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Thread: My Version of Scenario Book

  1. #1

    Default My Version of Scenario Book

    Hey Guys,

    I still don't have my stuff, so I spent some time today whipping up the start of my own scenario compilation. I enjoy researching and reading about the historical engagements almost as much as playing most of the games I do play. When it comes to Napoleonic naval engagements, many are quite lop sided affairs in terms of ships involved, but I've done some work to ferret out some of the less lopsided ones. The one tricky thing is that we don't necessarily have all the classes available to us just yet to play all these, but once the next wave comes out, we should have pretty close to what we need. I'm also considering making some sheets for these ships, not sure yet.

    Most of this is courtesy of Wikipedia, so I didn't create most of the text - just cleaned it up a bit and made it look a bit prettier. Any errors are probably my own, and I still have to go back and proofread them a few more times. I'm also planning to get a high res pick of my mats and ships when the do arrive and probably replace the graphics I have used at this point with better ones. Still a WIP.

    Oh, and no copyright infringement is meant by any of this, just doing it for my own personal enjoyment and use (and anyone else who would get some enjoyment from it). The file section seems to be down, so this may not work and I may have to link this to somewhere else.

    Master Campaign File.pdf
    Last edited by The Mad Hatter; 01-04-2014 at 23:12.

  2. #2

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    Very nice presentation Ryan, you might get a job at Ares!

  3. #3

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    Very nice job with great graphics!

  4. #4
    Surveyor of the Navy
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    Looks good Ryan. It will be interesting to see how this develops :happy;

  5. #5

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    Ryan, this is great work. You have a lot of talent.

  6. #6

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    Nice work on the scenarios Ryan. Scenario starting graphics look great. I'm sure I, and other members will be trying them out.

  7. #7

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    Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. I think today I'm going to work on some campaign rules, I think I may start with the Atlantic Campaign of 1806 which is described as "one of the most important and complex naval campaigns of the post-TrafalgarNapoleonic Wars". It's pretty interesting as you've got five British squadrons and six French squadrons all cruising in the Atlantic, with different missions. Some with the charter to chase merchant convoys, other squadrons put to sea specifically to stop some of the other squadrons. The other nice thing is that the sizes of the squadrons aren't overly huge - anywhere from two to eight ships in most cases (a number of the squadrons had a compliment of eight ships) and the ships were all mixed sizes from first rates through to sloops and brigs.

    My initial thought is to get an OOB together for each of the squadrons as a historical starting point, then, create an encounter chart (one French, one British) to allow you to take your squadron to sea and have some randomness to things so you never know what sort of engagement you'll get. In reading about the actions, one other aspect I want to include is that just because your squadron has eight ships, you may have a frigate and one SOL out scouting and further from the rest of the fleet when you run into a larger enemy fleet. So there will be some randomness on both sides in terms of the number of ships involved in any such engagement as this feels historically accurate. Lastly, I want to end with a repair chart to determine how well your ships can be repaired (or potentially scuttled and scratched from the roster) and an experience chart as well. I think if I can get all this into a similar format as what I've done thus far, I'll be pretty happy.

    In my humble opinion, wave two really needs to come out to have the nice diversity of ships needed to make use of a good campaign system. The addition of a small sloop of war, some heavier frigates, along with ships than can fill the role of first and second rates really will add a lot. Then come the merchantmen hopefully, so by the time that comes around (assuming it's wave three), we'll have just about everything we need to be able to REALLY run what I'd like to think of as a historically based campaign.

  8. #8
    Admiral of the White
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    Your work is very impressive and it looks like you have a well established level of expertise in graphics and layout design.

    The official manual has one solitaire scenario and folks like myself would certainly like to see more if you're ever so inclined? Keep up the great work!

  9. #9

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    Where abouts in Wisconsin are you Jim? I know there's a few people up there, and Eric has told me that theres a "somewhat" regular meeting of folks that play Ares games in the northern Illinois area. If I could get a group of people together for a once a month type game somewhere in northern Illinois/souther Wisconsin, I'd be up for running a campaign for a bunch of players and allow us to throw down some bigger battles.

  10. #10
    Comptroller of the Navy Board
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    Ryan, if you tell me which battles you're focusing on I'll try to expedite them in my "Historical Orders of Battle" series of threads.

