Best Ship Research links.

[Berthier]

General links for the period

The Napoleon Series http://www.napoleon-series.org/ THE site for all things Napoleonic

Maritime museums

http://www.musee-marine.fr/site/fr/PAGE-UK French national maritime in Paris

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ Greenwich naval museum

http://www.mmb.cat Maritime museum Barcelona

http://www.armada.mde.es/ArmadaPorta...o/prefLang_en/ Madrid maritime museum

http://museu.marinha.6pt/museu/site/pt Portugese maritime museum (No English?)

http://www.navalmuseum.ru/ Russian maritime museum (No English?)

http://www.maritimemuseums.net/europe.html Master list of museums for many of the other European states

Ship Model Building sites

http://www.finemodelships.com/ Model ship site (Admin, quite possibly the best resource for how these ships looked for the new ship painters out there... Admin)

http://www.building-model-boats.com/...ip-models.html Plastic models larger scale

http://www.ageofsail.net/ BIG models

http://www.agesofsail.com/ BIG models

Age of Sail sites

http://ageofsail.wordpress.com/ Blog- includes at the time of writing an unbelievable video of live firing of period cannon showing the effect of splinter damage

http://ageofsail.devhub.com/

http://koti.mbnet.fi/felipe/index.html Lots of ship data and info, really good

1/1200 Miniatures ship sites

http://www.rodlangton.com/ Langtons miniatures 1/1200

http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/milit...icronauts.html GHQ Micronauts 1/1200

http://www.skytrex.com/381/11200th-n...il-1756--1815/ Skytrex 1/1200 scale minis

http://navwar.co.uk/nav/default.asp?MMID=73 Navwar 1/1200 minis


Miniatures rules

Action Under Sail Tabletop Games
Clear For Action Langton Miniatures
Close Action Clash of Arms
Davey Jones Locker Sutton Hoo Games
Fire As She Bears! Angst Games
First Rate NLWG Publications
Heart of Oak Fantasy Games Unlimited
Hoist the Signal for Close Action Langton Miniatures
Line of Battle Hoplite Research

Geeklists for age of sail wargames (mainly board) from boardgamegeek

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklis...-sail-database

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/27996/age-of-sail

[The Cowman]

Thanks Daniel... this crewman most definitely needs some training... These will help

[Comte de Brueys]

Impressive, you were busy...

Thanks.

[Capt P]

Daniel awesome links. Thanks for the info.

[Niek_vD]

Another interesting source of ship data: http://3decks.pbworks.com/w/page/913970/FrontPage

Also, Close Action by Clash of Arms is really a boardgame. The company says "miniatures game", but you'll need a hexagonal grid along with the miniatures.

[Berthier]

Quite right Niek about Close Actions. Don't know if you have played it but it is pretty "heavy" going, WSIM more my style or Flying Colors (GMT) as per your avatar.

[The Royal Hajj]

Nicely done Sir Berthier. I've stuck my cutlass in this thread and pinned it to the Chippie Shop bulkhead!

[Berthier]

Keith I am getting sea sick my posts keep getting moved:o

[Old Salt]

Impressive, you were busy...

Thanks.

Well done

[Gunner]

Thanks Daniel. You saved a lot of swabs a lot of time.

[Gunner]

Another interesting source of ship data: http://3decks.pbworks.com/w/page/913970/FrontPage

Also, Close Action by Clash of Arms is really a boardgame. The company says "miniatures game", but you'll need a hexagonal grid along with the miniatures.

Great site Niek. Lots of information on Napoleonic ships of the world. The book on the front page (Russian Warships in the Age of Sail) is the best book on the Russian Navy that I own.

[Tommy Z]

Thanks! Very Helpful!

[Bligh]

Great to have all this info, for a poor old salt who never crossed the line afore.
Rob.

[Horatio Nelson]

Very useful, thanks!

[Niek_vD]

The choice between Close Action (CA), Wooden Ships and Iron Men (WSIM) , and Flying Colors (FC), is really one of the number of ships to be controlled per player.

CA is really a one player per ship game, although a good player should be able to handle two. So Trafalgar needs about 30 players minimum, and more is better. I've done it online twice, never face-to-face.

Our club prefers 'squadrons' of 3 to 4 ships per player when playing WSIM. 6 is doable, but the firing slows things down quite a bit. Trafalgar can be done with the historical squadron division of 5 allied admirals versus 4 British, though roughly double that number is better.

FC is more geared towards fleet actions. My preferred FC scenario's have roughly 10-15 ships a side, and can be played one on one. Trafalgar is OK with 2 or 3 players per side.

[Bluedevil]

@ Niek

Hehe...I should have known you were into this :) Hardly surprising when you live in a country that has almost as many waterways as there are roads ;)

Looks like, once squadrons are being formed here, I'll have to make a choice between sailing for the French or the Dutch ..as Belgium didn't exist yet a a country... Or I could go "Pirate" :cool:

I've played mainly WSIM mostly using the counters and sometimes on a hexagonal grid with 1/1200 ships.

