Baltic Battle

Last night was our naval week at he Gong Garage Gamers. So I set up a small Galleys & Galleons game for June and I.

It's one I've played before - a hypothetical scenario between a Danish and a Swedish squadron set during the Scanian War of 1675-1679. Both squadrons are led by huge warships - in fact the largest warships afloat at the time: the Swedish Stora Kronan and the Danish Sophia Amalia. Historically they never encountered each other, but that's the fun of wargaming; they can on your tabletop.

Each squadron is identical in Galleys & Galleons terms - they have one of the big ships as a flag, two regular ships of the line and one frigate. The frigate's primary purpose is to repeat signals. 

June took the Danish squadron: Sophia Amalia (Flag), Christianus V, Dannebroge (SoL), Fenix (Frigate)

I took the Swedes: Stora Kronan (Flag), Hieronymus, Draken (SoL), Hommeren (Frigate)

We both selected positioned some terrain - two small islands and two areas of shallows. We then randomly determined wind direction and then chose an entry corner. June (top left) opted to come on with the wind on her beam, but with a tricky navigation of some shallows and an island. I came on bottom left with the wind astern, aiming to intercept the Danish squadron as they struggled past the island. 

The two squadrons close. 

The first shot of the game saw Sophia Amalia fire a long-range broadside at the Hieronymus. It scored no damage. 

The Hieronymus closed with the big Danish flagship and returned fire, scoring a hit. But at close range the Sophia Amalia's heavier broadside began to tell, and the Hieronymus was not only damaged but  lost its wheel too.  

Draken came up to support Hieronymus, whilst beyond the Sophia Amalia the Christianus V was firing in support of its flag. 

The Swedish ships were getting the worst of the fight as the big broadside of the Sophia Amalia pounded them at close range. But a hit from the Hieronymus started a fire on the Danish Flagship, and with a shattering roar it exploded!

On the post-explosion confusion the Swedish flagship Stora Kronan collided with Hieronymus, taking light damage. 

The explosion of Sophia Amalia started a fire on the supporting Christianus V. A short time later it too exploded. 

The Danes were now down two ships, although three Swedish ships had been damaged in the fighting. The Danish frigate Fenix risked the shallows and attacked its Swedish opposite number. In a quick boarding action it captured its opponent. 

The wind had backed by a fair amount by this stage, leaving the Danes limited in movement. But the Swedish were also having trouble disentangling themselves and were facing the wrong way to move on the remaining Danish ships. 

The Dannebroge came up and attacked the Stora Kronan. For a few turns they battered each other, both losing masts, and the Dannebroge even managed to sip past the Swedish ship's stern and hit it with a punishing rake. 

But the two squadrons were separating now. and with the wind where it was, and the presence of wrecks and shallows it would take time for them to re-engage. 

The Hieronymus moved into a position where it could be engaged by the Dannebroge, but with the Fenix coming up in support as well the Swedish ship decided that perhaps it would be an uneven fight, and sailed on. 

Both sides withdrew.

The Swedes had lost a frigate, and their ships had all taken various amounts of damage. The remaining Danish ships were less damaged, but they had suffered the total loss of their flagship and a ship of the line. So on the whole this was a Swedish win. 

Thanks to June for the game. It was a lot of fun. The chain of explosions was caused by her rolling an improbable number of near consecutive sixes. 

Here are the stats:

Stora Kronan / Sophia Amalia
Q4 C5 - 72 pts
Square rigged, Carronades, Chasers, Drilled Soldiers, Flagship, High Castles, Sluggish

Draken / Hieronymus / Christianus V / Dannebroge
Q3 C4 - 52 pts
Square Rigged, Chaser Guns, Drilled Soldiers

Hommeren / Fenix
Q3 C2 - 40pts
Square Rigged, Chaser Guns, Razee, Relay