AAR - Mar 2015 Scenario Duty and Daring by ShadowDragon

Duty and Daring

My version of the 2015 Campaign scenario, Duty and Daring, by Nightmoss:

https://sailsofglory.org/showthread....uty-and-Daring

Hal Sparrow could not believe his change of fortune. Not much more than a fortnight ago he was on a convict ship headed for New South Wales; and here he was the captain of the Dryade – formerly of the French navy but now a ship in a pirate fleet. The convict ship had been attacked by these same pirates and the captives liberated – to go their own way or to join their crews. Hal had experience at sea and gladly volunteered. There was something in his bones that spoke to him about the sea and the freebooting life of a pirate.

When the leaders of the pirate fleet, Gabriel and Anamaria, were looking the new volunteers up and down, they stopped at Hal.

“You have the look of someone with experience at sea,” said Anamaria.

“Aye, madam, that I have.”

“What’s your name?”

“Hal Sparrow.”

“Not any relation to the famous Jack….”

Hal interrupted, “Don’t say his name…but, yes, a great uncle….a distant great uncle.”

”I have this voodoo sense that you owe me something,” said Anamaria. “We need someone to captain one of our new ships, the Dryade. Think you’re up to it?”

“Now, Captain Hal Sparrow, that has a nice ring to it. Aye, it comes natural to the family.”

The mission had been to capture a French ship, the Orient, from the harbour of San Los Hope. While Gabriel and Anamaria led the Argonauta on the raid, the Dryade was to remain on the lookout for French or Spanish ships.

The raid had been a great success but the Orient was badly damaged. Gabriel had taken over the ship with a prize crew which had jury rigged sails and whatnot to make the Orient somewhat seaworthy. Hal and the Dryade joined the Orient and the Argonauta for the return voyage but a squall had come up and scattered their little fleet. The Dryade being faster, more agile than the Argonauta found the Orient first. Her jury-rigging had been damaged by the squall and she was rapidly drifting on to some shoals. There was not time to lose. Hal steered the Dryade on an intercept course.

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Soon they were nearly within a cable of the Orient. “Ahoy, Orient. We’ll be coming along your port side. Make ready for a line.” Hal meant to tow the Orient to safety and until such time as the Orient’s crew repaired their jury-rigged sails.

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A line was cast and fell short. Hal scowled. “I thought you said to make ready for a line,” shouted Gabriel who was casting wary glances at the shoals.

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“Make this one count,” commanded Hal. If they missed this one, they’d be past the Orient and she would be on the shoals before they could come about for another chance.

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Success! The Orient was in tow but there was trouble ahead. A French ship of the line – a 74, Le Berwick hove into sight. The Dryade’s strained to make way with the weight of the Orient.

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They had the wind gauge on the Berwick but they’d have to get past her. Hal spied the Argonauta in the distance. If they could get within cannon shot of her, they’d be safe from the Berwick.

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The Berwick smartly tacked and was on a parallel course to engage the Dryade. She easily outmatched the Dryade and even with the few guns that the Orient could get into action, the odds were with the Orient.

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Soon the opposing ships where opposite each other, within a cable; thunderous broadsides belched fire and death on their foes. The pirate crews were well trained but so was the Berwick’s. The damage to the Dryade was severe. She could not take another such broadside. But aim of the pirates had been true and the Berwick suffered heavily from the fire of the Dryade and Orient.

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The drew apart as the crews reloaded. “I hope this doesn’t lead to another boarding action,” thought Gabriel. He had a reputation for being a blood-thirsty, swarming aboard type of pirate, but the truth was it was more circumstances than planning. He would rather a nice, first-volley, close-range, raking shot but more often than not the ships got tangled and there was nothing for it but to swarm aboard their foe’s ship. As his mother had said when he was a lad, “If you’re walking through the valley of the Shadow of Death, don’t set up camp.”

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Again all three ships fired. The distance was greater so the damage was less. The Dryade was fortunate as the Berwick turned on the Orient and was only able to fire with her port, stern battery.

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They had some time now as the Berwick would need to come about, but when she did she’d have the wind gauge and would surely catch them.

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However, the Argonauta had spotted them. She was making her way towards them but the wind was against her.

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The Berwick had smartly turned about but the Argonauta was too close. The captain of the Berwick decided it was enough. The Berwick had taken a great deal of damage. Engaging the Argonauta was not an option. With that the Berwick broke off the fight and headed for its home port.

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Hal smiled; he had done well in sight of the bosses, Gabriel and Anamaria. As if reading his thoughts, the first mate said, “Well done, Hal.” “That’s Captain Hal Sparrow!” replied Hal.


