Hot off the press.
Here is a post from Andrea on the drome this morning in answer to Eric's question about Sails upcoming production.
Originally Posted by 7eat51
Hi Andrea,
Is there anything like this you can show in the Anchorage for SoG? It would be a real boost to all the members.
Sorry no, there was nothing to photograph. But the 3rd wave of ships is being produced right now and the 4th is being prototyped. Things go on there too.
Rob.
Nice. Do we have any idea of what could be in wave 4?
Splendid news, thank you!
At last a sign Ares won't stop producing for SoG after wave 3!
My personal guess for wave 4 would be at least one new full nation but I'm also hoping for neutral, privateer or merchant vessels. And maybe some more specialised ships such as gunboats, fast messenger ships or maybe even troopships.
Can't wait for new updates!
Merchantmen was mentioned some time ago.
Rob.
Thank you for the heads up Rob.
Curses! When I have just done mine by converting Frigates!Originally Posted by Bligh
Sorry to hear that
I have been using wizkids "pirates!" ships as merchants until now... clearly not as good as Ares miniatures but better than nothing ship shaped at all...
Thanks Rob, and Eric for the question to Andrea and the update here. Already in production? Nice to hear!!!
"It's not the towering sails, but the unseen wind that moves a ship."
–English Proverb
Is there any date for the release of Wave 3?Thanks Rob, and Eric for the question to Andrea and the update here. Already in production? Nice to hear!!!
There was no indication of date but then, as we have seen in the past, announced target dates are rarely met. I hope that Wave 3 will come out some time in 2016.
If wave 3 is in production now, I would think we should see them late second quarter 2016.
I'm sure you'll get a good few years use out of them before "official" merchies hit the tablesCurses! When I have just done mine by converting Frigates!
I agree Dave.I'm sure you'll get a good few years use out of them before "official" merchies hit the tables
I can't see Merchant ships hitting the shelves much before the end of 17 at the earliest if the current pattern of issue prevails.
Rob.
Thanks guys, you have given me a Happee!
"Yawn", Merchant ships are Boooooooring. Chinese Junks. That's the ticket! They are exciting and totally different from anything else right now. A merchant ship is nothing but cattle. Junks and Barbary coast Xebecs are very distinctive in their profiles and would add an entire exotic angle to the game that nobody else has. It's an inclusive nod that would be better than any Russian or Danish repaint you could do and you only need two basic models. You could even do captain cards for the junks. Ching Shih was the terror of the chinese seas in the early 19th century. She commanded as many as a fleet of 10,000 pirates from her war junk. Cheng Po Tsai followed in her footsteps. He died in 1822.
Hope they never waste a release on a Chinese junk. Ching Shi_ or Cheng Po_ notwithstanding. I wouldn't spend a dime on one. Doesn't really fit in with Napoleonic actions.
Even the USS Constitution fought Chinese war junks. You need to look beyond the end of your American nose.
SOG is about ship to ship actions in the Napoleonic era. Do you really think that the rest of the world had no ships back then worth talking about? A couple billion Chinese plus me just might want to buy a War Junk with captain cards.
Last edited by Kentop; 12-19-2015 at 18:55.
What does that have to with not wanting an ugly ship, or not being interested in obscure actions.
Beyond my nose still sees Chinese junks as junk. But there's no accounting for taste, as you keep proving.
I am at the point that I would welcome most anything beyond repaints of what we already have. Junk, Xebecs, rowboats, anything that would create scenario diversity.
Richard (Torrence), I have used those pirate ships as merchants to good effect. I have had players mention they liked them because they were easy to tell apart; this was at two conventions when we had 10 or so players at the table. I ran the merchants, while the players ran the escorts and attackers. For every merchant ship that made it off the board, escort team was awarded were points; for everyone sank, attack team was awarded fewer points; for everyone disabled, attacking team was awarded more points - or some such schema; it was two years ago or so, so I don't fully remember.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato
Ugly? Junk meaning trash? The Napoleonic era covered 1799 to 1815. That's 16 years and you have no clue about what was going on around the rest of the planet during that time? You're so focused on square riggers that any other successful naval battle during that time doesn't matter? Pathetic.
Last edited by Kentop; 12-19-2015 at 22:41.
Whilst I feel that this discussion is getting a little too heated for my liking Ken, I have to admit that the odd war junk would be acceptable to me if the mainstream requirements had been addressed first. After all we are struggling to keep the game alive as it is.
My feelings may be influenced by the fact that it would give my HEIC Frigate something different to engage for a change. as you say there is a world out there waiting to be explored.
Rob.
I have some Navwar and Langton junks, nice models and ideal for mire unusual scenarios
Whilst very interesting Dave, we don't want to get too bogged down with this side issue.
Rob.
You are right on this peat-icular issue :)
(tiny smartphone keys and predictive text!)
Actually, I would like to hear moor from David.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato
Re the 'Junk' 'discussion':
Sorry, I just have to say that rudeness and insults are inappropriate on public forums like Sails.
If you cannot post politely, please don't post.
Hear, hear. This is after all a SGN site. We have a hard enough time getting Ares to release "square riggers" without getting bogged down with junk ships to appease a minority.Whilst very interesting Dave, we don't want to get too bogged down with this side issue.
Rob.
By the way Ken, I'll be at a club shoot on 4th St. in Tombstone the morning of Jan. 16th if you want to stop by for a drink or so (after the shoot naturally).
Very good news, can't wait for it
Really Dave.
I can do that sort of thing on a PC with full size keypad and unpredictable eyesight.
Rob.
