fredmiracle
06-25-2014, 10:32
Solo game, intended to kick the tires on the poorly trained crews & gunners rules to see if they captured the mismatch between British and French combat performance during the Napoleonic wars.
Setup
The idea is that this is a small melee within a larger fleet battle. Here Le Swiftsure, Commerce de Marseilles and Fougueux (me) are in a ragged battle line, with HMS Queen Charlotte and HMS Bellerophon (AI) bearing down on them. The wind is coming along the diagonal from the upper-left.
A mismatch? Actually by the points system, it's exactly even at 350 points (note: I'm assuming Queen Charlotte was miscosted at 200, and should have been 190). To balance things, the French ships have Gunners and Sailors Lacking Training. The British ships have Well Trained Gunners and Hold Fast. Of course the French are also saddled with me as admiral, so that's a potential negative.
Let's see what happens...
10323
Turn 1
Le Swiftsure increases sail and starts to tack to get back to the battle zone. The other ships move forward. The two flagships are just out of range.
10324
Turn 2
The British (AI) veer to starboard. This allows Queen Charlotte to get off a partial broadside. However, Commerce de Marseilles fires its full broadside, and Fougueux manages a solid rake at extreme long range. 17 A chits takes some of the starch out of Queen Charlotte's sails.
10325
Turn 3
The French admiral (me) had somehow imagined Le Swiftsure swooping in front of Commerce de Marseilles. Unfortunately Swiftsure came into the wind too early and is now taken aback. Commerce de Marseilles continues on a straight course, in order to clear way for Le Swiftsure.
While Fougueux's ill-trained crew hasn't even started the laborious process of reloading its port broadside, Queen Charlotte's well trained gunners roll out their guns for another shot immediately. Unfortunately it's another partial broadside, but it does a bit more damage to Commerce de Marseilles.
10326
Turn 4
The admirable coordination of the British force finally fails, as Bellerophon lags behind. Commerce de Marseilles starts an extended process of wearing, while Le Swiftsure tries to get on its new tack and avoid missing stays. This leaves Fougueux and Queen Charlotte isolated.
Fougueux's gunners have finally begun to load their guns. Meanwhile Queen Charlotte's men run across to the starboard side and unleash another broadside. By a bare margin all guns can be brought to bear. Fougueux shudders and a leak opens up.
10327
Turn 5
Commerce de Marseilles has essentially removed itself from the battle for an extended period. Boy those first rates turn slowly! Le Swiftsure begins to gain headway again, while Fougueux has to spill wind to avoid hitting Queen Charlotte (I had an incredible run of colliding ships not getting entangled).
Fougueux fires a partial broadside to starboard which, along with heavy musketry volleys, decimates Queen Charlotte's crew. To all appearances she can't last much longer. Meanwhile Bellerophon comes in range for a long range salvo. It starts a fire on Fougueux, for which the crew wasn't ready, as her combat efficiency quickly starts to erode.
10328
Turn 6
The British have broken through and gained a leeward position.
This is when it all comes apart for Fougueux. She has to continue to lose way as Le Swiftsure cuts across her bow. This leaves her caught in a crossfire between Queen Charlotte and the rapidly working gunners of Bellerophon. A mast is toppled, her crew continues to fight the fire, and she stands on the brink of surrender.
10329
Turn 7
A critical moment in the battle.
Fougueux limps ahead, trying to gain some space to remedy some of the problems on board. The fire is out, and the leak is sealed, but much water is in the hold. Bellerophon manages to expose her starboard broadside and fires another damaging shot at Fougueux. This alone wouldn't have killed her, but the poorly trained crew has also been unable to pump out water as ordered. Together these finish the ship, and she is forced to strike.
Meanwhile Le Swiftsure has lined herself up for a punishing raking shot on Bellerophon. 8 B chits might turn the undamaged ship into an inferno in a minute. However, the green crew has failed to prime the cannons properly, and not a single one goes off. Even Swiftsure's musketry has no appreciable effect. Bellerophon remains unscathed.
