"Fleet of Battle. Free ancient naval rules." Topic

Hi guys,

I've just posted the latest version of Fleet of Battle into the files section of this group.

James

link

and here

link

James

Thanks James. I'll check it out.

Hemiolae and trihemiolae are probably not as you describe in the rules – in fact they are usually considered to be LIGHTER than Pentekontors and Trieris and with a smaller complement of oarsmen.

Is there another way to find them, beyond joining yet another Yahoo group for one afternoon's exploitation?

They are not actually a full set of rules, you need the FOB core rules to use them. As I don't have those, they are pretty meaningless to me.

Having said that, all kudos to James for posting his efforts for others to use.

Is there another way to find them, beyond joining yet another Yahoo group for one afternoon's exploitation?

Yeah – if you don't want to join another Yahoo Group simply to download some rules, then contribute to some discussion on the group about the rules – that is always welcome as well. :-)

GildasFacet,

On the Tremiolia and Hemiolia point – I think, that as with most things ancient galley, almost everything is supposition. Even the academics seem to differ on the basic oar patterns etc. Once upon a time they used to argue that Quinquiremes had five banks of oars, now they have settled on three (1,2,2) – or is that two (2,3) – etc. etc. There is very little written evidence, even less physical (wood being prone to rot over a couple of thousand years), and the relief art (most commomn) of galleys is somewhat stylised.

On the fact that the rules require you to buy Field of Battle – that is not quite true either. If you have played Piquet before you will probably get the drift, and if you have played Field of Battle (or know a man who has that you can talk to) they will be esily understandable. It is all down to cards and impetus pips – once played never forgotten. Of course if you have done neither then you will be all at sea; for that I'm sorry – mainly because both styles of Piquet (Classic and FoB) give some of the most exciting and tense wargames you will ever play; though they have their detractors, usually those who can't stand not being in control of everything all of the time, because of the 'flexible' time line within the game turn (unlike most wargames you tend not to see everything that is coming – they take the wargamer's eyes in the sky down from their cloud).

Thosmos,

Sorry, but no. I have not got a website, only a blog.

James

You can see a report on an early playtest here; there are some photos of the ships too. Elsewhere on the blog there is the Drepana Scenario.

link

James

While I take your point that we know a limited amount for certain about ancient galleys, I think that calling the work of a significant number of academics 'supposition' is rather harsh. Recent scholarship on the subject comes to less varied conclusions than works from the 60's & 70's though there are still a few 'mavericks' who make some claims 'outside the box'.

Many methods other than archaeology have been used to refine information from a wide variety of sources and it isn't quite true to say that there is little written evidence. The problem is that the writers used terminology that we no longer have precise meanings for or they made assumptions about the knowledge of the reader that are no longer true.

The situation is likely to be much more complex than wargamers really like – your Penteris being a case in point. It seems most likely that early versions could be either 2- or 3- banked with the 3-bank versions gradually dying out as too difficult for inexperienced crews to work effectively.

None of this 'supposition' (I'd prefer 'logical reconstruction') removes any rule writer's right to interpret the information in a different way if he so choses.

The claim to the 14kt Triere has now actually been recanted by the original author – it was based upon an assumption that has now been shown to be false (the potential for the hull to 'plane' in a similar manner to a hydrofoil). The likely sustainable speed of a Triere is unlikley to have topped 6kt for long journeys and 9-10kt for short bursts in battle with a fresh crew and clean hull.

Unfortunately I have no experience with any of the rules you mention so the details in the rules are somewhat difficult to determine.

Well, I have LOTS of experience with FOB. Great set! I also have a lot of painted Navwar galleys. Combine this with a newly cleaned off tabletop and we have a recipe for actually running a game! :-D

Thanks,

John

Hi James
I see that Fleet of Battles was published in Wargames Illustrated #278 but the counters haven't made it on to their website. Are you going to update your blog?
David

You can download the rules here:

PDF link

Emilio