Jim Roach's unofficial Piquet Age of Sail variant, "Tough Men, Iron Balls" (TMIB) was previously published in MWAN #106. The following is a scenario using these rules for the Battle of the Nile which I ran at the last Historicon, July 2000, using 1:1200 Triton ships. I made two custom full color decks of cards, and changed a few of the card names to more nautical (and humorous) titles. The graphics came out very nicely, and also provided a whimsical touch. It proved to be a fun and rapidly playing game. The Nile is a nice size for a small scenario, but still a tough battle for the French to win. Historical Background Having successfully eluded Nelson's Mediterranean squadron, the French fleet under Admiral Brueys disembarked Napoleon Bonaparte's Army of the Orient the night of June 30, 1798. Alexandria fell to the French army the next day. In one of the ironies of history, Nelson's fleet actually beat the French to Egypt, waited there several days looking for the French fleet, and departed on June 28th to search the Syrian coast and then Syracuse - a little over 24 hours before the arrival of the first French ship! A month later, Nelson and his fleet returned to Egyptian waters and found the French fleet anchored in the shallow waters of Aboukir Bay. Although it was already late in the afternoon, Nelson ordered an immediate attack. One British ship, the Culloden, ran aground on a shoal during the approach, and took no part in the battle, much to her captain's chagrin. Thus, the British were left with 12 74 gun ships of the line, including Nelson's flagship, Vanguard, and the 50 gun Leander, to face 13 French ships of the line and 4 frigates. The Conquerant, an old, weakened ship, had had some of her guns removed to make more room for troops during the passage. She probably didn't belong in the battle line, but the other French ships numbered 3 of the fine 80 gun ships of the line, plus the imposing 124 gun Orient, Bruey's flagship, and 8 additional 74 gun ships. Deployment: The French fleet starts at anchor, with springs and cables set up, near the Western end of Aboukir Bay. The lead ship must be at least 3" but no more than 6" from the 4 fathom line (the Royal Blue colored water). No French ship may start more than 15" from the Western 4 fathom line. The British fleet enters from the North East corner of the table, all ships must deploy within 36" of the NE table edge, in formations of their commander's choosing. If necessary, some ships may start off board, coming on behind ships that are ahead of them as movement allows. The wind is blowing from the NNW to the SSE. Special Rules: 4 Fathom Area: Any Ship of the Line that enters the 4 fathom area, must roll each time it moves therein: 1,2,3 (1,2 only for the Leander and the Conquerant) = Runs aground. May attempt to get free on a "Repair check" card. Additional modifier of Down 1 for each 1" it is in from the edge of the 4 fathom area. 3 Fathom Area: Any Ship of the Line that enters the 3 fathom area runs aground automatically, and can not get back under way for the remainder of the game. Any Frigate that enters the 3 fathom area must roll : 1,2,3 Runs aground. May attempt to get free as per Ships of the Line in 4 fathom area above. Anchoring: For simplicity's sake, any anchored ship will be presumed to be anchored by the bow. French Morale: The French sailors fought tenaciously at this battle, several severely crippled ships refusing to strike for more than a day. As a result, all French ships receive an additional UP 1 to their final morale die. This is already calculated into the French rosters. The Nelson Touch: The British ships will be UP 1 for any "Break the Line" attempts. The Fleets: BRITISH (starting with lead ship) (74-Culloden) Aground 74- Goliath 74-Zealous 74-Orion 74-Auclacious 74-Theseus 74-Vanguard 74-Minotaur 74-Defence 74-Bellerophon 74-Majestic 50-Leander 74-Alexander 74-Swiftsure 40-Diane (the Frigates were anchored to the landward) 40-Justice 36-Arthamise 36-Serieuse FRENCH (starting with the head of the line) 74-Guerier 64-Conquerant (old, weak 74 undergunned) 74-Spartiate 74-Aquillon 74-Peuple Souverain 80-Franklin 124-Orient 80-Tonnant 74-Heureux 74-Timoleon 74-Mercure 80-Guillaume Tell 74-Genereux Reference L Foreman and E. B. Phillips, Napoleon's Lost Fleet - Bonaparte, Nelson, and The Battle of the Nile, Discovery Books, Random House, New York, NY 1999. A fine book, designed to complement the Discovery Channel programs on the topic. Battle Report We played the Battle of the Nile Scenario Friday night at Historicon 2000, and considering that no one had played the rules before, and several of the players hadn't ever played Piquet in any variant before, I was very pleased with how it went. I set up the fleets in their historical deployments for display purposes prior to the game, and with a single change due to the command structure I used, the players opted to have at it leaving the ships as set down. The French are at a significant disadvantage in this scenario. They are anchored and facing more or less into the wind. The British fleet, although slightly smaller, is of far higher average crew quality and has a better sequence deck. To even things up a bit, I allowed the French ships to use "springs and cables" for easy turning of their anchored ships. I also gave the anchored ships UP 1 for firing while at anchor, and increased the number of hits needed to eliminate a mast stand while anchored from 3 to 4 in order to reflect the decreased effect of firing at a target with the sails furled. I also gave the French fleet an across the board UP 1 in morale to reflect the unusual tenacity with which many of the French ships fought that day. I prerolled 3 different variants of the ACR, actually a Fleet Characterization Record in this case, for each fleet. 