  11. #11

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    The Atlantic Campaign of 1806 culminated in the Battle of San Domingo, which was the last true fleet action of the Napoleonic wars. Here's the OOB I have for that one:

    Vice-Admiral Duckworth's squadron
    Duckworth's division
    Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes
    Killed Wounded Total
    HMS Superb Third rate 74 Vice-Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth
    Captain Richard Goodwin Keats
    6
    56
    62
    Lightly damaged
    HMS Northumberland Third rate 74 Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane
    Captain John Morrison
    21
    79
    100
    Mainmast collapsed and hull, rigging and remaining masts badly damaged
    HMS Spencer Third rate 74 Captain Robert Stopford
    18
    50
    68
    Severe damage to hull, but masts and rigging largely intact
    HMS Agamemnon Third rate 64 Captain Sir Edward Berry
    1
    13
    14
    Louis' division
    HMS Canopus Third rate 80 Rear-Admiral Thomas Louis
    Captain Francis Austen
    8
    22
    30
    Lightly damaged
    HMS Donegal Third rate 74 Captain Pulteney Malcolm
    12
    33
    45
    Foreyard shot away, otherwise lightly damaged
    HMS Atlas Third rate 74 Captain Samuel Pym
    8
    11
    19
    Bowspirit lost in collision with Canopus and tiller damaged by shot. Otherwise lightly damaged
    Minor warships
    HMS Acasta Fifth rate 40 Captain Richard Dalling Dunn
    0
    0
    0
    Not engaged in the battle
    HMS Magicienne Fifth rate 32 Captain Adam Mackenzie
    0
    0
    0
    Not engaged in the battle
    HMS Kingfisher Brig 16 Commander Nathaniel Day Cochrane
    0
    0
    0
    Not engaged, sent to Britain with despatches after the battle
    HMS Epervier Brig 14 Lieutenant James Higginson
    0
    0
    0
    Not engaged in the battle
    Total casualties: 74 killed, 264 wounded, 338 total

    And for the battles looser (I mean the French)....

    Contre-Admiral Leissčgues' squadron
    Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes
    Alexandre Third rate 80 Captain Pierre-Elie Garreau ~300 Captured in a dismasted and sinking state with surviving crew. Repaired, but unfit for continued service and later broken up
    Impérial First rate 120 Vice-Admiral Corentin Urbain Leissegues
    Captain Julien-Gabriel Bigot
    ~500 Driven ashore and wrecked, subsequently burnt by a British boarding party on 8 February. Six men taken prisoner
    Diomčde Third rate 74 Captain Jean-Baptiste Henry ~250 Driven ashore and wrecked, subsequently burnt by a British boarding party on 8 February. 150 men taken prisoner
    Jupiter Third rate 74 Captain Gaspard Laignel ~200 Captured with surviving crew. Later commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Maida
    Brave Third rate 74 Commodore Louis-Marie Coudé ~260 Captured with surviving crew. Foundered during journey back to Europe
    Minor warships
    Comčte Fifth rate 40 0 Not engaged in the battle, returned to France
    Félicité Fifth rate 40 0 Not engaged in the battle, returned to France
    Diligente Corvette 20 Captain Raymond Cocault 0 Not engaged in the battle, returned to France
    Total casualties: 1,510

    I haven't cross referenced it against my library of books yet, but will have to do that.

    Otherwise, there were a few battles (mostly skirmishes) during the campaign - the next largest I could find was the Action of 25 September 1806, which had six British SOLs (really only three involved in the action) against about a half dozen French frigates. Wikipedia has an OOB, again, haven't been able to validate. Other than that, I need to do some digging on some of the smaller skirmishes.

  12. #12
    Admiral of the White
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Mad Hatter View Post
    Where abouts in Wisconsin are you Jim? I know there's a few people up there, and Eric has told me that theres a "somewhat" regular meeting of folks that play Ares games in the northern Illinois area. If I could get a group of people together for a once a month type game somewhere in northern Illinois/souther Wisconsin, I'd be up for running a campaign for a bunch of players and allow us to throw down some bigger battles.
    Ryan, I'm up in Madison. I've not been able to make a scramble down in Loves Park, IL, which is the event Eric is probably talking about? I'd certainly be interested in attending a SoG campaign session. It would be great to play the game rather than just read other AAR's. Driving to Rockford would be pretty easy from Madison too. Thanks for the reply!

  13. #13

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    I threw a document into the Campaign Discussion section that is the beginnings of my 1806 Atlantic campaign. Hopefully I can make some additional progress on it this week.

  14. #14
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    Ryan, I really like the scenario setups and special rules, especially given the historical background that is provided. These will be most helpful. You set up the visuals and aesthetics quite nicely. Excellent and exciting work.

    You mentioned copyright infringement here and on another thread. One suggestion would be to include a footnote giving credit to where the text originated, especially since these will be publicly available.

  15. #15
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    I'm reading over these now, they look great at a glance! I would suggest that you make the background image much lighter so that they are easier to read though.

  16. #16

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    And I thought it was my eyes going bad.

  17. #17

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    Eric, thanks for that note, I may give that a try!

    I just don't want people to think I'm taking credit for things that aren't of my own creation. I'm sure many people worked hard to compile that info, so want to give credit where credit is due so to speak (I'm not really that paranoid about someone suing me over something like this).

