Robin Hood

Dir: Sir Ridley Scott

After we'd been in to see 'Kingdom of Heaven' in 2005, Oleg, Tracey and I were walking back through the city on a pleasant warm evening. I remarked, "All we need now is for Ridley Scott to do Robin Hood... ", my reference being to our first true skirmish campaigns. Robin Hood and Robin Hood II.

2010 and hey presto; Sir Ridley (a.k.a. The Last God of Cinematography) has answered my prayer and given us yet another precious historical movie set in one of my favourite historical periods. Granted this is not an accurate portrayal of the history of that period, but given what else is on offer, I am more than happy to accept this gift from an aging director with a great many projects planned, and precious few years to accomplish them all. Not even an itchy eye ball could keep me away!

Okay, so now I've gotten that off my chest; what was wrong with this film? The main problem I felt was the rushed story. I didn't mind the premise of who Robin Hood was in this film (half the time it didn't actually feel like a story about Robin Hood at all but rather some other bloke who'd been confused for Robin Hood) but I felt the story telling was a bit glossed over in parts, perhaps due to time constraints. Its possible that like 'The Kingdom of Heaven', this film will see an extended directors cut in a few years time that will rectify the problem of the rushed story telling, and I can live in hope until then; certainly the DC of TKOH is a far better film than the the cinematic release.

Some people have said that this film is superfluous, that essentially is not about Robin Hood at all, but how Robin Hood came to be Robin Hood and for some reason this invalidates the premise of the film. I disagree with that entirely. As Oleg pointed out, what is the true story of Robin Hood? A man with a bow, in Sherwood Forest?

I found remarkably few things to whine about. I liked what I saw. Certainly there were a few jarring details, such as the D Day style (and totally fictitious) French invasion, and Robin's father being hinted as being the architect of Magna Carta, but these were minor abstractions, not worthy of irritation when considered beside the humour, good acting and generally excellent cinematography and art direction.


And then there was the ambiance! Not quite, truly medieval (not a hose in sight) but closer than just about any one else has ever come, with a decent budget, I think. Some of the hovels were a bit dodgy, a bit too fantastic, but on the whole, the film looked like a Robin Hood film ought to look, like a fine balance between realism and fiction. Here are a few behind the scenes pictures regarding buildings.

The acting was not brilliant, but it was well delivered and often humorous. Crowe and Blanchett both carried their roles well (in fact I think this is the best I've ever seen from Blanchett since she played Queen Elizabeth, the first time around). It was funny to see two Aussies smooching as English folk hero's.

The best played parts, as I felt, were by Oscar Issac as a very insecure, but essentially manipulative King John and good old Max Von Sydow as the blind Sir William Loxley.


'Robin Hood' gets five stars because it is what it is. Because this is a film I wanted. Because it looked good even if it wasn't fantastic, and because life is too short to stare gift horses in the mouth!




'Gladiator' was released in 2000, 'The Kingdom of Heaven' in 2005 and now 'Robin Hood' in 2010... Sir Ridley is 72 years old now... dare I ask for a film about 'The Battle of Lepanto' in 2015? There's no harm in asking I suppose so...

P L E A S E ! ! ! ! ! !

RM6.2 part two. Conclusion

Part Two of this game was played on Thursday 18 March 2010.
Players were Palle, Jan, Goeg, Oleg and Tracey

Part one can be found here.
Part three can be found here.

Setting up the tabletop to carry on from last week took time, but was made all the easier by Oleg's pictures and laptop and once we'd gotten everything where it was before, the game could resume. The British, who had spent most of the previous week getting into initial positions, had the first round and their infantry continued to infiltrate the ruins in order to support the advancing armour, most of which was hampered by the narrow roads. The main road was especially difficult as two of Oleg's K4 heavy tanks had moved to control it. Oleg began the game with only one moving tank, but the second K4 soon managed to get its engine going and moved up beside the first (see image below). In the mean time, Palle's tanks were firing on Goeg's K1 light tank as it crawled over the barricade on the southern road. An attempt to shoot it in the belly as it climbed up the barricade failed however and the K1 moved forward undeterred.

