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"Rule Britannia!" ala Sails of Glory
Good morning everyone!
Following is yet another Facebook Album recently posted by my wife describing a game we played with a friend of ours back in January; a game which we'd expected would carry through to a more epic conclusion. As our friend is very adaptable when it comes to such games, we used almost all of the rules, including many House Rules like "Fire as They Bear", "Firing into the Wind", as well as modified Collisions and Crew vs. Hull damage impact on Hands availability and so on. We did NOT include any "Carronades", "Let Them Drink", or special "Captains" cards for the sake of some modicum of simplicity for a newbie. The emoticons included herein are more appropriate "nautical" replacements for those she'd originally used in her post.
So pour yourself a refreshing glass of your favorite beverage, sit back, scroll down and ENJOY!
"Rule Britannia!" ala Sails of Glory
A reprise of an historic scenario in which a French First and Third rate try to escape the clutches of SIX fast 74s of the Royal Navy...an event which took place prior the famous Glorious 1st of June!
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OK, so Mike and i just finished an exciting game of "Sails" with a good friend of ours...but before i share IT with you, i need to tell you about the one we all played a few months back...
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...hi everybody! its another sloppy day so why not stay dry, have a little rum and play another round of Sails of Glory...
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...Mike has set everything up and...
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...welcomes our long time gaming friend Bhil to the table!
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but first things first...explain the nuances of the game and help him set up his ships' logs...
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...my ships are already in line and prepared to begin. it's basically the same scenario Mike and i have played in the past...we figured it would be an easy one to start a beginner off with...:hatsoff:
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...a few moves into the game and Bhil's ships are all on the table...
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following through with what seemed to prove successful in our last game...
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...i guide my squadron toward the head of Mike's ships...hoping to again cross his "T"... :thumbsup:
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but seeing that my timing is off and not wanting to miss out on an opportunity, the moment we've all been waiting for finally arrives...
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...FIRST FIRE! my leading HMS Zealous fires a full broadside into Mike's Redoubtable at close range which can only respond with its forward guns...yay!!! :happy:
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as our two ships begin to fight in earnest, Bhil bears the head his squadron to follow mine...
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it's now close quarters and Mike needs to make sure he veers his Redoubtable to starboard...
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...but, sadly, it's just too little, too late...i accidentally turn my HMS Zealous the wrong way (i meant left but the card said right :erk: ) and collide with his Redoubtable.......aaaaand we become entangled!!!
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"well...THAT doesn't look good!!!"
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and if that's not bad enough, as the HMS Zealous and Redoubtable were battling it out with broadsides and boarding parties, my following HMS Bellona and Belleraphon all rammed into those in their lead.......and worse, though Mike desperately tried to back sails, his Montagne is skidding right toward the whole mess....what a train wreck!!! :shock:
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already sensing the fate that awaits him if he continues following me, Bhil breaks his line...
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...in an effort to steer toward the stern of Mike's careening Montagne!!!
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but, he shouldn't have bothered...as suddenly the oaken British wall in front of the Montagne...
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...simply EXPLODED with smoke and fire!!!
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and before any further collisions can even occur, HMS Bellona's raking broadside (along with the close range fire from HMS Belleraphon) is so devastating that the Montagne is set afire, springs a leak, is totally dismasted and stopped dead in its tracks!!! :takecover:
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sadly for Bhil, the game was over before he was able to fire even a single shot in anger!!!
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but that's alright...as Mike pulls splinters of wood out of the water :wink:, he's mumbling something about how he'll be setting up another game in the near future!!!
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so stay tuned, everyone...i'll be back to share yet a NEW challenge...along with our good friend Bhil...REAL SOON!!!
As can be seen in the above story, we're all still (quite embarrassingly) novices in matters of seamanship! So much so that "the shooting of a few admirals" :pistole: would most likely become quite commonplace in OUR recreated world!
Things ended so abruptly that we hardly utilized ANY of the many specialized rules we'd spent so much time discussing and anticipating (sigh). In retrospect, we determined that three ships are simply too many for any one player (especially a new player) to command when using all the rules. We also determined (again, rather abruptly) that ships in line ahead require more space between them to allow for sudden turns or backing of sail. Live and learn!
That being said, as my lovely wife has promised, this particular episode was merely a flashback and she WILL be sharing our most recent foray into Napoleonic naval warfare VERY SOON!!!
