6 replies to this topic

[coachburd]

We played our first game Saturday and have a question.  I hammered my opponent crew and he had to constantly adjust where they went.  My question is once he takes hits to his crew does he reallocate his crew or is that only done at the end of the turn?  If it is not done immediately can he choose which crew members are hit, i.e. gun crew or repair crew etc.

 

Also at the end of a turn can you assign surplus crew to cut free rigging damage and then put them on a repair crew for the next turn, or if your guns are now loaded can you pull someone off of the gun crew to cut the rigging free at the end of the turn and then go back to the guns.

 

I am just trying to find out when the crew is assigned.  Is it a fluid thing that we are tracking every phase or is it set for a turn?

 

Thanks lot

 

David B

[David Nichols]

Hi David

 

Our game saw a lot of long range shooting so no hammering as such, but crew was an issue (as we didnt have any spares except the upper deck gun crews).

 

However, my read is that crew are generally reassigned in the repair and command phases and are assigned for a full turn (have a look at the sequence of play on chart 1A).

 

If crew are assigned to a repair action, you roll for the success of that action next turn (at least that is how we have been doing it) see the Assing section of the play sequence on chart 1A (again :-)

 

I assume you can choose where the losses fall (repair crew, gun crew, etc) with the impact being felt from the following phase if necessary. Lost repair crew would potentially stop you making the repair roll in the next repair phase. This was why we were using the upper deck gun crews, as at the ranges we were fighting they were not actually engaged.

 

Cheers

David

[coachburd]

David

 

That is how I read it but wanted to be sure.  So if you had a crew assigned to a gun crew to reload and they were lost then you would have to stop reloading some where.  If the guns were already reloaded I guess it would not matter.

 

Also do you round up or down for crew to man guns?  Can you count all guns together or do you need to crew lower guns, then upper guns etc.  We kept ending up with 5 and 1/3 crew members.  Would that count as 5 or 6 crew?

[David Nichols]

If you became short crewed on a battery during reloading I assume you would end the normal loading cycle with an unloaded gun box,

which you could then complete loading using some of the other crew if you have time. Otherwise the battery effectively gets smaller.

 

I've been working on the assumption that rounding to the nearest half applies unless specified

(this would apply to both crew and speed, but rounding down applies to guns).

I'd call 5 and a third, near enough to five and a half (since you can suffer half crew casualties).

 

Cheers

David

[Lonnie Gill]

G’ Day David,

 

Good questions.  The need to manage crew assets is an important task for a captain in the age of sail – and rather different from our 20^th and 21^st Century experience where most crewmen are assigned to a single battle station in the engineering spaces, turrets, etc. for the duration of an engagement.  That said, we should avoid making crew assignment into a bookkeeping chore as noted in rule Section 11.2.  Accordingly, Crew factors are considered employed in sail trim and gun crews unless otherwise noted for BPs, repair and extended tasks.  A handy way to show this is to complete the initial Crew Assignment column at the bottom of the Deck Log.

 

Now, to your specific questions.  The Crew Assignments bullet in rule Section 11.2 (page 1-23) specifies “Personnel factors are assigned to one task for the duration of a Game Turn.”  Repair tasks are assigned for the following Game Turn in the Rigging & Repair Phase of the Game Turn per rule Sections 8 and 8.1 while BP (Boarding Parties) are assigned in the Command Phase per rule Section 11.2.  These are also noted on the Game Turn Sequence at the beginning of the Basic Rules and on Chart 1 A.  Crew factors are assigned to extended tasks (such as hoisting boats, preparing tows, &c.) by recording them on the appropriate GT row of the Deck Log as described in rule Section 20 (page 2-1).  While we did not specify the exact point of assignment for every type of task, it is done at the end of the Game Turn.  My bad, I suppose, in leaving room for interpretation while trying to avoid overemphasizing bookkeeping.

 

Therefore, let me add some clarification:

·         All tasks last for the duration of the Game Turn, as provided in rule Section 11.2.

·         BPs and extended tasks – other than repair tasks designated in rule Section 8 – are assigned in the Command Phase at the end of the Game Turn for the next Game Turn.

·         Extended tasks and repair tasks are recorded on the Deck Log using the Repair Codes and Task Codes listed below the Game Turn rows on the Log.

·         Crew factors exceeding these logged tasks are assigned to gun crews and sail trim.  This avoids having to record specific factors for every task every Game Turn.  The sum of the factors for logged tasks are subtracted from the total factors available to determine how many can work the guns or trim sails in a Game Turn.  Excess factors are available to replace casualties.   Normally a captain will, at a minimum, keep enough factors to trim sails (indicated by the underlined factors in the Crew section of the Ship Card) with the remainder for the guns, but the choice is his.

·         Marine factors provide an additional source of manpower for gun crews as provided in rule Section 5.2.

·         When Crew casualties are incurred, the target captain can determine which tasks get affected in a Game Turn if the Crew factors available get reduced below the total needed for all tasks.  The target captain can also reallocate at the end of the Game Turn for the next Game Turn.

·         Ungrappling is a short-term task that can be performed by any Crew factor on the upper deck not involved in a melee during a boarding action per rule Section 10.6.  Cutting free mast wreckage or fouled rigging using the Mast free section of the CUTTING FREE table, however, is a repair task that takes a full Game Turn [or more] and is resolved in the Rigging & Repair Phase.  Ungrappling can also be done during the Rigging & Repair Phase when uncontested.

·         Once loaded, a gun battery can be fired without assigned gun crews as only one tar (from gun crews serving the other broadside or other batteries) is required to pull the lanyard or touch the slow match.  Reloading, however, requires the full gun crew as described in rule Section 5.2.

Hopefully, these additional clarifications provide the answers needed to help your captains command their ships with a sure hand.

 

Your obt. Servant, &c.,

 

LONNIE

[coachburd]

Thanks a lot Lonnie for the response.  Game #2 is tonight.  So far we love the rules and we played most of the rules the way you described them.  I just needed some clarification.  I do have another question.  I understand the whole crew is needed to load the gun.  But some guns require 1 and 1/3 crew.  How do you record that on the assignments.  Crew are assigned whole numbers but the # of crew required is usually a fraction.  Also do you need to figure each deck seperately or can you total all guns together to get the number of gun crew needed.  Great set of rules

 

I just want to make sure we are doing things correctly

[Lonnie Gill]

G' Day Coachburd,

 

Glad you are enjoying them!  That makes our years worth of work worthwhile.  

 

The easiest way is to treat the gun crews as a total when determining the number of Crew and Marine factors needed.  If there aren't enough, then a captain can determine which Gun boxes of which battery/deck are not served.  While the size of gun crews for a three cannon Gun box sometimes results in fractions of a 24 sailor Crew factor, this is simplified at the total level. As stated in the previous answer, you don't need to specifically record gun crew assignments as they are what's available after subtracting the BPs and logged tasks and factors needed for sail trim from the total factors available.  The Crew allocation columns on the Deck Log are a handy way to double check this when a significant change occurs or an opponent challenges whether a captain has enough Crew and Marines for a particular activity.   These provide a box for each gun deck/battery to make the calculation easier.   

 

I remain, your obt. servant, &c.

 

LONNIE