Sails of Glory Battle for the Seas a Sails of Glory Campaign
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Sails Of Glory Battle for the Seas A Sails of Glory Campaign Time Sometime during the Napoleonic Wars 1803-1805. Info about the Campaign After Napoleon had won many great victories on land in Europe, and crushed every country in battle. France was the dominating power in Europe on land and the English were masters of the sea. Behind their wooden wall of ships, they were relatively safe from any invasion force. Napoleon wanted to change this and invade England. In March 1802 a peace treaty was signed between France and England in Amiens, France. But both countries were irritated and angry with each other’s actions in the aftermath of the peace treaty, and it was an uneasy peace. And after some diplomatic quarrels England declared war on France again in May 1803. After war broke out again, Napoleon started preparation for invasion of England – but to have success, he needed to take out the English fleet that protected the English Channel. From 1803 to 1805 a new army of 150 000-200,000 men, known as the Armée des côtes de l'Océan (Army of the Ocean Coasts) or the Armée d'Angleterre (Army of England), was gathered and trained at camps at Boulogne, Bruges and Montreuil. A large "National Flotilla" of invasion barges was built in Channel ports along the coasts of France and the Netherlands. A fleet of nearly 2000 craft. At the same time he made plans with the Spanish to assemble a large fleet, which was strong enough to challenge the English Navy, and make it possible for Napoleon to invade England. British strategy rested on the defensive, waiting for the French navy to make the first move. Late in 1804, however, Spain joined the war as an ally of France, giving Napoleon the ships he needed to challenge Britain. This campaign follows the struggle between The French Navy and The English Navy, in the lead up to the battle of Trafalgar. The last scenario you participate in will be The Battle of Trafalgar. The players have the chance to alter history by achieving naval victories, which can change the course of history as we know it. Maybe the French will win decisive battles before the Battle at Trafalgar, and weaken the English so much that an Invasion is made possible. Or The English will make sure that the Battle of Trafalgar only is one of many humiliating defeats, and that France will suffer. And break their morale even before the great battle of Trafalgar occurs. You will fight through 12 different scenarios that are relevant for the specified time frame and general history. For every scenario you will be given/gain points for success or failure. Your loss of ships in points will be given to your enemy. Those points will follow you throughout the campaign so every battle counts – and in the end the winner with the highest score will win the campaign. You will need to purchase some French and English ships to play this campaign .In some scenarios you may use other ships with the same values if you don’t have the ship names. For playability some ship names will appear again in same scenarios. And it may feel wrong if you have sunk that ship in a previous scenario. But the ship names may be altered and is only used to identify witch ship type that is fighting in the scenario, rather than one specific ship. Players may decide to use one or two play mats. If they choose two play mats, the scenarios it may take longer to play, but the ships gets a larger play area and will be more fun when you have the large battles. Some of the scenarios may be a little bit more challenging for one part, if two maps are used, but it will add more fun to the game. The Best captain will prevail throughout the different battles and make sure his objective doesn’t come at a too high cost. 1 Scenario Nr.1 ( The French Raider ) Info History A French warship has been raiding English trade ships and struck fear into the crews and captains. Like a ghost ship it appears and disappears before any English warship can come to aid. The English Navy has been searching for the ship for many months, before it is spotted not far from an English harbor. The English Navy scrambles what ships they have and send them after it in hope to sink or capture her. Ships Involved The French Navy ( Total 102 Points ) 64 Gun The Artesian ( 102 Points ) The English Navy ( Total 136 Points ) 32 Gun HMS Cleopatra ( 68 Points ) 32 Gun HMS Castor ( 68 Points ) Game Setup The Artesian is placed in the middle of the map. And the two English ships in the south edge of the map. The Weather The weather is clouded with some rain showers occasionally. When it rains, visibility is halved and long range combat not allowed. The chance of rain is 20 % every turn. Roll a dice to see if it is raining. When it rains, it will rain for 2-6 rounds before it stops. When it rains chance of fire is also halved. The direction and strength of wind is drawn randomly at the first turn, and then every 6 turns after that. Ending terms The Scenario ends if all players’ ships have been lost or escaped by sailing their ship out of the game map. There are following special rules before a ship may escape from battle: For the French player, he must sink or capture one of the two ships that are hunting him. For the English player he must have lost one ship before he may flee with the last. If the French player wins this scenario (English player flees or loses his ships) he receives 75 points bonus. If the English manage to sink or capture the French ship, they get the same bonus. Tactics The French have a much stronger ship than the English. And he must try to engage one ship at the time if possible. The French ship is slower and harder to navigate, The English ships may use this as an advantage to navigate into a good firing position and keep out of the broadside of the French ship. Combined the English ships have better firepower than the French ship, but they are weak and fragile ships. If the French ship gets a full broadside on one of them, he can put them out of action. 2 Scenario Nr.2 ( An Important Mission ) Info History The French Ship Bertin is on its way back to France with vital cargo from an important transport mission. She is an old East Indian trading ship, but has been refitted with extra guns due to the importance of her mission. Just outside the west coast of Africa, she is spotted by two English warships. They set course to intercept her and win another glorious victory for the English crown. The captain knows he can’t outrun the English and fears that his mission will fail. Just when everything seems hopeless he spots another ship in the horizon. A closer look brings hope to the crew of the Bertin when it is flying French colors. If they may only survive until help arrives. Ships Involved The French Navy ( Total 232 Points ) 64 Gun Bertin ( 89 Points ) 74 Gun Fougueux ( 143 Points ) The English Navy ( Total 222 Points ) 50 Gun HMS Leopard (96 points ) 64 Gun HMS Africa ( 126 points ) Game Setup The Bertin starts from South of the map. The English warships start in the middle of the East side of the Map. The French ship Fougueux starts in the middle of the North of the map. The French ship Bertin must survive for the French to win the scenario. If only the Fougueux remains, the scenario is a draw. There is no time limit, since the Bertin can’t outrun the English warships – it has to survive until the English are destroyed or run away. The Weather The wind is coming from south west and the weather is clear. The sea is calm and normal so it is a perfect time for a sea battle. Ending terms If one of the players loses all ships due to combat, or has fled the gaming area. Following extra rules must be fulfilled before any player flees the battleground: - The French player can only flee with Fougueux. If he does so, he leaves Bertin to fight for itself. - The English may not flee before they have lost one ship. Ships that flee are not considered as loss when counting points at the end of the Scenario. 3 Tactics The ships are about same values, with the French having a slightly higher point value. But the English have an advantageous position, and they may divide and split up the lone ships to combine their fire power. The French must use all their sailing skills to join forces if they want to survive, or they will be taken out one by one by the British. Scenario Nr.3 ( English Blockade ) Info History On 27 March 1802, France, under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Britain ended their hostilities with the Treaty of Amiens. The peace was short-lived, however, as the British and French declared war again on 16 May 1803. Napoleon prepared for the invasion of Britain, but the Royal Navy controlled the English Channel. Napoleon sought to weaken Britain with the "Continental System," a measure that closed all European ports to British merchant vessels.