Ship of the Line
On the high seas, many masted galleons duelled amidst the rolling waves, the booming of cannon challenging the thunder itself. The screams of crewmen, the clash of steel on steel, and the crack of muskets threatened to drown out the bellowed orders of the captains. The fleets of RED and BLUE were once again embroiled in conflict. Only one side will live to see the next dawn...
Welcome one and all to the first playtest of 'Ship of the Line', an action-packed, tactical game set upon the oceans. I'm looking for players to help make sure the basics work, before I succumb to my usual downfall of feature creep
TM. Now, onto the rules:
Each turn is made up of four phases:
Orders
Movement
Firing
Remaining Movement
Each phase happens in turn, the only one being secret is Orders. Each ship takes their turn for that phase according to the initiative order, which is randomly chosen at the beginning of the battle.
Ships may move as many hexes as they have Sails. If Moving with the Wind they get a flat bonus to their Speed. Moving against the Wind gives a flat negative to their Speed. (Never reducing it below one). If they are Moving across Wind, there is no affect on the Ship's Speed. At any point in a Ship's Move, it may Turn once up to 60 degrees.
After Moving, a ship may Fire it's Cannon. Each Firing is called a Broadside. Each Ship may Fire a Port and a Starboard Broadside. After Firing, a Ship must spend a full turn Reloading before being able to Fire that Broadside again. When Firing a Broadside, a Ship rolls to Hit with as many d10 as it has Cannon. Each successful Hit deals one point of Damage. The Hit chance depends on Range. If a shot hits another d10 is rolled. On a 10 the Ship recieves Critical Damage instead. If the Ship is Firing on another's Prow or Stern it gains a +1 to Hit and to deal Critical Damage.
A graphical example of a ship and a number of targets. Note the ship who's Prow is facing the firer.
If at any time a Ship's Hull or Crew is reduced to zero it is destroyed and can take no further part in the battle. If a Ship's Sails are reduced to zero, the ship is now Immobilised. It may not Move (even with the Wind) and loses it's 60 degree Turn. If a Ship's Cannon are reduced to zero it is Disarmed and may no longer Fire.
At the beginning of every Round, each Captain may issue one Order. These effect the capabilites of the Ship in some way.
Hard a'Port/Starboard Allows the Ship to make a 60 degree turn to the left/right in addition to it's free one. The Direction must be declared when the order is issued. (If a ship is immobilised it must recieve this order to turn at all)
Full Speed Ahead The Ship may move 1d3 hexes in addition to it's current movement. (If a ship is immobilised it must recieve this order to move at all)
Prepare Broadside Immediately reloads all cannon.
Brace for Impact Ignore any Critical Damage recieved this turn.
Combat Repairs Roll as many d10 as the ship has crew. For every success on a 6+ the Captain may repair one point of damage to the Cannon, Crew, Hull or Sails. The Captain may use two successes to remove a critical damage affect.
Sieze the Initiative Take first place in the initiative order. If more than one Captain chooses this, the one highest up the initiative order takes first, the next highest takes second etc.
There are three Shot Types:
Round Shot Deals Damage to the Hull
Grape Shot Deals Damage to the Crew
Chain Shot Deals Damage to the Sails
Ranges:
Point-Blank 0 to 1 hex Automatic Hit and +2 to Critical Hit Chance
Short-range 2 to 4 hexes 4+ to Hit and +1 to Critical Hit Chance
Mid-range 5 to 8 hexes 6+ to Hit
Long-range 9 to 12 hexes 8+ to Hit
Critical Damage Deck:
We're Okay No Affect
Looks Worse Than It Is Suffer 1 random non-Critical Damage
Target Their Cannon Suffer 1 Cannon Damage
Gundeck Collapse Suffer 1 Cannon and 1 Crew Damage
Destroy the Aftcastle Suffer 1 Cannon and 1 Hull Damage
Topple the Mast Suffer 2 Sail Damage
Shred the Rigging Suffer 1 Sail and 1 Crew Damage
Collapse the Forcastle Suffer 1 Sail and 1 Hull Damage
Split the Keel Suffer 3 Hull Damage
Below-Water Breach Suffer 2 Hull Damage
Wreck the Cabins Suffer 1 Hull and 1 Crew Damage
Crowd Control Suffer 2 Crew Damage
Fire Suffer 1 non-critical damage every turn. Affect
Hit the Rudder The ship may not make left/right turns (randomly chosen). Affect
Bring me my Red Jacket The Captain may not Sieze the Initiative. Affect
Ahh, nice to see you've made it to the end Captain. Please fill in the Ship Registration form below.
Ship Name: (HMS Victoria, Ironclad, The Destructonator...)
Ship Motif: (Give a colour and a simple geometric shape to identify your ship)
Team Colour: (RED or BLUE)
Starting area: (North/South/Central, Forward/Back, Exact location... Has to be in corresponding zone)
Ship Stats: (Do not change)
Cannon: 4
Crew: 6
Sails: 6
Hull: 8
Team Red:
1. Cpt. Remuthra of the S.S. Juke (Yellow Chicken)
2. Cpt. Immaterial of the HMS Sabre (Fuschia Triangle)
3. Cpt. tooshort of the HMS Industrious (Orange Circle)
4. Cpt. darkpaladin of the S.S. Victory (Red Chevron)
5. Cpt. TamerVirus of The Not My Problem (Green Pentagon)
Team Blue:
1. Cpt. BlitzDungeoneer of The Grand Line (Green Rectangle)
2. Cpt. TopHat of the Audacity (Purple Circle)
3. Cpt. Kevak of the Violet Wolf (Violet Wolfpaw)
4. Cpt. WhitiusOpius of the KMS Rittertόrnier (Blue Cross)
5. Cpt. playergamer of The Heron (Green Triangle)
Author
Topic: Ship of the Line (Turn 8) - And then there was two (Read 11632 times)