Fleet list questions and absent cards

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  • October 23, 2019 at 6:21 pm #170362
    Capt John Sparrow
    Participant

    Hope you can help. I am trying to list build but having some difficulty with various definitions in the rulebook.

    The first is with Fleet Lists

    Q1. Are all the unrated vessels on p73 “merchant ships” and thus all Inexperienced? Or is it just the Large Merchant and Small Merchant?

    The latter option is implied as there are Regular Brigs in the scenarios.

    The next are with characters in the National Lists

    Q2. If I am fielding a character, does the character’s points value get added to the ship before or after the 20% Veteran calculation?

    I am assuming before, but you know what assume does…

    Q3. If I am fielding Capt Robert Surcouf in a French list, can he be commanding a (for example) third rate ship, while the remainder of the ships in the fleet are 5th rate or lower?

    Q4. Supplemental to that, if all his fleet are Privateers, is that the only upgrade they can take, or can they be Streamlined and Privateers?

    The remaining questions are regarding the ship options in the boxed sets.

    Q5. In the 3rd Rates box there are only cards for Large 3rd Rates. This implies that Small 3rd Rates (and possibly 4th Rates) will be in a subsequent release. Is this so?

    On a related theme…

    Q6. In the Master and Commander box, there are cards for Large Merchant ships (which are classed as large-sized, like 3rd Rates) but there are only three 5th Rate Frigates therein, (which are classed as medium-sized, like Small Merchants).

    I have converted a 5th Rate Frigate into a 6th Rate ship (by virtue of reducing freeboard, guns and mizzen yardage) but it was intended to be a large merchant – it just didn’t look sufficiently “merchanty”. However, while I wanted to convert a Brig to a Small Merchant, it only has two masts and, again doesn’t look right. Although I have made a brigantine with one.

    Where am I going with this…?

    Well, the magic of Photoshop* could be used to amend cards commensurately but if there was some indication of future releases, that would prevent some copyright infringement.

    *Other photo editing software is available.

    October 23, 2019 at 9:55 pm #170402
    Capt John Sparrow
    Participant

    photo Royal Navy Fleet_zpsi4v8jjsu.jpg
    This is an example.
    And I echo the query as to why the cards were double-sided with the same image Large Merchant not being on the reverse of the Frigate…

    So I have done a little research on appropriate RN ships of the right number of guns and around the same period (1797-ish for me) and added those details to the top left corner of the card.
    Then done some Cloning and Text addition for Upgrades (using Gimp v2.8)

    Picks of the ships to follow in time as I do them.
    Avast there.

    John

    • This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by Capt John Sparrow.
    • This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by Capt John Sparrow. Reason: Wrong link and some explanatory text
    October 23, 2019 at 11:48 pm #170409
    Lincolnlog
    Participant

    This is a sample of my custom ship cards.

    Attachments:

    1. Generic-5th-Rate-Ship-Card.png

    October 24, 2019 at 12:21 am #170411
    Capt John Sparrow
    Participant

    I really like the ammo and damage system. I hadn’t considered it before. Can you mix ammunition according to gun type or position?

    October 24, 2019 at 1:13 pm #170488
    Lincolnlog
    Participant

    Capt. John,

    You aren’t supposed to. Each position is supposed to be loaded with the same ammo type. But, here’s the rub, carronade can’t load hot shot. I just don’t think my carronade would sit empty because my long guns have Heated Shot loaded.

    I’m in complete agreement with this, and would go further, that hot shot/heated shot was mainly used by shore batteries. Your sailing a a wooden ship made of dry, and painted/varnished, a ship of that era was a fire waiting to happen.

    I like the way the rules deal with this (10 being dropped shot). Gives the same chance of causing a fire on your ship than on the target ship.

    Not fond of fiddly game pieces, so they are designed to used dry erase pens or grease pencil. I’m a bigger fan of grease pencil.

    Bob

    October 24, 2019 at 1:39 pm #170490
    invisible officer
    Participant

    Red hot shot was really very rarely used on board ship. Apart from the risk it was difficult to do the heating, the small smith’s furnace could not heat enough balls for one broadside. And heating was slow.

    So it should be used only if a special scenario asks for it.

    Decades later Ironclad HMS Warrior could fire 68pdr hollow grenades filled with iron melted in a furnace near the boilers.
    It was rarely used in training, no fun to handle liquid iron.

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