The Navy Expands

I just received two orders today. The first is from Peter Pig with my initial Pirate horde. I got a selection of one of each from their offerings. One each of the musket/cutlass/pistol packs (24 minis or two groups for SP). Then I picked up the character pack and the leader pack. I also picked up a pack of dead pirates. I love casualty figures. Lastly there is the rowing pirates what will crew my row boats. And I have a bunch of them.

In addition to the pirates, I picked up a pack of their government troops and officers. And since I was ordering and the budget permitted, I picked up the war memorial. All delivered from the UK in a very short period of time.

I also received my order from the Old Glory Shipyards. I had gotten a pack of row boats and a pack of sailed row boats. I have to say I am slightly disappointed in the row boat pack. There are no benches at all? Where is the crew supposed to sit to row the darn things. These will take some work to be usable. There are two different types of boat in that pack. The sailed ones on the other hand are perfect. I should have grabbed two packs of these instead of one of each. The benches are there. Masts are included. All four boats are identical. Very happy with that part of my purchase.

Sea Dog Studios has launched a new product, a buccaneer sloop. It is a 3d Printed model that is availible in three scales (6mm, 15mm and 28mm). I have ordered the 6mm and 15mm versions. The 6mm comes with the cannons as part of the model. The 15mm one comes with the option of separate cannons or as part of the model (I chose the as part of the model option). The giant sized one has separate cannons.

Once that is received, my 15mm Navy will be as follows:
26 gun Frigate - Unknown manufacture. Mostly complete and painted. Rigging is in place. No sails. Needs some repair.
6 gun Buccaneer Sloop - Sea Dog Studios - Awaiting delivery.
1 gun Tripoli Gunboat - Sea Dog Studios - In need of paint.
1 gun Ship's Pinnace - Sea Dog Studios - In need of paint.
Ship's Long Boat - Sea Dog Studios - In need of paint.
Ship's Long Boat (x8) - Old Glory Miniatures - In need of paint.
Ship's Dingy (x2) - Sea Dog Studios - In need of paint.

This gives me plenty of options to conduct a cutting out party or a landing action which are the scenarios that I have in mind.

Naval Landing Party & More 6mm Naval

I just got in a new order from Sea Dog Studios. They ran a special on their FB page for a new 18 gun Brig-Sloop in 6mm that they had done. What I liked about this one is that the guns are part of the casting rather than the separate guns as on their previous 6mm models. I also picked up some islands and buildings in 6mm as well. These are very nice pieces that should go well with my planned scenarios. Langton does a shore battery in 6mm that I may need to pick up at some point.

I also picked up two more row boats from them. These are larger row boats that can be sailed. One is an armed pinnace and the other is a cutter. The gun to the bow of the pinnace is removable. They did not come with masts but they have a hole where a mast can be mounted. I will probably add masts to both and make them removable like they are for the 6mm ships. I am very happy with these boats. This brings my total of 15mm ships to a 26 gun frigate, a tripoli Gunboat, two dingys, an armed pinnace and a rowed cutter.

I have ordered 8 more rowboats to support a landing operation or cutting out expedition. These will be from Old Glory. I also ordered the rowing figures from Peter Pig's pirates range. The plan is to paint up the rowers so they can be dropped in on any of the row boats. These sailors should be generic enough that they could be used for anything. Eventually, I would like to buy some seated Marines and soldiers that I can put on the ships as well.

Naval Landing Party

I was going back through my Napoleonics the other day and realized that I have a bunch of Royal Navy sailors and marines that I have not done anything with in years. With my recent renewed interest in naval miniatures, I decided to invest in a few more small boats to ferry these troops to shore with.

I posted pictures recently of my Tripoli gun boat and two small row boats from Sea Dog Studios. These are great ships. I will add a sail to the gunboat whenever I get to work on it. To compliment these, I have ordered a few more small ships from Sea Dog as well. There is an armed pinnace that has a small carronade on the bow. And I picked up a cutter (large row boat) from them as well. These are all in 15mm. I did not stop there. Old Glory shipyards had some rowboats as well. Two versions - sailed and rowed. I picked up a pack of each. This should give me more than enough to carry off either a cutting out expedition with Sharp Practice or to do a naval landing operation. I am thinking of running a Sharp Practice campaign using them.

But I also want to do some more with my AWI naval stuff. Sea Dog was doing a launch sail for a new 6mm ship that they made. I added this and some 6mm terrain from them to my order. This should get me started for my first couple of scenarios.

Now to only set up my new cabinets and put all of my stuff in them.

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

Well, I have decided to work on another supplement for Sharp Practice. This time I am focusing on the Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1861. This was an interesting campaign as many of the big personalities of the Civil War made an appearance in this campaign. As a result of the campaign, West Virginia split from Virginia and became a separate state.

The first scenario I am working on is the Battle of Scarey Creek - July 17th, 1861. There are plenty of small interesting actions that took place during this campaign. Hopefully it will prove to be interesting to you as well.

Even though all of my books are in boxes, there is plenty of information on-line for these battles to get me started.

Spring Scenario Sale

I think it's time for a Spring Sale on Scenario books here at Wargamers Odds & Ends. These prices are good from now until the end of May 2017. Tell your friends and neighbors. Really, I would appreciate it if you did.

Scenario Book	Original Price	Sale Price
Campaign for Kharkov	$6.00	$3.00
Action at Ustilug	$2.00	$1.00
In the Name of Roma	$11.00	$5.50
Falcon and the Gladiator	$10.00	$5.00
Terrible Sharp Sword	$10.00	$5.00

Or if you want all of them, I will bundle them for $17.00. To order for this sale, please Paypal me the money to cstoesen@corecard.com.

Note all prices are in US Dollars.

Naval Forces have Arrived

I just got the order I placed with Sea Dog Studios for some of their 15mm ships. I picked up a Triopolitan War Gun Boat, Two dinghies and two ship wreck markers. The ship wreck markers are nice and generic in that they are crows nests that stick out of the water.

The gun boat is very nice. These would have been equipped with a single lanteen sail. It has a bow mounted gun that is either a carronade or a long gun. It comes with a blank mount, a carronade and a long gun.

What to do with them? Well I will use them initially for my Napoleonics. I have a British Royal Navy landing force for Sharp Practice. Plenty of Marines and sailors ready to go. I will probably get some men rowing from Peter Pig and put them in the dinghies. I am seeing the gun boat being a tender for my 26 gun frigate. It will provide cover for the landing force. I need some more row boats.

Eventually, if my Brookhurst Hobby order ever shows up, I will use them for a Pirate game as well.

Sea Dog has a number of useful bits that they don't carry on their website. You have to look at their Facebook page and go through the pictures to see what they have. The scenic items are really nice. There are market stalls, furniture, barrels, dock pieces, and a fort. They also have some of the same in 28mm as well. Most of these items they drag to shows that they attend to sell there. They will let you order from them if you just shoot them an email.

I am not interested in duplicating my 6mm fleet in 15mm. I am only interested in small ships to support a landing force. Today. Who know what tomorrow holds.