Fighting Sail [S&T 1981] - San Domingo Analysis

Old Ducky may have My Touch...

from [click]

but he doesn't have my strategic sense, that's for certain!

When determining if a game has the right "feel", we need to consider if it gives us:

1. Historical decisions the Commanders had, at the right level,
2. Events and outcomes like the historical narratives we read,
3. Opportunities for a different outcome to the battle, e.g. Napoleon wins Waterloo [if the French players play well], but in mechanics presents us with the likely results, keeping us in the 90%, 9% and 1% [typical, atypical, and once in a lifetime] of results.

For this, some analysis is required outside of game time, as we are usually too distracted when playing to do much figuring!

So in a set of naval wargame rules, how likely is the historical outcome for the naval battle of San Domingo, 1806? As I'm playing Fighting Sail [1981] these days, these are the rules I'll compare to history. However, I'll present a close description of the the battle that is good enough for you to compare your favorite rules out. I'll finish by examining if FS is likely to provide similar results if:

• players make the same decisions as the captains and admirals, and...
• the players roll about average and/or equally well.

As this was a very eventful battle, the victory conditions should give the French the ability to do better than their historical counterparts [like even one ship escaping?] and ideally should come down to the last few die rolls if both sides play equally well [note that this could be equally poorly, or equally excellently!].

In the analysis, the most important aspects of recreating this battle were the wind angle and the point of engagement between the two forces, which were not identical - the French had a First-rate 118-gun Ship of the Line.

Battle of San Domingo, 1806 from Wikipedia [CLICK]

Note: the below account is mostly from the Wiki article, but I've re-organized and edited it for clarity and ease of following tactically.

At 06:00 on 6 February Duckworth's scouts sighted the French, observing two frigates, five ships of the line and one large merchant ship anchored in line at the entrance to Santo Domingo.^[11]

The French hurriedly set sail. The French Adm. Leissègues formed a line of battle, Captain Pierre-Elie Garreau in Alexandre leading with Impérial, Diomède, Jupiter and Brave following. The frigates and corvette took a position Northwest between the battle line and the shore. 

At 08:00 Duckworth's ships divided into three divisions: 

1. a westerly battle line to windward under Duckworth with Superb, Northumberland, HMS Spencer and HMS Agamemnon,
2. an eastern battle line under Louis with Canopus, HMS Donegal and Atlas. 
3. The four British frigates were in battle line to the west of the British battle lines, awaiting orders to assist if required.^[17] 

Duckworth was concerned that there might be other French forces to the west. He therefore angled his line of attack to pass across the front of the French line and signaled to his squadron to direct their fire at the front three ships: Alexandre, Impérial and Diomède.[11]

Over the next two hours [16 Turns] the British slowly closed with the French squadron, the British divisions breaking up as the faster ships outpaced the slower. Louis' squadron fell behind Duckworth's, while Agamemnon dropped behind the other three vessels in Duckworth’s division, which otherwise remained in a tight formation. A slight shift in the wind allowed Leissègues to adjust his direction to the southwest, but the close presence of the land restricted French movements.

Looking at the scenario in FS1981, the British appear to be in the wrong place, on the French windward side, between them and the coast to Northwest [top left]. The French are already at the point of being engaged at the scenario start, and there is little time to maneuver without being fired upon.

The below diagram appears to be more in synch with the narrative, placing the British to leeward and between the French and the open sea. 

At 10:00, on below diagram, Hispaniola [Dominican Replublic] coastline is to the Northwest, from which the wind is coming. Adm. Leissègues was sailing from San Domingo southwest to Nizao, following the coast. Therefore the French have little sea room to Windward [upwind], and the British fleet is to Leeward [downwind].

image from Wiki [CLICK]

On the game board, this would look something like this:

Note that the green and red die mark where the lead ships will be on Turn 3, and show the engagement point of close range Fire.

The French are paralleling the coast to the north or northwest, so shouldn't be allowed to exit the board from 0110 to 0101 to 1501 [the top left corner area]. As the French were trying to evade the British fleet, they should get victory points for any French ships that exit the board and are faster than British pursuers, as well as for destroying British ships. The British should get the usual victory points.

