May 4th, 1795
Off the Port of St. Georges
Deep in the Southern Isles
Our brave and intrepid French heroes, having heard of an uprising against the tyranny of Britain on the Isle of St. Georges, have laid siege to the town to force the perfidious slave-masters to renounce their control. A massive army of French soldiers besiege the town, while our brave (but badly under-staffed) naval force blockades the harbor.
The end is in sight! The town's defenses are crumbling away. No ship has dared approach the formidable firepower blockading the harbor. Then,... Suddenly... Masts appear on the horizon!
It is the dreaded tars of the British Navy, coming to mistakenly prop up their puppet clown on the island! An initial scan by telescope before a quick fog closes in reveals the enemy to be in slightly greater numbers. No fear! The French Navy is indomitable in this region. The stuffy, pretentious, and not-quite-intelligent "acting" commodore orders all divisions to advance to fight.
<Metagame: Roger: "These number of ships are on the horizon". Me: "Meh, don't care about numbers." Me later: "Holy Crap!">
The French commander was so confident in his battle plan he forgot to inform his staff painter to prepare his oils, so much of the first part of the battle can only be recreated from memory.
<remember to take more (and better quality) pictures next time>
It was that classic of all naval battles, a closing fight. Each force clawing into the wind as tightly as they could, formed in tight divisions. Who would win the wind gauge? In the end, the British narrowly edged by the front French division and moved first
<French won the first initiative (the only time the entire game they won initiative) and made the Brits move first>
But as they closed to shooting range, the English perfidy became clear! Hiding behind their 3rd raters was a massive fleet of Frigates. I mean seriously, who builds so many of those damned things? The mists cleared as the ships entered firing range and the tonnage offset pealed out like the bells of Notre Dame.
The French Force:
First Division:
L'Superle, 74
Arrogunte 68 (still repairing from her last battle)
Second Division:
Atlante 44
Boussole 35
Third Division:
Legere 18
C'est La Vie 18
Facing them was 4 to 5 divisions of 3 ships each, consisting of multiple 74's, some 4th-raters, and the aforementioned 6 frigates. And one little 18-gunner cowardly hiding out in the back.
Yes, forces were imbalanced. But outgunned 4 to 1, the French are not afraid! They will blast through the enemy lines, sinking all that come before them!
<Initial battle plan, once the Brits moved first: Split the heavy division with my heavy. Sacrifice the 2nd Division to let the 1st get away. Run like hell with the 18-gunners. Oh, and pray someone survives.>
The Brits did move first, their windward division starting to cut in front of
L'Superle. She suffered a bow rake but shrugged it off. Their second division raced forward and got some broadsides off at the French 2nd division. Then, the French responded (and the painter finally got to work):
Here the leading French 74,
L'Superle, has just passed through the lead British division, delivering a devastating stern rake to the lead British ship, and a bow rake to #2.
Arrogunte prepares to follow.
The French 2nd division will have a tougher brie to ferment. The 2nd Brit division has turned downwind to engage them, while the 3rd (all frigates) are racing up astern.
<Actually, 3rd division failed their turn roll and driving was about to get dicey for the Brits> Broadsides are exchanged. The French painter gets rattled by a passing shot and his hand shakes very hard as he tries to capture the action.
3rd division, being only 18 gunners, could have refused the fight against such large foes. But they were too close to evade. They turned sharply downwind, delivering "devastating" broadsides to the Brits as they turned away. ("Devastating" in the dispatches, pretty ineffectual in reality). They lay on all sail downwind.
Brits get initiative (I'll quit saying that, the kept it for the rest of the game). 2nd in line of their first division bow-rakes
Atlante, but it is poor
Boussole (center of screen) who takes the brunt of fire from the Brits. They pass a morale check.
Both French ships of the 1st division have split the British line and sail down it, delivering broadside after broadside into the trailing ships. 2nd division repeats the maneuver down the starboard side of the Brit 1st division. But what's this? The 74 of the Brit 2nd division has turned in, and blasts
Boussole again. The French are almost through the British line, and are heading straight for the safety of guacamole island.
Honor served, (and with some inconsequential rigging damage), the 3rd division begins to exit stage left. One of the British frigate divisions relentlessly pursues.
(Missing a painting here). The British order individual action, and their sailing masters execute a series of beautiful turns. The French under-estimated the speed of the British maneuver, and the trail division (poor, poor
Boussole) comes under fire again. Guacamole island has been replaced by the "Sarah's home-baked cookie atolls". They are almost free.
Alas! The damnable Brit 74 (just out of painting to lower left) completes her turn and stern-rakes the
Boussole at medium range. The final shot of the battle smears the
Boussole's captain across the quarterdeck, and sadly, she strikes. No cookies for her.
Outcome of the battle: No French ship escaped unscathed, but they did some heavy damage to the British ships in the process.
Boussole surrendered to the enemy and was captured.
The British victory will be short-lived! Death to Brittania!
