Action off the Cape

The call went up for sailing ships so I turned to my trusty old Avalon Hill game, Wooden Ships & Iron Men.  Hex based and a d6 game, players with a little experience can easily handle four ships of the line, maybe more.  With just four players and no playing time this year we had HMS Vanguard and Goliath as large 74s, Swiftsure and Culloden as common 74s.  Three crack and an average crew.  The French had the Bucentaure 80, Achilles, Spartiate and Redoubtable all 74s and featuring average crews, and finally the Athena 64 with a crack crew.  The French have an extra ship and the biggest, but the difference between an average and crack crew is large so I felt it fairly balanced.  As another advantage, I gave the British the weather gage.

The French squadron, several ships unable to hold formation.

The British quickly turn into the French while others straggle.

No table talk was allowed unless ships were in neighboring hexes.  Flag signals could be no more than six words.  Since it was a small table I didn't worry about repeating signals down the line or potential errors reading them.

First shot of the game, totally ineffective.

Here the Bucentaure and Redoubtable fire, but with little success.

Redoubtable could fire a full broadside at the Goliath, or a partial
against the Swiftsure.  Being a bow rake, she took the latter.

Attempts at formation are tossed aside (as usual) and we get to grips.

Nelson supposedly said before Trafalgar "No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy."  Our captains largely followed that principle, sometimes to their detriment.

The Swiftsure and Achilles have fouled their rigging and are in
a pounding match.  

The Bucentaure was pounded into a wreck and struck her colors on turn 16.  In the raging fight no one could take time or crew to put a prize crew aboard.  This was to later matter.

The Swiftsure grappled the Achilles, but was forced to strike.
A prize crew was immediately put on board.

The Goliath took a critical hit which shot away her rudder.  Unable to steer and fight, she put up full sails and left the table.  Alone somewhere, repairs could be effected.  The crew of the Bucentaure, not yet prisoners, went to work patching holes in the hull.

Swiftsure gets underway with a French flag flying.

Collisions or near misses abounded, while the guns never cooled.

Culloden found herself surrounded and pounded as Vanguard
tries to help.

Culloden fires both broadsides, but can only reload one.

The Athena is ravaged, rolls two sixes, and explodes!

All that is left of a fine ship and crack crew.

The Spartiate puts up full sail and races ahead of the Culloden to
cut off her escape.

After 23 turns and three hours+ play we wrapped it.  The Swiftsure with it's prize crew sailed off table.  Goliath escaped to fight another day.  The Bucentaure rehoisted their colors after the British left and made repairs to be towed home.  The consensus was that Culloden was not going to escape.  The battered Redoubtable had taken a repairable rudder hit and had sailed out of the action.  Spartiate was in good shape and the Achille was also badly damaged.  Vanguard sailed away to search for the Goliath.  So in the end two common 74s were taken against the loss with all hands of the Athena.  A tactical victory for the French.  Nice to get out the 1/1200 ships, a mix of GHQ and Skytrex models.