Caesar's army crossed scary 'ocean' for the first time in 55 BC to a hitherto unknown land (to them). On Friday, I crossed roads in Midland—already known, but still scary😀—in search of ocean. And I found some!
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| Some French ships, still in the same state as my previous post, crossing 'ocean'. |
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| Some English ships, with a bit more paint applied than last time (mainly black!), also crossing 'ocean'. |
My wife said, "It's not very blue." But that was what I was after.
Heavily influenced by Julian, I was looking for a grey-blue mottled look of the north Atlantic Ocean; on a good day!
For the actions that occurred in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, or even Pacific, it will just have to be an imposing, grey day.
I think it is gonna work. We'll see once I lay it out and move some ships around. On the latter point, it is a nice, flat, slightly slippery surface, so fit for purpose.
If I want to add other splashes of colour, I can always practice my Pro Hart (R.I.P):
It definitely has that stormy or foamy sea look about it James. Will you be putting any islands on it? Our regular gaming mat is very Caribbean blue, whereas my Atlantic mat is so dark it is easy to lose the ships on it.
ReplyDeleteThose mats sound great Lawrence—I had a good laugh at losing ships in the dark one!
DeleteIslands, coast and whatever will depend on the battle being re-fought. Hopefully most are out at sea, but we can easily think of several famous ones that were not. Nile being but one case in point. The water in that would be better represented by a more azure blue of the Med. Perhaps I will need a second roll of material, or splash some deeper blue on some of this stuff—I bought 10.5 m x 1.2 m, so should have enough for two table-tops worth at 1/3000.
From my personal experience of the North Sea, this looks very realistic James!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the vote of confidence Keith. I don't think that many (if any?) actions occurred that far north, but I was after a mirky, grey-blue, with a few white caps as it is/was depicted in so many of the classic paintings of the battles of the era.
DeleteI'm not certain about it myself, but will see the more that I look at it/use it.
The sea comes in many forms and colors. It'll all look good. But I'm with Lawrence, as long as you can find the ships on the mat! 😁
ReplyDeleteNever a truer phrase typed Stew. It gets bloody dark below the 'deep blue' too.
DeleteLawrence's dark mat sounds perfect for added 'fog of war'. Better than a contrived game mechanic!
Looks good to me James. Plus, once ships are on it the illusion is complete.
ReplyDeleteThank you Richard. The impression of another set of eyes is really helpful.
DeleteWhen I bought the material, I thought that it was perfect, then I was not too sure, but now it is growing on me, I think!
The mottling looks nice and even, not always easy to do.
ReplyDeleteThank you Peter.
DeleteI cheated, of course, as this is printed material. Intended as some kind of blind/sun blocker, so it has a backing and is quite smooth, which will make it ideal as a playing surface.
Lovely substitute for the Atlantic! Looks great with your wee ships on it!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks for the affirmation Iain. It is nice to hear from others that it looks okay and I am not looking at it with 'blinkers on'!
DeleteI live near the River Thames estuary. The colour look spot on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray. It grows on me the more affirmation that I receive! :)
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