Gustine Naval Shipyard

Gustine Naval Shipyard (Founded 2019)

I always swore that I would not get involved in miniatures-based wargaming.  It always seemed to me that miniatures-rules were simply self-justification by adults for continuing the boyhood pleasure of playing with toy ships and soldiers.  This was, of course, a position of ignorance, but I never really had the resources or time to devote to building a miniature fleet even if I were inclined to do so.

Now, however, it seems I have gone down the rabbit-hole. 

Almost all Age of Sail (AoS) naval board games are geared towards fleet actions.  A game which I currently own---Mike Nagle’s Blue Cross, White Ensign---is a case in point. (Another Mike Nagle-designed game, Captain’s Sea, is an exception since it focuses on single-ship combat, but its publication by Legion Games looks doubtful at present). Although I have yet to play it, it features fleet actions between the Russians and either the Swedes or the Turks and puts you in the admiral’s chair.  While this can be awesome, it doesn’t satisfy my deeply-ingrained desire to fight a single ship as its captain; movement-by-movement decisions about wind gauge, manpower allocation, sail deployment, etc. are what really immerse me in the world of sailing naval combat.

After researching the selection of AoS miniatures rule-sets, I settled on Old Dominion Game Works’ Post Captain: 1793-1815, a set of rules that emphasizes single-ship or small squadron actions.  It has a great level of detail and can be used for all scales of miniatures.  Since I hadn’t yet selected a scale of choice that was a major plus for me.  ODGW also offers a lot of support and add-ons on their website (link at left).  So, with the acquisition of Post Captain, I now had a fair wind blowing but no ship to sail; the next step involved Navy Procurement and Construction.

I chose 1/1200 scale for my ships, balancing as it does cost, detail, and availability (1/1000 was another option, but I was not impressed with the quality of AoS models currently available in that scale).  In miniatures gaming, the larger the scale, the more costly the models and the larger the space needed to play the game; I have seen photos from gaming cons where fleets square off on multiple linked banquet tables or from across the floors of entire conference rooms.  For 1/1200, the top of an average 6-8 place dining room table works well. 

Out of the major manufacturers of sailing ships in 1/1200 scale, I chose Langton Miniatures out of the UK; they get the highest marks for quality and historical accuracy across the field, and they are one of the few to offer the ships I needed to recreate the squadrons I wished to wargame.  They are not the cheapest choice, but they are worth the investment for those who, like me, are not “modelers” at heart and want to do as little rebuilding and high-finishing work as possible.  Painting, reaming, and rigging I don’t mind, but I don’t want to have to re-make masts and other parts from scratch because the provided originals are so poor.  My primary goal at this point is to re-create the USN and RN squadrons operating on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812.  Although overshadowed by the decisive tactical victory of Perry on Lake Erie, the inconclusive naval campaign on Lake Ontario was of greater strategic importance for the war, and the fact that neither side ever achieved a decisive victory makes it ripe for gaming. 

Before I started buying models, though, I had to get some gear together. Fortunately, I already had a pretty good pool of make-do modeling tools to choose from.  My wife, Karen, is a nurse, so I already have a variety of surgical tools in my tool box. Hemostat forceps and bandage cutters are useful for all sorts of tasks, and Karen’s old dissection kit from nursing school supplied some other items. My mother-in-law was an accomplished craftsperson in ceramics, so her legacy is a selection of fine paintbrushes and a complete Xacto kit.  Finally, my own interest in geology means I have quite a few magnifiers of various types available.  A trip to Hobby Lobby finished out the equipment list with a pin vise, superglues, some applicators, paints, a cutting mat and fresh Xacto blades.

Thus, the Gustine Naval Shipyard was born, and now shares space with games on my antique desk. In an upcoming post, I’ll share my current projects as well as some lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Welcome Aboard

Welcome to my blog reflecting on all things war-gaming.

If you are here, it means that, like me, you have felt the draw of games that require more background and analytical ability than Monopoly or Parcheesi, but satisfy our imaginations more fully than the abstractions of chess. War games have their basis in the long history of human conflict, and although their representations of warfare are necessarily simplified, they can still provide insight into the nature of a conflict, the technology used to fight it, and of the consequences of tactics and strategy.  As Adm. Sir John Woodward, RN once observed, “Wargaming allows you to try out tactics and not worry about having to swim for it.”  (Since Adm. Woodward successfully led the British fleet against Argentinian aggression in the Falklands back in ’82, I can only assume he spoke from experience.)

As a thoughtful and imaginative adolescent in the late '70s-early '80s, I bonded with similar spirits and we spent many weekends negotiating the imaginary worlds of tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Traveler, and Car Wars.  When I got to high school, I began exploring board-and-counter war games like those produced by Avalon Hill.  Unfortunately, my RPG friends were not as enthusiastic about the much slower world of historical war-gaming as I was, and I had to go it alone---not an easy thing with games like PanzerBlitz and Air Assault on Crete. When I first got to college, my mind and abilities became focused elsewhere and I dropped most gaming for a long while.

 

Now, however, I am a career educator and have been married for almost two decades; life is both settled and good, and along with some other interests I have rekindled my attachment to wargames.  I experience wargames like many men experience golf or fishing; yes, they require patience, thought, planning, and work, but there is a tranquility to be found in the center of it all that leaves you feeling mentally refreshed and reflective.

 

Getting back into wargaming after an absence of thirty-five years is proving to be an interesting experience.  Much in the hobby remains eternal, and I once again enjoy the pleasure of rolling polyhedrals to determine the fate of fleets and armies.  I have also discovered that much has changed in the intervening years, and is changing still---new generations bringing new ideas, wants, and historical insights, some of which are teaching this old dog a few new tricks.  This blog will be my “wargamer travel journal” as I rediscover the old and navigate the new. 

So, welcome aboard.  I am glad of the opportunity to share it with you.