Saturday, June 18, 2011

Legends of the High Seas - Clash of Swords - Pictorial Battle Report

Arr Ship mates, have at 'em, look'ee, belike, shatter the main brace , clean the poop deck and prepare to board!

Play the video while reading the blog, stirring stuff, I love this music, has me reaching for my rulebook and dice every time...


(if you wish to continue listening to music while you wish to view the pictures enlarged, right click on picture and open in new tab or window)

Well all this frantic pirate making activity has paid off today. After I finished my sloop the Becky Boo, a couple of weeks back, and having previously painted up a crew for it, and having now made several suitable buildings, I realized one thing was missing from having a good platform for a game - a suitable looking gaming board. So last weekend, I went and got more 3mm MDF sheet and set to with it and the 50mm polystyrene sheet I had previously bought.
So all this week I have been busy making the port, with dock and town square areas, and finally got finished just in time last night, with the help from the electric fan heater to get the paint dry in time! But work well worth it I think.

So the call went out to Roly and Brett that our campaign was ready to start.

Roly brought some extra terrain including fields, windmill, well, carts, walls and more buildings. Also his excellent ships.  Roly also had a great many period civilians types, that added the feel of a bustling port. Things were looking good. Brett brought a great selection of barrels, crates, sacks and general cargo type stuff. It all came together excellently.

A view across the bay to the port town, with Roly readying his crew


A closer view of port, with Roly and Monique checking crew roster on laptop


Just across the bay, Dead Mans Isle...


Roly's converted Disney toy Black Pearl at anchor beside Isle


A view from port out to sea, with Brett finishing his crew roster.


My crew, led from the rear by Cap'n Jim Blackblood, leaving the dock and heading towards the town.


Brett's crew come in from the side of town. They were to have a little bit of a rough time of it as they were sandwiched between mine and Rolys crews, but they acquitted themselves well.


Rolys crew came in from beside the Church in two groups


The first exchange of fire between my Ol' Ned, and Bretts Jack Hawkins

A grander view of docks and my musketry forcing Bretts crew to retreat


My crew leaving the dock, passing the Chandler building, now with Cap'n Jim at the fore


My greater grouped number prevailed, and Bretts crew retreated back along back alleys and paddocks, allowing my crew to press on past a rather startled gent, heading towards the action in the town centre.


The vanguard of Rolys crew enter town square

Street level shot.


A surprise from Bretts crew; a grenade! Flattened by this blast was one of Roly's poor crew - who actually did quite well from it - although put out of action during the game, he gained extra experience from the event, in the post game sequence




The skulking 'grenadier' - he became a marked man!



Another video interlude ...







Rolys and Bretts crew still at it in the alleyway



The town square, Rolys Captain is just entering centre top



These guys are still fighting, this one lasted several rounds



An overall shot of port activity

Rolys and Bretts crews mixing it up it up. This alley way saw several bodies pile up.


Rolys crew enter town square with Bretts crew emerging from the distant paddocks


Its all happening - Roly and Bretts crew are mixing it up already as my crew appear. They quickly realize they can shoot into the combats, not caring which side they hit. My late arrival to town square was paying off in a way I hadn't foreseen


Melee, my crew and Bretts; Muzza ( big black guy) thonks Mistress Gray over the head with his club. I thought he wanted to do off with her back to the ships bilges, but the post game sequence revealed he hit her just a little too hard! Sorry Brett! In the background my 2nd mate Dandy Jack and Jack Hawkins go at it


Distant musket smoke

Final shot of game, the civilians come to implore peace from the victorious crew! Ahem...


A thoroughly great game with good companionable players, and fun light hearted way to start our campaign.

Brett got ahead early with his crew taking out 2 of Roly's crew (the first one with a grenade that spooked the bejesus out of me and Roly, as we'd never played with one in a game before, damn thing is Strength 5!) and one of mine (yes you guessed it, the newly painted model that was having his first game, ain't it always the way...). Roly and Brett continued gamely to go at each other, and it wasn't until I managed to rush into town and set up a 'firing line' facing the fighting protagonists, and felled two of them with one round of shooting that discretion seemed the better part of valor...