Far from the battle, Commerce de Marseilles men swill grog and try to regain their courage to come to the aid of their countrymen. The survivors of Queen Charlotte's crew pump out water and repair the ship as best they can.
10330
Turn 8
With Le Swiftsure's golden opportunity lost, Bellerophon now passes astern, and her veteran crew is sure not to pass up their chance. It just misses being a true raking shot, but it is deadly nonetheless, starting a leak.
This time it's Queen Charlotte's men who pass around mugs of grog. On Commerce de Marseilles the captain orders sails increased to try to get back to the fray more quickly, but the tipsy crew ignores the order.
10331
Turn 9
Bellerophon turns a nifty maneuver, having come up into the wind and now letting the ship fall off again to remain behind Le Swiftsure. Fortunately for the French, her gunners are still reloading the cannons.
Meanwhile Le Swiftsure's inept carpenter bumbles around without even starting to fix the leak which is filling the ship with water. At least her crew does manage a ragged long range volley toward Queen Charlotte, but it has little effect.
10332
Turn 10
Seemingly unable to do two things at once, Swiftsure's men finally start fixing leaks, but now they forget to reload their cannons. Time is running short for this ill-starred ship. Fortunately for her neither Bellerophon nor Queen Charlotte have a shot at her, but they are converging ominously.
10333
Turn 11
Things continue to go wrong for the French. Queen Charlotte's survivors sight their guns carefully at Le Swiftsure. It's not a true rake, but it tells, starting a second leak. Meanwhile, at long range, Bellerophon does have an ideal raking shot at Commerce de Marseilles, and it is even more punishing. It starts a leak, and takes down the foremast and mainmast, leaving the French flagship virtually unmanageable.
Le Swiftsure's men find that they have let the powder in their muskets get wet, and are unable to make any reply.
10334
Turn 12
Queen Charlotte has lost way and drifts backward. Le Swiftsure moves gingerly to avoid her, bringing her under the guns of both British ships. Swiftsure's men can't fire anymore, as they are frantically dealing with leaks. Under the new barrage her captain sees no choice but to strike his colors.
Commerce de Marsellies uses her remaining headway to turn and take a shot at Bellerophon, to little effect.
10335
Turn 13
Queen Charlotte continues to make sternway while coming onto a new tack. Le Swiftsure coasts to a stop while Bellerophon tries to avoid the jam-up.
Commerce de Marseilles, barely sailable and headed into the wind, is in irons. She takes additional damage from Bellerophon. Meanwhile, in a common story of the battle, the crew flounders ineffectually trying to find the leak in the hold.
10336
Turn 14
For the first time in the battle, a ship is entangled, as Queen Charlotte's rigging gets knotted with the bowsprit of Le Swiftsure. Commerce de Marseilles continues to drift helplessly backward, into range of a deadly full broadside from Queen Charlotte.
10337
Turn 15
Under mizzenmast alone, Commerce de Marseilles finally gets some headway. Queen Charlotte frees herself from Le Swiftsure and continues to swing around. This frees up space for Bellerophon to move in front of Commerce de Marseilles.
The French flagship has finally gotten its port guns reloaded, and manages to fire partial volleys at both British ships, as well as a musketry fusilade. The British take significant damage, with a leak and a fire on Bellerophon, and a mast down on Queen Charlotte. But given the weakened condition of Commerce de Marseilles, it's simply too little, too late. One more horrifying rake from the almost untouched Bellerophon, coupled with killing British musket fire, creates massive carnage among Commerce de Marseilles's remaining crew. Demoralized, the French admiral surrenders his fleet.
10338
Thoughts
I felt like this match was a tour de force for Sails of Glory. Granted, I seem to have made a real hash-up of maneuvering the French fleet. Yet still it seemed very like the actions one reads about from the time, and led to similar results. One can imagine the British feeling, rightly, that it was a close and bloody battle, despite being very lopsided in the result. And one can imagine the French shaking their heads and wondering how they lost.
Admittedly the poorly-trained crew rules are not a heck of a lot fun to play with. But they seem to have just the proper effect. The critical missed opportunities, the eternity spent reloading each broadside, the inept efforts to repair damage--it's all there. There's also the moral dimension--I started to feel my crews were useless as I struggled to overcome their deficiencies. Just like a real French admiral!
