The predawn hours of December 23rd are marked by heavy rain and rough seas. Already two days behind schedule, Admiral Leto decides to put the Nycenaean 1st Fleet to sea along with the transports carrying 6th Army.
Hugging the coastline, the going is slow, great care is made not to lose any of the transports. Under normal conditions, the fleet would begin its assault on the port of Gaithoe at dawn, instead, the fleet has just reached the mouth of the Planetkore, the river which serves as the boundary between the Nycenaean League and the Asterian Alliance. “Enemy ships off the port bow” cries the lookout.
The Situation
The Asterian task force consisting of 2 squadrons of Quinqueremes, 2 squadrons of Quadriremes, and 12 squadrons of Liburnians were deployed across the mouth of the Planetkore River to prevent Nycenaean ships from sailing upriver to support the invading armies. They did not expect to meet a huge invasion force bound for the port of Gaithoe.
Adrmiral Leto cannot ignore the Asterians. Though the Planetkore River is not a part of her mission, Admiral Leto cannot bypass the Asterian task force and have such a large number of ships in her rear. She arrays her warships to give battle while the troop transports and their escorts sail on to assault Gaithoe.
Warring Fleets
The ruleset I’ll be using for this game is Warring Fleets from Two Hour Wargames. However, I’ll be playing the game on a tabletop and not on a battle board. Modifying the game for the tabletop is easier than what you might think.
Movement
Changing Warring Fleet’s movement from the battle board to the tabletop was easy – just double the Move Points and change them into inches.
- Rate 6 ships move 4 inches
- Rate 4 ships move 6 inches
- Rate 2 ships move 8 inches
A ship can change direction by turning up to 45 degrees. Rate 6 and 4 ships can turn once per turn and Rate 2 ships can turn twice per turn.
Oarred ships can move backwards at half movement.
Firing
Moving from the battle board to the tabletop means I now have to consider range when firing. I chose something simple – engines and cannon have a range of 12 inches. If the target is closer than 6 inches, add +1d6 bonus when firing.
Both engines and cannon have a 45-degree arc of fire.
Grappling and Boarding
When an Active Player’s ship is one inch from an enemy ship, she can choose to grapple and board the enemy ship.
A Note about Ramming
If you’ve ever seen a movie with ancient galleys (Ben Hur & Cleopatra, come to mind), then you’ve seen cinematic scenes of ships ramming one another. Almost all ancient warships were built with a bronze rostrum or “beak” for the purpose of ramming other ships. So why no ramming in the rules?
Well, the construction of larger ships and having larger navies made ramming a tactic of last resort.
To successfully ram a ship required a well-trained crew. This is why the Athenians, and their allies were a great sea power, the democracies spent money on training. This is also where you get the saying “Democracies build navies, dictators build armies.” The Trireme is an example of a ship built for speed and ramming and not so much for boarding. A Trireme only carried 10 marines and 4 archers.
On, the other hand, a Quinquereme is a little longer than a Trireme, but wider and taller with more decks, being able to carry a compliment of up to 120 marines. Wider ships carrying more marines and war engines changed the tactics from damaging a ship to damaging a ship’s crew.
All this means is that by the Hellenistic age and into the Roman era a captain had to be desperate or nuts to ram another ship, though warships were still being built with rams. You can now see including ramming in a game requires special rules complicating and slowing the game down for the few times ramming and even oar raking would occur.
The Ships
Quinquereme (Qi) – Main warship of the Asterian and Nycenaean navies. It is a Rate 4 ship with five banks of oars and towers fore and aft giving its Engines the ability to fire to the rear as well as the front.
Quadrireme (Qu) – Rate 4 warship with four banks of oars and a forward tower.
Trireme (Tr) – Rate 4 warship with three banks of oars noted for its speed and ramming capability.
Bireme (Bi) – Rate 2 small warship with two banks of oars.
Hemiola (He) – Fast Rate 2 small warship with one- and one-half banks of oars, often used for patrol and courier duties.
Liburnian (Li) – Upgraded Rate 2 bireme used in the Asterian navy.
River Liburnian (LiR) – Rate 2 Liburnian built with a shallower draft for use on rivers as well as sea.
