Battle of Lake Erie, 1813, REDUX

Another simple, straight-forward battle...

...that is, if you think barroom brawls in the dark are simple!

Changes

- to match the historical ships better [I thought] I changed their gun ratings and ranges.  The main American ships as mostly carronade armed had only a short range of 4". This made for an interesting challenge between the British ships with a variety of long guns and carronades wanting to keep standoff distance.

- to make the wind likely to be "flukey" and change, it would change on the roll of a '1' at the start of each turn. On a change, another roll and it would be counter-clockwise a point on a 1-3, clockwise on a 5-6. I kept the windspeed constant altho I could have lowered it an inch on an even roll, which seemed most like the historical battle conditions.

- Initiative Movement. After lots of thought, I went with move / counter-move each turn. The players would roll off and winner could choose to move first [Move] or second [Counter-move]. Choosing Move allows you to occupy sea-space ahead of the opponent, Counter-move allows you to maneuver your ships to best advantage having seen what the opponent did. Counter-move is generally more advantageous given the narrow Fire Arc of the ships in these rules. Also, if forced to Move one has to maneuver pretty conservatively to prevent one's ships from a rake or other disadvantage. Overall, while it "feels" less realistic M / C-m is very realistic from a decision making and command point of view, and best of all it actually *matters*!

- Simultaneous Fire. As ships are only rolling one dice to shoot, this was easy to implement; ships that were going to return fire could do so immediately upon the opponent rolling a shot that Damaged or Cripped their ship, so it was easy to track.

- Boarding / Fowling. I used the same mechanic for Fowling as boarding; you need to roll a 5+, etc. This also gave more nuance to the Movement Phase.

- Momentum. Momentum requires ships to move their full move or 1" less at the ships starting wind angle; if you moved more than 1" less, the ship is subject to Drift. This simulates backing sail to slow down a bit. Also, Momentum requires ships to move at least 1" as otherwise the ship couldn't be controlled [so captains rarely "stopped"].

- Drift. If a ship moves more than 1" less than their max, the ship drifts 1" downwind at the end of its movement. This simulates the ship's keel/rudder having less "bite" in the water due to a slow speed.

- 8 Direction "Not-a-Grid" is easier than six and suits how ships move better than only six angles.  Plus Steve had an octagon wind marker that makes it easy to align against two edges [eyeballing it] and it can be placed next to the ship model to clean things up if needed. All ships had to face one of the eight directions at all times, e.g. no measuring with a protractor!

These were the main changes, altho they aren't many nor are they hard to implement while playing.  They worked really well, as shall be seen!

Again, at battle start, the wind was light so all movement distances were reduced by 1" to 1" Close Hauled, 3" Abeam / Running, and 5" Reaching.

The British again had a choice of the distance separating the fleet from the oncoming American one; this was to simulate the operational level advantage of having the "weather gauge". The British started with the best wind angle, a Reach [5" move] while the Americans had the wind directly behind them, i.e. Running [3" move]. This time, Steve had a different plan in mind, so started 6" farther away from the American fleet.

Turn 1

Steve won Initiative and chose to Move. On the Counter-move, the Americans only moved forwards 1" so drifted 1" downwind, for a total of 2".

Turn 2, the British and Americans repeated their Moves [above]. 

Turn 3

The British lost IN and were forced to move first; they began to cross the American "T". Americans executed their cunning plan, a plan as cunning as that of a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University [click]! They began their change of direction to approach the rear of the British line as it moved onwards and threatened some stern rakes, or to be out of the British ships fire arcs. They also finished their move outside of the British 8" firing range.

Furthermore, the American course change gave them a better wind angle, thus giving them more maneuvering options. Cunning indeed!  What could go wrong!?

Turn 4.

In typical British fashion, Steve had no alternative but to seize control of the wind, rolling a '1' in an underhanded fashion [altho he is a well-known expert at rolling low].

And then a '5' resulted in the wind changing a point clockwise. This put the fleets on at an even speed, with the British Abeam and the Americans running. Net result is to slow both sides down to 3" moves.

And to top it off, the British then won IN, rolling a '6' to beat the strong American roll of a '5'!

The Americans continued with their line of battle's course, seeing it as the best counter to the British plan.  But the British had a trick up with laced sleeves! They all turned to simultaneously jibe across the wind, which would ultimately change their direction 180 degrees!

Turn 5

Americans again lose IN, so begin turning a point to starboard to threaten to cross the British "T" in a couple turns!

