Neil Thomas' "19th C. Wargaming"- 2nd Franco-Prussian Playtest

Victory is ours!

yes, but not in the war...don't blink, it's almost over.

https://www.aspireauctions.com/#!/catalog/354/1873/lot/82366

Changes I made in the RAW:

1. There were still a few rule "exceptions" to mechanics that were unnecessary, and hard to remember, e.g. Infantry and Guns can TURN while in line/unlimbered, but only Infantry can Fire, but at a reduced rate. I'm uncertain this is either historical or efficient in game terms. I made both unable to fire if they Turn, which I consider a Movement, anyway. This also harmonizes the Move OR Shoot mechanic.
2. But, there is so much LESS of this sort of thing than in other rule sets, that it's a big relief to play it! Yep!
3. Probably the hardest thing to get one's head wrapped around is that there's a Change Formation Phase at the start of the turn. Game Design Convention has such things during the movement Phase, so I'll be interested in trying to understand why and see how it feels. I re-wrote the Turn sequence so the phases are Move-Shoot-Melee. However "Move" has subphases for Change Formation / Rally, and Charge.
4. Cavalry move only a LITTLE faster than infantry, which is odd. They do get to maneuver more easily. We added 2" to the Cavalry move, so they are now 8" v. 5" for foot.
5. The Firing rules allow you to plink away sequentially at units until you get the result you're looking for, which gamers love and Kevin and I dislike - some Target Priority rules may be in order. Considering...haven't changed it yet. It is in fact a complicated rule to work with. My initial thought is that the front is a priority, "front" being perpendicular to the sides, so a rectangle as wide as the Unit and as long as the range.
6. I also find the presence of out of period, i.e. not Franco-Prussian, rules / troops / data distracting on the RAW writeup I did, so will remove all the earlier period references and chart modifiers from the charts. I removed all the weapons not needed for F-P war. This greatly simplified the charts.
7. Also, there seems a needless amount of distinction over Dragoons, who have a lot of exceptions and don't seem very good, anyway! However, their rules do make me think that these would work for ACW battles with a few tweaks. After a bit of research, decided that Dragoons are regular Cavalry when mounted and skirmishers when dismounted. Ergo, removed pretty much all the references to them on the charts. It's amazing how clean and easy they are to work with now!
8. I'd like to have some Rally Rules, similar to the ACW rules from Wargaming: An Introduction. Of course, this will lengthen the game a bit, but I like rewarding players who conserve their Soldiers instead of ruthlessly getting them slaughtered. I introduced allowing units to Change Formation and Rally, together, representing in effect a "reform and reorganize" period. They can't move, shoot or charge, so it isn't a freebie. If they make their morale roll, they regain a stand. However, they can't rally to full four stands, i.e. the first stand lost is permanent.
9. Converted all measurements to Inches. I also ditched the 1/4 per Turn for Infantry Units, and switched it to a -1" cost instead. Overall, I find subtraction easier than fractions, even tho' the 1/4 wasn't bad with all the cm measurements being in values of 4, e.g. 8, 12, 16, etc.
10. For Line of Sight, Gaps, etc, went with a base width, e.g. 4cm, which is about 150m.

So, lots of little improvements, let's see how they play out!

Turn 1-2, Below.

This time, the French and Prussians set up much more effectively. The Frogs deploy their Napoleons well into effective range of 12", and the Infantry are 9" from their target, the town. My blue skirmisher is holding off an Infantry and a Skirmisher in the woods. This is good for me, for now, as I'm keeping two Units busy and not driving on the town. However, I certainly don't have combat power to win and turn the left flank of his battle line. 

Prussians have the town held solidly, but are somewhat daunted by the superior French range. They have adopted a Wellingtonian tactic and are behind the hill, except for the Unit actually in the town and the Krupp gun which is out of French range. It's job is to knock out the French guns as they are the most vulnerable having no save and only four hits.

Below, turn 3 center. French did occupy one victory point, the town at left. However, preferring a very aggressive drive on the other that French Battalion is leaving, probably to support the main attack on the right. 
The Prussians are hastening to the town with a battalion and a gun. Of tactical concern is that Prussians have solid control of the woods with a blue Skirmisher lining North side and a full battalion within it. This situation will continue to bedevil French plans...


