August 1776

[Dobbs]

The British fleet is in New York harbor. At an undisclosed location on the Hudson, just north of Manhattan, David Bushnell stands on the deck of the sloop Sally to observe the performance of his newest invention. A ship's cutter stands by in case Sergeant Ezra Lee encounters any complications in his novel endeavor.



The Turtle submerges!



Now, it's time to practice for the challenge ahead. HMS Eagle is lying off of Governor's Island, and in less than two weeks the moon and tide will be right for an attack.

[Dobbs]

The practices and mission shall follow.

Once I feel confident that my game mechanics for Turtle vs. Eagle are functional and fun, I will post them here for any who wish to give it a try.

[Bligh]

Superb Dobbs.
Just what we need to keep the Royal Navy on their toes. Swanning about in New York harbour indeed.

Bligh.

[Dobbs]

This mission is going to happen. New technologies like submersibles just take a little longer than anticipated.

Also, house projects in the real world getting in the way don't help, and I have a lot right now.

[Dobbs]

What follows is the first practice run of the Turtle. I've included some notes on the gaming mechanism I use to make the Turtle work. Sergeant Lee has three more practices before the real attempt in September.



Instead of cards, my system uses these rulers. The Points on the turning rulers are referring to the nautical use of points (11.25 degrees of arc)



For movement, the submarine get aligned to the ruler using the transverse white line.



Here’s an example of turning. The ruler is placed against the submarine. The Turtle moves at a slow pace, so it will only move to the end of the yellow box.



This is the Turtle’s position after movement at a speed of 1. It turned 2 points (22.5 degrees) and moved ahead at a slow pace for 1.



The test the previous day had demonstrated two things. First, that Bushnell’s incredible vessel actually worked as described and next, that Sergeant Ezra Lee wasn’t terrified to be inside the remarkable vehicle while submerged.
Tonight’s experiment was to determine if the audacious plan stood any chance of success. The merchant ship Molly Malone was anchored 3 cables from Bushnell’s sloop Sally. To make the first outing a little less impossible, the test had been arranged to happen at slack tide. Sgt. Lee would have twenty minutes to leave the Sally’s side, reach the Molly Malone, go through the motions of planting the torpedo, and get at least a half a cable away without being crippled by exhaustion.
Ezra squeezed through the narrow opening in the top of the submarine and settled on the seat that was more of a perch. In the dim glow of phosphorescence he ran his hands and feet over the various apparatus that gave the Turtle its unique abilities. He could do this. Committed, he reached up and dogged the hatch. It seemed almost immediately that Bushnell pounded on the copper cover, the signal that the test was beginning. Sitting on his perch, Ezra placed his feet on the treadle that controlled the water screw. Still sitting, he began to run in place. He could feel the motion of the submarine as it drew away from the Sally and he was on his own.







Ezra had thought when introduced to the craft that it looked more like a mechanical clam than a turtle. After five minutes of treadling away with the water screw, he was beginning to wonder if the name was chosen more because of the vessel’s speed rather than its appearance. In the darkness, it seemed like the loom of the Sally was still nearby while the Molly Malone was still almost impossibly far away. However, peering through the forward viewport, it was apparent that he was drawing closer to the next challenge. Ezra could just make out a small bit of darkness that must be the patrolling launch. He reached down to open the diving valve.





Movement on the surface is plotted each turn. Once the submarine dives, movement must be plotted one turn in advance, and once plotted for the next turn, but before the Turtle moves, a roll is made to see if a random current affects the vessel’s course.



The Turtle was now completely submerged and still moving forward. The success helped compensate for the unease of thinking what it meant. The softly glowing compass showed the heading that he had to follow, but without even the meager visibility that the glass ports provided on the surface, maintaining that heading was proving to be problematic.



A deeper darkness slid over the viewports. The Turtle was passing under the launch. Ezra couldn’t help but grin. It was exhausting, but maybe this really was possible. He glanced at the compass. A sly current had nudged the submarine off course. He kept treadling. A gentle twist of the tiller with his right hand moved the rudder to correct.



