This is an entirely fictitious scenario set off the French coast in the 1790s. A small British squadron of two frigates and a cutter must intercept a pair of French merchant ships escorted by a corvette and a heavy frigate before they escape to the safety of the port of Neuville.
Although written for 'Form Line of Battle II' it should be easy to adapt this scenario to other rules sets.
Ships are listed in the following format: Name, Guns, Gun Strength/Hull Strength, Sailing Class, Rate, Draft, Crew, Value
Milford (32), 6/6, Class 2, 5th Rate, Draft 3, 1 Veteran, 3vp
Dragoon (28), 5/5, Class 2, 6th Rate, Draft 3, 1 Veteran, 3vp
Pigeon (12), 2/2 Class 2 Fore-and-Aft, 7th Rate, Draft 1, 1 Veteran, 2vp
Hera (40), 7/7, Class 2, 4th Rate, Draft 4, 2 Average, 2vp
Citoyen Chauvelin (24), 4/4, Class 2, 6th Rate, Draft 2, 1 Average, 1vp
Anne Marie (8), 1/3, Class 1, Merchant, Draft 3, 0 Poor, 4vp
Babette (None) 0/3, Class 1, Merchnat, Draft 3, 0 Poor, 4vp
< British >
--------------------------------
| " " |^
|* French " " British |B |
|* Setup " " Setup |r |
|* " " |i |
|** " " |t |
|**""""""""" """""""""""|i |
|** N |s |
|** ^ |h V
|** | |v Wind
|** | |
|*** |
|**** |
|***** |
|***** |
|****** |
|************ |
|******************* |
--------------------------------
< French >
'*' = Land.
Shallows should be set up such that the ship with the deepest draught (the French frigate 'Hera') still has plenty of sea-room along the French exit edge. On a 6' x 5' table, we opted for ships running aground if they went closer than (Draft x 4)cm from land.
|
Class |
Beat |
Broad |
Quarter |
Run |
|
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
|
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
|
2 F/A |
3 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
A fore-and -aft ship does not have to roll to tack, but does have to roll to pass its stern through the wind (gybe). Roll as for tacking, but use two dice, and the vessel must fail with both rolls.
The 'Citoyen Chauvelin' cannot fire at Long range.
The 'Anne Marie' and the 'Pigeon' cannot fire at Medium or Long range.
Note that the 'Babette' is unarmed.
The game ends when one side is in undisputed control of the table. Each side totals up the points of its surviving ships.
Other points are scored as follows:
If a ship exits by an enemy edge it scores half points to the enemy side.
If a ship escapes off any neutral edge it scores half points to its own side.
If a ship escapes off its home edge it scores full points to its own side.
If a ship runs aground or is destroyed it scores half points to the enemy side.
If a ship is captured it scores full points to the capturing side.
The side with undisputed control of the table is assumed to have captured any struck enemy ships and retained any friendly struck ships.
If one side has scored more than twice the points of the other they are considered to have won. A score more ethan three times that of the enemy can be considered decisive.