The USS Constitution teaser is up at Ares

[fredmiracle]

http://www.aresgames.eu/14092

[Nightmoss]

http://www.aresgames.eu/14092

Thanks! The anticipation is building even more if that's possible?

[7eat51]

Where is the Captain Isaac Hull card?

[fredmiracle]

I'm drawn to try to parse a few advance details from the sparse data in the article...

The USS Constitution Special Ship Pack includes game data of two different versions of the ship: USS Constitution (1798), soon after her launch, and USS Constitution (1812), as equipped during the war against Great Britain.
...
The gaming stats of USS Constitution clearly show how powerful this class of frigates was – the armament and speed are a match for an English two-decker, but her maneuverability is similar to much smaller frigates, making her a fearsome opponent for any enemy ship.

"armament and speed a match for a two-decker"--this is an interesting statement. We already know it is burden 5, albeit maybe a hull box or two less. But is the gunnery really going to match a 3rd rate? That seems a stretch for 40-50 guns which max out at 24lbr. Maybe the carronades are used to justify it. Or maybe they are thinking of one of the smaller 2-deckers which may come out in a future wave, and it will be less than the 3rd rates we have now.

Then there's the thing about speed "matching" a 2-decker, but maneuverability like a frigate. This seems to suggest that the movement arrows will be a good bit shorter than Sybille, but it will have the sharp 1/9 turns. Overall the article seems to talk a good deal about Constitution being slow, so maybe that's to condition people not to expect her to move any faster than a 3rd rate...

In December 1809, Constitution was recommissioned to be refitted under the command of Rodgers, but he declared her a "slow sailer" and took command of USS President. ... Back to US in February 1812, the Constitution was overhauled to become faster and prepare for the imminent war.

So it sounds like the ship was redesigned to be "faster" in 1812. I believe some guns were removed. One might think that we should see two sailing decks for the two different versions of the ship, for a "less guns but better sailing" tradeoff; however in practice this seems unlikely.

[Naharaht]

Are the Captain cards double-sided, perhaps?

[Nightmoss]

It would be nice if Ares did an unboxing of the two ships? We know they have finished product in their hands because they were showing it at Nuremberg Toy Fair. It might answer some of your questions/speculation if they were willing to do it?

[Popsical]

Its nice to see the two captains are good, but not a patch on Nelson.
A lot of companies tend to try and big up characters to please different potential buyers at the expense of accuracy.
Well done so far Ares.

[Diamondback]

"armament and speed a match for a two-decker"--this is an interesting statement. We already know it is burden 5, albeit maybe a hull box or two less. But is the gunnery really going to match a 3rd rate? That seems a stretch for 40-50 guns which max out at 24lbr. Maybe the carronades are used to justify it. Or maybe they are thinking of one of the smaller 2-deckers which may come out in a future wave, and it will be less than the 3rd rates we have now.

The 1812 load was a total of around 60 bores including carronades.

From http://threedecks.org/index.php?disp...w_ship&id=2402 :
1798 Broadside Weight = 588 W012
Upper Gun Deck 30 American 24 Pounder
Spardeck 16 American 18 Pounder
Spardeck 14 American 12-Pounder

1812/08 Broadside Weight = 881 W012
Upper Gun Deck 30 American 24 Pounder
Spardeck 32 American 32-Pounder Carronade
Spardeck 1 American 18 Pound Carronade

1812/12 Broadside Weight = 616 W012
Upper Gun Deck 30 American 24 Pounder
Stern Chaser 2 American 24 Pounder
Spardeck 20 American 32-Pounder Carronade

Then there's the thing about speed "matching" a 2-decker, but maneuverability like a frigate. This seems to suggest that the movement arrows will be a good bit shorter than Sybille, but it will have the sharp 1/9 turns. Overall the article seems to talk a good deal about Constitution being slow, so maybe that's to condition people not to expect her to move any faster than a 3rd rate...

Which is awkward, because the design was basically a sail-era battlecruiser: "outrun anything you can't outgun, outgun anything you can't outrun".

So it sounds like the ship was redesigned to be "faster" in 1812. I believe some guns were removed. One might think that we should see two sailing decks for the two different versions of the ship, for a "less guns but better sailing" tradeoff; however in practice this seems unlikely.

Do remember, she'd spent at least from 1802 to 1807 in Ordinary in New York and Boston, and that usually meant some rebuilding to make ready for sea. Also the Humphreys 44s were known to have hogging problems and become crank over time, so I'd bet it was basically "back to design lines with some structural reinforcement." The same probably would have happened with 1814 Guerriere and Java, the Humphreys 44s' immediate descendants, had green wood not killed them first, and I'm not really sure what the verdict is on the third- and fourth-gen derivatives built in the 1820s-40s; haven't really looked into them since I've treated things as "End of Game World is end of 1815."

EDIT: So in a nutshell, she should be able to go even-money with a Portland 50 or slightly better on firepower, about comparable on speed or a little faster, handily outrun a 64 or bigger and bury anything Hebe-size or smaller that she can't outrun.