In order to reach the open sea the Spanish ship had to pass a couple of small offshore islands. The English blockaded the passage to try and catch the much larger and less manueverable Spanish ship as it negotiated the islands. The Golden Leopard blocked the exit to the east, Gloriana the south east and Saucy Jack the south.
The Santa Susana edged cautiously towards the English ships. Its options were a run to the south east, through the centre of the English squadron, or a run to the south and then to the east, where it would have to carefully turn around one of the islands. The Spanish captain opted for the latter.
As the Spanish galleon headed south, the Saucy Jack turned to bring its broadside to bear. The Spanish gunners saw the larger target, and started a steady fire with their chasers, which soon hulled the English ship and started a fire.
The Spanish helmsman kept a cool head, and before the English ship could turn out of danger, brought his ship across the Saucy Jack's bow. A rippling broadside devastated the Saucy Jack, whose crew abandoned their stricken ship and left it to burn to the waterline.
The two English galleons were slowly tacking in order to intercept the Santa Susana. The Golden Leopard took the lead.
Slowly the Golden Leopard edged toward the Santa Susana, and they exchanged fire from their chasers.
The Golden Leopard closed rapidly. Unfortunately its inexperienced crew didn't wait for the Gloriana to come up in support, and the Santa Susana concentrated a couple of deadly broadsides on it, damaging it and killing the captain.
The Gloriana tried to support the other English ship with long-range fire, but to no effect.
With its command in confusion the Golden Leopard collided with the Santa Susana. The big Spanish ship was barely damaged, but it crippled the English ship. The Santa Susana sailed on, whilst the Golden Leopard floundered and took no further part in the battle.
The Santa Susana was almost clear now, but Sir Toby Spenser interposed the Gloriana between the Spaniard and its line of escape. The Spanish captain arrogantly decided to board and capture the English vessel.
(Actually it wasn't a bad plan - the Spanish ship is pretty powerful, even when boarding.)
The boarding action swung back and forth. The English lost the first round, but managed to hold the Spanish after that, causing the Santa Susana's crew to waver slightly. And that cost them. Sir Toby ordered the grapples cut, and as the ships edged apart fired a broadside. It did little damage, but it caused an unexpected and unexplained panic in the Spanish crew, who hauled down their colours.
This was an unexpected win for the English, but was due to the wonderful All At Sea table. The Spanish had to roll activations in order to slip past the English ship (or to regrapple it - both were options). It rolled its one damage dice, which came up '1', forcing an All At Sea roll. That was also a '1', indicating that the crew would strike to the nearest enemy. Another boarding action would probably have seen the English strike instead. Saying that the Spaniard was in a poor position with regard to activations; the Gloriana has the Charismatic trait, which means that enemy ships get a lower Q value when rolling for activations at close range; the Spanish crew were already confused before they rolled so badly.
This was the Blockade scenario from the basic game, with random terrain. The ships were as follows:
Spanish
Santa Susana (63pts) - Q4 C5 - Galleon Rig, Chaser Guns, Drilled Soldiers, High Castles, Reinforced Hull
English
Gloriana (82pts) - Q3 C3 - Galleon Rig, Chaser Guns, Charismatic, Swashbucklers, Trained Gun Crews
Golden Leopard (42pts) - Q4 C3 - Galleon Rig, Chaser Guns, Razee
Saucy Jack (63pts) - Galleon Rig, Chaser Guns, Razee, Yare
*Yes, I replayed the scenario, and the second time the Gloriana escaped. Just.
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