Goeg's Uzbek infantry and Tracey's anarchists were already in advantageous positions to cover the southern side of the table, but as the game progressed they moved forward under a steady supporting hail of 20mm AA rounds as Tracey used her truck mounted ShVAK Anti Aircraft gun to suppress Palle's infantry (see image below). Goeg decided the Southern Road was too unhealthy however and moved his K1 into the ruins for cover (see image below).

Trying to place the last British infantryman, Magne wasn't much help

Oleg's elements in the first few rounds (seen from the north)

The Motor-Tachanka tries to take cover from the advancing British armour,
but discovers crumbling walls provide little protection from tank fire (seen from the north)

Palle's Brits, pinned down by a barrage of 20mm anti-aircraft gun fire
(seen from the South)

Goeg takes evasive action (seen from the north)

Tracey's Anarchist vehicles providing cover along the southern road (seen from the south)

It became apparent to the British that their initial plan was flawed so a quick modification was put into play. At the same time, Lt Leftbridge-Smythe's second Mk II medium tank had moved far enough along the donkey track on the northern edge of the table to threaten the Motor-Tachanka which had been hiding in an alley and which then promptly moved into the ruined compound building directly in front of the British tank, to take cover (see image below). This tactic proved ineffective when the British tank began firing through the crumbling wall and the Motor-Tachanka attempted to retreat, but was hit and destroyed by the tank as it re-entered the alley. The Bolshevik vehicle exploded and soon smoke was billowing down wind (see image below). The Sikh rifle section which was supporting the Mk II moved up and lobbing grenades ahead of them attempted to take control of the compound building. In doing so they met some resistance but a classic bayonet duel put an end to that.

In the mean while Oleg's third tank had coughed into life and moved to take up a position at the end of the donkey path. This put Jan's Mk II in line of fire, with only the barrier of smoke from the burning Motor-Tachanka providing cover, so the Mk II moved into the ruins of the Compound building where the smoke was thicker. A supporting Mk VI which had been following the MK II was left on the donkey path whilst the Sikh's advanced.

At the same time, Palle's main armoured units had withdrawn from the central road and moved up to the southern road whilst his British infantry exchanged ineffective small arms fire with Goeg's Uzbek's and Tracey's Anarchists. Tracy had moved up a small assault team, armed with anti-tank landmines and as the tanks approached, she hatched a plan to plant a mine in front of the nearest tank. This plan came to nothing however, and Palle's tanks and supporting infantry defeated the assault group.

Throughout the game, both Oleg and Tracey had poured long range fire onto the British rear and even with decent movement rolls there just never was the chance to move the reserve forces out of way, consequently the British suffered some heavy losses in their rear and Jan lost more than half of his reserve force to Oleg's K4 tanks.

The evening ended with the players deciding to carry on the game to a conclusion, next week.

Since last week, Oleg had adjusted and fine tuned the rules and the game seemed to flow well enough even though the players had to constantly double check the various bonus's and penalties. The game is moving slow, but this is to be expected given the size of the forces employed and the urban combat setting.

Sihks advancing

The Motor-Tachanka burns, providing cover for the advancing Sikh's.
Blue markers indicate grenades (seen from the north)

Tracey's assault group moves forward with anti tank mines,
the white marker indicates they are taking cover to hide (seen from the south)

The massacre of Jan's Sikh reserve (seen from the west)

Oleg's K4 heavy tanks, all in position and threatening to advance. (seen from the North)

Palle moving up the southern road, pauses to defeat Tracey's Anarchist assault group
Goeg's Uzbeks can be seen lurking in the ruins to the right. (Seen from the South)

Part three is set to be played on Thursday 26 March.

RM6.2 part one. Conclusion

The Big Game at last!

