And the Prize goes to .....

Black Seas last night, as it transpired only Rob and I were playing, the club had a full house, some kind of Lord of the Rings tourney, Battlemech and Age of Sigmar, one small table with an historical connection but a room full of satisfied gamers.

Back in the Caribbean near the Sugar Islands Fort George was under threat from a French fleet, just in time from over the horizon a small British squadron under the command of the Honorable Viscount Anderson "The Sea Wolf" hove in to view. Commodore Robere Martineux had three frigates and three brigs loaded with soldiers to take Fort George, I had two frigates (Achilles (flag), Ajax) and two brigs (Tartar and Nubian) with which to destroy the French navy and hopefully save the fort.

The Sea Wolf arrives.

Make all speed boys, England expects.......

 As the enemy made for the fort two of the frigates and a brig turned to confront my force while the rest made for the island, a shadow of doubt flashed across my brain and I wondered what kind of state would my little fleet be in after confronting the blocking force. I decided therefore to gang up on this force and then make for the fort. As it turned out my brigs were left to their own devices and made a mess of their manoeuvres as did one of the French frigates so Ajax and Achilles took on the nearest frigate and the brig. This turned into a dogs dinner the upshot of which was no one really took a lot of hits and the fight broke up as both sides sailed to avoid some rocks around a lighthouse and moved closer to the action around the fort.

Ajax puts herself in harms way.

 Near the fort Rob had anchored one frigate and got his brigs into good positions to drop their longboats and head for the shore, a steady bombardment slowly reduced the defences, one longboat was lost but the others arrived safely and stormed the walls, the brave but futile defence was soon holed up in the main barracks.

Meanwhile at sea things began to turn in the Sea Wolf's favour, the captain of Ajax was very aggressive and his action saw the first French frigate strike her colours, this was followed shortly after by Achilles also getting a prize, the combination of Royal Navy seamanship and gunnery (good dice) was more than a match for the invaders. The third enemy frigate now arrived to bolster her companions but it was too late, Achilles and Ajax pounded her and Tartar moved in for a stern rake to finish her off, she too struck. Tartar however was only just afloat and her crew were given over to repairs for the rest of the action.

A perfect rake for both ships.

Achilles puts paid to another Frenchie.

The fort had now fallen and the Tricolour flew from the bastion, however the remaining French vessels were now in trouble as the larger British ships closed in, one brig was sent to the bottom while another was boarded as she lay stuck on a sandbank, a second prize for Ajax. The remaining Frenchman, actually a Spanish mercenary, took to the open seas and limped off. The victorious troops in the Fort now sent a deputation to the Sea Wolf to open negotiations for a surrender having no means of holding off the Royal Navy. or the Royal Marines landing from Tartar.

Mayhem around Fort George

The End.

The lone Spaniard slips away.

Once again a great game and narrative, I was actually quite lucky not to lose Ajax and Tartar as both had received a lot of damage, especially the latter, I was also able to benefit from taking the enemy frigates on one at a time while Rob was focusing on taking the fort. With four prizes in the net the Sea Wolf and his men can look forward to a rewarding bounty, perhaps I should sell that tavern in Portsmouth and get an estate in Kent?