[Berthier]

Well I think everyone would like to play Trafalgar at some stage, but wouldn't it be nice to do The Saints, Glorious First of June and Trincomalee etc and have them manageable?

It seems the curse of naval wargaming that getting a system that works for fleet action doesn't work for single ship or small vessel engagements. And systems that work well at the level of ship on ship become impossibly complex or convoluted for fleet actions. WSIM came close to striking a balance between the two scales, Frigate was OK for fleet action, got silly at some of the smaller engagements (some ships were pitted against ships they couldn't score a hit against! There was a revision in a Moves magazine to fix this particular issue). I haven't played CA because the minutae of single ship action was perhaps too closely modelled and the consequent rules set I found hard to get through. FC I've played a couple of times, the first using markers on the board for everything which was a mistake as the stacks of counters were ridiculous. Going to manual record keeing was much more satisfying and visually appealing.

What I'm hopeful of, and actually slightly confident of, is the ability to tinker with the SOG system if it needs to make it fit the scale desired. Saying that Wings of War (Glory) is primarily a 1on1 or a few on a few system of battle, so if SOG is modelled on a similar system perhaps what we can expect is a similar scale of battle not a system that will easily allow two large fleets to meet.

It would be nice to have a release date to look forward to.....

[The Royal Hajj]

For those of you wanting to maybe build and paint your own ships, the link highlighted in red in the main list is quit possibly the most useful site for how these ships looked. They get right in on the details with superb photos. Their gallery is a Most See as far as I'm concerned.

Check it out!

[Berthier]

And here's another great online, and downloadable, link

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027921372

A naval biographical dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive (1849)

[Attila57]

Very useful! Thx for sharing this infos!

Attilio

[Bligh]

For those of you wanting to maybe build and paint your own ships, the link highlighted in red in the main list is quit possibly the most useful site for how these ships looked. They get right in on the details with superb photos. Their gallery is a Most See as far as I'm concerned.

Check it out!

That is going to be a really useful resource when things kick off Keith. I'm waiting to see how Ares match up to Langtons before I make a firm decision on which way to jump, but that will be a very good guide.
Rob.

[The Royal Hajj]

As a complete newbie to ships, I needed something that could show me what was flash and what was ship on the Navwar mini Ed sent me. That page helped me out quite a bit in that reguard. I'm pretty sure I'll have that site and the great thread by fire6 open everytime I would on one of the ship kits.

[The Cowman]

As a complete newbie to ships, I needed something that could show me what was flash and what was ship on the Navwar mini Ed sent me. That page helped me out quite a bit in that reguard. I'm pretty sure I'll have that site and the great thread by fire6 open everytime I would on one of the ship kits.

Right there with you being a newbie... and do have to agree. It is now a "Favorite"

[Berthier]

Can't wait for Ares and need rules to play?

http://www.wargamevault.com/index.ph...0104_0_40005_0

Should be more than enough here to keep you busy. make sure you scan down to the proper list, not the boxed section at the page top.

[Berthier]

More extremely useful links because you dont have anything else to read...
http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html

http://www.castyouranchorhobby.com/ this one looks like a great spot to find model related items

http://www.modelboatlinks.com/index.shtml more model links

http://www.shipmodels.com.ua/ fantastic pictures and close ups of large scale models to help with colour schemes, rigging etc

http://www.ahrtp.com/HallofFameOnlin...toryLinks2.htm another exhaustive list of AOS links

[Bligh]

Yes I agree very useful Daniel. Great for adding details to our vessels. Now that is what I call a Figurehead.




Rob.

[Berthier]

That position looks ...uncomfortable:eek:

[Gunner]

They wouldn't let her horse on board, so she had to make do. I wonder if she can make the 8 seconds in rough seas?

[Berthier]

Further to bobby's question about books here is a link to an exhaustive site dedicated to novels set in the age of sail. You wont believe just how many there are!

http://www.historicnavalfiction.com/

[Berthier]

Now for a new link to those ships that have been wrecked at sea. When you have several hours to spare (you'll need them) start browsing this one

http://www.wrecksite.eu/Wrecksite.aspx

Again a staggering quantity of information on shipwrecks from all periods but plenty from the age of sail to keep you occupied. Plan your next diving holiday perhaps!

[Bligh]

Now that is what I call a useful archive Daniel.
I have read many books on Naval warfare over the years, but have also forgotten the titles of many of them, so thanks for that.
Bligh.

[Coog]

Great list of useful sites. Thanks for posting them.

[Berthier]

Found another ripper site, don't know how I missed this one.

http://modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/portal.php

Go to the forums and look under "completed models" and "build logs". Your jaw will drop when you see what some of these people have built. Although we're talking large scale here, the detail is staggering and can be used for "our" models for colour etc..

