First Broadside

[JackAubrey1805]

Do you use a house rule instead of the official "First Broadside" rule?

In our group, the following variant has proven itself for years:
Instead of generating a higher amount of damage by having more damage tokens, we go the route of hit probability...

The ship firing a First Broadside may replace up to two "0" markers with new markers.
(Optionally, the number can be adjusted based on the number of markers - but we generally take a maximum of 2 markers)
The first "0" markers drawn are retained and do not go back into the bag.If "0" markers are drawn again when drawing, these are of course valid!

This means that the first broadside cannot do more damage than the maximum. However, it is far more likely to deal more damage than a regular broadside.

[DeRuyter]

This is a good idea! :thumbsup:

[Dobbs]

:thumbsup: I concur. It is a good idea! This may well be replacing the official rule in our games.

One thing though; what if the firing player draws no 0's? Might he not feel cheated?

[JackAubrey1805]

How so? After all, he then caused at least 1 point of hull damage with every point of damage. We've always done it that way.
Optionally, one could also say that he may exchange up to two markers, no matter what the first result was. But I find that too powerful. The main thing is that you do damage at all!

[Bligh]

I like your idea Uwe.
I have always felt that the First Broadside rule was too powerful. If it happens to be a close range rake with double shot it can end a battle before it gets started properly. Not what you want if you have travelled miles to attend. as Dobbs says I will introduce it into my games from now on.

Rob.

[JackAubrey1805]

Great. That's why we share our experiences here in the forum. To make the game even better. Anyway, I want to add further options/variants to the house rules section.