I first encountered the Clear for Action (CFA) rules at Cold Wars 96. I was walking past a table with a couple of 1200th scale sailing ships and a PC. I had read a rave review of an English set of computer-moderated fighting sail rules, so I asked the guy at the PC if these were the same rules. He said they were, so I ended up spending the next hour looking over his shoulder. The guy, by the way, was Scott Fisher who hangs out with the folks from the Naval Wargaming Review. I went off the next morning stalking a copy of the game.

I was entranced. This was the slickest wargame assist program I had seen. Clean, well organized, with a simple and effective interface. I've bought a number of miniature wargame assist programs, and the interface in almost all of them was atrocious. One wrong key stroke and you end up firing on your own troops. CFA is not without its sins, but for the most part the interface works well (and you can't fire on your own ships, even when you want to)! The box contains a diskette with Clear for Action on it, three training scenarios, eleven historical scenarios, a laminated summary sheet, and a 90 odd page manual. The disk also comes with hundreds of pre-generated ships in the database, from first rates to small cutters. These ships can be used as is ire a scenario of your design or they can be edited and modified. There are also two historical scenario disks available, too.

CFA, as with most computer moderated games, is scale-free, so you can use whatever ships you have and basing is not a question. I myself use Valiant 2000th, and the designer used Langton 300th at Colours 96! (A spectacular sight, I might add.) Each ship is individually located on a grid maintained in the computer, so no range or angle measurements are needed. However, to use miniatures, you have to grid out a blue sheet to locate your models. Each square in the grid represents a 100 meter square and each turn is 2 minutes long.

Example of Detailed Ship Display

Each ship is represented in exquisite or excruciating detail, depending on your point of view. In the graphic above, the amount of hull is shown in points remaining/base). The speed is in meters per turn. Also note the display of the ship: this is used to show the status of your sail set. Each icon represents a specific sail state. Learn them, live them, love them, this is your only Clue to what the enemy is up to, but if you forget, there is a help key to display them.

The sequence of play is as follows:

Orders: Instruct your crew. There are a limited number of orders you can give.
Movement: The computer then tries to execute your moves.
Fire: You fire your guns that bear, select reloads or call for more ammo. Small arms fire.
Damage Results: See the damage you suffered in points and note critical or special hits.
Melee: Boarding parties are launched, and boarding actions are resolved in phases.
Morale: Damage, side status and ship situation is assessed, and implemented.

The Orders phase is a crucial part of the turn. A normal ship is given 6 orders per turn. These are used to adjust sail settings, change crew locations, and direct the ship's movement. A ship will always sail in a straight line without orders. There are never enough orders and they won't necessarily be executed in one turn.

Crew quality is an essential feature of this game. The better the crew, the faster and more things will happen. This is also affected by the current crew morale. As their morale sinks, the crew becomes truculent and surly. There is nothing quite as exciting as being in a critical situation with a crew of half-trained Dons!

The actual entry of orders is straightforward. Each ship on your side can be selected by the up and down arrows. Once the ship is selected, the actual orders can be entered by the use of hotkeys a menu. In my experience demonstrating the game at a few conventions, the players pick up the order entry process in only a few turns. By the end of the game they are doing all of their own entries.

Planning is another important part of CFA. If you are the happy Frog, Don, or Jonathan, with boat loads of crew to man your guns, planning is less of a problem. But on the Limey's ship, getting the crew to the right guns is a significant part of your battle. You have only a limited number of orders for your ships and moving around crews consumes a significant number. Furthermore, number of orders you have a turn is likely to diminish as the battle progresses.

Sailing is where Clear for Action really shines. This is the most accurate and interesting sailing model out there. Unlike the lame sailing models in the computer games "Age of Sail" by TalonSoft and "Wooden Ships & Iron Men" by Avalon Hill, this game deals with sail in 360ø. You have numerous sail settings to choose from, and each has a specific purpose. Staysails for sailing close hauled, stunsails for reaching and running, putting in a "Spanish reef" to decelerate quickly. You must weigh the amount of sail you are carrying against your susceptibility to damage. You can reduce the amount of damage you receive by reducing sail, but you will give up speed. It also takes time to set and take in sail; you must factor in this delay and how it will effect your speed. Unlike most games, you can't just plot a speed, you must tune your sails for It. Though this is a difficult task to master, it isn't too hard to just muddle through a few games till you get the finer nuances of sailing.

