1800´s Whaling as a subject for a game?

[Westfalia Chris]

Ahoy!

This afternoon, being struck down by a nasty (if already receding) cold, I watched the marvellous "Moby Dick", you know, the classic version starring Gregory Peck and Orson Welles, and as the film ground on to its climax, I couldn´t keep thoughts of "gaming that must be so cool"!

So, has anybody thought about it? You´d need some whalers in whaleboats, a whale which would dive at irregular intervals, then re-surface where you wouldn´t expect it, and a large table space to have room for chases. Otherwise, how to quantify the stamina of a whale? That might be gruesome, as in how many wounds from harpoons can it take, but if one manages to capture the speed and pace of the action, it might make for a good game.

Just to make it clear, I´m talking of pre-1863 whaling, ie using hand-thrown harpoons, not those horrible cannon-launched explosive things, back when men were men and sperm whales still stood a fighting chance.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

So, has anybody thought about it?

yeah  :mrgreen:

http://forum.backofbeyond.de/viewtopic.php?t=77

I've got Eureka boat with crew, need still a whal

[LeadAsbestos]

Count me in, if only to have an Ahab mini, Abe Lincoln w/ a peg leg!

[Westfalia Chris]

So, has anybody thought about it?

yeah  :mrgreen:

http://forum.backofbeyond.de/viewtopic.php?t=77

I've got Eureka boat with crew, need still a whal

Oops... :oops:  :oops:  :oops:

Great Stuff in there! thanks for the link. I hadn´t thought to look under swashbuckling.

[Malamute]

There was a posting on TMP about this before Christmas with photos of a Moby Dick game using the same Eureka figures.I think the game was at a con in the states.
The model of the white whale was excellent, he was in two parts, a gigantic tail and a separate head out of the water.Very nice indeed.

[Popeyesays]

It seems to me I remember a whaling game in one of the Brit miniature magazines many moons ago.

Moby Dick aside, it was a dangerous business. Anyway, a whaling ship or two provides the wherewithal to do a U.S.S. Essex in the Pacific campaign.

Regards.
Scott

[abbot_amaury]

So, has anybody thought about it?

Almost every time I go to my local toystore! They have those fantastic Schleich whales! Perhaps you would have to modify them slightly for the gaming table, but...

[PeteMurray]

I would feel awful about cutting up a Schliech toy.  

I'm waiting for my son to be old enough to play with them.

[knoxville]

Pete, it's very easy.... with a sharp saw  :twisted:

I sawed off some chunks of their mammoth, and let me tell you, it's not as easy as it seems.

[Brimshack]

Interesting. I trust the whale will fight back more than occassionally right? Would the competition be to see who's boat gets the kill. Or is it a 1 on 1 whalers versus whale?

[Westfalia Chris]

Well, sperm whales were notoriously belligerent when provoked, in contrast to right whales or bump whales, whose peaceful nature proved to be their undoing more often than not...

I seem to recall that the hunt for the great northern rorqual (vulgo blue whale) and finback only started after the advent of the explosive harpoon cannon in 1864.