Wooden Hulls, Iron Men

Somewhere in the Caribbean, 1586

This little clash was played out at the latest of our monthly wargames evenings at the office. It was a straight up fight between an English fleet and a Spanish fleet somewhere in the Caribbean. Outside of the battle, the theme of the evening seemed to be the dismasting of various models, exclusively by the Spanish players, which led to me making various remarks about the relative sailing skills of the Spanish and English admirals.

The English fleet consisted of one 'heavy' squadron with two large race built galleons (the Ark Royal and the Royal Sceptre) with two small race built galleons in attendance (the Hawk and the Viceroy) on their left flank, and two 'light' squadrons with a medium race built galleons plus two small race built galleons each. The centre squadron was led by the Revenge, escorted by the Endeavour and the Prince Hal, and the right hand squadron of the Golden Lion escorted by the Alfred and the Fortune. The English had excellent crews and squadron commanders, and in the pre-game set up the vast majority of the English vessels with variable ability crews rolled very well. The only fly in the ointment was the reduction of one of the squadron commanders (from the right hand squadron) from Brilliant to Average.

The Spanish had a larger fleet, with their most powerful squadron again on their left flank. This consisted of the flagship, Nuestra Senora de Rosario, a large galleon, with two medium galleons, the Santa Catalina and the Aguila and a small galleon, the Magdalena, as her escorts. The centre of the Spanish line was formed of the weakest squadron with a medium galleon, the Senora de Valencia, with 4 medium hulks as escorts, the Explorador, the Leon de Bronce, the Reina del Ecuador and the Princesa de Ibiza. The final squadron consisted of a large galleon, the Santa Maria, escorted by two medium galleons, the Intrepido and the Gloria. The Spaniards rolled poorly on the pre-game organising, with many of their crews dropping in morale grades. One of their admirals did at least rise from Dull to Brilliant, giving them a fighting chance of siezing the initiative from the English.

The Spanish (left) and English fleets face off as battle begins, while in the distance the mysterious Prawn Cracker cloud billows.

In the opening turns the Spanish used the following wind to sweep towards the English at speed, while the English fleet proceeded ahead and to the right. First blood went to the English as their left-most squadrons opened fire on the flagship of the right-hand Spanish squadron. Combined fire from the Royal Sceptre, Hawk and Viceroy inflicted a devastating hit on the Santa Maria, wounding the squadron commander.

Heavy English fire rips through the Santa Maria, toppling a mast and wounding the Spanish commander.

The next turns saw the Spaniards close in on the English. The Santa Maria and her squadron became intermingled with the English ships opposite them, taking more damage. The injury to the squadron commander limited the actions available to subordinate vessels as the low quality crews floundered. The central Spanish squadron managed to envelop the English squadron opposite them, managing to rake the Revenge from fore and aft. Unfortunately for the Spaniards, these were their worst vessels, and although some heavy damage was inflicted, it was not a knockout blow. English return fire was, at first, ineffectual. Finally, the most powerful Spanish squadron closed in on the Golden Lion and her escorts.

Fighting erupts down the entire line.

The next turn saw the Spanish sieze the initiative, which allowed the Nuestra Senora de Rosario and the Magdalena to board the Golden Lion. In each round of the boarding action the Spanish got the minimum roll required to win the round, grinding the English crew down. Eventually, with most of her crew killed or captured, the Golden Lion fell, demoralising her squadron and causing the Alfred and Fortune to abandon the action. Celebrations abounded among the Spanish admirals, and the English began to wonder how they could extricate themselves from their situation.

After a brutal fight, the Spanish ensign is hoisted on the Golden Lion.

The next turn, the Revenge and her escorts broke away from the central Spanish squadron, pushing to rescue the Golden Lion from the enemy. At the far end of the line, the Ark Royal and Royal Sceptre inflicted another punishing hit on the Santa Maria dismasting her, which caused her to strike her colours, putting the Spanish squadron completely out of command. As the Spanish crews were not of high quality and therefore were unlikely to take action independently, this effectively eliminated the squadron from the action. The Spaniards took this as a sign that it was time to make a hasty exit and began to break off the engagement. Unfortunately for the Spaniards, the Nuestra Senora de Rosario became fouled with the Golden Lion, leaving both vessels stuck fast as the Revenge closed in.

The Spanish flagship and her prize become fouled as the cavalry arrives for the English.

To further compound Spanish woes, two of their vessels collided and fouled, further stringing out their forces. This was followed by a devastating round of fire hitting the Senora de Valencia, killing the squadron commander and demoralising the central Spanish squadron. In the final turn of the game, the Nuestra Senora de Rosario managed to extricate herself from the Golden Lion and fled under fire from the Revenge and her squadron, while the Revenge boarded the Golden Lion whose Spanish prize crew surrendered without a fight. With kicking out time approaching, we called the game. Many of the Spanish vessels were probably far enough away from the English to escape, but the Santa Maria, dismasted and struck, would almost certainly be taken as a prize. The Nuestra Senora de Rosario was well behind the rest of the Spanish fleet, and had taken some damage which had slowed her, and two more Spanish vessels were badly fouled and unlikely to be able to separate. Depending on what the English chose to do they could probably either take the Spanish flagship or both the fouled vessels, or sink them with cannon fire.

Overall the battle was a decisive English victory, albeit a painful one for the Golden Lion's crew. The Spanish plan to withdraw while they were ahead was probably wise, but the implementation was flawed. By failing to ensure their prize could escape before withdrawing the combat vessels, the Spanish left her exposed to falling back into English hands. Furthermore, each vessel was sent away from the fight at its' best speed, which strung out the fleet, allowing the English to isolate and concentrate fire on key vessels as they moved towards the Golden Lion. In contrast, the English fleet was concentrating thoughout the game, allowing them to apply maximum pressure when it mattered.

According to the rules, given the scale of the Spanish defeat, the admiral in charge would be shot "pour encourager les autres" which left the Spanish fleet with no squadron commanders, with one being a "guest" of the English, one shot for their failure and one killed in action. It was decided that the Spanish man of the match would be the commander of the central squadron, who at least met an end worthy of a soldier.