Channel Clash

[Tonbo Karasu]

Somewhere over the English Channel, 8.48am

“Captain, I cannot approve of this course of action,”
“So noted, Mister Miller, but Vickers have directed that we proceed to the location of the sighting and protect the British merchant shipping in the area, a strategic decision,” replied Mr Scott Michaels firmly.  He neglected to add his suspicion that the ulterior motive was to prove the mettle of the Destrier class and ensure that the Sky Admiralty commissioned several new vessels from his employers.
“Yes, sir.  I suggest that in the current tactical environment the crew be sent to ready stations.”  The ice in Sky Captain Neville Miller’s voice was evidence that he had read between the lines.
With a nod of his head, Michaels replied, “Carry on, Mister Miller.”
Within moments, the corridors of the HML Courser echoed with shouts of Petty Officers and the ringing of feet on metal as ratings ran to secure the few areas of the ship not ready for battle.

Half an hour later

“Sir! Guernsey in sight!” shouted the lookout.
“We are approaching our destination, sirs,” echoed the Officer of the Watch.
“Very good,” replied Michaels, although Miller merely nodded and continued studying the chart table and the chart on it.  Michaels then held out his hand and an alert crewman placed a set of binoculars into it.  He stepped forward and surveyed the island for a moment before speaking
“Mister Puller, if you were the Captain, sorry, Capitaine, of a French cruiser, intent on harrassing the British Merchant Navy in the area, where would you be?”
“Sir?” replied the Officer of the Watch, surprised.
“Yes, Mister Puller, I was addressing you.  Please act like an officer of the Royal Navy.”
“Yes, sir.  Sorry, sir. Uh, hovering over the sea, in sight of the harbour but out of range of the shore guns?”
“No, here,” interrupted Miller, stabbing a narrow finger at the chart.
Micahels lowered the glasses and looked back over his shoulder, “Between the two smaller islands, Herm and Jethou.  Yes, that does seem likely Mister Miller.”
He brought the glasses back up and looked further to the left just as a voice sang out “Smoke on the Port Bow!”
“So, Froggies, after all.  A light cruiser, by the looks of it.  Can we have a bit of battle stations, please?”
And klaxons sounded all over the ship…

_______________________

And that is the beginning of the intro to the first PBF game of Leviathans.  All we are looking for is a French captain

[Tonbo Karasu]

Guernsey, the evening before

"Ha, see how the little English boats flee from us.  Put a shot across his path and run out the flags for him to heave to."
"Oui, mon Capitaine!"
Capitaine Vernet sighed, "In the Navy there are My God and my arse, no 'my captain'!"
The man, no,he was really a boy, looked flustered, "Sorry, Capitaine."
"Just do it, boy," and he waved him away.
His first officer came to his side, "That's the third one today, sir."
"Yes, we should be able to take the valuables aboard, and toss a fair bit more English cargo to the bottom of La Manche.  Would you oversee the boarding?"
"Sir!" Lieutenant Brosse saluted, about-turned and left the bridge.  Capitaine Vernet, meanwhile, leaned back against the wall and pulled out a snuff box.

Shortly

Brosse climbed down the rope ladder hanging from the belly hatch of the Faucon-class where his group of Marines had rapelled onto the deck of the British Merchant Vessel moments ago.  'Thank god for that climber, what was his name again?  Charlet.  Without him, boarding sea vessels would be particularly more difficult.'
"Sir, I protest this act of piracy in the strongest possible terms!"  Brosse, turned quickly to see the ship's master glaring at him and speaking appalling French. 
Brosse responded, not deigning to speak this man's own tongue, "Despite what your Salisbury may say, this area of La Manche is French Territorial Waters, and we are entirely within our rights to search illegal vessels and seize their cargo."
In the background, crewmen were flinging barrels over the railings, or heaping a few up on a pallet which had been winched down from above.  "Just think yourself lucky we are letting you keep your ship."