As you can see here, Ezra has been treadling at his maximum exertion for almost 10 minutes and has has burned through almost two thirds of his Exertion Points. What you can’t see is the number of random currents that have affected the submarine since it submerged. Probability was being rather unfair to Ezra.









Now inside the perimeter, to keep exhaustion at bay a little longer, Ezra reduced his efforts to drive the Turtle forward. Besides, slowing down seemed to make it easier to correct for the vagaries of submerged currents. The stress was starting to build that he might miss his target completely.



Ezra swore he could feel the loom of the ship’s hull nearby. A glimpse through the forward and starboard ports showed a difference in the submerged darkness. He was alongside the Molly Malone, but the currents had almost taken him aft of his target!



Contact! He was drenched in sweat, but he was going to make this work. Feverishly, Ezra cranked with the torpedo screw, hoping to feel its threads bite into the hull above him. Meanwhile, the currents continued to threaten to dislodge him. To keep the Turtle pressed against the Molly Malone’s hull, he continued to treadle while swinging the rudder with his right hand. With his left hand, he kept turning the torpedo screw. It bit! It dug in and bottomed out. Ezra stopped treadling and allowed the Turtle to submerge a little more, lifting the torpedo clear of the submarine.



Success is not guaranteed. Each turn there is a probability of success that can be modified by committing more Exertion Points. In this case, Ezra was successful on the first attempt. No course plotting happens while the screw attempt is occurring. Upon success, the next two turns are plotted and movement resumes as normal.



Ezra was so tired that he no longer thought about the uniqueness of his situation. The only thing that mattered was getting half a cable from the Molly Malone before the time ran out. For the next five minutes only treadling and cursing the vagaries of the current were important.



Twenty minutes were almost up when Ezra’s feelings of victory were interrupted by the memory that Bushnell had said that the Turtle needed to be on the surface at the end to count for a truly successful practice run. Yesterday, using the hand pump to bring the submarine back to the surface hadn’t really seemed like work at all. This evening, after almost 20 minutes of nonstop work in a completely new environment, it was backbreaking.



Ezra could taste the fresh air as the snorkels broke the surface. The time was up and the first practice run was a success.





I had completely forgotten that the submarine had to be on the surface in the end. That left Ezra creeping along at a speed of one, with one Exertion Point remaining.

[Dobbs]

What follows is the second test of the Continental submarine Turtle. Sergeant Ezra Lee was successful on the first experiment and learned a lot about piloting the novel craft. He has less than a month until the Moon and tide are right for an attack on the British flagship in New York harbor.



It was night again, and it was time to practice again. Ezra stood on his perch so his head rose above the Turtle’s open hatch. In the gloom, the sloop Sally was a dark wall beside him. The Turtle rocked and bobbed in the ebbing current. It was a touch disturbing to watch the water swirl by less than a foot below the open hatch, but this evening’s mission was to gain experience maneuvering in the moving flow. The target, the merchant ship Molly Malone, rode at anchor 4 cables downstream, guarded by her launch. It was farther to reach her this evening than in the previous experiment, but the useful current would make the Turtle faster.



It was time to go. Ezra pulled the hatch closed and sat on his perch. A hand thumped on top of the hatch meaning the mission had begun, and he applied himself to operating the treadle that drove the water screw. After a few moments, Ezra spared a glance out the rear viewport and was surprised how the distance gained had shrunk the Sally. With the current’s aid, the Turtle was a thoroughbred compared to her plow horse speed of the previous test. He shifted his gaze back to the compass that gave the bearing to his target.



The currents on the Hudson River and in around New York Harbor are pretty amazing, so they had to play a part in this story. For the game, the current runs at 1 knot for 5 turns, 0.5 knots for the next 5, followed by 5 turns of slack, and ends with the flood running for 5 turns at 0.5 knots. The mechanics are simple enough. After plotting movement each turn, the submarine is moved the distance indicated by the current, but its orientation remains unchanged.



Once the current’s move is made, play proceeds normally.





