North Channel Naval Conflict Between The USS Ranger and the HMS Drake During the American Revolutionary War - 1778 (Official Rules of Play)

On April 24th, 1778 along The North Channel between and --Captain of the USS Ranger set out to seize and capture a Royal Navy ship just outside the town of . That ship was the HMS Drake, captained by George Burden. Jones immediately had the upper hand, in both firepower and maneuverability. The Ranger was built as a warship while the Drake was simply a merchant ship outfitted with 4-pound cannons. Not to mention, Jones had the upper hand in knowledge of the enemy ship, given to him by an area local Lieut. Dobbs. During the ensuing attack, the Ranger inflicted ​ ​ devastating damage to her opponent--killing its captain in the process. The ships fought in close range combat, but never close enough for boarding actions. In the end, Jones succeeded in capturing the Drake and as a result, gained international fame.

North Channel is a simple table-top “Postcard” wargame of ship-to-ship combat for two players. One player will take on the role of the American ship the USS Ranger, while the other takes on the role of the HMS Drake. The American player will have the upper hand with higher firepower, a larger crew, and a sturdier hull. The Britsh player will have to be smart in order to outmaneuver their enemy, and not succumb to the USS Ranger.

SampleWill you be able to change the outcome? file

I. Game Contents: ● 1 Postcard Play Map ● 1 Quick Reference Card (Double Sided) ● 1 USS Ranger Token (Blue) ● 1 HMS Drake Token (Red) ● 2 Anchor Markers (1 Blue and 1 Red) ● 1 Wind Marker (Blue) ● Ship Rosters ● 5 Dice (If you are playing the Print-and-Play edition, you will need to provide your own dice)

II. Setting Up: 1. Place the map, the quick reference card, and the dice between both players. 2. Cut one of the Ship Rosters in half (along the dotted line) and give the USS Ranger to the American player and the HMS drake to the British player. 3. The players should take their respective ship tokens and place them in the starting zones. Both ships should be facing east. 4. Place the wind marker on the compass rose.

III. Sequence of Play: Each round of the game is played in a series of steps as follows: 1. Wind Phase: One player will roll 1 six-sided die (1D6) to determine Wind Conditions. ​ 2. Morale Phase: Both players will roll 2D6+Crew Total+Commander Total. The player with the higher score will gain 1 ​ Morale. Whoever had the higher Morale gets the “Advantage” for the turn. If the player’s tied, the person with the higher current Command rating gets the Advantage. 3. Advantage Player Turn: Whoever had the higher advantage gets to go first, taking the following steps in this order. ​ a. Movement Phase: The Advantage player checks the Wind Conditions and makes stress test if his/her ship is ​ “In Irons.” The active player then moves that ship. It may Turn and Move. (Ships at half Mast only Move OR Turn, not both. Ships at 0 Mast are adrift and can’t move.) b. Cannon Phase: The Advantage player Fires their cannons if they are in the range of the enemy ship. ​ c. Boarding Phase: Finally, The Advantage player may make a boarding action if their ship shares the same ​ space as the enemy ship. 4. Non-Advantage Player Turn: Now the Non-Advantage player for the turn gets to activate their ship (Following the ​ same steps as outlined for Advantage player turn above).

IV. Wind Phase: During the Wind Phase, one player will roll one die. The result will determine the wind conditions, if any, for the round. Sample1 2 3 4 5 file6 Storm North Wind East Wind South Wind West Wind Calm