A few questions regarding Pirate rules and ships

[Galland]

I have been lurking the Swashbuckling Adventures department for quite a while now, and come to the conclusion that I really cant call my self a real wargamer if I dont have a pirate force (funny how this goes for so many kinds of warbands/armies/units). I bought a couple of figures from a member the other day, and then made a few orders online.

What I need now are two things, first, a set of good rules. I have been thinking about the Legends of the High Seas (Warhammer Historical?). I have also seen that there is a new game system on the way out on the market, but any suggestions regarding this would be welcome.

I have also tried to locate a Mega Blok Black Pearl (mega bloks 1017) here in sweden, but no luck what so ever, but I suppose I can vacumclean Ebay and see if I can find something there. However, any help with this would be very welcome.

One more question. I am also looking for a good source for ship cannons in 28mm.

[richarDISNEY]

Flagship games does some good canons...
http://www.scalecreep.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=183&osCsid=ebcd6742b572ac98552d9b7123c6ac84

As does Old Glory... http://oldglory25s.com/index.php?cat_id=93&catname=%2725mm%20Buccaneer%20-%20Napoleonic%20Wars%20%27
Both ship to Sweeden.

As for rules....  LotHS is... ok.

Freebooter's Fate is a lot of fun (no ship on ship action, though...)
And Black Scorpion's Cutlass! has potential (its not out yet...  Coming in April).

Flagship Games' Pirates! is also spectacular (the main point is ship on ship action, and some basic rules for figures on figures...)

[Froggy the Great]

The Under the Black Flag supplement for Gloire is dedicated to ship and piratey action.

[Malamute]

Minimi have some reasonably priced ships guns at £1 each.

http://minimi.co.uk/pirates/

Check out this sticky thread at the top of the swashbuckling page about Pirate ships, there are some good ideas on there.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=24456.0

[Thargor]

Try Cornwall Boats:

http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/ship_fittings.html

They have everything you could need for fitting out model ships.

I use the Freebooter's Fate rules and think they are great.  There are plenty of reviews out there including one written by me (with fluff from Morkin) in The Ancible

http://the-ancible.com/

[Galland]

I thank you gentlemen, these are all good advice, and the links to 28mm ships have of course been thoroughly searched while in lurker mode hehe.

Good link to the ship parts supplier.

I will have to go through all this and see what I will settle for.

[Galland]

Okay, the little project is moving a bit... most of the suplies for a habour is bought or otherwise procured. I orginally wanted to create a habour with a more WWII/Pulp feel to it, but alas... the pirate fever took over, so I decided to go with a more tropical theme. I think that I will not have any buildings permanently attached to the habour proper, so I can use it for africa WWII or other type of more modern style of gaming, tintin comes to mind.
I have also got the foamboard, some moulds for stone work, water effects and other items for the crafting process. I need varnish and paint, wich I suppose is rather easy to obtain at any boat or ordinary household paint shop.

I will have to get hold of some ships, but I am working on that part, and have bought one half finished scratchbuilt hull, wich I am really looking forward to finish, and I am negotiating for a mega blok ship.

Next round of shopping will yield trees, preferably palms and other plants with a more tropical feel to them. I suppose I will have to visit a aquarium shop and see what they have available.

When it comes to literature, I must confess that I have a quite a lot of pirate books, about 20 or 25 or there around. So I cant say that pirates are a new interest. I would say that they have shared the time with Star Wars, Tintin, WWII and landsknechts.


When it comes to rules, I bought a set of the Warhammer Legends of the High Seas from a board member and will see how it works. I would like to play with my pirates using the Mordheim rules as well, and are open to other suggestions.

[Patrice]

I think that I will not have any buildings permanently attached to the habour proper

You don't even need a real harbour. I don't see why pirate wargamers always want a harbour ? Most coastal villages and small towns in the Caribbean had no wharf or anything like that. The boats set anchor as close to the beach as possible, and traffic between the boat and the beach was done with smaller rowing boats.

