AAR - Frigate Action north of Algiers at 38°13'32“N and 2°41'54“E, 5th of March

After the original date for this game had to be postponed on short notice, finally got together for this game on 5th of March 2023. As two of the players needed to be at home in the evening, it would only be a one-round match.

As this was only our second meeting altogether, we used the Standard Rules with following Optional Rules being in effect: Let The Men Drink (can't do without it...), Entanglement, Continuous Fire, First Broadside, Boarding, Surrendered Ships. We forgot about Double Shot and misplayed First Broadside by using it only once per ship and not once per the ship's both sides.

To get more acquainted and familiar with maneuvering, we chose a frigate action, which would also allow „Capt. Ganzorro“ a first try of his newly bought Spanish frigate Ifigenia and my own („Lt. Bush“) yet unplayed British frigate HMS Mahonesa.


Ifigenia 1795 (Spanish) – Capt. Ganzorro:
Burthen 3, Veer 7, Sailing Profile A, Guns 34, Crew 288, Point Value 73

Courageuse 1778 (French) – Capt. Brugueler:
Burthen 3, Veer 7, Sailing Profile A, Guns 34, Crew 280, Point Value 74

HMS Mahonesa 1796 (British) – Lt. Bush (Acting Capt.):
Burthen 4, Veer 7, Sailing Profile K, Guns 36, Crew 260, Point Value 80

HMS Orpheus 1780, (British) – Capt. Heald:
Burthen 2, Veer 8, Sailing Profile C, Guns 32, Crew 220, Point Value 69


Point Values of both squadrons were almost identical with 147 for the French/Spanish and 149 for the British.

The scenario was the „Basic“ scenario „Enemy In Sight!“. In the pictures, top = south, bottom = north, right = west, left = east.


In the Mediterranean Sea north of Algiers at 38°13'32“N and 2°41'54“E, 5th of March in the afternoon a small British squadron consisting of the frigates HMS Mahonesa (36) and HMS Orpheus (32) was alerted by the lookout to two sails on the horizon. The British closed on a south-westerly course identifying the unknown vessels as a pair of enemy frigates, the French Courageuse (34) and the Spanish Ifigenia (34) on a north-westerly course with a fine breeze blowing from the east.

Turn 1:
All hands at battle stations, HMS Mahonesa attempting to maintain the weather gauge, while HMS Orpheus falling off a bit to the west with the intention to envelop the enemy frigates.


Turn 2:

Attachment 59246

French Courageuse holds her fire vs. HMS Mahonesa, who cannot bring her guns to bear yet. HMS Orpheus has just contrieved to bring herself into position for a raking shot and fires her first boadside at long range vs. Ifigenia. The Spanish frigate is lucky as only some shots hit home while most miss closely.


Turn 3:

Attachment 59243

HMS Mahonesa has maneuverd behind Courageuse, avoiding the covered arc of the French vessel's full broadside while bringing her own to bear for the first time at close range with devastating effects on the crew of Courageuse. Unfortunately, it turns out that HMS Mahonesa is just in long range of the full broadside of Ifigenia, thus there is a lot of incoming return-fire. Luckily for HMS Mahonesa, the sturdiest of all vessels, the damage can be accomodated in two damage boxes plus one Crew damage. Ifigenia is further able to fire long-range from its frontal covered arc at HMS Orpheus causing some hull damage.


Turn 4:

Attachment 59248

While Courageuse holds course, HMS Mahonesa deftly turns westward setting the French frigate up for a raking shot at long range using Continuous Fire causing some damage, while it cannot be targeted by any enemy fire. While Ifigenia has to reload both broadsides, HMS Orpheus fires through the rear covered ard at long range but draws to blanks. So far, Ifigenia has been lucky as only two of eight chit draws against her weren't zeroes.


Turn 5:

Attachment 59249

HMS Mahonesa is safely out of reach while reloading. Courageuse cannot target any British ship. The hot blooded Spanish Ifigenia cuts in front of Courageuse in order to deliver a full broadside at short range vs. HMS Orpheus. It appears as a collision might be immient next turn. But first, the Spanish cannon balls tear into HMS Orpheus. As Ifigenia has taken some damage before, she can draw only two damage chits, one of which is a zero. This could have been worse...

