Artillery fire from fortifications?

[Lieste]

Heated shot requires a broadly appropriately tuned gun system, to the target range and consistency. If the shot passes through and through it does nothing additional. If it hits rigging or spars it will nearly always pass through with no additional damage. Heated shot lodged in timbers can cause a localised heating and fire - maybe - if it can be got at the fire can be prevented by driving the shot out and applying water. Heated shot which passes into the gun deck can cause problems - it isn't localised heat, so fires to structure are unlikely (IMO), but the issues of injury to crew are increased by the high temperature of the shot - generally shot rolling on the deck are dangerous anyway (even just 'rolling' can break feet and ankles, with 'spent shot' amputating the feet of soldiers trying to stop it with a foot being a known phenomena in land warfare with 3-12pdr shot) - but the greatest risk it to the small supply of powder on the gundeck. I would treat each hit with heated shot on the gun deck as a test for "bursting a gun" or some similar rule, but at a 1 in 'some' chance ~ 1 in 6 or 2 in 6.

Lodging in timber, or worse passing into the Hold &/or Magazine can cause a fire or explosion. Frigates at (iirc) Tripoli were not harmed by hot shot, because the gunners were using distance charges from 18-24pdr guns, which passed through and through at close ranges. Had the charges been moderated the risk to the ships could have been more serious.

[Bligh]

You are quite right with your information Dave. Thanks for taking the trouble to explain all these extra details to help in expanding my answer to Gary.

The through pass of heated shot is why we use the rule of only in the hull or ships innards as a basis for that type of damage.
Our system is always tailored to add a bit of interest to what is a fast and simple game system. We always employ the Kiss method of decisions on this sort of expansion of the rules as written. Most of the chaps I play with took to Sails for the very reason that it gave them a quick game without the application of a plethora of miniscule sub rules and modifications which made most games so slow and boring. We also abhor the death by a thousand dice with which some rules seem to be obsessed. Consequently, whilst being aware of many of the details of the era, we try to emulate Andrea's ideal of distilling the bones of an idea into a quick and easily remembered system of game play.
We have tried to pick up and include the nuisances of the heated shot in our simplistic way, and I am sure that the details you have mentioned will help Gary find some way of including these extras into his game, even if he only uses them to explain why a certain rule is as it is.

Rob.