"Form Line of Battle" : Napoleonic Naval Small Squadron Action

A small Royal Navy squadron of HMS Thunderer (74) and HMS Canopus (80) spots a suspicious pair of sails on the distant horizon (see below):

The sails turn out to be a small French squadron of two ships Le Franklin (74) and the Commerce de Marseilles (120) obviously intent on conducting a secret mission for the Emperor (see below):

Despite being out gunned the Royal Navy commander decides on a aggressive strategy of cutting the enemy (French) line, so the fittingly named HMS Thunderer leads the charge. HMS Canopus and the Commerce de Marseilles have exchanged fire resulting in "sail and mast" damage to both. As HMS Thunderer blocks HMS Canopus' line of sight to the French flagship Canopus turns her attention to the Le Franklin (see below, British squadron at top of photograph, French bottom):

The ambitious "breaking the line" manoeuvre goes somewhat awry as the captain of HMS Thunderer miscalculates the relative speeds of the two ships and impales herself on a ship twice her size (a crew of over a thousand Frenchmen compared to under five hundred British sailors). This meant interested reading and re-reading of the collision rules (see below):

As a wargame the battle had to be left unfinished, in rather a shambolic state, with the French flagship being entangled with the small British 74 (HMS Thundered). HMS Canopus and Le Franklin meanwhile continued their exchanges of broadside upon broadside, leaving both in a state of mutual "de-sailing and de-masting" (see below):

Chances are the Le Franklin will succumb to the continued attention of HMS Canopus as both ships become static floating fortresses, the rate of fire from the British being better. However if HMS Thunderer cannot untangle herself from the French flagship ultimately the battle will be lost to the French.

A 60:40 probability to the French methinks ;)

I can see the sea!

From actions furious fought on The Brown Sea to sailing peacefully along in formation in The Blue Sea (see below):

A majestic display of Royal Navy might a 74 (HMS Thunderer), 80 (HMS Canopus) and another 74 (HMS Implacable).

The sailing formation is especially posed for the camera ;)

The Dual Revisited (5): Closing Rounds

The Le Franklin's masts and rigging are now in a poor and sorry state of affairs (see below):

Her only hope is to try and pull away, clear the fallen rigging from her decks and hope for a change of wind or sea state to escape. HMS Thunderer meanwhile has other ideas and gives Le Franklin a medium range broadside, but misses (see below):

Undaunted, with a deft turn of the helm HMS Thunderer comes about with the intent of causing more mischief aboard the labouring Frenchman (see below):  

A stern rake to add to the Le Franklin's agony. The French crew morale is plummeting (see below):

The final act of the drama ensues, a short chase is on as HMS Thunderer mercilessly pursues Le Franklin, the Royal Navy captain is obviously thinking of the prize money at stake (see below):

The Frenchman sees the Royal Navy gaining, with no hope of rescue, the French Captain eventually "strikes her colours" to signal surrender and preserve life (see below):

So ends the min-epic sea drama. Two - nil to the Royal Navy so far!

The Dual Revisited (4): Deadly Fire

The British 'master gunners' unleashed hell, bit missed the rather large French battleship (see below, argh, don't roll a one):

The Frenchman sees his chance, but he too misses (see below)

This time the range is so close nobody can possibly miss (see below):

The British fair better in the exchange and use their superior seamanship to good effect setting up a bow rake (see below):

"Deadly Fire" ensues (see below):

One rather bedraggled and sad looking French "ship of the line" starts thinking of "going home" (see below):

Next: An interesting "morale test" to follow.

The Duel Revisited (3): Closing the range

The second firing pass sees HMS Thunderer opening fire on Le Franklin, but sadly (as I am playing the British) missing (see below):

Le Franklin returns fire but she too clean misses her mark. The range though is slowly decreasing to provide a nastier type of fight (see below):

As the ships pull away in search of gaining the "weather gauge", Le Franklin attempts an extreme/long range rake. 

This seems to be the naval fashion of play as the French seem to "want to get lucky" whereas the British inevitably "get lucky" at some point (see below):

The Frenchman shoots but to no avail (see below):

However both ships set themselves on a converging course (see below):

The captains sit it out as their respective broadsides lie "out of arc," well at least for the time (see below):

The Frenchman comes into arc and fires, but misses (see below):

Whereas the English captain holds his nerve and responds at a closer range band for a 'hopefully' better effect (see below):

In the words of Nelson, "This will soon become a hot affair."

The Dual Revisited (2): Firing Commences

Ships firing like this look rather bland (see below):

But with addition of a little smoke marker, it can get quite atmospheric.

Note: It will also help when the number of ships increases (and along with it the obligatory book work and also with it the capacity for 'innocent' mistakes) with the racking of which side of a ship 'has' and 'has not' fired (see below):

The first fire was simultaneous, with the British choosing to aim their shots at the sails, masts and rigging, scoring (even at this long range) a hit to remove one French middle sail, taking the top sail with it (small pieces of paper serving as handy damage markers, needed as damaged sails etc are to be cut away one section per turn - something that was picked up in the rules since last game).

Now it was time for the Royal Navy to take the return fire from the French (see below):

Again the atmospheric smoke comes into play (see below):

But the Frenchman misses and both ships sail majestically by, note the Frenchman still frantically cutting away at the remaining sail dragging behind it in the water (see below):

Cleared for action both participants prepare for a second pass (see below):

Turning to face each other they are both 'just out' of gunnery arc and steady themselves for the onslaught in the next turn.