The Black Guard K4's at the beginning of the game (seen from the east)

The British coming on to the table top (seen from the south)

The British coming on to the table top (seen from the west)

Rocketman in his initial upper story vantage point (seen from the north)

A doomed Uzbeck sniper atop the minaret (seen from the east)

Setting up the table top took slightly longer than usual due to the amount of models. Most of the table top was covered in ruined buildings and these had to be positioned in the most advantagous manner according to the Special Rules.

The game began with Lt Col Sir John Napier's tanks and men deploying along the edge of the table. Palle brought all his elements on in the first round, with his infantry moving forwards in ranks. Lt Leftbridge-Smythe and his Sikh's followed, but where as Sir John's infantry were moving independently of his tanks, Lt Leftbridge-Smythe's men were following his medium tanks in loose groups of ten, with ten held in reserve. Sir John moved into the smaller plaza and took up positions covering the two roads, whilst Lt Leftbridge-Smythe moved to cover the donkey path that runs beside the gully. See Map.

Rocketman came on in the air and landed in an upper story ruin, but although he was bravely moving forwards, his loud and smoking rockets easily gave him away and when he hopped forward to another spot he had two Black Guard grenades chucked at him and one of Goeg's Uzbeck LMG's shooting at his back. Only by burning half his hero points did he manage to survive to jump back to his previous position.

Rocketman sets himself up. The blue counter marks a grenade (seen from the north)

The Bolsehviks had begun the game slightly surprised, and Oleg was soon rolling futile dice to get his tanks started, as per the Special Rules. One did after a few rounds, trundled forwards but then stalled again in the next round, right in line of sight of Sir John Napier in his 'special tank'*. In the mean time Tracey and Goeg were moving to cover the southern road (which runs along the high ground at the base of the cliff). Goeg had put some Uzbek's up in the minaret also, but this proved dangerous as Sir John opened fire on it as a matter of principle, in case of snipers. Thus Goeg lost the first element of the game.

A lot of the early game was characterized by attempts at tank sniping and it quickly became apparent that line of sight was difficult to establish through so many ruins. Deciding therefore that it was unlikely that a tank would be able to engage another tank through an entire village, I decided to impose a new rule limiting line of sight through the ruins to 24 inches. The reasoning for this is the same as the 12 inch rule which gave players a bonus for being shot at. The models on the table cannot show the true amount of debris, for that I would need a true 3d table top and a lot more storage space.

It also became apparent that under our new rules one tank couldn't really kill another, though there is still some debate about this and I think we shall either have to upgrade anti armour guns, reconsider armour values, or take anti tank rounds into effect (my favourite option). On the whole, there was a lot of new stuff in this game and it wasn't just the rules. We've never done tank vs tank combat like this and we've never done a Rocketman game on this scale either. With Rasmus not present, I had 31 infantry elements, 5 AFV's, Rocketman, Mitchell (with truck), George Macarthur and two mules. I rolled good movement dice all through the evening, but I hadn't gotten very far by the end of the evening. A lot of the initial phase of the game was posturing, a few feints and moving into position.

Oleg's second K4 trundles into position in front of the first which remained stalled for the rest of the game (seen from the east)

Caught by suprise a Black Guard 76mm field gun is destroyed (seen from the south east)

The Bolsheviks had already taken up positions in the rubble along the edge of their camp so they had a slight advantage which was counter balanced by the amount of British troops they faced. Oleg had less luck with his movement dice however and both his field guns were picked off before he could bring them to bear. His appaling dice rolls also kept his heavy tanks silent until about three quarters of the way through the evening when a second K4 spluttered to life and moved in front of the first which was still stalled. Both these tanks exchanged shots with Sir John and his wing man, but to no great effect.

On the donkey path, Sir John's recon tank, a Vickers Mk VI saw and engaged the first of the two 76mm field guns guarding the bridge. At first the shot missed and the gunners were merely suppressed, but the next round destroyed the gun and shortly there after the second gun was taken out by Lt Leftbridge-Smythe's Infantry Support tank, a Vickers Mk VIc which was guarding the donkey path as the Sikh's moved up.