Turn 5-ish. Combat between Skirmishers in cover is slow and very likely inconclusive. With breechloaders, they get 4d6 needing a 6 to hit, and a 3+ save for any hit. Infantry Units are much more powerful despite their skirmish-like fighting doctrine in this period. They fire 8d6 needing a 5+ to hit, so 4x as dangerous, but there is still a 3+ save in woods. Obviously, the one blue Skirmisher won't win this fight! 
I really like how NT's rules, particularly this rule set, shows the development of fighting tactics over time thru this period. Combining some aspects of the Napoleonic Warfare book's rules with this would give a great, flavorful game for the American Civil War.


Turn 5-ish, different angle. The French certainly have a firepower advantage for their main thrust. The question is will the Wellington approach work out for the Prussians??


Turn...much later, around 12 or so. French finally beat up and broke thru. At top right and right are the units from the woods - note the green hats on the Skirmisher Unit. One Prussian battalion has one figure left! The other has three stands but had to advance out of the town to fight the French, and now has a French Guard Unit on its right rear! The Prussian Cavalry Unit is in white, and is fighting the French Cavalry Unit. Another Prussian Infantry is near them and beating up the Guard Unit to its front.


On the left, the Prussians are departing the town objective to attack a Line Unit in the flank, while the French Guard similarly threaten their flank with two stands. The French have cleared the woods at some cost, but it should be worse for the Prussians - I forget to have them check morale at the end of each melee they lost.

Same turn, different angle, below.

At this point, the French have managed a bloody victory, and the playtest concluded mainly because we felt like we'd learned what we needed to learn.

So, was happy with all changes, the only things I'm changing at this point:

1. Morale check to see if Units lose a stand on a retreat - just check once; failure means you lose a stand [which may eliminate the unit] and you face away from the melee. Passing means you face towards the melee from which you just retreated.
2. Rallying. I like this rule b/c it rewards people for conserving their troops, which is very realistic [usually] and good generalship. I will make it harder, in that it is 2 worse than normal morale, so Elite Troops need a 5+, Average need a 6+ and Levy a 7+ on a d6, giving a +1 for the general being present.
3. Cleaning up the charts a bit more, including some better color coding and organizing.

Overall, I am very pleased with this system. I feel like there needs to be more for Generals to do, but that would fall under the optional rules category.

I will endeavor to cut'n paste here all the additions and changes that were made when they are finished.

Going Small, p.3 - Painting 6mm Bacchus ACW

Why have we waited so long to join the world of color??
Well, this is super embarrassing...it's been two years that this project has sat around, primed and unpainted. I guess my excuse is I have been a lot busier with designing the games I want to play than with hobby crafts like painting. Still...TWO YEARS! Ugh.

In any event, here we are with the figures primed and covered with a rag. I've decided to go with painting a butternut brigade of Rebs first, as that should be easiest and get my brushes wet. I also have some ideas to use Micron pens at times. Hopefully, all this will save time and these guys will paint up quickly. Overall, I am hoping that despite having more figs per regiment than 10, 15 and certainly 25mm figs, it won't take terribly long. Or if nothing else, it will be a different kind of artistic crafty work and be interesting.

As recorded in my first "Going Small" blog post [CLICK], I hope to use the 6mm figs to have a more realistic appearance of Units on table, as well as a top-down mass effect. This will have the welcome effect of bringing a sense of proportion to the table, and instead of units of 18 or 24 representing a battalion of 500-800 Soldiers, it will be more like  60-80 figures. The ratio will be more like 1/10, and the depth distortion will be substantially less. The linear appearance of Units will be - mostly - restored and their appearance as a platoon / company on the table will be replaced by something that looks at least like a small battalion.

Reviewing the concepts for both the game and the basing / Unit system from post 2 [CLICK], I have to say they still seem both appealing and solid. Interestingly, the Units at 32 figures will have more than nearly all my old 15mm Johnny Reb guys at 20-25, but they will take up just over 3" on the table, while 15mm took up about 5". I could actually play any regimental game in a small space doing this, or the brigade / Unit game I'm thinking of - pretty cool! I will definitely be trying out some more playtests of the Neil Thomas ACW rules from Wargaming: An Introduction with these guys.

Yep, Step 1 is to DUST OFF the minis...covered by rags but it was 2 years.

Step 2: collecting my blue and grey paints - they might work, might not.


Step 3: Collect the Brown Paints! yes, I forgot them...