The British continue reversing direction, but the faster turn rates of the smaller ships allows them to maneuver quickly to counter the American plan.

Turn 6

Altho the British sloops are Close-hauled, they are still outmaneuvering the American line!

Turns 7-8

Perry decides to take a calculated risk and maneuver between the sloops with his van, while letting the rear squadron of small ships move to take on the two British sloops headed their way. This certainly *seems* like the best way to present the British with multiple threats. 

A "cunning plan" as the chess match of maneuvering intensifies!

Ariel rakes Lady Prevost, Damaging her!

The American lines are now restricting the movement space of the two lead British sloops, threatening to destroy them with a concentration of fire.

But the British also slip into the American line, in which gaps appeared during their maneuvering. They rake Scorpion [Oh, where is thy sting now!] but gets fouled on a '5' passing over her base.

As Turn 8 continues, The British sloops veer away from the American line after the wind *again* changes. The fouled HMS Chippawa and USS Scorpion present a significant problem for the American's to maneuver around, further jacking up their cunning plan!

Ariel does her part, rolling well with both broadsides and inflicting 4 and 2 Hits respectively.

Chippawa Rakes Scorpion again Damaging her, willingly remaining fouled while the Americans fail to roll high enough to un-foul them.

Turn 9

The Americans lose IN and begin maneuvering around the fouled ships. Lawrence takes fire from the main British line of ships, becoming Damaged.

Scorpion becomes Crippled and with 14 Hits Strikes on the last roll!

Soon after, however, Lady Prevost Strikes also!

Turn 10

The wind changes *again*!  I double-check the British dice, as it again shifts clockwise, and puts my key vessels Close-Hauled; they don't roll any '1s' for me...

Niagara moves 1" forwards, Close-Hauled. To move within 4" of the enemy, CPT Elliott must roll a '4+' as day of battle - historically - he didn't close very rapidly, leading to much acrimony between him and Perry later.

Meanwhile, the other squadron of small ships fails three of four rolls, and all decline to get within Close Range of the British. They are within range, but [(d6-2)x1/2] isn't exactly a lot of damage!

Turn 10, from one of the Montgolfier Brother's air machines. The larger British ships are headed table "south" between the American divisions. The three smaller ships are Struck, Damaged and intact at picture bottom and top right.

The American squadron has divided into two divisions - the three larger ships to the left, all Close Hauled, and the four schooners with win Abeam. Ariel and Scorpion are Struck and Crippled respectively, pretty much out of the game.

Turn 11

British big-boys are sailing with favorable winds, while the Americans try to sort themselves out, Coming About in an effort to get more lake-space and speed. Lawrence is now Crippled, and the other two have taken some damage, without inflicting much on the British in reply. With their greater speed and maneuverability in the favorable wind, they find it easy to place themselves to advantage. Furthermore, Perry started to lose much of the IN rolls to Barclay, making it worse.

With the smaller ships, the loss of IN and failure to roll a single 4+ results in them keeping their distance from the British.

Turn 12

With Lawrence Crippled [like last battle] Perry transfers his flag to the brig Caledonia.

Again, like last battle, poor Captain Barclay is wounded! [and only on a '2' on 2d6!]

Detroit again finds itself under the command of a 15yo midshipman named "Opportunity Knocks".

The wind now favors the Americans [center-top three ships], largely due to the fact that the British heavier division has circumnavigated them [while pounding them mercilessly].

At bottom right of pic, the American small ships finally start to close with the enemy, led by the aptly named "Tigress" [Meow! Fft-fft!].

Turn 13

The wind changes again!  Clockwise a point. And instead of having the wind Abeam, my Americans are now Close Hauled - again!

As the British 'heavy' squadron rounds Niagara with their newly favorable wind, they pound her until she strikes.

It's a bit like watching the Indians circle the wagons in an old western...the four small American sloops are on the way and will certainly be of some help, but nothing will change the fact that two of the 'heavy' American ships are Crippled, and one has Struck and is Adrift.

Oh, never mind, two of them have now Struck!

With Turn 14, the British realize that they will have to break contact, as two of their 'heavy' ships are Damaged and the other is way out of position to help - may in fact be encircled by the American sloops like piranhas. Also, there is only a brief amount of time before the small British sloops are finished off, leaving the slower, less maneuverable heavies - which are mostly Damaged - to be picked off and crippled.

The Americans realize that despite a tactical defeat, they may have "won" or at least Perry can phrase it properly in his letters to the Secretary of War / Navy that they drove off the British fleet and held the "field", which also entails holding all the damaged ships.  Could be a net gain for the USA strategically.