Analysis from Wiki article, in game terms:

At 10:10 [Turn “1”]  Superb was able to open fire on Alexandre.^[18]

With the British flagship engaged with the leading French vessel, Northumberland opened fire on the next in line, Leissègues' flagship Impérial. The French ship carried 120 guns to Northumberland's 74, but Cochrane engaged closely, rapidly supported by Spencer, which opened fire on Impérial and Diomède simultaneously. ^[18]   For 15 minutes [two Turns] the British continued to close, both squadrons sailing westwards along the coast with the wind [both westwards and WITH the wind?  So the wind is from the East then?].

At 10:25 [Turn 3], the damaged Alexandre suddenly swung out of the line in an attempt to drive between Northumberland and Spencer [2^nd and 3^rd ships in Duckworth’s first division] and rake them both. Captain Robert Stopford on Spencer responded rapidly, passing across Alexandre's bow and raking her, before turning along the opposite [far? Starboard?] side of Alexandre and opening fire from close range. In the smoke and confusion neither Superb nor Northumberland noticed Spencer's move; both fired several shots into Spencer before they realized their mistake.^[19]  

With Spencer and Alexandre out of the way, Impérial was able to engage both of the leading British ships, threatening to overwhelm them. Cochrane moved to defend the flagship by pulling Northumberland between Impérial and Superb, suffering terrible damage but preserving Duckworth's ship intact. Impérial's fire was so heavy that several shot passed straight through Northumberland into Superb.^[20]

Destruction of Brave and Jupiter in the French rear

As the combat raged at the head of the line, the remainder of both squadrons strained [hurried?] to join the battle.

At 10:35 [Turn 4], the British eastern division under Adm. Louis reached the battling Alexandre and Spencer the two ships locked [grappled?] together to the south of the main engagement. As they passed, Canopus, Donegal and Atlas all [bow?] raked Alexandre, bringing down all her masts and leaving her in a crippled state.

Canopus then steered straight west – to join Superb and Northumberland around Impérial while Donegal and Atlas turned northwest to intercept Brave and Jupiter respectively.^[17] 

When Donegal moved alongside Jupiter, Captain Samuel Pym in Atlas abandoned his brief engagement with Jupiter and steered to join Canopus, Superb and Northumberland around Impérial Superb and Northumberland  around Impérial .^[21] 

Captain Pulteney Malcolm on Donegal attacked Brave directly, firing his starboard guns and then crossing Brave's stern, inflicting severe damage with a raking broadside, before pulling alongside again and engaging from close range.^[17] Badly damaged, Brave surrendered. Malcolm then ordered Captain Richard Dunn in Acasta to take possession while he moved Donegal  forward to engage Jupiter. 

Taking advantage of Donegal‘s superior speed, Malcolm pulled ahead of Jupiter and then rammed her bow, securing the ships together to prevent the French vessel from escaping. Recognising that further resistance was hopeless, Captain Gaspard Laignel surrendered immediately. Malcolm then sent 100 men on board as a prize crew and attached a towline to the French ship, just as the trailing Agamemnon finally reached the battle.^[20]

At 11:00 [Turn 8], Spencer followed Canopus to join Donegal, Superb and Northumberland  around Impérial as Alexandre's crew was preoccupied with extinguishing a fire on board. Alexandre was so badly damaged that she was unable to either escape or continue the action; she formally surrendered ten minutes later.^[21]

Admiral Leissègues drives ashore

Under the shroud of heavy smoke that confused the positions and identities of the ships at the head of the line, maneuvering became hazardous: Atlas arrived and fired two broadsides into Impérial then raked the French flagship before her tiller jammed just as Diomède loomed out the smoke. Receiving a heavy broadside from the French ship, Atlas subsequently collided with Canopus as she too appeared immediately ahead, tearing off her bowsprit in the collision.^[21] 

Turning back into the battle, Atlas engaged Diomède at close range as the rest of the British squadron concentrated their fire on the beleaguered Impérial, with the exception of the damaged Northumberland, which was drifting out of the line.^[22]

At 11:30 [Turn 12], With his main and mizzen masts collapsed and escape impossible, Leissègues turned his ship towards the shore outdistancing the fire from the drifting Northumberland and leaving Superb behind; Duckworth was reluctant to risk his ship in the shallow coastal shoals.^[23] Canopus maintained the pressure, pursuing the French flagship until it was clear at 11:40 that Impérial was hard aground on a coral reef, less than a mile from the beach. Diomède, under attack by Atlas and the recently returned Spencer, followed Impérial ashore.

