Maritime Musings

Ever since I began my latest kick, I've been researching rules and miniatures/counters. Here is a rundown of my meandering thought process.

What Period?

This is the first question I grappled with. The Dawlish novel I'm reading is set in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. This seems to be on the cusp between "ironclads" and "pre-dreadnoughts."

When I researched "ironclads," I kept finding American Civil War stuff. Not really interested in that. Being an Austrophile, I toyed with the idea of doing Lissa. I even picked up David Manley's Broadside & Ram in my researches. However, pictures of the ships (including this beautiful game) revealed too many sails and masts for my liking.

This post was turning into a wall of text so here is a picture of Lissa.
From https://picryl.com/media/constantine-volanakis-naval-battle-at-lissa-efabee

Another issue is that I want to standardize things with smattering of ship classes. Ironclads just seem to have a widely diverse array of ship types.

I also was drawn to smaller actions, like those in the book. This led me to look into World War 2 coastal actions. I gave a look at Manley's Narrow Seas. However, I don't want to fiddle around with aircraft so I quickly drifted away from WW2.

As a result of these meanderings, I found myself drawn to pre-dreadnoughts.

What Rules?

Next up is finding rules. Actually, it's more of a case of finding rules to use as a model for writing my own. Nowadays, I try to mold everything into my MicroBattle framework. Those rules just work well for me!

Poking around has led me to a few sets that seem helpful.

• Pz8's wargame rules collection, which includes WW2 naval and coastal action rules
• Bob Cordery's pre-dreadnought rules in his Gridded Naval Wargames
• Manley's Broadside & Salvo

I even considered sci-fi rules, which often tend to be WW2 in space. I gave Castles in the Sky a look. Ironically, this led me to an old set that I created! Interestingly, I gamed this on an 8 x 6 grid. Just the perfect size! I think I need to play around with these rules a bit!

Note: I remember initially using range bands for these old rules, a la Pz8.

What Figures?

Well, the rules search is shaping up. I just need some mins to test rules ideas.

I had some miniatures from Irregular's 2mm 20th century boats, but it appears that I got rid of them in last year's purge!

How about counters? Most counter sets are for specific ships and I just want generic ones. This leads me to making my own. I just need some models for inspiration. While researching, I came across Bob Cordery's fleet. Just what I want!

Just when I thought I knew which path to take, my wife threw a curveball at me. She gave me a 3D printer for my birthday. Once I figure out how to use it, I can print my own miniatures!

Scenarios

I'm still leaning toward small-ship actions, so expect torpedo boats, destroyers, and maybe a cruiser rather than battleships!

I'm also leaning towards a fictional Austro-Italian War in the 1890s.

Anyway, that's where the project stands right now!