Disturbing trend shipmates.

[Capn Duff]

Hi Felix,
Ok a lot of what you are saying is correct, ref the ships.
Yes you would need to buy at least one of each type of model to get a set of movement cards, this is the one real down factor I agree.
No matter how much you may hope this will change, believe me it will not.
Also we have found that the last two waves the ships are smaller than they should be, plenty of threads here that explains what has happened.
You are also correct in that ships in Europe are hard to find, in Uk we still have a few outlets but prices are variable, afraid I got no idea about your countries availability.
Now we diverge, I have bought the Black Seas starter set and have bought a couple of their other ships. In my humble the larger ships, frigates and above are nice agreed. Their brigs etc I think are not so good and do not look the part.
Another down side, for me at least is the sails, which are paper, sorry what a load of duff. Acetate ratlines, again not the best in my opinion and they do not come with the correct amount only having enough for the lower masts.
Ok Ares dont have any at all so you have to make them or by Langton models brass etched.
For me I quite like the scale of 1/1000 the size is enough for me and the table size allows more manoeuvre also they are take out of the box and play, no painting required so you buy and ready to go. Black Seas need assembly and require painting before play.
Cant say about Black Seas as never played but have read through the rule book.
The main reason I chose Sails of Glory was I was looking for a set of rules I could play and not have to go through reams of tables or extra rules.
Sails I was up and playing, the basic game within minutes. Attending many wargames shows in the uk over the past 10 years putting on Sails games we have had players complete novices, understanding the rules within 10 mins, a big plus. You can then add as many rules that you like.
If you are looking for a detailed Napoleonic Naval game, Sails is not that game. But if you are looking for a set of rules that gives you the flavour of naval warfare in Napoleons time, for me it hits the spot. When you get to the advanced rules, plenty of detail and variations available.
The combat system with the chits, although arbitrary , I like as it gives enough detail to show the combat deterioration and also has variation in the chits for misses and special damage. Again hits the spot for me.
There now available a number of 3d hulls, if you have a printer which readily raises the number of ships you can have, bases , there is a source in the UK that I have found to get these made, it really is the manoeuvre decks that are the sticking point.
One question you ask is is it worth buying the game.
For me yes, I have a large number of ships with another 70 plus hulls printed ready for adding masts and sails. It is a fun game and personally I have been playing since it first apeared, yes I did the kickstarter, and still look forward to playing, the down side for me is I am not able to get to a club to play. Also it is a period that is not to everyones taste and lastly, I believe, people thing as it is wind based the rules are difficult. Every show we have attended I have never yet had anyone say the game was bad, may not be to the players taste but all say they enjoyed playing, so that is a big plus.
Have you played Black Seas and compare the enjoyment to Sails of Glory?
To help with the rules in our files section you can download a player aide I made which gives a sequence of play with rule book pages annotated. If you cant find drop me a pm.
Apologies for the tirade, but I am a fan of Sails of Glory.
If I can help with any question feel free to contact me.
Enjoy

[Bligh]

My system of play allows you to get two ships cards out of one pack Felix. Each pack has two of each card excepting the taken aback and broken mast cards. They are easy to duplicate but I just hold one set of that particulsr card in a central pool to be used by players if needed. The rest of the pack I split in half so I get two packs of one of each movement cards. Then I add a card which says hold your course. If you wish to play two of the same cards after each other the second one is the hold your course card, and you simply play that with the card you put down last again.

Of course this also means that it halves the number of cards you need to go through to find the one you want to play and also thus speeds up the game.

Here is an example of my extra card. Feel free to use it if you wish.



Rob.

[FoxtrotF]

I can't say about noneof the games, as I have played neither. However, I've downloaded both rulebooks and I'll read them over to see exactly where the differences are. I thought Black Seas was simpler, but I have learnt that it has too different advanced rules that you can introduce gradually. I can say I hold no grudge against the chits/cards system, it's a little bit like rolling dice but there is no need to check anything for special damage.

I'm getting a few resin printed planes (I don't have a printer) soon, if I find good 3D models I must say I prefer those over the Black Seas style of assemblable minis, that for sure. The major drawback is the price and availability, I think. Also, there are people that prefer to be able to manage groups of ships, even if it's not fleets.

I'm being recommended by lots of people Black Seas, Id love someone to point the advantages of one system over the other, not taking into account the minis.