I am 37 years old, married, with 2 kids and have been "into" Man O’War for almost 5 years now. I have always loved games and own quite a few boardgames from Avalon Hill and others. One of my favorite Avalon Hill games is Wooden Ships and Iron Men. I loved the way they captured the essence of sailing and fighting on the high seas and put it into a playable game system. I had always wished that someone would develop something similar, but in the realm of a fantasy world. After seeing Man O’War played at a convention, I knew that it was going to be a great game to play. I dived into this system headfirst and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I have managed to get friends, family and even my wife to play a game or two of MOW. I’ve put together this list of information to help you find all that you’ll need to play the game.

The Man O’ War Fantasy Naval Game consists of three components. First of all is the Man O’ War boxed set. Originally priced at $50, if you are lucky you can find this at a hobby or game store discounted anywhere from 10 -50% off. If not, you should still be able to find it on the web. This is the first purchase you must make. The main rules for movement, combat, magic are included here and you cannot do without them. Specific fleet information for the 6 main races (Imperial, Brettonian, Dwarf, High Elf, Dark Elf and Orc) are also included as well as the multitude of counters, movement and combat templates and cardboard terrain pieces you will use when you play. If this is the only component you buy, you will also then need to photocopy the many individual ship templates in the rulebook. You use one template for each ship that you are playing with. There are also 12 plastic ships for you to paint and use in your first battles. They represent 2 squadrons (3 ships per squadron) of Imperial Wargalleys and 2 squadrons of Pirate Wargalleys. The ships are identical for game play and will keep your first few games very balanced, (See below on how to obtain the many other miniatures for the game from Games Workshop directly).

The next component you’ll want is one of the two-boxed supplements that are available. The first one released was Plaguefleet, but you may want to get the second supplement, Sea of Blood, before getting Plaguefleet - here’s why:

FINDING WHITE DWARF MAN O’ WAR ARTICLES      Top

The White Dwarf Magazine from Games Workshop had quite a few articles on Man O’ War when the game was in print. There were a few games played out in the magazine, various strategy guides, previews of the "new" supplements coming, and expansions and clarifications of some of the rules from the 3 boxed sets. This list should help you find a particular article or reference to specific ships and also shows my rating (on a scale of 1 - not very useful to 10 - must have) as to how useful it would be to actually have that particular article. Also, note that most of the issues between # 160 and # 175 had various ship photos to study for painting tips and ideas even if there wasn’t any articles in that issue.

Man O’ War - Drawings of the upcoming Game
RATING 2

Only for the curious as it contains mostly crude sketches of what kind of ships they were going to make. Most of the pictures only slightly resemble the actual ship miniatures.

Man O’ War - Preview
RATING 5

Basically this is just an elaboration on the game system itself. The information here is really the same as what you are going to find in the actual rulebook. There is also a reprint of the painting guide for your ships that also comes in the main boxed set.

Man O’ War - Sea of Doom
RATING 10

This first serious article gives the basic tactics used in the game. Loaded with diagrams and photos, it provides a solid foundation to develop your own strategies. It is also the first of several articles that gives out detailed strategies for specific races. Covered here are the Imperial and Dwarf Fleets.

The Battle of Death’s Point
RATING 10

This 1st battle report on MOW goes through a single turn of a battle between a Dwarf and Imperial Fleet. Step by step diagrams explain how each ship moves, fires and takes damage. If you need a guide on playing - this is it.

The second article on detailed strategy for specific races, this time for the Elf & Brettonian fleets. More great stuff and very useful for the beginner and pro alike.

Dwarf Dreadnoughts
RATING 8

Basically the same Dreadnought rules that are in the SoB boxed set. Interesting that the color of the Dreadnought template in this article is different than what was released in SoB.

This story is used to provide some "history" as to how the Dreadnought gets invented. Unfortunately, the article ends after 2 pages and is not continued anywhere in the magazine, (an editor’s mistake).

This is an exact copy of the "Allies" rules from the SoB Box. Useful if you’d like a colored "Man O’ War Allies Table" or Game Summary Sheet that are only printed in black and white in the SoB supplement.

Plaguefleet
RATING 6

Mostly background and general info on what will be included in the Plaguefleet supplement. Nice photo’s showing detailed ships and terrain though.

