How To: Ship-to-Ship Combat, Round Three
Entering This Round
Captain B's bid to wrest the advantage from Captain A' did not pan out. In response to this failure, Captain B ordered his ship to Hold Position and set sails to Fighting, then aimed his portside cannons at the closing Ship B and fired! The shots found their mark, striking the bow of Ship A, doing minimal damage to the hull, but scattering the crew of Ship A from the shocking assault. Ship A continues to close, sailing quickly at Full Sail and now 580' away, while Ship B drifts along at Fighting Sail, moving 7 knots. Captain A has forced another Advantage Check with the change of sail position.
The Advantage
Because Captain B ordered his crew to change to Fighting Sails (from Plain Sail) during the Special Maneuvers of the previous round, a new Advantage Check must be made.
Advantage Check Results: Captain B wins the Advantage
Non-Advantaged Ship Declares Heading and Speed
Sweat beading on the forehead of Captain A, he finds his ship and crew slightly damaged, and no longer with the Advantage. He feels that he must get closer before his cannons can be effective.
Heading Declaration: Captain A declares that his ship will Close with Ship B
Speed Declaration: Captain A declares that his ship will continue moving at it's Full Sail speed of 120' or 12 knots.
Advantaged Ship Declares Heading and Speed
Feeling more confident, Captain B makes his decision of how to maneuver after gaining the upper hand. He can see Captain A attempting to close. Captain B has the numerical advantage as far as crew goes. Should it resort to a boarding action, he would be in a good position.
Heading Declaration: Captain B declares that his ship will Hold Position
Speed Declaration: Captain B declares that his ship will slow to 60' or 6 knots.
Movement
The GM again refers to the chart under "Movement (Narrative)". The result this time is "Minus 1/2 Opp. Speed". This means that the distance is reduced by half the speed of the ship that does not have the Advantage. (Anytime the rules refer to the "Opp." or "Opponent", it refers to the Non-Advantaged Ship.)
Movement Result: Ship A continues to close, reducing the range to 520'. Ship B is now travelling at 6 knots.
Non-Advantaged Ship Performs Special Maneuvers, if any
Captain A is wise to Captain B's tactics and must take drastic action! He orders the Helmsman to perform a "Come About!" The helm is put hard over, reducing the speed of Ship A to 110' or 11 knots. When performing a "Come About" a new Heading must be selected. Captain A chooses "Hold Position".
He tells the Helm to face Ship B with the starboard side. He tells the Master Gunner to run out the starboard cannons.
Special Maneuver Declaration: Come About, with Starboard Facing (Hold Position). Run out the Guns to attack.
This forces an immediate Advantage Check! Captain A is looking to regain the upper hand! Since no other factors have changed, both Captains are rolling the same dice as the start of this round for the Advantage Check.
Special Maneuver Result: Captain A regains the Advantage and will fire when it is his turn to do so.
Advantaged Ship Performs Special Maneuvers, if any
Captain B has lost the Advantage. He could order a Come About of his own, but would have to either Close or Open, which would lose him the broadside cannons. It may be time to rely on the superior firepower and numbers, then attempt to close for boarding actions. Cannon fire until that point could reduce Ship A's crew.
Special Maneuver Declaration: No special maneuvers. Attack declared!
A Note About Reloading: For the first version of these rules, cannons will be reloaded automatically (as long as there is the proper crew available per cannon) each round. After some time, a rules upgrade may introduce cannon reloading.
Advantaged Ship Attacks
Ship A has regained the advantage through a Come About. It has it's starboard side facing the enemy, Holding Position.
Volley Fire
Per the Volley Fire rules, the four cannons on the starboard is closest to a three to one advantage over Ship B. (Remember, a ship is always considered 1 when using Volley Rules). This grants a +2 to attack and a x3 to damage.
Range Increment
Ship B is 520' away, just over two full range increments for standard 10 pounders (250' increment). This is a -4 penalty for range (-2 for each full increment.)
Advantaged Attack: Hits!
Damage from Advantaged Ship Attack
As before, a standard 10 pounder does 3d6 damage.
Recording Damage on Ship B
Ship B reduces the 36 points of damage by it's Hardness of 5 and suffers 31 points of damage. A good solid hit on the portside!
Since Ship B took damage, the crew will also take peripheral damage. Ship A rolls 1d6 for damage to the opposing crew.
Non-Advantaged Ship Attacks
With a slightly more cannons, Ship B should be more effective. Ship B has the same type of cannons, and the crew skills are identical for this demo. Remember, use the Volley Fire rules to determine the modifier to attack and damage when firing multiple weapons of the same type. In Ship-to-Ship battles, consider the target as a unit of one. Ship B has approximately 5 times as many cannons as the "1" Ship A. That is a +3 to hit and a x5 to damage!
Non-Advantage Attack: Hits!
