Broadside and Ram: Action off the Scilly Isles

The apparent ease with which the French ironclad squadron managed to escape from Cherbourg has caused uproar in the Houses of Parliament and panic in the corridors of Westminster. The Lords of the Admiralty have been spurred into decisive action and have dispatched two of Her Majesty's latest ironclad warships from Devonport to hunt down and destroy the Gloire, Provence and Flandre. In addition, several of the warships blockading Brest have been released to patrol the Western Approaches in order to intercept the French squadron before it can reap havoc in the North Atlantic.

The French, meanwhile, have charted a course close to the North coast of Brittany overnight and at dawn are now steaming in a North Westerly direction toward the Bristol Channel. The squadron commander has been ordered to harass merchant shipping in the Western Approaches and intends to intercept and sink any merchant vessels flying the red ensign. After sinking as great a tonnage of shipping as possible, the French ironclads will make a dash for Brest or Lorient, breaking through the Royal Navy's blockade before they can be stopped.

The dark moonless conditions have obscured the progress of the French squadron and made the task of the Royal Navy that much more difficult. However, at dawn the Gloire, Provence and Flandre have been spotted by fishing boats from Newlyn to the South East of the Isles of Scilly, with reports of the sighting passed on via fast dispatch vessel to HMS Captain and HMS Monarch, who inadvertently crossed paths with the French during the night. The squadron had been steaming a South Westerly course, hoping to intercept the French off Ushant.

In addition, HMS Achilles has rendezvoused with HMS Captain and HMS Monarch, adding much needed firepower to the Royal Navy pursuit squadron. HMS Achilles had been dispatched from the Brest blockade and had been patrolling the coastline off Ushant as a blocking force. The combined squadron had been steaming North West but has now altered course to the North East in an attempt to intercept the French off the Scillies, before it can enter the shipping lanes of the Bristol Channel. 

The three Royal Navy ironclad warships are now closing on the French squadron to the SW of St Agnes, wary of the nearby shoals and reefs around the islands but confident that if they can find the Frogs, they can sink them! The scenario set up can be seen in the diagram at top of the page. As an optional twist, a dangerous 12'' x 6'' shoal may be positioned six inches in from the long table edge and equidistant from the short table sides. The shoal is not marked on the table but both players will be told that there is a danger of going aground, so they need to be cautious.

A shoal may be detected each move by spending 1AP per ship in the repair damage phase, but will only be effective if the ship is steaming at cruise speed or slower and only if it is within six inches of the shoal. The position but not the extent of the shoal will be revealed but only to the player who made the successful spotting attempt. A failed spotting attempt will mean the hazard remains undetected. If a squadron is in formation (p16), all ships will be made aware of any shoal that has been spotted, as the hazard will be identified by flag signal or semaphore. If any ship goes aground (see p18) the extent and position of the shoal will be revealed to both players and will remain marked on the table for the rest of the game.

I'm hoping to play this game at some point over the next couple of days.