I am an inveterate tinkerer with wargames rules. I only need to play a couple of games with a new set of rules before I decide to start "improving" them. Then, recently, I joined the computer age, by buying Talonsoft's Age of Sail. (Your fault, Kenn) Fine - once I had worked out how to load the thing and make it work. My understanding of computers barely clears imbecile level. I even got to the stage (eventually) where the computer didn't beat me to a pulp every time I played. But then it struck me - I can't tinker with these rules! For a while, I was at a loss. Then it struck me: I can't alter the rules, but I can improve on the scenarios. A lot of the built-in scenarios are very similar, so a bit of variation would be welcome. Also, it seems a shame to me that the more unusual navies of the period are included in the ship list, but miss out in the scenarios. It also gave me an opportunity to do one of the things I enjoy most about wargaming - the research. The following scenarios were picked out for Age of Sail, but should be appropriate for any set of Napoleonic naval rules. 17 July 1788. The Battle of Hoglund. (Bay of Finland.) A Russian squadron of 17 ships of the line under Admiral Greig (in the Rostislav, 100) met with a Swedish squadron of 15 of the line and five frigates under Duke Carl, in the Gustav III (74). An indecisive artillery duel ensued, with one ship of the line lost by each side. Both sides should be C class. Light breeze. 13 March 1795. A fleet of 17 French sail of the line were being pursued by 14 British off Leghorn. During the night, several of the French ships collided, causing damage to their rigging. HMS Agamemnon (64) (Captain Horatio Nelson) caught up with the Ca Ira (80) and after a fight of four hours, forced her to strike. I don't think you can pre-programme damage into the ships, (please tell me if I'm wrong) so I suggest you start Ca Ira with sails furled, to allow Agamemnon to catch up. I made Ca Ira D class, with the British ship A class. 12 May 1796. HMS Phoenix (36) captured Dutch Argo (36) in North Sea. British B class and Dutch C. Moderate breeze. 15 February 1800. French ship of the line Genereux (74), accompanied by a frigate (36) and a corvette (20), and between them carrying 3000 troops, were chased by HMS Alexander (74) but managed to escape. British B class, French D class. Fresh breeze. 6 May 1801. HMS Speedy (14) (Lord Cochrane) took the Spanish ship Gamo (30) off Barcelona. Spanish crew D class and British A. Gentle breeze. 4 February 1805. HMS Arrow (24) and Acheron (8) were escorting a convoy which was attacked by two French frigates, Hortense and Incorruptible (44s). After 2 days fighting, both British ships struck, but Arrow sank immediately afterwards and Acheron was burnt by the French as she was too badly damaged to be of use. Neither Hortense nor Acheron are in Age of Sail, but Incorruptible alone should be enough to make a fair fight. For Acheron use Adonis (10). British B class and French C. Gentle breeze. 1 July 1807. Battle of Lemnos. A Russian squadron, of 10 line of battle and two frigates, under Seniavin (in the Tverdoi, 74) attacked a Turkish squadron of 10 line of battle and 5 frigates under Capitan Pasha Seid Ali. After an action lasting about four hours, the Turks escaped with the loss of Sedd el Bakir (84) captured and two other ships of the line burned. Three frigates were also destroyed. Seid Ali, who lost an arm, had three of his captains strangled after the battle for not getting to grips with the enemy! There aren't many Turkish ships in Age of Sail, and they do not seem to be the same ones which actually fought at Lemnos. However, here is a list of the ships I used, which are, at least, about the same size: Seimije (120), Bai-faret, Mustapha, Nusiet, Sadd-al-Bahr, Tauus-u-Bahri, (80s) El Amerikue, Kapitani, Melik- Bahri, Sukkie-Bahri, (74s) Nessim (50), Baddere-i-Zaffer (44) Arni-Ullah, Metelin, (32s) and Egytiena.(28). There! That saved you searching for them! The Turks should be D or E class, with the Russian ships, which were smaller, C class. Light breeze. 16 August 1807. HMS Comus (22) captured Danish Frederickscoarn (32) off Marstrand. British B class and Danish D. Light breeze. 19 May 1808. HMS Virginie (36), a former French prize, took the Dutch frigate Helden (32) in the North Sea. Both sides C class. 6 July 1808. HMS Seahorse (38) took the Turkish Baddere-i-Zaffer (44). British B class, Turkish D class. 26 August 1808. HMS Centaur (74) captured and burned Russian Vseslav (74). British B class, Russians C class. Light breeze. 20 May 1811. A British squadron consisting of Astrea, Phoebe, Galatea (all 36s) and Racehorse (18) fell in with a French squadron comprised of Renomee, Nereide and Clorinde (all 40s) off Madagascar. The Clorinde escaped, but her two consorts were taken. British B class and French C class. Moderate breeze. 6 May 1812. HMS Dictator (68) attacked Danish frigate Nayaden (36) and three brigs (possibly Laaland (20), Samso and Kiel (both 18)) in a shallow bay in the Baltic. The frigate was sunk but the brigs managed to escape. British B class and Danish C. Light breeze. I failed to find any scenarios that I could use for the Portuguese or Neapolitans. The sole action of note by the Portuguese navy in this period seems to have been their carrying the Portuguese royal family to Brazil at the end of 1807 in the face of the French invasion of their homeland. The Russian squadron which had defeated the Turks sailed into the Tagus in September 1808, where it was impounded by the British. If we truncate these two events, we have a possible confrontation as the Russians try to prevent the Portuguese escape. The royal family were aboard the Principe Real (80), which was accompanied by (Conde de) Henrique, (Rainha de) Portugal, Medusa, Principe de Brazil, (74s) (Don Jaoa de) Castro, (Alfonso de) Albuquerque and Martin de Freitas, (64s) 3 Frigates and 3 smaller vessels. The Russians, under Admiral Seniavin, consisted of the Raphael (80), five 74s, two 66s and a frigate. I would suggest the Russians be graded C class and the Portuguese D class. Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #126 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com