    Hajj - I can do that. One thing I've done in the past is put a "bounding box" around the text that is very light and a single color - thereby making the text easier to read. On this one, I thought maybe something more parchment looking would create a greater effect.

  18. #18
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    Just finished reading them. Great stuff! another suggestion I have is to add an arrow to your compass rose showing the direction of the wind. You have it listed in the notes, but a yellow arrow pointing in the direction it is blowing (to) would be very helpful for quick reference. Also, a list of Ares minis that could be used would be helpful as well.

    I would also suggest we think about breaking these (and future) scenarios down to only one per fire, classifying them as SoL or frigate (or both) engagements, and by number of ships involved. If we go this far now, a system could be setup in the Files section to place each scenario so that a year or so from now, it would be easy for a player to find the right scenario to play given his/her needs.

  19. #19

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    Great work Ryan - Thanks!



    Eric

  20. #20
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    Wow, that looks professional. Ares needs to hire you for your content! Now I wish I had ordered more ships, although sixteen ships is still a lot. Thanks for you effort to providing us with more scenarios.

  21. #21
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    This is great looking document. I can't wait to see more!

  22. #22
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    How come I haven't seen it before?

    It's great!

  23. #23
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    Very nice piece of work , it is encouraging to see the amount of work and enthusiasm that the community is putting into this game. I think that it will all contribute to the success of SoG and give the game a long term future.

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    So, let's see... existing sculpts bolded.

    Ocean 120 (Wave 2 SGN106)
    -French: Imperial


    Tonnant/Bucentaure 80 (unsculpted)
    -British: Canopus
    -French: Alexandre

    Temeraire 74s (Wave 1 SGN102)
    -British: Northumberland, Donegal, Superb
    -French: Diomede, Jupiter, Brave


    British one-off 74's (all unsculpted): HMS Spencer, HMS Atlas (razee from 1777 Duke 90)

    Ardent 64 (unsculpted): HMS Agamemnon

    one-off HMS Acasta 40 (unsculpted)
    1794 Romaine 40 (unsculpted): Comete

    ex-FR 1778 Magicienne 32 (likely to be reprint of SGN101 Concorde sculpt): HMS Magicienne
    Felicite 32 (unsculpted, not sure if Concorde is close enough): Felicite

    Diligente 20 corvette (unsculpted): Diligente
    Merlin 18 ship-sloop: HMS Kingfisher
    ex-FR Alcyon 16 brig: HMS Epervier

    So, we need a Tonnant or Bucentaure sculpt (same basic design, just Bucentaure has some improvements), the nasty one-offs Spencer, razeed Atlas and Acasta, an Ardent 64, a Romaine 40, a Diligente 20, a Merlin 18 ship-sloop (slightly bigger than the Wave 2 Swans, which were built as 14's and soon uprated to 16's), and an Alcyon 16 gun-brig.

  25. #25
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    Excellent stuff Ryan thanks for this. Barrel of Rum for you old boy.

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    Well done, that man. Magnificent:)

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    Most Excellent work Ryan, keep it coming!!

  28. #28
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    Just great Now please something to play solo

  29. #29
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    Hi Christophe,

    Wellcome to the forum, maybe you should head over to the solo campaign. I'm relativly sure you could still join if you drop Eric a PM. If not, you could still play the scenario and have fun with it.

    mmmhhh... just reminds me that I still have to play.

  30. #30
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    You are more than welcome to join, Christophe.
    “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato

  31. #31
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    Ok I will try but I can have problems with write my feelings in English to ARR

  32. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by C.F. de Galarza View Post
    Ok I will try but I can have problems with write my feelings in English to ARR
    We're more happy that you will join us an enjoy playing, but if you ever want to, feel free to PM one of us with English questions. We'll be happy to help in any way we can.

    Make a roster of 8 officers, let me know what navy you want to sail for, and PM me with an email address. I will add you to the roster and send you an invite.
    “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato

  33. #33
    Ordinary Seaman
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    French fleet of course I will send PM to You with my roster of 8 officers to next friday

  34. #34
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    The French are taking the lead as far as players. It must be popular to remain in port.
    “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato

  35. #35
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    Better to fly the Skull & Bones... MUCH more Target Rich Environment.

    Now, back to figuring out how to take an SOL with a smaller ship... *cackle*

  36. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by 7eat51 View Post
    The French are taking the lead as far as players. It must be popular to remain in port.
    Think Eric said something just couldn't make it out, must have been the accent

  37. #37
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    Hiding in port keeps your pretty ships from getting messed up

  38. #38
    Ordinary Seaman
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    Yeah. We are hiding in ports to comfort your women
    Last edited by C.F. de Galarza; 07-25-2014 at 13:09.

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