During the actual Movement phase, the computer divides the turn into twenty segments and recalculates the effect of wind speed. wind angle, and sail state for each segment. It also incorporates the effect of rigging dragging over the side. (The ship tends to turn to the side of the wreckage.) The radius of the ships' turns are calculated by the speed of the ship and its size. This takes a bit of getting used to, because you are never quite sure where a ships turning circle lies. This leads to rather conservative play, to avoid collisions. Collisions are a bad thing in CFA. The ship that rams another at speed often ends up dismasting itself.

One of the orders you can give is "Fire as you Bear," which allows firing as you move. This opens a new aspect that I have not seen accurately simulated in any Fighting Sail game till now. A constant problem in sailing games occurs when ships cross, especially in frigate actions. In other games in which all fire is resolved at one point during a turn. It is a common occurrence that two frigates pass, unable shoot because they finish their moves out of firing arc of each other. CFA accounts for when you fired last and loads your guns in appropriate time segments. So, if you fire at the end of your move and you try to "Fire as you Bear" to get off a quick shot, you will not fire effectively. But now, if you fear you're going to overshoot as you move past your target, you have a viable option.

After the orders are entered, the computer executes the Movement phase and moves all the ships. It resolves all collisions, executes tacks (maybe), and notes locations of "Fire as you Bears orders. There is a movie mode you can select to watch all the ships move. The graphics of the display mode are simple and clear. The grid is laid out and the ships are indicated by red and green hull forms, with a name tag attached to each. After the Movement phase, you have to update the location of the miniatures on the board. (Note, miniatures are not necessary, but I think they add a lot of color to the game, and after all, this is a miniature gaming magazine.)

The next phase is the Fire phase. In this phase you shoot, choose reloads, clear guns, restock ammunition, and fire small arms. If you had a "Fire as you Bear" order, the computer will ask you if you want to fire high or low; otherwise you have to select a target, choose where to fire, and select a reload. The computer determines whether each gun is loaded, whether it bears, whether it is blocked by wreckage, and determines whether it has enough crew to fire.

Firing Window Example
Firing Ship: Agamemnon
Target Ship: Minerve
Range: 267 Bearing: 73
Deck	Type	Posn	Shot	Rd	Ch	Gp	No	Ld	Be	Cl	Cr	Target
Lower	24lb	Port	Ball	15	3	3	13	13	0	0	0	Cannot Fire
Lower	24lb	Stbd	Ball	15	3	3	13	13	10	8	8	HULL
Top	18lb	Port	Ball	12	4	2	12	12	0	0	0	Cannot Fire
Top	18lb	Stbd	Ball	14	5	4	12	12	10	7	5	Rigging
Qdeck	9lb	Port	DGrp	13	4	2	6	0	0	0	0	Not Loaded
Qdeck	9lb	Stbd	DGrp	13	4	3	6	5	4	3	3	Hold Fire
Top	18lb	PBow	Ball	11	5	4	1	1	0	0	0	Cannot Fire
Top	18lb	SBow	Ball	10	5	5	1	1	1	1	1	HULL
Press any key to continue...

When you fire your guns, you have the option of reloading with roundshot, doubleshot, grapeshot, double grapeshot, ball and grape, and chainshot. Each of these have separate loading; rates and ammunition supplies. But the computer takes care of all of those details.

If you are close enough, the computer allows you to fire at formed boarding parties. Also, it allows your crew to fire small arms. During the Orders phase, you can also transfer Marines to the tops; this increases the effectiveness of their small arms fire but, reduces their ability to defend against boarders. Also, if a mast goes over the side, with the Marines in the tops, it has a tendency to kill a lot of them.

The Firing phase is where that I have some complaints. You must be careful in this phase. If you are not, you may end up firing at the wrong target, wrong location, or reload the wrong ammo. At the start of the Fire phase, you are given a list of targets, their relative bearing and range. If you want more information, you have to select one and press enter; this puts you into the fire window (see above). At this point, you can get detailed information on your guns. If you leave the window to look at other targets, you must choose the HOLD FIRE, or all guns that can fire will fire by default. Even if you fire only one gun of the section, the entire section is fired for the turn. So pay attention in these screens.

