"Was I to die this moment, 'Want of Frigates' would be found stamped on my heart. No words of mine can express what I have, and am suffering for want of them."

Horatio Nelson, Mouth of the Nile, 9th August, 1798



"I have known that diverse strange ships have passed through the very midst of a main fleet even at noon day, without any discovery made upon them until it was too late."

Anonymous

« 1.1 Game Scales
Admiralty was designed for use with any scale of fighting sail miniatures. The medium scale format shown in Figure 1 is the default scale discussed throughout the rules, and is normally used with 1/1200 scale miniatures. The small scale format is normally used with 1/2400 scale ships, the tiny scale format is meant primarily for the 1/4800 scale models and the large scale is used most commonly with 1/700 scale models. Each turn's movement represents about two to three minutes of real time.

« 1.2 Ship Bases
The mounting of naval miniatures on bases for game play is optional, although most players do use them. We usually mount them on thin metal bass and apply a textured coating for sea-surface effects, with the ship's name written or labeled on the bottom. For purposes of game play and rules discussion, the terms model, ship and base are used interchangeably throughout the text. In all cases the reference is a general one meant to encompass whatever model and mounting format being used by the players. Every base (or ship model) is considered to have a single imaginary center-point which will be occasionally referred to. Some of the reference templates are meant to be placed at specific locations, either against the side of the model or at the edge of its base. The game chart instruction sheet will outline which is required for a given template.

Rake Zones - A feature which is not physically marked on the base is the rake zone. The rake zone is an invisible boundary area off the front and rear of a ship which defines when an enemy vessels receives a rake bonus for cannon fire. Ships should avoid letting enemy vessels get within their rake zone. The rake zone runs diagonally across the corners of a ship's base, forming a roughly 55° arc. This presumes use of a base that approximately matches the length and width of the ship with some room to spare around the edges, and that all models used in the game have roughly the same model-to-base size ratio.

Measuring Distances - When measuring distances for movement, players will always measure from the front edge of a ship's base, or from the front edge of the model. When measuring to check cannon fire range, players measure from the main mast of their ship model to the main mast of the targeted enemy ship.

« 1.3 Equipment
Naval wargaming is more technically demanding than some other forms of miniature wargaming, and a few extra tools are used for game play. The standard gaming equipment of tape measures, six-sided dice and pens/pencils will be needed. Beginning players should remember that two dice are called "dice" but that one is only called a "die." Players will also need to download both sides of the Admiralty combat chart as well as the ship log and move templates. Cutting out the templates and mounting them on thin cardboard will give them extra strength. A clipboard is also valuable for writing on the ship logs.

Combat Charts - There is a front and back side to the combat chart (Side 1 and Side 2). Both sides are needed for game play, so players should make sure to print out both of them.

Move Templates - To help players understand turning capabilities, movement in relation to wind direction and the firing arc of their ship, we have included a sheet of game templates. A link to the template page itself is located on the main Admiralty home page and the template sheet includes detailed instructions for use.

Ship Logs: Each vessel used in combat will need to have an entry in one of the ship logs. These entries are used to track events on board each of the ships. The information shown in the Ship Values listings on the Admiralty home page should cover everything needed to fill out the ship logs for those vessels.

« 1.4 Turn Sequence
Once all players have gone through the set-up page, placed their ships and arranged their formations, game play is ready to begin. Each turn is split into phases, and some phases are split into steps. Below is an outline of the turn sequence and its basic steps. If the step has no matching actions that turn, ignore it and move on to the next step or phase.

Movement

a) Roll for fire danger – Roll a fire danger (D) check for any ship which is currently Locked (L) with any vessels that have active Infernos burning on board (roll once for each inferno).

b) Movement (DMF) – Players move ships for both sides, starting first with the ship that is furthest downwind (in the lee position). This is the Downwind Moves First method. In most cases this will be fairly obvious. In closer cases, a quick measurement to establish next furthest downwind can be done..

Command 1

a) Mobilize Boarding Parties – Both players declare and record all boarding dice additions and the resulting gun dice losses.

b) Send signals – Both players may attempt to send maneuver signals and basic instructions to other players.