In half an hour, it was over, and the French Marines were climbing hand over hand at great speed, as the Gany slipped up and away.  On the bridge the Capitaine and his First Officer were relaxing.  "How soon do you think they wil send someone to stop us?"
"Midday tomorrow, at the earliest.
"Make sure to be ready then, Lt Brosse."
"Of course, sir."

Next Morning
Capitaine Vernet was rudely awoken from sleep by the klaxon sounding battle stations.
"What is it?" he asked, while stepping onto the bridge and fastening his jacket simultaneously.
"Smoke on the horizon, an English Gany, but I do not recognise it!"
"Earlier than we thought, but we'll just have to see..."

[Tonbo Karasu]

And so here's the location of the two cruisers as the spot each other.



This turn, no-one's in range to fire, so could I have your moves please, messaging is probably easiest.

[Tonbo Karasu]

Chasse Faucon

"Helm!  Give us some distance, don't let them close to within range before we are ready for them."  Vernet was still fastening his buttons as he snapped off orders.
"Capitaine!"
"Brosse!   Make sure that all the watch changes take place, now.  Start with the Port,  and let me know when it's done."
"Capitaine!"
"d'Avinue!  Call off ranges, see if you can estimate their maximum speed."
"Capitaine!"
"Spotter!  What can you tell me."
"It looks like they have a pair of big guns in a bow turret, Capitaine."
"Hmm, what to do..." The Captain mused.

HML Courser

"Mister Miller, if you'd be so kind as to take control of the bridge for the duration of the engagement," Michaels announced.
"Yes sir," replied the Navy man, standing up to take the central position, while Michaels backed away to the chart table.
"Helm, maintain Cruising speed at this course for the present.  Turret 1, track the French vessel and fire on command.  Broadside batteries, standby."
There was a chorus of 'Yes sir's and echoes of the commands being relayed along the rest of the ship.
"So, let's see what Vickers has given us..."



Still out of range, so no fire

[Tonbo Karasu]

Chasse Faucon

The shouting and banging about the ship gradually died down to the normal combat levels and various whistles and shouts were relayed to the bridge.
"Capitaine, the broadside officers report that their crews are ready," said Lt Brosse.
"Good.  Helm, steer 6 Points to Port."
"Yes, sir!"
"It is time to close with the enemy.  I am sure that our armour will be able to stand up to those inferior English guns.  Then it will be time to begin hunting."  Capitaine Vernet, smiling, tugged his sleeves and straightened his jacket.

HML Courser

"Capt... uh, Sir," stammered a sharp-eyed rating, "She's starting to turn towards us."
In the background, an ironic smile touched Michaels' lips while Miller only nodded in response to the report.
"All engines, Ahead Slow.  Midshipman, count down the range please."
"Sir!  1500 yards...  1400 yards..."
"Turret A, maximum elevation"
"1300... 1250...  1200.."
"Fire!"

Writer's note
I couldn't find the hex scale for the game, so used a nice round number.  Can someone tell me if I'm correct?



Some people are in range now, so can you tell me the guns you want to fire and at which targets, followed by your next move.

[pianobar]

Writer's note
I couldn't find the hex scale for the game, so used a nice round number.  Can someone tell me if I'm correct?

There is no "given" scale, so I'm good with whatever you decide on for the story scale.

Writer's note
Some people are in range now, so can you tell me the guns you want to fire and at which targets, followed by your next move.

So, we'll be declaring move without knowing the result of the current volley? Hrm...ok

[Tonbo Karasu]

Two reasons for that:

1)  To speed up gameplay: if each Leviathans Turn is the same as one exchange of e-mails/messages as opposed to two, that halves the amount of time it takes to finish the game.

2)  A bit of fog of war:  given the ranges involved it is not unreasonable to think that decisions will need to be made before knowing exactly what's happened to the enemy ship(s).

[Lord Cameron]

Writer's note
Some people are in range now, so can you tell me the guns you want to fire and at wich targets....

Is there really any need to give firing orders on a 1 on 1 battle? Just assume that all guns that CAN shoot will do so.