After all firing has been done, the Damage phase occurs. Damage widows come up and allow you to inspect your ship in detail. You can also peer through the smoke and try to discern what is happening to other ships. Obvious damage, as when masts go over the side or when big fires break out, is visible. Otherwise you are given only a general description of the damage your opponent has suffered, such as "light," "moderate" or "heavy."

This aspect of uncertainty is one of the best features of the game. Although you have full knowledge of the status of your crew, guns, and hull, you have only approximate knowledge of the status of your masts - only the tens digit of your mast's remaining hits, rounded up are shown. So you never know exactly when your mast will tip over the side. This feature makes players conservative and nervous as their rigging gets chewed up. This feature is even move aggravating when viewing your opponent's ship, as you are given only a vague description of the damage you have delivered, and whether his masts are standing. This leads to the "die, monster, die" mentality as you hammer away broadside to broadside.

During the Damage phase, you may also see some special damage. These are critical hits where you suffer special events such as rudder damage, leadership casualties, fires, boats being destroyed. (You'll learn why in this period the ships tossed their small boats over the side or towed them behind when they cleared for action, as the splinters rip through your crew.) The worst hit of this type you can receive is the Captain Killed." (Except of course "Ship Explodes," but, I've only seen that result once.) This cripples your ship for a number of turns. Till the computer finds your first officer, you can issue no orders, though you can fire.

Catching fire is also a problem you will have to deal with. You have to pay attention to your sail settings prior to combat. You must brail up your lower courses (the bottom sails) to prevent your guns from setting them on fire. When you have wreckage on your decks obscuring a broadside and you fire your guns through it, you may end up starting fires.

I have a small quibble with the designer on the distribution of gun damage. Ships in CFA seem to lose guns according to a variation of the Fletcher Pratt method (guns lost in proportion to hull damage: # guns/hull points). My problem is that the gun losses are distributed randomly around the ship, not only on the engaged side. So, if you're lucky, your disengaged broadside may take most or all the damage. But, this would be an exception, the damage tends to be evenly distributed. I just feel that most of the damage should be distributed to the engaged side for a more accurate simulation.

When a ship runs out of hull (a rare occurrence) or strikes with little hull remaining, it may end up sinking. The ship is given a sinking status and then may slip beneath the waves on any turn. I've played 50 - 60 games and have only seen a ship sink once, they usually strike before they reach that dangerous state.

After you have inspected your damage and tried to guess what's happening to your opponents and friends comes the Melee phase. This is a problematic phase from the player perspective. An unprepared ship (with no boarders formed, and Marines in the tops) is easy prey for enemy's boarding party. You can lose your ship at the drop of a hat if you're not careful.

When ships are grappled or fouled, a boarding action can take place. The trick is planning the action. If you screw up your orders or your opponent does something unexpected, you may end up in a surprise boarding action.

The Marines stationed on the decks (not in the tops) will automatically defend your ship against boarding, but no one else will. To launch or defend against a boarding action, you must form boarding parties by removing crew from other jobs. To launch an attack, you must select the "Borders Away" command in the Orders phase. This will send your boarders over the side.

A good tactic for the nationalities that have large crews is to form a boarding party early and try a surprise ramming. You may swarm your opponent's decks and take his ship by storm. On the other hand, when you are close, the computer gives your opponent the opportunity to target boarding parties, and there's nothing like a whiff of double grape to ruin a good party. A boarding action may take a number of turns to resolve, and if the ships pull apart, your boarding party could be captured. In any case, it is a risky bit of business.

The last phase is the Morale phase. In this phase, each ship is evaluated for damage and the overall battle situation. When things look bad enough, your crew will become "withdrawn" and you must retire from the battle. If things get worse, the ship will strike. This is another one of those opaque values; you never know when you're going to have to strike.

