When Galleons Fight

I played another game of Galleys & Galleons last night, pitting two groups of galleons against each other. The English and Spanish each had one large galleon, two smaller ones and a brig. The English galleons were faster, with better-trained gun crews, whilst the slower Spaniards had soldiers and high castles so were better equipped for boarding.

Both squadrons ended up sailing towards an island, with the Spaniards slightly downwind of the English.

The English.

The Spanish.

A shift in the wind left the Spanish having to work slowly upwind towards the English, who now had an advantage since their long-range gunnery was better.

Unfortunately a couple of bad activation rolls left the English trying to avoid collisions rather than engage their foes.

However eventually they got their act together and opened fire, to no effect.

The two squadrons closed, guns blazing but inflicting no damage on each other.

The Spanish brig tried to pass too close to the island and ran afoul of the reefs.

The English kept up a steady fire as the Spanish closed, and both squadrons took damage. However the English shots were beginning to tell.

The damage didn't affect the Spanish admiral's nerve, though, as he ordered his ships to run aboard of the English where their higher gunwales and hordes of soldiers would tell. A small Spanish galleon attacked the English flag.

Meanwhile, though, the Spanish brig continued its run of bad luck, and sank from damage accumulated from passing through the shallows.

The Spanish flagship grappled an English galleon, as fierce melees broke out along the line.

The English flagship surrendered, even as one of its consorts came up in support. The other English galleon cut grapples and escaped.

The Spanish flagship brought its fearsome broadside into play, raking the escaping English ship and crippling it.

Another broadside saw the English ship sink.

Alone against three Spanish ships (the English brig having been forced too far upwind by weather changes) the final English galleon stood little chance. It held off a couple of attempts to board it, inflicting some casualties on the Spanish, but eventually its crew succumbed to the inevitable.

The English had an advantage in speed, but the island rather negated their ability to use it. The Spanish were somewhat trapped by the island, but closing with the English was always their best option. Really the English needed to inflict a few long-range hits before the Spanish closed, making their activation dice riskier to use. If I ran this again I'd drop the Razee trait from the English and improve their gunnery a little more, so they can try to batter the Spanish before the boarding actions.

It was an interesting game, though, as the larger number of ships on each side meant that you had to plan which vessels you were going to activate more carefully. Both sides had turns where, despite the beneficial effect of the flagship, they failed activations badly and ended up in disarray.