Turn 6:

Attachment 59254

To the great relief of the Spanish and French captains, both ships just contrieve to avoid a collision by the barest of margins. This comes at a price, though, as Ifigenia is taken aback, cannot fire and can only reload, while Courageuse, by avoiding her ally, exposed herself to a raking shot through the front at short range by HMS Orpheus, which caused significant hull damage. HMS Orpheus, pressed to avoid leaving the playing area, has to maneuver in a way that takes her aback as well. Meanwhile, HMS Mahonesa is now reaching on a north-westerly course to rejoin the battle.


Turn 7:

Attachment 59253

Courageuse has well maneuvered to punish HMS Orpheus with a full broadside to starboard and would likely have been in a good firing position against approaching HMS Mahonesa in the upcoming turn. However, in an audacious maneuver, HMS Orpheus successfully grapples the French frigate at the stern just as she tries to pull away. If that weren't enough, contiuously firing, grape and musketry fire mow down many more of Courageuse's crew. Luck shines on HMS Orpheus, as Courageuse's return fire could have been much worse and even the long-range assist by Ifigenia is of not much help. HMS Mahonesa keeps reaching towards the action. Prospects for Courageuse seem grim.


Turn 8:

Attachment 59252

Despite its crew having taken grievous losses, Courageuse does press for a boarding action courageously if not recklessly. While HMS Orpheus' hull has taken quite a beating, her crew is still at full strength. Both ships get Entangled.

Attachment 59251

Courageuse above.


Attachment 59250

HMS Orhpeus above.


Attachment 59255

Courageuse and HMS Orpheus continuously fire broadsides at each other, the former with ball, the latter once more with grape to decimate the crew. This and Musketry fire of both ships causes further horrible crew losses on both ships. HMS Mahonesa, intent on finishing off Courageuse this turn, fires at short range through the front covered arc but misses in the excitement. In turn HMS Mahonesa is missed by Ifigenia, who will be out of position to help her French ally.

There is hardly anyone alive on Courageuse, when her boarding party clashed with the much more numerous one from HMS Orpheus. And so, it is the British boarders who won while the Courageuse struck its colors.

Turn 9:

Attachment 59259

HMS Orpheus managed to disentangle from Courageuse now out of action and drifting in the sea. We might have mixed up something in the order here, as the British frigate would not have been able to move from its position in Turn 8 to this one in Turn 9, but I can't reconstruct exactly what we did. In any case, HMS Orpheus was making way to get to grips with the remaining enemy frigate Ifigenia. The same was fired at long-rage by HMS Mahonesa without effect.


Turn 10:

Attachment 59260

Meanwhile, darkness had set in and the ships were barely able to see each other. In order to return HMS Mahonesa's compliments, Ifigenia turned to the north-west to return a full broadside at long range but only causing minor damage. For the upcoming turn it appeared that the Spanish frigate might get sandwitched in between its British adversaries.


Turn 11:

Attachment 59261

And indeed this is, what happened: Ifigenia took fire from both British frigates, but she returned fire with everything she had and contrieved to almost dish out as much damage as she got. As night had decended, the battle was suspended at this point. Ifigenia was reaching away on a north-westerly course into the gloom, leaving the field to the British frigates including their prize Courageuse.

Final Reckoning:

Attachment 59262

Courageuse above.


Attachment 59263

Ifigenia above.


Attachment 59264

HMS Mahonesa above.


Attachment 59265

HMS Orpheus above.


The outcome was a tactical victory for the Royal Navy.

Courageuse was unfortunate to receive massive damage to her crew, while her hull was still half intact when she surrendered. Ifigenia's hull was comparably battered as that of her Spanish consort, but she had lost less than half of her crew when she slinked off into the covering darkness.

The crew of HMS Mahonesa was still in good shape, while her hull had taken about half of the damage she could bear. HMS Orpheus was beaten up badly, but more than half of her crew was still on duty.