 

As they struck the reef, both French ships lost their remaining masts and suffered severe damage to their hulls. Their crews then gathered on deck and made preparations to abandon ship as the British squadron pulled back out of range of fire from the shore.^[24] 

During the engagement the French frigates and corvette had all slipped between the battling squadrons and the shoreline and escaped to the westwards. The British frigates were too preoccupied with boarding and towing prizes to initiate a chase.^[25]

As Duckworth gathered his squadron, Northumberland's mainmast collapsed across the deck, causing severe damage to the ship's fittings. Although Cochrane's flagship was the most severely damaged of the squadron, all had suffered to a degree: Superb's men counted 60 shot holes while Atlas was out of control and Donegal had lost one of her topmasts.^[26] Casualties were also distributed throughout the fleet, with Northumberland and Spencer suffering the worst and Atlas the least except for the barely engaged Agamemnon. Total losses were 74 killed and 264 wounded and several ships were damaged, but Duckworth was rapidly able to effect repairs as his ships remained on station to observe the situation ashore.^[27]

Impérial and Diomède had both run aground between Nizao and Point Catalan, their hulls broadside to the beach and their bottoms stove in by the reefs that lay offshore.^[28] Using the remaining ship's boats and with assistance from the shore, the wounded and survivors were ferried to the beach. 

 

Historical result: None but the French frigates survived. While the British fleet was badly damaged, since they held the field they were able to recover their own ships and those they captured. If any French ships of the line survive and escape, the French should get at least a minor victory.

Morale. Morale was clearly an important factor in the above narrative - some French ships surrendered quickly, while others fought it out. Therefore, it may be an issue for some players that there is no morale mechanic in FS - you just destroy hull boxes until the ship Strikes [surrenders]. Note that this does not include sinking, just Striking; ergo "Striking" in game terms may actually just mean enough hull damage that a ship will no longer fight. Given that it takes on average 7 Turns to force a typical 3rd Rate Ship of the Line to strike, which is 1 hour 45 minutes, that would synch with the 2-hour battle with no ships sinking but all Striking [or running aground...same thing].

- overall, depends on if you like a Morale Check mechanic to Strike sooner [or later], but the rules use a damage mechanic instead.

Ship Speeds. This is critical in any naval engagement, as the faster ships always have the choice of fight or flight, while the slower ships are forced to fight if the faster opponent wants to, and can't flee unless they damage the enemy ships and slow them down. [the other possibility is a surprise attack caused by low visibility, or the faster fleet is caught in harbor]. 

In this scenario, as set up according to the FS rules, the British may be in the wrong place historically, but they are in the right place to be able to catch the French ships and force an engagement!  If you correct the British placement per the above historical narrative and switch the British from the French starboard to their port side, the French ships will "have the Weather Guage" and always be able to react second and shoot first by the FS rules. Being on a Beam Reach, gives all the French Sailing Value A ships 4 Movement Points [MP], while the British will all be at 3 MP, unless they immediately turn the Frigates to port.

Even using the rules for "Studding Sails" [might be better termed "Full Sail" or something - FS1981 doesn't have variable sail speeds, altho they'd be easy to tweak to do so, and I have] doesn't make a difference, as the French will still have a better wind angle and get more advantage from the Studding Sail rule:

Additionally, the presence of the 1st Rate Impérial is significant - it can easily engage ships much farther out due to how the Fire mechanic works - it uses a linear model and bigger ships easily make up for the range penalty with more guns. This translates into about 2-3 Turns of shooting first, depending on the wind angle. It's a bit like a battleship in a cruiser fight! 

Above, note that the Impérial will hit on a 51 or less, so over 70% chance; Northumberland in return needs a 21 or less, about a 35% chance. Impérial also moves at the same speed as the 74's [which is historically accurate, it seems]. In one run-thru, Impérial managed to get four Hits on Northumberland before she could effectively reply! This also goes against the above historical narrative which states that the British opened fire on Alexandre first. Thus we see that the rules allow an engagement point that is much earlier and give the advantage to the French.

So, time to check another historical narrative!

Brian Tunstall's "Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail" published in 1990 [great book, btw] has the wind astern the British and French: "Duckworth immediately chased and with the wind almost directly astern of him, gained rapidly." This would make the wind from the East. If the British are gaining rapidly, and both sides' ships perform about the same, then the wind is likely East South East, astern the French but with the British just able to make a broad reach and force the engagement on the French who were trying to avoid a fight. Overall, this seems like the most likey combination of wind angle and sailing direction. 

