There are no actual instructions here, but The Penny Whistle has some really neat photos of index card ship models. They should be relatively easy to replicate and look like they could be used in a fun game.
Carnage: Drive To Survive Rules
Carnage are a set of free wargames rules for auto combat in a slightly different world. The author explains:
Carnage is a racing battle game set in Britain in 2003 or so. Players take control of vehicles from humble Reliant Regals to top-spec Lamborghinis, and then kit them out with improbable Equipment and weaponry, with a view to slaughtering similar minded opponents. They take part in “duels”, (races against each other for honour, pride or cash….but mostly cash), in order to better their machines and skills for the next race. What the end goal is of all this, probably no-one knows, and the Police seem strangely absent from all this. Ah well, who said reality was fun?
Rare Color Film From WWII: Saipan and The Marianas
When I was growing up, every WWII documentary was in black and white, so I — along with everyone else — just assumed there was no color footage. Happily, over the past couple of decades, lots of color footage has surfaced.
These clips are from the Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 19–20, 1944, also known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot. The ground campaign of the Battle of Saipan too place 15 June – 9 July 1944.
Color also makes the horrors of war much more apparent.
Justified Ancients Rules
Justified Ancients is a set of free wargames rules for simple ancients battle games. The author writes:
Justified Ancients is a fast paced element based wargame that takes simple mechanics to produce a beleivable result. Easy to learn they are percet for filling in that last half hour before the Pub or playing a huge battle in two hours.
To Glory We Steer Fighting Sail Rules
To Glory We Steer is a well-done set of rules for the age of fighting sail:
From the period where the mighty multi-oared Galleys had almost faded from memory other than a coastal raider, to the days where black funnelled Ships of the line belched out sparks and smoke, there existed two hundred years of an Age of Sail. …
This set of rules takes from many contemporary accounts of battle, to gain a whiff of the sea air in themechanics, Hopefully threading through it enough realism without baffling a Landsman who knows little of the Age of Sail.
As you give your crew orders to “Man the Halyards” or unleash a perfectly timed broadside, I hope that some of this may come across and that those who know their foretops from their gaff sails might gain some pleasure from commanding. This said, many compromises have been made in the way of a playable game that is challenging and involving for players.
You are not pushing a model and rolling dice. You are a Master and Commander in the Heat of Battle!