20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

I tried a variant of the 'Release The Kraken' scenario for 'Galleys and Galleons' the other day, with the attackers having to deal with a moving target before the creature appears.

So, a steam-warship heads across the ocean, bound for home.

But danger lurks in the form of the notorious Captain Nemo in the Nautilus.

The ship cruises on unaware, until a lookout spots something below the surface off the starboard bow.

The Nautilus surfaces and fires, and its first shot rips a massive hole below the warship's waterline, crippling it.

The ship is finished off with a ram. It sinks in minutes, with all hands lost.

The action has disturbed a creature from the deep, however - a giant octopus. It immediately grapples the Nautilus in its powerful tentacles.

Nemo charges his ship's hull with electricity, and injures the massive mollusc, but not before it damages his submersible. He pulls away and attempts to escape.

But the octopus swiftly pursues, and grabs the ship again.

This time there is no escape - Nemo and his ship are dragged to the depths of the ocean, never to be seen again.

The stats for the vessels are as follows:

Nautilus - Q3 C3 - 94pts - Steam Engine, Ramming, Submersible, Reinforced Hull, Chasers, Razee, Marksmen, Unarmed

Warship - Q4 C2 - 23pts - Steam Engine, Bow Chaser

Octopus - Q4 C4 - 72pts - Submersible, Creature, Swashbucklers, Intimidating

The Warship is the equivalent of the Bastion in the original scenario. It starts in one corner heading directly for the opposite corner with its initial speed set at S. May not roll for activations until Nautilus fires on, rams or grapples it, or ends its turn on the surface within L or submerged within M. Until then, the Warship gets one free activation per turn, which can be used to make the minimum course or speed changes necessary to avoid terrain.

The Octopus appears as per rules for damaging the fort in the ‘Release The Kraken’ scenario.

Victory conditions are the same as the original scenario.

The models are from a mix of sources. The Warship is the USS Harriet Lane from my Navwar ACW collection. The Nautilus is a Thales class corvette from Dystopian Wars - I picked up a pack of these for $5 at Cancon. And the Octopus is a 3D print from this collection.

Here's some pictures and details of a similar scenario which I played ten years ago, using a different set of rules. And a Lego Nautilus.