Firing

a) Roll for active I hits – The first step in each firing phase is to roll on the critical hit table for all active Infernos. Commanding players roll for their own ships and immediately apply all results before proceeding.

b) Roll for active F hits – Roll on the critical hit table for all active Fires. Commanding players roll for their own ships and immediately apply all results before proceeding.

c) Conduct cannon fire – All cannon fire is considered simultaneous. Players may fire any of their ships which can bear on targets. See Section 4 : Firing for more about conducting cannon fire.

d) Roll for fire danger – Roll Fire Danger checks for any ships which fired their guns while either: A) Unrepaired B hits existed on the same side of the ship, or B) Sail speed was set to normal (full) sail. All results are immediately added to the respective vessel's critical hit boxes.

Command 2

a) Change Sail Setting – Both players may attempt to change the sail settings for their ships.
b) Check for Surrender – Ships which are immobilized and without guns must check proximity of friendly and enemy vessels to see if they surrender.

Boarding

a) Roll for Boarding Attempts – Either side wanting to initiate a boarding attempt declares it and rolls to see if the attempt happens.
b) Roll for Boarding Actions – Resolve all boarding actions.

Repair

« 1.5 Glossary
The rules text has been kept as plain as possible for those unfamiliar with naval terminology. Some words are in such broad usage however, that they are inevitably used. Below is a short list of definitions for those that would likely show up.

Bow – The front end of a ship
Broadside – When all the guns on one side of a ship fire at the same time.
Hull – The main body of a ship, built out of heavy wooden timbers.
Lee – Downwind. The lee side of a ship is that which is downwind, and a fleet in a lee position is downwind from their enemy.
Port – The left side of a ship
Rake – Firing down the length of a ship from a position off of its bow or stern.
Rigging – The part of a ship which supports and operates the sails, and also holds the masts in place.
Starboard – The right side of a ship
Stern – The back end of a ship
Weather – Upwind, opposite of lee. The weather side of a ship is that which is facing into the wind. A fleet in a weather position is upwind from their enemy.

« 2.0 Movement
Ship models are moved on flat, open surfaces without use of grids. All movement is conducted in inches and available speed is controlled by several factors including ship type, wind speed, movement direction and sail setting. According to these factors, each ship is allotted a specific movement allowance for the turn. Commanding players may move their ships in any direction of their choosing, including those directions which are not advisable. The rules do not prevent players from making mistakes, and so a bit of practice may be needed in order to help players make the best movement decisions. Players should keep in mind that naval battles of this time were decided in part by the side which made the least number of maneuver errors.

Order of Movement – Ships are moved starting with the vessel that is furthest downwind on the entire board (DMF = Downwind Moves First) and then moved in upward progression of ships further upwind. This is conducted regardless of ship speed or nationality. The last ship to move should be that which was furthest upwind (on the entire board) as of the start of that phase. If two ships are on close, converging courses and very near to each other for weather position (upwind vs downwind) players may prorate their movements using the best available method (i.e., alternating one-quarter moves or whatever speed increment works best for the situation). Two ships of the same side that are moving in-line within a half-cable of each other may move in unison (i.e., as if in formation), permitting either one to move first if either is next to move in DMF sequence. This permits ships of the same side to coordinate for purposes of collision avoidance, etc.

« 2.1 Moving Straight
The first step in moving a ship is to confirm it is not pointed too far into the wind. This can usually be achieved with a quick visual check, but vessel's which look like they are too close to the wind (i.e., pointing too far toward the wind's direction) should be checked using the wind gage template. The template will confirm according to crew grade whether a vessel has wind in its sails and can therefore use its sail settings for regular movement. If a ship does not qualify for regular movement because it is aiming too far into the wind and it is not in the middle of tacking (turning through the wind) refer to the In Irons special rule below.

To move a ship, refer to its log and confirm its current Sail Setting and available Sail Speed. The current sail setting is a general description such as Battle, Normal or Stop and describes the state of the ship's sail arrangement. Obviously in the case of a "Stop" or "Anchored" sail setting, a vessel will not move and there is no need to calculate available movement for the turn. Next, look at the Sail Speed box to see what the ship's current available Battle move is. "Battle" refers to a ship with its sails set for combat. The ship's battle sail movement allowance will have been recorded in the ship's log before game play (see the Admiralty Setup page. The ship's Normal (full) sail movement bonus will also have been recorded before the game starts. This saves players the time of looking it up mid-game, but the numbers are also available in the Movement table on the combat chart.

