English Poleacre? With linage dating back to Arab Feluccas, dreams of a decent Arab Pirate/Corsair list and ship surface.

[Hammers]

Fantastic! How dfo you say "Avast, me hearties!" in French?

[kidterminal]

That looks like it was a lot of fun! This my favourite picture by far though:
http://www.argad-bzh.fr/heb/graine-pisse2.jpg

The rest is very, very good though. I can't believe the scale of the damn thing!

Mine too! What an amazing set up.

[cianty]

Wow! This is really awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!
Just added the blog to my blog list.

[leadfool]

Great looking game, thanks for sharing it with the english speaking world.  Tell me are the English the bad guys in French Pirate games?