As all ships were frigates, the damage they had incurred had reduced the punch of their broadsides significantly. Consequently, it would probably have taken out several more turns to take any of the surviving ships out by gunfire alone and musketry fire would have been a greater danger. Altogether, the British frigates could still summon up roughly double the firepower of Iphigenia and likely more cumulative opportunities to fire.


Lessons Learned:

1. The audacious Cpt. Brugueler of Courageuse stated that running a frigate is a much more fragile affair than 3rd rate ship of the line.
2. All captains appreciated the excellent veer and maneuverability of the frigates.
3. It was noted, that the frigates lose gunnery punch very quickly, even against each other, rendering them almost ineffective. That said, the SoG system is likely coming to its limits if it would attempt to represent smaller vessels, as desirable their addition would basically appear.
4. While the burthen of ships in the SoG system can effectively regulate the amount of physical damage a ship can take, there seems to be no such mechanism for crew damage. The sloop Alligator has a crew of 125 and 7 boxes for crew damage, i.e. one box represents roughly 18 men. The big 1st rate Royal George has a crew of 850 and 12 boxes of crew damage, i.e. one box represents roughly 71 men. So the ratio of crew represented per box for these two ships is almost 1:4 !! However, the chances to pull a damage chit for crew damage is the same for both vessels. In other words, the „method“ to take out big ships is to try taking out the crew, while the tactic to get rid of small ones is to go for physical damage. Is this „crew imbalance“ addressed somehow? Are we missing something?

Lt. Bush

A very interesting shot by shot AAR Lt Bush.
I have found that in the unusual event of a Frigate vs 74 action the disparity in crew efficiency id of little consequence because the Frigate seldom lasts more than a couple of rounds. Remember that the crewmen do not really represent actual figures, but rather the deminishing ability to run the ship. If you want to look it as casualty depletion I suppose you could say that it is easier for a Frigate to hit a 74s larger crew than for them to hit a more spread out smaller crew in the first few rounds of fire, but that begs all sorts of question vis smaller balls and power to penetrate a heavier hull etc, so I would just take things as they are.

I also have personal issues about the way hand to hand strength is worked out, but that is a whole different musket ball game.:wink:

Generally we play with the rules we don't mind and alter the ones that we feel are disputable, such as the collision ones for enemy ships.

Rob.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bligh

A very interesting shot by shot AAR Lt Bush.
I have found that in the unusual event of a Frigate vs 74 action the disparity in crew efficiency id of little consequence because the Frigate seldom lasts more than a couple of rounds. Remember that the crewmen do not really represent actual figures, but rather the deminishing ability to run the ship. If you want to look it as casualty depletion I suppose you could say that it is easier for a Frigate to hit a 74s larger crew than for them to hit a more spread out smaller crew in the first few rounds of fire, but that begs all sorts of question vis smaller balls and power to penetrate a heavier hull etc, so I would just take things as they are.

I also have personal issues about the way hand to hand strength is worked out, but that is a whole different musket ball game.:wink:

Generally we play with the rules we don't mind and alter the ones that we feel are disputable, such as the collision ones for enemy ships.

Rob.

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Thank you for the Reputation, Admiral.

With regard to the "men per damage box representation":

The larger the difference of the ships crew, the more pronounced the issue becomes.

But indeed, usually, you will not attack a 1st rate ship of the line with a sloop & vice versa because both vessels will likely have more important matters to care for. And if the size of the crews are more even, so is the representation of damage counters.

So the issue might be of little practical relevance.

Yet, it is interesting to ponder it:
Let's say you have a 1st rate worth 200 points. Would 5 sloops worth 40 points stand any chance?

Assuming they try to outmaneuver the 1st rate and use one of their number to block LOS for the others to hide behind and emerge for cumulative suicidal close-in grape/musketry shots, trying to grapple/freeze the "big one" in place and even attempt boarding?

Likely the manouvering of the sloops would be too challenging to pull it off by themselves. But possibly one or two sloops might be sufficient to do the "freezing" while other larger vessels then take advantage of it.

