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Thread: 2016 Campaign #2 - A New Venture

  1. #1

    Default AAR: 2016 Campaign #2 - A New Venture


    A New Venture

    My version of the 2016 Campaign scenario, Letters of Marque, by Union Jack:

    BRF: February 2016 Solo Scenario - A new venture (sailsofglory.org)

    Gabriel peered at the French merchantman through the spyglass. He allowed a small smile to cross his face. The merchantman had a lubberly crew; the Hermione with its scant but crack crew would be sure to catch it. Gabriel momentarily admired the sleek lines of the elegant frigate – his first ship and therefore his first love. Despite the Hermione’s speed and agility two previous prey had eluded her – one due to untimely fog and the other due to the intervention of a Royal Naval frigate.

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    The Hermione was gaining on the target; some action was just what Gabriel needed. He had been in a black mood ever since he and Anamaria went their separate ways. It was inevitable. They had very different views of pirating. For Gabriel it was all about the open seas and action while for Anamaria it was a business. She did have good business sense and got far better prices for their pirated goods than Gabriel could have even hoped to get.

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    The last straw was her suggestion to incorporate. Incorporate? They were pirates and Gabriel was a pirate captain – not a “chief operational officer”. Then there was the idea that Anamaria would be “chief executive officer” and “chief financial officer”. Finances? Sure, but “chief executive”? They had always shared the decision making. So they put it to the “shareholders”…er, other pirates. Gabriel gave an impassioned speech about pirating…you know, “yo ho ho and a bottle of rum…it’s a pirate’s life for me”. There wasn’t a dry eye among the hardened cutthroats but when the time came to vote, most went with Anamaria…as did the two ships of the line. Gabriel didn’t care so much about the Orient but he had a bit of affection for the Argonauta. He least he got the Hermoine….and barely enough crew that it would be undermanned for the Royal Navy. Then there was Hal Sparrow. He was sure Hal would side with Gabriel, but, no, he didn’t. What was that about, he wondered.

    Gabriel’s reverie was interrupted, “She’s in range, Cap’n”.

    “Fire a warning shot.”

    With that the merchantman, the Duc de Duras, struck her colours and hove to.

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    That was easy and with a small crew there’d be plenty of gold to split among the crew. That’d would stop the muttering about having made the wrong choice.

    “Ship ahoy,” cried the lookout.

    All eyes turned to the ship that appeared leeward.

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    She was Spanish frigate and, being at least a match for the Hermoine, sure to engage.

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    The Spaniard was well within range by the time they got the Duc de Duras underway. Gabriel had the Hermione turn to larboard, keeping her between their prize and the Spaniard. They exchanged opening broadsides. The Spaniard lost it’s main mast but fire broke out on the Hermoine.

    “Blast it”, muttered Gabriel.

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    The damage from the raging fire would mean that an exchange of gun fire would favour the Spaniard and a boarding action was out of the question with the small crew made even smaller with men detached as a prize crew on the Duc de Duras. All Gabriel could do is to hope that they could outdistance the crippled Spaniard.

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    The crew managed to douse the fire. Another exchange of broadsides and the Spaniard lost the top half of her mizzen but the Hermione was losing too many crewmen.

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    The Spaniard had managed some repairs but it was still in range of the Hermione and the Duc de Duras.

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    With he accumulated damage the exchange of fire was increasingly less effective, but the Hermoine managed to hole the Spaniard which now listed to starboard.

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    The Hermione’s manoeuvres had allowed the Duc de Duras to near safety from the Spaniard’s guns, but now Gabriel had to get the Hermione out of danger. One bit of bad luck and the Hermoine would be finished and they’d be all hanging from the Spaniard’s yardarms.

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    Fortunately the Spaniard seemed to be hurting as much as the Hermione.

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    One more tack to larboard and the Hermoine should be beyond cannon range.

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    But not yet. Another exchange of afire and more of Hermione’s crew fell.

    “Oh well”, thought Gabriel. “Hermione’s dead won’t care and the survivors will each get that much more gold.”

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    Would they escape? The Spaniard was persistent.

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    A gust of wind pushed the crippled Spaniard to larboard and away from the Hermione and her prize. The Hermione’s crew cheered. They had escaped and had their first prize since splitting with their former colleagues.

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    Ship Logs

    Hermione

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    Spanish Frigate - the Diana (The card should have been for the Diana.)

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    Prize Ship - Duc de Duras

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    Last edited by ShadowDragon; 04-20-2023 at 19:59.

  2. #2
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    An interesting encounter Paul and a near run thing. It will be interesting to see how the disafection with Anamaria works out in further adventures.

    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.

  3. #3
    Midshipman
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    Nice AAR!

    What was the crew complement (in boxes) of the ships - especially of the Hermione and Duc de Duras?

    Lt. Bush
    "Jeder Krieg, auch der siegreiche, ist ein Unglück für das eigene Volk, denn kein Landerwerb, keine Milliarden können Menschenleben ersetzen und die Trauer der Familien aufwiegen."
    Helmuth von Moltke d. Ä.

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bligh View Post
    An interesting encounter Paul and a near run thing. It will be interesting to see how the disafection with Anamaria works out in further adventures.

    Rob.
    Yup, a near run thing. One bad draw or not having got two mast hits on the Diana and the Hermione would have been taken. Thanks for the rep; just glad there's still people around to read the AAR.

