In discussing the possibilities of pre-American Revolution ships and battles with my fellow authors, there was some hesitancy on their part to make the attempt due to insufficient data. Recalling my old friend Scott Duncan's boardgame, SPANISH MAIN, I decided to see what could be done without worrying too much about historical accuracy, but which would stil I produce a reasonably correct and playable game. As most of my spare time of late occurs in the wee hours of the morning, the entire project (including the battles) was fought solo.

Harking back to SPANISH MAIN, the Caribbean Sea was selected as the area of operations. A map of the region is shown. The Buccaneer bases are Tortuga and Port Royal, Jamaica, and they can also put in at Cow Island for minor repairs and water. All other cities are Spanish, and each has a set wealth and a variable garrison and can be attacked by the buccaneers.

City values are:

City	Wealth	Garrison	Forts and Guns Each
Campeche	*100,000	300-500	1 4-12#C
Trujillo	50,000	200-400	1 4-9#C
Chagre	150,000	400-600	2 4-9#C
Puerto Bello	300,000	600-800	2 6-12#C
Panama	500,000	1,200-3,000	3 6-12#C
Maracaibo	300,000	600-850	2 4-12#C
Habana	400,000	850-1,500	3 4-18#C
Puerto Principe	200,000	500-900	2 5-9#C
Santiago	150,000	400-600	1 4-9#C
* Once lost it is not restorable.

Inland cities (Panama and Santiago) can only be attacked by a route march overland, the details of which will be covered later.

The buccaneers have a maximum of 24 ships available, with the following characteristics:

Ship Class	Crew Factors	Gun Factors **	Total Number
I, 50 tons	2(+1)*	1 - 6#C	16
I, 75 tons	3(+1)	1 - 9#C	8
II, 100 tons	4(+2)	2 - 6#C	4
III, 150 tons	5(+2)	2 - 9#C	2
* Number in parenthesis is additional crew for land actions.
** Guns in broadside.

Spanish ships are all Class V, 300 tons, 3 Crew Factors, 1-12#C, except galleons laden with treasure which are -10% in sailing but otherwise identical. The Dons have a ship at each of the seven cities on the Caribbean, and two treasure fleets. The latter will move down the coasts, one from the Yucatan and the other from Columbia, each of six ships of 100,000 value. They will rendezvous at Puerto Bello, in company with the ships from all of the cities on their respective routes, gather another 300,000 from Puerto Bello and then sail in company via either the Windward Channel or the Mona Passage for Spain. Regular ships have a value of 10,000. Buccaneers sail 50 miles a day, Spanish 40, treasure ships 34.

Basic morale for both sides is 1. However, each side will have a number of leaders who will increase this factor:

Leader Value	Buccaneers	Spanish
4	-	1
3	1	2
2	4	3

During any battle there is a 1 in 6 chance that the leader will be killed.

Land battles use 1:20 scale (1 CF = 1 figure), but kills are kept on a roster, as they will represent only single men. Rules forland battles were CHAINMAIL (for warfare had not changed that much during this period). Arquebus range is 12". Buccaneers are 50% arquebus-armed, 25% pike-armed, 25% cutlass (sword)-armed. Spanish are 10% arquebus, 15% heavy crossbow, 25% pike, and 50% sword-armed. In addition, itis possible that mainland garrisons will also have a body of lance-armed light cavalry, 200 strong. Basic morale is 5 for the buccaneers and 3 for the Spanish in land actions, plus 5 times the morale value for the leader, i e. , +20, +15 , or +10 when obtaining post-melee results.

With the above information, along with a copy of each of the two rule booklets used, you will be able to fight isolated actions or entire campaigns. Here is how my current Solo campaign is being run:

Solo Campaign

Dice probabilities determine garrison strengths, so I have no idea exactly how strong any of them are. Rolls of 24 are equal to the minimum figure listed, while 10-12 are maximum, and anything in between is ratioed.

There are cards for each of the nine garrisons and the seven ships. Most are blank, but five bear Leader Values, above 1. Until revealed by attack, the value of each card is unknown.

The probability of the cavalry force being at any city is a function of its wealth, so Panama, for example, would have five out of six in favor of such a force. Determination is made only when the buccaneers attack. Trujillo would have one-half chance in six, so a roll of 1 spot on the die would mean a second roll, 1-3 determining the cavalry to be there.