With this discussion, which was pretty surprising when we thought about it, came the reminder that fleets are strategic weapons, and historically Barclay had to win a decisive victory to escape starving in the wilderness of greater Detroit.  On the other hand, the smaller ships are more easily replaced than the larger ones, so perhaps he will escape with his larger ships, find shelter elsewhere, and build up his squadron of sloops again.

Well, you need some criteria for victory, and we decided that based upon the damage, the British won 11-7, but are still in trouble, strategically. And with my copy of Columbia's "1812" we may in fact get more involved with strategic decisions in the near future!

Overall, among the best naval games I've played in a long, long while!

The most intense part was the sailing decisions that we had to make in the opening turns, taking into account how the ships moved and their relative position to the wind. Every turn was a nail-biter, especially with the IGO-UGO move sequence that I came up with!  Despite some misgivings, this simplest of all turn sequences was actually very effect in helping us to manage the game and make clear decisions [even if they were wrong].

The winds were light and varied historically, and we had some of that in this rematch. We both found dealing with the wind an interesting part of the problems presented to each of us.

My small sloops survived, but partly because they declined to get involved aggressively. This simple mechanic worked very nicely, and altho it made my life more difficult, it added some realism and historical flavor to the fight, and I'll definitely use it again where it suits. 

And thus, I conclude with a few thoughts in summary...

What makes for a good Age of Sail Game?

1) Sailing!  Sailing decisions that reflect the constraints of ships in weather.

2) Weather. Wind direction and strength may vary, posing realistic problems and wrecking even the best of plans.

3) Terrain. This can be land, or even struck and sinking ships.

4) Morale. Captains often fought conservatively, even timidly; this could include Admirals as well. Great victories were often more about determination than tactics.

5) Strategic level victory conditions. Naval commanders at all levels were often directly affected by the large strategic and economic picture. This results in battle tactics that only make sense if you know the strategic goals of their nation / admiralty. 

Looking forward to playing this again soon - must get to work on my 1:3000 ships...!

Battle of Lake Erie, 1813

A Great Victory in a Pointless War

But the navy got ice cream out of it... Thanks to Dolly Madison!

As was said day of the battle by "Angry Dachshund" Steve [click] "What better way to observe the Fourth/250 than in a great American victory?"  Thus, we decided to refight the Battle of Erie, 10 SEP 1813, using his shoestring fleet and "One Hour Age of Sail Wargaming" by John Armatys, a One-Hour Wargames spin-off.

What's a "shoestring fleet" you ask?  

Steve built these bad boys from game piece plastics off A-zon:

 

plus some balsa wood, toothpicks, and bits of paper.  Cost?  Unknown, but quite likely less than a couple large lattes at S-bucks.  The hilarious thing is that for all the obsessing many historical gamers put into their miniatures, these look just fine at table distance:

American paint scheme

Spanish paint scheme:

Spanish, British and American paint schemes, side-by-side:

The Scratch-built Sloops:

The best part?  The real historical ships were built fast and on the cheap, also! 

How much more historical could you want things to be???

Practice maneuvers on the table at gamer distance; American fleet:

...and British fleet.

What's the lesson here?  Sure, you CAN spend lots of money on a fleet of beautiful rigged ships [and kudos to you if you do!] but you can get nearly the same effect for nearly nothing.  Heck, if Steve did some rigging, they'd look as good as much more expensive ships. And they are much more durable, also.

Not knowing much about the battle myself, I ran with Steve's guidance; The British had two "larger" ships, HMS Detroit and Queen Charlotte which we classed as "1st Rate" in the rules, and four small sloops we classed as "Frigates". The Americans had two "larger" ships, USS Lawrence and Niagara which were classed as "Ship of the Line", and six small sloops, also "Frigates". 

This was to balance out the numbers. Using the traditional OHW mechanics, the British larger ships fired at d6+2, the American larger ships at d6, and all small sloops were d6-2 to Hit. This also worked well for the Boarding [melee, close combat, etc] system, which goes by "decks".  The British had 10 Decks [3+3 +4@1] and the Americans had 10 Decks also [2+2 +6@1]. This is in the spirit of the OHW rules, so we were pleased with it.

Historically, the British had the weather gauge at the start, and the fleets were converging. We pulled up a picture from the internet to get a feel for it:

In an effort to build some choices for the British, I gave them the best weather angle; the wind is coming from the direction of the American line so they are reaching w' a 6" move [the American fleet is running, so 4" move]. I also gave them four choices of start point, the white dice, so "closest" [where ships are], or 6" farther away ]where ruler is]...

