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Originally, I didn't plan to include any combat in A Glorious Chance.

"Whaaa?" you say, "What kind of wargame has no combat?"

I didn't think think my game needed one. It was intended to be a player aid for tactical age of sail miniatures; a scenario generator that provided a historical framework, a wider context, something merely to set the stage for battles that players would resolve with their favorite tactical game.

But as I designed ...

The British AI really kicked my spanker last night...
It was Test Game 2 of my Strategic Layer for A Glorious Chance.
As the U.S., I had Lake Control markers on all six lake zones (worth 1 VP per turn).
My effort to catch the British out on the lake and do battle came to naught last turn, so this time I tried a new tack:
I'm ahead, so no need to take unnecessary risks, I thought. Plus, with the super-corvette USS Pike still on the stocks, I'd better stay close to home ...

"What a glorious chance to have cut him off and become at once masters of the Lakes and all their naval force at one blow."

-- Capt. Arthur Sinclair USN, 4 July 1813

The Naval War of 1812 on the Great Lakes raged for years. But never were the U.S. and British squadrons so closely balanced, or the stakes so high, than in the summer of 1813.

Inspired by Dave Schueler's multiplayer tournament game, Lord of the Lakes," A Glorious Chance is a card-assisted ...

The squadron

The signal "All captains come aboard" had been hoisted from the mizzen mast of the first rate ship of the line, HMS Queen Charlotte and a course of action had been decided and delegated. It was followed by a dinner that had reached the desserts. Commodore Croft, the host of the evening, turned to Harrington.
- "Your capture did save us a lot of trouble, Harrington! Now we have an idea of what the french is up ...

His mission, searching for a messenger's ship, would by some frigate captains be considered boring work, but for Commander Peter Harrington it was a welcome change from his blockade duty. It was a frigate called Courageuse, a 32 gun ship as his own HMS Castor, and it had been sighted sailing for those waters. But the weather had worsened and before the sun set a heavy fog had rolled in. Despite a steady wind, the fog had stubbornly clung to the ship all ...