Treadling through the dark with a viewpoint only inches above the water made for poor visibility, but there was more to see than being submerged. This evening, Ezra planned run the risk of being spotted on the surface as long as he was far enough away to elude pursuit by submerging.



Ezra almost missed seeing the launch since he was approaching it from the bow. He quickly realized that the same might apply to the Molly Malone. She would be facing into the current that he was using to reach her. To have a larger target, he needed to come at her from the side.



With the current’s help, the Turtle was halfway to her quarry in just over five minutes. Not that it was apparent inside the submersible, but according to the elapsed time, the current was beginning to slow. It didn’t seem as though the launch had spotted him, but he was getting awfully close. It was time to dive.









Compared to the previous test, the submerged currents were being completely docile. Ezra uneventfully piloted the submerged Turtle past the launch and on until he estimated that he was almost abeam of the merchant ship.



As you can see here, with the current’s help, Ezra has a fair amount of exertion in reserve. He’s almost reached his target and still has more than a third of his Exertion Points.



Ezra porpoised the Turtle briefly and in the short moment that the hatch broke the surface, he caught a glimpse of the Molly Malone, right where she was supposed to be.



Slacktide and the perfect time to attack!...



...slowly. Ezra was alongside and commenced to drill. It wouldn’t bite. He kept drilling. Still nothing. He was grinding his teeth. He could feel his body physically willing the screw to bite into the hull. Nothing. The clock timed out.



It was really just that probability frowned on Ezra. He had a 50 percent chance of the screw biting each turn. The only thing that he could have done better was get there a minute or two earlier. It was just so easy to plant the torpedo on the last practice, that an accurate approach seemed more important.
Two more practices and then the real mission...

[Bligh]

Very impressive Dobbs.
Just the sort of oddball idea that gets my interest.
Once perfected I must try it out.
Rob.

[Dobbs]

Thanks for the Rep, Rob!

Almost all of the game mechanics bugs have been worked out. I realized that the practice runs by Sergeant Lee were an absolute necessity to familiarize a player with how to spread out the available exertions without exhausting the pilot. I imagine that the real Ezra Lee went through the same thing.

[DeRuyter]

Is there any way to regain exertion points? Resting or by having a tot of rum maybe!

[Dobbs]

Is there any way to regain exertion points? Resting or by having a tot of rum maybe!

That's a really good thought, Eric. It hadn't occurred to me, but now that you mention it, it's a great idea to be able to trade time for more Exertion. The whole play is to find the balance between the two. The idea will be included in the next rules rewrite. There's still only 20 minutes to complete the mission.

[Dobbs]

The Turtle and submerged Turtle got an upgrade. They were originally printed paper on adhesive foam. They just didn't have the feel of playing pieces. They are now remade on wood bases. I feel that the result is superior.

[Dobbs]

Here's a screenshot using an app on my phone of the modern chart on New York harbor. Land is yellow. Water is white (shallow water is blue, aside from that band in the top left which is probably a tunnel).

The land at the top is the southern tip of Manhattan. The water in the upper left is the Hudson River and in the upper right is the East River. The Turtle came down the Hudson from a point to the north. The Eagle was anchored off of Governor's Island. I took a guess at where I'd park a flagship if I wanted to show the might of the Royal Navy to rebellious colomists.

0.4 nm is 4 cables. I figure that Sergeant Lee was probably escorted by a rowing launch to a point outside of possible detection by British forces. He would have been on his own for around a mile round trip, which I'm sure was quite enough.

The purple pin is where he starts. The red pin is the Eagle.

This is all supposition on my part. Historical records are scant.

[Bligh]

I'm afraid that your attatchment is not showing up Dobbs.

Rob.

[Dobbs]

Thanks for the heads up, Rob. That should do it.

[Bligh]

Still no joy I'm afraid Dobbs.

Rob.

[Dobbs]

Most peculiar, Rob. I still see it here. Can you see the new submarine picture in frame #11? Anyone else not seeing the chart?

[DeRuyter]

I can see both.

[Bligh]

I can also now see them both Dobbs. Thanks.
Rob.