Man O’ War - Questions and Answers
RATING 10

Invaluable article on some discrepancies and clarifications arising for the studio games and input from MOW fans.

Mighty Empires - Warhammer Campaigns
RATING 8

Although not on MOW, this article shows you where they get all those nifty miniature buildings that are used in the various MOW battle photos throughout all the issues.

A great article on specific strategy and tactics for the CHAOS fleets. Numerous photos, diagrams and drawings as well.

Wizards and Magic
RATING 10

This is the first MOW article to actually expand on the rules provided in the game. New rules for more powerful wizards will help balance the game when fighting against CHAOS wizards who are VERY powerful.

The exact same rules as are already in the SoB boxed set.

Games Day Golden Demon ‘93
RATING 7

Interesting for MOW players for the single photo of a truly awesome MOW game being played at the convention.

Sea of Blood      Top
RATING 5

A rather short and to the point article describing the contents of the SoB boxed set in detail. Contains a large photo spread showing the contents which can be useful.

Even though this article has the same rules as the SoB boxed set, it does make some clarifications and has a revised fleet list to avoid confusion. You may or may not need it depending on your interpretation from the rules that come with SoB.

If you want to expand beyond the rules for shoreforts in the MOW boxed set, this is the article you’ll want. They go beyond regular sized shoreforts and make them both larger (Coastal Bastion and Sea Fortresses) as well as smaller (a Defense Tower). Also included are six more scenarios dedicated to using the shoreforts

The templates are full color, so you can copy them to make nice color templates to use in your games.

Modeling Workshop- Islands & Sandbars
RATING 10

This is a great piece on how to make 3-D terrain pieces for your games. Step by step instructions go through all the basics of terrain building, but sometimes the instructions are slightly confusing and seem to contradict each other. Personally I tried them and eventually developed my own scenery making methods, which I describe later in this guide.

The second MOW battle report is presented in an entirely new fashion and tries to show the turns where all the combat takes place. It has none of the individual ship by ship sequence of the first battle report and instead focuses on the overall strategy of each admiral. Great stuff, but the first one was better.

More answers to some common and not so common questions that come up during game play.

A reprint of the rules for these same ships in PF, you won’t need this issue for your MOW games. It’s funny that the last article on MOW never even hinted at the end of the line for the game. Future issues dropped all photos and references to MOW and it was replaced in White Dwarf with all things "Blood Bowl".

FINDING CITADEL JOURNAL ARTICLES      Top

The Citadel Journal Magazine, also from Games Workshop (printed in the UK), contained many expansion rules for the main races in the Man O War boxed set. This list has all the articles they printed as well as a brief description and my evaluation from actually using the optional rules. If you can get a copy of ANY of these rules I would highly recommend it. They contain some really fun stuff and will improve your MOW games immensely.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned while playing and collecting the stuff to play MOW. This list is constantly growing and it is presented in no particular order. If you have some tips you’d like to share send them back and I’ll include them along with your name.

            1. Have fun. It’s only a game.

            2. Rule arguments will occur. Limit debates to 2 minutes. If not resolved, roll a die to settle things. (see rule 1.)

            3. Storing your well-painted miniatures safely is of utmost importance as they are soooo hard to find. Here’s my solution: Buy magnetic sheets to attach to the backs of business cards at any large office supply, (100 for $20). Place a ship on the removable backing. Trace around the base of your ships with a pen or score with a knife. Carefully cut out and attach to bottom of ships AFTER painting. Place magnetized ships in a metal tool kit from a hardware store, (ACE hardware $7). Relax, as your ship is now well protected.

            4. I’ve gone a step further with the magnetizing idea. I play all my games on a sheet of pre-painted blue sheet steel (4 x 4), that’s been mounted on a piece of 1/2" particle board and used molding to hold the steel in place. All of my scenery is magnetized as well as the ships and there is very little accidental movement of either during a game. This metal is available at a sheet-metal or roofing supply company and should come rolled if possible. Mine was 4 x 8 feet and I cut it into a 4 x 4 piece and two 2 x 4 extensions for bigger games.

