Fighting Sail action ahoy!

A squadron of Royal Navy 6th Rates

A fun night last week playing Fighting Sail with Comrade James, Colonel Bish and the Canberra boys.

Admiral Comrade James in action!

I enjoyed the rules, which are quite abstracted when compared to most other Napoleonic naval games.  All the usual chain vs grape vs shot options and tracking of hull and crew points etc are all missing. Instead, they are abstracted to enable players to take charge of multiple ships easily without bogging down play.

As a result, I felt like a Commodore fighting a squadron, letting the ship Captains fight their ships. We managed to play a 3 v 3 and a 2 v 2 game all in an evening.  Great fun!

Fire as she bears!

A lovely Langton ship under French colours with ratlines and rigging 

British Squadron of 3rd Rate Ships of the Line deploy smartly in formation

All these lovely ships belong to the other players, but they have given me some inspiration to break these out during the upcoming painting challenge.  Long have they daunted me..

Other inspiration from around the www:

http://furphy1914.blogspot.com.au/search/label/1%2F1200%20Langton%20Miniatures%20Napoleonic%20Sailing%20Ships%20.

http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com.au/search/label/1%3A1200
http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/rory-mccreadies-step-by-step-guide-to.html

http://jwhitegallery.blogspot.com.au/search/label/1%2F1200

http://squadpainter.blogspot.com.au/search/label/1%3A1200

http://www.sweetwater-forum.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=3263

England Expects that Every Man Shall Do His Duty

The famous hoist onboard Nelson's flagship HMS Victory

We interrupt the steady stream of Tanktober goodness (you can find today's entry here) to remember the 210th Anniversary of this great naval engagement and the death of Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson who was fatally wounded during the battle.  Raise your glass "To the Immortal Memory"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar

In the meantime HMS Victory, which remains the oldest commissioned warship in the world, has been restored to her 1805 colours and raised some eyebrows...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11908365/Restored-HMS-Victory-raises-eyebrows-with-new-pink-shade.html

On the Freedom Trail and more of the USS Constitution

Old Granary Burial Ground - many of the Revolutionary personalities are buried here, as are the Boston Massacre victims

I took my Boy Scout Troop up to Boston over the weekend to hike the Freedom Trail and see the key spots of the beginning of the American Revolution.  About 9 miles of walking and a lot of fun with key highlights for me being Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution (my third visit I think!)

Old North Church 

Now this is History I can get behind!

The Monument to the Battle of Bunker Hill, which is not on Bunker Hill but on adjoining Breed's Hill (where the fort actually was)

Details of the Battle provided to the boys by the excellent Park Rangers

The Lad steers the mighty USS Constitution 

The Troop mustered

Our guide shows the ship's helm, which was shot away by HMS Java (40 gun frigate) in 1812.  Captain (later Admiral) Bainbridge was severely wounded in this action and stayed at his post to defeat and capture the Java.

Some famous names are on that board.

Different shot types fired by Constitution's 24pdr long guns and 32pdr carronades

This is a neat temporary highlight - members of the public can engrave their names on the copper which which shortly be attached to the Constitution's hull during her drydock refit

How she got her nickname "Old Ironsides"

A beautiful model - over 6 foot high

Singing La Marseillaise

The Acheron (44 guns) from Master and Commander

For those of you who enjoyed my recent review of Osprey's Fighting Sail naval rules (here) and are thinking about getting themselves a French Fleet, these articles at the very informative Weapons and Warfare website will give you more background and insights into the Republican Fleet of the period

http://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/08/09/napoleonic-french-navy-i/

http://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/08/09/napoleonic-french-navy-ii/

http://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/08/07/french-account-of-the-battle-of-the-nile/

And another neat (and brief) overview of Napoleon's Navy:
http://www.thedearsurprise.com/the-french-navy-during-the-napoleonic-era/

The first rate Bretagne (130 guns)

And for the American Revolution period:
http://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/05/10/french-navy-in-america/

Review: Fighting Sail

Osprey has produced a range of interesting volumes since they began to publish wargames rules, and I have more than a few myself.  I suspect (and know) that many of you do too...

Fighting Sail is a departure from the previous in that it is the first set of naval rules, set specifically in the majestic Age of Sail ranging from the American Revolution to the end of the Napoleonic Wars.  Its in lovely  full glossy colour and filled with lots of pictures of models and artwork from Osprey titles.

I was a Napoleonic affectionado two decades or so ago though I’ve barely touched it since.  A lack of opponents after moving away from my mates who introduced me, but also because I just couldn’t face up to all those hull boxes, sail boxes, gun boxes and crew boxes anymore. We used to play a bit mostly using Wooden Ships and Iron Men. I still have that boxed game and a big, bulging folder with extra rules, articles and supplements and while I’ve tried (and still have) several other sets of rules, they were just different ways of doing the same hit box ritual.  

Fighting Sail is different. You are the Flag Officer commanding the Squadron, not trying to be all the Captains of the ships.  Too many rules try to do this, overloading players with detail. You won’t be deciding to double shot guns, load chain or grape shot, or increase sail.  The Captains do that for themselves - its what they get paid for after all.  That’s quite a different mindset to other Age of Sail games, and the immediate reaction is 'why can’t I do xxx’. The answer is that it is happening, but you as the Commodore/Admiral don’t care and the how too much (and frankly wouldn't know either), just what the outcome is.  If you can get your head around that then everything falls into place and the streamlined elegance of the rules becomes clear.

Fighting Sail lets you play fleet actions like this (Trafalgar 1805) and not get bogged down with more than 3 or 4 ships.

The mechanics work with handfuls of dice looking for target numbers, followed by Hull ‘saves’. This keeps game intuitive and both players are involved throughout.  The simple damage system reduces firepower and manoeuvrability while negating the need for those dreaded hit boxes.

A simple but effective Fleet building system also provides differentiated traits and skills for the different nations' Captains and Admirals. This makes the British quite different in flavour to the Yanks, Spaniards, French and Russians.  Each nation also has a selection of legendary Admirals and Ships for those who want Nelson and Victory or Decatur and the Constitution in their Fleet.

What doesn’t it have? Campaign rules- rather simple and its curious that something that should only be 3-4 pages was omitted.  I can see campaign settings being relatively simple to generate (e.g. Brit/France in the Caribbean, War of 1812) in which the different costs can be skewed to reflect specific availabilities and circumstances.

Overall, just reading these rules got me excited about a period I've long not thought about.  So much so that I’ve spent the day scouring the net looking at different model ranges and trying not IF to buy, but what scale and how many...

If you have any interest in the period and want to try it out, or are looking for a set of rules that let you manoeuvre fleets and squadrons instead of getting bogged down with only 3 or 4 ships, then give Fighting Sail a look.

https://ospreypublishing.com/fighting-sail-fleet-actions-1775-1815

The Battle of Athos, 1807 - for the ambitious gamer!

USS Constituion vs HMS Guerriere

Today is the 203rd anniversary of USS Constitution's legendary battle and victory against the Royal Navy frigate HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812.  The story of the battle, which occurred soon after the start of hostilities, is a great example of the sort of friction and chance that impacted maritime operations during the period.  In fact, it reads like a wargamer's AAR.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution_vs_HMS_Guerriere

The history and mythology of this conflict are really interesting to me as an outsider.  I have now seen accounts, relics and stories in British, American and Canadian war museums and the different biases and interpretations are fascinating.

Cover of Osprey's No 19 in the Duel series

USS Constitution

Launched in 1797, the 30 gun frigate USS Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat (a distinction which is made very clearly to visitors, as Admiral Nelson's 104 gun flagship HMS Victory  is older but no longer afloat).  She is based at the Charlestown Naval Yard in Boston and I have had the privilege of being onboard her twice in the last year.  She is a beautiful ship, very different in style and design to the first rate ship of the line Victory (who I toured about a decade ago) and kept in very fine shape.

Last week I was honoured to be invited to the Change of Command ceremony as a War College classmate of mine became Constitution's 74th Commanding Officer.  His predecessors include such famous names as Decatur and Bainbridge.  Of particular interest is that the crew continue to utilise period costumes for ceremonial purposes, as you can see here.

Fair winds and following seas to the USS Constitution and her new Captain!

Fort Adams, Rhode Island

32 pdr in position

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island, which is one of the largest coastal fortifications in the US.  It and a sister Fort guard the main entrance to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, which is strategically important as the only protected deep water anchorage between Boston and New York.  The fort was constructed in the wake of the burning of Washington in the War of 1812 to replace a smaller earth predecessor and enhance the seaward defences.

Commanding view from the ramparts

The fort took over 30 years to complete in classic Vauban style and incorporated the most advanced fortification designs available of the day.  The fort is built on the end of a peninsula, which restricts the landward approach to one direction only, which incorporates a quarter mile of redoubts - clearly a large landing force would be required from that direction.  The fort has a turf roof and locally produced bricks, both of which would absorb incoming fire rather than it sloughing off sections or creating fragments.

Approaches to the south wall via the defensive crown works

The fort's west wall faces the main channel and has the primary anti-shipping armament: three tiers of guns, the lightest atop the ramparts to fire chain shot, 24 pounders in the middles firing grape, and massive 42 pounders at the bottom firing heated shot.  Nasty stuff.

The West Wall from Seaward showing the 3 gun tiers

Fort Adams saw some periodic updates to its armaments to reflect the shift from wooden ships of the line to ironclads, and the rise of aerial threats.  Over time this included 12 inch mortars, 15 inch Rodman guns, 6 and 10 inch disappearing guns, mobile 3 inch AA guns and M1 90mm AA guns   Manned continuously by the army until the early 1950s, it was home to the US Naval Academy during the Civil War (Maryland being a bit suspect you know...), and Eike stayed here for a few summers while he was President.  Lots of great history.

One of the 6inch disappearing gun batteries

A wonderful spot with very knowledgable tour guides. Highly recommended if you are in the area.

http://www.fortadams.org
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Adams/109431322408575#

Sink me the Ship, Master Gunner!

This week is the 420th Anniversary of the Battle of Flores.  This Armada era naval engagement saw a British fleet try to capture a Spanish treasure fleet in the Azores, but they were outmatched and ultimately unsuccessful.  One of the British warships was the HMS Revenge.   She was commanded by Sir Richard Grenville, who had fought against the Spanish Armada, was cousin to both Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, and whose father had been the ill-fated Captain of the Mary Rose. 

During the engagement Revenge, was isolated, boarded, rammed and boarded again.  With her fighting Captain mortally wounded and with five enemy ships engaged against them, he ordered the Revenge scuttled as immortalised (romanticised?) in Lord Tennyson's poem 'A Ballad of the Fleet':

Sink me the ship, Master Gunner - sink her, split her in twain!
Fall into the hands of God, not into the hands of Spain!

but to his disgust, his crew disobeyed and struck their colours.  Sir Richard died of his wounds shortly after the battle, but the Revenge and her remaining crew did not survive him long - they were lost along with a dozen or more Spanish ships in a typhoon:

And the little Revenge herself went down by the island crags
To be lost evermore in the main.

Read Lord Tennyson's poem here:

http://www.online-literature.com/tennyson/726

Find out more about the battle here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flores_(1591) ;  ; http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/renaissance/revenge/default.aspx

and more about Sir Richard here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Grenville

Thanks to Der Feldmarschall for reminding me of this event with his recent post