Rocketman was at this point hiding in the upper storey of the ruined house he had begun the game in, but now his position was known and a Bolshevik machine gun opened up on him and rolling poorly he fled ignomiously from the building. A part of Rocketman's problems lie in the fact that he has not been upgraded in the new Bayonet++ rules and his previous extra bonus's don't provide all that much cover from the new machine gun bonus's. He is particulrly weak when being engaged from the rear (just wait until Professor Summers invents a new binary fuel that doesn't explode by being shot).

As the evening drew to a close, neither side had gained any significant advantage over the other. The Bolsheviks had penetrated further into the ruins, but they'd lost more elements (the British had lost only one rifleman). The British had taken their time to probe the Bolsheviks and get into initial positions. The game stopped until next week with the Bolsheviks controlling more of the table top but facing daunting odds. These odds will diminish as the campaign runs its course because the British don't get any reinforcements in this or subsequent games and any tanks lost cannot be replaced (though a slightly damaged tank can be repaired). The Bolsheviks start each game with a fresh force, reflecting the nature of the British 'lightning attack' through enemy held territory.

I thought, all things considered, the game went well, but there was so much preperation and time invested into this game that problems were inevitable. Not only are the rules slightly different from preious campaigns, but only four elements on the table were not brand new. Almost everything was either made or bought just for this game. I wish I had the time and space to do the game justice, but as it was, it just about held together, though at one point I was so stressed that I had to go out into the kitchen and take a deep breath. Luckily Mette was there and gave me a magic hug.

* Sir John's tank is special because its been kept in perfect working order and has an experienced crew.

Lt Leftbridge-Smythe's Sihk's head up the donkey path, in the lead is Lt Col Napier's Mk VI recon tank (seen from the north)

To get out of the Sihk's way the Mk VI turns into an alley and runs over a Bolshevik sniper. Oops. (seen from the south)

Fighting for the Empire, Lt Leftbridge-Smythe and a Sikh infantry section. Behind them is the Vickers Mk VIc (seen from the north)

Some of Palle's Brits watching Jan's Sikh's shunting into a start position (seen from the west)
Oleg took the photo's

Part Two can be found here
Part Three can be found here

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Halloween, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloween isn't really a big deal in my experience, but this year, with Freja's kindergarten celebrating it, we bought a couple of pumpkins on the way out to my Dad's and I cut my first Jack-o-lantern. We met up with (my youngest brother) Philip, who gave me his old digital camera, having acquired a shiny new one with additional bells and whistles, and together we spent a reasonably enjoyable day, inspecting my Fathers fairly successful attempts at setting the old house into order, moving a mechanical piano and engaging in arguments.

The Goon Squad

In my family, any occiasion has traditionally meant a debate, bordering on an argument, and once in a while, objects being tossed about. Its not so much physical violence, as too much testosterone, with my Dad doing his best Uncle Joe routine when ever more than one of his sons is present and needing to be put in place. Naturally none of these dog fights are about anything remotely important but this doesn't prevent every one giving their all, whilst any female members of the family who happen to be in the blast radius shake their heads in resignation and contemplate cheap flights to warmer climates.

Though I say it myself, I think my pumpkin came out rather well.
Mette took the pictures which is why there several of me and none of her.

Magnezilla & Flicka, hair not included

Its life Jim, but not as we know it!

Freja and Magne were not too happy about the day. Both of them got really cranky, especially Magne who's been ill and 'distempered' of late, but Freja did enjoy the pumpkins, which is weird as to me they are still an American cultural oddity. Actually Jack-o-lanterns appear to have originated from Ireland so there's my cultural ignorance and preconceptions showing me up.