Normal Sail Bonus – The number recorded under Normal Bonus on the ship log is the distance in inches that can be added to the ship's battle movement if the ship's Sail Setting is Normal instead of Battle. Add this number to whatever the current available battle speed is. Note that beyond a certain point, reductions to the battle speed due to hit starts to affect normal speed also. See the Damage Hits section below.

Once the final movement allowance for a ship is confirmed, it must be moved that distance in inches. It may not move more or less than that amount unless the moving player wishes to slow the vessel down by rolling for speed reductions on the Actions table (see Move Actions below). If a vessel or obstacle is in the path of the moving ship and it cannot slow down, it must attempt to turn to prevent a collision.

« 2.2 Turning
There are two basic ways to turn a ship; turn downwind or turn upwind. Turning downwind is called wearing and is the easiest way to turn. Turning upwind is called tacking and it is the most difficult way to turn. In order to turn a ship in Admiralty, you will use the Turn Gage that is included on the templates sheet. The turn gage restricts how tightly a vessel can turn while also showing the rate at which its movement is consumed during the turning maneuver.

Players may not pre-measure, re-measure or otherwise "take back" any turning maneuvers they conduct or even begin to conduct with their ships. Once a turn gage is laid down and a player begins moving his ship, he must complete the maneuver. If a player begins making a turn and realizes that the ship's alignment is not correct in relation to other ships ahead or behind (usually because of starting the turn too early or too late) nothing can be done about it at that point. The imperfect move must be completed and any resulting errors in alignment resolved on later movement turns. Note that turning a ship will change its orientation to the wind, which must be carefully watched. A ship may not change its sail setting whilst it is turning.

Turning Downwind - For wearing (turning downwind) place the Turning Gage with the zero pointer alongside the center edge of the ship's stand and move the stand to the same pointer position on the 2" line which corresponds to the ship's current speed in inches. The ship will use 2" of its available movement in order to make this one turn. Ships can make any number of these turns in a movement step so long as they do not exceed their available movement limit. Note that all wearing "speed lines" are marked as a W1, W2 or W3, and that these can also be used to move slightly upwind, so long it is short of attempting to tack (see below).

Tacking - For tacking (changing course to put wind on the other side of the ship by turning sharply into the wind), place the turn gage with the zero pointer alongside the center edge of the ship's stand and move the stand to the same pointer position on the 2" "T" line. The ship will use 2" of its available movement in order to make this one turn. The ship can make any number of these turns in a movement step so long as they do not exceed their available movement limit.

At the precise point during a turn upwind that a ship's bow is pointed directly into the wind, the moving player must pass a die roll test on the Move Actions table. Depending on wind speed (and corresponding sea conditions) the maneuver may be considered moderate or hard on the difficulty scale. If the player passes the test, the ship may continue with its tacking maneuver (ships may use consecutive move turns in order to tack completely). If the ship does not pass the test, it is considered In Irons. Refer to the special rules section for ships in irons.

Vessels size 1/2 and smaller will tack by rotating in place instead of using the turn gage. Ships making sternway may also use the Tacking turn line.

Anchoring — A vessel intending to drop anchor must be completely stopped. If it passes the move action test for anchoring, it may mark Anchored in the sail settings box on the ship log. Anchored ships may not move and gain a bonus modifier on the Gun Dice table. Anchored ships are also immune to any drifting effects caused by currents or wind.

Raising Anchor — A vessel which is currently anchored may raise anchor, which will allow it to change sail setting to Normal or Battle and begin moving. If it passes the move action test for raising anchor, the ship must wait 15 turns before the anchor is considered fully raised, at which point the player may change the sail setting box status from Anchored to Stopped. Ships raising anchor may not mobilize gun crews and a vessel's active anchor raising action is immediately canceled if it receives any anchor hits or becomes locked with any other ship. It is not common for a ship to raise anchor in the normal fashion under combat conditions, they will instead usually cut their cables and rely on spare anchors later.