[Diamondback]

When I asked Andrea for a start-point, he recommended http://www.threedecks.org . It's a lot to take in at once for somebody whose paradigm is the relatively 'standardized' designs of WWII, but I can't say I regret poking in even though my brain DOES hurt from it.

[Bligh]

That will be very useful to me as well. Thanks for the Heads up D.B.
Bligh.

[Diamondback]

An earlier version of 3D is linked above, but the new site is a lot better.

[7eat51]

Thank you all for the links. This is an incredible forum.

If some of you consider yourselves to be newbies, then I haven't even been conceived yet.

[Jack Aubrey]

Thanks, absolute great!
I have to take a second job to get more money, build a bigger house and the day must have 48 hours..:rolleyes:

[Volunteer]

Here are some more cool links:

1) Boat & Ship types: http://www.abc.se/~pa/bld/shiptype.htm#Galley
2) Another boat & ship type site: http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/ship_types.htm
3) This one has lists of all ships by name, all sizes, by nation from 1600 through 1848, plus book lists for each nation. Very cool: http://koti.mbnet.fi/felipe/index.html
4) The Mother Of All Maritime Links: http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html#top
5) This one is an index list of reviews on just about every plastic ship kit out there from ancient to modern. The reviews have photos and everything: http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html#top

[Bligh]

Very useful thanks Vol.

Bligh.

[Gunner]

Thanks for #3 Vol. Gave me much info on Turkish SOL's & Frigates.

Here are some more cool links:

1) Boat & Ship types: http://www.abc.se/~pa/bld/shiptype.htm#Galley
2) Another boat & ship type site: http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/ship_types.htm
3) This one has lists of all ships by name, all sizes, by nation from 1600 through 1848, plus book lists for each nation. Very cool: http://koti.mbnet.fi/felipe/index.html
4) The Mother Of All Maritime Links: http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html#top
5) This one is an index list of reviews on just about every plastic ship kit out there from ancient to modern. The reviews have photos and everything: http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html#top

[Volunteer]

I hoped it would be useful to someone. I use it quite a bit.

[Diamondback]

Can anyone recommend a book or site with technical commentaries on design of various ship classes, what evolved from what, like how the late M.J. Whitley covered warships of WWII?

[Coog]

Can anyone recommend a book or site with technical commentaries on design of various ship classes, what evolved from what, like how the late M.J. Whitley covered warships of WWII?

The American Sailing Navy (see book review for details) goes into great detail on ship construction. However it just covers American ships from the colonial period to the last years of sail.

[Volunteer]

Diamondback,
Try searching the book catalog on http://www.sea-room.com/

Maybe like:
"Construction And Fitting Of An English Man-of-war 1650-1850" by Peter Goodwin,
--A delightfully authoritative study that provides precise and detailed information on hull frame construction, hull planking, bulkheads and internal layout, machinery, beams, knees, and internal stiffening., H, Pages 288. 100 Photos, 300 Illust., Hull Frame Construction., 9.75X 12.

[Jack Aubrey]

http://www.line-of-battle.de/
Here a link to a german site, with a complete rule-system ..

[Volunteer]

Here is a link to a site called the Dictionary of Vexillology (the study of flags). This site will be useful to all genre of miniature wargaming and modeling, not just naval.

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/vxt-dtoc.html

[Gunner]

Here is a link to a site called the Dictionary of Vexillology (the study of flags). This site will be useful to all genre of miniature wargaming and modeling, not just naval.

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/vxt-dtoc.html

Now this is a site I can use. Thanks.

[Diamondback]

Uh, guys, when I say "design commentary"--while I appreciate the referrals :)--I'm looking for things like "HMS Such-and-such was basically the design of HMS Other Ship chopped in half with a ten-foot plug spliced in", like did a given class's design start from a clean sheet of paper, or like the supermajority of Sir Thomas Slade's 74-gun SOL's was it an evolution of another design? (Almost all of the Slade 74's were basically improved and refined versions of his basic HMS Bellona design. Slade was also a big fan of enlarging or reducing existing designs... Someday I'll post what I've pieced together from Wikipedia about the development of the RN's rated ships.)

[Volunteer]

Sorry Diamondback, I've got nothing. It sounds like you have already explored all of the avenues I use. James has abstracts of all UK vessels from 1792 to 1820, catagorized by a reference letter system not a name. A named ship would be classified as an A, B, D, F, etc. depending on the layout, location and type of guns, and crew compliment. If a ship was modified from one of the normal categories, it receives a new reference code. The difficulty I have found is trying to match a specific named ship to a category. James is pretty good about identifying an RN ships category within the book text, but not 100% of the time. He also includes tables in the first volume for many of the French categories and refers to the tables when discussing a specific ship. I am constantly flipping back and forth to get the information I am looking for.

Wikipedia is also another source I use, however I have found numerous errors. Understandable when anyone can input or change the data on Wiki.

Bottom line is that William James is my main source, but I don't think you will find everything you are looking for there.