The largest of the ships-of-the-line under the Royal Navy's rating system, the 1st Rate would generally have over 850 crew and more than 100 guns across three decks. Extremely expensive build and maintain, 1st Rates tended to be reserved for flagship duty with admirals. They were more often than not mothballed during peacetime (known as being put into 'Ordinary') only to be activated ('commissioned') in times of war.

This is a generic 1st Rate suitable for navies of all nations represented in Black Seas.

Contains one Black Seas vessel (a mixture of resin, plastic & metal) and game aids.

6th Rates were the smallest of the warships in the Royal Navy rating system, which would have been generally adopted worldwide. This category covered ships with between 20 and 28 guns on a single deck. Although not considered to be powerful enough to take their place alongside larger ships of the line they performed well in other duties and in smaller engagements where the 1st and 2nd Rate man-o-war weren't necessary. Well known 6th Rates include the fictional vessel HMS Surprise as captained by author Patrick O'Brian's Capt. Jack Aubrey whilst C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower takes command of HMS Atropos in one of his novels.

Contains three vessels (a mixture of resin, plastic & metal) and game aids.

A 6th rate frigate launched in 1778, she served for over three decades, playing an important role in the exploration of the Pacific Northwest as well as the routine work of provisioning other ships stationed off the coast of America. She was very sturdily built and used to take control of key land positions.

Contains one Black Seas vessel (a mixture of resin, plastic & metal) and game aids.

A 112-gun 1st rate ship of the line of the Spanish Navy who saw her most famous action at the Battle of Trafalgar, where she was involved in a tremendous battle with Collingwood’s HMS Royal Sovereign.

Contains one Black Seas vessel (a mixture of resin, plastic & metal) and game aids.

6th Rates were the smallest of the warships in the Royal Navy rating system, which would have been generally adopted worldwide. This category covered ships with between 20 and 28 guns on a single deck. Although not considered to be powerful enough to take their place alongside larger ships of the line they performed well in other duties and in smaller engagements where the 1st and 2nd Rate man-o-war weren't necessary. Well known 6th Rates include the fictional vessel HMS Surprise as captained by author Patrick O'Brian's Capt. Jack Aubrey whilst C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower takes command of HMS Atropos in one of his novels.

This squadron represents the vessels with their gunports closed (battened down).

Contains three vessels (a mixture of resin, plastic & metal) and game aids.

A 74-gun ship-of-the-line armed with 24-pdrs and 36-pdrs. This ship was at the centre of the fight in the Battle of Navarino in 1827. She was regarded as the finest ship in the Russian Navy for at least four years, after which she was left to rot.

Contains 1 resin & metal vessel plus game aids.

A huge 130-gun first rate ship-of-the-line, possibly based on the designs of the Spanish Santisima Trinidad.

Contains 1 resin & metal vessel plus game aids.

As the smaller ships-of-the-line became less useful in fleet actions due the increasing size and armaments of the larger ships many of them were 'razeed'. This was the process of either removing the quarterdeck and forecastle or otherwise cutting them down to have just two decks. The resulting razeed ships were more stable in rough seas as well as quicker. 64-gun 3rd Rate ships were razeed to become 44-gun vessels – these were classed as frigates although they generally performed better than the purpose-built frigates of the day. HMS Indefatigable is a well-known razeed 3rd Rate.

Contains two vessels – one razeed 3rd Rate & one 4th Rate (a mixture of resin, plastic & metal) and game aids.

A 2nd rate ship-of-the-line built on the Black Sea and became part of the Black Sea fleet. She also saw action in the Mediterranean, where she helped capture several coastal towns and fortifications.

Contains 1 resin & metal vessel plus game aids.

Under the structure set out by the Royal Navy rating system which was largely adopted worldwide any ship-of-the-line with fewer than a 160-man crew was considered a 'small ship'. The largest of these ‘small ships’ were the 4th Rates as they had a complement of 140 men whilst boasting between 46 and 60 guns.

4th Rates with guns at the lower end of the scale were considered too weak to stand in the line of battle and they were largely, although not entirely, phased out of this role during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. They would still see active service in the likes of the East Indies and other far-flung territories.

Contains three made-to-order vessels (a mixture of resin, plastic & metal) and game aids.

A 14-gun brig with a very colourful history. She was captured by France in 1794, then re-taken by the British in 1795, captured again by France in 1801 and finally donated to the Papal States in 1802. Furthermore, HMS Speedy was one of the ships that made Thomas Cochrane famous for capturing so many enemy vessels, sometimes even those much larger than his own.

