Starting SOG - Spanish ships: do I need/want them? What scenarios for them?

[Myles]

Hi - almost embarrassed to say this but I am finally getting SOG off of my shelf/game backlog to the table in the next couple weeks - I got it a few years back and it fell behind a load of other war-games (WoG, Coin war-games, etc) on the my playlist.
When I purchased the base set I also got the play mats, coastal terrain and also batteries.

I have just ordered some more ships to be able to do 2 vs 2 3rd rate or 2 vs 2 5th rate battles. Also got the Constitution to be able to play its scenario vs Guerriere.

I will be playing solo most of the time - with the aid of the solo app and/or solo movement rules. Battery shore scenario and small ship engagements.
I will have 3rd rates and 5th rates - decided to not add 1st rates at the time.

Spanish fleet/ships - don't know much about the the era in general so am i wondering what type of historic scenarios might exist to use them - any thoughts?

What would the best mix of Spanish ships be? - would the three 3rd rates below be good additions - what about the 5th rate Sirena ?
Nepomuceno
San Augustin
Argonauta
Sirena

Thanks, Myles

[Diamondback]

Myles, my advice would be to take Argonauta and Bahama with Sirena--there are some issues with the SGN112 sculpt; it's fairly close to an Ildefonso or Bahama (a skosh small, but pretty close) but community consensus is a bit too small for the big old 1760s Gautier 74s like Nepomuceno and Agustin; I'm one of Ares's historical consultants and working with them on a fix for this.

Mostly, the Spanish will be in big engagements like Cape St Vincent and Trafalgar.

To the eye at first glance, SGN111 Meregildos-class may seem a bit undersize; however if I've read the blueprints right they seem to have a unique design feature that makes their length on gundeck a much higher proportion of the total length than any other ship. (On a normal SOL, the LGD ends at the transom, while on Meregildos it seems to extend all the way to the gallery glass, which means a similar "fighting length" to a typical British threedecker while still being overall a much smaller ship. Combine that with the fact that the drawings I was able to get for Ares were for the smallest of the class, 2m shorter than all her sisters, and... the net result is a model that looks way undersize while still being a lot closer than it looks, assuming I'm reading things right.)

And I'd be remiss if I didn't greet the new guy with...

https://media.makeameme.org/created/welcome-to-the-jc27bb.jpg

[Bligh]

Hi Myles.
Good to have you alongside.
You can't go far wrong with DB's suggestion.
Hope to see you in the Wardroom soon.
Rob.

[Myles]

Thanks everyone.

Well probably a common story... one thing led to another - I have a couple 3rd rate Spanish ships and a fifth rate ordered now. And then I added a 1st rate for the British, French and Spanish.
That will bring me to 15 ships when they all arrive.

- Myles

[Bligh]

Sounds like the sort of starting point I had excepting the lack of Spanish at the time.
You will get plenty of battles out of those while you learn the peculiarities of the game.
Plenty of scope for experimentation.
Rob.

[Naharaht]

Welcome to the Anchorage, Myles, from here near Norwich in the United Kingdom. We have quite a lot of U.S. members on this site so, if you visit the U.S. Fleet section of the Welcome Aboard thread and leave a message introducing yourself, you may find that there is someone living close to you.

[Bligh]

If you let me know your State Myles, I can drop you a list of members in your area.
Rob.