Captains' abilities.
Eris just came up with a great idea over on the Drome in view of the Ace abilities for pilots.
To extend the Captains' abilities beyond the "Specials".
Name your favourite Captain of this era and say what special abilities he should have and why.
Rob.
Perhaps not a favourite and a fictional captain, but one I think fit him...
Horatio Hornblower: Use to get an extra action during one turn.
Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
Charismatic Captain
Sailing Captain: When wind attitude of the ship is determined, it may use a sailing attitude as one level better, ie treat red as yellow or yellow as green. May be used once per game.
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Lucky Captain
Quick Captain
Boarding Captain: During a boarding action and an enemy ship draws one or more "0s", the Captain can make the enemy ship draw an additional counter. May be used twice in a game.
Beguiling Captain: When an enemy ship is about to fire it's first broadside against this Captain before this captain has fired any broadside, that action is discarded without being performed. May be used once per game.
Last edited by TexaS; 02-22-2016 at 09:41.
Captain Philip Broke (of H.M.S. Shannon)
Innovative Trainer: Improved accuracy of gunfire - enemy ship receives one extra damage counter; More effective boarding - enemy ship receives one extra crew damage counter.
Captain George Duff RN captain HMS Mars, killed by a cannonball at Trafalgar 21 Oct 1805
Duff was a proud Scotsman as well as a strict disciplinarian. He enforced cleanliness parades every week, and made every effort to make sure that as many Scots as possible served on his ships, although he never gave them preferential treatment over their English comrades
Takes two casualties to fill the last crew box due to discipline of crew.
I hope nobody thinks I "reserved" those captains. I hope to hear others give their opinions about the same captains so my suggestion can be improved upon.
François-Paul Brueys d’Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys (died 1. August 1798 at Abukir on board of his flagship)
Ability: "Tend to Explode"
Following page 40 of the rulebook - optional rule Ammunition Explosion: Your ship explodes definitely with the second fire damage.
Play this card once onlyOriginally Posted by Comte de Brueys
Now come on be serious chaps, or I will have to play my on fire capability card and no one wants that now do they.
Fireships plus damage.
Rob.
Sven remind me NOT to take this man as a named captain!
Captain William Bligh.
Following the Bounty mutiny, his 48 day passage in an open boat from Tahiti to Timor 3,600 miles in an open boat with no charts and only a sextant for navigation should qualify him for the "Navigation" ability. If his ship leaves the table at an edge other than a friendly one, his skills allow him to get his ship back to a home port. Also a strange one for Bligh. "Loyal crew." In spite of the much mentioned Mutiny on the Merchant ship Bounty, he was the only Royal Navy Captain who's crew refused to Mutiny during the troubles at Spithead and the Nore when the Home Fleet went on strike.
This should allow him to gain one extra crew action twice during a game.
Rob.
Wait until I worked out the special abilities for Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve.
Coward
Bad luck in Battle
Undying
Some of these apply to Vice-amiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois even if he also could have Charismatic Captain as he was described as very pleasant.
Sir Sidney Smith
Charismatic Captain
Intuitive Captain
Evasive Captain: When taking damage from a shooting action, the damage chit with the highest value may be redrawn. Usable twice per game (not in the same turn).
Last edited by Torrence; 02-24-2016 at 09:24.
Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas
Charismatic Captain (522 casualties out of 643 before surrendering at Trafalgar)
Deadeye Captain
Iron Captain
I am composing a collection of positive and negative cards beyond the ones released by Ares. If anyone has any suggestions, for captains or crew, I'd love to hear them.
When I'm done, I'll try to upload them to here as a PDF. Let me know if I should leave the Ares ones out for copyright reasons.
Captain John Paul Jones
Tenacity - "I have not yet begun to fight." His ship may be allowed one extra damage box at the right hand end of the track. (?)
With a free boarding action?
The same card could be used for Nelson when he was a Captain, thus allowing him an advantage if using the Patent Bridge.
Rob.
I have made:
Gunners Lacking Experience
Sailors Lacking Experience
into Crew Cards
I have also added:
Bad Aim
David, Tenacity is a good one, I will include it. I need more bad Captain Traits.
From what I have heard there were several irresolute Captains who would not make decisions unless the written order was explicit. I would include an Indecisive Captain card Dobbs.
We could also have a Flogging Captain, where the men would not do anything without a specific order from the Captain for fear of a flogging. Makes for poor morale.
Rob.
