Solo Rules Test AAR--Blackbeard vs. Black Bart and Jack Sparrow

[Nightmoss]

This was my third solo rules test. I used just the Basic rules with one card planning. No collision damage. The ships are all from the Starter Set. Queen Anne's Revenge is the repaint of the HMS Vanguard. Black Pearl is the HMS Terpsichore and the Royal Fortune is the Courageuse. The encounter lasted 14 turns. Wind is out of the North. Turns 1 through 3 were movement only (see below).

Setup



Turn 1



Turn 2



Turn 3



Turn 4

Turn 4 was first exchange of fire. The Queen Anne's Revenge is taken aback which sets it up for a full broadside on the Royal Fortune. The Royal Fortune also has a full broadside shot on the QAR. Both are at "A" range. The Black Pearl holds fire. Damage on the RF is shown in photo.



Turn 4 Damage on Queen Anne's Revenge



Turn 5

Black Pearl moves in for a "B" range shot, but only has a forward arc broadside. Damage is not particularly good, but the crew loss will have significant impact later in the game.



(to be continued)

[Nightmoss]

Turn 6 saw a collision between the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Royal Fortune and it happened is such a way that neither of the ships had a shot on the other (sheer chance that?). Even so there was musketry exchange between the QAR and RF. Unfortunately for the Black Pearl the QAR had a full broadside shot on it at "B" range and the damage was significant, although it could have been worse.

Turn 6 Collision / Musketry Damage on the Royal Fortune



Turn 6 Musketry Damage on the Queen Anne's Revenge



Turn 6 Broadside Damage on the Black Pearl

[Nightmoss]

Turn 7 sees the Queen Anne's Revenge and Royal Fortune avoiding another collision, but just barely. It allowed for a rear arc broadside from the QAR to RF at "B" range and a rear arc broadside from the RF to the QAR at "B" range. Musketry fire was exchanged again between the QAR and the RF. Finally the Black Pearl gets off a rear arc shot to the QAR at "B" range, but it's ineffectual.

Turn 7 Damage on the Queen Anne's Revenge



Turn 7 Damage on the Royal Fortune



Turn 7 Damage on the Queen Anne's Revenge From the Black Pearl



Turn 7 Musketry Damage on the Queen Anne's Revenge



Turn 7 Musketry Damage on the Royal Fortune



I will pause here while working on the remainder of the AAR, but I do want to assure myself that I've been applying damage appropriately? As artillery and musketry fire is simultaneous I don't adjust the ship logs until everyone has finished shooting. To do so would certainly alter the ability to return fire and with musketry fire added in the crew damage rather quickly adds up.

(to be continued)

[fredmiracle]

Love those piriate ships!!!

I do want to assure myself that I've been applying damage appropriately? As artillery and musketry fire is simultaneous I don't adjust the ship logs until everyone has finished shooting. To do so would certainly alter the ability to return fire and with musketry fire added in the crew damage rather quickly adds up.

Yes, that is my understanding, all musketry and artillery by all ships occurs simultaneously. However that damage is applied before boarding begins.

[Nightmoss]

Love those piriate ships!!!



Yes, that is my understanding, all musketry and artillery by all ships occurs simultaneously. However that damage is applied before boarding begins.

Thanks for the confirmation feedback, Fred! I'll try to wrap up the AAR tomorrow. I've got a doctors appointment in the morning so hopefully I'll get to it later in the day!

[Ducky]

Great AAR! Curious how it ends....

[Nightmoss]

Turn 8 consists of movement and one rear arc broadside from the Royal Fortune to the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Turn 8 Moves



Turn 8 Damage on the Queen Anne's Revenge



Turn 9 sees the Black Pearl and Royal Fortune being taken aback as they attempt to come around for better range and angle of fire. The Queen Anne's Revenge lines up a full broadside at "A" range on the Royal Fortune. Damage on the RF is adding up, but 3 misses gives the ship and crew added incentive to close now that the QAR is reloading.

Turn 9 Movement



Turn 9 Damage on Royal Fortune



Turn 10 has the Royal Fortune and Black Pearl within range for broadsides. The Royal Fortune has a full broadside on the Queen Anne's Revenge at "B" range. The Black Pearl can only line up a forward arc broadside at "A" range.

Turn 10 Movement



Turn 10 Damage on the Queen Anne's Revenge



One thing I've learned from playing several solo games now (and attempting subsequent AAR's) is that your notes and photos along with the correct marking of gun fire can be a bit daunting when more than a couple of ships are involved. While I don't think I made errors a check sheet log in addition to the physical log for more drama might be in order? I think this is essentially what Fred has worked up?

(to be continued)

[Nightmoss]

Only 4 turns left to resolve the Battle of the Pirates. I did take photos of the ship mats and logs, but held back on posting them as their quality wasn't great and I've already taken up enough space on this thread.

Turn 11 Movement is at a critical juncture. The Queen Anne's Revenge is taken aback, which lines the ship up for a rear arc broadside on the Black Pearl at "B" range. The broadside is accurate and effective.

Turn 11 Damage on the Black Pearl



Turn 12 Movement sees the Queen Anne's Revenge taken aback once more and a subsequent exchange of full broadsides between all three ships. Black Pearl attacks at "B" range, Royal Fortune at "A" range and Queen Anne's Revenge at "A" range. As if that wasn't enough the Black Pearl and Queen Anne's Revenge are now within musketry range, both electing to fire with whomever is left on deck. The outcome of the battle is hanging by a thread (and it's not the rigging coming loose, yet)

Turn 12 Damage



Turn 13 now sees the Black Pearl taken aback as well as the Queen Anne's Revenge. There's no combat this turn, but the relative silence is just a prelude to the final exchange.



