JUST SAILING

NEW SHIPS IN THE WILD

A few fotos of the reinforced fleet having at each other. All ships are Threes,

The velour base cloth is at its best here. It looks alive and no hexes...

A squadron prepares to get under way from a hidden cove. Commander has a pennant.

An Athenian drone captures the Laconian fleet forming up.

The Athenians in the distance. Laconian fleet prepares an ambush behind Holy Island.

Athenians coming up in file. Ambush awaits behind Holy Island.

The land is polystyrene. Temple is a 3D-printed Parthenon (not finished painting it yet, those metope friezes are tricky at this scale....).

DEFENCES FOR HEXAPOLIS

A modular wall system for hexapolis.

With 2mm Irregular strips on walls and in streets.

HEXAPOLIS PLANNING APPLICATION APPROVED

Hexapolis project took another step in the weekend.
Basis is 7 tiles : Upmarket housing, Common housing, Citadel, Civic Quarter, Cult Quarter, Merchant Port, Naval Port. Wall sections to follow that will allow the whole to be circumvallated.

First mould and resin tile

Tile painted and Hexapolis

Some 2mm tourists wandering about Hexapolis

Miletus

 Miletus proved to irregular and large to be effectively moulded and cast. Hexapolis allows many different cities to be represented and 2mm figures can be used for some land combat with them.

Hexapolis

Preview of city project. Idea is to be able to make a variety of city terrains in 1/3000 from a set of seven different tiles.
COMMON HOUSING
WEALTHY HOUSING
CULT PRECINCT
CIVIC PRECINCT
CITADEL
MERCANTILE HARBOUR
MILITARY HARBOUR

Plus sections of wall.

The choice of scale is difficult. There are 1/3600 ships, 1/2400 ships - therefore 1/3000 suits both.
With some careful layout the tiles can be used with Irregular's 2mm figures (HERE described by Tony Hughes) - I dont think they will look too bad. Better than counters anyway.
'Rioting in Alexandria' anyone?

Anyone mentioning Moonbase Alpha will be keel-hauled....

SALAMIS : MAPS

Easier said than done to get a good map of Salamis battle area.

How reliable is this  re. 480BC ?

 1) Sea level changes. Oft-quoted figure is a relative sea-level rise of 1 fathom since 'antiquity'. As a geologist I am aware this is a debateable figure. Greece is a tectonically active part of the world which means we have to add rising or sinking land-masses.

One calculation of eustatic sea level change - Salamis in red

The site of the battle of Marathon, for example, should by rights, be flooded by now according to the eustatic sea-level change curve ( a kind of base-line for world sea-level changes). BUT because the land has been pushed up at about the same rate then the coastal situation remains similar to what it was 2500 years ago...REF. This means we can never know the exact coastline from 480BC but we must try to get an idea..

Did the sea come up or the land go down ?

2) Human activity in this area where the Greek navy has its main base, there has been unbridled summer-house development and where the recently greatest maritime nation has its main port is unbelievable. One island - Psyttaleia - has become Europe's largest sewage treatment plant and the mainland coastline is obscured by reclaimed ground.

One thing that can be said is that the sea-level change is not catastrophic. A breakwater from antiquity by the ancient Salamis port in Amboulaki bay is still visible in the water rather than high and dry or a long way off the shore-line.

Just to be cruel, the gods have given us a different alphabet from the Greeks so simple web  searches also become more problematic.

Maritime charts are a good and accurate bet, adding depth date - but also including, very accurately all made-ground and obstacles. I want this stuff cleaned off...

Kinosura peninsula complete with deep-water mooring for giant ships and Perama port installation in background.

The solution so far is to use eighteenth century French maps ! These seem to be a good match with sattelite maps and fotos and the engineering tecnicians who supported French fortification science seem to have done a good job with naval charts from the time.

Barbier du Bocage's map of 1785 gives a nice base map.

Notice the north-pointer is the Fleur de Lys..the map was drawn just a few years before Le Revolution.

 Until things obviously awry I will use this base map plus modern depth information.

RULES TESTING AGAIN...

Athenians entering battle area with Peloponnesians heaving into view.

Peloponnesian left enter and turn to round the Athenian-friendly shore. More Peloponnesians in the distance.

View from Athenian territory. Peloponnesians advancing in file.

A solution to clutter. Command boards and cards kept on book-rests above the table.

Maiden Voyage

Some 'Olympias Class' triremes take to sea. Nice to have the rowers but shame that they should be hidden behind screens for combat :(  Anyway, I know they are there ...

New ships, new sea.

Ten-centimetre triremes sail out onto the nervøs-velour sea!

Sea looking great ! Persians coming this way..Tachynauts in background

Greeks going in against some high-decked Persians.

Persian deck troops look ok. Hotz ships in foreground.

Wider view of melee.

New Sea

Wandering round a textile warehouse with the better half I acquired two samples of material which could potentially provide a nice new sea.

Vinyl fake leather in sea grey-blue(below, lower) and horrific synthetic velvet we know as 'Nervøs Velour'(below, upper).

The vinyl is attractive because it is durable and cleanable and consistent in quality.
The velour is attractive because is has a lively sheen which looks like the sea.

On balance, the velour does look so much more lively and eye-catching than the vinyl which appears dull and flat beside it. It is also cheap.

I think a new sea is coming, made of nervøs velour. This shade is 'cobalt'. Grey and green also available...

Olympias on the real 'wine-dark sea'

BEAUTIFUL DRAUGHTSMANSHIP

If you haven't seen this yet go and look !

(The unpleasant situation of the thalamites
is accurately depicted!)

SHIPYARDS BUSY

 New ships enter the fray. Four biremes, a pentekonter, 2 fours and three 3's..phew.

ATHENS GETS THE UPPER HAND

NAUSEOS ATTACKED

FLEETS LINE UP

NAUSEANS WITH BACKS TO THE TEMPLE OF THEIR PATRON NEPTUNE-NAUSEAS

NAUSEAN FLANKS USE THE ROCKS FOR PROTECTION

ATHENIAN LEFT TRIES OUTFLANKING, RIGHT SLOWLY ADVANCES

VIEW FROM ATHENIAN LEFT

NAUSEAN CENTRE AND LEFT BACK WATER FOR TIME

NAUSEANS LUNGE FORWARD BUT THEIR POORER CREWS GIVE POOR RESULTS

STAND-OFF IN CENTRE AND LEFT

APHRODITE MAKES A BRAVE DIEKPLOUS, RAKING AJAX IN PROCESS, NEPTUNE RETIRES TO SAFETY OF HARBOUR

VIEW FROM NEPTUNE, RAM RIPPED-OFF COVERED BY TROOPS IN HARBOUR