            5.Play the Orcs to the fullest. Although they are probably the weakest of the races, they can really be the most fun if you try to act like an Orc.

            6.Take extremely good care of all the game components. They are very difficult to replace.

            7. Always help newcomers. You would be surprised how this pays off. Not only do you get others into a great game, but you develop some good friendships as well.

            8. Share. If you find someone with a fleet that you don’t have or vice-versa, swap for a game, as it can be a real blast watching someone use the fleet that you’ve become so accustomed too. Many times I’ll learn some new tactic that I had never thought of or realized before.

            9.ATTACK the Black Arks. Don’t be afraid. Sinking one can demoralize the Dark Elf player.

            10.Experiment with the way you play. I used to always play 1 on 1. After several friends got involved in the game, we had to change the way we set up the fleets. Now we have two sides with 2,3, or 4 players per side. Each player controls a set # of point values of ships and works as a team, (only 1 magic user per side and spells are discussed and voted on if needed.)

            11. Add to the game. I have since made up 4 new ships of my own and developed rules to incorporate them into the game. I’ve also made up other rules to add variations to the game as well. See below for specifics.

            12. Go to your local conventions. I was 33 when I went to my 1st game convention, (PACIFICON in Northern California in 1995). I saw MOW being played and was hooked. In 1 year, I had collected all the ships, made my playing board, made 3D scenery and painted enough ships to run two 4000 point games at the next year’s PACIFICON in 1996. I have since run other games at other conventions and have introduced many newcomers to MOW.

            13. The best size games I have found are as follows.

                        2 people - 1000 to 1500 pts per side.

                        4-6 people - 350 to 500 pts per player.

                  Of course you may have a different opinion, but the large 3000 - 4000 pt games will take 6-10 hours to complete usually.

3 DIMENSIONAL SCENERY INSTRUCTIONS       Top

My method of scenery construction is very simple compared to what is presented in Issue 167 of White Dwarf. You’ll get great results and have some neat scenery to use in your games. In order to make your scenery you will need the following items:

      1. Pieces of sheet polystyrene (2’ x 4’), anywhere from 1/2" to 3" thick. This stuff is similar to Styrofoam.

      2. Large bottle white glue

      3. Bag of playground or beach sand (fine not course). Put it in a bucket.

      4. Floor tile adhesive

      5. Contact cement

      6. Paint, you can use a simple latex house paint. You’ll need black, brown and white. Mix up the brown and white into three shades using the following ratios:

            Brown & White

            1/4 & 3/4

            1/2 & 1/2

            3/4 & 1/4

      This will give you 6 shades in all, (the 3 above plus Black, Brown & White)

      7. Various colors of finely ground foam. Model railroad stuff, get 2-3 shades of green, a brown or two and maybe a yellow of buff color.

      8. Several green shades of chunky ground foam (Woodland Scenics)

      9. Styrene cutter or hot knife (HAVE ADULT SUPERVISION).

      10. Old paint brushes various sizes.

      11. Model Glue for styrene (plastic kits)

      12. Bird or fish gravel

To make your scenery:

1. First you will cut out the basic shape of the island. You can use the styrene cutter ( stiff wire with an electrical current running through it from batteries) or use a hot knife like I do. Get an old, dull kitchen knife WITH A THICK WOODEN HANDLE and lay the blade on the electric burner (set on high) of your stove. IF YOU ARE A CHILD GET YOUR PARENT"S HELP. The metal blade will heat up quickly. Use care and cut out the basic shape of the island you want to make. The knife will pass through the styrene like butter at first, but as it cools, it will get harder to do. When this happens, simply lay the blade on the burner again for a minute until it gets hot. You’ll also need to wipe off excess melted styrene after a few islands are cut out. I fold a few pieces of paper towel down and wipe the blade occasionally. If you cut out the island with the blade perpendicular to the sheet of styrene, you will need to go back and make your coastlines with the blade again. Simply lay the hot blade at whatever angle you desire the coastline to be and you’ll melt away the unwanted areas.

(TIP: Start off with small, single piece islands until you get comfortable with this process.)