Cutting Cables — A vessel which is currently anchored may cut the cables which connect the ship to the lowered anchor down on the sea floor. This is an extreme measure, because both the anchor and the cable itself (which can be many hundreds of feet long) are extremely expensive and hard to replace items. Still, under some combat conditions ships may not have time to raise anchor the normal way and will instead "Cut their cables" and get moving.

If a ship passes the move action test for cutting cables, it may change the sail setting box status from Anchored to Stopped. This allows the commanding player to attempt a change of sail setting to Normal or Battle on the following Change Speed step.

« 2.4 Collisions
If a ship moves within one-half inch of another vessel during its movement, both must roll on the Collision table to check for hits and damage. Begin by establishing whether the combined courses of the two ships are Collision or Other, and at what point the affected areas of the ships are most in danger of colliding. Each player then rolls one six sided die and modifies the roll result with all applicable modifiers. Cross index the modified number with the portion of the ship most affected – bow, side or stern – and apply the results shown.

The collision check should always be made at: (a) The point during the active ship's entire movement that it comes closest to the other vessel, or (b) The point during the active ship's movement that both vessels are at maximum engagement. In either case, the collision check will often not occur at the moment the ships approach within one-half inch, but the moment at which they are most in danger of collision and fouling for the entire course of that move. This last item is an important one, as many vessels should be allowed to "come alongside" other ships before checking for collisions – if such a maneuver is their intent – rather than checking for collision and locking at the very first moment they approach within one-half inch.


Combined Courses – There are two basic categories of courses: collision and other. A collision course is one in which the ships are clearly converging and in danger of striking each other or becoming locked due to fouling. Other courses are usually when ships are traveling parallel to each other or passing one another. The combat chart includes a basic outline of Collision Course figures showing the general intent of the two main categories.

Affected Areas – Deciding the affected portion of a ship will usually be easy. If two vessels have come alongside each other, then each will use the side column. If a vessel is being passed astern, it will use the stern column while the ship passing it will use the side column. If a vessel is headed straight for the side of another ship, it will use the bow column while the other vessel uses the side column.

As noted above, players should keep in mind the portions of the ship most at risk at the mostly like point of collision. For example, if two ships are passing each other in opposite directions (collision course) and their sides are parallel to each other, they would check for collision when they are fully abreast of each other (the point of maximum engagement) not at the moment their bows come within range. If ships in close proxmity do not suffer L Hits (locked), they will continue with normal movement. If due to movement limits they remain in close proximity until the following turn, they do not need to roll for collision a second time unless either vessel changes course in a way that increases the collision risk. In such a case, a new collision check should be done.

« 2.6 Special Rules
In Irons – A ship facing into the wind while under sail is considered to be "In Irons" and is currently out of control. This can be caused if a ship attempted to tack and "missed stays" or it can be caused if a vessel unwisely sailed too close to the wind and ended up losing wind power. A ship in irons must drift in the direction of the wind 10% of its current available movement for whatever sail setting is currently active. The ship may not turn or change heading (the direction the bow points). If the ship is under normal sail and the wind is within the ship's bow rake arc, it must roll one six sided die on the first turn it is blown backwards, suffering a Mast hit on a roll result of 6. The resulting M hit roll on the critical hit table must apply all rigging damage but will ignore any XX repair results.

A ship may escape from this condition by successfully rolling a test as a Hard move action. If successful, the ship may use one "T" turning gage step, which should be used to move in a direction most likely to get wind back in its sails again as quickly as possible (usually going backwards). Each passed test only allows a single move step for that turn, so escaping from irons may take numerous turns as the ship slowly inches its way out of the difficult situation. Ships which turn while moving backwards out of being in irons must check for possible rudder damage in the same way as vessels making sternway.

Emergency Battle Sail – Ships under normal sail which suffer more than 25% sail hits may declare an emergency change to battle sail setting during the Change Speed step. Making this change should be marked in the Sail Setting log, as a ship which makes such a change may not use the normal sail setting again during the course of the game. No move action test is necessary to conduct an emergency battle sail change.