...12" farther away...

...18" farther away.

This gives them an option about how fast and at what angle they wanted to converge with the American line. If they are too far away, then the Americans have the option to either turn away [to their port side] or to cut astern them [turning to their starboard side].  With 1-3 choices for each side on how to converge, we were satisfied there were enough decision points for make things interesting. 

Steve chose to be British and decided - like a bloodthirsty dachshund should - to start as close as possible. He lost an Initiative roll, and I as the Patriotic Anniverserists chose to go second, so that I could react to what he did and in effect get the "counter-move".

Turn 2. The British were moving 6" while the Americans could only make 4" due to the favorable wind angle the Slimey Limey's had. Despite this, the angles close up worked a bit in favor of the Americans who got the first shot in.

Sloop Scorpion unleashes her sting against Detroit!  However, she missed.

British Turn 3. Using his faster movement, Steve began to focus significant firepower at Scorpion, using a design flaw in the rules... "drive-by shooting".  The rules allow any ship to fire at any point during her movement.  As the sides move and shoot alternatingly, this allows one to concentrate fire quite easily as the other side is stationary.

American lead ships Scorpion and Ariel have 9 and 4 Hits apiece!  In these rules, at 5 a ship is "Damaged" [-1 to Move and Fire] and R 10 Hits it is "Crippled" [-2].

American Turn 3. To retaliate, the Americans turn a point to port, allowing them to fire the lead three ships at Detroit, who they Damage [yellow marker]. They were slowed to a 3" move by the Damaged Scorpion; but now the British line is similarly slowed unless Detroit is to drop out.

British Turn 4. Using their superior speed, the British begin to cross the American's "T", sending Chippawa ahead. HMS Detroit slows the rest of the line down, however, so there's now a 3" gap between her and Chippawa. The fire mechanics allow them to Cripple Scorpion. 

Question: with the wind angle as it is, how can Perry exploit this situation?

The Crippled Scorpion will have to drop out of line - she'll slow the Americans down too much at this critical stage of the battle.

American Turn 4. After a bit of pondering [new rule mechanics], Perry decides to continue his movement straight forwards: it will bring more ships in line to return fire while keeping his own force together, mutually supporting.  

The Crippled Scorpion moves first and misses against Chippawa [a shame since it was a Rake, double damage]. The Ariel and Lawrence advance and Lawrence rolls a '6' for 3 Hits at Long Range [4-8" is long; <4" is close]!  HMS Detroit is feeling the pain but is not yet Crippled. 

Note the gap that has opened in the American line due to the speed differences caused by their relative wind angles. 

Americans finish Turn 4 with two more ships in the fight, Caledonia and Niagara - the latter being the other larger ship. Historically, the gamer Perry is doing better than the real Perry, whose line was straggling and USS Lawrence had to fight nearly alone, cf aove illustration.

We forgot to roll for Scorpion to Strike - I roll three times, once for each Hit of 11 or higher, so 11, 12, & 13.  She passes, needing a '6' to fail.

British Turns 5-6. They continue to advance against the American line. They concentrate fire against Ariel which becomes Critical but does not Strike. HMS Chippawa sails fast and Contacts USS Scorpion which finally Strikes from the Hits.

American Turns 5-6. They also advance, concentrating fire against the Detroit which becomes Crippled and the sloop Lady Prevost which becomes Damaged. The Crippled Arieal unleashes both broadsides but misses on both.

Below, end of American Turn 6.

British Turn 7. Barclay rolls a '1' and the wind will change! on a 4-6 it will be clockwise, and he rolls a '5'...

...which brings the wind against the advancing British!  They are now close hauled and only making 2" a turn. The Americans are reaching for 6" a turn.

British Turn 7. With the Chippawa isolated on the other side of the American line, Steve decides to turn a point starboard and parallel the American line. His lead ship is the undamaged Hunter which passes the Crippled Detroit.

Steve sportingly improvises a mechanic and rolls to wound CPT Barclay, but he survives; only to be court-martialed later, I might add.

He finishes his Turn with a successful Boarding and capture of Scorpion, hauling the Union Jack up her flagstaff!

American Turn 7. The American line continues to sail straight ahead. As they pass, they sink the Detroit and Cripple the Chippawa.

The American line ends in a tight formation. One Sloop is Crippled the other has Struck and been captured. Lawrence has been Damaged. The British have a sloop Crippled and another Damaged, and the Detroit has sunk. Overall, the Americans are in better shape, but not by much!