Notes: AI (by Dobbs) worked well. I went with the scenario rules

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Well done with your new captain, lucky Hal Sparrow. Could have ended up very unpleasent for both the pirate ships.

Rob.

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Originally Posted by Bligh

Well done with your new captain, lucky Hal Sparrow. Could have ended up very unpleasent for both the pirate ships.

Rob.

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Very lucky Hal indeed. I played it according to the scenario instructions which was to ignore special damage except for crew hits. If I had played with special damage the Dryade would have been finished - notice the fire damage. I just noticed now that I missed one extra crew hit on the Dryade - made no difference in the end but can't have an AAR without noticing mistakes afterwards. However, I am finding that I'm making fewer errors with SoG than WoG but maybe that's because I don't know I'm making mistakes - must re-read the rules again. :shock:

Also, if the Dryade-Orient had missed the 2nd attempt at the tow line, the Orient would have ended up on the shoals before the Dryade could return for another attempt. So, even closer than the logs show.

Yes, it was a bit of a muck or nettles Scenario Paul. One wrong foot and you were finished.:shock:
Rob.

I also noticed that you have just passed as a Midshipman, so you will need to get your money out in the Wardroom tonight.
Mine's a G&t, thanks.
Bligh.

:hatsoff:Also congratulations to Paul (Shadow Dragon) on making midshipman.http://www.sailsofglory.org/images/ranks/Naval03.png
Bligh.:salute:

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Originally Posted by Bligh

I also noticed that you have just passed as a Midshipman, so you will need to get your money out in the Wardroom tonight.
Mine's a G&t, thanks.
Bligh.

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Right-eo! I'll see if I can pilfer some of Gabriel's doubloons. :beer::beer::drinks::drinks::drinks::happy::Arrrr::singin::singin::cannonboom::swordright::swordleft:

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Originally Posted by Bligh

:hatsoff:Also congratulations to Paul (Shadow Dragon) on making midshipman.http://www.sailsofglory.org/images/ranks/Naval03.png
Bligh.:salute:

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:happy:

Planning the next 2015 scenario even as I type this....must catch up to John. These are more fun when there's at least one other shipmate for the ride around the Horn.

Captain Hal Sparrow!!! :happy: a great opener for him.

There was something in his bones that spoke to him about the sea and the freebooting life of a pirate. I think you're refering to rheumatism. :takecover:

That's an interesting thought about rules mistakes, I noticed the same thing looking back over my game notes, it may be that there is more complexity here and we just don't see the mistakes because they are lost in all the other detail. Mind you I don't remember reading in the scenario that we should ignore special damage so my thoughts are probably meaningless.:wink:

I've finished August's game but wrote up my first ever WWll flying game last night as it was easier. We're in the throes of decorating, so gaming time is in severely short supply. Good luck with your next mission.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Vagabond

Captain Hal Sparrow!!! :happy: a great opener for him.

There was something in his bones that spoke to him about the sea and the freebooting life of a pirate. I think you're refering to rheumatism. :takecover:

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I resemble that remark. :sad:
Bligh.

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Originally Posted by Vagabond

Captain Hal Sparrow!!! :happy: a great opener for him.

There was something in his bones that spoke to him about the sea and the freebooting life of a pirate. I think you're refering to rheumatism. :takecover:

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That may be, John. That may be...but nothing that can't be fixed by some '89 rum.

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That's an interesting thought about rules mistakes, I noticed the same thing looking back over my game notes, it may be that there is more complexity here and we just don't see the mistakes because they are lost in all the other detail. Mind you I don't remember reading in the scenario that we should ignore special damage so my thoughts are probably meaningless.:wink:

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It's probably that I'm not noticing my mistakes. I'll know better after - 'Who fired the first shot', which will be my first scenario with several ships on each side.

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I've finished August's game but wrote up my first ever WWll flying game last night as it was easier. We're in the throes of decorating, so gaming time is in severely short supply. Good luck with your next mission.:thumbsup:

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I've done April's - not sure when I'll get May's done as that 4 vs 4.:shock:

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Originally Posted by Bligh

I resemble that remark. :sad:
Bligh.

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Try some rum, Rob.

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Originally Posted by ShadowDragon

Try some rum, Rob.

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I'll stick to the G&t or Port if you don't mind Paul. I once had a nasty encounter with a bottle of Rum.
Rob.

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Originally Posted by Bligh

I'll stick to the G&t or Port if you don't mind Paul. I once had a nasty encounter with a bottle of Rum.
Rob.

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I was thinking that you'd rub the rum on your joints. What were you thinking?