« 3.0 Command
During the two command phases, players can execute a range of standing orders and settings. There are two command phases; the first one resolves boarding party mobilization and signaling, the second one handles changing sail settings and surrendering ships. As with the rest of the rules, each step is described here in the order encountered in the turn sequence.

« 3.1 Mobilize Boarding Parties
A player may add to the number of boarding dice which can be used in the later Boarding phase by temporarily deactivating gun dice. One boarding die is gained for each four gun dice that are deactivated. Do not cross out mobilized gun dice values. Instead, mark an GM at the bottom center of the Gun Dice box, followed by the number of gun dice deactivated. The GM entry applies to both sides of the ship, so for example a vessel with a 505 gun dice rating can only mobilize a total of two additional boarding dice, not two dice for each side of the ship.

Because gun crews are mobilized in groups of five gun dice, the GM values should read GM4, GM8, etc. Their function is identical to the B hits, which temporarily suppress gun dice until repaired. In this case, the gun dice remain suppressed while the boarding dice are being used. If boarding dice are lost during the boarding action (due to lost rounds) the gun dice may be permanently lost and are then crossed out, with those contributed by the suppressed gun dice being considered last to be lost. Note that the number of mobilized gun crews (and hence the dice they contribute) may shrink in following turns as the ship suffers gun hits.

« 3.2 Signals
The ability to send signals and messages to other players is limited. For game play, a player posts a message on his flagship's ship log, and other players must pass a die roll test to be allowed to read it. A failed die roll indicates that player either did not see the message, or saw the signal flags and could not read them.

To post a signal, a player writes a five or ten word message on the adhesive side of a small "post it" style message tablet. The message may not be shown to other players and must be either one through five words long, or six through ten words long. A number counts as a word, and run-on words and word/number combinations are not allowed. If a commander manages to artfully avoid the obvious intent of these rules, his fellow players should feel free to place a syllable limit on each message. Once a message is completed, it is pasted to that signaling vessel's ship log. Most players post it onto the back of the log page to keep it out of the way.

To read another ship's signal, a player consults the Signals table on the combat chart. Cross reference the message length with the line of sight condition to establish the modified die roll needed in order to read the message. Modify the die roll value using the die roll modifiers which are defined below.

The player attempting to read another commander's signaling is referred to as the reading commander. The player issuing a signal is referred to as the signaling commander. A clear line of sight must pass from the center-point of the reading ship to the center-point of the signaling ship without any other ships or landmasses intervening.

Signal Roll Modifiers:
Each in combat — A player suffers a minus one to his reading roll if his own ship is currently in combat and an additional minus one if the signaling ship is in combat. Combat in this case is defined as firing, being fired upon or fouled with an enemy ship. So if the signaling ship is in combat but the reading ship is not, the reading player will suffer a minus one. If both are in combat, the reading ship will suffer a minus two.
Each Officer hit — Subtract one point from the read message die roll for each O Hit that has been suffered by either or both ship(s).

« 3.3 Changing Sail Settings
Ships may attempt to change their current sail setting once during the second command phase. To do so, the commanding player refers to the Actions table and rolls the appropriate die roll test for that change attempt. If the sail setting is successfully changed, cross out the old Sail Settings "X" marked for the previous ship log setting and mark an "X" under the new setting. Below are the available sail settings and their meaning.

Stop — Used in preparation for anchoring or to retain ability to quickly get back underway. If a vessel used normal sail on the turn immediately preceding a stop change, the vessel in question will continue moving half of its previous movement allowance (call headway) on its next move. Only then will it be completely stopped.
Anchor — The ship is stopped with anchors securing it to the sea floor. Ships with more than two Anchor Hits may not "anchor" for purposes of game play. They might still have some anchors, but not enough to completely stabilize the ship against rolling and drifting, which would be needed for combat benefits.
Battle Sail — Standard for combat. Gives some speed while preventing excessive stress to rigging.
Normal (Full) Sail — Standard non-combat, full rigged movement. Fast, but vulnerable to rigging damage in combat.

