"Best rules for the buccaneer era" Topic

Leafing through my copy of the WI 300th anniversary tome an ad for North Star's 1672 range caught my eye. Now, I've been aware of the existence of this range since its inception under the Copplestone Castings banner, but at the time couldn't see myself buying into such an obscure period, and Mr Copplestone himself seemed to quickly lose interest in developing it, leaving it incomplete and thereby discouraging myself and other potential buyers.

North Star has put it back on my radar; the figures are, after all, unique, beautifully sculpted and easy on the eye, and Steve Saleh seems to have done a commendable job of maintaining quality and consistency with Copplestone's sculpting style. But not wanting to invest large sums that I don't have in yet another big period, I was looking for possible uses for the range and remembered that I once purchased the entire Foundry pirates range. While a portion of these figures have been painted and used in pirate skirmish games, I'm never going to need that many individually based pirates. Then it occurred to me that based as elements, the lead pirate pile would be perfect for the large scale amphibious raids of the buccaneer era, and of course I would need Spanish regulars and militia to oppose them; cue 1672.I already have one side, and battles in this campaign theatre were small, so with a modest investment I can scratch that itch.

Now I just have to find a suitable ruleset. I have DBR, but it's a little bland for someone not intending to play competitively, and seeking to capture the salty flavour of the subject. What are the options? I'm thinking perhaps Pike and Shotte might be the best bet.

For a really fun game you could try 'The Sword in the Carribbean', units are around 8 – 10 figures depending on type.
The rules are fun, based on 'Sword and the Flame' system, I tried lots of pirate/Swashbuckler rules and I found them to be the most enjoyable with lots of period flavour.

I'd try Warhammer ECW for Buccaneer battles.

If you want a battle set, Pike & Shotte or Field of Glory, Renaissance would work well.

Peter Pig's 'Pieces of Eight' rules are good if you want a mini-campaign.

For smaller skirmishes, Legends of the High Seas or Sharp Practice would work well.

Spanish Fury?

link

It is free!

Well, like so many other tabletop ideas, this was never realised due to all the usual factors. But…. now that Northstar is about to put the 1672 range on sale, it's looking a whole lot more attractive.

What I'd like to know from anyone who's done this as a conventional battle, as opposed to skirmish, subject with multi-figure bases, is exactly how you've organised your buccaneer army. The only real guide I have at the moment is the DBR list, which distinguishes between musket armed elements (shot) and those equipped for close quarters fighting (warband).

Is this specialisation of function historically plausible, or merely a convenient confection cooked up by the author to stamp the army with a unique character? If the latter, is it more realistic to mix musketeers and others within units, or even within elements/bases?

For the Buccaneer army in FoGR, there are three main troop types. "Disciplined" and "Veteran" buccaneers are medium foot musket/-/sword, differing only in quality (Disciplined are average; Veteran are superior); "Other" buccaneers are average warriors musket*/impact foot/sword (musket* have less shooting dice than musket).

The list also allows some medium and light artillery, light foot and "dragoons" (buccaneers on whatever local nags they could commandeer).

That's very interesting; thanks Tamsin. Not having possession of that ruleset,I'd forgotten about FoGR and its lists.

So unlike DBR, it seems FoGR assumes that all or most buccaneers owned a musket(?).

Can you possibly give me the proportions between the medium foot and warrior types? I assume the main difference between the two is that the former are trained, and the latter fall into the equivalent of DBR's unruly warband category.

Henry – I'll need to check the army list book when I get home, but I seem to recall that you can have the following:

0-12 bases of Veteran
12-48 bases of "Disciplined" (usually taken in 6s to provide rear support)
0-96 bases of "Other" (the warriors, usually taken in 8s)

FoGR does assume that most buccaneer troops will have firearms.

The warriors aren't to be dismissed lightly though. Provided you can get them into contact, and have room to create overlaps they are quite effective as the overlaps get a ++ in melee and the rest will probably be on evens or a + from their sword. The main difficulty is getting them into combat unscathed as they can't be moved as part of a division, so would require a general attached for any double moves and you really need to have a Great Commander and rear support to prevent cohesion losses from enemy shooting.

Thanks Tamsin.

Finally remembered to check

Veterans 0-12 bases
Disciplined 24-80 bases
Other 0-48 bases

So the rowdies are definitely in the minority in this foggy piratical pack, it would seem(hmmm… fog and pirates; where have I heard that before?).

The FoG tactical tips are wasted on me I'm afraid, but thanks once again for your exertions.