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| A nice day out at Ardnamurchan.... maybe not for some of these ships |
With a little help from my friends.....
Dave and Colin came over last week to keep the campaign going. We played three cracking games with me going to pick up the fourth and fifth when I get a chance.
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| Make ready your guns! Tocht challenges Rochefoucauld at Duinkirk 1672 |
Scenario number 1 entitled 'King Louis's ships' takes place off the port of Dunkirk in the opening days of the Franco-Dutch war of 1672 and sees Peter's Admiral - Tocht, charged with penning the French in their home port. Big ships, big guns and the most unexpected ending which I think, by the look on the faces of Dave and Colin, left them somewhat 'clamped' as they say in these parts. An excellent start to our day of nautical nonsense.
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| Last stop Ardnamurchan. Offloading Irish daytrippers at Duncriege 1689 |
Scenario number 2 called 'One thousand Irish' sees our eponymous hero Vice Admiral O'Brien, shielding a transport fleet which is disgorging two infantry battalions on the west coast of Scotland to reinforce Viscount Dundee's loyal army. Whilst this logistical challenge is underway, a powerful coastal fleet arrives under the Dutch admiral Akkerman. These Williamite ships are hell bent on disrupting the landing and eliminating the covering force of Jacobite Irish warships. The powerful currents of Scotland's Atlantic coast played a significant part in this battle and Dave actually got to command his own squadron which was nice.
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| Ooh, this will be a difficult one.. de Ruyter attacks the Volta fortress 1664 |
Admiral de Ruyter is still on foreign service. Following his outstanding triumph in freeing two VOC vessels from internment at the hands of the tax greedy English, he has moved on to a somewhat more challenging mission. The United Provinces want to consolidate their hold on the African slave and ivory trade. To do that, they want to destroy an Arab port at the mouth of the Volta river. OK so far however, there are a few impediments to commercial success namely.. a very large and well-gunned ex-Portuguese fort and the matter of several ship loads of angry Berber corsairs who fancy a Dutchmen between two slices of bread for lunch. Colin picked up the mitten as de Ruyter deputizing for Peter Douglas. He made a wonderful de Ruyter!
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| Fish Tea anyone? Barre off Harwich with the Herring boats.. 1666 |
Fishing is supposed to be a relaxing pastime. Commercial fishing is another story entirely. Commercial fishing two miles off the enemy's coastline is just plain dangerous. And so, the Herring Fleet of Vlissingen blithely casts its nets within sight of Harwich, Suffolk duly attracting the attentions of King Charles's navy. The passing English ships see easy financial gain by capturing the fleet and escorting it into port but can it really be that easy.....?
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| Baert amidst the Inner Hebrides 1689 |
You may recall that seventies ditty by Lindisfarne ..'Run for home'? The title of Jan Baert's latest adventure. He is not heading back to Tyneside but rather to Dunkerque after pulling off a rather spectacular raid on the Clyde port of Greenock. Having burnt a shipyard, trashed a village and caused mayhem onshore, he has stumbled upon a very important personage whom he has appropriated for the purposes of ransom. Making his escape the long way home around the northern tip of Scotland, he finds himself being pursued into an archipelago of small islands to the south east of Mull. He must navigate through these dangerous waters unscathed and get the prize back to France... will he do it?
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| Barre's ships approach the Herring fleet |
First scenarios are all written up and will be arriving here forthwith!