« 3.4 Surrendering
Any ship which has become immobile with all of its gun knocked out may end up surrendering if enemy ships are too close while friendly ships are too far away. If during the second command phase, any ship is immobilized with all guns destroyed, consult the Surrender table on the combat chart. Start on the line matching the crew grade of the ship and check if enemy ships are within the distance noted at far right, in the proximity column. This distance is the Enemy Proximity. If any enemy ships are within that distance, check to see if all friendly ships are further away than the distance shown on the left side of the proximity column. If no friendly ships are in the vicinity, the ship in question will surrender.

Example: A disabled, immobilized ship with a crew grade of C has at least one enemy ship within 1". All friendly ships are over 2½" away, and so the disabled ship will surrender. If any friendly ships were within 2½", the ship in question would not surrender. If friendly ships were all more than 2½" away and all enemy ships were more than 1" away, the ship also would not surrender. As with the rest of the Admiralty rules, these distances are for the default medium scale. Other game scales (large, small, etc.) operate at very different ranges as shown on their respective combat charts.

« 4.0 Cannon Fire Sequence
A ship's guns are fired by declaring an enemy ship within that vessel's arc-of-fire as a target (see 4.2 Targeting below). Cannon fire is then conducted by rolling a number of six-sided dice based on the gun dice numbers shown on the ship log. The gun dice numbers correspond to the number of light, medium and heavy cannons available on each side of the vessel. Note that within a gun dice sequence, each digit is treated individually. For example, a gun dice value of 609 is not six-hundred and nine, it is six, zero and nine, indicating that vessel has six light gun dice, no medium gun dice and nine heavy gun dice available for use on each side. In some cases the last heavy value is followed by a fourth number which reflects the number of heavy carronade guns which may be added to the last heavy gun value at close range. Otherwise, all cannons may be fired at all three of the available gun ranges. A ship may only fire the cannons one side of the vessel (port or starboard) on any one turn.

Gun Dice – To fire, choose one of the gun types to roll first. Most players start with their heaviest guns and work over from there. Whatever size is chosen, the initial number of gun dice for that size may be modified by the Dice Quantity Modifiers in the Gun Dice table. Those modifiers change the number of gun dice to be thrown. On the same table you will also check for the hit roll values, which are the numbers that actually have to be rolled on each gun die for a hit to occur. A certain portion of the dice to be rolled will attack the target ship's hull, and the remainder will attack the target ship's rigging. See Targeting below for more information about the numbers of dice that can/should be used for each of the two target types.

Once the dice quantity and mix are set, roll them all simultaneously (die towers help for this). Any dice results equal to or greater than the hit roll values shown for that crew/range combination are considered hits. Go to the Hit Table to see what damage is done.

Hit Table – Next, begin at the Start Line on the Hit Table and modify it up or down according to the Line Modifiers – if any apply. The maximum cannon fire line is +2 and the minimum is -2. Remember that hull targeted dice only inflict damage hits shown in the Hull Target column and rigging targeted dice only inflict damage shown in the Rigging Target column. Record the resulting hits – if any – on the ship log and proceed to the next gun size.

General Cannon Fire Rules – Different ships firing onto the same target with identical modifiers may group their dice into one roll. Each group of guns or "battery" may only fire once each turn. All fire conducted during a turn is considered to be simultaneous. Damage inflicted during the course of the Cannon Fire step only becomes effective at the end of the step when all ships have had their opportunity to fire. Passing fire effects also become active at this time (see Passing Fire below). It is best to place the gun dice that will be available to each ship in groups behind it on the table. This allows players to immediately record the hit results wtihout losing track of which guns the target vessel can fire that turn. It also helps players keep track of which ships have fired already, because their dice for this turn have been removed from the table.

Multiple 6 Results – If during the course of rolling his gun dice, a player rolls more than one natural six (showing six on the die, not a modified six), each extra six rolled will immediately result in a CR hit and a corresponding roll for additional damage on the CR line of the Critical Hit table. For example, if a player rolls nine gun dice and the results are 2,2,3,4,4,5,6,6,6, the player is considered to have rolled two "extra" sixes and inflicts two CR hits on the enemy ship in addition to any other damage suffered. Note that CR hits are categorized by hull or rigging origin, and modified by the gun size which inflicted the original damage.

