We return to Black Seas now with a frigate, one of nine of the French Romaine class. The Comète is one of the "famous" ships that Warlord Games produces, meaning that she comes with a unique figurehead and sternplate to modify the otherwise generic plastic 5th rate model. Despite her status as a unique ship, she has no in-game effects; she plays like any other 5th rate frigate. Regardless, I think she's a beautiful ship as most French ships are, and is well worth having in your fleet if you play the French.
Launched in 1796, Comète has, to be honest, something of a lackluster career. Warlords idea of famous ships outside of the Royal or US Navy seems to be, "was it present during a major Royal Navy victory?". Her claim to fame comes right at the end of the major naval actions of the Napoleonic wars. What, you may ask, did she do to warrant a spot in the Black Seas pantheon? She didn't get caught.
The Battle of San Domingo was the last of the open seas actions between French and British ships of the line. In Caribbean waters, a British squadron smashed into a French squadron and essentially tore it to pieces. The Comète, along with another frigate and a corvette, managed to evade capture.
After that there's not much else on her. She participated in the capture of a US brig, of which I can find very little information. Nothing else of any note has to be said based on my research, which mind you is not exhaustive nor particularly deep.
The model is, despite the lackluster history, a delight. The figurehead has nice details for such a minuscule part of the mini, and the sternplate is rather thin when compared to some of the other named ships in the Warlord product line. Most others have to make room for the name, and in doing so they stretch beneath the stern galleries. Not so with the Comète. It's all very tight and neat, although it does mean the galleries don't line up from the sides to the back.
When compared to the Hermione, which is also based on the 5th rate frigate, she has a much sleeker, almost aggressive look to her. It's actually really cool to see how much these small model changes and paint schemes can do to change practically identical models.
Now for something a little different, or more like a return to form. Back in the beginning of this blog, when I would post about a miniature, I'd have something of a mini review to go along with it. I've decided to bring that back, of a sort, to make each of these posts more of a resource and less of a "here's what I managed to do this week please read it". Instead of giving a rating, which is highly subjective anyways, I'll give a breakdown of useful information and let folks come to their own conclusions. That said, here goes:
Comète Miniature Review
Manufacturer: Warlord Games
Game: Black Seas
Scale: 1/700, or about 3.25" tall and 3" from bow to stern
Availability:
You have two options.
1. The easiest is the Black Seas French Navy Fleet Starter Set, which comes with a generic 1st Rate, 3 unique 3rd rates, 3 unique 5th rates, 6 brigs, and 1 set of gunboats.
2. Or, you could purchase the French Frigates Named Ships Pack 1, which comes only with the figureheads and sternplates of the 3 unique frigates in the French Navy Fleet box. This would require you to source a generic 5th rate model, of which there are various avenues, such as the Master & Commander Starter Box, or the Frigates & Brigs Flotilla.
Price: $165 French Navy Starter, $12 for the bits to convert a 5th rate frigate, which must be purchased separately. Note that these prices include either other models or parts for other models.
Points Value: 36 in-game, but seeing as Black Seas isn't really a game you build lists to a specific numerical value, this isn't as relevant of a number.
Rules: No unique rules, she uses the same 5th rate frigate card you can find in the starter set.
Material: High quality injection molded plastic for the base model. Easy to work with. If you're used to GW models it's the same feel. The sails are cardstock and the ratlines are printed on clear acetate. The unique bits are a white metal, which, while soft and easy to cut, has sharp detail and in a solid piece like this not prone to deforming, unlike the masts on some other Black Seas products.
Alternates: You could just use the plain generic 5th rate model since the rules are the same. Otherwise, if you want this specific ship you'd have to find a 3D printed model at this scale.
Let me know if this is the sort of thing you'd like to see more of, or if you'd like me to talk about additional categories. Thanks for reading!
-The Space Dinosaur
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