Old Scenario. New Rules

Well, the rules aren't really that new. But having played out my British vs Dutch scenario the other day using Form Line Of Battle I wanted to see how it felt if I played it with Galleys & Galleons.

Galleys & Galleons isn't really that good as a set of rules for Napoleonic naval actions. Or not generally, anyway. But if you make a few compromises it works OK for small frigate actions and the like. And it's fine for tis action where the quality of both sides is about the same and the vessels don't vary much in size. 

Anyway, the ship setups were:

British

Flora - Q2 C3 - Square Rigged, Drilled Soldiers, Carronades, Trained Gun Crews, Chasers
Crescent - Q2 C2 - Square Rigged, Drilled Soldiers, Chasers

Dutch

Castor - Q2 C3 - Square Rigged, Drilled Soldiers, Chasers
Briel - Q2 C3 - Square Rigged, Drilled Soldiers, Chasers

Flora is dangerous at close range and its heavier guns give it a slight edge at longer ranges. Otherwise the ships are pretty much the same, but Crescent is smaller than the other vessels.

The approach moves were the same as the previous playthrough, but both sides held their fire until they were a little closer. With reloads costing an action it's a sensible move. You want that first broadside to be a full one if you can manage it. 

Castor opened fire first, lightly damaging Flora.

Both British ships engage Castor as Briel fails to come up in support

Castor took rigging damage, slowing her down. Briel fired a long range shot at Crescent and badly damaged her. Crescent's rudder was hit.

With Crescent struggling to turn into the fight, Briel and Castor could focus on Flora. Flora put up a great fight but eventually stuck to the superior firepower of two enemy ships. 

However Castor was quite badly damaged so Crescent had a go at salvaging things for the British. The extra cost of turning meant that it struggled though. 

Crescent suffered in the uneven fight. 

Shattered ,she soon struck when Briel grappled and boarded her. 

Both British ships struck, whilst Castor was badly damaged and Briel lightly damaged. 

Obviously with having played these rules so much over the past few years, this game ran a lot more smoothly than the Form Line of Battle version. The limitations of the rules didn't seem too bad either; I didn't feel the action suffered or felt a lot different from the other game. Combat is less granular, so maybe the game isn't as attritional

Anyway, playing he same scenario with two different sets of rules is an interesting experiment.