British Turn 8. Their line hammers the Lawrence to 14 Hits, with Queen Charlotte alone inflicting 8! Lawrence rolls 4 times to Strike, failing on the last roll [a '6']! 

Perry survives and mans the rowboat to take him over to Niagara:

from Wikipedia [click]

American Turn 8. Lawrence falls out of line. The Niagara sinks the plucky but isolated Chippawa, whose crew is now enthusiastically repairing and bailing out the Scorpion...at least there are no sharks on fresh water!

British Turn 9. The undamaged Hunter sinks the Ariel, sending her down to her father, Poseidon. British fire is weak as many ships are Damaged or Crippled.

American Turn 9. A series of devastating rolls Cripples the Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost and Little Belt. Queen Charlotte and Little Belt strike. Only Hunter is still in the fight. As the Americans have 3 Sloops and a Ship of the Line intact, and the British only have 1 Sloop, Hunter, the British surrendered.

Well, that was a brutual and bloody affair!  As can be expected from most naval games, ships take a fair amount of punishment before they have to check.  The "Strike" mechanic works pretty well in this simple set of One-Hour Rules by John Armatys, and it is suitable for any historical battle where both sides are committed to fighting a hard battle.  Generally, we found the rules worked fine for what we wanted: a quick 1-2 hour game [with conversation] and a decisive result.

Mechanical Problems

1) Drive-by shooting allows excessive concentration of fire. As ships may fire at any point of their move, and when moving the other side is 'stationary', you can easily concentrate fire on an unfortunate vessel.

Solution: The two side alternate Movement, but have a shared fire and close combat sequence after all Movement.

2) Morale worked pretty well in the area of Striking. However, it did not reflect the common difficulty of some ships 'shirking' during a battle, while other more aggressive ships got stuck in and lacked support.

Solution: Ships have to check morale to close within 4" of the enemy; if they fail, they veer away and stay at 4-5", which is long range.

3) Wind Angles were a bit confusing, with multiple measurements needing to be made of either 22.5 or 45 degrees. And there was only four different angles.

Solution: using an octagon, the ships have:

0" into wind,

2" close hauled, 

4" abeam,

6" reaching,

4" running.

This also means that ships have to face one of the 8 Directions at all times, so there is no "intermediate" turn between 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270, 315, and 360 [0].

Historical Analysis

In the real battle, the second half of the American line was "slow" to commit to battle, which included the Niagara. This resulted in the Lawrence and two sloops taking on much of the British line, with the Lawrence getting damaged to the point where her fire was not effective. As the Americans did not have the same problem committing to battle in the game, they were able to make better use of their numbers. The 8 v 6 advantage provided 30 more Hits worth of ship, 15 each.

The wind randomly resulted in a similar situation as reality. The British started with the weather gauge [an advantage] but at a critical moment in the heat of battle the wind veered against them by one "angle" of 45 degrees.

The issue of mobility was also distorted a bit in the game, as there were light winds, which slowed the action down; ergo we should have lowered all move rates by 1". This of course makes firepower more important. 

Speaking of which, the FIREPOWER was almost the same, largely because we upped the two main British ships a class above the two main American ships.

--> Maximum Hits per Turn:

British = 32 Hits [8+8+(4x4)=32],

American = 36 Hits [6+6+(6x4)=36].

--> Average Hits per turn:

British = 17 Hits [5.5, 5.5, (4x1.5)=17]

American = 16 Hits [3.5, 3.5, (6x1.5)=16]

--> Minimum Hits per Turn: British 6, Americans 2

So the British only have an edge in that IF the Americans are rolling poorly, they drop to nearly no effect at 2 Hits, while the British inflict at least 6 / turn as long as their largest ships are in the fight.

Overall, the Americans had more Hits and the British a bit more firepower. 

Below, you can see from the diagram how Lawrence and two sloops took on the main part of the British line, while Niagara and four sloops [and a tiny ship we ignored] slowly came into the fight:

from the USN here [click]

From the second diagram, you can see that the [commandeered] Niagara cut into the British formation, resulting in significant damage to the BritishDetroit and Queen Charlotte. The rear of the American line then managed to overwhelm the British rear.  There is an Osprey on this battle, and I found it quite good. There's plenty of history and technical analysis of the ships themselves, as well as the personalities at play, most importantly Perry and Elliott. 

We've decided to switch sides and try again, with the few rules issues addressed, and hopefully have just as good a fight as before [and, hopefully, an American victory again!].