Note: Already, even in the early stages of combat, the Frenchman is at a disadvantage when trying to manoeuvre into position thanks to losing that middle sail (see below):

"Fire as she bears Mr Christian" (see below):

I like this shot, I find it quite atmospheric. I suppose I am also a long, long, long way away from anything that resembles a cannon ball so hence not in the least bit frightened!

:)

Next: The Deadly Closing Circle of Death

The Dual Revisited (1): Le Franklin versus HMS Thunderer (1/1200 NapNaval)

As if the sands of time had somehow been reversed, the Le Franklin's topsail hove into view from the lookout's position aboard HMS Thunderer. Armed with the revised interpretations of the Action Under Sail (4th Edition) rules the combatants 'made ready', the players had also switched playing sides from last time, so the French players were British and visa versa.

Both ships start with the wind on their quarter, coming from the left hand side of the photograph (see below):

The Royal Navy Commander contemplates a turn towards the wind to bring himself across the bow of the Frenchman (see below):

Both captains have chosen identical tactics to try and gain advantage of the "weather gauge" (see below):

The Frenchman seems to be gaining a slight advantage, though she sailing periolously close to the wind for her average rated crew (see below):

This is becoming a tense affair as the Frenchman has now reached her maximum position (without sustaining damage) while the Royal Navy crew have something in reserve as they can take their vessel closer to the wind if need be. They are waiting to see if the Frenchman makes a mistake (see below):

The Frenchman is now making little or no headway against the wind whereas the British still have managed to keep a full sail (see below):

This allows the British Commander to narrow the gap before his sails sag, bereft of power, both captains are ready to bring their helms around for action (see below):

From a slow crawl to a sudden spurt of speed and the two ships haul alongside each other (see below):

Both sides get ready to deliver their first broadsides. Already a tactical affair, this game has a developing sense of drama about it. Both players are cagey and are trying to size their opposition up before totally committing themselves on a full-blooded strategy.

Next: Fire as she bears Mr Christian!

The Secret Mission (cont) Napoleonic Naval Rules Test (Part 2 of 2)

The two Third Rates bear down on each other in a truly aggressive fashion. The Frenchman is determined to put up a spirited fight despite her "secret cargo" (see below):

As the ships pass "long range" shots are exchanged with the British hitting but not getting much from her high aimed rigging shots. The French were again ineffective, just plain missing their target. The Frenchman turns in truly heroic Gallic fashion to engage the British at medium range. Both sides elect to go for the hull after the disappointing results of "mast and rigging shots". The British destroy three French gun batteries (now down to ten from the original thirteen) while the Frenchman "gets lucky" with a critical hit knocking out the whole of the British main mast! A catastrophic blow as HMS Thunderer is left drifting slowly to starboard for two turns (see below):  

The French shark (left of picture below) menacingly maneuvers to the stern of HMS Thunderer as she is haplessly busy cutting away her fallen rigging and mast. The French captain is busily ordering a boarding party to be formed with his marine contingent and spare crew (see below):

But what is this? The French helmsman shows his inexperience. With what little propulsion left available to HMS Thunderer, the Royal Navy elite crew put it to good use (or was it just French over confidence) and Le Franklin receives a shattering bow rake of "double shot" at short range. This wipes out another three gun batteries and worse still a critical hit on the helm is received. Le Franklin sails on straight for two turns (see below):

This means the faster French ship crashes into the slower Royal Navy ship despite frantic last minute application of the helm (see below):

This means another section of the rules can be tested as a furious boarding action ensues. The French have an initial advantage in men, but quality counts in favour of the British. In addition the British rake Le Franklin one more time before the boarding takes place off. The British (led by their captain in true Nelsonic fashion) repulse the Frenchman (see below):

The battle ebbs and flows but once the British gain the upper hand the outcome in inevitable. The Frenchman strikes her colours as a shadowy figure (of the Republic) is seen attempting to burn 'secret papers' in the Captain's cabin of the Le Franklin (which as per true life will become the future HMS Canopus).

Footnote: 
The rules were Action Under Sail (4th Edition): Rules for Naval Warfare 1756-1815.
   

The Secret Mission: Napoleonic Naval Rule Test (Part 1 of 2)

The majestic Le Franklin, a Third Rate 80 Gunner, sails out of Marseilles on a secret mission for the French Revolutionary Republic (see below):

These apparently random scribbles are in fact her vital statistics (see below):

Alarm and consternation ring through the French ship as so early into her voyage another vessel unexpectedly comes into view. Could the French mission really be compromised so soon?

The newcomer is quickly identified as a British Third Rate (the 74 Gunner HMS Thunderer, although the French did not know her name at this point). The game is afoot with both vessels making best speed, quartering as the wind comes from the left hand corner of the photograph (see below):

An uncharacteristic British navigation error (this was very much a learning experience for both player "teams") saw HMS Thunderer inadvertently sail directly into the wind and sustain minor mast damage (sail ripping sound effect). The Le Franklin therefore got an unexpected opportunity to open her account, though be it with an extreme long range shot.

This was taken as the British offered a tantalising chance to the French to "bow rake" HMS Thunderer, hopefully adding additional damage to the British sails and rigging,that is if the Frenchman got lucky (see below):

As seen from the Royal Navy's perspective. As it turned out the French gunnery optimism was totally unjustified as all they managed to achieve was scaring a few roosting seagulls on the British ship, while in turn losing their port side batteries "first fire" bonus modifier (see below):

Golden Rule to remember in Napolronic naval combat:

"Save your 'first fire' for your most effective shot!" 

The two ships closed from extreme to merely "long range" with the French holding the advantage of the weather gauge (see below):

Shame about the tabletop, the sea being a most unusual colour of brown this day, but alas no blue sheet could be found at short notice.

Next: Fire as she bears!