Sunday, 22 March 2015

Galleys & Galleons - but I need a better camera

Three of us got together this weekend for a couple of three player Galleys & Galleons games. I'm really pleased with how robust the rules are proving to be and much anguish and laughter was enjoyed (in equal measure) by all involved. Both games had 600 points worth of models on the table - the recommended game size is 400 points total - and took between an hour and a half or two hours. All photos are mediocre to say the least.

The first game was a king-of-the-hill type scenario where multiple pirate captains vied to have their vessels as close to the centre of the table as possible. The fleets on the table in this game were the VOC merchant fleet, some Madagascar pirates and some Barbary corsairs.

Starting positions. The games were played on a 4 foot square board using 1/450 scale (4mm) vessels. The VOC as in the lower left, pirates in the upper left and corsairs upper right. It was the first outing for the new sea mat and the creases from the pack are very obvious. For the first game it actually helped pip-point the center of the table. By the second game I wasn't really paying attention to the creases, but I'll get to that later.

The game was more or less a two way affair with the VOC and corsairs racing to the centre to collect points over the first few turns. 

This cinematic moment marks the point that the pirates more or less gave up on the objective, turning away from the centre of the table to engage in a short range firefight - the brig Oberon hammering the cromster Haarlem.

Thing's continued to go downhill for the merchant fleet when their escort, the sloop Nassau, was set upon by several boatloads of pirates and forced to strike her colours.

Things ended up pretty bloody in the centre (as one would expect) as most of the ships converged and pounded each other with close range gunnery and boarding parties. The crews of the pirate cutters scuttled their own boats and seized control of the Nassau, only to find that she was no longer a viable vessel and quickly surrendered themselves to the corsairs. In the end, we called the game in about turn eight, with perhaps 5 victory points to the corsairs, 2 to to the VOC and 1 to the pirates.

The second game was a straight out three-way engagement with a twist. Well, two twists. 1) One of the factions was made up of creatures of the deep, and 2) the game took place right at the edge of the world. Any time any player rolled a turn over (this will mean more to people familiar with the Ganesha Games mechanics), all ships were pulled steadily towards the edge of the world. Several vessels - mostly mine I think - slipped right off.

The pirates started the shooting in this game at very long range, concentrating on the VOC. In the distance you might make out the far more menacing threat of a big fish.

Both of the largest vessels on the table suffered rigging damage fairly early on which was to prove really annoying as the currents continued to draw them towards the edge of the world - via an island surrounded by shallows....

And over they go. The first vessel to be sucked off the edge - a flotilla of pirate cutters, gets sucked into a foamy oblivion.

Both the pirate galleon Irrepressible and the VOC indiaman Brabant end up wrecked on the shores of the island at the end of the world. You can see the sea monster starting his rampage.

The pirate fleet is reduced to a leaking yacht and a couple of boats. The VOC cromster in the background is about to be broken into many, many small pieces.

Not a good sign for the pirate cutters - Triton and his pet fish close in.

The table at the end of the game. The VOC still have one damaged junk, the Peppercorn, slinking away. The pirates have nothing. Both the large ships were breaking up on the beach of the island and Triton and the sea monster, though well bloodied, were truly the victors of that one.

1 comment:

  1. I love the end of the world lore, really suits the superstition of the timeframe!