Trial Run with the Kids

[Blackjohn]

My copy arrived over the weekend. It seemed only appropriate to open it with my old hunting sword, and a tot of rum.

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The lieutenant's level -- it should suffice for now.

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Last night I finally found time to play. The match-up for the evening? My kids with British frigates versus me with a French 74.

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Splicing the mainbrace with the midshipmen (who are drinking pear soda).

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[Blackjohn]

Two British frigates appear on the horizon.

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My green helmsman turns our 74 into the wind, which in turns pushes us off course. Great.

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Bringing my guns to bear.
That shot did 4 A chits to the frigate. Hurt him a bit, bringing his number of guns available to fire down a notch.

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Nice detail on the ships. Those workers in China are underpaid, I'm sure.
Son#2 is on course for sailing off the chart.

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[Blackjohn]

Does he care? Of course not.

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#1 and I get into a duel. Not a wise thing for a frigate to do against a 74 gun SoL. I hit him with a full broadside for 7 B chits. That took him down to one good hit away from sinking.

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Then the wind pushed me in front of him, and he fired a shot into my stern.

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The last turn, I hit him but with little damage. Then, on the next move, we all ran off of the board.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1492637_10152070002707696_970465038_o.jpg


As I suspected, one small mat will not do. We need something the size of a dining room table, plus!

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Fortunately, the missus had a coupon for 40% off a purchase at JoAnne Fabrics. It will also come in handy for WoW/G seaplane battles.

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[7eat51]

Wonderful times there, John. I was looking forward to your first family AAR. :thumbsup:

How do they like the game compared to WoG?

May you have a fun year.

[Blackjohn]

Thanks, Eric. They liked it. #2 was disappointed that there was no Black Pearl, but other than that, they seemed to enjoy themselves. My guess is that they like WoW/G better, since the movement system is less complex, but the important thing is that we game together and have fun.

[7eat51]

Thanks, Eric. They liked it. #2 was disappointed that there was no Black Pearl, but other than that, they seemed to enjoy themselves. My guess is that they like WoW/G better, since the movement system is less complex, but the important thing is that we game together and have fun.

You are absolutely correct about what is important. I wish those beliefs were held more widespreadly.

Black Pearl, hmmm. Is a Shapeway in the future?

[Coog]

#2 was disappointed that there was no Black Pearl.

Has he seen Master and Commander?

[Nightmoss]

Thank you. That was exceptionally entertaining and of course the photos made it even more enjoyable. Hope to see more stories along the same lines.

[Cpt Kangaroo]

That mean old 74 picking on those poor Frigates. No wonder the kids are taking up drinking! :beer:

Looks like you had lots of fun!

The mat will work well with small battles, you just need to 'scroll' the ships over if they get too close to the edge.

Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

[The Royal Hajj]

It's great to see some family gaming of SGN finally happening! A single mat will serve better once you learn to sail your ship better as well ;)

The Black Pearl would be a quick and easy repaint I think!

[Nightmoss]

It's great to see some family gaming of SGN finally happening! A single mat will serve better once you learn to sail your ship better as well ;)

The Black Pearl would be a quick and easy repaint I think!

Now that would be a fun repaint. Which of the available ships would be classed appropriately (if at all)? There are a lot of years between the Age of Pirates and our games Age of Sails.

[The Royal Hajj]

Well, the Black Pearl is listed as a 32 gun galleon... so forcing a fit for it would work best on any of the frigates that we currently have. Paint up several different frigates and you could have them take on one of the British SoLs as the HMS Endeavour.

At least that would be good enough for fun games with the kids!

[Nightmoss]

Well, the Black Pearl is listed as a 32 gun galleon... so forcing a fit for it would work best on any of the frigates that we currently have. Paint up several different frigates and you could have them take on one of the British SoLs as the HMS Endeavour.

At least that would be good enough for fun games with the kids!

That would be fun, and a great way to bring kids into gaming. According to the wiki the Endeavour and Dauntless are both listed as 100 gun 1st rates, so maybe when Wave 2 hits we'll have a better ship match? In any case a scenario like this could be a blast for new folks (like myself).

[The Royal Hajj]

The Wave 2 ships might be better, but since you would not really need to repaint those two (they are standard "British" ships), the Ares paint work should do just fine. So, you could play them as our current 74s now and upgrade them when Wave 2 comes out later on.

[DeRuyter]

Thanks, Eric. They liked it. #2 was disappointed that there was no Black Pearl, but other than that, they seemed to enjoy themselves. My guess is that they like WoW/G better, since the movement system is less complex, but the important thing is that we game together and have fun.

Thanks for the AAR and photos. I can only pry my son away from his hockey games for special occasions! :sad:

He did get a soccer board game for Christmas from "Santa" and he has enjoyed that and X-Wing so there is hope. :clap:

Need more family game nights for sure!

Eric

[Comte de Brueys]

Great AAR, John.

Nice to see you and your young enemy captains in action. :thumbsup:

The SOL versus two frigates was a good choice to teach them one important lessone: Do not mess about with daddy! :takecover:

[Gunner]

In picture 9, son #2 looks like he has a hangover. Maybe you should water down his grog a little more.
Remember the old saying, " a family that drinks, I mean plays together, stays together"

Joking aside, In this day and age, It warms the heart to see that there are still families like yours.

[Gunner]

The Wave 2 ships might be better, but since you would not really need to repaint those two (they are standard "British" ships), the Ares paint work should do just fine. So, you could play them as our current 74s now and upgrade them when Wave 2 comes out later on.


Has Ares given a recent hint when that might be? (so we can complain if it's late):wink:

[The Royal Hajj]

Has Ares given a recent hint when that might be? (so we can complain if it's late):wink:

They say March.

[crashx]

Very nicely done!!! Great to see a AAR as this with the little lads!!! :clap::clap::clap::clap::thumbsup::rum:

[Drkangell]

Very nice, I hadn't thought about two Frigates versus a SOL. Though I must say I have found the one map plenty large enough for a four ship battle. Now much more than that and I am sure another one is needed, but it is what it is

[AlyssaFaden]

Beautiful post and wonderful photos - I love it! The sword and rum alone should get you a rep point!

[Blackjohn]

Thanks. I didn't put the blunderbuss nor the traverse board on the table, for fear of going overboard.

[Bligh]

Nice to see a game from earlier on in the developmental stages of learning to play.
Anyone know what happened to Blackjohn's interest in Sails?
Did it just wane?
Rob.