If I understand correctly, even if you target the bow hex of a ship, if your shot enters through the side arc it is counted against the side?
The only option for firing would be for the bow of the French ship, which has two gun types.
So I will specify "auto-fire" All of my guns that can possibly fire will do so each turn, with the larger calibers firing first. Unless there is some other reason why we would need to specify targets?

So we only really need to give move orders, IMO

(move sent)

[Tonbo Karasu]

HML Courser

“Fire!” 
Flame erupted from the 7½” barrels on the turret, accompanied by a thunderclap and Miller watched a white trail spiraling off towards the French vessel.
“What happened to the second gun?” he snapped as the line of smoke sailed past the low silhouette of its target without hitting it.
“Don’t know, sir.”
“Then find out!”  The poor Midshipman grabbed a speaking tube and started talking rapidly.
“Helm, all ahead full. I want to get past them before they’re ready, prepare the Starboard broadside.”
“Turret 1 says it was a dud shell, sir.  They’re clearing the barrel and will be ready in just a moment.”
“Captain Michaels, may I suggest that you inform Vickers that our performance will be adversly affected by the provision of sub-standard munitions,” growled Miller through clenched teeth.
“Leave that to me,” the Captain replied, “You should concentrate on the battle,” holding a stanchion to counteract the acceleration.
"Sir, she's turning towards us!"
"Helm! Come to a heading of 120 degrees, on my mark."
Miller kept a careful watch on the range and heading of his opponent then, shortly after they had passed, "Mark!"

Chasse Faucon

“Merde!” swore Verdet, with feeling, as smoke blossomed from the front of the enemy ship, “He outranges us.  All hands, Brace!”
Nearly everyone on the bridge flinched as something raced over the top of the Chasse with a sound like a steam locomotive.
“The 100mm turret should be in range now, Capitaine,” reported Lt Brosse.  Verdet nodded and Brosse pressed a button on the console.  Moments later twin reports sounded, but the white chemical smoke that traced the shells’ passage passed harmlessly to the side of the British cruiser.
"Bring us 5 points to starboard."
"Yes, Capitaine."
Suddenly, it seemed, the enemy were racing past, right in front of the bow, barely 100 yards away.  "Why didn't we fire Lieutenant?"
"Sorry, Capitaine, the main guns weren't reloaded."
"Keep that turn going then, let's see if we can't get them again

Game effects
The Courser fired its 2 bow guns at the bow of the Chasse, rolling Red for the gun, Blue for the crew and Blue for the target.  Rolls:
[4 4 2][Slot 4] 10 < 16, no effect.
[1 1 4][Slot 5] 6 < 15, no effect.
Chasse can only return fire with the one battery, rolling Green for the gun, Blue for the crew and Red for the target.  Roll
[4 1 5][Slot 5] 10 < 13, no effect.

GM comments

You're both quite right, I'm getting a bit obsessively bogged down in the minutiae.  I shll henceforth assume all firing happens as appropriate.  however, I will still do it in the sequence: Fire, Movement, Results, Orders.  I'd quite like to hear what you think of the format.

[Lord Cameron]

I will fire my Starboard guns at the side of the British ship
I belive that my bow guns can also target the stern hex of the Courser, so I will fire those as well. (Large caliber first)

[pianobar]

I belive that my bow guns can also target the stern hex of the Courser, so I will fire those as well. (Large caliber first)

The bow guns can hit, but it would be against the Starboard side and not the Stern slots based on the shortest most direct route. Good placement on getting the extra guns in there!

[Tonbo Karasu]

Fire rippled along the flanks of the two leviathans and streamers of white, chemical smoke stitched them together with gouts of flame leaping from wherever one of the lines touched the metal hulls.  As the gunsmoke cleared breaches became visible: plates of armour had flowered away from a section of the starboard quarter of the Chasse, and fire flickered in the bow of HML Courser.

