This was very enjoyable and now I think of it no one got heated which considering the numbers playing is most remarkable. With fifteen present it must have been maximum attendance. The campaign is between the British and the French and Spanish but the other naval powers may become involved. Using a list of all the ships of the line I diced for whether they were under construction, laid up or in service and then for locality. Further dicing gave the numbers of shore batteries in each port and when each ship was careened last. I find using average dice and twenty sided dice in addition to the normal type gives plenty of scope for variables. So far I have worked out four clashes, the battle enclosed, a harbour attack in the West Indies, a 3 to 2 ship fight near Naples and an 8 to 7 battle in the Bay o Biscay. The French had better win the latter otherwise they will have an uphill task. At the start the British had 38 ships in Service against 36 Franco-Espagnol In the West Indies four of their best ships (130, 120, 110, 80) face a single British 74. This means that at the moment after this battle 28 Franco-Espagnol ships face 39 British in Europe. The players do not know it yet as I keep them pretty well in the dark until the actual battle. This way of running things avoids the badly unequal battles that are liable to occur when two sides are fighting a campaign on their own. On the outbreak of war between Britain on the one side and France and Spain on the other, Rear-Admiral Don Miguel Calvados, based at Cadiz, deduced that many of his opponents ships would be instantly sent in for careening. Of his own five in Cadiz and two in Carthagena one,had just been admitted for careening. The San Fransiscodi-Asissi at Carthagena needed it but could last a few more weeks. Thus an opportunity of forcing an engagement on equal or superior terms might arise. An order was accordingly despatched to Commodore Don Enrico Perdona at Carthagena to attempt a rendezvous in the Straits. On the 29th July Don Miguel put to sea and sure enough his scouts reported only five of Vice-Admiral Lechlade-Worthington's Squadron patrolling the Strait. The British moved towards the Spaniards but upon the latter putting about returned to their patrol lines. Lechlade-Worthington's orders were to prohibit enemy vessels from passing through the Strait and he was not going to be lured away by a feint. Don Miguel returned to shadowing the British, after all whilst he was there nothing British could pass through either. The rest of that day he waited. All the 30th as well. Would the Carthagena squadron ever come? Perhaps the missing British ships were not being careened? Only one Admirals flag showed in the British Fleet, where was Rear-Admiral Hanshawe, Lechlade-Worthington's second-in-command? Could he be even now pounding Don Enrico to pieces? At the hint of a reinforcing British flag, Don Miguel decided, he would make haste to engage the enemy five with his own four and trust to God, Spanish Breeding and his own skill. At ten o'clock on the 31st the British suddenly sailed N.E. the wind being easterly and Don Miguel followed suit. Twenty minutes later he identified Don Enrico's Squadron bowling towards them, and the British. He tacked to the S.E. 'Making to pass behind the British rear. They then turned S.W. Realising they would cross his tee Don Miguel tacked to the North and the British then wore round to the same course. The fleets were now parallel just out of gun range with the Carthagena squadron rather farther away to the East. The preliminaries were now over, the battle would now begin. SPANISH Conde de Regla 112 Fast Pelago 74 Guerrero 74 San Juan Nepomucero 74 Fast Glorioso 74 Fast Elite crew. San Francisco di Asissi 74 Slow. BRITISH Formidable 98 Elite crew Canopus 8o Venerable 74 Zealous 74 Fast Marlborough 74 Fast Don Miguel's plan, explained to his Captains, was to feint ahead with his own Conde de Regla whilst the remainder held back. At the right moment they would tack to cross as the British rear whilst he wore to catch up with them. The rearmost British ship, Marlborough, Commodore Throgmorton, 1eft the line to engage the Carthagena squadron. This makes the task easier thought Don Miguel, Don Enrico should easily deal with it and it will be easier to cross their rear. Glancing back, the ships behind seemed to close. He hoisted the signal "Repeat execute pre-determined actions." His Captains appeared worried that their rear ships had no targets. The Spanish fire was mainly against the Venerable and at one time four fires could be seen raging aboard her. Three were doused but one caught hold and she pulled out of line so as not to be a danger to her own fleet. The action was getting hotter and the Conde de Regla was suffering badly. The ships behind had not started their cross over yet. In a flash Don Miguel realised that he would not be able to wear round to them with most of the enemy concentrating on him. They must come up and support him. "Increase Speed" he signalled. There was a tremendous roar, both Formidable and Canopus had fired on him to great effect. Apart from Venerable the enemy seemed little affected. He looked to see how Don Enrico was faring and stopped aghast. The Marlborough had just cut between the two Spanish ships raking both at short range. The Heavens opened again. His Post Captain Juan Flores-y-Mono disappeared leaving a pair of boots on the deck. Shot clean through the mizzen mast toppled and with a volley of parting ropes crashed over the side. Simultaneously a column of fire shot from the forehatch. This was defeat. With his crew running below decks Don Miguel signalled "Escape as best you can". The Glorioso surrendered to the Marlborough and a minute later Don Miguel did the same to the Formidable. The San Francisco di Asissi fled for Carthagena the rest towards Cadiz. The British concentrated their fire on their masts. The Pelago was set afire and eventually blew up taking most of her crew. The San Juan Nepomucero lost her mizzen mast, was overtaken and taken prize. Only the battered Guerrero and San Francisco di Asissi escaped to safety. Hampered by the scarcity of seaworthy boats, the Marlborough set about saving as many of Venerables crew as possible before she blew up. To sum up, the Spanish lost four ships and 2052 men (1,459 prisoners) the British one ship and 606 men but gained three prizes. "C'est La Vie" commented Don Miguel. "Hmmph" said Lechlade-Worthington who thought his captive was speaking Spanish. The above action was fought as part of a campaign by the Hamilton Hill Club, Glasgow. Each player had one ship and it took three and a half hours. All orders, well almost all orders, were sent by flag. Some of them were even obeyed. I make haste to add the writer was the umpire/organiser -- not the unfortunate Don Miguel. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 113 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com