In the original battle the Briitsh under Lord Howe aimed to prevent a grain convoy from the US reaching a French port. The French (under vice-Admiral de Joyeuse) aimed to protect the convoy.
In the real battle, Howe ordered his ships to close with the French and fight single ship actions againts their counterparts and (despite confusion in some quarters) managed to inflict considerable damage on the French fleet. However the convoy got through and both sides claimed victory in the aftermath of the event..
More info here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_First_of_June
Our battle
Myself and Admiral Mark took the British, Ian and Russ the French.
We had some key advantages - we had the weather gage and the larger ships but Russ' dice had delivered significantly superior crews for the majority of French ships, while ours were manned by the most useless scrapings of the Press (landlubbers, ne'er-do-wells and slackjaws) any commander has been unfortunate to command.
Both sides had six ships
The British had the 100 gun Britannia, Victory and Royal Sovereign and 74's Bellisle, Bellepheron and Mars.
The French lined up with Berwick, Neptune, Indomptable, Buccentaire, Formidable and Achille.
As an opening move, Mark kept the sails fully pressed as we began manouvering towards the French line. What we should have done is a) reduce sail to prevent damage and b) aimed to sail round the rear of their fleet. Instead we turned into the French fleet with a full press of sail.
I blame no-one for the debacle that followed...but it was Mark's fault.
As the ships got within shooting distance the Britannia and Victory aimed to turn the Berwick into matchwood and got several good hits on the hull, rigging and crew (and took out some of her marines as well).
The Berwick aimed for the Victory's rigging (triple damage if full sail is set) and sliced a huge chunk of it to ribbons. Royal Sovereign then also aimed for the Berwick, sending cannonballs through the gun deck. Neptune came to the Berwick's defence and again shredded rigging - this time on the Soveriegn. Already the French had reduced the speed and manouverability of the main British ships.
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| The leading British ships (nearest) open up on the French who are wreathed in their own cannon smoke. |
As a consequence we reduced sail - but as a consequence lost hands at the guns and so fired at half-effect.
Again Britannia aimed for the Berwick and killed enough crew to reduce morale aboard the French ship. In return she managed only a solitary shot into Britannia's hull. Victory again opened up and again the gun decks were smashed. Neptune meanwhile got to grips with the Royal Sovereign - slicing whatever rigging was left and slowing the British ship to a crawl. To make things worse, myself and Mark went on an historic run of the most God-awful dice throwing ever seen in a wargame - a succession of 1's and 2's that would suggest we had both run over black cats that had been sitting on mirrors and under ladders.
This was not helped by Russ and Ian simply rolling 6's on nearly every combat. This disparity began to take a severe toll during the battle as we missed many times (or inflicted minor damage) and they missed nothing and often got criticals for extra damage. Some say that the dice even themselves out over the course of a wargame...not in this case!
Anyhoo, the battle continued. The Indomptable now got in on the act and got more hits on the Sovereign's rigging. Bellisle managed to get a shot into Neptune - knocking great chunks from her hull. In response the Bucentaire shot at the Bellisle, taking away some rigging and causing casualties on the decks.
But both Victory and the Royal Sovereign had no rigging worth speaking of and so we decided to slow them to fighting speed (i.e. a crawl). This too was a mistake as it meant that the Britannia shot ahead and alone - right into the teeth of the French fleet.
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| All ships drop to a crawl - except for Britannia who goes off alone. |
But they needn't have worried. Victory's crappy crew failed to get any hits in either (causing the captain to threaten cutting off the grog supply and floggings at dawn should shooting not improve).
Neptune aimed at Bellepheron's rigging and did some damage to the sails. In response Royal Sovereign followed Victory's example and dropped their shot into the open seas (more 1's!).
No such problems on the French side as the Indomptable cut Britannia's rigging to shreds. Bellisle opened up on Formidable and also hit the sails - the French ship aimed at Bellepheron and shot a crewman out of the rigging and into a watery grave. Bucentaire followed suit and got good shooting on Bellepheron's sails. Finally Achille got (another 6!) plenty of hits on Mars and also shredded rigging and sails.
We were right up against it - we could hit nothing and were getting pounded in return. We also ran the risk of our smaller ships running alongside the larger and thereby blocking their arc of fire into the French. So Mark turned them starboard.