At the completion of the Morale phase, the turn ends and the cycle restarts. This will continue till all ships on one side have struck, are destroyed or the game is terminate by mutual consent. The beginning of the turn is to best time to stop the game, though it can be stopped and saved in any phase. One of the joys of computer-moderated gaming is you can stop and pick up, then restart the next day, week or month, and everything is recorded and ready to play. Just put your boats on the grid and go. Clear for Action automatically saves every turn and phase. On the downside, the computer writes on the original scenario file, so you have to make a backup prior to play.

The basic game disk comes with good assortment of scenarios. The first three scenarios are for training and will let you experiment with all aspects of the game. The Historical actions consist of 6 frigate on frigate actions, ranging from the first battle in the French Revolutionary War (H.M.S. Nymphe vs. La Cleopatre, 1793), to the War of 1812 H.M.S. Shannon vs. U.S.S. Chesapeake, 1813). The remainder are multi-frigates actions, and small SoL and frigate actions. These are well executed and play well, though they tend to be uneven. (After all, even matches in historical battles were a rarity.) The only scenario I have trouble with is the third training scenario, a recreation of the Battle of Algerciras Bay. It's an interesting battle through hidden shallows under the guns of a shore battery. But the ship data is suspect, the Formidable is a famous French 80, yet in the scenario it is rated at only 74 guns.

Clear for Action comes with an excellent database of pre-generated ships. All the major and minor nationalities of the Napoleonic period are represented. Each nationality is covered in detail with representations of almost all ships types and variant armaments, such as enflute, standard armament for the American Revolutionary War, and late Napoleonic armament with its stress on carronades. This gives you an excellent base to develop scenarios on your own.

CFA gives you full access to an editor so you can create or modify scenarios. The editor is also used to design or modify any ship. There a 12 different basic ship types to choose from, ranging from xebecs and tartanes, to ships and cutters. Shore batteries and floating batteries are represented as well. There is a terrain editor that controls more than just wind speed and direction, but also shore lines, submerged terrain (shallows, coral heads), hills (to block the wind), weather, time of day, phase of the moon, and visibility. The probability of direction and speed changes of the wind can be determined as well. Almost any aspect can be simulated. You can show previous battle damage, rot, storm damage, and things I haven't even thought of yet, I'm sure.

One more feature that makes this a game not to be missed is that it allows for Head to Head" play via a Null modem. This allows for two separate computers to link together and share information. All you need is a standard data transfer cable and an open COM port. CFA allows for unlimited numbers of copies of the SLAVE version of the game. This is a special version that can only run in two-PC mode. One problem with all computer games is access to the computer keyboard. With the two machine set up, the problem is reduced. Now each team can use its own computer to enter its own data.

Another useful feature is a turn timer. It limits the amount of time each player has to enter his orders. This keeps big games from bogging down when one player dithers. If he lingers too long, his turn is over, too bad. This guarantees a fixed length to a turn, the Orders phase at least. The time limit can be set at start up and edited during the game. I use this feature during conventions; no time limit at the start and a 3 minute turn limit once players get the hang of the system. CFA allows for up to 9 players per side, each with own individual command.

The system requirements are pretty minimal. You need at least 640 Kbytes of free RAM, a VGA or SVGA graphic card, and at least a 286. (The program runs from DOS, but uses an internal windows package.) CFA also makes use of the co-processor in DX machines. Setup is trivial; an installation program is included, though CFA can run from the diskette. There is a catch in the installation; Mr. Smalley has put a copy protect feature on his disks to prevent pirating. You only have a limited number of installs, but reinstallation doesn't count, nor do upgrades. I haven't had any problem with it myself.

This is the definitive game for small actions, one-on-one frigate actions, and small battles with less than ten ships to a side. I recommended multiple players for games with more than two ships per side. The detail tends to get overwhelming for one person beyond two ships. Although this games supports actions with over 100 ships, I wouldn't try it. Nevertheless, Scott Fisher said that they had fought the Glorious First of June to completion in one day using 2 machines.

I've only touched on the things this game allows. I haven't mentioned anchoring, small boat work, backsailing, molars, assaulting shore batteries, heaving the lead, hedging, and towing. The game is a great favorite at my game club, BattleGroup Boston, and has been well received at Cold Wars, Tri-Con, Havoc, and I hope to run it at Historicon. If you have any questions, please contact me at my e-mail address-- Thomas S. Ballou: tballou@lynx.neu.edu