Tease :D
Do we have a rough ETA for Wave 4 (yes, you can all laugh at the naive Brit now :D)
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For those of you who have Ares' ear, please encourage them to be more forthcoming with news. Given the prior problems with completing the KS fulfillment, the broken masts, etc., some publicity will do the line good.
How open is Ares to receiving and disseminating fan-developed materials? I know Ares is a small company, but fans might be able to increase the company's communications and non-ship offerings, e.g. scenarios, etc. - basically, fans could serve as unpaid freelance writers.
Honestly I have a bit of dread about what Ares will come up with. I like the game a lot, but their decision-making often causes me to scratch my head.
I'm all for merchants, and I suspect they will be in demand, but I think the reality should also be faced that they have a pretty limited role in the game. It's not like merchants actually participated in exciting battles. If there was an escort, then the attacker and the escort would fight while the convoy scattered. If the escort was defeated or absent, then the warships snapped up the merchants.
Yes you *could* have some exciting chases or tactical face-offs involving trying to nip a merchantman off a convoy before the escort could counter. But those maneuver things are simply not in SGN's wheelhouse. So basically merchantmen will only see the table as bit-players in somewhat contrived scenarios. That's a valid use, but limited in its appeal. For that reason I'm hoping Ares doesn't load two into the same wave.
On the flipside, I think pirates will be tricky to navigate. If they make them historical, their appeal strikes me as pretty limited (suitable only for low-end sloop and small frigate duels, which I find a bit of a snore). If they make them fantasy (which I think they should) then I hate to see them waste new models for them, since I think the demand could just as well be met by repainting existing models. Again, if they do two pirates (which I even predicted) in a single wave, they'd better be really smart about it.
Meanwhile, if they were to do 2 pirates and 2 merchants, then they would miss the opportunity to add some ships that appeal to the SGN core base, whether it's a French 80-gun or a British 2nd rate, or a Dutch SOL and frigate, or USS Constellation, or whatever...
Well, we'll see. Of course I'm very likely to buy whatever they make, but given the low rate of new models, there seems to be a lot of pressure on Ares to make smart choices each time.
The Russians had their "big name" battles -- but since none of them took place outside the confines of the Baltic or very-eastern Mediterranean, they didn't get much notice by the outside world. This is what happens when all one's exits are controlled by Other People....
And fredmiracle nails down *why* I complain quite so much about how Ares handles matters -- best I can tell, if it weren't for DB and a couple others, the game would have foundered a while back in a morass of "what the hell is *this* Ship" [ :) ] minis-releases.
Many thanks to Ares for giving gunner et al. something else to complain about. I am grateful for everything Ares does. A wave 4, even if it went like all the other waves, is exciting. I'm hooked. Victory and Constitution were everything I wanted them to be and more. I love the Spanish ships. Ares has a customer for life. My plea to the powers that be at Ares, "Please sir, can I have some more?".
I might complain a bit but, I doubt if anyone on this site supports SGN by purchases, more than I do.
And buying their product to keep them in business is the bottom line.
Not a good day for the Russians, but a glorious one for the Swedes.:beer:
As one should! I'm about the 60 mark, but sadly enough a little less than half has been painted and rigged. :minis: :help:
We had a moment of glory in a war that didn't go well. It's the way Swedish military history goes since the middle of the 17th century.
Right now SGN ships stand at 179 +2 more coming in from the Ares U.S. warehouse next week. But three complete sets with KS ships (102) I'm setting aside for my grandchild and nieces kids when they are old enough to enjoy them. Only about 20 or so of the balance are painted and partially rigged.
Oh! Then I'm a little ahead in one little category... :happy:
I have painted the ones in the battle of San Domingo (12 SoL + 6 frigates), three British first rates, Orient, three more British 74:s, two more French 74:s, three more frigates and HMS Indefatigable. That makes 31!
Next project looks to be a surprise, or HMS Surprise, from shortening a Concorde. :fixit:
And I would start giving them a start set and see how it survives before giving them the KS ships.
The KS ships is a little hard for me to decide what to do with. :question: I have painted and rigged the British as I have doubles of these, but I keep one of each unmodified. I guess it's no big question yet as I have plenty to paint before those.
I'm still happily surprised that wave 3 may come this year. That means I can aim for doing the Battle of the Nile on next years LinCon (The convention I did San Domingo on this year) with a correct HMS Leander. :happy:
Thank you very much for your kind words! :hatsoff:
I'm aiming for a mix of the historical HMS Surprise of 1796 and HMS Rose as my true aim is to make a frigate that's a little smaller than the 32:s to plug the hole to the sloops, but I don't know how much it will show as the sails will still be quite big. I'll probably see if I can cut down a little on them too. I've already removed the main and mizzen masts and filed the shape of the stern to be a better match, but right now I have to dismantle my work desk to allow handymen changing windows, so it's been put on hold.
I'll make something in the way of ship's card and ship's log too. I'm guessing the amazon card would be ok to use with a new name. I'd say the same maneuver deck, burden and veer would be ok. Then it's only a question of boxes and firepower and that I'll let lie till I've got the finished ship.
A little taste...
Attachment 14501
Updated the post with a picture.
Looking good already Jonas.
Britain, yes -- but the Baltic is also blocked by any of the Scandinavian countries with a navy (Sweden most notably; and then there's Denmark), while the Black Sea is most-obviously controlled by the Ottoman Empire (even if they have no ships) and the Italian states, and the Far East is too far to bother with. Oh, and Suez will not exist for another century, so there's no way to get out via the Red Sea. In short: Russia is only ever permitted to be a Land Power; to be a Sea Power requires playing "mother may I" with folks farther west. So it doesn't matter how many ships they had -- they're not a major player in the naval wars of the period.
He who dies with the most ships wins! Gunner is winning. My paltry 17 ships and no kickstarter ships makes my pile of plastic pretty puny by comparison. I only buy one ship of each class, unless a screaming deal comes along. I'm always on the lookout, but I will be dead and buried long before I will be able to challenge Gunner for the title of ship hoarder.
The demand of every Admiral worth his Salt!!
"I need MORE ships!!!!!"
:minis::minis::minis::happy:
Indeed, even though I doubt I will pass a hundred.
I want a few more third rates, (can't have too many of these) primarily 64 and if ever 80 gun ships, merchants, a few 50:s, pirates! and some of the new Spanish ships of all classes. I doubt that will make 40.
It's still a lot of ships when you try to store them.
I can see I'm going to buy a ton of ships from the next wave. Need a whole Spanish battleline, so easy to justify 9 of so there. Then I'm thinking of all the South Asia and Caribbean scenarios where 50-64 gun ships predominated, and thinking 12 of those will be a starting point... :moneygone: :shock: :sick: :smack: :surrender:
My tuppence worth is a general release of Santissima Trinidad, 74's like HMS Bellerophon and possibly another US ship. I can't imagine Ares taking a financial risk on what they may see as 'Limited general appeal' vessels.
However, I know nothing! :surrender:
I'm actually afraid to count how many I have. I know I own four starter sets. That's bad enough don't you think? :wink: