Part Two of Realistic Gunnery for Age of Sail Games

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sgtfox
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Part Two of Realistic Gunnery for Age of Sail Games

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Ideas for Realistic Gunnery Rules for the Age of Sail
Part Two
Another idea I had eliminated the need for gunnery reduction, or reducing a broadside due to losses of guns. Cannon were pretty tough. If they got knocked off of their carriages, they could be lifted up again. They were rarely knocked out for good. Because of that, there is no real need to model for that eventuality, if other things are taken into account. All of the rules I’ve seen assume that all of the guns are working on a ship at the beginning of the game. If you figure how the ships did in an actual battle, gunnery reduction would have accounted for the final result. In other words, a nationality’s average rating would reflect lost guns as part of the end results. I’m sure this is a controversial point, but temporarily discounting the effect of some guns is too pedantic for a tactical wargame. In 1972, I recall trying to let ships start with a full broadside until guns were knocked out. It quickly dawned on me that Spanish gunnery was so bad, during the Napoleonic period, that the result of just the opening broadside would be more than what the Spanish could deal out in damage points for the whole game. I had to try another approach.
Speaking of controversy, I did not use historical ball weights for the various nationalities when making the nationality gunnery charts. I realized that if I used the correct ball weights, I would have to use them again during the wargames fought with my rules. That would be too confusing and cumbersome. I used the nominal weights of shot for all nationalities, when figuring how they performed in real battles, so that I could use nominal weights in the wargame rules. An example of this would be, if I used 12.95 pounds to represent a French 12# ball, I would have to figure 12.95 per 12# gun in my wargames, or the French would be getting ripped off in the game. If I used 12.95 in figuring actual battles, the French would not qualify for a better accuracy percentage. To counter that, I would have to use 12.95 in games. It was so much easier to start with 12# and end with 12#. Thus, all nationalities would use 12#, with the exception of the pesky Republic of Venice, but no one but me would want to wargame with them for the period!
Morale
I have long wanted morale to play a major role in wargames. I finally developed the concept of having morale figure into the defensive value of a vessel. Just as I averaged how well ships of various nationalities did gunnery wise, I also averaged the surrender percentage of each nationality. That figure would determine when and if a ship would have to surrender. Ships of some nationalities surrendered with relatively few casualties, while ships of the same nationality hung on for incredible amounts of time. Taking the average, of each nationality, one mandatory percentage number was established. When a vessel reaches a certain number of points, the controlling player must roll for surrender. The saving factor of the roll is based on the percentages of national ships which actually lasted longer than the average. If a number less than that required is rolled, the vessel automatically surrenders, but rolling higher allows the vessel to keep fighting until more points are scored against it, at which time it must roll again. Example- the French Royal Navy has a surrender percentage of 23.86% for the period of the American War of Independence. If the controlling player can roll decimal dice at 55 or better, the French can hold on for another turn.

Playing Equal Battles
Most ship-to-ship battles were not perfectly matched. Who wants to play a game where their ship is at such a disadvantage from the start? A point system can remedy this. If I were publishing my rules, I would include a large list of ships. That would make it easy to see point values and match two ships. I have a favorite battle between two evenly-matched ships. The French Royal Navy 32-gun frigate Belle Poule and the British 32-gun HMS Amazon. Belle Poule is 903 tons with 26-12#, 6-6#, while HMS Amazon is 678 tons with 26-12#, 6-6#, and 6-18#c. With a slightly better surrender advantage, Belle Poule has an advantage in Hull Factor, for defense. HMS Amazon, with better gunnery and the addition of carronades, has the advantage in attack. Without getting into the math, Belle Poule has a Hull Factor of 43.09, while Amazon’s is 29.93. When point factors, for gunnery and Hull Factor, are figured, Belle Poule has a point value of 22.84. Amazon has 22.64. This would make them close to 1-1. To make them more even, there’s a quick calculation which increases HMS Amazon’s Defense Factor to 30.19. Figuring on average rolls of the dice, if firing at Close Hailing Distance range, both ships would reach he limit of their respective Defense Factors by turn 12. That would see them both rolling for surrender. That, however, is a very unlikely scenario. In actual fact, one should have to roll before the other became in danger of rolling. What it tells me is that the point values work. The act of increasing Amazon’s Hull Factor slightly is just to make for a perfectly balanced game.
So, how do I play?
Main Gunnery Chart
Close Hailing Distance (.1-10cm.) All Guns
1-7 Miss 8-10 Hits High 11-20 Hits Low
Musket Shot (10.1-23cm.)
1-12 Miss 13-14 Hits High 15-20 Hits Low
Gunshot (23.1-76cm.)
1-16 Miss 17 Hits High 18-20 Hits Low
Carronades
A Cable’s Length (10.1-15cm.)
1-12 Miss 13-14 Hits High 15-20 Hits Low
Musket Shot (15.1-23cm.)
1-16 Miss 17 Hits High 18-20 Hits Low

Short Guns
Musket Shot (10.1-19cm.)
1-12 Miss 13-14 Hits High 15-20 Hits Low
Gunshot (19.1-50cm)
1-16 Miss 17 Hits High 18-20 Hits Low

