Galleys In Action

The 16th Century. A fortified port in the Adriatic witnesses two squadrons of ships lining up for battle.

To the south, the Venetians.

To the north, the Turks.

And so the stage was set for another game of Galleys & Galleons, using some of the galleys I finished the other day (as well as other I made the other week).

I gave both sides a lanterna flagship, two galleys and two galliots. The Venetians also had a galleass, whilst I gave the Turks an additional galley and galliot representing allied pirates. These two vessels both had the Treacherous trait, meaning that it was possible for them to change sides during the battle.

The squadrons advanced. From this photo it looks like the Venetians are the dynamic force, but in fact their poor activations rolls left them moving forward in dribs and drabs, whilst the Turks advanced in a tight line.

The pirate galley fired the first shots; the Turks sensible sent the unreliable pirates into action first on each flank on the assumption that they would draw the initial enemy fire and therefore be less dangerous if they did decide to switch their allegience.

And the pirate did attract fire from the two Venetian galleys on their left.

But two Turkish galleys and their flagship came up in support. Their fire shattered one of the Venetian galleys immediately.

In the centre the Venetians were struggling to bring up their big guns on the flagship and the galleass. A long-range shot from the galleass failed to make any impression on the Turkish galley ahead of it.

On the Venetian right the little galliots of both sides had been skirmishing, but the Turks suddenly switched one across to boldly engage the Venetian flag. It inflicted a hit and started a fire!

The Turkish right moved up and grapped the remaining Venetian galley there. In fact boarding with these renaissance galleys is a real lottery as both sides rack up very high basic combat factors thanks to a number of relevant traits. The fights become a slog with little in the way of sudden defeats.

An overview of the action. The Venetians were already in trouble with one ship grappled by two opponents, another sunk and their flagship on fire. Their mighty galleass was still yet to make a serious impression on the enemy.

The Turks continued to bring their numbers to bear, as the pirates continued to feel that they'd picked the right side from the start. A Venetian galliot was set ablaze.

Over on the Turkish right the pirate galley got the worse of the boarding action there, and struck.

The galleass now rowed into the centre of the action, but its initial broadside failed to cause any serious damage on the Turkish galley it was alongside.

The Venetians rallied briefly, extinguishing the fires on both the flagship and galliot. But both vessels were now badly damaged.

Indeed the galliot was so badly damaged that it was unable to withstand a furious assault by two of its Turkish opposite numbers, and it sank.

The Turks decided to nullify the potential danger of the galleass's powerful guns by grappling it (in G&G grappled ships can only fight boarding actions or attempt to cut grapples - they can't fire). A galley latched on to the galleass, but the crew of the Turkish flagship were tardy in coming up in support.

The Venetian flagship grappled the Turkish galley, which was now facing two powerful opponents.

But other ships now joined the fray, creating a great big grappled mess. Both the Venetian flagship and the galleass were grappled by two foes. A serious of to and fro boarding actions broke out, with both sides taking casualties.

A second galliot grappled the Venetian flagship, and despite its diminuitive size forced the mighy vessel to strike.

The galleass was proving a tougher opponent to take by boarding, however, and the Turkish flaghip backed off as its supporting galley struck to the Venetians.

Free of grapples, the galleass pursued.

The Venetians were down to one crippled galley, a damaged galliot and the galleass. The Turks struggled to bring their three surviving galliots back into action, as well as their remaining galley.

They weren't quick enough to save their flagship, though, isolated and facing the powerful galleass. A furious cannonade sunk the Turkish vessel.

The surviving Venetian galiot put up a brave fight, damaging both of its opponents ...

... but the crew of the crippled galley on their left, after struggling to bring their vessel back ito action for some time, took to the boats and fled the fight.

The Turkish galley pursued the galleass, which had now picked up a wind and was trying to turn back into the action.

An overview.

The galleass fired a raking broadside, but the galley sped on.

The Turks battered the Venetian galliot.

Amd their third galliot, which had spent some time working its way back into the fight, appeared to finish the job.

Three Turkish ships approached the galleass, the only surviving Venetian vessel.

And a fourth - the pirate galliot. The fighting was intense as the smaller ships tried to make an impression on the outnumbered leviathan.

The reult was inevitable; the galleass sank one galiot and forced the pirate to strike (just as its crew considered changing sides anyway), but eventually the constant Turkish fire told, and it hauled down its colours.

The Venetians pretty much lost this in the first few turns when their botched activations left their squadron scattered and vulnerable to a co-ordinated Turkish approach. From then on they were simply staving off disaster, and the fact that the pirates stayed loyal for the whole game didn't help, as it gave the Turks the advantage of numbers even before they took out a couple of Venetian vessels for no loss. I'd never used Treacherous crews before and was kind of disappointed they didn't change sides. Maybe next time ...