[Froggy the Great]

Can I just interject and say "wharf" is one of the greatest words ever?

Wharf wharf wharf wharf wharf...

[warrenpeace]

You don't even need a real harbour. I don't see why pirate wargamers always want a harbour ? Most coastal villages and small towns in the Caribbean had no wharf or anything like that. The boats set anchor as close to the beach as possible, and traffic between the boat and the beach was done with smaller rowing boats.

True enough, but harbors with wharves figure prominantly in some pirate movies.  They are atmospheric.  If one is doing a role-playing scale pirate game, then having a harbor town with wharves really sets a scene.  For inspiration of that nature, look at this Yorktown AWI scene, much of which could be used in a pirate game:

http://ilovewargameing.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=3129

[warrenpeace]

If you are trying to find large plastic pirate ships in Sweden, which can be converted for use with 28mm figures, I would suggest looking for Playmobil.  I'm not sure if this link will work, as it is a bit long, and is to a USA website, I believe.  However, there are photos of 4 out of 5 or 6 hull forms that Playmobil has introduced over the years on page 1 and page 2 of this link:

http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/Search-Show?cgid=Piraten&psortb1=New&psortd1=2&psortb2=id&psortd2=1&start=0&sz=12

The sloop pictured at the "red corsair" on this page has been produced in at least two color schemes, with the brown hull pictured and with a black hull.  The large pirate ship with the red hull is still, I believe, being produced in the original color.  The pirate boat referred to as a "gun boat" on the first page has also been produced as a pale purple ghostly pirate boat.  The "Blackbeard's pirate ship" pictured on page 2 was formerly produced with a brown hull and with some sails instead of the unfortunate plastic red furled sail pieces.  An ebay search should turn up some out of production versions of some of these ships and boats.

Playmobil ships require less modifications than the Mega Bloks ships.  They are of similar sizes.  And they provide plenty of room on deck for boarding actions.

[warrenpeace]

Savage Worlds: Pirates of the Spanish Main from Pinnacle is fun, and is worth the price:

http://www.studio2publishing.com/shop/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=pirates+of+the+spanish+main

As previously mentioned, Gloire/Under the Black Flag from Rattrap Productions is also nice.  The Rattrap system and Savage Worlds differ in that the Savage Worlds system uses a variety of die types from d4 through d12 (as in good old D&D), while the Rattrap games use a d10 with modifiers.  The values and characteristics are so similar, however, that you can buy both sets of rules and transfer a lot of ratings and characteristics from one system to the other.

It's also worth buying the GURPS Swashbucklers book, if you can find a copy, as it provides more good ideas and historical notes.  It's a very valuable resource.

The above are all role playing scale systems.

For larger pirate battles, The Sword and the Flame can be modified to work for the 17th Century.

[discok3]

Is this a fact or fiction?...WHARF is an acronym for Ware House Along River Front

[warrenpeace]

In order to give structure to a pirate campaign, the recently published Merchant & Marauders from Z-Man Games should work:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25292/merchants-marauders

It should be available in Sweden.  The designer lives in Denmark.  This game will probably be to pirate games what monopoly is to real estate games, an instant classic.  This game is generally regarded as the best pirate themed boardgame ever produced, even though players can also play the role of honest merchant (and can attack the pirates).

Besides the very nice map, and the great little plastic ships and other bits, there are some rumor and mission cards that would help give structure to a pirate campaign, or simply inspire one off scenarios.  The ship to ship combat system is rudimentary, but is fast and fun.  For a pirate campaign using miniatures, more elaborate systems could be introduced for resolving boarding actions, and perhaps more elaborate systems could be introduced for cannon combat (called "naval combat" in the game).

[Patrice]

Is this a fact or fiction?...WHARF is an acronym for Ware House Along River Front

Whore House Along River Front, you mean ?

Oh.

Then I certainly agree with this:

harbors with wharves figure prominantly in some pirate movies.  They are atmospheric.  If one is doing a role-playing scale pirate game, then having a harbor town with wharves really sets a scene