I use a system to paint variety for larger figs. I try to only generally follow it, which prevents accidental repetition [similarity and patterns] that look artificial. So one might call it systematic randomness. ;)

In this case, there are way too many rows to work down them so I'm using a linear system of painting the first three figs in a 4-fig block the same color something, say, shoes, then the next block has two, the third one, then I do the same working from the other side of the block. When they're done, I can further mix and match the little blocks when I mount them. If I was painting a regiment, I'd have to stick to the one set of figs so they didn't look TOO random, e.g. they might 90% have the same hat, same gun, same shoes, same belts, and 10% would be different with say captured Yankee equipment. Hope that makes sense.

Below, I've a pic of my first color, a Vallejo dark brown called German Camo Medium Brown #70826. I'm trying to make significant contrasts so the little guys don't look like mushy porridge with hats or something! I'm using it for gun wood and some of the shoes. A lighter brown, GW's Bestial Brown, will be a "variety color" for the same items:
Note that you need to paint the little bits first on these figs since they are so small. So I'm painting the guns, the shoes [the two browns and GW Chaos black] then the gun barrels, then hitting the larger trousers [which are recessed a bit] then I'll start working on the trunk. The face and hands will just be flesh dots, so will be among the last things done. This is quite the reverse of painting a 28mm fig, btw!

Below, the silver of the barrels using GW Boltgun Metal, highlighted with GW Chainmail at the tip-top of the barrel to give it a bit of light-catching shine. You can just barely see the barrel bands wrapping around the stock of the gun in this pic. Probably not worth painting but as they are sculpted on I can't help myself...!

Brushes that proved useful thus far are:

Craftsmart 3/0 [very fine] and 5/0 [fine] - cheap, easy to grip, holding a tip thus far.
Also, Loew-Cornell '0 round' #795, and a battered Armory 3/0 for dabbing wider bits like the trousers, and sidling paint up onto low bits like the shoes.

Colors I've been using thus far. Some of the pain is kinda junky, but a little water and lots of shaking somewhat revives them! All will be replaced with Vallejo, over time.

Overall, the Vallejo are much better paints, but I was virtually given the GW paints and altho a lot of them have dried out and died over the years, they've been worth more than I paid for them! If I had to make a recommendation, I'd say to go with Vallejo, but you'll need a little palette and some plain smooth plastic bits on which to drip and mix the paint.


Here's where we are thus far - guns, shoes and the occasional hat. Not bad.


Next, I got in some time and painted all the trousers. I was going for a mix of blues [captured Union items] and blue-greys [same, but faded, and / or CSA] and brown flannel [a very old and battered Armory paint called Butternut or Armory Dun/Buckskin. The blues and greys are from nautical USN colors by polly-S. Don't worry about them, you really shouldn't use these anyway!



Below, a close up of the same stage. My assumption is that pride will make the command group better-uniformed and MORE uniform, if you get my drift. Personally, I think the color sergeant looks like a caber-tosser so will most likely be doing some cutting and drilling very very soon.

I have to say that they look a lot better than I thought they'd turn out at first!

So far, the project has taken:
120 Minutes to clean, mount and prime all 700-ish of them

For the brigade of 92 Georgians [in my mind...we'll see]
  60 minutes browns, 
  60 minutes black / silver guns,
  60 minutes pants
300 minutes, or 5 Hours. As each paint stage for the 92 takes about an hour, I can sense this will not be quick, but it has been a lot more fun than I thought.

So what are 6mm like...
Well, the painting technique is more like "blobs and dots for effect" rather than painting in strokes like 15s and 25s. So per figure, it is much quicker. However, I'm not interested in units of 15-30 figs like my old Johnny Reb ACW [nearly all MiniFigs - nice clean figs]:

• For games where a Unit is a regiment, they'll have 4 stands of 16 total of 64 figs. This will be a fig ratio of about 1/5!
• For games where a Unit is a brigade, they'll have 6 stands of 16 for 96 figs in lines, with another dozen or so in skirmish order and a gun or two, for about 110-120 figures. This will be a fig ratio of about 1/10 - 1/15

Unless you are going to use about the same number of figs, I'm not sure that 6mm is a faster project. However, 6mm is certainly easier to paint than larger figures, so not a bad place to start - and if you ruin a couple of units...let's face it most people can't tell!

