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2015 Solo Mission - Duty and Daring
Captain Arthur Wooly, the newly assigned captain of HMS Cleopatra, was not sure what to expect when he opened his sealed orders the night before directing him to sail south along the French coast to find and assist the 100-gun HMS Jaguar that had been severely damaged during a fleet action. He certainly did not expect to see what he did as he focused his glass; the mighty first-rate Jaguar, the largest ship assigned to the squadron, drifting uncontrollably towards a set of notorious reefs and shoals along the coast, two of its three masts mere stumps and the third gone altogether. Wooly had been pleased to be pulled from the monotony of picket duty, but now that he saw the drifting hulk, he was afraid that he would be blamed if he could not rescue the ship before it hit the rocks.
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(The mat I use is larger than the standard SGN mat so the lighter blue sections represent the borders of the game area. I placed the 1st rate 14 ½ inches from the East edge as stated in the initial scenario. I did not see that the distance was modified to 9 ½ inches until after I completed the scenario).
The current was strong but the Cleopatra proved herself quite nimble in catching up to the Jaguar. To Captain Wooly’s chagrin, the first attempt to pass a hawser to the stricken vessel was unsuccessful (turn 3). With all hands, including the lookouts, intently watching the next attempt, which proved successful, the French 74-gun Aquilon appeared unnoticed seemingly out of nowhere off the starboard bow (turn 4).
“Mr. Barclay, get that lookout’s name, he shall be dealt with later,” yelled a furious Captain Wooly. But the damage was done, the Aquilon firing its fore guns, raking the bow of the Jaguar with a well-placed volley.
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The Cleopatra moved to the front of the Jaguar taking in the slack in the tow line and firing a volley of its own on the Aquilon.
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Capitaine LeClerc laughed at the feeble guns of the frigate and rethought his tactics. Initially he was planning to sweep along the reefs pounding the Jaguar with its broadsides and then turning into the wind if needed to finish off the British 1st rate with a stern rake. But now, seeing the impotence of the English frigate and the amount of damage his ship had already inflicted on the Jaguar, he decided he would try and take them both and turned towards the enemy ships unleashing a devastating broadside on the Cleopatra. What he had not anticipated with the response of the Jaguar.
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In a twist of fate, the ferocity of the French broadside actually helped the British by severing the tow rope which caused the Jaguar to drift into the Aquilon, the two ships becoming entangled. And, Captain Wooly finding his ship free of the constraints of the tow, brought the larboard guns to bear. Marines from the entangled ships sought out targets on the enemy deck and a see-saw battle between the two boarding parties erupted causing mass carnage amongst both crews including Capitaine LeClerc who mumbled “c’est la vie, c’est la guerre,” before expiring on the bloody deck .
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The two ships remained entangled and drifted with the current, the Aquilon striking the reef. The crew of both ships continued to melee until the French sailors, seeing their capitaine dead, surrendered. (Both ships lost the remaining crew box on the same round so I rolled a random d6 that resulted in the French surrender – quite convenient for the story I know but that was the true result of the roll.)
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The Aquilon continued to languish on the reef as the Cleopatra slowly came around flying minimum canvas in order to reestablish the tow.
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The hawser now secure, Captain Wooly turned to 1st Lieutenant Barclay, “Lieutenant take enough men with you to cut the two ships free. Leave some on the Jaguar but take enough with you onto the Aquilon so you can sail her off the reef. I want you to take her back to England. Oh, and Lieutenant Barclay I would keep those French colors handy, you might need them to slip past the enemy, you won’t have enough of the company with you to man the guns. Good luck.”
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Captain Arthur Wooly – RTP – Completed Tow Mission – Captured Aquilon
Captain LeClerc - KIA
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