"Rules for Trafalgar with 1/2400 fleets" Topic

Looking at buying all the 1/2400 Old Glory Ships for Trafalgar. Any rules out there that can handle that many ships and give me a result in about 4 hours?

"It is Warm Work"

Brian DeWitt's "Follow in the Admirals Wake"

Perfect for fleet actions and folks preferring simple but flavorful rules.

I've used Brian DeWitt's "Form on the Admiral's Wake" for large fleet actions: Camperdown, Sadras, Nile, Chesapeake, etc. simple set of card driven rules on a hex mat. Each ship has a small ship profile to log hits. These battles typically reach a conclusion in about 3 hours. I imagine it could handle Trafalgar in 4, maybe 5.

I butchered the title but PAR and I are talking about the same thing. Best fleet action set I've encountered for big numbers, reasonable time.

Second for "It is Warm Work". Only change I suggest is make firing simultaneous.

Thanks guys, I'll check out both sets of rules

"Form Line of Battle" by David Manley should do very well for you! They were specifically written to fight large fleet actions!

At the rate I paint it'll be years before I can do a big battle, but I do have a question.

Are any of these rules heavily dependent on command and control?

Reading I've done on the subject seems to show that grand tactics were deliberately simple because of the limitations of signalling using flags once battle was joined. For big battles I'd like the jockeying for position and trying to put a simple but sound plan into action in the best circumstances to be my main aim as an admiral.

For that C&C is really important.

Nick

You may want to consider "Admirals: A Game of Fleet Actions in the Golden Age of Fighting Sail". (I'm currently playtesting an expanded edition, with a streamlined gunnery mechanic and lots of period-specific bells and whistles, but the basic rules are available free on my website.)

warartisan.com/rules

It's a game that is all about command and control of large fleets. The combat mechanics are kept very basic since their purpose is just to facilitate the outcome of command decisions. The pace of damage is carefully tuned to the historical record to keep it proportional to the timing of maneuvers; thus, there are no rashes of ship explosions or whole squadrons going up in flames (if you're just looking to roll dice and blow stuff up, you should look elsewhere).

Record keeping is restricted to just two attributes per ship (strength and movement) so it can be accomplished with a simple roster or markers on the table. I prefer to use marks with an erasable marker on laminated strips affixed to the ships' bases. This avoids both unsightly table clutter and the delay and confusion caused by referring to rosters.

This photo shows a player marking damage in an "Admirals" game:

These albums show a couple other "Admirals" games in progress:

link

link

Jeff

"It is Warm Work" would meet the timeframe. However I had to modify the charts and add command and control to improve realism.

I also like "From Line of Battle" but it would not do Trafalgar in 4 hours. It would take longer.

I have War Artisan's rules but haven't played them yet. However they look like they will meet your criteria. As they are a free download I personally recommend you try them first and let us know what you think.

Can't speak for other rules mentioned. I personally collected a ton of rules for Age of Sail, but most have too much ship detail to allow quick fleet actions or are not very realistic for my taste.

War Artisan's rules fill your criteria perfectly. They are, like all his rules, aimed at an historical result while being eminently playable.