Currently I am well and truly p'd off though so I will beg leave to be slightly grumpy. Most of my life is going really well, but since I started making some fairly decent money, I've had nothing but huge bills from social services demanding I repay obscene amounts of moneys received over the course of the last year. Perusing these letters reveals some unusual numbers to say the least. Some one some where is operating under the false pretence that I have made about three times as much as I have, which wouldn't be much of a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that the Danish social servies are entrenched by miles of telephone answering machines, vacant offices (he's on a course and won't be back for three weeks) and just plain old fashioned misdirection. In the mean time I have eight days to lodge a complaint or the matter will be considered closed. Four days have now passed and all attempts to lodge such a complain have been met with better defences than the 8th airforce faced over Berlin. Tomorrow and Friday are my last chance to avoid paying back as much money as I've received in my wages for the next two months as no way will any one be in an official office over the week end. In fact even friday is highly dubious. If I have to, I'm going to start lobing bricks through windows tomorrow so if I suddenly stop blogging in the next few weeks, its probably because I've been arrested for stating an opinion.
Rant over.
Happy thoughts.
I get paid on friday again and I intend to buy some more figures, though the last lot, ordered a month ago from BTD still haven't materialised yet...


...in the mean time, I am prepping RM6 (warning, its all wargaming babble from here), but I still have a lot of painting and assembly to do. Ever since Trace decided to rejoin Rocketman, I've been juggling my initial set up trying to make it all work. Previously the game was structured around a 3 vs 2 imbalance, with Goeg and Rasmus playing support units to Oleg's heavy tank main Bolshevik force. Facing them would be Palle and I with our Vickers Mk II's and Mk VI's and British infantry support.

Changing the games to 3 v 3 without additional armour is difficult, so now, Palle and I will be playing reduced forces (we both give an armoured Rolls Royce to Goeg who plays Rocketman and Afghan allies). This is a bit risky as Goeg is still a noob, but I can't see how else the game would work. Tracey can take Goeg's oroginal group (Olga and her Uigher bandits) and what we end up with is an equilibrium of sorts

Palle = Lt Col Sir John Napier, 1st Tank Company & British Inf Company. (2 Vickers Mk II medium tank's & 1 Mk VI light tank)
Jan = 2nd Lt Algernon ’Lefty’ Leftbridge , 2nd tank company & Sikh Rifle Company. (2 Vickers Mk II medium tank's & 1 Mk VI light tank)
Goeg = Rocketman and ’Afghan contingent’ (2 Rolls Royce armoured cars and one Vickers Mk VI light tank)

Oleg = Main Black Guard command with heavy tanks and infantry support
Rasmus = Uzbeck Bolshevik support group with light armour, anti armour guns and infantry support.
Tracey = Olga & Uigur bandits with 'technical'

I anticipate mass slaughter

Since I now have a working digital camera again, I'll be posting some more posts regarding models and figures soon.

Any way, time for some atmospheric gaming music...

Takshendal

So, we finally got to playing the first Takshendal game last wednesday (and the next session is due next thursday). In the mean time I've been preparing the game and writing up the next Rocketman adventures. Below are a few images of the game taken by Oleg and there is a write up, along with more images on the Takshendal blog.



As you can see, not all the models are finished. Specifically, the interior floors are all bare wood as yet. At some point, I intend to sculpt floors as I have done with previous models, but in the mean time, I ran out of time. Six months just wasn't enough to finish all these models. What I have finished works well enough though and the first game went well. I'm trying to create a certain 'cinematic feel' to the game, and hopefully this will create a unique campaign.

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Takshendal Chapter 1

Post game write up.

The game had four players, Oleg (who took all the pictures), Tracey (the only woman in the picture), Peter (grey T shit) and Rasmus (Black T shirt) and I (Red tartan shirt) was DM. The objective of the game was simple. The pirates had to ‘cut out’ the galley Vengeance, and the marines, militia and city folk had to stop them

The game began with the pirate flotilla in their starting positions and the marines on their galley Vengeance watching them approach. Various city folk had gathered to watch and some brave few had picked up weapons and were watching from the buildings along the harbour side.
The pirates began firing arrows almost at once and the city folk were as often as not cut down before they even got to fight. Alesandrox Wormpole (Oleg), a great merchant prince of the city had arrived along with six of his retainers and these were hiding in the chandlery on their horses. As the pirates approached Alesandrox and three of his men charged out and raced for the galley, making a daring attempt at the jetty, which ultimately cost one poor horse its life as it fell into the river. Alesandrox and his men made it to the galley, but the veritable storm of arrows coming from the pirates cut the retainers down before they could even fire back. Armoured and noble in his finery, Alesandrox survived however. He joined Captain Kettlefox (Rasmus) of the marines on the afterdeck of the Vengeance and watched as the pirates drew ever closer.

