Carronades Revisited

It has bugged me that carronades were fairly common throughout our period, but not well reflected in the game.

After a bit of research, it seems to me that, other than vessels with primarily carronade broadsides, the only ships that mounted a substantial amount of their carronades in their broadsides were spar deck frigates. In these ships, 25 to 50% of their broadside weight could be carronades.

While other ships may have carried some carronades, statistically it doesn't seem like they should matter. In my research, none of the ships modelled by Ares ever carried a significant number of carronades other than possibly HMS Sybille.

In conclusion, carronade rules only really need to be considered if playing outside the ships provided by Ares with merchant ships, smaller ships, or oddballs like USS Essex.

Have fun with this monster. :)

1782 refit HMS Egmont (Slade Common 74 variant, base log SGN104) - Broadside Weight = 1684 Imperial Pound ( 763.694 kg)
Lower Gun Deck - 28 British 68-Pound Carronade
Upper Gun Deck - 28 British 42-Pounder Carronade
Quarterdeck - 8 British 24-Pound Carronade
Forecastle - 4 British 24-Pound Carronade

Tempted to give her a starting Broadside of 8 at B range/4 at A; we tried Double Damage Half Range but it got too metagamey and played out like Essex's Demise. Thinking maybe not requiring player to declare armament until they fire their first salvo, adding some question of "is this regular or a Special Load?"... my other thought would be that an all-carronade 2-decker ship should always be partnered with one or two ships of more standard loadout, hounds to the hunter.

Did Egmont ever get used for anything historically? I'm thinking that your plan of a conventional ship to wound and then let her chew is what the Admiralty had in mind.

She's definitely an interesting ship, but without a historical comparison, we can but shudder at what might have been...

Weren't there also Congreve rocket ships that replaced the cannons with rocket batteries? Another example of scary potential, maybe for both sides!:happy:

From what I've read of Congreves, my very first order WRT them would be "get those damn things off my ship!" I can't find any record of her seeing action until 1793 Toulon, and she appears to have been returned to Standard in 1792 or earlier--a few other 74's were similarly rearmed at the same time, and IIRC returned to normal about the same time. The late 1780s were not exactly a time of high activity for the RN, until the Frogs kicked their murderparty into high gear...

As an aside, Egmont is reminiscent of something I did with one of the largest ships in Sid Meier's Pirates!... loaded the ship with carronades with chainshot for the opening salvo, got in a good stern rake to blow my target's sails away, then once she was Dead in Water graped the crew into submission. Quickly became my favorite exploit to abuse... LOL

The Royal Navy equipped HMS Glatton with an all carronade armament. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glatton_(1795)

Attachment 52079

Although I have only reached the Heavy Frigates in my postings in the History section you can see the armament for all the ships of higher rating throughout the period there if you need it.
Rob.

David, that's a pretty ship, but I think she predates our period.
I think this is the 1795 Glatton:

Attachment 52083

It's interesting that the RN didn't stick with the big carronade ships for long. I wonder why?

Because carronades are only effective at short range. And because the RN's 24pdr was proving itself to be an extremely good weapon - lighter than the 32pdr long gun but a higher muzzle velocity, greater penetration and a higher rate of fire. Carronades had their place in supporting the long guns but a ship with an overly heavy (or a complete) carronade outfit found itself at a distinct disadvantage against ships that could stand off and engage outside of its effective range.

The other experiment that didn't last long was a load of 24's top-to-bottom: carronades up top, Gover's new reduced-manpower long guns below.

Sometimes you just need a good "HULK SMASH!" in your arsenal... LOL

I am sorry about the mistake with the photograph of the model ship.