I concede, that all this is far away from any historical tactics. I am just thinking what could be attempted within the scope of the rules.

Lt. Bush

A charming battle!

Here's my solution for small ships.

https://www.sailsofglory.org/entry.p...Weight-of-Shot

It strikes me that ships with a -2 also halve there crew damage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dobbs

A charming battle!

Here's my solution for small ships.

https://www.sailsofglory.org/entry.p...Weight-of-Shot

It strikes me that ships with a -2 also halve there crew damage.

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Thank you for the Reputation!

And as so often, your Weight of Shot approach is an interesting idea.

Lt. Bush

And my thanks for Reputation to you as well, Shadow Dragon.

Lt. Bush

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dobbs

A charming battle!

Here's my solution for small ships.

https://www.sailsofglory.org/entry.p...Weight-of-Shot

It strikes me that ships with a -2 also halve there crew damage.

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Good idea Dobbs. That means we can have a meaningful contest between a couple of Luggers without it being all over in minutes.

Rob.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by William Bush

And my thanks for Reputation to you as well, Shadow Dragon.

Lt. Bush

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You are most welcome, Lt Bush.

Great AAR Lt. Bush! :thumbsup:

As far as Dobbs' "Weight of Shot" rules are concerned, they're EXCELLENT and strongly recommended! I've been using them for years.

When it comes to crew size, I generally reduce the burden by half (rounded up for most, but rounded down for Brits due to their usually smaller crew strengths) when a ship's hands reaches "2". I also award a +1 per higher rate difference between opposing ships. For example:

Montagne 1st Rate with a burden of "6" vs. HMS Zealous 3rd Rate with a burden of "5" would yield a "8" (6 + 2 Rate difference) vs. "5".
If the HMS Zealous' Hands were down to "2", its boarding strength would be reduced to "2" (5 x 1/2 = 2 1/2 rounded down).
If, on the other hand, the Montagne's Hands were down to 2, its boarding strength would be reduced to "5" (6 x 1/2 = 3 + 2 Rate difference).

Granted, it's abstract; but then almost all of the combat in this game is abstract. The main thing is, it works and it's simple.

May the wind always come up from behind you!

Mike

Good to hear from you on this subject Mike. I agree with your feelings about Dobb's and the shot. I have been trying to justify the effect of guns mounted in fortifications with those carried by ships and the effective of weight differences plus the strengths of those fortifications when attacked by ships. From my reading it seems that the land based batteries were much to be feared even if only an emplaced field battery was involved. The forts Ares have seemto be sadly under strength in this respect even though large Citadel would sport anything up to and beyond 48 pounders. I am trying to sort out a suitable strength and firepower for my forts at Copenhagen presently with the understanding that three Frigates and a couple of Gunboats managed to supress it during the battle. Although the fort is known to have been armed with sixty odd guns no mention of caliber is given so getting a ballance is proving interesting.

Your solution to crew sizes is also one which I commend. Numbers for boarding actions have always given me some qualms, although I have offered myself the sop that the better trained British crews could punch above their weight when taking on the French or Spanish, However, this fudge will not hold water when it comes to the ships of the USA, and I suspect even the Dutch, so your method is one which I shall adopt forthwith.
Thanks for posting this.

Rob.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MWBell

Great AAR Lt. Bush! :thumbsup:

As far as Dobbs' "Weight of Shot" rules are concerned, they're EXCELLENT and strongly recommended! I've been using them for years.

When it comes to crew size, I generally reduce the burden by half (rounded up for most, but rounded down for Brits due to their usually smaller crew strengths) when a ship's hands reaches "2". I also award a +1 per higher rate difference between opposing ships. For example:

Montagne 1st Rate with a burden of "6" vs. HMS Zealous 3rd Rate with a burden of "5" would yield a "8" (6 + 2 Rate difference) vs. "5".
If the HMS Zealous' Hands were down to "2", its boarding strength would be reduced to "2" (5 x 1/2 = 2 1/2 rounded down).
If, on the other hand, the Montagne's Hands were down to 2, its boarding strength would be reduced to "5" (6 x 1/2 = 3 + 2 Rate difference).

