Hobby | The Dead Ships with their Skeleton Crews

Dreadfleet is a game that to many was a disappointment. Instead of heralding the return of Man O' War, a game in which I am too young to have formed nostalgia towards, it was this odd little narrative boardgame/wargame hybrid. I've never played it, and to be honest it doesn't seem like a lot of people ever did, because I picked up a copy dirt cheap a few years ago. There is one place that the game excels in that I  think most people can agree on: the models (and the game mat I guess, it is pretty cool...). Surprisingly, these models are fairly in scale with the 1/700 Black Seas models. While Black Seas is a historical game, they do have rules for some of the "standard" fantasy elements of maritime folklore, like sea serpents and krakens. The focus of today is on the Shadewraith, perhaps the best miniature rendition of a ghost ship that I've seen. 

Hobby | Merchant Marine

Unlike most wargames where objectives are static points on a map, in certain naval scenarios the objectives are ships just like any other model. These are the merchantmen, the unsung engines of commerce that hauled bulk goods all across the globe, ever the prize for a hungry young captain looking to make it big. In games of Black Seas, merchants come in two flavors: large and small.