"Testing General Quarters: Post Captain. " Topic

"Today, the game we had yesterday. Angus proposed the rules, he got from some time and had never played them before. That was the another product from General Quarters, this time for actions in Napoleonic period called Post Captain. Rules are written by L.L. Gill and M.R. Baulch. First I have to said that the try to read them was a huge nightmare for me. It seems to be very complicated set of rules, the extensive ship cards and the large number of stuff used during the game and also different measurements etc. It from the first look scared most of the wargamers in our club, so they decided to stay away of them. However we decided to give it a go and it proved how much I was wrong!…"

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Amicalement
Armand

Would the rules work with bigger fleets
Be safe
Rory

The rules were designed for and work best with single ship and small squadron actions (4-6 ships on a side, although we've played with as many as 10 ships a side). You could play larger actions like Trafalgar or Glorious First of June with them, but it would be slow going.

'Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls' works well for larger actions. The rules are well written and pretty water-tight (so to speak).

Thanks for the info Gents. I've got BB&IB but not played them yet.
Be safe
Rory

I can't seem to find a place to download this game now, all i can find are printed copies. Did something happen with the old dominion site?

nevermind, I found it! for some reason on mobile i couldn't get it to work. On my desktop i did. Is it worth buying? What's everyone's opinions?

For small level actions (single ship and small squadron) I haven't found anything better. For small ship actions (brigs, sloops, schooners and below) it is particularly good. And thanks to an innovative movement system, each ship's unique sailing qualities can be modeled in full. The rules include full rules for ship-to-ship actions as well as cutting out actions, small boat actions, shore raids, land batteries, etc.

i just think $30 USD+ is a little pricey with so many free rules to choose from, especially for a download. i can't seem to figure out how a digital download costs the same as if i have them print it on paper for me and mail it to me. how does that cost add up? not to offend anyone here who may have some personal ties to old dominion games or anything. it's just hard to justify for those of us trying to do this cheaply haha

Rockatansky, I guess all you would save are the shipping costs, for what that may be worth to you. It doesn't surprise me though that there is not a discount for the PDF version. The company is not going to make a ton of money off these anyway (age of sail games are a niche within a niche).

You're definitely right that there are lots of options for rule sets, some of them less expensive and some of them even free, so you'll have to go with what works for your budget.

I agree with Charlie 12 though, I've not come across a better ruleset for small actions. It's really a question of what sort of level of detail you enjoy most, but for me it really hits the sweet spot.

I'd recommend anybody playing the game spend some time going through the discussion forums on the company website though, as the game designers have weighed in on some ambiguous issues.

i totally understand, and i probably sounded like a cheapskate haha. just isn't within the budget right this minute for something i don't do very often. i know some guys on here play very regularly, where i fall more into the category of someone who spends way more time making models than using them. i just don't have enough friends who are into it who also have enough time to dedicate to it anymore.

the rule set we had been playing with is admiralty, and while i do like the intricacies of it, it tends to bog a bit with all of the rolling for hits, then critical hits, then damages, then actions that require rolls.

how many here have played both of these? how does it compare? if enough people say it really is worth it for smaller actions i would still definitely consider it.

i guess what i'm more concerned with isn't the cost, it's the cost if it winds up not being what we're looking for and doesn't get used you know? i have no problem with the cost as long as it's worth it.

I hear you, I too spend far more time making models than I actually get to play. Just an occasional game here or there. Always wish there were more!

I've never played Admiralty before, but with Post Captain you roll one die for each 'gun box' representing 3 guns (or individual chasers with lower odds) looking for your to-hit range. You may have to divide a broadside in to separate groups, as different caliber guns will have different to-hit targets for a given range. Then you roll again on the damage results chart. If that is a critical hit you could potentially be rolling again to see, for example, what mast or spar is damaged or what officer catches the number of his mess.

You have to dedicate crew to tasks too, such as repairs, and then roll to see if they succeed in the attempt. So they're not quick play rules, that's for sure. There are some elegant mechanics, but they are meaty.

This is the first set of rules I own in any genre that I play entirely as written. I gloss over some of the assigning crew factor stuff but otherwise this set is brilliant in my opinion.

Joe