Spanish actions are written up in six separate plans, involving the movement of the ships at the coastal cities on the Caribbean, which dates the treasure fleets will be where, when these fleets will sail for Spain, and by which passage.

The buccaneers have six leader cards, kept face down so the value of each is unknown. (If a leader is killed, his card is removed.) Some form of raid is now planned, with the strength of the leader and the exact number of ships participating unknown. Only after the plan is fully drawn up is a leader card selected and the number of buccaneer ships participating determined:

Leader Value	Number of ships joining if plan is:
	Treasure Fleet	Sea Cruise	Coast Raid	Inland Raid
2	4	2	5	2
3	6	4	7	3
4	9	6	12	6

1 in 6 chance/week of locating merchant ship worth 15,000.

Note that each buccaneer leader has more than one ship, the higher his value, the greater the number and weight of his ships. A value 2 leader has one each of the first two ship-types listed, a value 3 leader has one each of the three ships I isted , and a value 4 leader has one of each type. Successful actions (cruises netting 50,000 or more, plus raids which win) add one ship to the number of ships joining, cumulative, so a leader with three successful raids would add three ships to the above figures for Number of Ships Joining. Types of ships joining are proportional to the total number of each, i e. , 9 ships joining = 4 50 ton, 3 75 ton, and 2 100 ton.

Any action or combination of actions which cost the Spanish 300,000 in losses will immediately result in the addition of 3 spots to the garrison strength determination dice. In twelve weeks, one turn equalling one week, a force of six Spanish frigates (Class IV, 200 tons, 4 CF, 2-12#C) which will cruise randomly searching for buccaneers.

Two buccaneer plans were immediately drawn up. The first was a cruise from Tortuga through the Mona Passage to Aruba, thence along the coast to Trujillo, north to Habana, and finally homeward to Tortuga once again. Plan two was a raid on Trujillo, embarking from Port Royal. A die was rolled to determine how many turns after plan one began that plan two would commence and the result was 4.

The leader card for the cruise was a 3, so a force of seven ships sailed from Tortuga on turn 1. They ran into no large Spanish ships, as the Spanish plan selected so determined. On the second, third, and ninth weeks they captured merchant ships, and put back into Tortuga on the twelfth move, only 45,000 richer.

The raid on Trujillo drew a value 2 leader, so seven ships sailed on this expedition also. Four were of 50 tons carrying 12 CF's total, and three were of 75 tons, totaling a like number of CF's. This force encountered two Spanish ships before Trujillo, losing 1 CF in the ensuing action, but capturing one of the enemy. The other Spanish ship fled to a position of safety under the gunsof the fort guarding the city. A sketch of the city and fort illustrates the action.

The buccaneers landed 12 CF's at Trujillo proper after running past the fort and the anchored Spanish ship. During the latter exchange they suffered some minor damage and lost another CF. 6 CF's (1/ship) remained with their vessels. Meanwhile the prize and an escort remained outside the harbor to prevent the other ship from escaping, the two ships being manned by 4 CF's.

In order to prevent the town from being sacked, the Spanish ran their remaining ship aground, and the 3 CF's from it joined 15 from the fort in order to give battle. They advanced down the road from the fort at the same time as the buccaneers gathered in the south end of Trujillo. A battle ensued in the center of town, extending westward around the hills flanking it.

There was a brisk exchange of missile fire, with casualties being relatively low on both sides due to the cover in Trujillo, but in the open area west of the town the Spanish suffered severely from arquebus fire. The survivors of the latter force broke and fled before they could close.

Meanwhile a melee was raging in the streets, with 8 buccaneer CF's contending with 13 Spanish. The buccaneers were beginning to get the worst of it when their comrades from the left attacked from the flank, whereupon the defenders routed.

After spending two weeks leisurely looting, pillaging, and ransoming the influential citizens of Trujillo, the buccaneers sailed for Port Royal with their prize and 50,000. The other Spanish ship was burned by the retreating Dons in order to prevent it from failing into the hands of the raiders.

There are now three new projects afoot, including another raid on a coastal city being lead by the same captain who sacked Trujillo, a quest after the plate fleet, and a cruise after merchant shipping by a new commander (the draw revealed another 2 value leader). The results of the three new actions are bound to draw strong Spanish reaction, and the campaign should get much hotter soon. In order to add still more variety, I am considering the addition of a Dutch squadron, allowing the buccaneers to attack the Dutch Islands and the Dutch to counter.