A Return to Napoleonic Naval

 Last weekend's Peninsular game at Ernie's re-ignited my Napoleonic flame - what's not to like about big battalions?  One of the first era's I've ever gamed was Napoleonic naval and I just love the 1/1200 Langton models.  They are the most challenging miniatures I've ever done.  The first picture is the start of my British squadron.  Now I need to admit I did cheat with these guys as I had them built and painted by my US Langton supplier, Rob from Waterloo Minis.  Rob did a great job and his quality / prices can't be beat.  I plan on using his services again as I build out my fleet and will likely be in a position where half the fleet was built by him and half by me.  Give him a try,

 The pride of the British fleet is the 1st Rate HMS Victory.  While she might be on the slow side she does pack a wallop with her four decks of guns.  These ship models are about three inches long and you can see they have a great deal of detail.  While challenging, they are a lot of fun to build.

 The Vanguard of the squadron are a pair of 74 gun 3rd rates (know as 3rd rates, large)  These were the most numerous of the capital ships and have a nice balance of firepower and speed.

 Here are some of the ships that I've done and had on hand.  The one of the left is a recently assembled and painted French Third rate (74 guns).  Once the paint has set, I'll seal the model and complete the rigging.  If you try and matt coat a rigged model it becomes and awful mess.  The ship in the middle is a recently started French 74 gun third rate.  Lastly, the one to the right is the USS Constitution, which was the first Langton I ever completed.  The Constitution is classified as a frigate with 44 guns but she was unusually large and could take on larger ships.  She's a beautiful ship up close.  The Constitution model has brass sails rather than cast metal.  The brass sails look a lot better but are very difficult to put on and a bit delicate on the tabletop.

Here's a staged shot of the USS Constitution tangling with two smaller British Frigates.  It's an even contest (at least with my rules!)  I have a number of other completed Langton models (mostly US ships including the USS Ben Franklin, which was a rare US 74 gun Third Rater.  I also have a number of unbuilt French and Spanish ship models to complete.

My goal is to build out 12-15 ship fleets for the British and French / Allies and a 7 ship US fleet for some "what-if scenarios".  I've tried gaming Napoleonic naval with 1/2400 ships and while they are nice models, it just not the same as seeing the Langton's on the table top.

Hopefully I can convince Ernie to stage a combined Land / Sea Napoleonic or War of 1812 campaign using his game room and my fleets.