How To Do Ship to Ship Battles?

[Silent Invader]

I'd love to hear what you think of them. I am always looking for feedback, so please let me know  

Sure thing but I need to build the board first 

[dbsubashi]

Sukhe, Lion Rampant has a mechanism for Battered units losing more men if they end up within 3 inches of another unit, which should cover the "falling overboard" issue nicely without adding new rule mechanisms. On almost any ship model it should also happen often! Most units that fail to rally will simply disappear after a couple of turns. Throw in the fact that the Battered unit will have no place to go and will probably be attacked again (hitting on 6's for being Battered) and they most likely won't last 2 turns!

It is almost as is Dan Mersey knew we would be fighting naval battles with his rules...  

[dinohunterpoa]

For inspiration:

Vikings Vs Franks Naval Battle Round One - THE VIKINGS SEASON 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj_aN2ghn-c



 

[Dr. Zombie]

For inspiration:

Vikings Vs Franks Naval Battle Round One - THE VIKINGS SEASON 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj_aN2ghn-c



 

Oh dear god that was awfull!

[Hupp n at em]

Oh dear god that was awfull!

What on earth are those wattle-edged platforms??  Why do the vikings have recurve bows?  Why do the Franks (uniformly) have saracen shields? Coulda just used Kite shields or colored them differently for visual differentiation! Vikings with crossbows? Huh? 

Also, that fight choreography was pretty lame.  Punching while holding a weapon is pretty easy to spot and breaks the suspension of disbelief very easily. As much as I often wish for more battle scenes on Game of Thrones, I'm starting to think that maybe they spread them out to maintain the quality!

[Matakakea]

I will give them one thing. Ordering the archers to 'loose' rather than 'fire'. That made a pleasant change.

[Patrice]

What on earth are those wattle-edged platforms??  Why do the vikings have recurve bows?  Why do the Franks (uniformly) have saracen shields?

AAargh

But I really like the idea where you have ships that are bacially moving interactive terrain (...) So that after the ships move the soldiers can do their thing. Because in the end a medieval naval battle should end up with ships locked together and men fighting a "land battle" on the decks.

Yes, to make things simple you can avoid details about ship maneuvering, just a fixed move for all ships, and use or adapt your normal ruleset, with the ship hull edges etc considered as terrain elements that give some protection from shooting and hamper movements, and then your miniature guys fight as they are used to fight on a difficult terrain on land (and it's correct for this historical period I think).

[Hupp n at em]

I will give them one thing. Ordering the archers to 'loose' rather than 'fire'. That made a pleasant change.

Good ear. 

[sukhe_bator]

THE main thing about ship fighting was the exploitation of the height difference, and having the gunwales as defended/defensive obstacles is a major point.
Crows nests and castles were prominent 'hard points', and even just using larger vessels with decks higher off the waterline made them more difficult to board - much like attacking a defended wall. Hence the popularity of the Hanseatic Kogge over its lower longship rivals.
The ancients catapulted, threw or dropped all manner of unpleasant chemical and incendiary weapons onto attacking ships from stinkpots to bees nests to pots of venomous snakes. They even dropped lead 'dolphins' suspended from the yards to punch through the deck and hull. My personal favourite though was the Rhodian firepot, a metal pan suspended from a yard either side of the prow. The Rhodians would charge at a ship and play 'chicken'. When the enemy flinched at the last moment it was designed to spill hot coals onto the enemy decks when it rammed/collided.
That Vikings film clip is WRONG on so many levels  . I think the ONLY thing they got right was using the term 'loose'

[Sir_Theo]

Once you have decided to watch Vikings without screaming in horror every time you see the Anglo Saxons and their armour then you can forgive them all the other inaccuracies.

[dinohunterpoa]

Once you have decided to watch Vikings without screaming in horror every time you see the Anglo Saxons and their armour then you can forgive them all the other inaccuracies.

 


A clip with a medieval Saxons vs. Franks naval battle from the game TOTAL WAR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW5ju9mhFtY

(MUCH better than the VIKINGS series nonsense, IMHO!) 

[Hupp n at em]

 


A clip with a medieval Saxons vs. Franks naval battle from the game TOTAL WAR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW5ju9mhFtY

(MUCH better than the VIKINGS series nonsense, IMHO!) 

Like that one quite a bit more, and I have that game, though I haven't played it much. May have to boot it up one of these days.