Damage from Non-Advantage Attack
Again, roll as though one cannon hit, and multiply the final result by the modifier found in the Volley Fire Rules (x5 in this case)
Recording Damage on Ship A
We should recall two things when taking damage now. First, reduce the damage by the Hardness. This means the 45 points of damage becomes 40. (45 damage - 5 Hardness). Second, if at least one point of damage is taken, the crew will be hit for 1d6 damage.
End of Round Three
Captain A continues to hold the Advantage from round to round, but has taken two solid hits and the crew is starting to take a beating. Remember, if the crew is reduced to 80% HP, the ship will be considered running with a "Reduced Crew". This puts a -2 on all ship actions: attacks, maneuvers, Advantage Checks, etc. It seems that this would be Captain B's plan at this stage.
Let's take a quick look at the HP status of both ships and crews.
Round Three comes to an end, and what a roller coaster ride it was. Captain B briefly had the advantage, but a shocking Come About maneuver at Full Sail gave the edge back to Captain A, who rained cannon fire down on the port side of Ship B.
Captain B was glad to answer with his superior cannon count and got several solid shots in. Ship A's crew is getting dangerously close to a Reduced Crew number. (180)
Both vessels are left in this round Holding Position. Ship A lost speed from the Come About and is moving at 11 knots. Ship B continues at 7 knots. They are 520' away.
The next round will NOT have an Advantage Check to start. Captain A will continue to have the upper hand in tactics.
GM Thoughts
With no reload rules in place for the Narrative Ship Combat (for now), I see a hole in the rules: What prevents a Captain from piling all broadside cannons onto one side. The first thing that comes to mind is "damage". That would be damage from the opponent. Should the cannons be hit, all cannons on that side would be affected. This could offensively cripple a ship from a lucky or highly targeted attack from the opponent. Dividing the cannons up gives a better chance.
I will have to think about this more. I would like to avoid a situation where we have to keep track of where each cannon is at a certain point; that's too much bookkeeping! If you have any ideas, please let me know.
Captain B's bid to wrest the advantage from Captain A' did not pan out. In response to this failure, Captain B ordered his ship to Hold Position and set sails to Fighting, then aimed his portside cannons at the closing Ship B and fired! The shots found their mark, striking the bow of Ship A, doing minimal damage to the hull, but scattering the crew of Ship A from the shocking assault. Ship A continues to close, sailing quickly at Full Sail and now 580' away, while Ship B drifts along at Fighting Sail, moving 7 knots. Captain A has forced another Advantage Check with the change of sail position.
The Advantage
Because Captain B ordered his crew to change to Fighting Sails (from Plain Sail) during the Special Maneuvers of the previous round, a new Advantage Check must be made.
- Captain A will roll 1d20 +5 (+5 for Sailor, +2 Synergy Bonus for Tactics, -2 Ship Maneuverability for Full Sail)
- Captain A rolls a 7, for a 12 total
- Captain B will roll 1d20 + 8 (+8 for Sailor)
- Captain B rolls a 20, for a 28 total
Advantage Check Results: Captain B wins the Advantage
Non-Advantaged Ship Declares Heading and Speed
Sweat beading on the forehead of Captain A, he finds his ship and crew slightly damaged, and no longer with the Advantage. He feels that he must get closer before his cannons can be effective.
Heading Declaration: Captain A declares that his ship will Close with Ship B
Speed Declaration: Captain A declares that his ship will continue moving at it's Full Sail speed of 120' or 12 knots.
Advantaged Ship Declares Heading and Speed
Feeling more confident, Captain B makes his decision of how to maneuver after gaining the upper hand. He can see Captain A attempting to close. Captain B has the numerical advantage as far as crew goes. Should it resort to a boarding action, he would be in a good position.
Heading Declaration: Captain B declares that his ship will Hold Position
Speed Declaration: Captain B declares that his ship will slow to 60' or 6 knots.
Movement
The GM again refers to the chart under "Movement (Narrative)". The result this time is "Minus 1/2 Opp. Speed". This means that the distance is reduced by half the speed of the ship that does not have the Advantage. (Anytime the rules refer to the "Opp." or "Opponent", it refers to the Non-Advantaged Ship.)
Movement Result: Ship A continues to close, reducing the range to 520'. Ship B is now travelling at 6 knots.
Non-Advantaged Ship Performs Special Maneuvers, if any
Captain A is wise to Captain B's tactics and must take drastic action! He orders the Helmsman to perform a "Come About!" The helm is put hard over, reducing the speed of Ship A to 110' or 11 knots. When performing a "Come About" a new Heading must be selected. Captain A chooses "Hold Position".
He tells the Helm to face Ship B with the starboard side. He tells the Master Gunner to run out the starboard cannons.
Special Maneuver Declaration: Come About, with Starboard Facing (Hold Position). Run out the Guns to attack.
This forces an immediate Advantage Check! Captain A is looking to regain the upper hand! Since no other factors have changed, both Captains are rolling the same dice as the start of this round for the Advantage Check.
- Captain A rolls an 18, for a 23 total
- Captain B rolls a 4, for a 12 total
Special Maneuver Result: Captain A regains the Advantage and will fire when it is his turn to do so.
