Shopping for nerds and geeks can be hard. We don’t always share the same passion for miniature wargaming with other friends and family. As such, Christmas shopping can be hard for them. But we’re here to help! This list is our top Christmas Gift Ideas for Oak & Iron for you to add to your wish list this year. We have a range of suggestions that work for a range of budgets. Check off the items you are interested in and print the list or send the link to your family, friends, in-laws, and distant cousins to make their holiday shopping easier.
Is this a shameless play for affiliate income? Meh… maybe a little (gotta pay the bills somehow…). But these are legitimate items I personally own, want, or are actually on my own Christmas Gift list for 2022. So, it’s not just a cheesy list or stuff for sale, they are what I hope are good ideas for you to put on your shopping list.
Top Gift Ideas for
Oak & Iron Players
An Oak & Iron Starter Set
If you’ve been interested in the game but for some reason, just not bit the bullet and purchased the Core Boxed Set, now is the time to do it. This has everything you need to get started in the game of Oak & Iron.
If you only have 1, a second starter box is STILL a great option because you double your ships, plus you get extra dice and movement tokens so don’t have to pass them around as much.
Price Range: $69
Link: https://bit.ly/3X53aV0
An Oak & Iron Expansion Set
If you are missing a boxed set to complete your collection, now is the time! And if you’re tired of proxying a ship because you use it EVERY, it’s about time you got more minis.
Men of War
- 4th Rate Frigate
- 5th Rate Frigate
- 6th Rate Frigate
Price Range: $39
Link: https://bit.ly/3tAKIGo
Blackbeard’s Revenge
- Queen Anne’s Revenge
- Revenge (Unique Sloop)
- Capt. Stede Bonnet
Price Range: $24
Link: https://bit.ly/3V5EY33
Ships of the Line
- 1st Rate Ship of Line
- 2nd Rate Ship of Line
- 3rd Rate Ship of Line
Price Range: $49
Link: https://bit.ly/3TWF9Nf
Citadel Contrast Paints
The Oak & Iron ships come with ships that are cast in solid color plastic so the ships are totally usable and playable out of the box. But if you want to paint them to set If you’ve been interested in the game but for some reason, just not bit the bullet and bought the Core Boxed Set, now is the time to do it. This has everything you need to get started in the game of Oak & Iron.
My formula for painting Oak & Iron ships is:
Sails = Apothecary White with some watered-down Skeleton Horde for aging/weather effects
Hull = Snakebite Leather
Ship’s Decks = 2 coats of Skeleton Horde
Masts & Rigging = Wyldwood
The Army Painter Wet Palette
For the highest quality, miniature painting requires high-end, expensive paints, so you don’t want to lose even a drop of it. And if you mix your own colors you don’t want to let it go to waste. One of the coolest inventions for a miniature painter is a wet palette. It allows you to pause your painting and put your paint away in the refrigerator and break out again. This set comes with 2 sheets of hydro foam wet palette sponge & 50 hydro paper palette sheets
Price Range: $25 – 30
Link: https://amzn.to/3UQMgrd
13 Brush Miniature Painting Kit
I’ve bought a variety of paint brushes over the years from the cheap set at the boxed store retailer to $10-15 for a single brush. This set of brushes is one of the best sets I’ve ever owned. The variance in sizes is perfect for Oak & Iron and Blood & Plunder minis.
- Lots of variety. Super fine detail 0/4 to 4. Some flat some chiseled.
- They maintain their shape after multiple uses. They have high-quality, durable, and flexible materials.
- The forefront of the grip is ergonomically shaped so they fit your hand comfortably.
- Rustproof ferrule encases high-quality brush hairs
Price Range: $38 – 40
Link: https://amzn.to/3UQHcDd
Oak & Iron Expansion Deck – Volume 1
A 50-card upgrade deck includes 11 new Upgrades cards, 19 new generic Admiral cards, and 22 reprints of cards that had errata in update 1.01. This is a great way to add some depth to the game and it’s small enough to fit in a stocking like a standard deck of playing cards.
This deck contains:
- 21 Admiral Cards
- 3 Initiative Cards
- 26 Upgrade Cards
Price Range: $25
Link: https://bit.ly/3E7Mbsq
Warlord Black Seas “Scenery Pack”
Black Seas is a competitor to and is a slightly different scale of 1/700 vs 1/600 of Oak & Iron. However, a number of items in the set are fairly “generic” so the scale isn’t a total dealbreaker. Several players put them on the table and they look great. If you’d like to see the differences between the two games, check out our Oak & Iron vs. Black Seas review.
This is great gift to add some “cool factor” to the gaming table.
