Full Captain Rules

Our Rules cover the entire “Golden Era” of sailing ships, from the mid-17th to the first quarter of the 19th century.

The name of the rules derives from the British Royal Navy of the time, where an officer would have a service rank, but not necessarily a command or ship. Until the officer had a command, he was “on the beach” and on half-pay. A commander who was promoted took the service rank of captain but, until he was given a command or “posted”, he remained on half-pay. Once the captain was given a command, his name was “posted” in the London Gazette. “Full Captain”,  was the alternative term used historically for that rank.

An officer “took post” or was “made post”, being referred to as a post-captain, when he was first commissioned to command a rated vessel – a ship too important to be commanded by a mere commander. Unrated vessels could also, in some cases, be commanded by post-captains.

Once an officer had been “promoted” to post-captain, his further promotion was strictly by seniority of service; if he could avoid death or disgrace, he would eventually become an admiral.

Post Captain is a Tactical Naval Wargame rule set, designed to play actions between small groups of ships or individual ships. The game is specially designed for our 10mm Naval figure Range, which allows gamers to use our model ships and include miniatures to represent guns and crew members.

The historical period covers the convulsive times of Piracy in the Caribbean, the birth of the “Hearts of Oak” and the great Ships of the line, to its decline with the advent of steam ships.

Post Captain allows players to re-create the bloody boardings of the famous pirate “Blackbeard”, the coastal actions of Privateers and smugglers against the Revenue authorities of various nations, as well as small engagements between single ships, ranging from Gunboats to big 74-gun ships of the line.

Players can play the legendary actions of the British, French and Spanish Navies, the newly-born US Navy, Pirate vessels, and much more.

This is a very new and different concept for wargaming in the naval sphere. The game includes miniatures, ships and is a partially card-driven game with a special events system that will bring the fog of war and the whims of the sea to naval combat.

The game will come with a selection of cards for the ships, the crew and a special set of Letters of Marque Cards that are designed to introduce unexpected and unpredictable events and actions of the kind that often happened historically in sailing and naval combats. Most cards are of benefit to the player but some contain a sting.

The game has been designed in 10mm scale with wooden Laser-etched easy-to-build ship kits, all designed from original plans. All ships come complete with a set of dowel rods to fit as masts and spars and 10mm metal miniatures and guns are available to complete your model.

Sources

Capitan Games Ltd