2. After you have your basic shape, you need to make it irregular on it’s upper surfaces. Use the hot blade again, laying it onto areas and making gradual hills valleys etc. This takes a bit of practice so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t look perfect the first time out. Make many islands at once. The cutting process goes quickly, you’ll have 10 - 15 islands made in no time. As you become more proficient, you can increase the sizes of you islands by either using thicker styrene sheets or by cutting smaller irregular shapes to stack on top of the one you just made. If you use the stacking method, you’ll need to use the floor tile adhesive to connect the two layers. Let them dry overnight under something heavy to keep them together.

(TIP: Don’t use the contact cement for this process - it will eat away the styrene.)

(TIP: It is actually easier to make multi-layer islands from the top down.

Start with the highest point, cut it out, place it on the next sheet and cut around it. This way you won’t have to re-trim the top pieces if the bottom is cut too small).

3. After all your hot blade work is done, you should have a reasonable facsimile of a small island. Try to picture the final result and make any changes at this point. You can now proceed to painting if desired, but I usually will pick out a few of the larger islands I’ve made to give them some cliff faces and caves as described next. The contact cement and model glue will both eat away the polystyrene, but in different ways. The contact cement is best applied with a soft paint brush. I will pick out a few areas along the island where I want the cliffs to be, usually on a area that I have left steep or along a coastal area to represent a rocky tide pool area. Simply brush on a small amount of the contact cement and let it do it’s job. It only eats away the upper layers, unless you really pile the stuff on. Remember that your first few islands may not come out the way you want so don’t be afraid to experiment a bit with where you put this stuff. The Model glue is used when you want to make long continuous crevices or holes in the terrain. For example, to make a piece of chaos terrain, I will stack 5 or 6 1" or 2" irregular shaped pieces together, each only slightly smaller than the one below. Glue them together with the floor tile adhesive as explained earlier and when dry, do a bit of hot knife carving to make it look like large rocks on top of one another. Then take the model glue and put a gob along the side near the top. The glue will run down the rock slowly and eat further into the polystyrene than the contact cement. Do this at several places and you’ll end up with an Eerie looking spire of rock that’s from the Sea of Chaos.

(TIP: Use the model glue to make holes in your terrain too)

4. If the glue(s) are COMPLETY DRY, now it’s time to paint. I generally will brush on a coat of brown over the entire island, including the bottom. Don’t try to brush the areas where the glue has eaten away the polystyrene, as you’ll destroy it with the bristles of the brush. Unless there are cliff or rock areas that’s all the painting you’ll have to do. Cliffs and rocks take a bit more time and will be painted over the course of several days. Be sure to let each coat of paint dry FULLY before proceeding on. I will wait a full day usually. To paint the cliff and rock areas you first need to give them a base coat. These areas are probably still white at this stage while everything else is brown - which is what you want. Use a cheap, generic flat black spray can (or airbrush if you have it) to paint these areas completely. Coverage will be sporadic at times as the holes disrupt the flow of paint. Also, the polystyrene soaks up the black spray paint for some reason, so you’ll have to repaint it several times. All you’re trying to achieve is a fairly good black base coat, with little or no polystyrene showing through. Let this dry overnight. The next day you can begin a series of dry-brushing steps to build up highlights on the cliff face and rocks. Dry brushing is simply dipping the brush into the paint and wiping most of it off on some paper towels. When it looks like there is very little paint left on the brush, go to the island and brush across the rocks and cliffs. You already have black on there, so use the full strength brown first and then go through all the shades until you get to the pure white. The key during each step is to not cover up the color below what you’re putting on. Dry brushing takes a bit of practice, so don’t get discouraged. I also will use a larger brush in the earlier colors and go smaller and smaller until I get to the white. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO LET EACH COAT DRY BEFORE YOU DO THE NEXT SO THE COLORS DON’T BLEND TOGETHER AND RUIN THE EFFECT. I know that the temptation is to rush through it, but you’ll be much happier if you wait overnight between coats. The pure white can also be placed with a small brush full strength to highlight particular areas.

(TIP: After you get good at this try some other colors in your blending range to get other effects.)

