Punta Malpelo

This action, fought on 31st August 1828, was part of a brief war between the new nations of Peru and Gran Colombia. Gran Colombia was an amalgamated state comprised of modern Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela; it didn't last, but was the closest the world got to Simon Bolivar's vision of a united Spanish America. The war was fought over border disputes between Peru and that part of Gran Colombia that is now neighbouring Ecuador. It's worth noting that these disputes weren't resolved until the early years of this century; they lasted nearly 200 years and saw at least two more small wars being fought (one in the middle of World War II).

Anyway early in the war a Peruvian corvette, the Libertad, was sent to blockade the mouth of the strategically important Guayaquil River close to the border of the two counties. Two Colombian ships, the Guayaquilena and the Pichincha attempted to dislodge the blockader.

I tried a brief refight of this action last night using Galleys & Galleons and some of my Napoleonic vessels. It  was adapted from a scenario in GMT Games' 'Beneath The Southern Cross'. The east edge of the board was land. The Peruvian corvette arrived at a random point along the southern edge and the Guayaquilena at a random point along the north. The wind was from the north-west, giving the Colombians the weather gage. In the actual action the Pichincha showed reluctance to close with the enemy, so it doesn't appear initially. At the end of each Colombian turn roll a D6, and the Pichincha appears on a 6. Add one to the roll if the Libertad has taken any damage - the Pichincha is more inclined to share in the glory of the fight if their side is already winning.

Stats were as follows:

Libertad (24) - Q3 C3 - Square Rig, Carronades

Guayaquilena (14) - Q2 C2 - Lateen Rig, Yare

Pichincha (20) - Q4 C3 - Square Rig

(The scenario lists Pichincha as a 20-gun corvette in the notes but a 12-gun ship on the counter. I treated it as the former. I gave the Libertad the carronades trait to reflect it being heavier than either of the opposing vessels. The Guayaquilena is listed as a schooner so I gave it a lateen rig, and made it more manueverable than the Libertad to make things interesting, since it would be fighting alone for some of the action.)

Here's the Libertad. It sailed at top speed to take on the Guayaquilena.

The Guayaquilena hung back, hoping the Pichincha would turn up to assist. If I ran this again I would limit when you start rolling for the Pichincha to appear to after the action shows some sign of starting; maybe until the Guayaquilena and Libertad are within a certain distance of each other. This would force the Guayaquilena to show some aggression.

The opposing ships approach.

The Guayaquilena fired a wild long-range broadside, hoping to inflict damage and inspire the Pichincha to turn up.

The Libertad responded by crossing the Guayaquilena's bow. It didn't get a rake (despite appearences) but rolled well enough to smash the Colombian schooner and damage its tiller.

At that point the Pichincha turned up, but at some distance from the main action.

It sailed as fast as it could to the aid of the Guyaquilena. However the schooner, unable to turn, had run aboard the larger Libertad. Its captain organised a ferocious boarding attempt that saw damage inflicted on both sides, but the Libertad soon forced the Colombian vessel to strike.

Libertad disenagaged and turned to take on the Pichincha. But the Pichincha had the advantage of the wind and had Libertad trapped against the shore.

With poor activation rolls the two ships sailed alongside each other at medium range, firing the occasional ragged broadside.

A error in steering saw Libertad move even closer inshore, risking the shallows.

At that point both ships reached the edge of the table. Since it was late in the evening and I had things to do, I called a halt to the action there and declared it a draw. Libertad was in trouble against the land, but would almost certainly sort things out, but I decided that Pichincha wasn't enthusiastic enough to push things and would return to the aid of Guyaquilena. 

So a fun little action which I'll try again sometime making use of the tweaks I think it needs. Historically Pichincha took no significant part in the action, whilst Libertad and Guayaquiena caused serious damage to each other. The Gran Colombians withdrew, however, leaving the Peruvians with their first naval victory.