Setup
The idea is that this is a small melee within a larger fleet battle. Here Le Swiftsure, Commerce de Marseilles and Fougueux (me) are in a ragged battle line, with HMS Queen Charlotte and HMS Bellerophon (AI) bearing down on them. The wind is coming along the diagonal from the upper-left.
A mismatch? Actually by the points system, it's exactly even at 350 points (note: I'm assuming Queen Charlotte was miscosted at 200, and should have been 190). To balance things, the French ships have Gunners and Sailors Lacking Training. The British ships have Well Trained Gunners and Hold Fast. Of course the French are also saddled with me as admiral, so that's a potential negative.
Let's see what happens...
10323
Turn 1
Le Swiftsure increases sail and starts to tack to get back to the battle zone. The other ships move forward. The two flagships are just out of range.
10324
Turn 2
The British (AI) veer to starboard. This allows Queen Charlotte to get off a partial broadside. However, Commerce de Marseilles fires its full broadside, and Fougueux manages a solid rake at extreme long range. 17 A chits takes some of the starch out of Queen Charlotte's sails.
10325
Turn 3
The French admiral (me) had somehow imagined Le Swiftsure swooping in front of Commerce de Marseilles. Unfortunately Swiftsure came into the wind too early and is now taken aback. Commerce de Marseilles continues on a straight course, in order to clear way for Le Swiftsure.
While Fougueux's ill-trained crew hasn't even started the laborious process of reloading its port broadside, Queen Charlotte's well trained gunners roll out their guns for another shot immediately. Unfortunately it's another partial broadside, but it does a bit more damage to Commerce de Marseilles.
10326
Turn 4
The admirable coordination of the British force finally fails, as Bellerophon lags behind. Commerce de Marseilles starts an extended process of wearing, while Le Swiftsure tries to get on its new tack and avoid missing stays. This leaves Fougueux and Queen Charlotte isolated.
Fougueux's gunners have finally begun to load their guns. Meanwhile Queen Charlotte's men run across to the starboard side and unleash another broadside. By a bare margin all guns can be brought to bear. Fougueux shudders and a leak opens up.
10327
Turn 5
Commerce de Marseilles has essentially removed itself from the battle for an extended period. Boy those first rates turn slowly! Le Swiftsure begins to gain headway again, while Fougueux has to spill wind to avoid hitting Queen Charlotte (I had an incredible run of colliding ships not getting entangled).
Fougueux fires a partial broadside to starboard which, along with heavy musketry volleys, decimates Queen Charlotte's crew. To all appearances she can't last much longer. Meanwhile Bellerophon comes in range for a long range salvo. It starts a fire on Fougueux, for which the crew wasn't ready, as her combat efficiency quickly starts to erode.
10328
Turn 6
The British have broken through and gained a leeward position.
This is when it all comes apart for Fougueux. She has to continue to lose way as Le Swiftsure cuts across her bow. This leaves her caught in a crossfire between Queen Charlotte and the rapidly working gunners of Bellerophon. A mast is toppled, her crew continues to fight the fire, and she stands on the brink of surrender.
10329
Turn 7
A critical moment in the battle.
Fougueux limps ahead, trying to gain some space to remedy some of the problems on board. The fire is out, and the leak is sealed, but much water is in the hold. Bellerophon manages to expose her starboard broadside and fires another damaging shot at Fougueux. This alone wouldn't have killed her, but the poorly trained crew has also been unable to pump out water as ordered. Together these finish the ship, and she is forced to strike.
Meanwhile Le Swiftsure has lined herself up for a punishing raking shot on Bellerophon. 8 B chits might turn the undamaged ship into an inferno in a minute. However, the green crew has failed to prime the cannons properly, and not a single one goes off. Even Swiftsure's musketry has no appreciable effect. Bellerophon remains unscathed.
Far from the battle, Commerce de Marseilles men swill grog and try to regain their courage to come to the aid of their countrymen. The survivors of Queen Charlotte's crew pump out water and repair the ship as best they can.
