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Thread: No pictures, but an extremely fun game!

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  1. #1
    Able Seaman
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    Default No pictures, but an extremely fun game!

    Had my first game with multiple ships, and what a blast it was.

    The British fielded the 1st rate Hibernia and 3rd rate Defense, while the French were sailing the 1st rate Orient and 3rd rate Genereux.

    The wind was low and westerly, and the two forces approached eachother in line from the north and south. The British commanded the weather gauge. As they approached, the British (myself) foolishly turned too hard and too late, positioning themselves terribly. At once the Orient unleashed a full raking broadside (first broadside rules) on the Defense, while the Genereux did the same to the Hibernia. Both ships took massive damage. The Defense sprouted 3 leaks, a broken rudder, and severe crew loss, while the Hibernia caught fire, lost its rudder, as well as two masts.

    In the confusion the two British ships, looking to save themselves, ever so ironically collided at full force, causing massive damage to one another, and springing a leak on the now ablaze Hibernia.

    As the Hibernia limped away to conduct repairs and gain a good position, the Defense was grappled by the Genereux. Before the boarding could occur though a well placed cannonball struck the Defense low in the hull, sending her to the deep.

    The two french ships quickly turned to make chase on the Hibernia, who was demasted and slow limping away. Before much could occur in the pursuit though, the now rampant fire on the Hibernia struck its fatal blow, igniting the magazine. In a terrific roar the Hibernia exploded, sending her surviving sailors to their death.

    While a total and massive defeat to myself as the British, this game played out almost cinematically, and was action packed.

    My only complain is how the chits and actions of the advanced rules really drew out the game and took away from the action. Im not sure if dice, simplified grease pen mats, or combining standard and advanced rules could speed it up, and only more testing will tell....but what a blast!

  2. #2
    Midshipman
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    Sounds like a good time! I like the chits in that it feels right for the theme, brings it back to old school. The chits are unfortunately also slow and messy. I ended up coding up a windows app to handle this aspect so I could focus on the ship to ship action when playing my young sons. Great game.

  3. #3
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    Very interesting conclusions to the aspects of your game Joseph. You will find the use of the chips speeds up as you become more o fey with the mechanics of the game.
    Having said that, when I am handling large forces I revert to your idea of a whiteboard marker pen and plastic covered mats.



    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  4. #4
    Able Seaman
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    Rob,

    With larger forces do you remove actions from play? It seems that whiteboard only has enough info for basic play?

  5. #5
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    A lot of info gets jotted down along the top border for me. ie cpt wounded gets a C. rudder damage a backward sort of tick. You can make up your code as you progress The pics of sails settings can also be used for sail damage by putting a spot on a sail and then striking it out when hit. For intermittent actions like ammo loads, or leaks stopped you can easily rub out the changes with the tip of a baby wipe. I personally never ascribe actions to crew until there are only four crew boxes left and then a bit of work has to be done.
    Until that point I assume that petty officers know their jobs and get on with it. Guns must be kept firing, next fire and any leaks, sails and steering last. Permanent steering damage gets a dot in the wheel box and then two if needed, a bit like a cricket score card is done for those who play.

    Generally for large games you won't want to be involved in the minutiae of micro managing ships logs. You will be taking an Admiral's overview.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  6. #6
    Able Seaman
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    Wow Rob,

    Ive been looking for the ultimate rule set and this must be close. So you run every possible action as automatic until there are only 4 crew slots left? Very nice. In regards to delayed repairs, such as leaks and fire, do you simply make the repair still happen on a delay?

  7. #7
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    Fire fills its box as in the rules and goes out the next move. You may notice some boxes with just an F for fire in them. Leaks are mended on the following move as well. As you can see from Dryad she got multiple fires and not much else damage there. The last fire was put out after she surrendered simply because she still had crew boxes available, otherwise she would have burnt down to the waterline or exploded as per the rulebook. Just time to get the working parties organized. Not much bookkeeping needed. Hardest thing to remember is first broadside bonus if you use it. Need to remember to put a dot beside the gun image for that side of the ship otherwise you forget later in the game what has been fired and on which side.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  8. #8
    Able Seaman
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    Sorry for the late reply but thank you for the breakdown! I really like these rules and am going to work with them to figure out how I want to do large engagements.

  9. #9
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    My pleasure Joseph.
    That's one of the primary aims of the Anchorage, to help others to discover more about the game and period, and help out with questions about it so we can all enjoy the experience at whatever level we want.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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