    Quote Originally Posted by William Bush View Post
    Nice AAR!

    What was the crew complement (in boxes) of the ships - especially of the Hermione and Duc de Duras?

    Lt. Bush
    Thanks for the rep, Lt. Bush. The game was played as directed in the scenario. So the Hermione would have had 9 boxes less 1 for the prize crew = 8 boxes at the start. Having lost an additional crew hit in the first exchange, as did the Diana, that meant any boarding action would have seen the Hermoine with a burden of 3 and 7 crew vs the Diana burden of 4 and crew of 9 (after its 1 crew hit). As it transpired the Hermione lost another crew which left her with 6 crew (3 burden) vs the Diana's 9 crew (4 burden).

    The Duc de Duras just had the 1 prize crew box; the marker indicates the prize crew and not hits on the crew. The scenario rule is that if the Diana gets into position to fire at the Duc, the Duc will strike regardless of the results of the fire. The Diana will only fire at the Duc if the Duc is the nearer target which is why it was important to keep the Hermione between the two ships.
    Last edited by ShadowDragon; 04-08-2023 at 06:13.

  5. #5
    Midshipman
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    Quote Originally Posted by ShadowDragon View Post
    Thanks for the rep, Lt. Bush. The game was played as directed in the scenario. So the Hermione would have had 9 boxes less 1 for the prize crew = 8 boxes at the start. Having lost an additional crew hit in the first exchange, as did the Diana, that meant any boarding action would have seen the Hermoine with a burden of 3 and 7 crew vs the Diana burden of 4 and crew of 9 (after its 1 crew hit). As it transpired the Hermione lost another crew which left her with 6 crew (3 burden) vs the Diana's 9 crew (4 burden).

    The Duc de Duras just had the 1 prize crew box; the marker indicates the prize crew and not hits on the crew. The scenario rule is that if the Diana gets into position to fire at the Duc, the Duc will strike regardless of the results of the fire. The Diana will only fire at the Duc if the Duc is the nearer target which is why it was important to keep the Hermione between the two ships.
    Thank you for the details.

    Did the scenario prescribe the prize crew to consist of one crew counter only or did you elect to just shift one single "crew" across?

    Lt. Bush
    "Jeder Krieg, auch der siegreiche, ist ein Unglück für das eigene Volk, denn kein Landerwerb, keine Milliarden können Menschenleben ersetzen und die Trauer der Familien aufwiegen."
    Helmuth von Moltke d. Ä.

  6. #6

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    The scenario prescribed one counter; of course assuming I understood it correctly.

  7. #7
    2nd Lieutenant
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    Hi Paul sorry I'm late, I don't know where the time goes. Well done for getting this one under your belt, and a good result as well, although I don't think the Spaniard pushed you hard enough. If that had been the glorious French Marine I'm sure Gabriel would have been dancing from his own yardarm.

    Looks like it was a late night for you as the poor old Duc kept getting confused with the Hermione. 1st pic and log one. I'm not sure if that isn't some imposter posing as Hermione, I think Hermione has blue paint on the topsides, but the pictures on my tablet aren't so clear, or maybe that's my eyesight.

    Anyway it's good to see you're still getting some games finished. I took all my notes away with me intending to churn out the AAR's but either didn't have time or the energy. That Spanish wine does sap the energy somewhat.

    Hopefully I can bash on with them on our next grand tour, we'll see how that pans out.

  8. #8
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    Did you mean this picture John?
    Must be all that Brandy your Jon inbibes!

    I see no ships wrongly identified.

    Bligh.
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    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.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vagabond View Post
    Hi Paul sorry I'm late, I don't know where the time goes. Well done for getting this one under your belt, and a good result as well, although I don't think the Spaniard pushed you hard enough. If that had been the glorious French Marine I'm sure Gabriel would have been dancing from his own yardarm.

    Looks like it was a late night for you as the poor old Duc kept getting confused with the Hermione. 1st pic and log one. I'm not sure if that isn't some imposter posing as Hermione, I think Hermione has blue paint on the topsides, but the pictures on my tablet aren't so clear, or maybe that's my eyesight.

    Anyway it's good to see you're still getting some games finished. I took all my notes away with me intending to churn out the AAR's but either didn't have time or the energy. That Spanish wine does sap the energy somewhat.

    Hopefully I can bash on with them on our next grand tour, we'll see how that pans out.
    I might expect you're right on all counts, but then there's that photo posted by Rob. But what is true these days?

    As a Vagabond you might want to catch the AAR involving the Vagabond Prince (Rupert) vs Blake. My recollection is the Vagabond Prince gets away, but given the Hermione-Duc photo I might be wrong.

    https://www.sailsofglory.org/showthr...Dutch-Antilles

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bligh View Post
    Did you mean this picture John?
    Must be all that Brandy your Jon inbibes!

    I see no ships wrongly identified.

    Bligh.
    That's quite clever. Sure you not working in the info ops business?

  11. #11
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    Quote Originally Posted by ShadowDragon View Post
    That's quite clever. Sure you not working in the info ops business?
    No Paul, but you don't get to the rank of Admiral without being able to manipulate a few of the despatches to give a more favourable impression for the Tory members, and the public broadsheets of whatever action has taken place, even those not on the Glorious first of June.

    Bligh.
    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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