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[Grek]

The whole "Winds from the X" thing has always confused me. Thanks for pointing that out.

Continue forward 9 (don't want to go full speed ahead, as that would lose the rest of the escort) and flag the ship head for its intentions.

[Gotdamnmiracle]

Continue a tight turn until the starboard side faces them.

[germaina]

Continue forward 9 (don't want to go full speed ahead, as that would lose the rest of the escort) and flag the ship head for its intentions.

The ship gives no response, and continues on course (now 14 squares out, nearing firing range, perpendicular to convoy)

Continue a tight turn until the starboard side faces them.

They start to turn the opposite direction, whether to show their starboard or retreat is unclear.  Your men continue the hard turn, easily done by the expert crew.  Opposing craft is 11 squares out. (starboard cannon ready, 2 turns for port.  2? for enemy starboard, received 19 damage)

[Grek]

Bank 45 degrees to port as to avoid their current broadside. If they turn toward us or approach further, we'll know fairly certainly that they're hostile. If they move away, that means they're avoiding us. Continue to flag at them.

E: Map.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[germaina]

Bank 45 degrees to port as to avoid their current broadside. If they turn toward us or approach further, we'll know fairly certainly that they're hostile. If they move away, that means they're avoiding us. Continue to flag at them.

The ship does not change course, heading directly for the merchant vessel.  It does not seem concerned about the ships serving as guards.  The guide Barque fires off a shot at the opposing ship, but fails to connect (roll 2 vs DC 4).  Your men fire the port cannons at the ship (roll 17 vs DC 6) hitting it perfectly into the sail lanyards (1d6=5 damage; 2 turns to reload, starboard cannon ready ).

*BTW, great job on the map.  Very similar to the one I drew up myself.*

[Grek]

Turn 180^o and fire the starboard cannon while the port cannon reloads. More chain.

[LeoLeonardoIII]

RULES:

I suggest making your maneuverability rule based on how many squares you have to move to make one directional change (so from West to Southwest or Northwest for example) rather than completely u-turning. Your rule technically works, but it seems strange to be able to flop all the way around or just turn a little in the same span.

Maneuvering in tight quarters (shoals, etc) would be very difficult with your turning system. I suggest allowing one facing change per round if movement is 1 square or less.

Wind filling sails should be based on whether the wind direction is Good, Fair, or Poor for that ship's rigging. A square-rigged ship should be Good if the wind is behind or to either flank, Fair if from either side, Poor if from ahead sides, no movement if straight ahead (in irons). A Fore-and-Aft rigged ship should be Fair everywhere except from straight ahead which is no movement.

Movement should be calculated based on the ship's speed at the start of the turn, regardless of turns, which means a fast ship can jibe right around through the irons and onto the other side without losing power next round. Or, if conditions or planning are bad, the ship could be locked in irons for a round and get out of it next round in one of the adjacent directions.

Include a rule for water flows, for example if you have a big river or fjord with an incoming / outgoing tide or a sea monster whirlpool. Simply, give every ship in the area extra movement in the direction of the water flow regardless of size or speed. Makes going upriver a challenge unless the wind is with you.

With boarding, you let the player roll for every 10 men instead of individually. Great! Do the same for cannons: roll in groups of 10 until you hit a remainder, which you roll once more for. So a ship with 38 cannons (19 per side) rolls two attacks when firing to starboard. The first attack is 10 cannon, the second is 9. If you also fire port, roll twice again, 10 and 9 cannons.

Reloading time for cannons?

No rules for oars?

What about small boats?

Visibility ranges / distance of encounter in various weather and time of day.

Weather generation rules? Remember you need to write everything for other people to be able to run your game.

Recruiting men?

Adventures: Search for buried pirate booty, search for lost city, search for sunken wreck, grab the silver train!, grab the treasure fleet!, assassinate governor, disrupt shipping, raid plantation / mine, arrest outlaw, protect a town, negotiate with indians, help a monastery / mission, indian attack on town, plague in town, gold mine near town, pirate attack on town, town collapses from undermining (as Paint Your Wagon).

[germaina]

Turn 180^o and fire the starboard cannon while the port cannon reloads. More chain.

