Fall in! Battle Report: Skirmish in the New World

Welcome to the Caribbean, just as the local Dutch and British forces go to war. As the sides line up, even going as far to hire some dangerous pirates and privateer's to bolster their respective forces, the objectives are handed out, all aimed at forcing the players into a high stakes naval fight in the center of the board:

Capture the Spanish (Pirate-held) Fort to use as an invasion staging ground- 2000pts for the Dutch
Search for signs of the Brig HMS Badger, and rescue any remaining crew- 2000pts for the British
Take enemy ships out of action- Depends on the 'fleet' points per ship
Capture as much loot on islands as possible- Varies depending on the treasure

I was a Captain flying the Union Jack. In keeping with theme, I named my commander 'Tomasz Zielinski', Captain of the Brig 'Morning Star'. The Good Samaritan, as I took to calling him, couldn't help but cease the chance for treasure and glory in this skirmish.

I wish I had a more complete picture of this game, but regardless it was a
very grand scale play- ships across a lovely little island chain.

It was my first time playing Sailpower- and I was fairly impressed with
how seemingly versatile the system was.

The British starting area. My ship is the Brig five ships down the line.

Oh, look at that. Someone isn't QUITE as prim and British as the enemy
might think. I guess that 'Spanish' Fort might be friendlier than expected.

The game used an interesting way of movement. First we would all (independently) chart
our movement for the turn, and then we would place the paper near our ship to signal to the
DM's that we are ready to proceed.

The game's author and creator watching the game progress as the
Dutch forces advance up the table towards their objective. The big
wooden arrow is wind direction (and speed), while the chest holds the
possible treasure's that can be found exploring the islands.

As the British ships rush forwards to explore the islands near them, I send
out two longboats full of men to find what happened to be hiding there.

The 'Morning Star' caught up with the longboats just in time to find a few
tons of Rum, Wine, and gun powder apparently left lying around. Amazing
what twenty pirates can scrounge up!

The situation intensifies as two Dutch Gun Boats engage the British
forward elements.

Our game was interrupted by con staff to award the table with an award!
Sadly I can't remember exactly WHAT the award was for, but it certainly
seemed deserving of some recognition on scale alone.

The crew of the other 'British' (Pirate) ship in the fleet, this one much
smaller- and more dastardly.

As the Dutch get closer to their objective, my Brig sails directly on an
intercept course.

The mess intensifies as I move forwards, Dutch and English forward
units mingling and fighting up and down the Dutch side of the Archipelago.

However, we have a trick up our sleeves. Searching the grey rocky island, our other
Pirate player found a small cache of shore guns and a mortar- leaving crew to ambush
the Dutch when the fighting heated up to devastating effect.

*BLAM* They fire, scoring direct hits with heated shot on one of the
gun boats- though sadly the Mortar missed.

My ship takes a dangerous route, putting itself between the Dutch invasion fleet and
the pirate held fort. Luckily I managed to signal the gunners in the tower, who managed
to help me with their shore batteries- lending more death into the fray.

After two broadsides from my seasoned, veteran gunners has the gunboat
listing and burning, barely able to keep together.

In a last ditch attempt to salvage something, the Gun Boat manages to briefly
grapple my ship, sending hardened elite Dutch Marines over. Despite being
the clearly superior fighters, my numbers are just too many. Twenty out of
twenty four die in the initial fighting, and the remaining four are taken care
of in the following turn.

Even as my ship broke away to finally reach the sinking remains of the HMS Badger,
the mortar fired, landing a critical hit...

... on the remaining gun boat, sending what amounted to an air-burst along its
small deck, killing a good third of the crew and filling her with holes and fire.

In the end, the Captain of the doomed gun boat near my ship attempted to take me with 'em by lighting torch to his powder magazine, but my distance and size kept me from suffering truly crippling damage- and I was also awarded 300 odd points for its destruction. My ship and the other pirate docked successfully with the HMS Badger and saved a handful of survivors each (and one luxurious Persian Cat). My action blocked the Dutch from their objective, and we chewed them up as they tried to get around me- at the end of the day the fort remained in Pirate hands.

With 2,835 points by myself, it was a clear crushing victory for the British and Captain Tomasz in particular! Glory to Britannia, and god save pirates- finally, a victory!~