Other Naval Games > Misc. Naval Games
Dicember 2022
Kelly:
This month, I am determined to put models on the table and roll dice, just to get practice in. When I do have a rare chance to play, I want to be totally prepared as far as movement and priority decisions go, so first up was the introductory Maritime Patrol scenario on a 36 x 48 between Basileans (142) and Orcs (142).
The list building was more difficult than it needed to be, because I wanted all of both sides' ships to have veteran crews for a 50% base chance of passing skill checks but that brings in multipliers and rounding into the otherwise straightforward point calculations and ship upgrading. This was my first use of squadrons, the tiny size support ships, and brought the totals to 4 ships on the Basilean side vs. 6 ships on the Orcs side.
Basilea - Elohi x2, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Hammerfist x2, Blood Runner, Rabble x3
For turns 1-4 I realized just how rusty I was as 2/3 of my Orc points lost an entire turn as both Hammerfists and their captain went sailing merrily off of the board. I was so focused on ramming attempts to use the Orcs special rules that I totally lost sight of the turns I would have to make to keep them in play. The Basilean side was more disciplined and only had one ship sail off the board, and their extra 20% points for veteran crews allowed them to successfully pass their skill checks to evade all of the ram attempts by each Orc ship. (Basilea - 40 points of damage lost / Orcs - 30 points of damage lost)
For turns 5-8 with slightly better angles, more shooting attacks took their toll, and the Basileans lost both of their support ships, with the Orcs losing one squadron as well. Another ship for each side sailed off the board in the final turn which counted against their scenario totals. (Basilea - 98 points of damage lost / Orcs - 59 points of damage lost)
Overall, the result was an Orc victory 69 to 24 and the shooting attacks seemed to be comparable between both sides, the only difference being that the Basileans had less opportunities to shoot due to their opponents' poor steering decisions. There was a total lack of boarding this game due to the Basileans making every evade roll, but I have a better understanding now of when rams should be attempted vs. a regular grappling attempt and expect that to change.
Only one picture, right before the Gur Panther took its final critical hit, but each of these were painted and crewed.
Kelly:
And a second practice of Maritime Patrol with the same fleets to apply any lessons learned...
Basilea - Elohi x2, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Hammerfist x2, Blood Runner, Rabble x3
On this run through, mostly slower speeds and higher turns led to only one ship running off the board, and I concentrated more on lining up shots from multiple arcs. Overall, far more shooting damage was dealt out on this group of turns 1-4 and 3 ships were destroyed or surrendered. (Basilea - 69 points of damage lost / Orcs - 96 points of damage lost)
Turns 5-8 saw the first boarding action of the game with a successful grapple, which does not involve bonus damage from the special Orc ramming rules, but grapples are much easier to achieve. The Orc ship that initiated the grapple destroyed their target within two rounds of boarding, and even though they did not last to the end of that turn, the Elohi they took out was over double their cost in points. Less damage from shooting on the second half, but that was due to less targets being available, and two ships wandered off the board in this block. (Basilea - 123 points of damage lost / Orcs - 126 points of damage lost)
Overall, the result was a Basilean minor victory 81 to 67 and I feel far more comfortable in maneuvering again in order to set up shots than the first practice run. Successful rakes against bows and sterns add considerable damage which more than sets off negative modifiers for firing as she bears or firing at long range which I incurred a lot while trying to set up those shots. Also, the boarding action felt like it was a reasonable return for the difficulty in positioning it required, and I can see now how the other rules balance into boarding / grapples / rams.
Kelly:
The second book scenario is Capture the Kraken; a large sea monster travels around the board attacking everything near it, and scoring is based on damage dealt to the Kraken. Again the setup was on a 36 x 48 with Basileans (188) and Orcs (190).
Basilea - Elohi x3, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Smasher, Hammerfist, Blood Runner, Bombboat
The most important lesson from the start was the necessity of judging angles to avoid collisions if the wind / activation order changes, AND if the activation order remains the same. The Basilean plan fell apart when their captain caused 3 collisions between turns 2 and 3, and the ensuing damage destroyed his ship since no one on their side could make any evade rolls this time around. There were four successful rams in the battle by the Orcs with three against the Basileans, and one against the Kraken. (Basilea – 4 points / Orcs – 6 points)
Turns 5-8 saw more points scored by the Orcs hitting the Kraken, and the Basileans were left out of position due to the speed lost from the collisions and rams at the start, and since three of their five ships were already lost. (Basilea – 0 points / Orcs – 7 points)
The final result was a major victory for the Orcs 13 to 4 and I feel that that more medium size ships vs. fewer large ships is preferable… except in this mission. Planning out close maneuvers of ships is harder than it appears, and the large Orc Smasher had enough structure points to not only close within the Kraken’s attack range with impunity, but to engage in a boarding action with it as well. Even with purchased upgrades to their structure, each of the medium Basilean Elohis would have had to stay out of range of the Kraken had they not collided, much less attempt a boarding action against it.
Easy E:
Sailing off the board! That sounds like par for the course when I play any Naval game!
Nice maps for the bat reps!
Kelly:
Scenario three is The Vortex, scoring is based on proximity to a magical whirlpool which not only pulls ships towards it, but also deals out incremental damage to each ship in a scoring position. With this scenario being a split deployment, I set up on a 36 x 36 board with Basileans (188) and Orcs (186).
Basilea - Elohi x3, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Smasher, Hammerfist x2, Rabble
With no scoring for sinking enemy ships, both sides went straight in towards the center… the Basileans took an early lead, and the Orcs had their Smasher ground itself on a sandbank after the whirlpool pull at the end of the first turn. As a large ship, it could not free itself, but its positioning did allow it to still engage from multiple arcs. Partly as a result of the fire from the Smasher, and partly from the whirlpool scenario damage, the Basileans lost 4 ships. (Basilea – 17 points / Orcs – 15 points)
For turns 5-8, the Orcs were able to score more points due to the majority of their opponents having been sent to the bottom of the ocean / the bottom of the whirlpool. The Orc Smasher was finally destroyed by the D10 damage being inflicted each turn by the whirlpool from its size and grounding, but it did score a point for each of the 7 turns it remained intact. (Basilea – 0 points / Orcs – 13 points)
A major victory for the Orcs 28 to 17 but it could have easily gone the other way with one or two different random whirlpool pull rolls for the Basileans. Preemptively placing a ship as a grappling / ramming target for the Orcs to descend on worked well, and freed up their other ships to position for scoring. The split deployment zones are also perfect for this scenario with an impassable center and compulsory moves drawing every ship closer at the end of each turn.
And here is a fully painted picture of turn 4, right before the Gun Brig sails into the whirlpool to be removed from play.
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