A simple scenario would be for Belle Poule and HMS Amazon to meet in battle. Any movement system would be good, but I set up the rules for 1/1200 scale ships. Rod Langton should be in the next Birthday Honour’s List, since he has my vote for knighthood! Range is measured from base edge to base edge. HMS Amazon has a broadside factor of 7.6. Of this, 5.8 are long gun factors, while 1.8 are carronades. At Close Hailing Distance, the British captain may either elect to roll his whole factor together or split it by long gun and carronades. Throwing it together would see him throwing seven d20s of the same color with one d20 of a different color. He would also throw a d10 at this time. If he scores 1-6 on the d10, then the d20 of a different color counts as a full die would. A roll of more than six would mean that only his seven dice count. If he elects to throw long guns and carronades separately, which he must do at ranges longer than Close Hailing Distance, he would throw five d20s of the same color and one of a different color, with a d10. If he scores 1-8, his odd colored die is counted as a whole die. He would then throw 1.8 for his carronades, with the same procedure. When firing carronades longer than Close Hailing Distance, be sure to check the carronade chart on the Main Gunnery Chart. Compare the results of the dice rolls at the appropriate ranges. For every low hit, the enemy receive one tick mark. Disregard high hits and misses. High damage is for another day. The enemy player should record any low hits so that four tick marks are close together. The fifth hit will be recorded by scoring a diagonal line through the four previous hits. When Belle Poule has eight sets of five tick marks, plus four extra, she has reached her surrender limit (44) and must roll. The French can hang on for another turn if they score 55 or better on decimal dice.
Belle Poule, having French gunnery, must first roll on the Nationality Gunnery Chart. Belle Poule has a broadside of 5.8. The French player needs to roll five d20s of the same color and one of a different color. The different colored one is for the .8. When rolling all the dice, 4 or better must be scored to continue on to the main gunnery chart. 1 and 2 are always misses. For those wishful souls, rolling 48 or better on decimal dice will convert a 3 into a successful roll. Once you’ve determined how many dice you will get to roll on the Main Gunnery Chart, continue there. If the .8 die scored 4 or better, roll a d10. If 1-8 are scored, that will make it even with other successful dice. There are no fractions in firing. With the dice that got the required scores on the NGC, roll again on the Main Gunnery Chart, just as the British player did. (Note- When rolling on the Nationality Gunnery Chart, range does not matter. One is rolling purely to qualify to roll on the Main Gunnery Chart.) The British player will record the low hits scored against the Amazon. When he has 31 tick marks, he too must immediately roll for surrender. The British player must roll 62 or better, with decimal dice, to prevent surrender. In the unlikely case that both ships should have to roll for surrender at the same time, the side having a successful surrender roll wins. If both fail, play another round. If either side takes another hit, they must roll for surrender, allowing the vessel not hit to claim victory.

A Scenario
Place the two vessels a meter apart, bow to bow. Wind should be from the north, so that both vessels start out reaching. Any decent movement rules should suffice. Both sides fire every game turn. Only broadsides are used, since bow chasers are not used in the rules. Ships must have a target ship within a 45 degree angle from the main mast of the firing ship. Other than that, just move and fire until victory is achieved! If the ships get into and stay in the 10cm. range, throughout the game, it should only take about twelve more turns for one side to achieve that victory.

I thought this was about crew casualties? Where are they?
Because of the built-in surrender values, crew casualties are taken into account. The French have an average of 23.86% casualties when they surrender, as opposed to 22.08% for the British. The only reason one would need to know the specifics on casualties is for boarding actions. If you care to do the math, Belle Poule had a crew of about 268, while HMS Amazon had 220. To find casualties, take the original tonnage of a ship, double it, then divide by ten. Divide that number into the total tick marks of low damage, then multiply the percentage by the size of the original crew. Example- HMS Amazon has surrendered. She has 31 tick marks. 678 x 2= 1356 divided by 10= 135.6. 31 tick marks divided by 135.6= 22.86%. The percentage multiplied by 220 leaves 50.29 casualties. Now, aren’t you sorry you asked?
A couple of important points-
When I mentioned dividing the vessels into batteries of three guns, I should have explained. The rules don’t go by how many actual batteries of three would be on a ship. If a brig had a broadside of six 6# guns, it doesn’t use two batteries of the guns for firing. Dividing the total by three is just a device to reduce gunnery results to an historical level. The broadside for this brig would be figured by taking the total poundage, 36#, dividing it by three, 12, then dividing it by ten. This would give a broadside of 1.2.
My last point is that I spent years working out the details of my system. I had it so it was historically correct around 2012. The problem is that I couldn’t figure out how to make it fun and simple without losing the historical accuracy. I’ve tried the system out many times and I’m quite happy with it. I have a decent little library of Age of Sail books in my office, but I keep my Rif Winfield and James books right across from my bed, since I’m always checking something in them. Most of today’s game designers appear to have taken ideas straight out of their heads, but have no basis in fact. It looks like most of them read two popular histories, then designed a game based on their misinformation. That said, most games have one or two interesting design features, but nothing can be substituted for researching in the right books.
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