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| The British - all over the shop and so turn the lighter ships to prevent masking the big guns. The French hold a strong line still. |
Trouble was, this mean that they ended up masking each other - again meaning that the French could shoot at more than we could. It was turning into a British naval nightmare.
Before being pounded, Britannia again took it to Berwick but with all advantages (with 4", extra guns etc.) yet another crappy roll meant just a few hits on hull and gundecks rather than a shattering broadside.
Berwick in turn opened up on Bellepheron but her lack of guns meant a single hull hit resulted.
Again, British dice were appalling - I have never thrown so many consecutive 1's and 2's in my life. Victory only got 1 hit on Berwick, while Neptune got more hits on Bellepheron. Royal Sovereign had just one hit on Berwick while Formidable got more shots into the cannonball magnet that was Bellepheron - who managed a solitary hit back.
What also counted here were the crew quality additions. Most of the French shots got a +2 which often resulted in much higher numbers of hits and criticals. It was becoming a key factor in the battle as it seemed that we were getting 4+ hits in return for the 1 hits we were inflicting.
An example was the next ship in line - Achille - who pinged in 4 more shots on Bellepheron. Then Indomptable got a whopping 5 shots into Britannia (with yet another 6).
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| Much washing of hands with invisible soap as the French commanders celebrate their ridiculous luck (and our clumsy manouverings) by rubbing their hands in glee. |
Then - finally - a bit of luck. Royal Sovereign got 2 hits on the battered Berwick and managed to dismast her and she started to drift away.
This wasn't the only bright spot though. Berwick took out a marine on the Britannia and got some shots from Bellepheron in return (cutting a swathe through crew and marines and dropping the ship's morale to Spent).
But that was as good as it got for a long time. The poor Britannia was hit by...you guessed it...another 6 and received 8 more hits. This forced the captain to give up the ghost (as the ship was essentially matchwood at this stage) and she Struck. The shame of it! There would be questions at Admiralty House and talk or courts martial.
One up to the French.
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| The French commanders - smug and contented with the state of affairs. Quite insufferable, really! |
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| The referee impartially drains his lager. Out of shot are the British commanders with heads in hands bemoaning their abysmal luck. |
Formibable shot into Bellepheron's marine contingent while Achille took away some more rigging.
To add to our woes, Neptune had turned into the wind and was stationary - unless her commander could throw a 6 allowing them to gain headway. What a shock! They threw a 6. Quelle suprise!
The French commanders started using technical speak at this stage, including Ian's immortal "Once we start to engage, they will go eeeuuurrrrgghhh". He wasn't wrong.
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| More invisible soap. Who says the French don't wash? |
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| The situation. One British ship struck, the rest crawling around. One Frenchy dismasted, the rest miles away. |
The British continued to miss. Both Victory AND Royal Sovereign missed Neptune - I blamed it on sitting next to John who's Palsy was clearly contagious. Neptune didn't miss and cut about the final rope of Victory's rigging.
The French stepped in again with another 6 from Berwick. Despite having one gun and being manned by a crew that by now consisted of the ships cook and a monkey, they contrived to set up an attack that dismasted the bellepheron and killed more crewmen. It was suggested that the monkey itself had been the ammunition and had eaten through the mast before biting through the necks of the crew before being brought down in a hail of musketry and belaying pins.
At least she got some licks back into Neptune - taking out her remaining guns.
It had gotten so bad for the British that Mark couldn't even control the cotton wool we use for gunsmoke - it took him 8 tries before he could get it off his fingers and onto the table.
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| Bellepheron dismasted and blocking Mars and Bellisle from shooting. |
But it was a short-lived phenomena. They needed a 6 to remast the Berwick and get her underway again. Have a guess.....
As I staggered to the bar I was heard to mutter "I don't want to say it but ********* hell!"
Victory kept up the fight and took on Neptune and got some shots in (and lost more rigging in return - which was probably a piece of wet string at this stage).
Royal Soveriegn also got her range at last and also battered Neptune - wiping the gundecks clean.
Bellepheron took shots from Formidable, Berwick, Bucentaire and Achille (but only 2 hits) and returned fire into the Berwick to try to take out her final monkey-manned gun.
The Neptune lost more crew from Bellisle's shooting.
But Ian was happy and his advanced hand rubbing was fast warming the room up (forcing the staff to turn down the central heating).