Interestingly, the Wiki article's most recent source is 2006, so the question is who is correct?  The later books? According to the above narrative the French are heading west, turning a bit to southwest as contact is about to occur.

Another change for the scenario would be to switch the wind to come from the Southeast, heading to Northeast [the opposite of the scenario], which completes the change of the British to the French fleet's port side and still having a wind advantage. The deployment would now look something like the below:

Now there's no way for the French to escape without a fight. The British on Turn 1 will be at black die '1', same for French. But the Superb will be moving three squares a turn and quickly block Agamemnon's forward movement. She, and the French line, will have to turn a point to starboard, and start fighting it out. The alternative option would be to do something more radical, like a hard port turn, tack, and sail in an opposing direction to the British. They'd have to fool them at a key point, and it would affect their shooting a bit, but it is possible to do against a careless British player. The French may even destroy the trailing British ships.

This seems to put the engagement point of the two opposing squadrons at the right place, with the right wind and the right options. The French player will have to think outside the box and act boldly, but there's a good chance of doing better than the historical encounter!

So back to the original question, will FS 1981 give:

1. Historical decisions the Commanders had, at the right level,
2. Events and outcomes like the historical narratives for San Domingo above,
3. Opportunities for a different outcome to the battle, but in mechanics presents us with the likely results, keeping us in the 90%, 9% and 1% [typical, atypical, and once in a lifetime] of results.

As presented in the FS rules [picture below], the scenario for San Domingo should easily have the British able to close assault the French - they start across their bows and ready to bow rake the lot, plus they've the Weather Gauge. I predict a similar outcome to history as long as:

• players make the same decisions as the captains and admirals, and...
• the players roll about average [at at least equally well].

The French could make a 90 turn to port, which would still leave them in that strange echelon formation, however the British are suffering from it also. This would enable Alexandre and Imperial the opportunity to batter Supurb while both sides straightened out their battle lines.

There is slim chance of the French doing better unless they immediately turn tail and run away, which is possible as the scenario rules don't prevent that! As FS gives the French ships better Sailing Values generally [B to C for most Ships of the Line] they may even get away with it.

In my modified and - seemingly - more historical scenario, the wind and ship locations will result in the British again having an advantage but this time it would be hard for the French to flee, so I predict another bruising encounter that would largely depend on the British player to make a few errors to lose.

Overall, my verdict is that both as originally presented [if not historically accurate] and as modified, Fighting Sail [S&T 1981] should give both sides an opportunity to re-fight history.

How do YOUR favorite rules stack up, you think?

Fighting Sail [S&T 1981] - Playtest #2, Squadrons

Playtest #2: "Action Off Venice" 1812, Frogs v. Limeys

So after an interesting playtest with the Shannon v. Chesapeake dual, the next test of the mechanics had to be with multiple ships.  I chose a smallish fight, four French v. two British ships in the Adriatic, 1812. It seemed a perfect intro to larger actions.

With a west wind, and all ships heading east, the French fleet is a bit scattered.  I don't know if this is historical, but they are seperated by about a nautical mile each. The British are similarly separated. My tactic has been to consolidate the French quickly as possible by having the bottom two ships move north, and the top two ships move south; generally takes a couple of turns. This puts the burden on the British to close and engage the French Squadron. 

The foremost French and British ships are both 3rd Rate ships of the line, Rivoli and Victorious respectively.. The other British ship is the 5th Rate frigate Weazel, of which the French also have one, Mercure. The other two French ships are a clumsy frigate Jena and a a poor 7th rate brig Mamalouke. 

Bottom line is that the British ships have an equal opposing French ship, altho the French have lower quality; this is supposed to be made up by the extra two French ships. 

Scattered around the ships on the map are the order counters, organized by Sailing Value. This makes things a bit quicker when issuing Commands. 

The first outing was quite a mess, as I forgot several rules and was interrupted several times by family, and made a lot of mistakes.  

The second outing went much better, as I reviewed the rules sections a bit and then played - also, it was late evening and no one bothered me!  This time the British couldn't have hit the broadside of a broadside at ten paces, and were forced to use a wind advantage to sail out of range, an ignominious retreat!  I also didn't play them very well, finding myself continuously surprised by sailing opportunities of the French, despite the fact I was playing both sides.

