I'm running a game of Galleys & Galleons at the club on Thursday, so I thought I'd better get back into the swing of things with a quick game to get the mechanisms back into my head.
I ran through the Santa Susana blockade scenario I played a couple of times last year - a big Spanish galleon must run the gauntlet of three nimble English vessels in order to escape to the open sea and safety.
Here's the Santa Susana - she's tough and well-armed. In the distance can be seen two English ships; the Gloriana between the island and the shallows, and the Golden Leopard on the far right.
As the Santa Susana begins her run, the third English ship works into her rear; the little tender Saucy Jack (once again - a real ship name of the period).
The Gloriana moved to rake the Santa Susana as she passed between the island and the shallows, forcing her to take the shot or veer off and risk running aground.
The shot was ineffective, and the Gloriana was forced to turn hard to port herself in order to avoid the shallows. The Santa Susana plodded onwards, exchanging chaser fire with the Golden Leopard and Saucy Jack who were pursuing her.
A series of botched activations, and a shift in the wind, saw the Golden Leopard, under a rather unskilled crew, veer wildly off course and run aground in the shallows off the island.
Meanshile the Saucy Jack kept up a close pursuit, its bow gun firing constantly, whilst the Gloriana moved to block the Spaniard's escape again. Most of the English points were stacked on the Gloriana as their main fighting ship.
Some garbled orders saw the Saucy Jack scrape through the shallows.
The Santa Susana had nearly reached the open sea when disaster struck for the English; a broadside from the Spaniard started a fire on the Gloriana.
The Saucy Jack closed up and a shot from its chaser saw rigging damage on the Santa Susana. would this slow the Spaniard enough?
Meanwhile the Golden Leopard took more damage passing the island, and eventually saied off the table, too badly damaged to continue.
The Gloriana's crew managed to extinguish the fire, but teh ship was now badly damaged in both its hull and rigging. Its captain decided to press the attack, however.
A shift in the wind left the Santa Susana unable to escape without a series of tacks, difficult for the big ship at the best of times, but harder with an English galleon taking it under fire.
The Saucy Jack had suffered too much damage and dropped out of the fight, but the Gloriana crept forward, pounding the Spanish galleon
With the Spaniard floundering in irons, the Gloriana positioned itself across her bows and fired a couple of raking broadsides, finally inflicting some significant damage on the Santa Susana
But it was too late. The Gloriana's damage was also heavy, and she couldn't hold her position to finish off the Santa Susana, and saied off the table. The Spanish ship now simply had to wait for a favourable wind-change, and ehrn that came she was able to escape.
At the start it looked like the Santa Susana would have an easy run of it, but changes in the wind stopped her just before she could escape. Unfortunately the All At Sea table hampered the English, leaving them unable to fully exploit their good fortune with the weather.
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