First Anniversary Cruise & the Captain's Return

It's hard to believe that nearly a year ago, on January 19, Teresa and I got married aboard the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. We set sail the next day on our honeymoon cruise to the Mexican Riviera and had an absolute blast! 

We'll be going on a cruise once again to celebrate our first anniversary. This time we're off to the Western Caribbean and set sail in two days! We'll again be sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line, this time aboard the Norwegian Pearl out of Miami, Florida. The Pearl is the same class of ship as the one we sailed on for our honeymoon...which is nice because we'll already pretty much know our way around!

We'll have two sea days (where I intend to spend my time either reading on deck or sitting in a steam room) with stops at Harvest Caye in Belize and Costa Maya in Mexico.

The Captain in front of the legendary Queen Mary in January 2019.

And of course, as with last year, the Captain will be joining us! I took photos of him aboard the Queen Mary and the Norwegian Gem (plus our ports of call in Mexico) and plan to do the same on the Norwegian Pearl. Stay tuned! 

Black Seas: US Navy Starter Set

Ahoy there!

Last week I picked up the starter set for the new Black Seas game by Warlord Games. While there, the shop owner told me that the Americans were being released the next week and I got very excited. I just picked them up (with the help of a $25 store credit). Since not too many photos of the set itself has been released yet as I can tell, I wanted to venture into the world of “unboxing” and let you know what the set includes.

Pretty standard stuff to start with: flags, sails, cards, and a bobbin of thread for the rigging. Such items are found with just about every Black Seas starter set.

Also included are sprues for 6 brigs and 3 frigates. Again, pretty standard for these sets. But I'm constantly struck by how detailed these models are.

The real gems of this set are found in the bubble wrap, however!

Gunboats are significantly smaller and have less firepower than other ships in the game, but are nimble and are supposedly quite hard to hit. The hulls of three boats are cast in resin with metal sails to be installed later.

For the three frigates on the sprue, there are metal components with nameplates and figureheads to create three of the US Navy's "Original Six" ships: USS Chesapeake, USS Congress, and USS Constellation. The game's designer admitted that Constellation's nameplate is based on the second, slightly smaller sloop-of-war from 1854 (and currently a museum ship in Baltimore, Maryland). This was done to create a bit of variety. 

Then there are two resin "super frigates" in the set to make two more of the "Original Six" ships: USS United States and USS President! What really impressed me with these is that the hulls appear to be two different sculpts to represent the uniqueness of each ship.

USS President includes a figurehead of George Washington (I think) and is superbly detailed!

USS United States is similarly detailed.

This set exceeds all of my expectations and I can't wait to get started! The USS Constitution comes as its own set, so once that's acquired one can sail the Americans with pride on the tabletop! 

The Love Boat(s)

Greetings everyone!

Next week I’m getting married aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California! For those who may not be familiar, she’s a British ocean liner that saw service from 1936 to 1967 with the Cunard Line. The ship was also a troop transport during World War II and transported thousands of soldiers to Europe (my Great Uncle Howard among them). Upon her retirement, the City of Long Beach bought the Queen Mary and turned her into a hotel and tourist attraction. I myself served as a tour guide aboard her from August 2009 to December 2012.

The day after the wedding, we’re embarking on a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Norwegian Gem. We'll have three full days at sea and three stops. It should be a blast!

But what does this have to do with miniatures, you may ask?

I finished a ship’s captain figure specifically for the ship-theme we have going on for our wedding and honeymoon! We’ll be taking photos of him around the Queen Mary, the Norwegian Gem, and our ports of call. Because why not? 

Initially a Darkest Africa Belgian command figure from Foundry, I painted him up as a ship’s captain instead. I've had the figure for probably 15 years or so and was happy to finally do something with him. The base was made about 10 years ago from coffee stirrers to simulate decking. As happy as I am with how he turned out, it only confirmed to me that painting white is not fun. 

I used white Vallejo surface primer instead of my usual black gesso and was happy with the result. This was also the first time that I've ever pinned a figure, which was considerably easier than I thought it'd be. I also used some Vallejo gloss varnish on the shoes to give them that "spit and polish" look. The recess lining is something else I don't usually do, but in this case I think it really makes the figure pop. I probably should have used a lighter grey, but I do tend to like vivid contrast in my figures (for the most part). 

Stay tuned and see how and where the Captain shows up!

Capture the Triton!

The other night my friend Kyle came over, bringing along some recently acquired ships from eBay. Using the Trafalgar rules from Warhammer Historical, we established a scenario set in 1778. The French have stolen a marine chronometer from the British and are transporting it back to Paris aboard Triton. The Admiralty has received word of this and dispatched a small force to retrieve it. Kyle elected to play as French, and so I played British.

We assembled a few extra boards in the basement to make an impromptu gaming table. Not ideal...but I'm working on a solution. That, however, is a post for another time.

The French ships move to attack the oncoming British.

With HMS Diana in the lead, the British sail towards their French foes.

While Diana sails off to engage and distract the French, Bellerophon and Drake sail around the far side of the island in an attempt to surprise the enemy.

While maneuvering to counter the British, Marquis collides with Revere! Both ships are temporarily out of action until their crews can sort out the mess. 

The French ship Venus opens fire on HMS Diana, initiating the battle!

Diana returns fire!

Venus and Diana pass close together...

With the British ship distracted, Triton attempts to make a run for it.

That is, however, until HMS Bellerophon finally rounds the island and opens fire! The French ship takes some damage but continues sailing.

A lucky shot sets Venus ablaze! Before long her crew has either died or abandoned ship, leaving the French vessel to drift aimlessly.

Revere turns to engage Bellerophon. Severely outgunned, how will the French ship fair?

Revere broadsides both Bellerophon and Diana! The latter ship is disabled and out of action.

Meanwhile, the chase is on! HMS Drake spots Triton through the billowing smoke from Venus. Her captain sets sail in a desperate attempt to stop the French ship. Revere's captain orders a pursuit.

Clearing the burning wreckage of Venus, Triton begins cutting across the bow of Drake.

Before the British can do anything, however, Revere's captain rams HMS Drake in the stern! This action causes major damage to both ships. 

"Go between them? Are you crazy?!?"

Seeing no other means of escape, Triton's captain boldly decides to sail his ship between Drake and Revere.  

"I said DON'T go between them!!"

The bold move failed, as soon Triton was also involved in the collision. Damage sustained to Drake and Revere is enough to sink them.

Though seriously damaged, Triton is eventually able to clear herself of the wreckage and make a dash for safety. With Bellerophon too far off to catch her, the French have won the day. But Bellerophon's captain will not forget. It's still a long way to Paris...

All in all, this was a really fun game! The rules made it so the ships had to move each turn. This did a great job of capturing the nature of naval warfare. Since there was a great deal of movement, there was a great deal of strategy required. This is a game that we will definitely be playing more of!