Price Range: $28
Link: https://amzn.to/3O0COPT
Star Fort Die Tray
A prepainted, flocked, fort similar to the one shown. 3D Printed fort on an MDF base. The center of the fort contains a layer of felt to reduce the noise and bounce of the dice. Each unit is hand painted and flocked so there may be some variance in color. It’s a great thematic dice tray that gets positive comments at nearly every game.
Price Range: $30 – 70
Link: https://bit.ly/3Gxd0JB
Firelock Games T-Shirt
The official T-shirt of the game. The front of the shirt features the first historically recorded Jolly Roger flag logo. It’s a great way to show your support for the game maker. It’s also a great conversation starter and way to reach out to other gamers who may recognize the logo/brand and talk about the game.
Price Range: $17
Link: https://bit.ly/3gaVakF
“Scurvy Dice” Game
A quick play (c. 15-45 min) beer and pretzels game for 2-4 players. You’ll play multiple rounds attempting to collect treasure. You can ally or thwart your opponent captains all while trying to avoid catching scurvy in a light-hearted game.
Slightly less “nerdy” than the miniatures game, it is a fun time for anyone who loves the pirate genre or board games.
Price Range: $30
Link: https://bit.ly/3AeUHVp
The Republic of Pirates book
One of my top recommended readings for those interested in the Golden Age of Piracy. It’s a historical non-fiction that sheds light on a lot of the events and famous figures in the era including Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, “Black Sam” Bellamy, and Charles Vane. Light reading with a quick pace. Enough factual stuff without being so much that it slips into boredom.
Price Range: $10
Link: https://amzn.to/3GbGsEJ
“Black Flags, Blue Waters” Book
This is another great book that blends history into mini tales of the famous rogues of the day. It’s an interesting read from a solid author and historian Eric Jay Dolin.
Price Range: $17
Link: https://amzn.to/3hAG4oR
Benerson Little’s Books
Benerson Little is an American author, that has written multiple books focusing on naval history, piracy, and privateering in the 17th & early 18th centuries, including the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean. His research has been used by Firelock Games in several of their products.
Price Range: $4-25
Link: https://amzn.to/3TDe8Ox
Stocking Stuffers & Gifts Under $10 for Oak & Iron Players
Pin Vise
A multi-purpose hand drill. This is a perfect tool for drilling a small hole in wood, plastic, rubber, PVC, & models. This tool is excellent for adding rigging to your Oak & Iron Ships. There is an “Oak & Iron Rigging How To” for rigging by Paul Kingtiger
Price Range: $9
Link: https://amzn.to/3E8krEd
An Extra Oak & Iron Dice Set
The core boxed set only comes with 6 Dice. If you expand into larger ships for the game, you will need more dice, or if you go nuts you can max out the 1st Rate Ship to 14 dice. If you have multiple players, having more dice saves having to pass them around or hunt for them on the game table between turns.
Price Range: $9
Link: https://bit.ly/3GlET6X
Card Sleeves
Playing the game slowly wears out your cards and ages the game faster. There are 3 sizes of cards for the game so there 3 different types of card sleeves to help keep the game cards from wear and tear. We have a full article on the sleeves you need and the benefits. But our top recommendations for what to buy are below
120x70mm Tarot Cards – Ship Stat Cards
Price Range: $10
Link: https://amzn.to/3g2Mo7U
Event Deck Card Sleeves
Price Range: $11
Link: https://amzn.to/3g2Mo7U
All the other cards: Initiative, Ship Upgrades, Admirals, etc
Price Range: $14
Link: https://amzn.to/3g2Mo7U
Our Top Christmas Gift Idea for Oak & Iron is:
Laser Level & Tape Measure Combo
This is a super handy tool for determining line of sight and broadside paths. It projects a red laser that you can line up at the edge of your ship base and clearly tell if a target is in range. If you play Blood & Plunder or other miniature games it also has a retractable tape measure on the other end so it’s a super handy multi-use tool.
Trust me, it looks odd, but this is one of those gadgety type gifts your wargamer is going to LOVE.
Price Range: $10
Link: https://amzn.to/3g4YOfT
BONUS SALE NEWS!
Oak & Iron 25% OFF SALE!
Firelock Games Black Friday and Cyber Monday Super Sale is ON! Get 25% off ALL ITEMS in stock (includes Blood & Plunder, Blood & Valor, and Blood & Steel)! Sale last through November 28th. The discount is auto-applied at checkout. This is the largest sale of the year so don’t miss out.
Shop here: https://www.firelockgames.com/
Additional Content Suggestions
- On the fence or new to the game check out our Oak & Iron Game Review: Core Box
- Want to give the rules a try before you buy? Oak & Iron Rulebook (PDF) & Glossary / Quick Reference Sheet