So I emerged the victor, after Bretts and Rolys crew had fought each to a standstill, and they voluntarily routed as I piled into the town square taking pot shots at the melee combatants. I can't say it was a plan from the outset, but that's the way it played out.

I look forward to more of these games, and making more terrain and ships for the game.

20 comments:

  1. Wow! That is seriously impressive terrain! Wish I hadn't been at work today...

    Consider me in for the next game!

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  2. Great looking game guys. Very good work on the terrain Scott.

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  3. Simply amazing... I am sooooo jealous!

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  4. That's just stonking cool! It really shows what some dedication can produce.

    Christopher

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  5. Yep, it was a great game on great terrain. But being hit by a bloody great grenade wasn't so great. But it all turned out great afterwards when my man 'survived against the odds' and gained a point of experience ... great!

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  6. I've posted a bit more about this game on my blog, too, Scott. Plus stolen a couple of your shots!

    Roly

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  7. Fantastic work guys! I am extremely impressed Scott. I wish I had your ability to focus on one project at a time...
    Nathan

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  8. Absolutely superb layout, Scott! What you have done with that sheet of polystyrene is inspirational. I'm looking forward to more of the same...perhaps a sea fight next?

    Regards

    Wayne

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  9. Guys, thanks for all your kind words, much appreciated.

    @Colonel - we'd love to have you, you'd be more than welcome.

    @Roly/Arteis - no worries you are welcome to them

    @Nathan - erm, actually I can be a bit of a period butterfly at times, but I just need a bit of encouragement from others, and local opponents to enjoy and share the game with, and I get all 'inspired' :-)

    @Stacky - yeah the poly is fairly easy to work with. Easier to cut than the dense foam sheet, but not as strong - if you put your hand on board and lent your weight on it you would easily leave a dent! So caution in use.
    I need to add some finishing touches to my sea and varnish it.

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  10. Fabulous terrain, figures and ships. I'd love to play . . . but since I'm in Canada it is a bit too far to go, even for a setup as great as yours is.


    -- Jeff

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  11. That is an awesome table! I love the water effect. Did you start with a base color and paint varying lighter streaks? It really looks amazing!

    As Jeff said - I just wish you guys weren't halfway around the world from me. It's a long swim from Georgia!

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  12. Thanks again guys, its great to get your feedback.
    @Henry - yes exactly that, base coat with a lighter criss-cross streaky pattern. I am going to add another mid tone colour and a few white wave crests and then gloss varnish the whole...

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  13. wow thats a nice setup with some beautifully painted figures great pictures and awesome blog i'll be popping back in to see what you've been up to
    cheers
    Galpy

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  14. Thanks Galpy, glad to have you on board, I'll try and keep things interesting here for you. Still in the pipeline to finish... Governors Mansion, Gaurd Tower for docks, and of course the Brig, more planned after that!

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  15. Wow, absolutely stunning board and a great write up. This has got me eager to get back into LotHS!

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  16. Wow, that's an awesome and really inspiring set up you've got. And the game looks fun too.

    What rules do you use?

    And what figures do you all use?

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  17. @angelic d - Thanks. The rules we use are GW Historicals; Legends of the High Seas, By Tim Kulinsky.
    The crew figures in use all virtually all wargames foundry I believe. Roly provided a bunch of interesting civilian figures, and I am not sure their source. You could ask Roly via his blog - Dressing the Lines, see my blog roll...

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  18. Thanks Jerry, I am glad to have inspired you a little :-)

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  19. This is a fantastic blog, just stumbled upon on it :) i'd love to know where to get hold of ships like the ones pictured, specifically the one with the lighter coloured hull in the first picture (between the other two vessels)
    Thanks
    Jack

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    Replies
    1. Many thanks. The lighter coloured ship, is a conversion of a plastic toy ship that came as part of a toy pirate set, including plastic soldiers, cannons, the tower etc etc... I think the set is out of production now but still crops up on ebay sometimes... not much to go on... but you might find the answer on Rolys blog, whose ship it is, check out Dressing the Lines blog

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