Zinqagur Fleet Programme - Scale Change

Although I love scratchbuilding 1/1000 scale models, the process is very time-consuming, and I wanted to play some pre-dreadnought battles with this shelved project in mind.

So I returned to it, but I'm going to produce the models in 1/2000 scale instead. I already started working on the Charles Martel and three Orlando/Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruisers.

Ships of the pre-dreadnought era are generally easy to construct at this scale, as their superstructures are relatively not very cluttered, very boxy so to speak, with a pair of turrets and a big central casemate battery.

I also have four ships of the Iron Duke-class superdreads which only need basing, so I shall go on with that, and perhaps the project will gather enough momentum so I can continue with repairing and rebasing the rest of the collection.

Going Medieval Ep.2, Dragon Rampant

I developed my original ideas somewhat and came to a few conclusions.

First of all, I managed to dig out the remainders of the last Aliexpress package (of the ripped-off Caesar knight figures that everybody likes on the Super Cheap Wargaming FB group), and all in all I could field a few units already. I have four mounted knights (a reduced figure number or half unit of heavy cavalry and a commander), a group of archers, a few standard bearers and foot sergeants, which is a good start.

Superhobby or Mojehobby or however you'd like to call it supplies most of the Dark/Light Alliance 1/72 plastics, and a few more interesting sets in between, so I would be able to field a lots of units cheaply and without having to resort to Chinamen using stolen products. (I wonder though if it's really stolen as Caesar is also a Chinese company and whether they just sold off their existing stock to someone else.)

Thus the setting would be, as in my previous attempt, my World in Chaos fantasy universe, where I could fight battles between various factions without having the need to adhere to historical authencity. If I can duplicate units for historical use, it's just the better.

Here's a few sets I would like:

- one or two box of knights, preferably early types, like the Italeri Teutonic Knights I have. 

- the Orion Vikings box, absolutely ahistorical but I have some toy soldier figures made in their fashion and like the horned helmets.

- HäT El Cid Spanish infantry, good early medieval to about 12th century mixed infantry, 8 units' worth in Rampant terms for cheap.

- Dark Alliance orcs and goblins, to represent the evil foe.

- Light Alliance Rohirrim (both the infantry and the horse), pretty good looking generic fantasy dudes.

When it comes to prices 1/72 scale is still king, most likely because it is unaffected by the rising production cost of metal figures. And the figures being of intermediate size, they are good for massed battles and small skirmishes too.

I'd like to wait a little before buying anything, because hopefully I'll be able to round up my 28mm 17th century Western European collection on the next Bloody Miniatures 'Not at Salute' sale, and don't wish to overspend.

Going Medieval

I've had 1/72 scale medieval armies before, and I made multiple attempts to organize the also very famous Aliexpress 200 troops pack into a core army on foot, with little success.

As always, the reason of my failure was a lack of cohesive plan, both rules- and concept-wise.

To start with the latter, my new concept involves a few things:

- late 13th/early 14th century Hungarian topics

- my World In Chaos fantasy setting

- my Schultze-Böhnstadt imagi-world, which can be in conjunction with the first one (I started on this before, my plan is to include noble houses named after German beer brands).

And the rules would be

- SBH for small actions

- Lion Rampant for large skirmishes

- Gudugan Pudugan house-rules for larger battles (I can remove the fluff from this and play as is)

The 1/72 figure market is very broad, and one thing I don't want to do is be especially pedantic, neither with period dress nor the painting. Further, 1/72 figures are at a decent intermediate scale, so they can be used both for skirmishes and big battles.

For small skirmishes I'll use figs on 40x20 cavalry and round 20mm infantry bases, while for larger battles a well tried-out method is to have 3 cav or 6 infantry on a 60x40 rectangular base, my WSS/GNW troops are based this way.

Now back to scouring cheapo kits.

Small Scale Naval Action

As mentioned on the main blog, I purchased one pack of the notorious '72x plastic Napoleonic Sailing Ship Toy etc. etc.' bag on Amazon, and it is due to arrive next week.

Just in time as I was already eyeing some Warfare Miniatures metal ships for pirate actions, and how to cut cost! (Skipping one meal or two was, of course, out of the question.) Sometimes foresight works better than any planning.

Anyway, I plan to convert a bunch of these, much alike Master Crook on his blog, to three-deckers, frigates and Indiamen. And, although I originally bought the lot for fleet actions, I will be free to roam the seven seas as captain of a privateer or pirate hunter man-o-war.

My plan includes converting six ships to 1st rates, six frigates, six indiamen and six hulks (without masts). I might just increase the number of frigates to a dozen, but again, for fleet actions, they are not required. That would still leave me with fifty-odd 'second rate' hulls

This, then, brings the question of rules, preferably for ship on ship actions. For large scale battles I have Fighting Sail and my own diceless house rules.

For smaller actions I own Galleys & Galleons, but had not tried it for duels; and Kiss Me Hardy, which I played a lot and enjoyed, and think most suitable for the task. Another candidate would be Mad for War by the League of Augsburg, which is flexible in engagement scale as far as I know.

I'm not on the lookout for rules anymore on the current market, because I'm a grognard at heart and will just write my own. Of course there is the odd exception, for example the Renaissance rules to be published by Sam Mustafa. This means it's time to re-read KMH! for a while, and wait for the ships patiently.

 

War of the League of Aspico - The Lessons

 

I fought two battles using my mashup rules of One Hour Wargames and Maurice 'Succession Wars' for the Renaissance Italian theater. I think it is useful to conclude the small campaign with a few end notes.

Campaign

The Fransican alliance won with a landslide, decisively beating both the Alliance of Nibeuno and the Papal States. Their campaign was swift and thus brought to a quick conclusion, but luck played a major part in it.

Now the Fransicans have a foothold on this side of the Alps (see map above) - the only question is, will the bickering Italian factions unite to oust them, or do they remain with their age old custom of stabbing each other in the back instead?

What I should do next is 'recruit' a few more armies - Venetian (Contatre), Spanish, Imperial - and maybe, just maybe increase army sizes to eight units per side. Thus a new day shall dawn on the First Truly Great Italian War, maybe triggered by the succession of a weak ruler on the throne of Matedicao.

Succession Wars rules

Simply put, these work great. You basically match up fighting pairs, give point results at the end of the battle, administer the losses in the army, and you are done. Simple and elegant, with a lot of thought put into the design. I don't think I will change anything.

Battle rules

I sort of made a mistake with reducing unit hit points compared to OHWG's original. This means units get destroyed very quickly. Of course this way a battle ends faster, which is a good think for solo games; on the other hand, I would like my units to be a bit more resilient.

So I think I'll add a supplementary mechanism where each unit has a rally score to meet. Hits made against the unit during the turn are added temporarily, and when every fight is concluded, the unit will be able to rally some hits off, rolling a die for each score, and calculate permanent damage. This also means that a unit which has a potential chance to be destroyed can still be activated and remains a threat during its turn. 

If that does not work, I'll keep adding hit points until a satisfactory result is found.