5. Now we have to give the island its basic texture with the sand. The finer the sand you have the more realistic your islands will look. Take the white glue and pour half into another re-sealable jar or container, preferably wide enough to get a 1" - 2" paint brush into. Add ALMOST the same amount of water to the glue, the ratio your striving for is about 60% glue & 40% water. Mix it up thoroughly to give you a diluted glue mixture. Lay your painted islands on newspaper and then brush the diluted glue all over EXCEPT FOR THE ROCK AND CLIFF AREAS!

While this is still wet, pick up the island and hold inside your container of sand (a bucket or small plastic tub works great). Grab handfuls of sand and cover the island until there is sand sticking to it everywhere. Gently turn the island over to let the extra sand fall away, but don’t shake or tap it for now. If you miss a spot or two, WAIT, don’t try to fix it now, you’ll mess up the effect. Lay it on the newspaper and let dry OVERNIGHT. Also try to keep the glue off of the bottom of the island, because it will stick to the newspaper when dry. This usually can’t be avoided, but try anyway. Another thing is to move the islands around after about an hour so they don’t stick, but don’t mess up your coastlines!

(TIP: RE-USE the excess sand again. It won’t affect anything.)

6. After the sand is dry, we get to add the small rocks and begin to add vegetation to our islands. Take the islands outside and gently shake or tap off any remaining sand that did not stick to the polystyrene. If you have large bare spots, you may want to redo those areas, but generally it’s not necessary.

(TIP: If you do re-sand, be careful when you brush the glue on, as it will soften up the glue already on the island and take away the sand that did stick - you may want to use an eyedropper to apply the diluted glue.)

This is where the fish tank or birdcage gravel comes in, (I prefer the birdcage stuff as it’s finer, but you do have to remove the larger shell pieces first). Take small amounts of the gravel and put it in places where it looks good. I like to put it along the coasts and in random clumps in the higher terrain by the base of hills or cliffs. When you are satisfied, use the eyedropper to drop enough of the diluted glue until these areas are saturated. Don’t worry about using too much as it will soak into the sand and dries clear anyway. After this has dried OVERNIGHT, you can then add some highlights to the rocks by dry-brushing white onto them. This also can be done on the sand where ever you want, but I like to do it along any small peaks that have formed at the coastlines.

7. Now comes the fun part. Using the eyedropper, cover large areas of the island with the diluted glue and sift out the various colors of ground foam over the island. I hold a teaspoon with a small amount of foam in it and then gently tap my finger against the spoon to sift the foam down onto the island. Go slow. Turn the island as you work. Experiment with other ways that may be easier for you. I generally will cover the majority with a base green (NOT the coastlines though!), then add a darker or lighter green for contrast. I then pick out a few paths and carefully lay out some glue and then sift brown onto these areas to simulate roads. You can’t make mistakes here, so have fun. Think of what this island would look like from way up high, and then try to duplicate it.

(TIP: After the glue has dried, shake off the excess into another container and label it your "BLEND". This can be used as a transition color if desired).

8. We’re almost done. Break off small irregular clumps of the chunky ground foam and tear them into small irregular pieces, 1/4"-1/2" long. To place them, dip the bottom of these "trees" into the diluted glue. and place on your island. With two colors, I try to alternate and make groups of trees containing both colors in random, irregular formations. There is no limit to how you can vary your forests. Put them densely packed together in a valley, have a lone group up at the top of a hill, or have a large forest with pathways throughout it. It’s easy and simple and fun. Look at the terrain around you and copy it. ENJOY YOUSELF!

(TIP: Some don’t like the patchquilt look you get by using two colors of trees. To get rid of this, get the same two colors of clump foam in the fine ground foam, and spritz the forests with a spray of the diluted glue. Then, sift the same two colors of fine ground foam over your two tree colors and it will blend together nicely).

My scenery includes:

            Plenty of islands as described above.

            Islands with little or no vegetation (sandbars).

            Large islands (2’x3’) with sheltered coves and large steep cliff faces.

            A HUGE erupting volcano

            Plenty of tall, black rock spires with no vegetation for CHAOS terrain,(dry-brushed in shades of Dk gray - no white.)

            Colorful Elven scenery with lush vegetation overhanging, graceful, white cliff faces.

            Mainland pieces (simply leave large straight areas so these pieces can sit along the edge of the game board.)

            Future Projects include:

            Icebergs

            Versions of CHAOS TERRAIN from the Plaguefleet Boxed set.