Third outing was quite interesting. The British scored an early Critical Hit against the Rivoli, slowing her down. Then some fortunate rolling got them a bit ahead of the French and they were able to cross the "T" unexpectedly, resulting in the sinking of both Rivoli and Jena.

Final positions of playtest #3. Mercure is about to get shot up pretty badly, and Mamalouke is neither fast nor lethal, so game was called.

Below is the ugly recorded reality - two ships sunk!

The French didn't roll well on their Fire dice either, resulting in very little damage to the British squadron.

A fourth turn at bat resulted in a very different situation. This time, the Rivoli decided to start shooting as soon as possible, and on the first shot scored a critical hit, a 1/36 chance! The Victorious lost a mast. A re-read of the Damage section of the rules was helpful, as I'd forgotten that a few more Rigging Hits and a dismasted ship is Dead In The Water!  This immediately became the main goal of the French. 

Turn 3 below. A damaged Rivoli is at a critical moment - will she successfully win the Weather Gauge and cross the Victorious' "T" for a bow rake?? The remaining French squadron trails behind, with the Weazel putting solid damage on her opposing number, Mercure.

The critical moment - orders are revealed, and...the French have the Weather Gauge. This will be ugly...

Thanks to some skillful handling, Rivoli manages to rake Victorious, and Jena scores a Critical Hit. This is randomly decided to be a Wheel hit, so Victorious is presently unable to steer....

...so Drifts, ending with her bow several points to Port. 

Victorious cannot Fire, and Rivoli and Jena have, so all are turned over.

Below, the ship log, showing that Victorious is able to Fire pretty well still, but can't sail worth a tinker's damn.

Turn 4 ends with Weazel squring off [no pun intended] against Mercure, damaging her quite badely.

Turn 5, Commands are revealed and the Weazel will have the Weather Gauge as the French are sailing slowly and methodically around Victorious, looking for some more Hits. Weazel needs to really make a big impact against Rivoli, or else the fight is lost! Rate of ship is very important in these rules - if you've a bigger ship, it is tough for smaller ones to take them on in a gun fight. The only chance they have is a critical hit, rolling amazingly well, and perhaps shooting at Rigging...

Turn 5 continues to develop, with the French frigates ineffectively shooting at Victorious, while the Rivoli gets a solid hit.

Weazel is making a mark against Rivoli, but it is really Victorious that has done the most important damage - Rivoli can not Tack with her present Crew Value.

Turn 6, the British win the Weather Gauge - but will Weazel be able to make a difference?

The Mercure sails into the Rivoli's square. In the rules, this results in immediate and automatic Fouling. With 500 yard squares, that doesn't seem likely, so I give Mercure a roll against her present Crew Value of '4' to avoid Rivoli - rolling a '3', she passes.

Turn 7. The British again win the Weather Gauge, and Weazel seizes the chance to destroy Mercure, raking her bow and sailing away to get distance from the Rivoli.

Mercure is now Dead in the Water and Strikes with the British aside her [well, 500 yards away, really]. In any event, she is combat ineffective so I remove her. In reality, she wouldn't strike with Weazel sailing away and a large friendly ship nearby, and in the rules most likely not, either.

Turn 8, there is some more Fire into the Victorious, and she has to roll to be affected by ocean Swell - this would cause her to move a square downwind - but she rolls a '2' and doesn't. 

I hurry on to Turn 9, resulting in the Weazel getting a nasy broadside from Rivoli and needing to sail away or also become Dead in the Water. Victorious is not victorious, and is forced to Strike, with the enemy surrounding her and no help in sight.

Final results - a battered British squadron, and hopefully the Commodore went into captivity with a resilient attitude, as he won't be commanding again, most likely!

So four playtests, and what did I learn?

Some conclusions:

1) The Fire mechanics usually limit possibilities to 0-1 hit per turn between ships of the same rate. This can make the fight attrition oriented [note that this is quite historical - no complaints there!]. The main possibility of an unusual event is the Critical Hit mechanic; this occurs when there's a Hit with doubles [a 16.7% or 1/6 chance per HIT, not per shot]. This most often results in losing a mast [a real problem as two more Rigging Hits and you are Dead In The Water] or steering [also a problem]. There's a small chance [8%] of a Fire starting [bad...]. 