Contains 1 made-to-order resin & metal vessel with game aids.

Known to be Lord Nelson’s favourite ship, HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun 3rd rate ship-of-the-line with a sleek hull. She saw plenty of active service during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars, most notably at Trafalgar as part of Nelson's weather column, where she helped force the surrender of the colossal Spanish four decker Santisima Trinidad.

Contains 1 made-to-order resin & metal vessel with game aids.

A 5th rate ship launched as the Unité, sailing for the French Navy before being captured in 1796 by the Royal Navy and renamed HMS Surprise. Perhaps most famously the Surprise served as the main ship for author Patrick O'Brien's Jack Aubrey and also in the associated film, Master & Commander.

Contains 1 resin & metal vessel with game aids.

East Indiamen or, more commonly, just 'Indiamen' is a broad name for a category of ships that sailed under the licence or charter of the various European trading companies such as those from England, France, Portugal, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands. Capable of carrying both passengers and cargo, the Indiamen were armed to defend themselves from privateers or pirates.

Contains two made-to-order vessels (a mixture of resin & metal) and game aids.

The USS Constitution was one of six Heavy Frigates commissioned by the United States Congress in 1794 to protect American shipping against Barbary Pirates in the Mediterranean. These frigates were designed to outmatch the frigates of any other nation while remaining nimble enough to slip away from larger ships-of-the-line.

These six frigates (Chesapeake, Constitution, President, United States, Congress, and Constellation.) were armed with 44 guns, normally a mix of long 24-pounders and 32-pound carronades. Across their service life, these ships would often end up over gunned, carrying upwards of 50 guns into battle.

Revolutionary construction techniques gave the six frigates much thicker hull planking than their British or French equivalents, allowing them to soak up a tremendous amount of punishment. It also allowed them to carry a much heavier armament relative to their size, as seen by the arrays of 24 and 32-pounders carried on the 44 gun vessels.

Second Battle of Tripoli Harbour

'Old Ironsides' as she would become known, launched in Boston on October 21, 1797. She first saw action during the First Barbary War, serving with a squadron of American frigates in the Meditteranean under Captain Edward Preble. While blockading Tripoli, the USS Philadelphia ran aground and was captured by the Corsairs. Constitution's broadsides provided vital fire support for the squadron during the attempts to rescue the Philadelphia.

Eventually, the Preble would resort to using a captured ketch loaded with 100 tonnes of black powder to destroy the Philadelphia in Tripoli harbour - a plan which failed when the fireship was destroyed prematurely by fire from the Ottoman shore batteries. Despite an inconclusive naval campaign, the war was eventually won by the heroic actions of the US Marines at Derna.

The War of 1812

When war broke out between Great Britain and the United States Constitution attempted to join a five-ship squadron off New Jersey. Unfortunately, she ran afoul of a British squadron which immediately began pursuing her.

Initially finding himself becalmed, things were looking bleak for Captain Hull and the Constitution. However, an inspirational idea found him using rowboats to tow the ship away from his pursuers, allowing him to escape after a 57-hour chase.

During the war, the Constitution was employed as a commerce raider, indiscriminately capturing and burning British naval vessels. Twice she came up against British frigates, and twice she reduced them to matchsticks, her reinforced hull shrugging off repeated close-range broadsides, earning her the nickname "Old Ironsides."

In the Game of Black Seas

USS Constitution should be in the thickest fighting on the table, leading the charge into the enemy battle line, using her exceptional survivability to weather the storm of shot and shell while blasting away with her own guns.

While she might not be able to tangle with larger First Rates like Victory, she can hold her own in frigate actions, tying up the enemy fleet while the remainder of your ships go after other objectives or gain a more advantageous position.

This is your opportunity to get one of the first batches of this famous ship - We will have 250 ready to ship early October alongside the release of the main game and French & British fleets.

This box set contains:

• Components for 1 resin USS Constitution ship hull
• Metal components for masts
• Printed sails
• USS Constitution ship card
• Wake markers
• Bobbin for rigging
• Acetate Ratlines
• A sheet of flags & pennants

Alongside a softback copy of the Black Seas core rules, you'll get nine beautifully detailed plastic miniatures; three frigates and six brigs. You'll also get sails, rigging and flag sheets for all your ships and all the ship cards, wake markers and tokens that you'll need to play. Included also is an A0 battle mat, dice and rulers!