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When it comes down to a collision situation between a Frigate and a SOL, the Frigate gets to choose who goes first.
Why?
SOLs have every combat advantage over a Frigate, except maneuverability. Allowing the Frigate to choose gives them another slight maneuverability advantage in that limited situation. They need all the help they can get.
When the ships are that close, who goes first can make the difference between a collision and a nasty point blank raking shot.
Interesting idea. Intuitive.
Here are a couple of questions:
1) How does your house rule interact with burden within type of ships, i.e. when two SoLs or two frigates collide?
2) Is it possible that the official rules are written as is to display the effects of different burdens, i.e. the heavier ship would determine the outcome of a collision in terms of ending positions of the two ships?
3) Historically, which had the greater effect in determining positions post-collision - burden or maneuverability?
It doesn't and that's not the point. The point is only when a Frigate and SOL are involved. This suggestion gives the Frigate a slight maneuver advantage in some situations.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7eat51
In all other situations, revert to normal rules.
My question revolves around the meaningfulness of burden. If two different SoLs collide, one being much heavier than the other, and as such, less maneuverable or at least taking more time to respond due to momentum, the official rules give preference to the heavier ship in terms of movement order. Though, intuitively, your house rule makes sense to me, I am trying to think about coherence among the rules as a whole. Does that make sense?Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Blozinski
Am I correct in understanding this rule is intended only to allow the Frigate to more-effectively dodge an incoming SoL?Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Blozinski
I wonder if this has to do both with the greater maneuverability of a smaller ship and the generally greater speed at which orders can be transmitted to the crew on a smaller ship.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Blozinski
Since the game plays out in standardized size blocks of time, this might be a way the designers used to edge a time bias towards the faster reacting ship and crew and more closely approximate real time movement.
It could be to dodge or not to dodge. In some cases, dodging will result in a nice stern rake. It is intended to give the Frigate a maneuver advantage. Maneuver advantage is the only thing a Frigate has going for it.Quote:
Originally Posted by csadn
This house rule would basically introduce the capability of using frigates to block SoL movement, so I have two questions:
1. Would a Frigate Captain be willing to put his ship in the path of a Ship of the Line to block that ship's movement?
2. Woul it actually work, given the tonnage differential?
Maybe once.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pseudotheist
One way or another, *Definitely* *once*.... >;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Pseudotheist
If a frigate captain deliberately blocks a ship of the line, there would have to be some collision damage.
But how anyone could determine "deliberately"?
Accidental or deliberate the conclusion should be the same, a collision with appropriate damage result. I could only imagine a frigate (enemy) being that close to a SoL if it was raking the bow. There again I don't have the rules so am arguing, I hope, objectively.
Is there any scope within the rules for crew or ship quality?
ie A better quality crew should be able to react quicker than a lesser quality crew.
Also a higher quality ship should be able to attempt more difficult maneuvers without sustaining damage than a poor quality ship that would probably take a lot more.
My reference for this is probably French ships stuck in port for long periods should have better quality ships than the British who are constantly at sea on blockade duty v's poor French gunnery (no chance to practice in port) to superior British gunners who being at sea have more chance to practice.
If we take as an example a
French typical frigate such as a Virginie class (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginie_class_frigate) weighing in at around 720 tonnes and about 47m long, beam 12m, draught 5.5m
colliding with a SOL such as
Conqueror 74 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Conqueror_%281801%29) at 1850 tons and around 54m+,beam 15m, draught 7?m.
giving a weight differential of around 2.4:1 Given a frigate trying to block a SOL one would assume that if a collision happens, then worst case is a straight on hit at right angles with the SOL smashing into the side of the frigate. My physics is a bit rusty but I think that means the entire momentum of the larger ship is going to strike the smaller amidships, assuming the larger ship is stopped by the collision, the smaller will give some ground (ships dont force move well laterally) and roll away from the larger ship unless the two become completely entangled. Modern ships in this situation can cut the smaller ship in two, but it is probably different in the age of sail and the speeds were generally pretty slow (2-7knots). Nevertheless I cant recall this ever happening deliberately between a frigate and a SOL, but would be interested to hear of an episode.
David??? What happens to the frigate? My feeling is she's heavily damaged but probably not sunk or wrecked, the SOL suffers damage to bowsprit, maybe foremast comes down?
A collision of this type would almost always be a fairly large number of smaller inelastic collisions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Berthier
That is, the force would dissipate fairly rapidly through direct transfers and component rotational torque. The force would then be transferred to vibration between the objects and then the air and, most especially, the water.
The two ships would come to a stop rather quickly so depending upon the position of the strike would likely still be in contact in some way.
The points of "rotational torque" would likely be the places where hull breaches would occur.
What if the frigate is in the lee of the SOL, frankly speaking it would be sol. LOL