Northstar Miniatures: On The Seven Seas Nickstarter Launch Date

[lou passejaire]

I like most of the minis but they all seem overly characterful (as mentioned beforehand by some folks).  Some are very Disney-esque

5 one eyed figures on 24 figures ... 4 one eyed figures (half of the crew!) in the blackbeard crew ...
12 bearded figures on 24 figures ( of wich 2 are women )

but a very useful Royal Navy crew, a beautiful Anne Bonny,

i'm waiting to see the "18th Century sailors"b waiting for more commonly (poorly) dressed sailors miniatures.

[Elbows]

Yeah if I was making a crew I'd prefer having 3-4 stylish characters and then a dozen gunhands who are much more simply dressed, not so overly ornate.  Maybe they can be dumbed down a bit with less vibrant paintjobs or something.  I do like some of the figures - but don't care much for the absurd captain models. 

[Smith]

I posted this on another thread previously:

From the author's introduction:

Model ships or smaller vessels, if these are to be used in your game. An enjoyable game can be had between purely land-based forces, but fights at sea will be an important part of many pirate scenarios, and battles between and on board ships are fully catered for in the rules.

The naval rules use the same base system as the land combat, and equipment options can have no effect ashore, but a boon on ship. Likewise, certain model characteristics might place them at an advantage or disadvantage on board ship - it's a pretty integrated system!

The focus is on pirate/naval crews, rather than on fleets of ships, but it is just as easy to run a game with two ships dueling broadsides before closing to board as it is a skirmish in the streets of Havana - and once it comes down to boarding, with allowances for the different 'terrain', the same system is used. The largest ship covered in the rules is one with a nominal crew of 60 (plus 12 swivel guns and 12 cannon). This could represent a brig, brigantine, dhow, junk or a small frigate, depending on your interpretation - but bearing in mind that the average crew size is c.15 men (broadly speaking, it's a 1:5 figure ratio and a 1:2.5 gun ratio), you're looking at a pretty formidable beast. On the flip side, the smallest vessel covered is a row boat.

There are even rules for sharks, alligators etc. should your crew end up in dangerous waters!

The core system is d10 driven, and based around two main motivations - Fear and Greed - that drive a crew forwards (or backwards). Captains have a number of activation options with which to affect these two drives, by encouraging or exhorting their crew, or threatening the enemy, for example. Fear represents, naturally, the crew's (dis)inclination to stay and fight, while Greed is their drive to take risks in the pursuit of wealth, glory or whatever. Greed is not always good - it can lead to crews dashing off and leaving themselves unable to respond to enemy actions, so Captains will need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of a more cautious or more aggressive approach.

This is a system designed to keep crews of rough, argumentative and ill-disciplined pirates in a state of constant nervous tension, befitting the genre - but it might not be for everyone, so the author outlines an alternate option that offers increased control over crews, simply by increasing the chances of Captains being able to affect Fear and Greed.

Other tidbits...

• 4 Captain-only personality characteristics
• 7 other personality characteristics
• 13 missile weapons, from pistol to powdered lime
• 5 classes of melee weapon
• 4 ship types
• A basic campaign system
• 12 faction lists, from Sea Dogs to Cimaroons

And my personal favourite:

• 'Fire and Smoke' - a guide to setting things on fire

I hope that helps somewhat. As I've said before, please feel free to ask any questions you like, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Cheers!

[Ray Earle]

Is there going to be a Peter Pan figure?

Well, you've got rules for crocodiles and one of those figures bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain pirate captain...

[Elbows]

I'm thinking I may contact my laser-cuttin' buddy and start convincing him to make a couple of small sloops with MDF and maybe heavy card...hmmm...

[grant]

.

[lou passejaire]

I'm thinking I may contact my laser-cuttin' buddy and start convincing him to make a couple of small sloops with MDF and maybe heavy card...hmmm...

it's quite easy to build some ship, using card and balsa wood .

you find a lot of ships drawings, i think of the chapman drawings

you can find them here : http://www.sjohistoriska.se/en/Collections/Archives/ChapmanNet/ChapmanNet/Drawings/?pressimagepage=1

Need a Smee too, then...

he is in the captain hood's crew 

[Chesh]

Hmmmm, just realised no South East Asian pirates amoungst the ones shown by North Star

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Wako pirates are out there - Forlorn Hope now has them, IIRC - and the Foundry Pirates are excellent!

[CptJake]

I'm thinking I may contact my laser-cuttin' buddy and start convincing him to make a couple of small sloops with MDF and maybe heavy card...hmmm...

Laser Dream Works make some great ships which would work, including this one:  http://www.laserdreamworks.com/28mm-pirate-brigantine/

I have it started, but also have this one much smaller ship finished:

[Smith]

Hmmmm, just realised no South East Asian pirates amoungst the ones shown by North Star

Nor Elizabethan Sea Dogs, Barbary Corsairs, Wo-k'ou, Buccaneers, Ch'i Chi-Kuang's anti-pirate militia, Spanish treasure fleets, colonial garrisons, native tribesmen or Cimaroons, but they're all in the book!

Personally, and while this might sound like a plug for North Star... I'm thinking about using the Ronin bandit buntai for my Wo-k'ou - they've got that scrappy, mercenary feel that fits. I may need to mix in some Cavalcade too for variety...

[lou passejaire]

Nor Elizabethan Sea Dogs, Barbary Corsairs, Wo-k'ou, Buccaneers, Ch'i Chi-Kuang's anti-pirate militia, Spanish treasure fleets, colonial garrisons, native tribesmen or Cimaroons, but they're all in the book!

but you have some pretty nice figs from other manufacturers 

I 'm waiting for a range who fill the gap, in naval crew ranges, between 1750 and the beginning of the napoleonic area . ( if the sailors can be used for this period, the characters dress is not suitable for this period )

As said in french " l'espoir fait vivre" 

[Patrice]

Some of these are very nice. 

But I have some difficulty (or is it only me?) when sculptors make holes in the hat brims to represent tricorns.

[/quote]

...or should they include a rabbit with it?

[/quote]

...But don't misunderstand me; as I said, some of the other miniatures in this range are very appealing. 

[Elbows]

Capt. Jake,

Yeah those are pretty nice looking.  Actually what I'm considering asking him to do are some 60% ships.  Basically a base floor, a raised deck, the rear tower...and then maybe a mast.  I'll provide the sides with plasticard or heavy card..and I think he could swing them for $10-15 a pop.    I'm a bit of a cheapskate.  I'm going to talk to him about it this week.  I may start selling products through him so maybe I can release a small line of "build your own" ships when this game comes out.

While we're at it - who's got a quality source for deck guns?  I picked up some from Dogs of War a while back and they're miniscule - think 20mm instead of 28mms.  The Dogs of War rowboats on the other hand are simply splendid and I have three of them.  Great quality.

[carlos13th]

Nor Elizabethan Sea Dogs, Barbary Corsairs, Wo-k'ou, Buccaneers, Ch'i Chi-Kuang's anti-pirate militia, Spanish treasure fleets, colonial garrisons, native tribesmen or Cimaroons, but they're all in the book!

Personally, and while this might sound like a plug for North Star... I'm thinking about using the Ronin bandit buntai for my Wo-k'ou - they've got that scrappy, mercenary feel that fits. I may need to mix in some Cavalcade too for variety...

I am planning on Using some North Star Bandit models, some perry Ikko Ikki and maybe a couple of Cavalcade Wako. Though I want to see how the wako ones compare size wise first.