The give them a try on the parental coffee table I printed out some generic ship outlines which I stuck to rectangles of mounting board. I chose a selection of British and French ships because they happened to be on the same page in the rules book (I photocopied that page so I could scribble on the ship information sheets).
The rules are apparently derived from the original Fred Jane naval rules from a century ago, though I recognise them from a Naval Wargaming book I borrowed from the library (only slightly more recently).
The key aspect of the rules is that each ship is represented by a schematic showing a longitudinal slice through the vessel:
For any given class of gun you'll get a percentage chance of straddling an enemy ship with a single salvo. This may be modified by sea state, ammunition handling technology and crew quality. Having established the modified percentage you multiply up by the number of guns of that class firing (possibly from multiple ships in the same squadron). Each 100% gives and automatic straddle. Any left over amount of less than 100% is rolled for.
Having determined how many salvoes straddle the target you roll 1d10 for and 1d6 for each to see where they hit the target. Then it's a case of checking the weapon's penetration against the armour (if any) on the affected area. Get through the armour and the area is destroyed.
I'm an expert on neither naval warfare in general nor the pre-Dreadnought period in particular but these seem fun rules. I think I might have another go before I commit to investing in any suitable lead.
For any given class of gun you'll get a percentage chance of straddling an enemy ship with a single salvo. This may be modified by sea state, ammunition handling technology and crew quality. Having established the modified percentage you multiply up by the number of guns of that class firing (possibly from multiple ships in the same squadron). Each 100% gives and automatic straddle. Any left over amount of less than 100% is rolled for.
Having determined how many salvoes straddle the target you roll 1d10 for and 1d6 for each to see where they hit the target. Then it's a case of checking the weapon's penetration against the armour (if any) on the affected area. Get through the armour and the area is destroyed.
I'm an expert on neither naval warfare in general nor the pre-Dreadnought period in particular but these seem fun rules. I think I might have another go before I commit to investing in any suitable lead.
1 comment:
Looks interesting, looking forward to reading more about 'Perfidious Albion'.
Cheers
Richard P
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