The river had a fairly strong current so Captain Murder (Tracey), who spent much of the battle skulking down a stairwell, brought his flagship, Esmeralda along side Vengeance as gently as possible. Captain Melodius (Peter) brought his smaller ship Belly Dancer towards the stern where the anchor was keeping the galley in place. The galley was moored up against a strong jetty and held mostly by an anchor from its stern. A further six mooring lines to the shore had to be cut before the Vengeance was freed. The two smaller pirate boats assisted with Captain Hendrix (Tracey) heading for the bow and Captain Jaki (Peter) heading for the stern.


The pirate’s tactic was simple and straight forward. They were attempting to envelope the Vengeance and cut her free whilst pouring arrows into her Marines (who, caught by surprise, had no missiles weapons at hand with which to shoot back). It quickly became apparent however that the marines were very tough. Heavily armoured and having the protection of their warship, they proved invulnerable to the pirates arrows and whilst they had no way of returning fire, they did have some City Militia Guards on the city walls with arbalests (heavy crossbows) who could provide some cover once the Esmeralda came into effective range. By round ten, the fighting had become intense with all the buildings issuing smoke as the pirates fired incendiaries at them, most of the city folk either dead or cowering in terror and the marines, with Alesandrox Wormpole all but surrounded. A small detachment of guards from the City Militia had also arrived and were heading for the battle.


The crew of the Esmeralda were very careful as they brought themselves alongside the galley, but the sheer weight of their ship and the strong current meant that they found themselves being pushed back against the Vengeance and scraping back along her side. Neither ship was seriously damaged but the galley suffered some cosmetic injuries. The pirates quickly threw grappling hooks and some nimble souls jumped onto the Vengeance amid deck. Some of the Marines had concealed themselves below deck but these were not fast enough to prevent one pirate from severing two of the mooring lines. The marines fought well, but they were being swamped. More pirates were sneaking aboard fore and aft and trying to cut the remaining mooring lines. Arrows and quarrels were flying about all over the place, and by round 16 the Esmeralda was grappled to the Vengeance, Alesandrox had rushed to cut the grappling ropes but even as he did, a pirate, clinging to the rear of the Galley cut the aft mooring ropes as Captain Hendrix and his boat crew cut at the forward mooring ropes. The pirates threw more grappling hooks from the Esmeralda and Captain Melodius cut the anchor line. The Vengeance lurched free and began to move downstream, still attached by various lines to the Esmeralda and still fully manned by her compliment of marines, Alesandrox Wormpole and two city militia who had just managed to climb aboard as the anchor line was severed.

A young man on a horse, one of the armed city folk, attempted to bring a rope to secure the galley but he was too late. He was left on the jetty watching as the two vessels slid downstream, Captain Murder shouting orders from the afterdeck of the Esmeralda and the pirates attempting to board the galley from all directions. The game ended with victory for the pirates, though post game dice rolling determined the galley eventually beached itself on a sand bar and the pirates then torched it. Captain Murder and his forces of evil were eventually sent into retreat and Takshendal never saw their like again.

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It was a great game, even despite the time constraint of playing on a week day. Both sides had their strengths and weknesses but largely managed to over come, or play around them. The towns folk were outclassed but such is life for civilians alas. The pirates won by virtue of a straight forward plan (and a few lucky die rolls at just the right moment).

Through out the game, a large gullit made a special 'guest appearance', lurking below the galley and eating the horse which fell into the river. It looks like the word gullit, like so many other internal jokes, may be here to stay with us for a while.

