Battle of the Nile at GothCon 2017

[TexaS]

Convention game in Gothenburg Sweden

Setup





Enter the British


I did recommend bigger gaps but players do as they wish.


Incredibly close without touching.


But Nelson himself touches ground and is stuck.

The Battle Begins


The first British ship to rake Guerriere and Bellerophon pulls Vanguard off the sand bank.


Still traffic jams and close calls in the British lines.


Guerriere strikes. It's now very much apparent that the French take two turns to reload.




The British continue down the line.


Broke the line but didn't get any good rake.


Approaching the French flagship.


Planning to break the line in front and behind the l'Orient.


Two British ships strike their colours, one just about to rake the flagship from the bow.


Hard fighting. Will the balance tip?


In the end three French 74 gun ship of the line and at least two frigates would be able to escape. We didn't play that, but agreed that the British would not be able to stop it.

Compared to historically they captured l'Orient instead of her blowing up which would give a lot more prize money as she carried plunder from Egypt.

[Bligh]

Fascinating game Jonas.

Thanks for showing us just what can go wrong on the British side. I hope our Captains take note before Sven puts us to the test at Doncaster in September.
Rob.

[TexaS]

If the ships had done as historically and anchored and let new ships meet new French ships I think it had turned out better for the British.

[Bligh]

I totally agree Jonas. That plus the anchored ships masking the approach of the next in line is a gamechanger in this battle.
Rob.

[Union Jack]

Some good pointers for you Admiral before we, as you put it, are put to the test.

Great game Jonas and fantastic to see all those ships in action.

[Comte de Brueys]

Impresive setup and game Jonas.

Hope you give some more informations about the used rules, victory conditions and captains/players that took part.

How long did you play?

[TexaS]

We played for six hours.

The players were informed to take, sink or burn as many ships as they could, but unknown to them the French left would try to escape when the l'Orient struck.

We used basic rules plotting a single card, no special damage except l'Orient that noted being on fire and a second would make her 50-50 each round to blow up. No doubleshotted broadsides, no special ammunition. Boarding was allowed. There was a 50-50 risk of grounding if sailing within "short range" to the coast, but Frigates only within "chain/grape". If stuck a ship that stops within "chain/grape" of stuck ship may after one turn (to set a cable) start pulling off the stuck ship. 50-50 each round to succeed.

Nelson had all his advantages but with so simple rules only one applied (Something with boarding?). It was never used. The French gunners took two rounds to reload due to a lot of the men being on land.

All 50-50 was draw an E and so if it's crew or 0.

[TexaS]

Forgot...

If colliding only draw a single orange (close) damage to both ships regardless of friend or foe.
It happened between two British, one sailing down the line and the one breaking the French line and between one breaking the line and a French ship in the line. 50-50 for getting entangled and 50-50 to cut loose.

And thank you for the reputation! Rob, Neil and Sven!

[Comte de Brueys]

Thank you for the information.

[Union Jack]

Some good pointers and simple fast house rules to keep momentum going. May I put forward the French ships may take 2 rounds to reload if reloading both sides but normal reload if firing only from 1. Probably without playtesting an unnecessary complication and too much bookee ping.

[David Manley]

Ah, you can't beat a good dose of bookee ping

[TexaS]

Some good pointers and simple fast house rules to keep momentum going. May I put forward the French ships may take 2 rounds to reload if reloading both sides but normal reload if firing only from 1. Probably without playtesting an unnecessary complication and too much bookee ping.

It's a good idea and probably a truer representation, but I went for simple. I used dice to count reloading for the French. 1 first reload, 2 second reload, 6 loaded. I moved them to the side when the battle really started. As the French didn't move it worked ok.

[Redcoat]

Very impressive battle! I like the small town.

[Comte de Brueys]

... I used dice to count reloading for the French. 1 first reload, 2 second reload, 6 loaded. I moved them to the side when the battle really started. As the French didn't move it worked ok.

I'll bring setup 8 French ships in Doncaster and will solve the load/reload problem with a little chart.

How did you manage the damage for the French ships, Jonas?

[TexaS]

Very impressive battle! I like the small town.

Thank you Julián!

Sven: I had charts on a table behind me. Simple home made with the usual boxes with the gun strength.

We put the damage on the table as you see in the pictures. I first checked what was taken in the last box on the ship, looked at the damage, added up on the playing table and then turned around and crossed out boxes and wrote any remaining damage in the next box.

[TexaS]

And by the way... I followed DBs suggestion on stats. The first two were weaker gunned (as the British) and most others were as a standard Téméraire. The three Tonnant-class ships were as the strongest Téméraires and as suggested by the Anchorage Stats Committee until Ares releases theirs. (Which is probably weaker than Ares will make them. My guess.)

[Bligh]

I like the look of your thinking behind this Jonas.
For large ship actions it certainly takes the effort and time out of the record keeping.
Neil does a fine example of this when we fly Zeppelins.
Not over this fleet i hasten to add.
rob.