Cannon, Cross and Crescent

I’m pleased to announce the release on Wargame Vault of my latest naval fast play set of rules, “Cannon, Cross and Crescent”, which covers Renaissance galley warfare. They are based on my previous “Lanterna” set from many years ago, updated and expanded with new ship types, additional rules and improved detail. I'm currently working on a campaign system, and I'll be supporting the rules with some freebie scenarios as I did with "Lord of the Sea".

The main rulebook can be yours for the princely sum of five British pounds :)

http://www.wargamevault.com/product/210543/Cannon-Cross-and-Crescent–LFG004

The rules have been written very much with 1/1200 models in mind, so ideal if you have fleets from Navwar or some of Rod Langton's lovely models. However, they can be used with larger models by doubling movement and ranges, or with smaller models such as the Tumbling Dice 1/2400 range by using centimetres in place of inches. The rule book comprises 22 pages and includes movement and gunnery templates, and a Quick Play / Fleet Data sheet which holds a precis of the most commonly used rules and an area in which a fleet commander can record the ststs of the ships in their fleet, rather than having to refer out to the rulebook in the heat of battle.

Mediterranean Encounter (2)

Somewhat later than planned due to various equine shenanigans, here's the brief conclusion to the Renaissance galley action that I played out recently. As the previous post ended the Turks had given the Holy League light forces a real beasting and many ships had been sunk or captured. In the centre the Holy League heavies were enjoying more success, but their commander had a tough choice to make - fight on and risk total loss, or try to extricate what was left of his force.

Of course he chose the former, and it proved to be the right thing to do. The Turks managed to finish off the lighter galleys on the flanks, but in  the centre the heavy artillery of the galleasses scored some critical successes against the Turkish great galleys which left them vulnerable to their Christian opponents. In short order the Turkish centre collapsed. The Turkish admiral, realising his light forces were now at a disadvantage, decided to withdraw with his prizes and captives, and so the wings of his fleet headed for safety, easily outrunning the surviving Holy League fleet which now clustered around the lumbering galleasses. After another 12 phases (2 complete game turns) I judged that the Turks had successfully disengaged, their heavy ships mauled but their lighter forces still posing a significant threat, especially once their prizes could be refitted and turned against their former owners. But a tactical victory for the Holy League who held the field of battle al the close.

I was very pleased at how the rules played out, with the various mods and tweaks of the last few months resolving the last few inconsistencies and niggles that I had. Now to spruce up the formatting and put together a short QPS and they are done :)

Turkish light forces on their left flank decide to make a run for it as their centre falls apart.

The scene at games's end, Holy League heavies in the centre, Turkish light forces heading for the hills....

.

Mediterranean Encounter

For the last three days I've been trying to get a game in using my forthcoming fast play Renaissance galley rules. This decent sized battle was set up on Wednesday night but I only got a chance to play the first few turns today. It was worth the wait, as the game has proven to be quiet interesting, and as I write has reached a tricky phase for the Holy League.

The setup on Wednesday night - kick-off was three days later!

The island on the Holy League left flank

Batteries and buildings purely decorative for this action

Holy League light forces poised to the left of the island

The scenario features two roughly equally matched forces in a littoral environment. The Holy League had the advantage of four galleasses. Both sides deployed in fairly standard lines, with heavier ships taking the central positions, lighter galleys on the flanks. On the Holy League left (Turkish right) a large island annoyingly splits the battlefield and led to a smaller virtually independent action on that flank. Both sides have a number of bergantines in support, clustered around the middle of their fleets.

And we are off! Game finally started on Saturday afternoon

Both sides maintained a steady advance, the Holy League slowed by the presence of their galleasses. In the opening salvoes of heavy gunfire the Turks scores better than their opponents, causing a smattering of damage across the Christian fleet and shattering one light galley outright. Return fire caused some damage, then the fleets crashed into a widespread melee. The Holy league hed an advantage in short range gunnery and this quickly tore into the crews of the Turkish ships, but with bigger crews they were able to absorb the losses; the larger Turkish crews proved decisive on the flanks, where over half the Holy League light galleys succumbed to boarding and were captured or sunk. In the centre things were more evenly matched, with the galleasses in particular proving their worth in beating off a number of attacks, and a couple of Turkish heavy ships were sunk or captured.

The situation at the end of Phase 2 (end game turn 2) - the Holy League holds the centre, but the flanks are crushed

For info - red counters represent hull damage (two reds = KO), black indicate crew casualties, green signifies a ship that has been captured

The confused position in the centre - Holy League holding on and scoring some decent victories

But carnage amongst the Holy League light forces behind the island

And on the other flank, with a number of Holy League light galleys captured

As play draws to an end today the battle is poised in the Turk's favour: the Holy League light forces have been effectively destroyed leaving the flanks of the heavier ships exposed. The Holy League commander has a difficult choice to make - continue in the hope of breaking through the centre using his heavy galleasses as gunnery "battering rams", or to try to extricate his force before his heavy units are enveloped in a tide of Turkish light galleys.

Hopefully more tomorrow!