INTRODUCTION
The basic premise of this NES is a tournament where players move sailing ships around a hexboard and shoot the living daylights out of each other. Were starting out small with this and I currently need four players (which conveniently matches the four nations to play: England, France, Spain, and the Pirates) who are keen to playtest this generic set of rules which I mashed together from multiple sources.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
Matches are run in a round-robin manner and will comprise of a Home and Away team. The Home team has the benefit of a little fort which gives a slight advantage and the objective is for one team to destroy all the opposing ships.
Currently, the map will be the same map for all matches (too lazy to create new ones for now) and there is no difference between factions; however, I intend to add more features if this takes off.
Tournament points are as follows (note that round numbers may be changed based on this playtest): -
MATCH RULES
PART ONE SELECTING THE FLEET
Each player selects a fleet which equals (or is less than) 20 fleet points. Because Im nice, you can also name your vessels. The available ships are: -
PART TWO PREPARING THE FLEET
The map is as below with a random wind direction which I determine at the start of the match: -
The Home player gets to place his/her/its fort down (see An Annex on Forts in Part Four) on any of the islands with the fleet while the fleet must be placed within two hexes of the chosen island.
The Away player must then choose an edge to enter from with all his/her/its fleet being placed within two hexes of that edge.
PART THREE MOVING
Please note that both players move all vessels simultaneously in their orders
Regular/Full Sail: Each vessel has a speed indicator of either 3/5 or 4/6; the first number represents regular sail and the second represents full. Players must decide whether to use regular or full sail. Under full sail, any hits to a vessels mast will automatically destroy it. Note that lost masts means youre stuck on regular sail for the rest of the match.
Determining Number of Moves: Because there is wind and sailboats, the number of moves each vessel may make depends on the wind direction. A vessel will always be in one of four different orientations relative to the wind: (A) sailing into the wind, (B) diagonally into the wind close-haul, (C) diagonally with the wind reach, and (D) directly with the wind running. The number of moves is as follows: -
A: Zero, may pivot
B: Half of speed, rounded down
C: Top Speed
D: Speed less one
Actually Moving: Once you know how many steps each vessel can take, its time to move the vessels. A vessel can only turn as many times in a turn as it says on the speed indicator and turns are pivoted on the front hex. The below image shows a left turn.
What If Two Vessels Bump Into Each Other?: Because I havent devised ramming rules yet, if ships bump into each other, they will end up next to each other in a suitably boarding fashion.
PART FOUR SHOOTING THE BROWN STUFF OUT OF EACH OTHER
Because I cant be bothered asking for firing orders, and because everyone has infinite cannonballs, Ill just throw out the basics of gunnery here.
After everyone has moved, your vessels will automatically fire at the nearest target (unless you specifically mention something during the movement phase)
The range of all guns is listed as the below image; the colours correspond to range modifiers (i.e. the further out, the harder it is to hit)
An Annex on Boarding: Should two opposing vessels ever find themselves in parallel next to each other at the end of movement (image attached to remove all doubt), either side can call to board the other. This locks both ships together for the next movement phase as the teams duke it out. At the end of the next turn, the team who has the initiative (effectively, the winner of the current boarding round) can choose to release grapples and move on, or to push on with the attack (or counterattack if the defender has the initiative)
Just as a rough guide, the defender tends to have a significant advantage during a boarding action.
If a boarder successfully eliminates all the crew of an opposing vessel, they can capture it by assigning at least one crew to the new ship.
An Annex on Forts: Forts have three crews who operate a battery of guns each. Each individual battery can shoot at similar ranges to normal ships (i.e. six hexes) but its line of sight is blocked by trees. Forts can also be boarded.
PART FIVE WINNING
The match ends when all vessels on one side has been sunk, captured, or rendered derelict (unable to move or fire). Note that the fort does not need to be destroyed or captured for the Away team to win.
CONCLUSION
So those are the rules, pretty basic. This game runs on dice and random rules I stole from everywhere. If it goes well, Ill expand this to a properly-sized tournament and will add faction-specific features, etc. as time goes by.
The basic premise of this NES is a tournament where players move sailing ships around a hexboard and shoot the living daylights out of each other. Were starting out small with this and I currently need four players (which conveniently matches the four nations to play: England, France, Spain, and the Pirates) who are keen to playtest this generic set of rules which I mashed together from multiple sources.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
Matches are run in a round-robin manner and will comprise of a Home and Away team. The Home team has the benefit of a little fort which gives a slight advantage and the objective is for one team to destroy all the opposing ships.
Currently, the map will be the same map for all matches (too lazy to create new ones for now) and there is no difference between factions; however, I intend to add more features if this takes off.