6mm is definitely a less expensive project than painting up the same number of Units in 25mm, even if those Units have as few as 18 figs in them! A bag of Old Glory is $18 for 30 figs, or 60 cents a fig, for $14.40 a unit. A bag of Bacchus 6mm ACW is about $10 for 96, so 10 cents a fig, for $2.40 a Unit of 24, or $6.40 for a unit of 64 like I'm doing. Sounds like about 50% off. However, the terrain in 6mm is a lot more important as people will be looking at the terrain as a landscape, whereas in 28mm they will be looking at the figures mostly and the terrain is mostly incidental [not that lovely 28mm terrain doesn't catch the eye, of course, but one doesn't feel as obligated to provide it]. Even with this, I think that paper buildings and some very nice fields will work well and cost less than 25mm terrain.

6mm is also more portable, of course. Even with cavalry the army will move in a small box [may want to get magnetic bases...] and only a Macedonian Phalanx of pikes upright will demand extra space into the 15mm size boxes.

So at the moment, I'm thinking that a 6mm project is a cheaper, more portable and easier to paint project than a 25mm one. The real challenge is provided by 10mm figures, who offer many of the same advantages but are definitely a lot easier to see.

Another question in my mind is what will look better, a less colorful army like ACW or a more colorful army like many Napoleonic and Age of Reason armies are. Sometimes lots of color is a negative, sometimes not. I'll be interested in how this project develops and the craft and artistic skills I learn along the way.

So to summarize, 6mm projects:
- will take similar time to paint Units with more figures,
- but are easier to paint faster,
- and will cost about half as much as a 25mm project,
- but you will have to invest in some nice terrain,
- and are definitely portable.
- and 10mm may have many of the same advantages but be easier to see!
Main question - is it going to look very cool on the table??

Meanwhile, now that I've got my painting groove going, I am of course being distracted by a week of Army and Thanksgiving travel in the next fortnight, so I hope I can keep up my motivation.

Neil Thomas' "19th C. Wargaming"- 1st Franco-Prussian Playtest!

Franco-Prussian War

A great victory for Realism in French war paintings...

See above, v. below:                                          https://battlefieldanomalies.com/the-battle-of-spicheren/00image002/

Malheureusement, this is the main Victory French "arms" achieved...

Ever since I got Neal Thomas' "Wargaming 19th C. Europe, 1815-1878" I've really wanted to try out the rules and the period. It is of course a lot like ACW but with a lot more cavalry, and depending on which period and armies the "feel" or nuance might be very different. I will recommend the book wholeheartedly, with the caveat that you must finish the rules for NT, as he could't be bothered to write in critical mechanics like how units contact one another, measure ranges, Line of Sight, etc. You will need my summary of these issues from this blog post HERE to do this quickly, but it is also a "most popular post" so you should see it at the right side bar, anyway!

In any event, a loooong time gaming buddy from my original game club has a pile of Franco-Prussian 15mm stored away, so I decided to put the rules RAW on paper, format them for easy understanding [plus translate from Brit to 'Merican] and give them a go. Unsurprisingly, he was willing to give them a go as unused lead gets a bit annoying, really.

As this was a quick experience of the mechanicals, we didn't spend time on a complex table or setup. There are four woods, two towns, one hill [under the matt to bottom right, you can see the shadow - it has an occupied town and gun on it]. No bothering with roads. I did dice on the Unit chart, and got 5 Infantry and one Cavalry for each force. The French then had three Artillery and one Skirmisher while the Prussians had two and two, respectively. Kevin took the French and I took the Prussians. The French end up with three Guard and two line Units that we grabbed from storage. The Prussians five line battalions.

Below, turn 3. The Prussians are pushing Skirmishers into the woods at right, the Krupp gun is covering the valley in front of the Town [an objective] while Cavalry lurk behind the hill. A Prussian Infantry is in support of the Town and Cavalry. In Center, a Skirmisher and Infantry are going to contest the woods near the French Town, while to left two Infantry and a Krupp are holding ground. It's not a very good deployment, really...

The French have Cavalry to right, supported by Infantry and Artillery [smoothbore Napoleons]. They are also pushing their lone Skirmisher into the center woods, while four Infantry and two Napoleons are pushing against the Prussian left.

Turn 3 closeup. Prussian Skirmishers [light blue] advance into the woods to disrupt the Napoleon and the opposing Skirmishers. Prussian battalion is on suicide mission...