I think you missed the pun to which this referred
Well done, your medal will be in the post directlyReally Dave.
I can do that sort of thing on a PC with full size keypad and unpredictable eyesight.
Rob.
While mucking around in the wee hours of the night, I came across this thread, and your comments, David and Rob, stuck to me, so I thought I would return to tell you so.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato
A little too much celebrating last night.I hope Ken's not so mad that he wont swing by for a few beers on the 16th.
Sounds good to me. Im pretty sure I can make it. I'd like to see the shootout, too. I missed it last year. See you there.
Did it ever occur to anybody that bringing in new and different kinds of ships and scenarios will actually help sales? If I were trying to "keep the game alive", i'd start thinking outside the square rigger, so to speak. There's plenty of room in the SOG rules for all manner of boats. Widening your prospective client base is the best way to create new interest in the game and new revenue.
I am reminded of the time the Postmaster of Nogales came to me for signs for his lobby. I asked him if he wanted a set in spanish for his mexican clients. He said "ABSOLUTELY NOT" If they want US stamps, they can ask for them in english." I told him that he was an idiot. He cannot afford to throw away revenue like that. Driving away customers because they can't speak english is doing nothing but hurting the bottom line. If I were in Nogales, I'd make darn sure that the mexicans coming over and wanting to mail stuff back home felt more than welcome to spend their money in my post office. He put up the spanish signs in his lobby and his revenue for that quarter shot through the roof. Lesson learned.
Kenneth, I agree. I think Ares could be at a point in which if the company wants to see this game grow, it must expand its product line, both in width (of what you refer to) and depth (2nd rates, other navies with 1st, 2nd, 3rd rates, etc.). This is one if the reasons I will use SoG to run pirate-themed games, races, etc., anything to hook players that could eventually grow into a desire to play more historically oriented games. Even if they don't, if they enjoy playing pirates, so be it. As someone who is not a modeler, I would greatly appreciate Xebecs, etc., because I don't know how else I would get them with little trouble. I prefer to buy ships with associated maneuver decks and logs. I rather not do that kind of work. I'll try my hand at some repainting, but realistically, that is as far as I will go. Even with WoG, I will focus on repainting WWII planes because I find them more accessible to my limited talents.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato
I must say that despite what I have said earlier, I agree with expanding the bounds of our tiny punyverse.
I have suggested before that we generally put on games at the wrong shows.
Games for gamers in a niche market of a niche hobby will only attract the people who are already gamers or interested enough to visit.
We should be at Naval Museums, Naval Dockyards, Sailing regattas, Model Engineering shows, or just wherever there is a place to play in public, even down the local.Yes please. I know some stalwarts do this already in the States, and certainly here in the U.K. but we could do a lot more to attract fresh fodder to the game.
So yea say I to Ken if he thinks it will help.
Rob.
We've run odd SOG games at the naval armament museum in Gosport which have gone OK. Hoping for a more structured presentation at the 2016 event (Chris may be coming down and hopefully a few others). We've also put on games at "The Local" - my wargaming club meets at the Tudor Arms in Slimbridge and we have a few of the clientèle stopping over to see what the strange chaps in the Family Room or Skittle Alley are playing this time
I believe we have had a decent response to SoG at Origins - an all around gaming convention. My first game last year was between two families of husband, wife, and two grade school children apiece. After the game, they visited the Ares booth. I prefer teaching SoG to non-wargamers or wargamers who know nothing about age-of-sail.
I imagine a fleet of Nightmoss pirates would cause people to stop and watch.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato
We shouldn't speak authoritatively based on our own personal taste what the product line should offer to the whole public. I don't give a hoot about Spanish ships, but others who will buy do care. Same basic logic goes for merchants, junks and xebecs. I think xebecs are cool, but others may not.
May I remind members that Shapeways now produce a 1/1000 scale xebec model. All we need to use it is produce some cards. It is about sloop size.
And there are several 1/1200 models of these and other small vessels which also fit well with Ares 1/1000s (ship designs of the period were fairly scalable within sensible ranges)
I just looked at this. Sue enjoys painting, but does not enjoy the modeling part (building), so this could be a real possibility. I doubt many of the folks for whom I run games are familiar with the Barbary pirates and what happened in the Med. These would enable a bit of history to be taught. Thanks, David.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato
I think that a 'Pirates of the Caribbean' style of ships, that would include Junks, Xebecs etc would enhance the game to a younger audience. Our square riggers would fit nicely into the 'Company' niche for this cinematic era. Of course it would have to be billed as something other than PotC for legal reasons but close enough. What would we need? A couple of different sized merchants/HEIC ships, a Junk, a Xebec and a couple of Pirate ships. Well within 1 series of releases me thinks.
I'm not a big fan of the classic fantasy pirate genre but if a single wave of Potc-like ships could help by bringing new players to SoG as you say, Neil...?
Although at least a Xebec / Xebec-Frigate would fit quite well into the game at it's current state without any pirates-associations.
That makes good sense, I didn't think of that.
It was just a thought as when I did Snoopy & the Pup flight (Sopwith Pups and a proper Snoopy on kennel) v The Red Baron & the Angry Bird flight (Actual angry Birds) we had quite a bit of interest from the younger element all wanting to 'fly' an angry bird.
Perhaps there are many budding Captain Jacks that would like to sail the Black Pearl to the end of the world.
Yes, I remember the game! Sadly, I failed to get any pictures of it!
The forth wave has been announced as a British 64, Spanish 1:st and 3:rd rates and a merchant if memory serves me right.
I will be happy with that!
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