Man O' War: A new beginning!

The Call of the Wretched Sea

After playing my first game of Man O’ War at UnionCon, I decided to build a fleet of my own! After spending some time on eBay, I bought a variety of ships from different fleets. My first focus is assembling an orc fleet, since I was able to get all their core ships. Over the next few months, I plan to share more posts on assembly, painting, and maybe even a few games along the way. If all goes well, I hope to have a small fleet ready for UnionCon next year!

Even though they're from 1993, I found all the initial models from the orc fleet sealed and unopened!

In addition to orcs, I plan to assemble a small Chaos fleet based on how much fun they were to play at UnionCon! Who could resist a floating fortress and flying triremes (Great Winged Terror)? Currently, I am most interested in building a Tzeentch fleet. The Great Winged Terror we purchased came directly from the UK, complete with an old Games Workshop price tag! Being released more than 30 years ago, it is amazing there are still so many sealed Man O’ War sets floating around.

The boxes for the Man O’ War releases are really interesting. There is a single photo of the painted model on the box (shown once on the front and two additional times on the side of the box). The back of the boxes have a description of the model(s). Incredibly, the boxes even list the miniature sculptors!

We found some sealed Norse ships for a small fleet. Norse are unique since they can ally with all of the fleets in the game. We were excited to acquire some due to our fondness of the Norse in Blood Bowl from years ago.

Several Man O’ War releases came in the traditional blister pack format. This blister pack contains two Tzeentch Lord of Change models. The Lord of Change was the flying option for the Chaos fleet introduced in the Sea of Blood expansion.

For whatever reason, sealed boxes of High Elf Eagleships were readily available on eBay. We also found some of their cool Dragon riders. The other ships of the High Elf fleet, Dragonships and Hawkships, are few and far between, however.

Opening the boxes, you are greeted with the styrofoam dividers that were customary in the 90s. Each set contains a series of wonderful printed sails!

Once I assemble and paint a Man O’ War fleet, I will need to look into getting the physical counters and cards needed to play the game. Each of the ships has its own card that helps keep track of how much damage it has taken and how many crew members are aboard. While I have never been a huge fan of keeping track of droves of tokens, the ones I have seen in Man O’ War do look to add a lot of character to the game. The game also has several decks of Magic cards for the wizards and sorcerers, all with cool artwork from the era. A nice neoprene ocean mat might also be needed to replicate the watery depths to battle over. Let us know if any of you have played Man O’ War before and if you have thoughts about it!

-Adam Wier