Boarding in Broadside and Ram

There are no rules for boarding actions in Broadside and Ram, which came up as a thing in the game last night, so I have roughed out a possible system.

A ship will need a boarding factor (BF) which is calculated by taking the crew complement, dividing it by 100, halving the result then rounding up to a minimum of 1. For example, HMS Agincourt, with a very large crew works out this: 800 ÷ 100 = 8 ÷ 2 = 4.

To board, two ships must be in base to base contact. The boarding step takes place after ramming / collision step in the sequence of play. I did think about making boarding only possible after a ramming attack, as this would mean the two ships would be locked together, which is the only time it would conceivably take place.

To resolve boarding, the ship that is in its active phase (the attacker) and the defending ship both roll a D6 and add their ship's BF. This is modified by -1 if damaged, -2 if silenced and -3 if crippled (shattered ships cannot board but may be boarded unopposed if desired). The final total is reduced to a minimum value of 0. The winner with the greater total number wins the boarding action. 

If there is a draw the action will carry on in the next phase or turn, in which case counter boarding will be attempted by the defender. Neither ship may disengage, move or fire while a boarding action is underway, just to keep things simple.

After a successful boarding action, when a ship has been captured, a prize crew will take over the ship. This prize crew cannot use the captured vessel in combat but may conduct movement actions as an independent vessel, unless it subsequently attaches itself to a division. If the prize ship is boarded, the prize crew has a BF of half the of original crew BF rating. The ship from which the prize crew is drawn will also have it's BF halved for the rest of the game.

If a prize is recaptured it will move as an independent ship until it can rejoin a division. It may move, fire and manoeuvre normally, subject to existing damage. However, its BF will be halved due to crew casualties in the preceding boarding action for the remainder of the game.

I'm not sure this will work but it's worth a try out. I've tried to keep it simple but also to mirror the existing mechanics of the rules, while taking account of the possible outcomes in an actual game. I'd be interested to hear your opinions and suggestions. 

Broadside and Ram Club Game Photos

A very enjoyable game of Broadside and Ram at the club tonight. It was a pretty close game until the last few turns, when the Royal Navy managed to cripple or shatter enough of the French fleet to gain an upper hand. Good fun!

2mm ECW Woodland Terrain

 

I'm starting to look at terrain for the 2mm ECW project and cane across these resin woodland sections from Battlescale Miniatures. They are just what I'm looking for, even if I can probably scratch build something similar using bobble bath mats or scenic foam. Very nifty!

https://battlescale.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGgWoZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHW_4-eN0bVCeEeBdaQw3NSwqmqPHwzyKBTfK7DqLy1n0u9nhv5Vv9WcNKA_aem_a-MMZxBPG3ynTtNB7PeKxw

Royalist Cornish Regiments

I've been working out the orbat of the Royalist army for the One Hour Wargame solo project today. The core of the army is the five regiments of foot raised in 1642 including Sir Nicolas Slanning's, Colonel John Trevanion's, Colonel William Godolphin's, Sir Beville Grenville's and Lord Mohun's regiments of pike and shot. 

These varied in size, so I will use a mix of three and four pike and shot blocks on each regimental base. In fact, Grenville's regiment was twice the size of sone others, so I may well model that with four of the larger pike and shot stands, rather than three. I will also include a least one base of the less reliable and rather grumpy Cornish Trained Bands, who were under equipped and less enthusiastic than the regiments raised by the landed gentry.

I've have included two regiments of cavalry to represent Sir John Berkeley's and Sir Thomas Digby's horse, although both commanded foot units at various times as well. There is a further mounted unit of dragoons under Sir John Digby which will act as skirmishers. The artillery is only one base in strength, as the Cornish army was quite weak in this respect. 

This lot adds up to about twelve bases from which up to six can be selected or randomly chosen for each game, the default number in the One Hour Wargames rules. I'm also going to use the Horse and Musket variant of the rules, at least to start with, so that I can include skirmishing dragoons and the artillery, both of which are not featured in the Pike and Shot set up for some inexplicable reason.

Lest We Forget

I have no idea what family relation I have with this nan but there is on, as all of my father's family come from a small area of Suffolk. He was younger than both of my sons when he was killed in action in October 1915. Rest in Peace.

2mm ECW Royalist Cornish Army

I didn't fancy painting today so instead I based up the rest of the Royalist army for the One Hour Wargame solo project. These represent the five Cornish regiments of the 1642-43 campaign, as well as the Cornish Trained Bands, Cavalry and Dragoons. I've added a second artillery base, which will probably be used for the Parliamentarian army, as the Royalists were very short on guns. I may well add another pile and shot regiment but otherwise I think this is more than enough for the moment.

Broadside and Ram Club Game

I have a game of Broadside and Ram at the club next week. Luckily, I have a tried and tested scenario waiting in the wings for this, with everything ready to go, having prepared the sheets and fleet lists for a game back in April that didn't happen for various reasons. All I now need to do is brush up on the rules and get the bits and bobs packed up for the club. Jolly good stuff!

2mm ECW Bluecoat Regiment

Here's the first test base of pike and shot infantry for the One Hour Wargame project. It took me a while to figure out the way to paint these tiny pike blocks but I think the regiment turned out looking okay. Next thing to do is painting a cavalry regiment and a battery of field guns, then I'll have a think about basing up the rest of the Royalist army.

Tinkering in 2mm English Civil War

I was a bit bored yesterday so dug out the 2mm Irregular Miniatures ECW units that I based a few months ago as a test job for One Hour Wargames. I gave them a white dry brush then started blocking in some colours. I quite enjoyed doing this, despite not getting very far, so I'm going to crack on this weekend and try to get them closer to being finished. I also have some ideas for something similar but using the Antonine Miniatures figure blocks for medieval or fantasy armies, once again with the OHW rules. 

Lacquered Coffins

I think I've found the holy grail of air wargaming rules for club games, in the shape of Lacquered Coffins, a set of simple air combat rules designed for hex less games in 1/600th scale. This alone ticks two of my boxes but, in addition, the system uses square bases, fixed height flight stands with two dice and a simple but comprehensive set of flight manoeuvres. It also includes extensive aircraft data tables and is suitable for use with historical scenarios, something that is definitely up my street. I've had a copy for ages but never really considered these rules for club games, which is a bit of an oversight on my part. I need to give it a try out a home but, if it's quick and easy to play, I'll work toward a club gane at some point next year.