AAR All at sea in the Indian Ocean.

[Bligh]

Preamble.

It should be noted that since your last visit to the Cape dear reader there have been several changes to the personnel and ships posted there.
Admiral Sir Joshua Pound is now Lord Pound of Mathurin KCB. following an action of the port on the Isle of Rodriguges which lost him an arm but ensured him the Governorship of the Cape.
As commander of the Squadron based at the Cape, is newly promoted, and now Commodore, Sir Josiah Pennyman, Pound’s Flag Captain, who distinguished himself at the battle, by leading the boarding attack in which the French Flagship was taken.
The Royal George having returned to England for repairs, the role of Squadron Flagship has devolved onto the newly arrived 80 gun HMS Tonnant under Pennyman’s Flag Captain Richard Stirling.
The Bellerophon 74, remains on station, now under the command of Captain Thomas Crown.
Also still based at the Cape are the Phoenix 74, still under Captain Joseph Porter,
and Superb 74, now commanded by Scottish Captain Douglas Noble.
Joining the squadron is the HMS Agamemnon 64, Captain Robert (Bob) Roberts, and the Frigate Juno, now under our old friend Captain George Farthing.
Amelia is still commanded by Captain Angus Groat.
Indefatigable has now returned from England having been razeed to a large, 38 under Captain Daniel Florrin.
Still on station is the Bomb Ketch Vulcan under Lieutenant Valentine Pony, and they are now joined by the Sloop HMS Beagle, under Commander John Quid,
And Cutter Naiad, Lieutenant Richard Bender.
These were the Captains hastily assembled by Sir Joshua when the battered Merchantman Pandora arrived with the news of the loss of her two accompanying consorts the Gladys and Richmond to a French Frigate two days previous to her encounter with the French Sloop Ceres, and the subsequent taking of the HEIC Aurora before Pandora managed to slip away during the height of the action.
Pennyman and his captains were now determined to put a stop to the French incursions in the Indian Ocean which constituted a real danger to British trade routes. With Sir Joshua’s blessing a strike force made up of Agamemnon, Indefatigable, Amelia and Juno set out from Cape Town to blockade the Isle de France.

[Bligh]

Departing Table bay.

[Bligh]

Rounding Robin Island.

[Baxter]

A magnificent sight Captain Bligh. Enough to put the wind up any Froggie.

[Bligh]

I hope so Gary.
Thanks for the Rep.
The full AAR will follow when I get time to clear for action!
Rob.

[Bligh]

AAR...ALL AT SEA IN THE INDIAN OCEAN.

Several days after Pandora’s Box was opened at the Cape, the Governor of Bombay was becoming disturbed about the fact that HEIC Aurora had not returned from her cruise. After a further week had gone by he decided to dispatch the Frigate HEIC Bombay under Captain Geoffrey Smithers to try and trace what had become of her. After several weeks of trawling Aurora’s patrol area in what was becoming a fruitless exercise Captain Smithers decided that as the wind was set fair for the the Isle de France he would take a peak in that direction before returning empty handed to Bombay.

[Bligh]

It was several days later at the end of the morning watch that the lookout hailed the deck with the news that two sails had been spotted hull down on the horizon.

[Bligh]

A while later and the ships could be recognised for what they were, a Corvette to Starboard and a Frigate to the Port of the Bombay. With the wind in his favour Captain Smithers could see that the ships were sporting French colours and decided to account for the smaller ship first before the Frigate could come up. He, therefore, instructed the ships Master Mr. McKenzie to alter course to intercept the Corvette.

[Vagabond]

Another excellent tale of derring do, congratulations to Captain Smithers for a well deserved victory.

Was the last frigate to arrive a literary ploy or part of the scenario, and also was this a solo game again? The tension was racking up at each new interjection, if that's the word I mean to use. Yet another enjoyable battle.
Thanks for the story.

[Bligh]

Very astute comment John.
The arrival of Juno was both a part of the scenario and a literary ploy. It was intended to marry up the Prologue of the Cape squadron being deployed with the search of the HEIC for their missing ship, ans also as a safty net for Smithers if things turned against him. I was not at all sure if he could cope with all three enemy ships. The dice roll for wind at the start of the show was a great asset to Bombay as it slowed down the conjunction of the searching ships, otherwise he would have been accosted by at least two at the same time. By allowing him to turn South and deal with the first Sloop the odds became much better. Then it was just a matter of the draw of the chits and the AI roll of the dice.
You will find out more about the plot line when the two disparate parts of the team start working together.
Thanks for your comments.

Rob.

[Vagabond]

Juno's arrival worked well, I imagine Captain Smithers breathed a sigh of relief when he recognised the flag.

I'd not noticed before but are you using a new backdrop? Also I meant to say that the fire and smoke effects looked good. I played my first sails game for ages a few days ago and one of the ships caught fire and I used my wings fire effects when I took the photo. I thought at the time I needed something more sails oriented.
Cheers

[Bligh]

You might find this interesting John.

https://www.sailsofglory.org/content...g-ship-on-fire

I have made a few changes since I wrote this. The base is now a standard Ares one and the earring battery fits through to lower the light without bending it. I also replace the masts and sails after fitting the light so that the ships which get the fire under control can proceed without suddenly looking repaired. That first construction was to simulate a sinking ship with no return to the game such as Orient at the Nile. I have yet to devise a method of producing an exploding ship.

Rob.

[Bligh]

Here are a few shots of ships on fire John.
I can't see this one recovering!



The nearest I have got to an explosion.







This one just has the light pushed in between the sails on a standard model as an optional way to do yout fires.





Rob.

[Vagabond]

The led light looks remarkably effective. My expert on earings says she's never heard of led ones. I'll have to investigate further.

I did find a couple of cheap duplicate ships that I was going to experiment with, one I've repainted to see if it was an improvement, next step with it is to try rigging. The other I was going to cut off the peg and see if I could use magnets to attach it to the clear base and paper removing the thick blue base which I really don't like. If that failed it was to become a wreck.

Thanks for the pointer on the fire, very impressive.

[Bligh]

Here are a few of my wrecks John. I am painting the edges blue now like the one top right. It reflects the blue of the mat better through the perspex.
I will look up the place I got the led Earrings for you. It might well have been Amazon.




Rob.