I like it! Good suggestions, Rob. There was an expression to describe Captains who flogged excessively, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I will add both to the cards.
Are you thinking of the word martinet, Dobbs?
That is the one I would use Dave. I have not come across any other.
Rob.
"Douchebag"? "Arsehole"? "Just BEGGING to 'fall over the side' and feed the sharks"? :D
For Pellew as frigate captain, maybe an ability that lets him remove one Crew Casualty marker per game, inspired by his practice of diving over the side to retrieve crewmen gone overboard.
--Diamondback
PMH, SME, TLA, BBB
Historical Consultant to Ares, Wings and Sails - Unless otherwise noted, all comments are strictly Personal Opinion ONLY and not to be taken as official Company Policy.
I know it's more of a crew ability but how about rapid gunners, if using continuous fire round the number of damage chits drawn up instead of down.
I would like to see "Bold Captain." If the Captain himself chooses to lead a boarding party it adds one box to the ships crew. However, at the end of the boarding, extra chits must be drawn to see if the Captain is wounded, in addition to those normally drawn.
Rob.
Now that's a great idea! It's on the list!
Talented Officers: This ship ignores Captain Wounded damage until it draws a Captain Killed damage, at which time any further Wounded or Killed markers take effect as normal. (representing having an intuitive subordinate who steps in and carries out the original plan as if having rea the captain's mind.)
--Diamondback
PMH, SME, TLA, BBB
Historical Consultant to Ares, Wings and Sails - Unless otherwise noted, all comments are strictly Personal Opinion ONLY and not to be taken as official Company Policy.
Capital idea DB.
Bligh.
Maybe there should be a morale loss with the passing of a skilled captain, perhaps some lack of defense in boarding actions?
Aye! We could have a crew card for that. Skilled or Charismatic.
Rob.
I think this is already covered with the "Well Trained Gunners" card.
I'm kind of stuck. The original cards have a "Fast Thinking" captain. The ability hinges on using the Crew Action rules, which I don't. I have been trying to figure out an alternative for this card without using the Crew Actions, but I've drawn a blank so far.
My first inclination is to drop it. If anyone has any other thoughts, I'd love to hear 'em.
I think that for those of us who do use the Crew action rules Fast Thinking Captain is fine as is.
I can't myself see any way it can be modified in a sensible way, which will not impinge upon the Intuitive Captain or Skilled Tactician.
Maybe you could link it with avoiding collisions by allowing him to change a card if a collision looms, and call it "Advanced Ship handling" or some such.
Rob.
,
I think it would be better to make a different card and keep the one using crew actions as is. Then you can use either card and there would be no confusion as to which effect is in use.
I totally agree Jonas.
Rob.
Okay, so... We have the Fast Thinking captain, unchanged. It shall be done. Now, the Quick Thinking captain,.. What are his skills? I like the collision avoidance idea, and might just go with that. Maybe he is able to pick any card within the Veer of the card that was going to be played?
That sounds reasonable Dobbs, and would mean that there was still some chance that he might not escape all collisions.
Rob.
Panicky Captain - every time the ship receives fire, in the next round one of the crew commands is chosen at random.
Good idea, may I suggest a title such as Irresolute, indecisive or timid Captain.
Rob.
I was looking at the Evasive Maneuver card from the Victory pack. When we play, we shift the ships if they get too close to the board edge, making this card irrelevant. Does anyone else have any thoughts?
We always play the same as in Wings Dobbs. If your peg, in this case Main mast goes over the edge the ship makes off into oblivion, and the Captain is Court Martialed later.
Rob.
If there is sea room on the table I move all ships the required distance in the same direction so I don't fall off the table. However if a ship is that far from the action I make a decision Wetherby to remove or return to play.
Apologies I must add this is for solo play only. Otherwise a gentlemans agreement should suffice.
That comes up at the Court Martial Neil.
Bligh.
What about Ship Attribute cards? Even though ships may have been the same class, some were better (or worse) than others?
Neglectful Captain - the ship leaks - the crew must pump water once every three moves.
Careened Ship - the ship moves slightly faster - add the orange Backing Sail straight distance onto the move of the ship.
Some Captains also trimmed the ships better than others for the sailing qualities, and some ships could sail closer to the wind than they should be able to.
Could we work that into a Ship handling attribute somehow.
Rob.
That would mean changes to the green/orange/red border on the ship cards. Rob, and you would need a different one for each ship model.
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