Captain Red beard

Sixteen men on dead mans chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

So yesterday we played another naval battle using our modified DBA rules system (that is to say the modifications Oleg made and I play about with) The back ground and ships are listed below. I played Cap'n Red beard, Tracey was One Eyed Jack and Oleg was the Spaniards.

Our planned game -Rocketman III part 1- had to be jumped over since a player couldn't make and it sort of requires all four players be present, so at the last moment I had to work up a naval battle. One of the beauty's of this rule system is its versatility, and also how easy it is to whip up a full evenings battle with very little preperation needed.

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Having just seen the trailer for POTC3, as well recently having read 'Treasure Island' I was inspired to have something with pirates in it, but I got a little carried away since I had a 16 vessel strong pirate fleet in 1799 which never happened. The golden age of piracy ended in 1722 and no pirate ever commanded a fleet with four frigates!

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But never mind. Disbelief can be suspended with a little good will and the game went accordingly. The Pirates won by taking two treasure ship and disabling a third but they never managed to defeat the Spanish flagship (which I had assumed would be the key to winning).

August 27th :The news that Napoleon Bonaparte has defeated Mustafa Pasha’s Mamluk troops in Egypt has crept around the globe and the persistent move to war in Europe is gathering momentum with British forces capturing the entire Dutch fleet. The African coast, once a haunt of various mediterraean cut throats and slavers has become dangerous waters for free booters now and the notorious Dutch privateer ‘Red Beard’ has abandoned his former Muslim masters to seek his fortune in the Carribean. With him sails a motley band of outlaws and outcasts, all the dregs of the old world but Matieu ‘Red Beard’ Van Noosten, a huge bull necked man, stands alone amongst them. A great towering figure, a champion of the devil; he is said to be the most ruthless man afloat!

Red Beard and his ally Captain ‘One Eyed Jack’ Murdoch, formerly of the Royal Navy, have learned of a secret Spaniard fleet, sailing from Mantagne Isle with an escort of several frigates and at least one ‘two decker’. Ranged against these the Pirates have 16 ships (14 elements) of various sizes.

The Spanish are under the command of Commodore Ruiz Hernadez Alvarez. They have a disadvantage as their treasure ships are easy to spot due to their ostentatious decoration. There are 10 Spanish ships/elements, of which 4 are treasure ships.

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Red Beard’s ships
Queen Bess. 28. Sixth rate Frigate. (O-Off)
Scarlet Harlot. 24. Sixth rate Frigate. (O)
Terrier. 16. Sloop of War. (I)
Flanders. 16. Sloop of War. (I)
L’Epervier. 16. Sloop of War. (I)
Ratter. 16. Sloop of War. (I)
Sally Forth. 12. Gun Brig. (I)

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One Eye Jack’s ships
Revenge. 24. Sixth rate Frigate. (O-Off)
Half a chance. 20. Sixth rate Frigate. (O)
Hispaniola. 18. Sloop of War. (I)
La Vermillion. 12. Gun Brig. (I)
Calamity. 12. Gun Brig. (I)
Belina & Roxanna. 4. Gun Boat. (I)
Star & St. Etienne. 4. Gun Boat. (I)

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The Spanish

Esperanza. 64. Third rate Ship of the Line. (S-Adm)
Infanta Maria. 36. Fifth rate Frigate. (O)
Reina Christia. 24. Sixth rate Frigate. (O)
Navarra. 14. Gun Brig. (I)
San Mateo. 16. Gun Brig. (I)
Augusta. 14. Gun Brig. (I)

Florencia. 20. Treasure ship. (I)
Santa Ana. 22. Treasure ship. (I)
La Concepcion. 18. Treasure ship. (I)
San Juan. 18. Treasure ship. (I)

The Spaniards start at the head of the table which is the west. There is no criteria for victory beyond retaining one third of one’s forces, though the Spanish lose the game if they lose three treasure ships or two are captured (as opposed to destroyed).

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