Anyone thinking about forts?

[fredmiracle]

Still thinking about campaigns, and the role forts might play in them...

I was a bit surprised by the distribution of forts in the package: two big 9-burden ones, two still-quite-impressive 7-burden ones, and a single 3-burden battery if I'm not mistaken. How do these stack up compared to the kinds of forts one might find in, say, Mauritius or the West Indies?

Does anyone has any idea how many people would be required to man one of these forts? Counting the number of guns on the image, there aren't all that many. I'm thinking maybe the "formula" would be something like 5 * burden * crew boxes. So a 9-burden fort would have a 450 man garrison???

Anyone started playing around with harbor layouts? How might one simulate real-world conditions using the pieces we've received so far?

[7eat51]

We started a thread awhile ago you might be interested in: http://sailsofglory.org/showthread.php?815-Shore-Coastal-Scenarios&highlight=shore+scenarios

I think with the release of the game, we'll see many more discussions on scenarios of various types.

[Diamondback]

Actually, I was just rereading the Osprey Fortress volumes on the Spanish Main and the Vauban fortifications in France... was thinking historical shore installations might be a good "next step" for cutting custom-card teeth after sister-ships.

[Nightmoss]

It might be fun to have players at a large convention, 'man the forts'; especially if you have folks reluctant to sail the ships? Setting aside the maneuvering you could focus on shooting, reloading, (would choosing ammo matter?) and potentially repairing fort damage? I suppose the boring part would be not having targets of opportunity?

[Coog]

Actually, I was just rereading the Osprey Fortress volumes on the Spanish Main and the Vauban fortifications in France... was thinking historical shore installations might be a good "next step" for cutting custom-card teeth after sister-ships.

If I remember correctly, Richard at one time was working on some with his laser printer.

[Nightmoss]

If I remember correctly, Richard at one time was working on some with his laser printer.

Yes, he was, and while he wasn't overly thrilled with the results (due to the printer itself iirc) I thought they turned out very nice.

[Coog]

I also thought they weren't bad at all. Unfortunately, his photos on the site are now gone.

[David Manley]

That nice Mr Langton produces a few forts and shore batteries (although the latter are fairly crude, but workable). IIRC they come with a set of ships boats for use in scenarios involving landing parties. Also some nice martello towers, a signal station and a telegraph station (and an extensive range of buildings) for additional shore based targets.His Fort Chapus model is particularly nice; a "one off" construction obviously but very characterful and useful.

EDIT - I recall seeing something on TMP about someone else producing forts and fortresses that would be useful too. I'll see if I can find the reference.