Hi guys,
Happy New Year!
Today I’d like to share two small additions to my Spanish fleet in 1/1200 scale, both built and painted for naval wargaming in the Mediterranean during the Thirty Years’ War and Franco Spanish War. The models come from Ark Royal Miniatures, produced under the Warfare Miniatures range, a line nowadays well known among small-scale naval warfare lovers.
The models are a 38 gun frigate/galleon, an old merchantman and a 3d printed naval fort. The ships although modest in size, play an important role on the table top.
I also bought scenery in 2mm from Irregular miniatures , intended both for Mad for War naval rules and my campaign map game (see previous post).
The first model is a small merchantman, lightly armed and clearly intended more for patrol, escort, or convoy duties than for line-of-battle engagements. Unfortunately, I no longer remember the exact catalogue reference, but its compact hull and reduced artillery make it immediately recognizable as a secondary combatant rather than a major warship.
For painting, I aimed for a restrained and practical look: muted hull tones, simple decoration, and weathering that suggests long service at sea. In Mediterranean scenarios, this type of vessel works perfectly as a support ship, a scout, or an objective vessel—valuable but vulnerable if caught by heavier enemy units.
The second model is the 38-Gun Frigate, a much more aggressive and versatile design. Fast, well-armed, and capable of independent action, this type of frigate represents, along the galleon/Man o'war, the backbone of many Spanish naval operations during the conflict.
I painted her to stand out slightly more than the galleon, with sharper contrasts and cleaner lines, with paper flags attached.
Both ship's flags are metal painted and paper printed, the paper flags are slightly oversized, but I don't care about that, because the are easier to identify from distance in games.
Both ships are intended primarily for Mediterranean naval battles, where shorter engagement ranges, coastal actions, and sudden encounters dominate play. In the context of the Thirty Years’ War, they fit naturally into scenarios involving Spanish–French naval rivalry, convoy interceptions, and regional control, but also massive fleet actions.
I started painting this range back in 2023, and I am very happy with it, at 1/1200 scale, these models strike an excellent balance between detail and playability, allowing entire squadrons to be deployed without overwhelming the table.
Now my entire fleet so far:
4 galleys, 2 small galleons/frigates, a yacht and an armed merchantman, all of them Ark Royal Miniatures , and a 3d printed galleon by Turner miniatures.
Cheers
