| Bismarck | 10 Jun 2009 3:59 p.m. PST |
Fellas, I need some help here. I have some physical limitations and am looking at naval gaming. In the past, I have been turned off by all the mental exercise of ratios, modifiers,etc. Any simple, here they are any simple pre-dred convention(newcomer) rules out there and what are your thoughts? With recent reduction in vision and no longer able to do my 15s, I am looking for something larger and easier to see. Also, the period has fascinated me since I saw the Houstons Ships back in 92. any advice is welcome. thanks and good gaming! |
 John the OFM  | 10 Jun 2009 4:09 p.m. PST |
I have always hated the games where you move 3/8" per turn, and then roll to hit on Chart A, go to Chart B, go to Chart C, find it's a Critical Hit, and after 10 minutes of calculations find that you have destroyed the paint locker. Oh, that's real funny. ha ha |
| Bismarck | 10 Jun 2009 4:17 p.m. PST |
greetings from one OFM to another! My sources tell me you have played on occasion some pre-dred games with Houston's Ships. love the look of the line and am drafting a simple set in the Brom manner. John, that wasn't a troll. Help me if you can! As we age and r/t becomes faster and more demanding. simple is better! take care! Sam |
 Extra Crispy  | 10 Jun 2009 4:20 p.m. PST |
Hi Sam: Sides of Steel is a fun, straightforward game that would suit you well, I think. It is basically the same game as the WW1 Dreadnought. Here's a summary of the rules I wrote: link Granted, hits take a few charts to resolve but there's no math – just roll a die and look up the result. After a few turns you can roll a die and "know" if it was a hit a miss or a maybe. So it plays very fast. |
| John the OFM | 10 Jun 2009 4:24 p.m. PST |
My sources tell me you have played on occasion some pre-dred games with Houston's Ships. Sam Bismarck, once or twice… Sorry, I can't help you. I can only complain…  |
| KnightTemplarr | 10 Jun 2009 4:45 p.m. PST |
Have you seen the Old Glory 1/600s? The Mikasa is about 6" long. I painted one here
link I added all the small hull guns. It has bridge, funnels, the turrets and four(4)secondaries. They are on the 40% off Old Glory Army List also. |
| Dave Crowell | 10 Jun 2009 4:54 p.m. PST |
Grand Fleets from MJ12 Games is hex based. Use whatever size hexes fit your ships. It includes data sheets for many vessels and conversion rules for the ones that aren't included. |
| Allen57 | 10 Jun 2009 6:41 p.m. PST |
Bismarck, How bout sharing your rules with the rest of us old ones. I have always disliked the complexity in naval rules that the OFM referred to. There are several simple sets of rules out there. I am on my way out at the moment and cant look up the links. One is DeBellis Navalis. Others I cant remember the name of (that is why I need simple rules). The links or files are on my other computer. Al |
 Virtualscratchbuilder  | 10 Jun 2009 7:37 p.m. PST |
Have you seen the Old Glory 1/600s? The Mikasa is about 6" long. With all due respect – my OG 1/600 Mikasa is just a tad under 9". |
| Jeff of SaxeBearstein | 10 Jun 2009 8:47 p.m. PST |
You might want to take a look at "Perfidious Albion" . . . they are fun rules and pretty simple . . . designing new "Ship Templates" is a bit of a pain, but there are a lot of pre-done ship templates in the "Fighting Fleets" supplement. Both of these products are available as PDF downloads from a number of download services such as: link
rpgnow.com
link Also Angus Konstam has a very nice page describing these rules along with some nice photos: link I hope that these links help.
-- Jeff
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| KnightTemplarr | 10 Jun 2009 9:25 p.m. PST |
Virtualscratchbuilder I didn't have mine handy to measure it. But, they certainly fit the bill of easy to see and not a lot of parts. How did your Mikasa painting go? |
| Grizwald | 11 Jun 2009 5:05 a.m. PST |
How about "Damn Battleships Again": link You might also find some further ideas / inspiration here: link |
| Virtualscratchbuilder | 11 Jun 2009 5:45 a.m. PST |
How did your Mikasa painting go? No prob… just when folks are thinking of big models, another 3" per can be a showstopper. Actually I have not gotten to painting Mikasa yet. Although the OG ships look great right out of the bag, I modify some of them a bit. On Mikasa, I added a layer of balsa to the bottom of the hull to bring her up further out of the water, and I am going to redo the bow and stern a bit before I actually start building. I will probably crop the funnels a bit as wall. I am actively painting Connecticut though. Just personal preference. VSB |
| TheDreadnought | 11 Jun 2009 6:34 a.m. PST |
I'd suggest giving Naval Thunder a try. It was written to be extremely easy to learn, and the math that the player has to do has been kept very very simple. You don't have to do anything more complicated than add single digit numbers together. Pretty much every chart used in the game fits easily on a single side of one sheet of paper. The game produces realistic historical outcomes and plays fast. At the same time it has tremendous tactical depth, and a slew of modular optional rules allow you to tailor the game to your own preferences. . . . and most importantly. . . the game is a whole lotta fun! Naval Thunder is available through wargamevault.com here: link Right now the system covers: World War I – Clash of Dreadnoughts core rules $12.95 USD
Russo-Japanese War – Rise of the Battleship expansion $8.95 USD The World War II version is due out in July. |
| KnightTemplarr | 11 Jun 2009 7:48 a.m. PST |
Virtualscratchbuilder – The Mikasa model does sit low in the water. I have been trying to decide if I should base her. I know they have brought out a ton of U.S. Ships can't wait for the Spanish to hit as well. Have you seen the book America's Steel Navy from the naval institute? |
| Martin Rapier | 11 Jun 2009 12:50 p.m. PST |
I haven't looked at another set of naval rules since De Bellis Navalis was published in WI (well, apart from period variants naturally). Yes, it is DBA with battleships, but any game which lets you do the whole of Tshushima in an hour or two…. the contrast with the mind numbing tedium of something like Fletcher Pratt as the ships inch across the table is quite marked. |
| Lion in the Stars | 14 Jun 2009 12:21 p.m. PST |
You could take a look at Seapower, the rules are out there. I do have an electronic copy, but I'm not sure about the availability of other copies. Every chart you need fits on one side of a sheet of typing paper, although there is some book-keeping involved. We usually played with the GHQ 1/2400 WW2 ships, and a groundscale of 1"=1000yards. You'd probably want to use a much different groundscale with the 1/600-scale ships, maybe as big as 1"=100 yards if you've got a lot of real estate to play on. You need 11 six-sided dice, ten of one color (your to-hit dice) and one of a different color (that's your critical-hit die). |
