"General Quarters Age of Sail rules to debut at Cold Wars" Topic

Post Captain the next game in the General Quarters family will be demo'd at Cold Wars. It will be in the ODGW room.

Count me in. Fleet level games?

(just became my number one thing to see at Cold Wars)

What a weird idea. I can't see too many mechanics from the GQ system that are applicable to the Age of Sail. Will the rules share anything besides a title?

Meanwhile, I'm still hoping to someday see a pre-dreadnought version of GQ3…

- Ix

Cool – looking forward to seeing how they play!

An interesting idea

I wonder how that is going to work.

The movement rules are quite innovative, and really give the feel of sailing one's ships.

Ok, the cat is out of the bag….

First, to clear up some misconceptions. Post Captain (or PC) is NOT GQ3.3 with sails. While the rules, logs and charts are similar in format (and it does use Lonnie's D12s.. Lonnie LOVES them D12s!), the mechanisms are generally not (the gunnery system is vaguely similar, but not directly so). Obviously, the game mechanisms used for WWI and WWII don't translate to AoS! To use the family analogy, if General Quarters 3.3 and Fleet Action Imminent are siblings, then Post Captain is the third cousin, twice removed (PC gets invited over for Thanksgiving and Christmas and that's about all!).

Now to some specifics:

Scale: PC is scale neutral; you can use any scale miniature you like. The ground scale is the same as the miniatures used (1/1200 ships use a 1/1200 ground scale, 1/2400 use 1/2400, and so on). So if you want to run 1/300s, have at it!

Scope: PC is geared for single ship up to squadron (4 to 5 ships a side, although its been playtested with as many as 10 a side) actions (yes, you can play out Trafalgar, but that would be a bit a chore. Somewhat akin to Jutland with Fleet Action Imminent). The reason for this is that there were far more small actions (100s) than the large full fleet actions (which number roughly a half dozen). This also allows us to model each ship with its own unique characteristics (as opposed to generic stats required for a game with a larger scope).

Movement: PC features a very new and innovative movement system that realistically models movement under sails while being intuitive and easy to use and learn (we've had complete novices master the movement system in under 10 mins. NO LIE…). I've played AoS ever since I nailed my first copy of 'Wooden Ships and Iron Men' (when it was brand new in 1974) and this movement system that Lonnie has invented is the most radical break I've ever seen. It truly takes the pain out of the one major challenge of playing with sailing ships.

The Navies: PC will include the British, French, Spanish and US navies. The first three covers the vast majority of the actions of the period while having the US opens up the War of 1812 (and even the Quasi-War between France and the US). If interest is there (and sales justify it!), a supplement will add the Russians, Swedes, Danes, and Dutch (and maybe some others; that's waaay up in the air!) and the lake battles of the War of 1812.

The Game: PC will include rules for cutting out actions, shore raids, bomb vessels, coastal batteries, weather (from dead calm to full gales) and more, as well as everything for ship-to-ship combat.

Additionally, there will be a wealth of freebie downloads available (additionally ship logs, scenarios, counters for coastal batteries and land troops (for shore raids), and a comprehensive database for the four featured navies covering SoLs down to brigs).

The Authors: Lonnie Gill (author of GQ1/2/3, FAI) has 30+ years of experience at the tiller of sailboats of all sizes and I have 20+ as a working deckhand on many sailboats (and several years as a crewman on the Star Of India, the oldest iron hulled square rigger extant. And yes, the museum takes her out under sail on a yearly basis). So we bring a considerable amount of knowledge to table when it comes to sail. And both of us are ardent readers of the period (during this project my library exploded with new AoS books. Including some French and Spanish language references).

Finally (and EVERY author says this… or should), this is the AoS game Lonnie and I wanted to play (but it wasn't out there… So we had to invent it!). And we hope you feel the same way….

And I forgot to say the where and when of the demos…

Anyway, here's the listing from the Cold Wars PEL:

F-264 – Wargming 101 – Post Captain Demo
Fri. 10:00 AM, 4 hrs, 4 players
GM: ODGW Staff and ODGWLLC
Sponsor: ODGWLLC
Age of Sail 1/2400, Rules: Post Captain
Come and learn POST CAPTAIN, ODGW's new Naval Age of Sail rules; a fresh and innovative take on the Age of Sail. Take command of a frigate and match wits with other gamers (or even with one of the authors!). Rules taught, walk ups welcome. This is a walk-up demo.

F-262 – Strachan's Action (Battle of Cape Ortegal)
Nov. 6, 1805
Fri. 4:00 PM, 4 hrs, 10 players
GM: Michael Baulch and ODGWLLC
Sponsor: ODGWLLC
Age of Sail 1/2400, Rules: Post Captain
The French van of four SoLs have escaped the debacle of Trafalgar only to find their way home blocked by Strachan's squadron of SoLs and frigates. Will the British cap their victory or will the French spoil the party? Rules taught, walk-ups welcome.

S-263 – Frigate Squadrons in the Channel – Action
of 23 April 1794
Sat. 10:00 AM, 4 hrs, 8 players
GM: Michael Baulch and ODGWLLC
Sponsor: ODGWLLC
Age of Sail 1/2400, Rules: Post Captain
In response to France's raiding frigate squadrons, the Royal Navy has sent its own squadrons to bring them to heel. In one such action, Warren's frigates have caught a French squadron (with a surprise!). Who will prevail? Rules taught, walk ups welcome.