My only comment at this stage was a solitary "****!"
Another 1 was rolled by us, another 6 by Russ for 4 hits and another critical - smashing Victory's hull and guns to their constituent parts.
I then gave up rolling as another 1 hit the table. Mark took up the gauntlet and threw a 2. For Gawd's Sake!
The monkey-gun got another shot into Bellepheron. The crew had clearly had enough of being the sole target for every French ship and double-shotted the guns for a spectacular attack on Achille - taking out guns, crew, rigging, ship's parrot and the head. Perhaps our luck was changing!
Ha! Who were we kidding. Achille got three shots into Bellepheron and we managed another 1 ("Another ******* one! **** OFF!!!") to deliver a solitary hit into Neptune from Bellisle. That was three 1's and a 2 in 4 lots of shooting. Ridiculious.
And to put the tin hat on it, Russ delivered another 6 to allow Buentaire to smash Bellepheron again. John pipes up that another roll is required on two dice.
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| This is what we were facing all night. |
Yup - DOUBLE 6! The Bellepheron's captain bites the dust (sawdust?). Myself and Mark just looked at each other in disbelief. So a change in tactics was required.
He suggested that Mars and Bellisle "aren't doing much over there" - a bit of an understatement. We decided to turn them towards the French once more.
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| Our typical delivery from the dice tower. |
Victory and Royal Soveriegn both had another pop at Neptune and reduced her gundeck to firewood. Formidable tried to help out but her shots at Victory missed. Bellepheron continued to drift towards the French and took out some of Achilles marines.
A small miracle then occurred - Russ actually missed when Berwick's gun aimed at Victory. he needed a 6 and got a 5.
Then a major miracle. Bellisle could only see Neptune at long range - opened up - and set the Frenchy on fire!
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| Mark celebrates our solitary success. |
Neptune continued to burn (they needed a 6 in three throws to put it out). The Freench continued to discuss their master plan to which Mark remarked "Wow. They've got a plan!". Unlike us.
Notwithstanding seeing the enemy on fire, Victory continued to blast away at Neptune. Royal Sovereign however aimed again at the Berwick - smashing the gun deck again. We assumed at this stage the Berwick was armed with two muskets and a volley of harsh language.
Russ returned to form and the single Berwick gun hit with another 6. The Bellepheron missed the Neptune which (despite being on fire) took out another gun and more marines in return.
Bellisle hit the Berwick again while the Indomptable took out more marines on the Bellepheron with - you guessed it - another double 6. We were sorely tempted to see if Russ' dice actually had any other number but 6 on them.
We - however - also kept to form and another 1 for Mars meant yet another miss.
The last shots saw Bucentaire smash Bellepheron's hull again.
It was now down to the Neptune. If they threw a 6, the fire would be put out and the French would win. If not, then we were relatively equal in terms of damage and numbers and John would call it a massively improbable draw.
Ian refused to throw until Russ returned from the Boys Room. He snatched up his magic red dice - and threw a 4! The Neptune burns to the water line and a draw it is!
Ian threw to see what he would have got - and got a 6! Oh, the irony!
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| Final positions. The Neptune burns and the French pull away. |
Review
We didn't make the most of our position and running into the French guns on full sail was a massive mistake. If we'd reduced sail then the squadron would have stayed together and more guns could have been brought to bear (and it is likely that Britannia would not have become so isolated and lost). As it was the main ships were essentially motionless and we had no speed or manouvering ability.
The positioning of Mars, Bellepheron and Bellisle was also not good. They ended up out of the action and blokcing each other for most of the battle.
In contrast the French usually had the opportunity to bring all guns to bear at all stages of the battle.
The key rolls of the night proved to be those for crew - the French had +2 on most ships compared to the 0's and -1's on the British side. This conferred a huge advantage in the shooting side and led to may criticals being earned.
In addition, although I don't think dice rolling is the sole reason for victory / defeat I have never experienced such a one-sided series of rolling. At many stages it just felt like 1 vs 6 on every roll. We were not hitting yet getting battered and - whatever the rule set you're playing - that is a quick route to defeat.
Fair do's to Russ and Ian in better tactics and moving than us. Just leave those dice in the box next time chaps.
I liked the rules - they're simple but effective and I definitely want to give them another bash.