The League of Augsburg

A grand fleet - Charles II's battleships 1666

At Partizan this year I am doing something different. I am running a 'demo rules-workshop' where anyone curious about Anglo-Dutch naval wargaming can come along, throw a few dice, try a few mechanisms and ask lots of questions. 

Line of battle developed between 1652 and 1660

I will set up gaming scenarios in three different scales to explain the scope of...

Beneath the Lily Banners

To coincide with May Bank Holiday, there is a special offer on 4Play packs. The original idea is coming up on two years old and has been an unqualified success. There are thirty-seven titles plus five free titles. Each has three scenarios focused on a particular campaign or period. 

Donnybrook

They cover all of our rule systems - Beneath the Lily Banners, Donnybrook, Mad for...

If you don't know much about the Four Days Battle of 1666 there is a hole in your life! This epic sea battle between the Restoration English Navy and that of the Dutch Republic involved a massive number of ships - around 160, over 40,000 men and in excess of 9,000 guns. It was fought over four days (hence the name!) with some fighting also happening at night.

It is crammed full of desperate...

This took a while but it was worth it purely from a personal point of view. Having been a bit unwell I needed something to motivate me and cheer me up. I decided to play a big solo wargame but with a difference. I wanted to do it slowly, recorded everything in text and photos and produce an analysis and compendium reference work for others to learn from and enjoy. 

That meant, playing the game in...

6 x 4 table 1/4800 scale

An express taken by the yacht Zwole from Michiel de Ruyter to The States General following an action on July 24th 1666

It is my misfortune to report to the States General that in an encounter with the English fleet under His Highness and the Lord Albemarle, my own squadron was unable to impress upon the enemy that a conflict between our nations leaves no winner. With the...

Set up on a 6 x 4 table

Where to begin? The last battle was a decisive victory for the English fleet. This encounter sees de Ruyter’s large 1^stsquadron of the Dutch fleet, badly battered after a day of engaging the Duke of Albemarle off the Suffolk coast. Having broken off in the late afternoon, the Dutch are heading southeast to regroup, repair and replenish when to windward, they spot twenty-one...

Release of first Mad for War - War of Spanish Succession 4Play pack - 040 Heat of the day!

Link to pdf: 4P040 Heat of the day!

Clarence Harrison - While I will probably be messing with this right up until we send it to the printer, I thought I’d share the cover painting…

I worked on a lot of scenario stuff during the holiday break being confined to bed with the lurgy. One such was the latest free 4Play scenario set focused on Mad for War. 

It is imaginatively titled - Mad for Wargaming! It features three unusual scenarios

The first has a lone VOC ship facing a flotilla of Chinese pirate junks and fireships of various sizes in the spice islands of Indonesia. If you...

I have been working on a Fleet level version of Mad for War which slots in very well with the current rules. It is a while since I managed to make any videos so I crammed this one in before the turn of the year.

It is a walk through the mechanics as worked out using 2D ship counters before I go for the 3d model versions. I chose a section of the fleets from the famous Four Days Battle of 1666. 

Happ...