Trafalgar scenario part 2 of 3 THE ROYAL SOVEREIGN CLOSES ON THE ENEMY LINE

[Cpt Kangaroo]

Please see the thread
http://www.sailsofglory.org/showthre...afalgar-anyone
For a background.


The Royal Sovereign closing with the Santa Ana and the Fougueux.




(MORE INFO TO COME...)

[DJensen]

Captain;

I liked your idea of breaking up the battle into key segments and played this one out using Flying Colors. I used these ships:

British: Royal Sovereign (98), Belle Isle (74), Mars (74) and Tonnant (80)
Spanish: Santa Ana (112), San Justo (74) and Monarca (74)
French: Fougueux (74) and Indomptable (80)

Here are some views from the action:

The initial set up





The British approach the line, the first shots are fired, and Royal Sovereign and Fougueux start to take damage



Royal Sovereign and Belle Isle pass through the Spanish/French line, raking Santa Ana and Fougueux





Fougueux moves up to support Santa Ana and Royal Sovereign and Belle Isle are heavily engaged by three ships







Tonnant joins the battle and rakes Indomptable and Monarca as they move up to support Santa Ana and Fougueux



Having been raked several times and then catching fire in close action, Fougueux sinks



Santa Ana is isolated and pounded by Royal Sovereign and Mars and Belle Isle is put out off action after having been heavily damaged as it pass through the line and then was engaged by several ships



Royal Sovereign leaves the Santa Ana to be boarded and captured by Mars and moves to support Belle Isle



With their flagship taken and the remaining ships heavily damaged, the French/Spanish move to break off



It took less than two hours to set this up and play and was a fun game. The end results were:

Santa Ana was captured; Fourgueux was sunk; and Indomptable, San Justo and Monarca were all heavily damaged
Belle Isle was wrecked but stayed a float; Royal Sovereign was heavily damaged; and Mars and Tonnant were only lightly damaged

Thanks for the idea for the scenario.

David

[Cpt Kangaroo]

David, First it has to be said: you have a very nice collection of very high quality ships. Impressive and I am jealous to say the least.

I am glad you enjoyed the scenario, it looks to me that it went as I had hoped.

A couple of questions if you please...

In hind sight, how likely do you think that the battle could have gone either way?

We are still awaiting the new game system, so we don't quite know how powerful the firing will be and at what range. What distance apart did you start them at and why. When I set up the original battle, I started them out just out of range.

Did you restrict any of the allies first movement? I can see an astute Admiral closing the gap and refusing the British line. That would have created some interesting alternative results.

Regardless, you achieved the most important goal, an enjoyable game!

Would you play it again, would you make any changes, and would you expect different results.

(Actually, isn't that the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. )

Thank you for sharing with us.

Will you be trying the other two?

[DJensen]

Thanks for the compliment on the ships. I had just finished painting a British 98 and a French 80 and this gave me a chance to use them. I thought I replied to your post days ago but it looks like it didn't get uploaded.

The battle could have gone the other way. Two British ships were heavily damaged and a bit of luck could have made the difference. I had the French and Spanish fire low which probably made a difference.

I used the set up positions from the scenario in Flying colors, which put the British just out of range. I moved the Monarca up a few hexes because I thought it was more or less out of the fight. Even though I moved it up, it stated out of command range and that hindered its movement. Had it been closer it could have provided some much needed support.

I was testing out the Flying Colors system so I didn't try to maneuver the allies away. Given the movement system And starting positions, I don't they would have been able to do much before the British hit them. I would considered starting the British a bit farther away so the allies could try to form up better.

I'm planning on doing your first scenario and adding a few more ships, 8 allies and 5 or 6 British. I'm trying to come up with better starting positions than are in the Flying Colors scenario so the allies have some more options at the start. I'm also considering having the allies fire high, or randomly switch between high and low instead of always firing low.

I will try to post more pictures if I am able to play this out.