Granted, it's abstract; but then almost all of the combat in this game is abstract. The main thing is, it works and it's simple.

May the wind always come up from behind you!

Mike

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Nothing better than to listen to the old tars!

Looking at Mr. Dobbs "Weight of Shot" rule and your Crew Size Boarding formula, it appears to be just what the doctor ordered...

I plan to use both rules as soon as I (and my fellow players) are a little more used to the rules - we've just used the Advanced Rules for the first time in our last engagement.

Cheers,
Lt. Bush

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bligh

I have been trying to justify the effect of guns mounted in fortifications with those carried by ships and the effective of weight differences plus the strengths of those fortifications when attacked by ships. From my reading it seems that the land based batteries were much to be feared even if only an emplaced field battery was involved. The forts Ares have seemto be sadly under strength in this respect even though large Citadel would sport anything up to and beyond 48 pounders.
Rob.

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Maybe the strength of the fortifications by ARES were "design for effect" rather than having a focus on historical accuracy.

If historically a number of frigates and gunboat were sufficient to suppress a certain coastal battery, then this could only be reflected within the rules framework of SoG with great difficulties.

I assume that most SoG games will not exceed 6 or maybe eight ships. The presence of a coastal battery on the playing area means that we have a "fixed" target, i.e. it is only the enemy ships that can move to engage it. To do so, these ships can only move in a restricted part of the playing area. As far as my - admittedly still very limited - experience goes, this is prone to collisions and other sorts of awkwardness.

So possibly, the lack of (historical) punch of the ARES coastal batteries may have been intentional for the sake of better playability?

Lt. Bush

Some things that I've considered for fort based artillery are 1) a lower broadside strength per gun total based on the idea that the guns are farther apart than on a ship and therefore less able to concentrate fire. 2) firing every third turn to reflect bigger guns and less training. 3) large Burden for forts, but a smaller number of overall damage boxes. 4) internal goodies affected by critical hits that impact functionality.

With that in mind Captain Kiwi popped over to help with a trial run of three Frigates of the same size as those which took part against the Trekrona Fort.

The Frigates close in.

Andy makes a slight Westing to bring his leading Frigate within range of the Fort.

the sixteen guns on one face of the fort open with a savage mauling of Terpschore.

Her reply is less impressive, but note the high rate of attrition amongst her gunners from flying shards?

As the Frigates plow on Terpschore now comes under fire from the battery in the main blockhouse.

The second ship now HMS Sybille now gets into the action and bombards the reloading guns without a reposte.

The third Frigate now also in range plasters the fort. Again note the attrition amongst the gunners.

Even Terpschore gets off another few shots whilst the forts gunners are struggling to load their oversized guns.

At this intermediate phase of the battle the three Frigates have caused this much damage to the fort.

Now in the most advantagous position with all three Frigates only under fire from two faces of the fort Andy drops anchor with his three Frigates.

HMS Bacchante now takes its first return fire from the reloaded fort.

at th same time Sybille returns fire.

Followed by Bucchante.

And Terpschore

The fort now replies again seeking to damage the 38 gun Bucchante still further, but without much success.

https://sailsofglory.org/attachment....id=59410&stc=1 Once more Sybelle gives a good account of herself. This time causing a fire to break out near one of the forts magazines.

Alull in the firing now takes place whilst all protagonists reload, AND THE fORTS FEW REMAINING TROOPS SET ABOUT CONTAINING THE FIRE!

The now reloaded Bucchante now fires again.

Swiftly followed by Terpschore who has the honour to deliver what proves to be the Coup de grace to the fort by setting yet another fire.

The Forts main battery replies and damage is done to Terpschore but too little too late to influence the outcome.

More fire is returned by Sybille which causes sufficient casualties amongst the garrison to prevent the further loading of guns as the remaining men are trying to put out the fires.

As the blaze gathers strength the fires rage out of control.

It is now time to invoke the explosion rule so the four chits are placed and shuffled.