On this day 10 July - how fog can make for a lively encounter

[7eat51]

On the 10th of July 1778, the HMS Lively, under the command of Captain Robert Biggs, was sailing to Ushant, an island off of northwest France, to join Admiral Keppel’s fleet. As the morning fog lifted, the British 20-gun post ship found itself in the proximity of a French fleet, under the command of Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers. The Curieuse, a 10-gun cutter under the command of Captain Trolong du Rumain, pursued the Lively, ordering her to surrender. The Curieuse was soon joined by the Iphigénie, a 32-gun frigate under the command of Captain Kersaint de Coëtnempren. Kersaint de Coëtnempren issued a similar order to surrender. Biggs refused to comply, and was in the middle of arguing when the Iphigénie fired a broadside, killing 12 onboard the Lively. Biggs struck colors.

Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers:



Armand-Guy-Simon de Coetnempren, comte de Kersaint:




For more on today’s event:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lively_(1756)

[Cmmdre]

Sometimes it can be a beautiful sunny summer day with the blue sky clear just inland and the coast socked in with thick fog. Most times it lifts by noon sometimes it doesn't. That would be an interesting variable.

[Naharaht]

So would we place a large screen across the middle of the table, the two sides move without being able to see the other, a dice roll is made each turn and when a certain number is scored the screen would be removed ?

[7eat51]

Sounds like SoG meets Stratego or Feudal.

Could make for an interesting dynamic - when a ship crosses over the player can walk to the other side of the table and see ships in the area. Given no table communication, remaining ships would be somewhat blind as to where to enemy ships are. Not perfect, but an interesting idea to entertain.

[Hobbes]

I thought about a scenario like this:

Two ships, one french frigate and one british frigate, battle it out in the center of the mat.

After a certain number of rounds, a third ship enters the area with the wind favoring a course to the duel, but due to fog, range, unawareness of the crews, neither ship knows the nationality of the newly arrived ship. This has been determined at the beginning without either side knowing (like card drawing).

This ship heads in a straight line towards our combatants and each round both try to identify the intention of the ship by rolling a dice. Scoring a 6+ will reveal the nationality to that player and he can start acting accordingly. Maybe the dice roll gets a modifier depending on the distance between the ships. Something like > 3 * range ruler = none; >2 * range ruler = +1; >1* range ruler = +2; cannon range = auto identify

As soon as both players know the identity of the ship (or one tells the other), it gets controlled by the respective owner.

Winning conditions:

Side with two ships:
1. (only) sink the other sides ship

Side with one ship:
1. Sink both opponent ships
2. Escape by leaving the playing field

Draw:
both sides lose one ship

As I have never played a naval tabletop before, I would like your opinions. (maybe we have to shift this to another section)

Yours Sebastian

[Andy Blozinski]

I like the large screen idea.
Another idea...
There's a San Antonio group that runs Canvas Eagles as a rolling game at conventions. You can walk up and start a plane on the board edge at any time. Fog might be an excuse to run something like this with Sails of Glory.