Turn 3 closeup, Prussian Right. Holding the town, pushing in the woods. Not bad.
Turn 3 down the table. Looks like two French Guard, two Napoleons, and two Line battalions are advancing against the two floating Prussian battalions. Ugh!

Turn 6 or so, Prussians realize they are outranged and outnumbered and start pulling back to the right. They forced French deployment and delayed the onslaught, anyway.

Turn 6 closeup. Prussian columns marching right. They're taking some fire from the French line and Napoleons, but not a lot of casualties.

Turn 6 Prussian Right. Skirmishers force the French Cavalry back. French deployed and their Napoleon is taking some losses from the Krupp guns. Town is solidly Prussian!

Turn 9 or so, Prussian Left / Center. Well, after getting beat up some, the Prussians are deploying for a fight in the center woods area. Three battalions are contesting the ground with the town solidly French. One Prussian battalion has lost two stands, the others are stil. doing ok. French Guard on left lost a stand, and the center line unit is about to. French are still getting their heads wrapped around advancing, firing, etc. They've a long range!

Turn 9 Closeup. French Skirmishers [green hats] are doing just fine, thanks, as are the Prussian Skirmishers in blue to right. A Prussian advance in the woods is being worked on. Prussian battalion to left has lost two stands [they lost a stand, then failed morale causing another stand to be lost]. Opposing French have lost 3 casualties, the 4th will take the stand off. I'm not really seeing a way to take this town, despite having caused its occupying Infantry to lose a stand somewhere along the way.

One thing we noticed...fighting in woods drags things out with shooting, but charges can worked well enough.

Turn 9, Prussian Right. This went a lot better for the Prussians. The French Cavalry were destroyed and the Prussian Cavalry is threatening the flank of the French Guard battalion, backed up by the Skirmishers and an advancing Prussian Infantry or two. This also won't take the town, but advancing while causing casualties is always a good thing!

The rules played well! Some thoughts:

1. There were still a few rule "exceptions" to mechanics that were unnecessary, and hard to remember, e.g. Infantry and Guns can TURN while in line/unlimbered, but only Infantry can Fire, but at a reduced rate. I'm uncertain this is either historical or efficient in game terms. 
2. But, there is so much LESS of this sort of thing than in other rule sets, that it's a big relief to play it!
3. Probably the hardest thing to get one's head wrapped around is that there's a Change Formation Phase at the start of the turn. Game Design Convention has such things during the movement Phase, so I'll be interested in trying to understand why and see how it feels.
4. Cavalry move only a LITTLE faster than infantry, which is odd. They do get to maneuver more easily. 
5. The Firing rules allow you to plink away sequentially at units until you get the result you're looking for, which gamers love and Kevin and I dislike - some Target Priority rules may be in order. 
6. I also find the presence of out of period, i.e. not Franco-Prussian, rules / troops / data distracting on the RAW writeup I did, so will remove all the earlier period references and chart modifiers from the charts. 
7. Also, there seems a needless amount of distinction over Dragoons, who have a lot of exceptions and don't seem very good, anyway! However, their rules do make me think that these would work for ACW battles with a few tweaks.
8. I'd like to have some Rally Rules, similar to the ACW rules from Wargaming: An Introduction. Of course, this will lengthen the game a bit, but I like rewarding players who conserve their Soldiers instead of ruthlessly getting them slaughtered.

Overall, the rules were very clean. The few things that were a little bumpy are obvious and easily fixed. The lack of certain required rules has already been mentioned. However, the move / shooting / turn mechanics are quite solid, and present both sides with tough decisions. The French Infantry outrange the Prussian Infantry by 50%, while the Krupp Artillery outrange the French Napoleons by 100%, so both sides have to plan things out carefully. 

It is certainly not possible for the Prussians to sit back in an infantry duel on open ground with their French counterparts, and the use of movement, supporting arms, etc will be required. The French meanwhile have to use their Infantry to do everything, with some close support from Artillery and maneuvering Cavalry to menace Prussian Guns.

Overall, the design priorities are very solid and well thought out, which is what I expect from Neal Thomas - the differences between the Armies is well presented in the design itself, as well as in the Army Lists. As always, there are few special rules and they are located in the scenarios and Army lists, not in the main body of the text. Nearly all are optional upon agreement of both players. 