Advantaged Ship Performs Special Maneuvers, if any
Captain B has lost the Advantage. He could order a Come About of his own, but would have to either Close or Open, which would lose him the broadside cannons. It may be time to rely on the superior firepower and numbers, then attempt to close for boarding actions. Cannon fire until that point could reduce Ship A's crew.
Special Maneuver Declaration: No special maneuvers. Attack declared!
A Note About Reloading: For the first version of these rules, cannons will be reloaded automatically (as long as there is the proper crew available per cannon) each round. After some time, a rules upgrade may introduce cannon reloading.
Advantaged Ship Attacks
Ship A has regained the advantage through a Come About. It has it's starboard side facing the enemy, Holding Position.
Volley Fire
Per the Volley Fire rules, the four cannons on the starboard is closest to a three to one advantage over Ship B. (Remember, a ship is always considered 1 when using Volley Rules). This grants a +2 to attack and a x3 to damage.
Range Increment
Ship B is 520' away, just over two full range increments for standard 10 pounders (250' increment). This is a -4 penalty for range (-2 for each full increment.)
- Ship A will roll 1d20 + 2 (+4 ranged attack, +2 volley fire, -4 range penalty)
- Ship A needs a 10 to hit the AC of Ship B
- Ship A rolls a 16, for an 18 total.
Advantaged Attack: Hits!
Damage from Advantaged Ship Attack
As before, a standard 10 pounder does 3d6 damage.
- Ship A rolls 3d6 x 3
- Ship A rolls a 12 for 36 points of damage.
Recording Damage on Ship B
Ship B reduces the 36 points of damage by it's Hardness of 5 and suffers 31 points of damage. A good solid hit on the portside!
Since Ship B took damage, the crew will also take peripheral damage. Ship A rolls 1d6 for damage to the opposing crew.
- Ship A rolls a 1 for 1 point of damage to Ship B's crew.
Non-Advantaged Ship Attacks
With a slightly more cannons, Ship B should be more effective. Ship B has the same type of cannons, and the crew skills are identical for this demo. Remember, use the Volley Fire rules to determine the modifier to attack and damage when firing multiple weapons of the same type. In Ship-to-Ship battles, consider the target as a unit of one. Ship B has approximately 5 times as many cannons as the "1" Ship A. That is a +3 to hit and a x5 to damage!
- Ship B will roll 1d20 + 3 (+4 ranged attack, +3 volley fire, -4 range increment.)
- Ship B needs to hit the AC of 10 for Ship A
- Ship B rolls a 9, for a 12 total
Non-Advantage Attack: Hits!
Damage from Non-Advantage Attack
Again, roll as though one cannon hit, and multiply the final result by the modifier found in the Volley Fire Rules (x5 in this case)
- Ship B will roll 3d6 x 5
- Ship B rolls a 9 for a 45 total!
Recording Damage on Ship A
We should recall two things when taking damage now. First, reduce the damage by the Hardness. This means the 45 points of damage becomes 40. (45 damage - 5 Hardness). Second, if at least one point of damage is taken, the crew will be hit for 1d6 damage.
- Ship B rolls 1d6, and rolls 5 points of damage on the crew.
End of Round Three
Captain A continues to hold the Advantage from round to round, but has taken two solid hits and the crew is starting to take a beating. Remember, if the crew is reduced to 80% HP, the ship will be considered running with a "Reduced Crew". This puts a -2 on all ship actions: attacks, maneuvers, Advantage Checks, etc. It seems that this would be Captain B's plan at this stage.
Let's take a quick look at the HP status of both ships and crews.
- Ship A now has 740 HP and Crew A has 191.
- Ship B now has 769 HP, and the crew has 279 HP.
Round Three comes to an end, and what a roller coaster ride it was. Captain B briefly had the advantage, but a shocking Come About maneuver at Full Sail gave the edge back to Captain A, who rained cannon fire down on the port side of Ship B.
Captain B was glad to answer with his superior cannon count and got several solid shots in. Ship A's crew is getting dangerously close to a Reduced Crew number. (180)
Both vessels are left in this round Holding Position. Ship A lost speed from the Come About and is moving at 11 knots. Ship B continues at 7 knots. They are 520' away.
The next round will NOT have an Advantage Check to start. Captain A will continue to have the upper hand in tactics.
GM Thoughts
With no reload rules in place for the Narrative Ship Combat (for now), I see a hole in the rules: What prevents a Captain from piling all broadside cannons onto one side. The first thing that comes to mind is "damage". That would be damage from the opponent. Should the cannons be hit, all cannons on that side would be affected. This could offensively cripple a ship from a lucky or highly targeted attack from the opponent. Dividing the cannons up gives a better chance.
I will have to think about this more. I would like to avoid a situation where we have to keep track of where each cannon is at a certain point; that's too much bookkeeping! If you have any ideas, please let me know.
posted by Vayman | 2:16 PM
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