Remodelling the Gunboat Squadron for Black Seas

By Richard Steer

from Warlord Games is an Age of Sail wargame set between 1770-1830. The game, reviewed here, does an excellent job of capturing the feeling of wind-powered naval combat in a fast and enjoyable format.

For many people, the attraction of the game is the thought of recreating the fleet battles of the Napoleonic wars, featuring large ships of the line. It is also very enjoyable when playing engagements with smaller ships such as schooners, cutters, and gunboats, and a great format for these smaller games are using Warlord’s free .

The Warlord Games Gunboat Squadron is a resin and metal kit with three boats modeled on a single base. The boats are styled after a type of gunboat that was used during the American Revolutionary War, with a mast that carries two square-rigged sails. When adding gunboats to my collection for playing Smuggler’s Run, rather than build them out of the box I wanted to modify their appearance as I would prefer them to not look like they belong in Ancient Greece.

*The mast as supplied with the Warlord Games gunboat kit*

The look that I wanted to copy is a . The major surgery of the conversion is carefully carving the lower sail away from the mast. This has to be done carefully as the metal is very soft. I started by cutting the bulk of the sail away with a scalpel, then filing the remainder down to leave the mast clean.

*Carving off the bulk of the lower sail*

*Carefully filing the part to remove the remains of the sail from the mast and yard*

I created new parts out of 1mm brass tubing: a bowsprit and spars for the new sail behind the mast. These are glued into small 1mm pilot holes that I drilled into the bow and the mast. Again this has to be done carefully due to the softness of the metal.

*New components added with 1mm brass tube*

*All three boats are now modified with their masts glued in place*

After painting, I fitted some basic rigging to help stabilize the mast and reduce the risk of it being damaged during gaming. I drilled small holes in the sides of the hull, just above the waterline between the two cannons, to run the rigging through. The sails were cut from a sheet of photocopy paper, curled to make them look like they have caught the breeze, and painted.

And that’s it. It is a relatively simple modification, with the only complication being the softness of the metal masts. The result is a squadron of gunboats that looks significantly different to the original kit: sleek, seaworthy, and ready to hunt down some smugglers.