Turn 14 has the Black Pearl taken aback again, but the Queen Anne's Revenge movement (and burden) causes a collision with the QAF moving forward on the arc of it's movement card until its base touches the Black Pearl's. The Royal Fortune moves forward to assist.

Turn 14 Movement



Turn 14 Final Fire Exchange and Resolution of Battle has the Black Pearl firing a rear arc broadside into the QAR at "B" range. The Queen Anne's Revenge fires a forward arc broadside at "B" range. But it is the musketry exchange from the Black Pearl that take out the QAR.

Turn 14 Damage on the Queen Anne's Revenge. A 6 damage chit fills a box but the loss of two more crew fills the crew track on the ship log and the QAR strikes her colors.



Turn 14 Damage on the Black Pearl. Ship damage on the Black Pearl has been devastating, but miraculously the crew has survived relatively unscathed. While her musketry takes out the QAR, the broadside damage from the Queen Anne's Revenge critically damages the BP and she strikes her colors.



Victory goes to the team of Black Bart and Jack Sparrow, but the Royal Fortune would not have survived another exchange of fire had the QAR not struck.

Final ship logs for the combatants

Black Pearl Final Damage



Royal Fortune Final Damage



Queen Anne's Revenge Final Damage



Disclaimer: I think I finished this game at 1:00 am on Saturday so I may have made mistakes near the end, but hopefully not. As I've said elsewhere I am very impressed with how the AI handles the ship(s) and if I'm not modding ships with repaints, etc., playing solo encounters is guaranteed. This was a lot of fun and while this battle could have gone either way I really enjoyed the simultaneous striking of colors and the Royal Fortune winning by the smallest of margins. Cheers!

Drink up me hearties yo ho!

[7eat51]

Well done, Jim.

Are you using white smoke for firing and the brown side for reloading?

It is important to not record damage until all ships fired. I saw several times when enthusiastic players under the direction of an enthusiastic GM started to record damage only to mess up return fire. One would think the first time would have been enough to correct such behavior; but nope, the thrill of the moment kept taking over. This is where it is important to develop a system until it becomes routine. I learned a lot from GMing this past week; something I encourage everyone to try.

Yep, taking photos and notes not only lengthens playing time, but makes things a bit more complex. This is why the number of ships used in the solo campaign should be kept to a few on each side at most.

[Nightmoss]

Well done, Jim.

Are you using white smoke for firing and the brown side for reloading?

It is important to not record damage until all ships fired. I saw several times when enthusiastic players under the direction of an enthusiastic GM started to record damage only to mess up return fire. One would think the first time would have been enough to correct such behavior; but nope, the thrill of the moment kept taking over. This is where it is important to develop a system until it becomes routine. I learned a lot from GMing this past week; something I encourage everyone to try.

Yep, taking photos and notes not only lengthens playing time, but makes things a bit more complex. This is why the number of ships used in the solo campaign should be kept to a few on each side at most.

Thanks Eric. Initially I used the smoke to show firing and then removed it to indicate reloading. While that was obvious to me because I have the logs right here, it's not obvious to the viewer. Then I remembered the discussion of using white side for firing and brown side for reloading. That's much clearer visually and you have the back up check on the ship mat to ensure you're doing it right.

I started to do the damage right away and stopped myself from making that error. It's very important to get this right and in this battle I expect the Queen Anne's Revenge would have come out way ahead of the Pearl or Fortune if I made this mistake.

I do like the aesthetics of the ship mat and log, but I'm going to make use of the printed ship sheets Fred's created. Very easy to use from the view of his AAR.

Say, did you see my comment on a ship marker for when you need to jostle ships and cards around? Did that issue come up during Origins? With the slippery mats (not yet broken in) and the collisions I would like some device that I can put down to mark card or ships so I can rearrange other cards and ships as needed. Painters tape might work for the cards because it will stay in place, but I've not come up with something to mark ship bases unless it was some corner template with a semi sticky bottom?

[7eat51]

We used the smoke markers to good effect. The players really liked the mechanism (I have a conference call in a couple of hours with some students, but if I am coherent afterwards, I will work on the Origins write-up).

We didn't have much problem with ships jostling. We had many collisions, but placed another card underneath the ship, and then removed the ship, to figure out what was going on. When you think about how inaccurate some players are while moving their ships, a little jostling might put things aright.

Sticky Bottom - now that sounds like a ship name.

[Bligh]

Another most enjoyable encounter Jim.
Again instructive, as I never considered a three way combat until I read this AAR.
The personalization of the ships also added a lot to the ambiance of the action.
Rob.

[Nightmoss]

Thanks Rob (for the rep as well). I'd completely forgotten this early on run through of the solo rules. As for the 3 way encounter I was probably thinking ahead to new adversaries beyond the British or French (Spanish, American, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, Pirates, etc). Spanish and US have made appearances, but we certainly need more?

[Bligh]

Quite true Jim.
It will truly broaden the spectrum of interest in Sails if Ares can just get out a few more interesting models. Then we can do the rest with some more adventurous scenarios.
Rob.

[Naharaht]

Well done, Jim! A good AAR.



(Forgive this please. AAR Jim lad! )