Large Oared Merchant (LO) – Rate 4 unarmed transport vessel.
Small Oared Merchant (SO) – Rate 2 unarmed transport vessel.
Large Merchant (LM) – Rate 4 unarmed transport vessel without oars.
A full roster of all of the ships appears at the end of this post.
Pregame Tasks
Admiral Leto of the Nycenaean fleet and Captains Timandra and Tryphena of the Asterians are the only Rep 5 captains and crew.
All other warships are Rep 4 and all transports are Rep 3.
All Asterian crews are Elite Trained.
Rolling a 2, Admiral Leto has a War Rating of 3, while Commander Timandra rolls a 4 for a War Rating of 2.
The game is played on a 2 foot by 4 foot mat with counters.
The Asterians are deployed on the South side of the mat with the Nycenaeans on the North side providing a screen for the transports and their escorts. While the Nycenaean warships move South to engage the Asterians, the transports will sail from East to West.
Turn 1
Nycenaeans roll a 1 and add their War Rating 3 for a total of 4. The Asterians roll a 3 and add their War Rating 2 for a total of 5. The Asterians win the Advantage. [From this point on, I will just say who won the Advantage instead of reporting the die rolls.]
The Asterians move their ships from right to left. Asterians fire on Nycenaean ships in range: Timandra QiA hits Kallisto QuD reducing Crew to 3; Cratais QiC hits Heliodora QuF reducing Move Points to 2; Antiope QiD hits Melite QiJ reducing Crew to 3; Tryphena QuA hits Leto QiA reducing Crew to 4.
Nycenaean ships return fire. Kallisto QuD misses; Heliodora QuF hits Cratais QiC reducing Move Points to 2; Melite QiJ hits Antiope QiD reducing Crew to 3; Leto QiA misses.
All ships Continue On.
Nycenaean ships move and then fire. Caleope QuI hits Melanie LiE reducing Move Points to 3; Phigaleia QuG hits Danae QuE reducing Crew to 3; Hypsipyle QuC hits Evadne LiG reducing Move Points to 3; Otonia QuA hits Xene LiH reducing Move Points to 3; Chloe QuB hits Astyoche LiB reducing Crew to 1; Epicaste QiI hits LiC reducing Crew to 1; Sebastia QiC hits Kyntha LiEE reducing Crew to 1; Leto QiA hits Agamede LiDD reducing Crew to 1, Nemerte QiB hits Procris LiFF reducing Move Points to 3; Pylia QiD hits Agave QiE reducing Crew to 3; Thalassa QiE hits Antiope QiD reducing Crew to 2; Apseudes QiJJ hits Deipyle LiRBB reducing Crew to 1; Harmonia QiII hits Rhene LiRCC reducing Crew to 1; Artemisia QuE hits Callinessa QiB reducing Move Points to 3; Kallisto QuD hits Timandea QiA reducing Crew to 4.
Asterians return fire. Cratais QiC hits Heliodora QuF reducing Crew to 3; Timandra QiA hits Kallisto QuD reducing Move Points to 2; Baucis QiB hits Artemisia QuE reducing Crew to 2; Agave QiE hits Pylia QiD reducing Crew to 3; Tryphena QuA hits Aglaia QiH reducing Crew to 3; Psyche QuB hits Autonoe QiG reducing Crew to 3; Leucothoe QuD hits Neaera QuH reducing Crew to 3; Danae QuE hits Phigaleia QuG reducing Crew to 3;
Nycenaean ship Phigaleia turns & runs. Asterian ships Antiope, Danae, Astyoche, Melanie, Kynthia, Deipyle turn and run. All other ships Continue On
Turn 2
Asterians win the Advantage. After moving, Asterian ships not grappled and boarding, fire. Agave QiE hits Milto QiJJ reducing Crew to 3; Thelma QuC hits Leto QiA reducing Crew to 3; Tryphena QuA hits Pylia QiC reducing Move Points to 2; Psyche QuB hits Aglaia QiH reducing Move Points to 2; Persephone QuF hits Hypsipyle QuC reducing Crew to 3; Leucothoe QuD hits Neaera QuH reducing Move Points to 2;
Nycenaean ships fired upon return fire. Leto QiA hits Thelma QuC reducing Crew to 3; Aglaia QiH hits Psyche QuB reducing Crew to 3; Hypsipyle QuC hits Persephone QuF reducing Move Points to 2.
