"1/1200 scale wargalleys" Topic
8 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
Please do not use bad language on the forums.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the Galleys Message Board
Areas of InterestAncients Medieval Renaissance
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Recent Link
Featured Ruleset
Featured Book Review
Featured Movie Review
|
WarpSpeed | 27 Apr 2022 12:26 p.m. PST |
Im looking to build up a few fleets for AD MARE BELLUM but i was wondering which manufacturers are suggested or should i wing it with balsa wood and sheet styrene?I would like to cover the span of the archaic and classical eras, |
DFLange | 27 Apr 2022 1:27 p.m. PST |
I am using Navwar for Ad Mare Bellum and they work fine. Covers a wide range of time from early Greeks to Middle Ages. Langton makes better (and more expensive) models and would also work fine. Navwar is a bit tricky to order from as their website is not set up to take orders online. Print out their order form. fill it out and mail or fax it in. Orders arrive about a month later in USA. |
Mr Elmo | 27 Apr 2022 4:15 p.m. PST |
I JUST started a test print of these: link I'll know in about two hours. As long as I was firing up the printer I put a few other things on the plate too. |
WarpSpeed | 27 Apr 2022 9:37 p.m. PST |
Nice print.Looks like im going to have to get a resin printer. |
Yellow Admiral | 27 Apr 2022 11:06 p.m. PST |
I have a pretty large collection. I settled on:
- Navwar for cataphract line galleys, big galleys (7-10 banks), and super galleys (16 banks). Note I use the Navwar hepteres as deceres because it's too big.
- C-in-C liburnians that will stand in as aphract biremes or triremes
- C-in-C quinqueremes that will stand in as light cataphracts in any period where I need something different from similar sized Navwars
- A smattering of Langtons I use as flagship quinqueremes and hexaremes, plus one or two each of the hepteres, octeres, and deceres.
- Some 1/900 scale Valiant galleys standing in as super-sized galleys: quinqueremes become deceres, hepteres become 11s, 13s, or 16s, and a couple Valiant dekares (sic) as unique super galleys like Ptolemy's 20 or 30s).
- Merchant ships from all of the above. They came in all sizes and shapes, so why not?
I bought huge fleets from Navwar. The sculpting is crude and there's quite a bit of flash to clean up, but they paint up pretty well and are extremely robust gaming pieces. Unfortunately Navwar aphract galleys have empty benches, so I'm only using cataphract types.
C-in-C made (somewhat small) 1/1200 galleys long ago, but discontinued them years ago. You can sometimes find them in flea markets or eBay. I have a bunch of these too (bought new in the 1990s). They were very clean castings with delicate detail, and the trireme, liburnian, and lembus models have visible rowing crews. I would really love to get my hands on a giant pile of C-in-C lembi – they were lovely, delicate little models, too small for battle gaming, but unsurpassed as markers. Langton's galleys are really nice to look at, exquisitely detailed, and come in a wide variety, but are pretty expensive. The masts, sails, and occasional other sticky-outy-bits are also delicate and fragile. The price is especially galling when you see how small 1/1200 galleys are. I bought a wide selection of them to see how they fit into my collection, and decided not to invest in them heavily. I'm using some Langtons as flagships or special rare types where a unique look is a good idea, but am generally happier with the proportions of Navwar miniatures among the line galleys and smaller galleys. I will probably buy more of the flagship galleys (hepteres, octeres, deceres) for my Hellenistic fleets. Barry Hilton announced last year that Warfare Miniatures would be releasing a range of 1/1200 ancient galleys, but the release seems to be delayed (it was supposed to be Dec 21 or Jan 22). Here's the League of Augsburg blog posting announcing them; I haven't seen any posts as to how long or why they're delayed (or if they've been canceled altogether), and my questions have gone unanswered. They look really nice in his test battles (link link link), but of course, everything Barry Hilton does looks really nice, because he's an artistic genius. The aphract galleys have visible crews. Stylistically, they appear similar enough to the C-in-C galleys to mix into an old collection, but I'd have to see them side-by-side to be sure – the C-in-C galleys were a bit undersized for the scale. If these do become available, I hope to order a bunch. --- I mentioned 1/900 Valiants above. You should take a serious look at these. When cast well, they are really nice miniatures, and they've been around longer than most gamers, so they turn up in flea markets and eBay once in a while. They are an odd size you will never be able to augment without a 3D printer, but they are honestly a much better gaming scale. They just have a better presence on the table and don't feel undersized or fiddly. By contrast, many of the 1/1200 galley miniatures are vanishingly small, and the smallest can be a chore to move around as individual ships. The Valiant range also includes some really neat accessories like blocks of marines, catapults, towers, etc. - Ix |
Yellow Admiral | 27 Apr 2022 11:52 p.m. PST |
PS: whatever you do, get more than you need, soon. All of these lines (except Warfare Miniatures) are in danger of winking out of existence in a flash. The makers are all old and it's unlikely anyone will carry on production after they're gone. |
Mr Elmo | 28 Apr 2022 5:03 a.m. PST |
Ok, here it is, Well worth the price of the file, prints well no supports fiddling around, etc. No more than 20 cents in resin link |
David Manley | 28 Apr 2022 6:46 a.m. PST |
The vast majority of my fleets are Navwar models. As others have said the sculpting is old (40+ years?) but they are very reasonably priced and look great en masse. I have a smattering of Langtons and a few 3D prints. My 1/2400 fleets are entirely 3D printed. There are free STLs on my Wargame Vault page |
|