Greetings all.

A few weeks ago I was curious about what was currently out there for WWI aircraft combat games and since a few local players had mentioned Wings of Glory I decided to check them out online. While doing so I discovered they had a new project coming out that is for naval combat in the Age of Sail. The initial releases are ships for use in the Napoleonic period (including War of 1812), with future release already being confirmed to extend from formal navies to pirates.

The game is in Kickstarter mode right now but met their initial goal of $30k in less than a day and are currently at almost $220k pledged. Wings of Glory has a huge following and many from that system have pledged, and a KS project from an established and successful company is a lot more appealing to me than one that you’re not sure will make it a year. I have committed to it myself and this is the first KS project I’ve ever done so with.

There are several videos, some early reviews and lots of details over on their KS page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1402889231/sails-of-glory-miniatures-ship-combat

The game will ship to KS pledges in Aug and right now the significant funding has opened up a slew of stretch goals and bonuses at most pledge levels. The game will apparently go to the general population a few weeks later, so KS pledges also get early hands on the product.

There were some early concerns about non-US shipping costs but they apparently have worked some of that out and offer some Worldwide-specific pledge levels that cut the shipping a little while giving some extra room for adding things to your order at no additional cost. I am not super familiar with those details but I did see on the forums a lot of people were happy with the announcement.

There’s only 5 days left in the KS and I thought I’d mention it over here in case anyone was looking for an Age of Sail game with nice looking, pre-painted miniatures and a system that looks simple enough to get playing basic rules in 10 minutes but has some really nice Advanced Rules coming out to give a lot more depth. And the company has a long track record of similar games with a large player base.

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

I did look at this a couple of weeks back, but $80 for just 4 ships and $50 shipping makes it an expensive game with little replay value. Where did you read about better shipping rates?

They are offering what they call "Worldwide" versions of some of the pledge levels. The details are on their KS page. I've also seen a post there about an Italian distributor picking it up in such a way that preorders through them are better on shipping. International shipping can always be a deal breaker on things. I look at some stuff from UK or Germany and the little extra on the shipping just puts it above my personal value. I really feel bad for residents of Australia. They seem to get nailed on almost everything.

As for the game, I wouldn't personally say there's a limit on replay value. When you read historic accounts a match up of single ships or just a couple per side was very typical so the starter set will give a lot of traction. Four ships (2 French and 2 Brit), rules and all the tools for play is a decent starter for $80 (comparable to the MoM and much cheaper than EfGT), and at $140 pledge you also get the four Exclusive ships (there are other options above and below that cost...it's just an example) plus about $30-$50 in freebies for the KS goals depending on how it all ends. I play XWing ship miniature game which uses some similar mechanics and with the starter set (one XWing and two Tie Fighters) and a couple additional ships (totaling maybe $80) I've been having a very fun games with family and friends. Never had a feeling yet that the game is getting repetitive with all the setup and in game options. The basic rules are a "beer and pretzel" level where you can be playing in under 10 minutes and can play with young children if you have them, and the advanced rules look to take it to a new level with layers of options and complexity.

As for price/value...GW charges $50 for two eagles, $85 for three Trolls, and $75 for four individual figures which many of us already have multiple sculpts for (White Council). A FC hero is averaging $15 - $20 now and that is just a single unpainted figure on foot with a base...the don't even give you the profile and rules for those figures as part of your purchase which has always burned me. If I pay for something I should be allowed to play it but GW seems to think you should pay their prices for models and then pay even more for whatever book they decide to put the rules in (and pay AGAIN for it if they decide to restructure the rules).

The Sails of Glory future ship releases look to come in between $15 (Frigates and such) to $25 (largest ships such as HMS Victory) for an assembled and painted ship. But in addition to the ship you get the Ship Log panel which includes everything you need to play that ship. And the Logs will be two sided so each model can be played as one of two specific ships thereby increasing the value and still remaining WYSIWYG. You don't need to shell out another $25 for "British Fleets against Napoleon", and $25 for "French Fleets in the Service of the Emperor" and then another $25 for "British fleets in the War of 1812" just to be able to play your models 'legally' (all those books are made up by me for example).

If Age of Sail isn't a hot button then it's not likely to suck you in. But if you do like the period then I would hazard to say it's not going to disappoint and I think the "fun per dollar" value comes in easily at or above what GW currently offers.

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Found the new international pledge after searching through a load of updates and nearly went for the $200 option but decided against it in the end as it uses the WoW card option which can be a bit messy when controlling several ships with all those decks of cards, would probably have gone for it if it used the X-wing method. Besides am waiting for the war of the world KS to start

And please don't compare prices with GW prices, I don't buy GW figs due to expense and finecast anyway

Regarding the price compare, I agree. It was mostly for others reading since that's the majority of our population here. It's amazing how many other game systems I'm able to support not buying new GW any more. It used to just be LotR with a toe dipped into the FoW pool. So say 1.25 game systems. Dropping GW completely I have been able to add nicely to my FoW and have picked up XWing and now SoG...and you got my interest with mention of War of the Worlds. So from 1.25 to a solid 2.5 game systems with no increase in funds. LotR is still my absolute favorite of the systems though so I'm glad to have local players, a good collection of forces I already love, and a big backlog.

Myself and many others online think that controlling one ship will really be the sweet spot (maybe two if they are Frigate or smaller). There's a lot of options especially in the Advanced Rules so you don't want to overwhelm yourself with micromanagement. Team play will probably be great fun for small fleet actions.

Any pointer to the War of the Worlds KS?

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Here you go: http://www.martianfront.com/ If you sign up to their newsletter you get free models if you pledge on KS.

That looks cool. I love the use of 15mm. I have found that a nice scale for FoW. I may have to pick up some of the Martian models and write up some FoW compatible rules to use locally. Nice Halloween game.

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com