Asterian Grappling and Boarding Actions
- Agathonice LiRD & Canace LiRF board Agape TrD – Agape surrenders
- Agarista LiRGG & Laodameia LiRHH board Nycenaean Tryphena TrE -Agarista’s Crew reduced to 1; Tryphena surrenders
- Elpir LiRE & Prone LiRFF board Acte TrF – Elpir’s Crew reduced to 1 and all boarders repelled
- Epicaste LiRDD & Autonoe LiREE board Briseis QuII – Brisris surrenders
- Chloris LiRC & Megara LiRA board Leda QuJ – Chloris’ Crew reduced to 1; Leda surrenders
- Callianessa LiRB boards Milto QuJJ – Callianessa surrenders; Milto’s Crew reduced to 1
- Timandra QiA boards Kallisto QuD – Timandra’s Crew reduced to 3; Kallisto surrenders
- Baucis QiB boards Artemisia QuE – Artemisia surrenders
- Halie LiRAA & Rhene LiRCC board Harmonia QiII – Halie’s Crew reduced to 1; boarders repelled
- Amphithoe QiF boards Melite QiJ – Melite surrenders
- Iole LiGG & Nephele LiHH board Pylia QiD – Pylia surrenders
- Procris LiFF & Agamede LiDD board Actaee QiFF – Actaee surrenders
- Niobe LiAA & Nikaia LiCC board Nycenaean Autonoe QiG – Autonoe surrenders
- Evadne LiG & Xene LiH board Otonia QuA – Evadne’s & Xene’s Crews reduced to 1; Otonia surrenders
- Hero LiD boards Agothe TrB – Hero surrenders; Agothe’s Crew reduced to 2
- Endeis LiF boards Stheneboea TrA – Stheneboea surrenders
- Phyllis LiA & Auxesia board Periboea – Phyllis’ Crew reduced to 1; Periboea surrenders
Nycenaean ships Milto and Agothe turn and run. Asterian ships Phyllis, Evadne, Xene, Chloris, Elpir, Halie, Rhene, and Agarista turn and run. All other ships continue on.
Nycenaeans move and then fire. Heliodora QuF hits Cratais QiC reducing Move Points to 1; Nemerte QiB hits Thelma QuC reducing Move Points to 2; Leto QiA hits Tryphena QuA reducing Move Points to 2; Sebastia QiC hits Psyche QuB reducing Crew to 2; Aglaia QiH hits Nikaia LiCC reducing Move Points to 3; Epicaste QiI hits Niobe LiAA reducing Crew to 1; Chloe QuB hits Thetis LiBB reducing Move Points to 3; Hypsipyle QuC hits Leucothoe QuD reducing Move Points to 2; Neaera QuH hits Leucothoe QuD reducing Crew to 3.
Asterians return fire. Cratais QiC hits Heliodora QuF reducing Crew to 2; Thelma QuC hits Nemerte reducing Crew to 3; Tryphena QuA hits Leto QiA reducing Crew to 2; Psyche QuB hits Sebastia reducing Crew to 3; Leucothoe QuD hits Hypsipyle QuC reducing Move Points to 2.
Nycenaean ships Heliodora and Neaera turn and run. Asterian ships all continue on.
At this point, each side has lost 37% of its ships, However, the Nycenaeans have suffered damage to only 46% of their ships while the Asterians have taken damage to 65% of their ships.
Knowing Admiral Leto will fight to the last ship if necessary to protect the convey and with her own orders to guard the river delta, Commander Timandra orders a withdrawal. Surrendered vessels are set free.
Upon seeing the Asterians withdraw, Admiral Leto does likewise, but before releasing the Hero and the Callianessa, she orders their hulls damaged. Each ship’s Hull is reduced to 1.
The battle is a victory for the Nyceneans.
Final Thoughts
At first, I thought the Asterians would easily defeat the larger Nycenaean fleet, but then I realized only the Asterians Elite Training kept their smaller ships from being swept away like flies.