The execution of the design is a bit uneven; the absence of critical rules mechanics as always is inexcusable, and there are parts that could be simplified without any detriment to the game's play. The scenarios and army lists are also good. So overall:

Rule design: 9/10
Scenarios and Lists: 9/10
Mechanics: 
     Fire, Movement, Turn = 9/10
     Line of Sight, Contact, Measuring, et al - 7/10
Background information: 8/10

OVERALL 9.2 / 10

Highly Recommended as an intro to this period, and a great price for a hardback at Abe books, et al.  Looking forward to more playtesting!

Gentlemen, I think we have something I like better than Kriegspiel - finish it up!

Posting and Project Projections - dry spell to end!

Enough waiting! It is time to resume battle - let the fall gaming season begin!! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

"Hey there, STAND UP!"                         https://h-france.net/fffh/the-buzz/waterloo-1970/

Ok, the game season has arrived - it is quite the opposite of the actual military season, which is most busy in the warm summer months [obviously] suitable for maneuvers. Having had more than my fill of that with an NTC trip, I'm feeling that my hobby has been lagging and am noting with dismay that the blogging has also been irregular. So, some projected goals and project plans:

1. Blog weekly on each blog, even if it is only to put up cool mini pics, a review of a book, or some game design thoughts. Smaller posts but more frequent is the goal. I think this will encourage regular visiting, as well.
2. One Project each. Push forward on one project per blog, even if it is not a big one. How about some terrain or a couple of skirmish figures painted up? A sample or experimental painting of a new model, e.g. 1/3000 Age of Sail ships?
3. Play 1-2 games a week per blog, to keep interest and motivation going - after all, the actual game is the reason for doing it! Fit in one with a colleague and one with strangers at the various hobby stores, or with a newbie to the genre.

With all this in mind, here's some actual progress you may want to stay tuned for:

1) COMMISSION & REGIMENT. This blog here! It's my first one and has to do with my first love primarily, warfare in the age of polite exchanges of fire and lace hankies. 

Work continues on the Grand-Tactical Horse and Musket rules Steve [Sound Officer's Call!] is urging for. Alongside that, is my long-neglected ACW armies in 6mm, a scale I'm dying to see on the table for the feeling of "mass" it brings, and hopefully, ease of painting, also. Also, the ACW is such a great period of US history, and I also like the Regiment-scale of games from Johnny Reb to NT's ACW / Wargaming: an Intro. So two goals:

1. Horse and Musket Rules, Design: CLICK for all posts
2. 6mm ACW: CLICK for all posts.

2) SPEAR TO THE STRIFE. My second blog, inspired by my love of the hand-to-hand eras, from ancient Rome to medievals, and including some flights into fantasy [which I intend to focus more and more on High Fantasy Tolkein as being much more edifying than the boobs and boogers of Warhammer]. Two main goals HERE, also:

1. Progress in Dark Ages craft work, basing and painting.
2. Add 25mm LoTR to the mix with rules and crafts.

3) UP THE BLUE!. Began with my North Africa WWII interests, but has evolved into the Modern Combat blog, including "realistic" sci-fi. Here the work on Terminator Genisys figures and games continues, along with plans for another Big Battle Bash of the Crusader campaign, my favorite WWII battle thus far. This must include painting my 15mm British Motor Infantry and finishing up my beloved Crud squadron!

1. Terminator Genisys - skirmish movie fun!
2. Operation Crusader, North Africa WWII: mega-game, Brit Infantry & Tanks.

4) RED IN THE MORNING. Started as WWI naval blog in attempt to actually play something upon a significant anniversary, in this case WWI North Sea fleet actions. A bit of a failure there, but good WWII posts and other naval action from Age of Sail to outer space. Here, my goal is to try out a couple of Age of Sail games and work on painting up my British Trafalgar force. This will necessitate some effort to finish my endeavors to adapt Portable Wargame Naval concepts to the period. Also on deck are my 1/3000 pre-Dreadnoughts and 1/2400 WWII USN / IJN who deserve some love, even if it is just putting on some masts!

1. Age of Sail: Rules and preliminary model work. Perhaps a play of 1805: Sea of Glory?
2. Pre-dreadnoughts. Modeling and more with rules.

Well, there you have it - lots of lofty goals for Fall into early winter as the season continues to peak for gaming. I'm hoping that I can continue to do good things with the hobby, get more focused and either get rid of stuff or start using it. Key to that is activity, no doubt.