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.