Tournament points are as follows (note that round numbers may be changed based on this playtest): -
- Win 3 points
- Draw 1 point (matches lasting more than 20 rounds become a draw)
- Destroying/capturing the opposing fort 1 point
- Winning in less than 10 rounds (aka the Smashed em Bro! bonus point) 1 point
- Losing by less than 5 fleet points (aka the Youre Coming Down with Me bonus point) 1 point
- Capturing 8 fleet points worth of enemy vessels and holding on to them 1 point
MATCH RULES
PART ONE SELECTING THE FLEET
Each player selects a fleet which equals (or is less than) 20 fleet points. Because Im nice, you can also name your vessels. The available ships are: -
- Sloop (Fleet Points: 2, Speed: 4/6, Max Turns: 3, Guns: 12, Crew: 2): Beautiful, fast, and agile, the sloop is a favourite amongst pirates and navymen alike. While it may lack the firepower of its larger cousins, it is fast and can turn on a dime
- Cutter (Fleet Points: 3, Speed: 4/6, Max Turns: 3, Guns: 24 Crew: 2): At first glance, the cutter can be easily mistaken for a sloop. However, on closer inspection, the cutter will reveal its bulkier lines as well as the larger number of gunports. It has twice the firepower of the sloop
- Brig (Fleet Points: 4, Speed: 4/6, Max Turns: 2, Guns: 24 Crew: 3): The brig is one of the most common vessels plying the Caribbean and is a solid, sturdy design which trades off agility for a larger crew, a tougher frame and two masts instead of one.
- Indiaman (Fleet Points: 5, Speed: 3/5, Max Turns: 2, Guns: 36, Crew: 3): Merchant ships plying up and down the Caribbean are quite often the target for greedy pirates. As such, Indiamen are quite happy to arm themselves and duke it out against pirate vessels. It can also be considered the entry-level ship-rig for the budget tournament player.
- Frigate (Fleet Points: 6, Speed: 3/5, Max Turns: 2, Guns: 36, Crew: 3): Its a frigate. Need I say more? It is also better-manned and tougher than your typical Indiaman
- Galleon (Fleet Points: 8, Speed: 3/5, Max Turns: 1, Guns: 48, Crew: 4): Comparing the frigate and the galleon is like comparing thoroughbreds to draught horses. While it may not win turning competitions, its ungainly size and inefficient solid oak hull allow it to take disproportionate punishment and hold a ludicrous number of guns.
PART TWO PREPARING THE FLEET
The map is as below with a random wind direction which I determine at the start of the match: -
Spoiler Maps for All :
The Home player gets to place his/her/its fort down (see An Annex on Forts in Part Four) on any of the islands with the fleet while the fleet must be placed within two hexes of the chosen island.
The Away player must then choose an edge to enter from with all his/her/its fleet being placed within two hexes of that edge.
PART THREE MOVING
Please note that both players move all vessels simultaneously in their orders
Regular/Full Sail: Each vessel has a speed indicator of either 3/5 or 4/6; the first number represents regular sail and the second represents full. Players must decide whether to use regular or full sail. Under full sail, any hits to a vessels mast will automatically destroy it. Note that lost masts means youre stuck on regular sail for the rest of the match.
Determining Number of Moves: Because there is wind and sailboats, the number of moves each vessel may make depends on the wind direction. A vessel will always be in one of four different orientations relative to the wind: (A) sailing into the wind, (B) diagonally into the wind close-haul, (C) diagonally with the wind reach, and (D) directly with the wind running. The number of moves is as follows: -
A: Zero, may pivot
B: Half of speed, rounded down
C: Top Speed
D: Speed less one
Actually Moving: Once you know how many steps each vessel can take, its time to move the vessels. A vessel can only turn as many times in a turn as it says on the speed indicator and turns are pivoted on the front hex. The below image shows a left turn.
What If Two Vessels Bump Into Each Other?: Because I havent devised ramming rules yet, if ships bump into each other, they will end up next to each other in a suitably boarding fashion.
PART FOUR SHOOTING THE BROWN STUFF OUT OF EACH OTHER
Because I cant be bothered asking for firing orders, and because everyone has infinite cannonballs, Ill just throw out the basics of gunnery here.
After everyone has moved, your vessels will automatically fire at the nearest target (unless you specifically mention something during the movement phase)
The range of all guns is listed as the below image; the colours correspond to range modifiers (i.e. the further out, the harder it is to hit)
An Annex on Boarding: Should two opposing vessels ever find themselves in parallel next to each other at the end of movement (image attached to remove all doubt), either side can call to board the other. This locks both ships together for the next movement phase as the teams duke it out. At the end of the next turn, the team who has the initiative (effectively, the winner of the current boarding round) can choose to release grapples and move on, or to push on with the attack (or counterattack if the defender has the initiative)
Just as a rough guide, the defender tends to have a significant advantage during a boarding action.
If a boarder successfully eliminates all the crew of an opposing vessel, they can capture it by assigning at least one crew to the new ship.
An Annex on Forts: Forts have three crews who operate a battery of guns each. Each individual battery can shoot at similar ranges to normal ships (i.e. six hexes) but its line of sight is blocked by trees. Forts can also be boarded.
PART FIVE WINNING
The match ends when all vessels on one side has been sunk, captured, or rendered derelict (unable to move or fire). Note that the fort does not need to be destroyed or captured for the Away team to win.
CONCLUSION
So those are the rules, pretty basic. This game runs on dice and random rules I stole from everywhere. If it goes well, Ill expand this to a properly-sized tournament and will add faction-specific features, etc. as time goes by.
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