These rules were written to enjoy games played with the very nice 25mm resin ships and Pirate figures available today. We use individually based figures so for ease of play our ships aren't rigged but do have sails on the yardarms. The sails are made of suitable looking fabric held into shape by florists wire sealed inside the hems and are simply hooked onto the yardarm so they can be removed to show battle damage and loss of speed. Cannons on the upper deck are also left loose to be removed if destroyed. We hope you enjoy the mayhem! Any situation not covered by these very simple rules is decided by the GM, by mutual agreement, or dice for it. Turn Sequence: Initiative; Un-grapple Attempts; Move Ships; Grapple Attempts; Move Figures; All Firing; Melee Initiative: Roll for initiative each game turn. High die goes first and the rest go in turn. Un-grapple: Roll 1 X D6. 5 - 6 clears all grappling lines and moves ships 3 inches apart. Move Ships: Row Boat or Canoe - 2 inches per rower (max 8 inches) unlimited turns Small Ships (10 hull pts) - 16 inches with up to three 45 degree turns Medium Ships (15 hull pts) - 12 inches with up to two 45 degree turns Large Ships (20 hull pts) - 8 inches with up to one 45 degree turn Grapple: May attempt within 6 inches. 1 X D6, 3 - 6 grapples. Move ships together Move Foot Troops: Formed units (Regulars) - 4 inches Loose units (Pirates / Militia) - 6 inches Natives or Mobs - 8 inches Mounted - 12 inches Rough ground/pushing carts/carrying loot/swimming - half move Firing by Cannons: Light Guns - range to 18 inches - 1 X D6 Medium Guns - range to 24 inches - 2 X D6 Heavy Guns - range to 36 inches - 4 X D6 Light & Medium may fire each turn. Heavy may fire every other turn. Ship to Ship - declare if shooting high or low and roll dice 4 - 6 to hit, +1 at less than half range; 6 only to hit a rowboat or canoe Hit High - roll for number of hits caused - 1-2 - crew; 3-5 - half sail; 6 - full sail ( full sail loss reduces movement by percentage of sail count on ship ) Hit Low - roll for number of hits caused - 1-2 - crew; 3-5 - hull, 6 - gun and 1 crew ( when all hull points are gone the ship is sinking and is considered out of action ) Firing by Foot Troops: Musket / Swivel Gun - range to 12 inches Blunderbuss / Hand Mortar / Arrows - range to 9 inches Pistols / Grenades / Thrown Objects - range to 6 inches Regulars - 4-6 to Hit and kill Pirates and Militia - 5-6 to Hit and kill Natives and Mobs - 6 to Hit and kill +1 at less than half range -1 if target in cover or on ship's deck Swivel Gun - attack with 4 X D6 Blunderbuss and Hand Mortar - attack with 3 X D6 Grenades - attack with 2 X D6 Musket, Pistol, Arrows, Thrown Objects - attack with 1 X D6 Melee 1 X D6 per weapon used. Multiple attackers on one figure all fight simultaneously. High die wins melee. Modifiers are - Leader / Defending an Obstacle / charging Native - + 1 Sword, Musket, or Pike armed figures may parry a killing blow - 1 X D6 - 5-6 deflects by "The Riverbluff Irregulars" Memphis, TN http://members.nbci.com/KH Clay/RBIClub.htm Back to MWAN #111 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum 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