Starter Sets

[Kron]

Ok I know there have been some threads like this already but I'd like to ask peoples' advice here. I am planning on getting the rulebook and I am trying to decide which scale to go for and which models to use. Any help please?

West Wind Productions have an impressive mega deal http://www.westwindproductions.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=191&products_id=1481 but I have one question.... does Trafalgar support the 1:3000 scale? I know it is 1:1200 but can be converted. Would it be adversely affected?

64 (single piece casting) ships and the rule book. Nice.

And if you prefer 1:1200 there is Principles of War Starter Set for Napoleonic Naval Warfare. http://www.principlesofwar.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Nap_Naval_SP1&Category_Code=SP 10 ships (British and French) for £30!

Rod Langton ships seem nice but a bit out of my price range.

Tumbling Dice starter squadrons are 1:2400 scale and only £14 (so £28 if you want a Bristish and French fleet).
http://www.tumblingdiceuk.com/sail_steam.html#mini
DIscussion is here http://wabforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=5128

If possible, can someone post some comparison pics between the various scales (plus something non-ship for scale relation)?

Thanks!

[pbeccas]

Old Glory do some nice packs as well

http://virtualscratchbuilder.com/oldglory/102_9247b.jpg

[einarolafson]

What scale is Old Glory´s ships?

[KeepOnTruxtun!]

1/2400th, one-piece castings.

[Tommy]

Are the principles of War stuff any good?

Does anyone have any pictures?

[einarolafson]

West Wind Production seems a good election, doesn't it?

If the scale is not very important. I don´t know anything about Trafalgar rules but i´m interested.

Kron, thank you for the link, and thank you KeepOnTruxtun too.

[davemorrall]

The 1/3000th scale ships are usable with Trafalgar, just halve the distances.
I had an interesting Russo-Swedish Frigate scrap on a 2'x2' board using Navwar ships.
Navwar do a fair selection in of British, French and Spanish ships in 1/3000th. They are a bit fiddly to put together tho, but a £1 a pop reasonably economical.
Navwar also do a larger range of 1/1200th scale ships and have Starter packs of 6 ships for £12.

Dave

[Mattblack]

From my limited experience I found that three ships will give a game of upto 3 hours - personally I wouldnt go out and buy loads of ships until I had tried the rules on a few first. Bearing that in mind I would stick to 1:1200 as they are really nice and just a few look good on the table. Langton are by far the best, in my opinion, so as I am going to spend hours painting and playing with them the extra cost is not a worry.

If you want to try the rules out quickly then you could always get picture of a ship (copyright free of course) photocopy it to size and make a 'flat' version by mounting it upright onto some card and stick it to a base. It could be any scale you like.

[Kron]

Apologies for the thread necromancy (A year and a day since I started the thread!!).

Anyway I was just wondering if anyone could tell em what the 1:2400 Hallmark ships sold by Magister Militum are like? Are they similar in quality/detail etc to the Tumbling Dice 1:2400 ships, which I have seen pictures of?

If anyone could show me a pic of the Hallmark ships, or even a comparison pic, that would be great, thanks!

[scrivs]

The picture of a 1/2400 fleet in the Trafalgar book is of the Hallmark ships, in my opinion they are nowhere near as good as the Tumbling Dice ships.

There are quite a few images of my Tumbling Dice ships on the Gallery including all 50 or so here:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=6579

Some if the individual ships here:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=5314

[Kron]

Hi Scrivs, thanks for the reply.

I had noticed that the ones in the book were Hallmark and rather undetailed, especially compared with the Tumbling Dice. SInce they are the same price it is down to quality. Thanks for confirming that.

Your fleets are actually what first inspired me to look at the 1:2400 Tumbling Dice ships, they look excellent.

I will probably go for the Napoleon Starter Pack: 1 x 1st or 2nd Rate. 5 x 3rd or 4th Rates. 2 x packs of Frigates.

How many are in a pack of Frigates?

[scrivs]

There is one Frigate in each pack.

[Kron]

That sounds good. 8 ships give me a fleet of 1500pts. Is 1500 the usual amount for a battle? 2 to 3 hours? Or would it make more sense to have 2 fleets of 800+ points?

[scrivs]

The best "training games" involve a couple of 3rd Rates a side to help learn the rules, this equates to about 500pts a side and can take a couple of hours while you are still learning. As you escalate add about 250pts at a time.

You'll need lots of 3rd Rates, out of my 50 ships about half of them are between 64 & 80 guns.

The biggest game we played was a "Bathtub Trafalgar" using about half the ships present at the actual battle at the recent Warhammer Historical weekend, but for a club night, if not playing an actual engagement about 1000 to 1500pts seems fine.