Naval Gaming

By Tyler Stone

Images via Firelock Games

Stop me if this sounds familiar: reports state that an enemy fleet is forming for an impending attack. The reports are waved off; who would be audacious enough to attack a fleet in a sheltered harbor, especially when ambassadors are in peace negotiations? Even so, the attack materializes on the 7th day of the month, and confusion reigns. In the midst of the chaos, a heroic sailor mans a gun alone, while the ship burns around him. In the end, sixteen warships are left burning, capsized, or at the bottom of the harbor. Sunk along with them, is the pride of a nation.

By Tyler Stone

It seems that 2019 has a preoccupation with naval wargaming. Heart of Leviathan by is gaining steam, and Warlord Games recently launched Cruel Seas. has put their new 1:600 scale fleet game ‘Oak & Iron’ on prerelease. But,  stands head-and-shoulders above all the rest – literally. Unlike the other games which are 1:1200 scale, 1:600 scale, or even 1:300 scale;  Blood & Plunder does naval combat in 1:48 scale.

“Say what robs you of your staunch heart … or forever leave it to the whiter fields of fancy”

Many of you have seen our previous on a game called and a lot of you have asked when the game will be available. Your wait is over and HoL is now taking pre-sale orders (as of July 5, 2019). If you order, in a short amount of time, you will be slugging it out with some of the biggest weapons of war ever created.

First, before I get started, it’s important to note that a was released on April 3rd. Be sure to pick it up and have a look!

As the game Cruel Seas continues to mature, one of my friend Chuck Hiner and I got together for him to try out his new Japanese fleet that he had just completed painting. We decided to play at 1000 points which would allow both of us plenty of options.

Chuck had picked up the , and was wondering how he would approach building a fleet. Included in the fleet box is one Hei minesweeper, four Sampans, six T-14s, a Val, and of course the six of the little kamikaze boats. Chuck decided to get an addition Hei minesweeper and use two of them as the backbone for his force.

My first real foray into miniatures was with naval games and to this day I have almost 325 dreadnought period ships in 1/2400 scale. Even now I love playing naval games and I have been on luck over the last few months with some great naval wargames either hitting the market or in pre-production. Are naval war games making a comeback? Or are these new games just the latest editions in a very popular segment of our gaming community.