I've been having an email discussion with Bill Byrnes regarding cannons and cannon placement. Right now, we have a set number of cannons for a given ship size (per the chart in the provisional rules). There has been some discussion about allowing captains to cut the number of guns in half while cutting their ROF to compensate for the decrease in firing barrels. I have also been asked about chase armament. I want to keep the rules as simple as possible. Proposals: 1) ...bow and stern chase armament shall be limited to no more than 1 cannon in each direction for 4th Rate ships and below, no more than 2 cannons in each direction for 3rd Rates and above. **I propose this because I want us to try to replicate what was normal patterns of naval combat in the age of sail. Chase armament was a pitiful, tiny reflection of the broadside, and giving smaller ships 2 chase guns forward or aft makes them disproportionately useful. 2) We discussed letting a captain cut the number of broadside guns in half, and doubling the rate of fire. Upon further reflection, I have some doubts about this, as having a higher rate of fire allows such a vessel to walk their guns on target, making obtaining a firing solution easier. On the other hand, if everyone does it, is that an issue? I would say no. but if everyone is going to do it, do we just cut the number of cannons on the table and make the firing rate 2 seconds across the board? Please discuss. ** Sorry about the wierd colors, I was cutting and pasting from Word
1) Sounds good to me for playability. I'd vote yes. Though might want to change the wording to be something like "Limited to one cannon in the forward and rear arcs". The way it is worded now could be construed as no more than one cannon in all arcs to include the sides. 2) I'm for offering the option just to see where it goes. Having less cannons would help all around. Small ships have space and weight issues, big ships would get to use less number of expensive cannons. Not to keen on the idea of a cut across the board. After all, it would be awesome to see an 8 cannon broadside go off!
I too think a massive broadside would be awesome to see. But I need to look at how we word it so that it is simple to understand from the written rules. Something like: * A captain cut their number of broadside cannons in half, doubling their ROF. Total magazine space is unchanged. * If a ship(regardless of size) has a single chase cannon in a given direction, it must remain at the 4-second rate of fire. Ships that are 3rd Rate and above may replace a pair of chase guns to bow and/or to stern with a single gun with a 2-second ROF. Ex1: A post ship (8 guns) can simply go with 4 guns in each broadside (no chasers), and can reduce the cannons to 2 per side with a 2-sec ROF. If they want chasers, they must subtract them before dividing by 2. So, if they mount a bow and stern chaser, that leaves 6 guns split into two broadsides at 4-sec ROF. at 3 guns per side, rounding DOWN if reducing the number of guns, the post ship (3/2=1.5) winds up with 1 gun per broadside, albeit at a 2-sec ROF. Total magazine space would still be 400. Ex2: HMS Bellona, a 74-gun 3rd rate mounting 14 cannons in scale, the captain decides to mount a two-gun bow chase battery, leaving 12 guns in two broadsides (6 per side). He halves all the cannons, giving each broadside 3 cannons with a 2-sec ROF, and a single bow chaser, also with a 2-sec ROF. Does that sound reasonable?