            Undead terrain pieces

There are all kinds of other things you can use to detail your terrain. Look at any of the White Dwarf articles I’ve listed to get ideas. All the miniature cities and towers used in those photos are from a GW game called Mighty Empires. You can order the miniatures through the archive service.

I have made several ships of my own to supplement some of the fleets in the MOW system. Below is a brief description of each and some of the capabilities that each has. I don’t have the capability (yet) to send these electronically to you. I can however make copies of anything you’d like and send them to you for a modest fee. All ships below are my own design and have FULL rules, Template(s), and counter sheets needed to play. You will only have to make the miniatures yourself, but all can be converted from existing miniatures. If requested, I’ll even give you detailed instructions on how to make them. I have sent these designs into Games Workshop and have been told they would like to use them at a later date, (probably when MOW II comes out). They have all been playtested and are pretty well balanced. Of course, I’d love to hear back from your own experiences with these ships, and will make rule adjustments if necessary.

Splattapult Barge - This Independent Class ship (also something the Orcs don’t have) gives the Orcs something they lack - reliable, long rang artillery support. Using a modified bigchukka and a high spotting tower, the Splattapult Barge can launch long range attacks over other ships while hiding behind the rest of the fleet. It is also the first ship to have 3 modes of movement.

The Colosses - This massive Man O’ War takes over the role as the admiral’s flagship. This ship is so new from the Orc Enjuneerin’ Ladz that only one is known to exist. Roughly comparable in size and weapon capability to three Hulks, the Colosses is one of the largest vessels afloat and can deliver devastating damage in all directions. With hordes of Orcs on board and capable of boarding up to three enemy ships at once, the Colosses is the enemy boarding party’s worst nightmare. With multiple, Iron Claws, Smash-Hammers, Squig Launchers and Bigchukka’s, the Colosses is a deadly opponent to face. Utilizing new momentum movement rules that can help or hinder the Orc admiral, the Colosses also has ramming capability and multiple treadwheels to keep it going. This ship is 400 points of your fleet total and well worth it. The template has 18 different locations to target but there is an Achilles heel that can sink this ship quickly. My BEST design, play-tested at several conventions with very high praise:

"This is what the Orcs NEEDED! "Slug-a-Thon ‘96

"That is the best ship I’ve seen in this game yet" Slug-a-Thon ‘96

"WAAAAA(GH)YYY COOOOOOL" Pacificon ‘96

Flat Iron Carrier - Dwarf admirals now can have a mobile base of operations your flyers. Launch, land, and even repair your flyers. This man o’ war class ship has triple paddlewheels, broadside and turreted cannons, separate landing and launching decks, a repair shop and hanger to hold up to 4 squadrons of flyers. Although technically a support vessel, the Flat Iron Carrier can also be used as the flagship if desired. This ship will give the Dwarf admiral plenty of new tactics to try out when involved in any kind of flyer combat.

Lordship - This Independent Class addition to the Bretonnian fleet brings the chivalric Knights of the Realm into your sea battles. The Lordship has to fight on it’s own - away from the ignoble and un-chivalric cannons and catapults of the rest of the Bretonnian ships. Relying on the protection of the Lady of the Lake, the Knights bravely sail into the heart of the enemy fleet, directly at the flagship to engage it in a bloody boarding action. The Lordship has no ranged weapons, instead it depends on the Virtues of the Knights of the Realm - each different and useful in their own way.

Dung Lobber - One of the most recent ships I have built is the Skaven Dung-Lobber. The best way to describe it is that it's a cross between a Chaos Dwarf Great Leveller Battlebarge and a Bretonnian Buccaneer. By that I mean it uses a catapult type weapon that has the range of the massive gun of the Great Leveller. Instead of cannon shot however, it throws the collected dung from the rest of the Skaven fleet. Although the dung cannot actually cause damage to things on enemy ships, it does have the ability to "foul" locations and render them useless until the dung is removed. The only way to do that is to commit crews to clean-up duty, making them unavailable for any boarding actions they may get caught in! The Dung Lobber is still being play-tested and I expect to modify it as I go.