I've had a nasty encounter with vodka at a party hosted by someone who had the worldwide marketing gin portfolio for United Distillers. Beware parties where the host pours vodka like wine - it was vodka not gin as it was post-group visit to Russia.

The 4 v 4 sounded quite daunting, I think 2 v 2 was the max I'd had on a table, although I was much younger then, but I digress.

2 lines, knock 7 bells out of each other and don't try manoeuvre, easy peasy.

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Originally Posted by ShadowDragon

I was thinking that you'd rub the rum on your joints. What were you thinking?

I've had a nasty encounter with vodka at a party hosted by someone who had the worldwide marketing gin portfolio for United Distillers. Beware parties where the host pours vodka like wine - it was vodka not gin as it was post-group visit to Russia.

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My nasty experience was Pernod and having to pull over on the side of a motorway to get rid of it. I wasn't driving and it took years before I could stand the smell of aniseed.

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Originally Posted by Vagabond

2 lines, knock 7 bells out of each other and don't try manoeuvre, easy peasy.

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If I recall weren't most of those bells knocked out of your fleet? :takecover:

...but maybe I should wait until my mission is done before casting....whatever I'm casting...bells? :help::help:

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Originally Posted by ShadowDragon

If I recall weren't most of those bells knocked out of your fleet? :takecover:

...but maybe I should wait until my mission is done before casting....whatever I'm casting...bells? :help::help:

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These are the flowers you are looking for Paul. I am always casting them.
Rob.

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Originally Posted by Bligh

These are the flowers you are looking for Paul. I am always casting them.
Rob.

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Good idea...in cast whatever you're casting starts being cast back at you.

A question...in the scenario rules they mention 'Ability Points' that accrue towards abilities and captains acquire them (i.e., defeat a ship of lesser, equal or greater class plus achieve scenario strategic objective) but in the scenarios the authors frequently mention 'Victory Points'. Are these the same thing?

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Originally Posted by ShadowDragon

Good idea...in cast whatever you're casting starts being cast back at you.

A question...in the scenario rules they mention 'Ability Points' that accrue towards abilities and captains acquire them (i.e., defeat a ship of lesser, equal or greater class plus achieve scenario strategic objective) but in the scenarios the authors frequently mention 'Victory Points'. Are these the same thing?

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Quite so Paul, if they strike you Nasturtiums don't hurt quite as much as bells. The points system was twofold, and depended on the points set for winning certain set objectives. Victory points could be used as either money to raise replacement crews, or speed up the work of the dockyard in getting damaged ships back to sea so as to not have to miss the next few missions. Ability points were gained by Captains completing a mission and when added up to a certain number could be used to grant the Captain one of the Ares special ability cards. Neil kept a chart on line with all the seasons missions, outcomes and points scores. We just filled in our results on it for him to number crunch.
You could sell captured ships for more points or keep them in your squadron and bring them up to scratch with a new crew with your prize money. This all became too much effort in the end so when I took over, i decided to let each mission speak for itself and people could just do what missions they fancied with no pressure to complete every month. This was an effort to keep up the dwindling number of players, but as you know it failed, so I just opened up the whole set of each previous years games for anyone to go back and have a bash at them.

Rob.

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Originally Posted by Bligh

Victory points could be used as either money to raise replacement crews, or speed up the work of the dockyard in getting damaged ships back to sea so as to not have to miss the next few missions. Ability points were gained by Captains completing a mission and when added up to a certain number could be used to grant the Captain one of the Ares special ability cards. Neil kept a chart on line with all the seasons missions, outcomes and points scores. We just filled in our results on it for him to number crunch.
You could sell captured ships for more points or keep them in your squadron and bring them up to scratch with a new crew with your prize money. This all became too much effort in the end so when I took over, i decided to let each mission speak for itself and people could just do what missions they fancied with no pressure to complete every month. This was an effort to keep up the dwindling number of players, but as you know it failed, so I just opened up the whole set of each previous years games for anyone to go back and have a bash at them.

Rob.

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That explains things. It's definitely better to keep it simple; and thanks very much for opening up the scenarios. It's appreciated. My focus is 'how do I create a story line from the bits of this game'. The storyline is all but it is constrained by the game events.

Now that is the real challenge. We had far less latitude at the time as we had an establishment of a squadron of six ships and If I remember one specified Captain ability and later also one crew ability to allocate to a ship and captain of our choice. The scenario writer could of course give abilities out like snowflakes to his captains.:wink: Would like the adventure to be simple, hard or B well hard?:sly: However this meant that in general the named Captains just worked as a team and the only real story line of one game was if the outcome had a knock on effect in the next one, like if you did not capture the ship with the plans, you would not know how many ships you were up against in the next scenario?
Rob.