2 of them had Nelson rated as a poor commander, in which case a "Four Sheets to the Wind" (read: command indecision) card would have been added to the deck for the British. So, of course the remaining one was drawn! There, Nelson was a historically appropriate *Superior* commander. Thus there were *two* "Admirable Admiral" (read: Brilliant Commander) cards added to the British deck. French Admiral Brueys was an average commander. This was not a good situation for the already disadvantaged French! The game got underway pretty smoothly, with the British fleet proceeding in Line Astern towards the head of the French line. This would allow them to recreate the historical tactic of trying to slip around the head of the French line with some of their ships, and pound them unmercifully from both sides. I did have rules for shallow water (see above), which, coupled with the "continuous movement" rules for TMIB, left at least a chance that any such maneuver would get mistimed, resulting in a ship running aground. The French admiral, in a bold but I think wise break with history, turned his rearmost squadron, commanded by the "Villian of Trafalgar", admiral Villeneuve, to point out into Aboukir Bay. Villeneuve's squadron cut their cables at the earliest opportunity, and made sail towards the British. Meanwhile, the lead British squadron, under Sir James Saumarez, closed with the French line of battle. As they did so, the Conquerant and the Spartiate opened up on the lead ship, the aptly named Zealous, I believe. One mast came down, and within a few more initiatives, a second. Reduced to 1/3 speed, the British chose to bypass their crippled leader, and sailed around her towards the head of the French line. As this action developed, the British center squadron, under Nelson himself, turned towards the French line and started to sail down it, firing as they bore. Villeneuve's detached squadron maneuvered skillfully, and was able to cross in front of Nelson's squadron, raking the bow of the also aptly named Audacious several times. This ship eventually struck her colors. Unfortunately, in so doing, Villeneuve's lead ship, the Mercure, was itself the subject of heavy fire, including a devastating stern rake from Nelson's flagship, the avenging Vanguard. Mercury's will to fight evaporated, and she struck her colors in turn. Villeneuve's squadron then turned up the bay in an atempt to come up wind and across the stern of the 3rd British squadron, commanded by Sir Thomas Foley. Back at the head of the French line, the 36 gun Frigate Serieuse pulled up her anchor and sailed slowly upwind in an attempt to block off the British from successfully passing across the top of the French line. This placed her in very serious danger. Although her guns and hull would not last long in any exchange of broadsides with the far superior 74 gun Ships of the Line, she could safely sail in waters that might be too shallow for the bigger British ships. With luck, the plucky Frigate might have been able to force them to turn aside into a shoal. As Nelson's squadron sailed past the French ships, they gave far better than they got, as the advantage of the many Veteran and Crack crews in the fleet were plain to see. The French flagship, the first rate 124 gun Orient, took a particular pounding, but her stout timbers and tremendous bulk prevented still more severe damage. At one point, she would have lost all her hull stands in a single broadside, but we recalled that the rules have a DOWN 2 modifier for firing at first Rate ships, and a recalculation resulted in only moderate damage!) As the British started to slip around the rear of the French line, another French ship had to strike her colors. Things were looking dicey for the Frogs by this point ..... Thus the crisis of the battle arrived. Saumarez's 1st British squadron inched towards the top of the French line, the ships again exchanging broadsides to the benefit of the Brtitish. It was nip and tuck, as the 74 gun Orion and the 36 gun Serieuse jockeyed for position, but ultimately the upwind position of the Orion was more advantageous than the nimbleness of the Frigate, and the British successfuly passed across the head of the French line, bow raking the war torn Guerrier. Meanwhile, a similar game of seamanship was playing itself out between the French Squadron of Villeneueve, and the 3rd British squadron of Foley. Whoever could secure the vital upwind position of the other would likely carry the day with a series of bow rakes upon their opponent. As it turns out, the superior skill of the British prevailed (perhaps aided by an error on my part in calculating the speeds of the ships based upon their attitude to the wind). It was the Limeys who passed in front of their French counterparts, beginning a series of thunderous rakes. With their lines crossed in 3 different places, and with 4 French ships struck as opposed to only one British ship, all agreed to call it a solid British victory. I was very pleased with how the game played, despite some rules questions that arose during the play of the game. Several players commented that they really liked the way the rules focused you upon the role of the Admiral, rather than that of a captain. I also agreed with another participant who stated that they enjoyed the flow of the rules and the game much more than other comparable naval actions they'd played in. I was also surprised that a number of people told me that they had wanted to play in the game, but that it was filled up early on. If you have some Age of Sail ships around, give TMIB a try! Back to MWAN #112 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. 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