Bloodthrower - After seeing some old miniatures for EPIC, I came up with a couple of ideas for some ships that could be added to the Chaos Plaguefleet. The Blood Thrower is the first of those ideas to be constructed. I use the EPIC Khorne miniature of the same name and an Imperial Wargalley to make my conversion. The Bloodthrower shoots hot blood and gore at the enemy out of the huge cauldron mounted on the bow. Similar in effect to the "Sea of Blood" template, the Bloodthrower can slow enemy ships and kill their crews with its noxious effects. This ship is also still being play-tested, but is very close I feel to where it should be.

Lone Wolf - The pirate’s now can be played as a separate race instead of as just allies to the other races. Using captured Imperial Wolfship’s that have been converted into the Lone Wolf’s, the pirate fleet now is a threat all on their own. By modifying the sail design, the pirate’s have made room for a second broadside gun deck allowing the Lone Wolf to out gun the very ship it was spawned from. New rules allow the captain of the Lone Wolf to customize his ship individually as well as play a big part in the outcome of boarding actions.

At this time I’m redoing all the Templates and Rules into Microsoft Word and Micrographix Drawing formats (full color templates!) so I’m not selling anything yet. I’m probably going to put all these on my web site for free anyway (if I ever get the damn thing up and running!)

I’m currently working on an Elf Independent to expand their fleets as well. If you have any suggestions drop me a line.

I have also created some optional rules for MOW that you may want to add to your games. I have used them at convention games I have run and they seem to be generally well accepted by all players. These are also going to be on the website for you to use as desired.

First up is my addition to the Imperial Fleet. As with most fantasy games, humans generally get the short end of the stick as far as unique abilities or characteristics go. This is usually because humans are the standard by which other races are developed from. Man O’ War is no exception. Both the Imperial and Bretonnian fleets are pretty tame when compared to some of the fantastic weaponry of the other races.

So, I have done my part to remedy this, while still trying to stay within the bounds of what would be considered "normal" for a human fleet. My contribution to the Imperial Navy is the "Nuln Artillery Master".

As described in the Warhammer Army Book - "The Empire", the best artillery masters in the Warhammer World come from the great artillery school at Nuln. Here is where men learn the fine art of Ballistics, studying and refining their skills until they are ready to head for the battlefield. I thought that this would be a simple, but effective way to give the Imperial Navy more strategic options. Artillery masters can only be placed on a Man O’ War classed ship - which would be the Greatships.

The artillery master has seven different types of shot to fire through the cannons onboard. Options such as long shot, chain shot, double shot, fire shot, bomb shot and even magic shot are all now at the Imperial Admiral’s disposal. The first five are based upon actual methods used by naval fleets throughout history. The last one is more along the lines of fantasy, yet still somewhat "believable" considering the world in which the game takes place.

This addition to the Imperial Fleet has proven to be quite fun to play in actual games as there is some uncertainty as to what kinds of special shot will be available to you and when you will use them.

ARMOR

Armor is another idea that came about from many games (loses) with the Bretonnian and Dwarf fleets Basically it’s the addition of extra counters to the ship’s templates that have to be destroyed before the location can take damage. It comes in two types, regular and magical. I have limitations and restrictions on certain fleets, ships or areas as well. So far It’s only been briefly play-tested so I can’t comment directly on how well it’s worked to this point. More to come later!

I am now working on a second magic deck with eight more spells from each college. Also I’m giving regular wizards the ability to cast more powerful spells. Still refining it all, but it’s getting there. I’ll keep you posted.

There are persistent rumors that Man O’ War will be released again at a later date in either a complete remake, like SPACE HULK, or that it will be incorporated into the new EPIC FANTASY game that is under development right now. Personally, whether or not they do re-release it has nothing to do with the enjoyment and good times that can be had with the game as it exists now. Of course I ‘d like to see new ships and miniatures, but I’ll continue to play whether or not that happens. Recently BLOOD BOWL was re-released - no major changes, basically just a reprint of the last edition. Hopefully MOW will eventually get the same treatment!

To contact Games Workshop regarding casting discontinued and older miniatures or to obtain copies of the Citadel Journal Rules:

At this point I don’t think they photocopy articles from WHITE DWARF, but you can find them usually at the conventions.