The enemy ship fires all three cannons in your direction, while also unloading at the friendly Barque.  One round shot hits on your port side(rolls 1,7, 5 vs dc 6) dealing 4d6=5 damage.  You watch as the friendly barque gets pummeled with two shots, one landing on the weather deck sending some sailors flying into the deep.

Your chain shot hits (roll 20 vs dc 10) into the back of the rear mast (dealing 1d6=6 damage), dislodging the top of the sails, dramatically slowing the enemy ship.  The Barque, also turning to fire, hits the enemy on the opposite side (roll 12 vs dc 5).

(port cannon 1 turn, starboard 2)

[Grek]

Move to have our port cannon facing the enemy's stern. As close as we can safely get without boarding. Once in position and ready to fire, give one more blast to the sails. If their rigging is destroyed, load up with round shot in the other gun. If not, more chain. Those sails are going down!

[germaina]

Move to have our port cannon facing the enemy's stern. As close as we can safely get without boarding. Once in position and ready to fire, give one more blast to the sails. If their rigging is destroyed, load up with round shot in the other gun. If not, more chain. Those sails are going down!

You are easily able to do so.  With your greater speed and maneuverability, you keep your port cannon trained on the stern of the vessel even as it tries to turn and run ( the merchantman is safely out of range.  The friendly Barque follows your lead and trains its port cannon on the ship's bow.  With your greater reload speed, you fire the chain shot (roll 11 vs dc n/a) and hit squarely into the sails.  Somehow they remain operational, but with the blow you see the captain starting to hoist his white flag. 

[Grek]

Most excellent. I'll accept their surrender and take command of their ship, towing the Nottingham behind me to the nearest port.

Inform the pirate captain that he'll be left to his quarters under guard until we make port, at which point we'll discuss what to do with him and his ship. We'll probably end up recruiting him and a few of his best men and taking them with us on our voyages, but I want to let him sweat it out a bit first.

Inform the merchant vessel that I'm taking the pirate ship into my custody and require no further payment for my services.

[germaina]

The merchant vessel responds, thanking you for your services.  They also say they would be happy to tow the pirate barge (a Corvette called Revolution) since it is unable to move under its own power and you are better suited for guard duty and the other guide ship has taken some damage, and are willing to help secure the prisoners as you will probably not have enough room to support them all. (it took you a couple rounds to decipher it all.  It was a long message via semaphore).

The captain reluctantly agrees to your demands, as you send a contingent of your best men to help secure the prisoners.  Quite a few are happy to help man and steer the decrepit ship whilst being towed, but many more are secured in the brig of both ships for fear of a reprisal when they hit port.  A couple of pirates jump overboard as your party starts to board, including the enemy first mate.  You must select a suitable individual to command the Revolution and determine the best way to man the ship while still being able to man your own (You have 25 men available to distribute w/o losing your ability to fire both cannons, and it takes 25 men to minimally man the Revolution).  There are 70 men from the pirates that are unwilling to help, and another 10 that are.

[Grek]

I'll put 25 of my men on the Revolution and bring the new 10 on board Nottingham. My best gunner, Lustig Penlan, will lead the party guarding the Revolution. After that, we continue on to port with the convoy.

[mesor]

Ill be noble captain Feanor Lindon with my Caravel Noldor.

[germaina]

The convoy continue on its way, with each man on board the Nottingham talking about their future plans once they reach port.  Work is getting done flawlessly, and you have never seen the ship looking this good.  You are able to see the men on board Revolution also jumping to tidy up what they can, although it is slow going with the damage done to the rigging.  They are able to rig the sails to catch some wind, but are unable to fix any of the damage done.

The rest of the trek goes smoothly, you assume because of the show of force (4 ships traveling together is not a good target).  You arrive in Tirailo 12 days later to a reception of a Frigate and 2 Sloops of War, receiving 330 gold from the stores you had on both the Nottingham and the Revolution.  Your men who are not on watch quickly run into the city to grab some real food and libations.  The captains of the Barque and the India Merchantman meet you on the pier and thank you for your assistance.

They tell you that a large number of pirates have been hailing well south of Bort,trying to capture any merchants coming from Abola.  The shoaling in that area prevents many ships from being able to get away.  They would be willing to pay handsomely if you would find the Pirate flagship and eliminate it, preferably by capture.