Overall, I'm satisfied with these, but I do miss Critical Hit Tables with lots of variety and preferably humorous and unusual events!

2) The Fire mechanics heavily penalize smaller ships fighting larger ships. Again, this may be quite historical, but a ship with a lower Fire Value has almost zero chance of harming a larger ship. This may make sense in these rules, which are aimed at the historically likely. I'd prefer a small chance at a Critical Hit and the ability to damage rigging, at least.

3) While the game generally succeeds and succeeds well with managing the squares as a mechanic, the additional rules to explain square mechanics are ultimately more complicated than an open-table method. There is no time saved with eliminating the need to measure distances with a tape/ruler, as you have to add up the Movement Points / Range Points, and of course there are a few fiddly things that happen - common sense can sort them out. Interestingly, I've found this the case with pretty much all gridded games, both on land and at sea.

4) Adding more ships to the mix really changes the game! There are opportunities for your bacon to get fried especially when the ships are close together. And of course gamers are always ready to run risks that real captains would not...

This last time out, I played with the below changes and was pleased with all of them.

Rule Changes:

1. Dicing for additional movement, by the fraction of the MP available v. the total needed, e.g. if you need 3 Movement Points to move diagonally, and only have 2, you move another square on a 1-4 of a d6 [2/3] if you want to try it. I was torn between using Crew Value and just approaching it as a time/distance issue, and went with the latter.
2. Setting a sail speed that is lower than the total MP available at that wind angle, e.g. if your max Movement Points is 5 on a Beam Reach, you can set sail for anything less so 1-4 MP.
3. Presently, you subtract the Rate of the Firer from the rate of the Target, so a 6th Rate ship firing at a 3rd Rate ship starts at -30. This takes into account the mass and hull strength [damage resistance] of the larger ship, as well as the lower "weight" of the smaller ship's broadside. I don't think this should apply to rigging, however, as all rigging is vulnerable to even the smaller 9 and 12 pound guns, and Fire at rigging is already -10.
4. The oddity of the square grid results in an diagonal moving ship crossing a diagonal moving ship can't rake it at one hex distance - I just allow it when it moves anyway.
5. Tacking results in a -10 Fire Penalty, but not Wearing. My understanding is that while Wearing is easier, it is still crew-intensive, so should also incur the -10 penalty.
6. Entering a square of an enemy ship is automatically a fouling event. A bit odd since the square is about 400-500 yards wide!  So I roll a d10 - you have to roll under your present crew value to miss or to successfully foul [grapple]. The opposing ship has to miss their roll to avoid you. Grappling was historically quite rare and very difficult to do.

A few other little things I'd like to see:

1) Crew Value needs to be used more. I like it to avoid Fouling and for Grappling - perhaps one could have sailing mishap on more difficult maneuvers like Tacking and Wearing if a CV test is failed?

2) Missing on Doubles - could result in a mishap of some kind?

3) Studding sails can only be set/taken in every 8th game turn. This is an odd mechanic and somewhat cumbersome to use. They give an extra movement point to ship speed. However, most actions will be over by Turn 8!  So I'm going to allow starting with the studding sails set. I also want to try allowing them to be set in just a few turns, perhaps every 4th turn, or just rolling v. Crew Value to set or take them in. This will be a lot more important at the start and end of battles, mostly.

Overall, I'd say that these rules are a bit busy, around the same amount of work as Wooden Ships and Iron Men IF unusual events happen. However, if the ships choose to keep their distance and peck away at each other, then these would play quite a bit faster than WS&IM. Both sets of rules are a bit "gamey" in that there is sometimes more emphasis on mechanics over reality. Both also feel a bit gamey since they both use gridded playing areas, squares and hexes respectively. 

Ultimately, I think FS it is a great introduction to the Age of Sail for someone who is good at reading and practicing with the rules a bit, and not turned off by having to re-read a few of the paragraphs, or refer to rules about unusual occurences.  These are not a fast-play set of rules, IMHO. Except for 1:1 ship duals, expect to play for 1-2 hours partly due to checking the rules. 

That being said, I still recommend them as a good choice for anyone interested in Age of Sail or square-gridded games.  

The next task is to try out larger squadrons of ships of the line, which would be the most classic sea battle anyway.  A quick look at the counter mix shows about 5-7 ships a side is possible with what is provided.

Until then, happy sailing!