10330
Turn 8
With Le Swiftsure's golden opportunity lost, Bellerophon now passes astern, and her veteran crew is sure not to pass up their chance. It just misses being a true raking shot, but it is deadly nonetheless, starting a leak.
This time it's Queen Charlotte's men who pass around mugs of grog. On Commerce de Marseilles the captain orders sails increased to try to get back to the fray more quickly, but the tipsy crew ignores the order.
10331
Turn 9
Bellerophon turns a nifty maneuver, having come up into the wind and now letting the ship fall off again to remain behind Le Swiftsure. Fortunately for the French, her gunners are still reloading the cannons.
Meanwhile Le Swiftsure's inept carpenter bumbles around without even starting to fix the leak which is filling the ship with water. At least her crew does manage a ragged long range volley toward Queen Charlotte, but it has little effect.
10332
Turn 10
Seemingly unable to do two things at once, Swiftsure's men finally start fixing leaks, but now they forget to reload their cannons. Time is running short for this ill-starred ship. Fortunately for her neither Bellerophon nor Queen Charlotte have a shot at her, but they are converging ominously.
10333
Turn 11
Things continue to go wrong for the French. Queen Charlotte's survivors sight their guns carefully at Le Swiftsure. It's not a true rake, but it tells, starting a second leak. Meanwhile, at long range, Bellerophon does have an ideal raking shot at Commerce de Marseilles, and it is even more punishing. It starts a leak, and takes down the foremast and mainmast, leaving the French flagship virtually unmanageable.
Le Swiftsure's men find that they have let the powder in their muskets get wet, and are unable to make any reply.
10334
Turn 12
Queen Charlotte has lost way and drifts backward. Le Swiftsure moves gingerly to avoid her, bringing her under the guns of both British ships. Swiftsure's men can't fire anymore, as they are frantically dealing with leaks. Under the new barrage her captain sees no choice but to strike his colors.
Commerce de Marsellies uses her remaining headway to turn and take a shot at Bellerophon, to little effect.
10335
Turn 13
Queen Charlotte continues to make sternway while coming onto a new tack. Le Swiftsure coasts to a stop while Bellerophon tries to avoid the jam-up.
Commerce de Marseilles, barely sailable and headed into the wind, is in irons. She takes additional damage from Bellerophon. Meanwhile, in a common story of the battle, the crew flounders ineffectually trying to find the leak in the hold.
10336
Turn 14
For the first time in the battle, a ship is entangled, as Queen Charlotte's rigging gets knotted with the bowsprit of Le Swiftsure. Commerce de Marseilles continues to drift helplessly backward, into range of a deadly full broadside from Queen Charlotte.
10337
Turn 15
Under mizzenmast alone, Commerce de Marseilles finally gets some headway. Queen Charlotte frees herself from Le Swiftsure and continues to swing around. This frees up space for Bellerophon to move in front of Commerce de Marseilles.
The French flagship has finally gotten its port guns reloaded, and manages to fire partial volleys at both British ships, as well as a musketry fusilade. The British take significant damage, with a leak and a fire on Bellerophon, and a mast down on Queen Charlotte. But given the weakened condition of Commerce de Marseilles, it's simply too little, too late. One more horrifying rake from the almost untouched Bellerophon, coupled with killing British musket fire, creates massive carnage among Commerce de Marseilles's remaining crew. Demoralized, the French admiral surrenders his fleet.
10338
Thoughts
I felt like this match was a tour de force for Sails of Glory. Granted, I seem to have made a real hash-up of maneuvering the French fleet. Yet still it seemed very like the actions one reads about from the time, and led to similar results. One can imagine the British feeling, rightly, that it was a close and bloody battle, despite being very lopsided in the result. And one can imagine the French shaking their heads and wondering how they lost.
Admittedly the poorly-trained crew rules are not a heck of a lot fun to play with. But they seem to have just the proper effect. The critical missed opportunities, the eternity spent reloading each broadside, the inept efforts to repair damage--it's all there. There's also the moral dimension--I started to feel my crews were useless as I struggled to overcome their deficiencies. Just like a real French admiral!