AAR: The capture of the Montagne - Or: Aiming high can be an interesting option

[Argo]

Scenario: Uwe aka JackAubrey1805, Photos and documentation: Achim aka Argo, translated with the help of www.DeepL.com/Translator

This time only a short, not very detailed report with no complete photo documentation. It was also meant more as a "try out scenario"

Prologue
As already written at the end of AAR "Encounter near Brest" https://sailsofglory.org/showthread....ter-near-Brest, after that Sails Of Glory game the discussion came up, why we never use the additional rule "Aiming High". The rule has been "allowed" with us for year and day, but somehow it is never used - although it would have been quite suitable for the French in the last scenario, for example.

This prompted our grandmaster of scenarios Uwe to write a short scenario that explicitly enforces "Aiming high" to find out what you can do with it.

Scenario
On May 28, 1794, a few days before the Battle of the 13th Prairial (the "Glorious First of June"), French and British units clashed for the first time.
The French three-decker Revolutionnaire, through unfortunate sailing maneuvers, had drifted away from the main body of the French fleet and was subsequently attacked by several British 74s. Although the Revolutionnaire was completely dismasted in this battle, she did not set down the flag, at nightfall the British abandoned her and she was later towed to Rochefort.
In our scenario the Montagne (SGN106A), representing the Revolutionnaire, has to face HMS Bellerophon (SGNKS04), HMS Thunderer (SGN104B) and HMS America (SGN114B), which attack one after the other in staggered order. We have omitted the other British ships involved in this battle and the rearguard of the main French fleet for the sake of simplicity.
But the British admiral has made a special stipulation in our scenario: the Montagne must be brought up as a prize, sinking her is not an option.

Special conditions for the British
• The French ship must not be sunk, but must be brought up as a pinch in the boarding battle.
• The British must use "Aim High" for the entire engagement.

Special conditions for the French
• Deviating from the official rules (but fitting to the historical context) no automatic surrender in case of 3 x broken mast
• The last space on the crew damage track can hold three damage markers and these must be inflicted explicitly by boarding.

Gaming surface
The open sea, no reefs or anything else. The field is in "infinite" size, if the ships leave the field at one end, the distances are logged and the ships are put back at the other end.

Wind
Medium wind from southeast to northwest

Number of Players
3

British ships
• HMS Bellerophon (SGNKS04)
• HMS Thunderer (SGN104B)
• HMS America (SGN114B)

French ships
• Montagne (SGN106A)

House rules
Reduced collision damage
In a collision, each ship draws two C damage markers. If the difference in the hull strengths of the two ships is more than two, the weaker ship draws as many C damage markers as the difference in the two hull strengths (The stronger continues to draw two).
If one of the ships involved has placed an "Entanglement" marker as an action, it may return a damage marker of its choice to the bag.
"Entanglement" is checked at the beginning of the following turn as usual.

Modified "First Broadside" Rule.
As many damage markers are drawn as in a normal broadside, for each "0" damage marker another marker may be drawn. However, if this marker is a "0", no third marker may be drawn.

The battle


Game setup: Montagne in front, followed by HMS Bellerophon, HMS Thunderer and HMS America.
After I had successfully completed my mission as the British captain of HMS Orion in our last game, the role of the French commander fell to me in this scenario.
Escape was hopeless - the British are faster and more maneuverable and would catch up with me sooner or later. So the idea was to attack the leading British ship relatively quickly, before the other two came rushing up. Maybe I would be able to fight the British down one by one.



HMS Bellerophon is quickly in range, has the better firing arc and starts the battle at long range.
And - thanks to “Aiming High”- scores a broken mast breach on the Montagne directly with her first broadside.



About the answer of the French one round later the British can only laugh. A full first broadside with the main firing arc, which result in almost only as zeros and light hits.






The mast break on the Frenchman has directly quite unpleasant effects, the maneuverability of the already ponderous ship is even more limited, and so it comes shortly after another broadside from the front battery of the Bellerophon, to a collision with British SoL.


The subsequent boarding attempt, however, can be beaten back devastatingly by the French, so that the first British ship has to withdraw from the battle.


Unfortunately, the Thunderer and the America are now within firing distance, and the Montagne is in danger of being heckled by both.



Quickly the consistent fire from both British ships cause further sail and crew damage to the Montagne.


The next boarding attempt is started by the HMS Thunderer: And the Montagne can hardly offer any resistance, the crew is already too decimated.



Conclusion
In this scenario, "aiming high" worked excellently for the British forces. Mast breaks and sail damage made the Montagne slower and harder to maneuver, and the crew damage enhanced significantly the possibility of a successful second boarding attempt by the HMS Thunderer.
So overall, depending on the scenario, the “Aiming High”-rule is an interesting option, and it is likely it will be ordered by our Captains from time to time.