Chasse Faucon

The bridge shuddered, first to the volley of guns firing, then to the detonations of shells on the hull.  One explosion seemed particularly loud, and the vessel started to list.   “Damage report, Jean-Michel!”
Lt Brosse talked urgently with incoming runners before reporting.  “The starboard tanks have taken a hit.  We’re re-trimming the port tanks to compensate.”
“Helm, keep that turn to starboard going, we should be able to turn inside him.”
“I see, and keep the breach masked from the enemy, yes Capitaine?”
“Indeed, if we are lucky, we’ll even manage to get a shot up his fans, then we’ll see who is the better ship.”
“And sir, I saw his nameplate: he’s called Courser.”

HML Courser

“Come to heading 000,” Miller ordered the helmsman, “Prepare port guns to fire, load starboard batteries,”
“Yessir,”
“Sir, starboard batteries not responding”
One of the lookouts shouted into the bridge, “Sir, I can see a hole, it looks like one of the shells got through their flank armour.”
“I’ll be sure to report on the efficacy of our munitions, or lack thereof, to Vickers,” said Captain Michaels mildly.
Michaels merely shot him a glare and continued tracking the path of the French vessel.  “They’re trying to get behind us, keep turning to port.”

Game effects
The Courser fired its broadside at the Chasse, rolling Blue for the gun, Blue for the crew and Black for the target.  Rolls:
[3 2 7][Slot 2] 12 < 14, no effect.
[1 1 2][Slot 3] 6 < 13, no effect.
[2 5 9][Slot 4] 16 = 15, breach: Trim Tank destroyed.

Chasse gets a broadside and the bow guns involved.  All guns have a Blue gun die and a Black target die, but the bow guns get a Blue crew die compared to the Green die on the broadside. Rolls
[3 2 9][Slot 1] 14 > 12, breach: Gun destroyed
[5 3 3][Slot 4] 11 < 15, no effect.
[5 2 5][Slot 3] 12 < 13, no effect.
[3 3 5][Slot 3] 11 < 13, no effect.
[3 1 4][Slot 1][Reroll 4] 8 < 14, no effect.
[2 1 6][Slot 5] 9 < 16, no effect.

[Tonbo Karasu]

HML Courser
"Fire port batteries."
Thunder rolled for seconds, and the prow of the Chasse Faucon was engulfed in a wreath of smoke and fire, but emerged, moments later, its bow turrets spewing explosive ordnance that caused the hull to ring like a bell.
"We can't seem to scratch it, sir, that bow armour is too thick," commented the Chief Gunnery Officer.
"Keep turning, try to get our 7 1/2 inchers into play again."
"Sir, the starboard gun deck has reported.  The bow quadrant and CPO are gone, but they're ready to fire again and have runners standing by."
Miller grunted in reply, then addressed the helmsman, "Keep our Port side towards them, it has more firepower."

Chasse Faucon
"Why is it that we are still not breaching his armour, Lieutenant?"
Lt Brosse took the binoculars and studied their target, "Capitaine, it looks to me as though all our shells are striking him on the main armour belt."
"So, what should we do?"
The lieutenant thought for a while, "Continue our pursuit and hope to get behind him.  Also, get the gunners to raise their aim."

[pianobar]

What were the game effects for that round, any?

[pianobar]

Game effects
The Courser fired its broadside at the Chasse, rolling Blue for the gun, Blue for the crew and Black for the target.  Rolls:
[3 2 7][Slot 2] 12 < 15, no effect.
[1 1 2][Slot 3] 6 < 13, no effect.
[2 5 9][Slot 4] 16 = 16, breach: gun destroyed.

I believe the Chasse is a Faucon-Class, do is it using the same slots as the Ardent?
Slot 2 would be a 14, still miss. Slot 3 would be a 13, still miss. Slot 4 would have been 15, a breach on Tesla Coil Trim Tank effecting future weapon shots...not a gun, at least per my James Excerpt. Did you mean Slot 5 instead, as that would have been a 16 w/ Gun Destroyed. Please doublecheck and let us know.