Ships from Valiant

Yet another new arrival:

These miniatures are from the Ramming Speed line from Valiant Enterprises.  At 1/900 scale, they are right between the almost too small (for me!) 1/1200 ships and the oddly shaped 1/600 line from Xyston.  I just can not put my finger on why the Xyston ships look off to me, but I am finding that I really do not want to work on them.



The variety of ships above were selected in order to flesh out my idea of what types of miniatures from Valiant could fill out the roles for Tékumel naval gaming.  Since the Valiant selection is limited, I am being careful about filling those roles in a fashion that is easily identifiable on the table top.  The information on the Valiant website has the triremes at the same length as the quinqueremes, so I am hoping that the wider beam of the quinquereme will make up for that.





Here is a comparison pic:

Each square is ¼".

Lots of good news in this pic.  The triremes are slightly shorter than the quinquereme, which is good.  Also, the triremes have a noticeable difference in beam from the quinquereme, and this will alter even more once the oar banks are attached.



 In my mind, the ships types will correspond in the following fashion:



     The pentekonter from Valiant (not shown above) will represent the Tékumeli séscha;



     Triremes will be the srügánta;



     Quinqueremes will represent the qél;



     Heptares and dekares (not pictured above) will be the Tékumeli zírunel.



The Valiant ships are plain enough that modifications will be easier than on the Xyston models - I intend to try to make some ships that look something akin to the ships illustrated in this wonderful post about Tékumel naval actions.







Although it seems simple, that bit of organization posted above is a weight off my shoulders!

Tékumel naval, part 7

I'm trying to decide if I should set a different course on this project, due to several factors.  My source of very inexpensive Xyston ships has dried up; table space for a game is at a premium, and I still have nagging doubts about the Xyston ships themselves - they just do not look right.  So, I have taken the opportunity to order a small sampling of other ships - 1/900 Valiant ships, and 1/1200 from Langton.

The first set of ships has arrived - from Valiant:

A trio of Heptares.  Although a length for the miniature is given on the Valiant web site, I was still surprised at them.

Here is a closer look:

Looks like assembly will be straightforward, although I seem to have too many starboard-side oar banks (see the bottom ship in the above pic).  I will send off an e-mail about that.

No matter what scale I finally choose, and I can see using a combo of 1/900 (for larger ships) and 1/1200 (for the rest especially cargo ships), I intend to use some of the ideas found here.


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Fantasy naval, part 1

The first set of ships has arrived - from Valiant:

A trio of Heptares.  Although a length for the miniature is given on the Valiant web site, I was still surprised at them.



Here is a closer look:

Looks
like assembly will be straightforward, although I seem to have too many
starboard-side oar banks (see the bottom ship in the above pic).  I
will send off an e-mail about that.



No
matter what scale I finally choose, and I can see using a combo of
1/900 (for larger ships) and 1/1200 (for the rest especially cargo
ships), I intend to use some of the ideas found here.