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Dear Mr Jacobsen,
Captain Gual (and others): what stats would you give Gravina if he were in the game? Like many others, I’m a bit perplexed as to why he’s not included.
Regarding on your question I must say that I am not an expert in setting up rules, but I can give you some feats that Admiral Gravina did. Here goes my two pence:
Admiral Federico Carlos Gravina y Napoli
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Gravina. (This source is not very academic, but is the only I can bring to the topic, sorry about that. Still accurate ;))
-He obtained his first command – the polacre-rigged xebec San Luis – in which he participated in the Siege of Gibraltar between 1779 and 1782, capturing the British corvette HMS St Fermin.
-After promotion to Commander he participated in the expedition against Menorca (then under British control), distinguishing himself in the attack on the fortress of San Felipe. After this, and for other actions, he was promoted to Captain. In 1785 he commanded a squadron operating against Algerian corsairs.
-Commander in Chief of the Spanish fleet in 1805.
-Great politician, acting as diplomat in Paris after the San Ildefonso peace treaty.
-Gibraltar Chronicle paid the following tribute: “Spain loses in Gravina the most distinguished officer in her navy; one under whose command her fleets, though sometimes beaten, always fought in such a manner as to merit the encomiums of their conquerors.”
-As Napoleon wrote in a letter of 11 August 1805: “Gravina is all genius and decision in combat. If Villeneuve had had those qualities, the battle of Finisterre would have been a complete victory”.Even though Gravina was not the more skilled tactician of the Spaniards -I do prefer admiral Mazarredo for example- In my opinion he should be in the rulebook instead of Admiral Alava. Not only for being the Commander in Chief, but also for being a brave military and following orders until its last consequences, no matter what the odds of winning were.
Regards,
Cpt. Gual.
Dear Mr. Invisible Officer,
First of all thank you for your reply.
Contemporary English speaking authors often wrote the name of the Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad in the Italian way with SS. More learned Italian in that time.
It still stucks in many English books and heads.Your are very right sir, not only the game designer is Italian, but also he did asume his mistake and fortunately the stern of the Santísima is going to be spelled right.
The rules, well, the Spaniards did not win many battles in the Napoleonic era . There are some reasons and some rules should reflect that.
Well, here I must desagree with you. First of all Spaniards and French were allies in the most part of that century, fighting against the English shoulder by shoulder. So to be honest they won or lose more or less the same amount of battles. However, I do not see any malus in the French special rules. I am not saying that the Spaniards do not deserve to have some malus to represent them, but I do not see the effects of the reality of the situation well balanced in the other Navys. A more positive approach would be very welcomed.
As an example, we could take Admiral Villeneuve. The history do not treat him very well, so many authors considered him a coward by refusing to engage constantly the British and to personally fled from the Battle of Nile, leaving his Squad to be destroyed behind him. But instead of setting a “coward” rule for him, the designer use the special skill “Lucky” to represent him, which I couldn´t be more agree with. In my opinion is always better to find a positive approach while setting up rules to represent any faction.
If you want Spanish only by name you are not forced to use the optional rules.
Of course i Will! I Will use Spaniards when released to fight with my French Navy that I already bought, in order to represent the “combined armada” ;).
Best regards,
Cpt. Gual.
