"Relatively *simple* rules for Age of Sail frigate duels?" Topic

Hi all,

Might anyone recommend a good, *modern* set of rules of single-ship actions?

I want something relatively simple, yet which at the same time enables sensible decision-making. I don't want to say exactly how many men I want on the mizzen-topgallant spar, or what to give the men for breakfast.

I also want, ideally, a game that's hex-based, or which I could relatively painlessly convert to hexes (a la WSIM). I want to play the game with bright buy often quite clumsy kids who can't be trusted not to knock miniatures about.

Would Sails of Glory do the business, if I converted movement to hexes? Or would people recommend going elsewhere?

Thanks for any tips, folks!

Galleys and Galleons

I really like GW Trafalgar

I have played Bloody Broadsides from Portsmouth Miniatures at local cons several times. Easy pick up and loads of fun.

link

portsmouthminiatures.com

Thanks to bbriarcliffe for the recommendation, and you may find that "Captains Bold" fits the description of your requirements quite well. You will be able to tell if this will work for you by skimming through this turn-by-turn description of a sample game:

PDF link

Another vote for War Artisan's "Captains Bold," an elegant solution to you needs.

I really like sails of glory. It plays like the old wooden ships and iron men boardgame as well as close action 1/1200 scale miniature rules.

You can play a very quick game with the simple riles, and then add more advanced rules to cover keeping thrack or ammo, fighting fires, crew assignments and more.

It's fun and comes painted and ready to play out of the box.

Matthew

I would recommend taking a look at the stand alone supplement to Flying Colors, Serpents of the Seas. It carries over the pretty straightforward mechanics of the original game in to smaller frigate actions. It has an optional card mechanic that you can add in when you just want to use one or two ships per side and add some extra complexity, but there is no need to use them if you prefer the base game.

It is hex based, and doesn't involve any crew allocation mechanics, and will get players in to the action pretty quickly, while still forcing them to make interesting decisions.

Have a look at Too Fat Lardies 'Kiss Me Hardy', quite simple rules and a fun game.