G' Day DuxBritanniarum,
Apologies for the delayed reply; tons of things to take care of when you first return from a trip to the Med. Thanks for the nice comments on Post Captain. Here are the responses to your questions:
1. HMS Surprise gun crews - Yes, there is a bit of a misunderstanding. The Ship Card you are referring to is for the real HMS Surprise of the Napoleonic period. She was armed with a full complement of carronades rather than the long 12s described in the famous Patrick O'Brien novels. One of the characteristic of carronades was they could be operated by much smaller gun crews than traditional long guns. They weighed far less, recoiled on traversing slides and didn't have to be manhandled by large gun crews to run them in and out for reloading, etc. Even a 12 pounder or 18 pounder long gun would require moving a massive two or three ton iron cannon and related wooden gun truck back and forth by massive expenditure of raw muscle power, made even harder when a vessel was healed over due to the wind. This is reflected in Post Captain on Chart 1 B and rule page 1-11. The large crew requirements for traditional long guns are listed along the top of the Gun Crews per Gun Box table, while the small carronade requirements are listed right beneath the table and fairly easy to overlook. Nine pdr - 36 pdr carronade gun boxes only require ½ crew factor each. Thus, the four 32 pdr carronade boxes on one side of Surprise's gun deck require 2 crew factors and the three 18 pdr carronade boxes on the foc'sle and quarterdeck require an additional 1½ crew factors, leaving enough to work the ship, assisted by her Marine factors.
As you probably already know, the real Surprise was the French light frigate L'Unite taken by the British in 1796 and rated as a 6th rate 28 gun frigate armed with 24 9 pdrs on the gun deck ,eight 4pdrs and four12 pdr carronades on the quarterdeck and two 4 pdrs and two 12 pdr carronades on the foc'sle. She operated that way for several years before a major refit in 1798. Her new captain, Edward Hamilton, wanted an all carronade armament to replace her typical 6th rate guns. This was quite a radical departure as conventional wisdom held that while the heavy firepower of carronades would be very effective at close range, an alert opponent would soon detect it and stand off and bombard her into submission from beyond the short effective carronade range. This would later be borne out in several battles such as the demise of Capt. David Porter's USS Essex in the War of 1812. Somehow, Capt. Hamilton's view prevailed and HMS Surprise was rearmed with all carronades as indicated on the Ship Card provided.
All this is covered in detail on pages 43 - 44 of The Frigate Surprise by Geoff Hunt (the artist who painted the beautiful covers for the Patrick O'Brian novels) and well known naval historian of the Georgian Navy, Brian Lavery. This book describes the life and times of the real HMS Surprise in depth and contrasts her with O'Brian's fictional Surprise along with lot's of great art work and other details. Well worth getting a copy if you've got a soft spot for Surprise from O'Brian's great series - as I do. The real HMS Surprise had an active but typical career during the Napoleonic Wars, but fortunately never had to test her all carronade armament theory in a sea fight. Captain Hamilton and her crew earned their place in history when they cut out the ex british frigate Hermione from a heavily defended harbor in Venezuela and re-took her from the Spanish in 1799. The crew of HMS Hermione had previously brutally mutineed and turned her over to the Spanish. The Hermione mutiny was a famous and shocking event, known throughout the Royal Navy. Surprise's cutting out action went a long way to erasing a painful episode in British naval history.
HMS Surprise thus provides many interesting opportunities. You can sail her into action in any of three ways: with her original light 6th rate armament, her refitted all carronade armament or Patrick O'Brian's fictional armament.
2. Repair timing - Rule Section 8 indicates that you have to assign crew factors to repairs in the Rigging & Repair Phase to work repairs in follow-on Game Turns. Thus, you can assign crew factors in the Game Turn the damage is incurred and attempt to repair rigging damage in the next Game Turn. In the case of a two Game Turn type of damage, you can roll to complete repairs in the Rigging & Repair Phase at the end of the second Game Turn of repair work, and so on for three Game Turn repairs, etc.
3. Forced Back Crew Factors - Crew factors forced back in a melee can be used to reinforce an existing BP in the next Blue Phase. They do not need to have an officer assigned to make a reinforcing move. An officer would be required if forming a new BP and attempting to make a new attack.
4. Marine Volleys - The Marine factors simulate both files drawn up on the upper deck and those in the fighting tops. No distinction is made between the Marines in the tops and those on deck. In fact, most Marines were deployed on the upper deck as space in the fighting tops was quite limited. Also note, as provided in Section 9.2 on page 1 - 20, only one Marine factor can be assigned to fire volleys from the aft deck area and a second Marine factor assigned to fire volleys from the foc'sle in a Game Turn. A third Marine or Troop factor can be assigned to fire volleys from the waist deck area if available. Additional Marine or Troop factors can only volley when used to replace casualties due to the constricted deck space. A Marine factor can fire a volley in each Red, White and Blue tactical Phase, when in musket range, but can only fire before or as a boarding attempt is made. Thereafter, they are involved in the ensuing melee or can't fire into the disputed deck area as friend and foe are too intermingled. Gun crews can continue to serve their guns and fire until a melee occurs in their deck area, but they are also subject to hits from guns and musket volleys - as are factors formed into BPs.
Hopefully this helps clarify some of the nuances and HMS Surprise will find more chances to test her metal.
LONNIE