Warring Fleets is an abstracted game, which suits the needs of my campaign well. There are other rules for naval combat which are much more detailed and probably with a steeper learning curve. Every convention I’ve ever been to has had a Napoleonic naval game. These games are huge with 8′ x 8′ or 8′ x 12′ tables. I sometimes think the players of those games get more satisfaction from sailing their ships than the actual combat.
The next naval games are going to be interesting as the reduction in Hull, Crew and Move Points carry over until a ship puts into a port for repairs. Admiral Leto, having lost the element of surprise will face a fresh fleet at Gaithoe and Commander Timandra will face another Nycenaean fleet soon.
What do you think? Do you enjoy naval games? As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome.
The Iron Queen’s War Posts:
| 1 | Making a Darn Good Game More Complicated |
| 2 | The Outline Map |
| 3 | Adding Terrain to the Map |
| 4 | Armies and Navies |
| 5 | Campaign Mobilization |
| 6 | The Iron Queen’s War, Part 1 |
| 7 | The Iron Queen’s War, Part 2 |
Financial Plug
Battle of the Planetkore Delta Post
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Nycenaean Starting Roster
| Captain | Ship | Rate | Hull | Crew | Move | Rep | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leto (C-in-C) | Qi A | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | Engine |
| Nemerte | Qi B | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Sebastia | Qi C | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Pylia | Qi D | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Thalassa | Qi E | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Actaee | Qi F | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Autonoe | Qi G | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Aglaia | Qi H | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Epicaste | Qi I | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Melite | Qi J | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Harmonia | Qi II | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Apseudes | Qi JJ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Otonia | Qu A | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Chloe | Qu B | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Hypsipyle | Qu C | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Kallisto | Qu D | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Artemisia | Qu E | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Heliodora | Qu F | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Phigaleia | Qu G | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Neaera | Qu H | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Caleope | Qu I | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Leda | Qu J | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Briseis | Qu II | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Milto | Qu JJ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Stheneboea | Tr A | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Agothe | Tr B | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Periboea | Tr C | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Agape | Tr D | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Tryphena | Tr E | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Acte | Tr F | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Lanike | Bi A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Perse | Bi B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Demetria | Bi C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Aglaurus | Bi D | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Prone | Bi E | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Ariadne | Bi F | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Kephissa | He A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Kassandra | He B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Eriphyle | He C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Anthousa | LO A | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
| Halie | LO B | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
| Psyche | LO C | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
| Argeia | LO D | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
| Lalage | SO A | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Theodotis | SO B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Melissa | SO C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Phaedra | SO D | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Hilaera | SO E | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Hermine | SO F | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Enyo | SO G | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Pelopia | SO H | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Transport |
| Basiane | LM A | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
| Persephone | LM B | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
| Amphitrite | LM C | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
| Iola | LM D | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Transport |
Asterian Starting Roster
| Captain | Ship | Rate | Hull | Crew | Move | Rep | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timandra (C-in-C) | Qi A | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | Engine |
| Baucis | Qi B | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Cratais | Qi C | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Antiope | Qi D | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Agave | Qi E | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Amphithoe | Qi F | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Tryphena | Qu A | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | Engine |
| Psyche | Qu B | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Thelma | Qu C | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Leucothoe | Qu D | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Danae | Qu E | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Persephone | Qu F | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Engine |
| Phyllis | Li A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Astyoche | Li B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Auxesia | Li C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Hero | Li D | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Melanie | Li E | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Endeis | Li F | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Evadne | Li G | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Xene | Li H | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Niobe | Li AA | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Thetis | Li BB | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Nikaia | Li CC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Agamede | Li DD | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Kynthia | Li EE | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Procris | Li FF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Iole | Li GG | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Nephele | Li HH | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Megara | LiR A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Callianessa | LiR B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Chloris | LiR C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Agathonice | LiR D | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Elpir | LiR E | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Canace | LiR F | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Medesicaste | LiR G | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Heliodora | LiR H | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Halie | LiR AA | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Deipyle | LiR BB | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Rhene | LiR CC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Epicaste | LiR DD | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Autonoe | LiR EE | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Prone | LiR FF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Agarista | LiR GG | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Laodameia | LiR HH | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
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