Thoughts about playing naval games.
Back when the General's Compendium came out one of my friends built several ships and the accompanying scenery, wreckage and sharks. I already had a ship that qualified as a medium and 2 others in our group started ships of their own. We played one 4 player game with a GM. Had fun. Never did it again.
One of the players in that game and I started playing a game every 6 months to a year apart. (The guy who ran the first game has never played with us again...oops.) We also use our small ships and dingys in Mordheim games. Years pass. I start playing in the Crisis in Marienburg. There are MoW players. Sea zones. My friend choses Marienburg. I chose Middenheim. We played 2 or 3 naval games. I lost every one except one that we had to call a draw because the store was closing. I discover Megablocks ships and purchase a Black Pearl. (So cool. A toy for toddlers?)
I start playing in the Animosity 3 campaign. (Why don't more of you?) My intention was to build more ships in an Arabian style. Big dream, no real progress. But the Pearl started an arms race. My friend buys 4 large ships (Megablocks--a Pearl, a Flying Dutchman and Stormstalker and Disney's Black Pearl toy as well.) I get a Stormstalker because he found a deal for 2. We play our first duel between large ships. Really interesting game. I win so I have lots of fun. (I had fun losing too, but winning was better.)
Pros of playing naval games.
-a BIG change of pace. Not your usual Warhammer game.
-hobby intensive. Even if you go with converted toys as I do, there's still lots to learn and do.
-high adventure, cannon duels, boarding actions, using the wind to advantage. Each game is a different challenge.
-scenarios. The GC came with some and the White Dwarf articles added several others. We haven't played with flyers or sea monsters yet.
Cons of playing naval games.
-no real rules. The General's Compendium rules are not comprehensive. Despite being in their second edition Warhammer Ahoy doesn't seem much better. This is a problem if the players are not interested in playing a game but rather are focused on winning at all costs. My friend and I are primarily interested in playing with the toys we have made or purchased. Thus we iron out what rules we are using and make things up on the fly. We've had a couple of rocky moments especially when a year had passed since the last game. (Since we are making up the rules, saying something isn't in the rules is not a useful argument...)
We are always play testing.
-time. Like all Warhammer games the more toys you try to include at once the more time it takes to use them. Our first and only battle featuring 7 ships took 8 hours to set up, play and take down. Made us grumpy.
-space. I don't ever want to play a game on the floor. I think 6x8 would be the perfect table, but we usually have a 4x6 or 4x8 available. Our first duel between large ships happened on a 4x8. It turned into a battle of maneuver and the table worked despite the fact that each large ship was at least 2 feet long. Both of us were very conscious of the table edges.
-scale. I used to think that using large ships was silly. Now that I've played a couple of games with them, I'm hooked. But space and time mean that I doubt we'll get to play more than once a month or so.
Does anyone on this forum play naval battles?
js