The worst spy in history? - A Black Seas scenario & pretty pictures.

 Another game of Black Seas with a "home brew" scenario. 

Battle unfolds around the Island of Tolentino.

The dastardly British agent, Alfred Carstairs, has blown his cover after telling all to a well endowed lady in port (after too much wine & merry making). Had he thought for one second he would have realised she was way out of his league - foolish man, we've all been there. With his secret out & French authorities after him he boards a fast brig & flees across the sunny Mediterranean. He carries a cache of documents detailing movements of French & Danish merchantmen. The Royal Navy intend to use this information to instruct privateers to "intercept" these vessels seizing their valuable cargoes. 

The undoing of Alfred Carstairs (doing his duty...?).

Carstairs is about to make his second mistake...   His Brig approaches an island with an impressive building on the headland. The skipper informs him that this is the Monastery of Saint Gabrio on the island of Tolentino. "Make land here!" instructs the arrogant Englishman! Soon he & the crew are being fed & watered by monks & chatting with the Abbott, Carstairs claims "sanctuary". With a bottle of Communion wine in him Carstairs brags about his escape & tells his life story to the attentive Abbott. It seems Carstairs is the son of a protestant minister in Wiltshire, England... Once the visitors are asleep the Abbott, a devout Roman Catholic, sends news to the pursuing Franco Danish fleet. Carstairs has betrayed himself again.   

The next morning sees the Franco Danish fleet deploying near Tolentino island. Their movements have not gone unnoticed though as a Royal Navy squadron has followed them under cover of darkness - they mean to get their man back, or at least the plans! We have a battle to fight!

Carstairs brig seen moored at the Island of Tolentino. The Abbey of St. Gabrio on the headland.
Part of the French squadron circles in the background.

Royal Navy frigate & three brigs in line.  

Top of the screen we see three Danish 3rd rates & a frigate entering the fray.
Bottom right are three Royal Navy 3rd rates & a frigate.   

Within a couple of turns all hell breaks loose! The Danish 3rd rate, dead centre, is in deep trouble & about to strike colours. The one in front of it takes damage from running aground & the last one, the frigate, is on fire but limping away. Nearly the whole Danish squadron is a mess! My fault.   

French ships mob a Royal Navy 3rd rate inflicting critical damage.

Royal Navy brigs drop anchor near Carstairs' moored brig.
Maybe they plan to row ashore to rescue their man?

More of the ill fated Danish squadron.
Despite having struck the Royal Navy keep up their fire & the 3rd rate sinks after horrendous raking fire up the jacksie!

The only Danish 3rd rate to escape the British onslaught intact. 
The abbey & island look great from here. Wonder if Carstairs has sobered up yet?  

Good shot of the Abbey of St Gabrio. 

The Abbey & walled grounds again. 
The building is a 6mm resin casting from "Total Battle Miniatures". Island by "Mike at the Scene", trees from "Tree Fellas".

The remaining British ships getting mauled by the passing French squadron.

The only unscathed Danish ship rakes a Royal Navy 3rd rate who promptly strikes her colours having been battered by the passing French ships moments earlier!  

    

The French squadron finishing off the Royal Navy Brigs. 

Carstairs' fate is sealed. A rather charred Danish ship sets anchor preventing his escape while the Royal Navy sail off to repair & recuperate.

The French Navy will have the honour of capturing Carstairs as the Danes are still repairing their remaining ships after fires & hull damage after hitting submerged rocks. Moreover, the Lutheran Danes might not be so welcome at the Abbey?    

This was another great game, fast & furious! The seas were glassy calm which helped. Getting to grips with the rules slowly but surely. The Royal Navy national traits are excellent in gun fire & command/control. The enemy fleet we rated as French with sturdy ships, frankly this saved the entire Danish squadron from going to the bottom almost immediately !!!

I have just unpacked a 1st rate and some resin bases from Warlord Games so can't wait to get stuck into those.

Hope you enjoyed this short visit to the Mediterranean. Carstairs got drunk with the French Captain, but that's another story...

I'll do a few more of these if they prove popular & some updates on the painting front too.

Stay safe. Very best wishes,

Jeremy  

"Smoke on the water" - Black Seas Napoleonic Naval action.

A return to Marauder HQ still looks a while off so a splash about in warm waters seems in order. Tony has painted about 15 Royal Navy ships & I am working through a Danish fleet so I decided to have a bash at the Black Seas game from Warlord Games. I proxied some RN ships as Franco Danish & set up this encounter. A Royal Navy fleet leaves harbour to be greeted by enemies laying in wait. The rules seem straight forward enough for a numpty like me to pick up which is encouraging. 

The following is a few snaps of the fledgeling collection in action.

  

The Royal Navy leaves harbour sailing into open waters between two headlands.
All looking rather splendid.

The left-hand French colume prepares to attack.

The right-hand colume, Danish, gets ready to attack.  

The opposing fleets begin to close. The smaller Brigs break from the line to harass each other. 

Red hot "heated shot" can be lethal - especially if dropped setting your own ship on fire! A nice little rule that almost dominated the game - even at sea fire can spread!

Things start to get close & personal. Except for the Danish squadron which took the long root around the tiddly island ensuring they were barely engaged at close quarters. 

he big RN 1st Rate never really exerted the kind of pressure we were fearful of.

Cute little seaside residence, no visitors in 2021... 

It's a very pretty game & will get more so as more ships get finished with flags bases etc.   

The action in the centre.

The Danish squadron finally rounds the island only to find the RN have disappeared!

The Danish 3rd Rate in the foreground came off worse in the exchange with an RN Frigate! 

Various ships are on fire, one has blown up & a few are about to run aground. 

Fires spread along the Danish line, a rudder jammed by damage & that burning 3rd Rate is about to hit the rocks... this sailing malarky isn't as easy as I thought!

 

The Royal Navy win a close game, lots of lessons learned. Loads of crazy fun, Black Seas has legs as a pick-up & play with beers & mates game. Lots of fun to had & areas of the rules to explore.

  

One of my Danish 3rd Rates - work in progress. She needs the ratlines adding & a sculpted base. The clear plastic ones pictured don't appeal for these models. They will do very well with my WW2 Pacific fleets though. 

That's your lot for this little outing. No doubt I'll report back on the fleet's progress & further games, possibly with expanded reporting. The next batch of Napoleonic 10mm's are in transit, once arrived we can base them & at some point get back to BIG battle Napoleonic games again at Marauder HQ. 

Stay safe & well, very best wishes, 

Jeremy.