Part of the charm of 'Form Line Of Battle' is its elegant simplicity in that it is not slowed by numerous calculations or fiddly detail. This simplicity means that it is possible to fight large actions very easily. It does mean, however, that certain features have been factored out, such that smaller games lack a little flavour. These optional rules are an attempt to add a few more details to the game without slowing it down. They have been developed by the Staines Wargamers.
This affects firing and ability to tack. All crews should be rated as 'Good', 'Average' or 'Poor'.
A 'Good' crew receives a +1 firing modifier and +1 when tacking.
An 'Average' crew functions according to the rules.
A 'Poor' crew suffers a -1 firing modifier and a -1 when tacking.
In general nationalities will have the following crews:
'Good' - British, American
'Average' - French, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, Danish
'Poor' - Spanish, Turkish
The following modifiers apply to firing:
plus 1 - If firing a broadside for the first time.
minus 1 - If ship has no masts.
minus 2 - If there is a fallen mast over the firing side.
In addition, if there is a mast over the firing side and the firing ship's dice score is odd then the ship catches fire.
The bonus for raking should only apply at Point Blank or Short range.
The classification system in 'Form Line Of Battle' lumps ships of quite different sizes together in one class, eliminating any differences between them. This rule attempts to redress this balance by penalising the less effective ships.
Certain ships in a 'Rate' will be rated as Inferior. An Inferior ship recieves a penalty of -1 when firing at a ship of equal or better initial rate.
Example: An 80 gun ship is classed as an Inferior 2nd Rate ship. If it fires at a 1st Rate, or another 2nd Rate, it recieves a penalty of -1, regardless of how much damage the ships have suffered. If it fires at a 3rd Rate it gets no penalty and fires as any other 2nd Rate.
The following classifications are suggested. Gun ratings in brackets should be considered Inferior:
1st Rate: 130, 120, 110, (100)
2nd Rate: 98, 90, (80)
3rd Rate: 74, (68), (64)
4th Rate: 56, 54, 50, (44)
5th Rate:38, 36, (32)
6th Rate:28, 24, (20)
7th Rate:18, 16, 12, (10) (or less)
These clasifications are general and may vary according to nationality. For example, American frigates will tend to be much more heavily gunned and sturdily built than their rating would suggest.
Ships with fewer guns than their size would suggest (merchant ships for example), should be rated according to their size, but receive a minus when firing. Conversely, some ships are overgunned according to their rate and should get a plus when firing rather than be given a higher rate. For example, HMS Glatton was a carronade armed converted East-Indiaman. It's hull would give it a classification of 4th or 5th rate, but its broadside was equivalent to that of a 1st rate, albeit at very short range. Thus it should be classified as a 4th rate (say) but get a bonus of +4 when firing (perhaps only being allowed to fire at Point Blank range).
The basic rule that frigates and smaller ships cannot inflict rating damage on 1st, 2nd and 3rd rates is simple, but harsh. For those of you that wish to give the smaller vessels a small chance of damaging larger ships, try the following optional rule.
If the original rate of the firing ship is 4th Rate or smaller and the original rate of the target ship is 4th Rate or bigger the rating damage is reduced according to the following table:
| Firer's Rate | |||||
| 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | ||
| Target's Rate | 1st | -1 | -2 | -3 | -4 |
| 2nd | - | -1 | -2 | -3 | |
| 3rd | - | - | -1 | -2 | |
| 4th | - | - | - | -1 | |
Only rating damage is affected by this. Note, that this table is still used if raking; you just get more chance of big hits.
The distance that a ship drifts is according to the rules. Drifting will also cause a ship to turn in relation to the wind.
If its wheel has been shot away it will turn one compass point each turn that it drifts until the wind is directly astern.
If the ship has a mast over the side then it will turn one compass point each turn that it drifts, the turn being in the direction of the fallen mast. It will continue to turn until it is broadside on to the wind. If you've done it right, this should be the broadside with the fallen mast!
For various reasons initiating a boarding action does not seem to have been as easy as some fiction suggests. This is especially true of ships of the line, with virtually no historical examples of them being carried by boarding - Nelson at St. Vincent seems to be a major exception, rather than the rule. Boarding does seem to be a lot more common the smaller the ships get. To this end, try the following rule:
A ship may only initiate a boarding action if it is grappled or fouled to an enemy, and it succeeds in rolling equal to or less than the original rate of the largest ship (in terms of initial rate) in the boarding action.
Example: A 4th Rate grappled to a 3rd rate would need to roll a 3 or less to initiate the action. A 1st Rate grappled to a 5th Rate would need to roll a 1 or less.
This rule probably still makes boarding too easy!
When a ship explodes, all ships within (11 - exploding ship's initial rate)cm receive 1 fire. Add 2 fires if the ships were grappled or fouled.