S-265 – Wargming 101 – Post Captain Demo
Sat. 4:00 PM, 4 hrs, 4 players
GM: ODGW Staff and ODGWLLC
Sponsor: ODGWLLC
Age of Sail 1/2400, Rules: Post Captain
Come and learn POST CAPTAIN, ODGW's new Naval Age of Sail rules; a fresh and innovative take on the Age of Sail. Take command of a frigate and match wits with other gamers (or even with one of the authors!).
Rules taught, walk ups welcome. This is a walk-up demo.

Hope to see ya there!

Looking forward to it! (@ Cold Wars)

I look forward to seeing PC on my gaming table. I plan to put my GHQ and home brew 1/1200 to use soon, great timing! Regards to Lonnie!

My terse entries regarding the game may have caused some confusion. Sorry about that.

Cheers, Gregory

I will be running a WWI scenario with Fleet Action Imminent in the same room Friday at 4 at Cold Wars. After that, or maybe before that, checking out Post Captain is at top of my list of things to do!

Hooray! Very exciting!

Sounds interesting and I'll have to check it out. I've been looking for rules with enough detail to make small actions interesting with streamlined mechanics. The GQ series has been pretty good for the 20th C in that regard.

It annoys me that the years covered (according to a posting on odgw.com) are only 1794-1815. I have never understood why 2 of the most lopsided decades in the entire Age of Sail are so much more interesting to rules writers than the other 8 decades of technologically similar conflicts, or indeed the other centuries of broadly similar naval tactics. Even with a fairly narrow focus on Napoleonic naval technologies, hardly anything changed at all from early-18th to early-19th C. The differences between SOLs commanded by Byng and Nelson are less than the differences between a xebec, frigate and SOL, yet the latter differences are attempted in nearly every "Napoleonic" naval rules written and the former are typically left to house rules. I hope this turns out to be a non-issue, or to at least be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to bolt on house rules for ship classes and broadside configurations that were outdated by the Napoleonic period. I am optimistic – I'm well-practiced at amending Mr. Gill's rules by now.

- Ix

YA – are you planning to attend Cold Wars? If so, would like to meet up.

B

"It annoys me that the years covered (according to a posting on odgw.com) are only 1794-1815. I have never understood why 2 of the most lopsided decades in the entire Age of Sail are so much more interesting to rules writers than the other 8 decades of technologically similar conflicts, or indeed the other centuries of broadly similar naval tactics.

Well, part of the answer is that is the most popular period (although Lonnie and I do, to some degree, favor the AWI period when the French and British were near parity in quality and equipment). The other part is raw size. For example, the RN database for the 1793-1815 period is over 1200 lines; to add the earlier period would (say, AWI) would explode that to an unmanageable degree. Finally, there are some subtle differences that would require some minor changes (particularly in the gunnery and sailing rules). So a 'one size fits all' solution was not feasible.

If the response to Post Captain is strong enough, then a supplement covering the earlier period (with the same degree of detail) will be done.

I'm one of the Napoleonic buff's that only see's the 1794-1815. So I'm glad that we now have this one site for all "Age of sail" as it opens a new world for me.
Be safe
Rory

Lonnie and I do, to some degree, favor the AWI period when the French and British were near parity in quality and equipment

Me too, though the most interesting (and best documented) battles of that period were fleet actions outside the above-described scope of Post Captain anyway.

For example, the RN database for the 1793-1815 period is over 1200 lines; to add the earlier period would (say, AWI) would explode that to an unmanageable degree. Finally, there are some subtle differences that would require some minor changes (particularly in the gunnery and sailing rules).

That implies a daunting level of research and detail. I hope congratulations are in order – I guess I'll find out later this year. I am certainly impressed by the amount of detail subtly streamlined into the GQ3 system.

So a 'one size fits all' solution was not feasible.

Too bad, because that's what we really need. My bookshelf is already full of Napoleonic naval rules, and nearly all of them follow the same theme: as accountant-in-chief of a small squadron of heavily documented men-o-war, each player moves some ship models into shooting range on the table and scribbles intently on sheets of paper until the British win. <yawn>

If the response to Post Captain is strong enough, then a supplement covering the earlier period (with the same degree of detail) will be done.

Then here's hoping you get a strong enough response to spur you on to profligate supplementation.

- Ix

YA – are you planning to attend Cold Wars? If so, would like to meet up.

Sorry, failed to notice this question. No, I won't be at Cold Wars. The Man doesn't give me enough paid vacation to do all the traveling I'd like to (though to be fair, it's probably unreasonable to request 200 days a year away from work ).

- Ix

Lots of talk about play testing PC at Cold Wars, but for those of us unable to attend how about some info about where PC can be obtained.

Yellow Admiral – drop me a line. Would like to chat about AoS naval stuff – rules, scenarios, etc.

My email = byronangel@verizon.net

B

Assuming everything goes to plan, the rules will go to the printers mid-to-late March and be available (download and hardcopy) by April. That's IF everything goes to plan….

The Cold Wars preview is a chance for any players present to give us feedback. So anyone who comes out, speak your mind!