General Firing Example 1: A 100-gun ship of the line with a B grade crew and a gun dice profile of 609 is going to fire her nine heavy guns at a target that is less than 3" away under normal sail. Because this is in the close range bracket, there are no reductions due to range, and her B rating allows die rolls of three or higher to score hits at close range. Because the heavy guns are being fired at a target that has normal sails, the hull targeted dice used the +1 line and the rigging targeted dice use the +2 line of the Hit Table. If the target ship were under battle sails, all dice would use the +1 line on the Hit Table.

General Firing Example 2: A frigate with a D grade crew and a gun dice profile of 040 is going to use her four medium gun dice against a target that is 10" away under battle sail. Because this is in the long range bracket, the number of gun dice is quartered to one and her D rating allows only die roll pairs of 6 to score hits (shown as "12" on the combat chart table). Because of this, the player does not roll because a minimum of two dice would be needed in order to have any possibility of scoring a hit. If the target had been in medium range, the frigate would get two dice (halved for range) and could score hits if either rolled a 6.

Fig. 1 – Arc of Fire Targets. Ship A represents a vessel which is just moving out of the arc of fire. Because part of its stern still lies within the arc, it may be fired at. Ship B is entirely within the arc and may be fired at. The center-point of ship C lies just within the arc, and so it may be fired at. The center-point of ship D lies just outside of the arc, and so it may not be fired at because the ships is only just moving into the arc of fire and does not yet represent a broad enough target.

Example: A vessel which is in a closer range bracket than three other vessels, but further away from the line of fire will still be the primary target. If three vessels are all within the same range bracket but are individually at different ranges, the vessel closest to the firing ship's line of fire will be the primary target. All of these situations are subject to the preexisting target option.

Fig. 2 – Valid Passing Fire The green ship may conduct passing fire against the red ship because the red ship passed through more than half of the green ship's arc of fire.

Passing Fire – During the movement step, a player may declare any of his ships as conducting passing fire as enemy vessels pass through his own vessel's arc of fire. Passing fire may only be conducted under special circumstances, and it is designed to prevent viable targets from slipping out of a ship's arc of fire in conditions which normally would have resulted in a vessel firing or taking fire. Players should keep this last note in mind during the game, as it is nearly impossible to create rulings to cover every eventuality. In the case of unusual circumstances the general intent of the rules should be kept in mind.

Passing fire is considered to be simultaneous to all firing which occurs during the Fire phase, and damage inflicted as a result of passing fire only becomes effective at the time all other damage for the turn becomes effective at the conclusion of the Conduct Cannon Fire step.

In order to conduct passing fire, the player in control of the firing vessel must declare that he will do passing fire either as he moves his ship past an intended target, or as the enemy player moves a ship which is a viable target. All passing fire must be declared while a vessel is being moved. If a player is allowed to move his ship past an enemy vessel and take his hand off the model or its base without anyone calling "passing fire" against it, no passing fire may be done on that vessel. By the same token, if a player moves a ship without calling passing fire, none may be conducted by that ship.

Passing fire may only be conducted against a vessel which (a) passes through more than half of a firing ship's arc of fire or (b) presents a raking fire target. In order for (a) to occur, the target vessel's center-point must have passed the firing vessels line of fire. See Figures 1 and 2 at right. In order for (b) to occur, the target vessel must present a raking target at any point during the move. Passing fire must be conducted using all the weapons on the embattled side of the ship in question. Vessels which conduct passing fire during the movement phase may not fire again during the turn using the side or sides of the ship which fired.

Fig. 3 – Invalid Passing Fire The green ship may not conduct passing fire against the red ship because the red ship moved through less than half of the green ship's arc of fire.

Target Types – When rolling for cannon fire, the dice themselves are used to define the mix between hull targeted guns and rigging targeted guns. Players should use two different colors of dice for the two target types, but should still roll the gun dice all at once, with one color assigned to hull hits and the other color assigned to rigging hits (we usually use black for hull and white for rigging).

The ratio of dice used is decided according to the range and the national doctrine of a vessel's parent fleet. As a general rule, the gun dice mix for guns fired at long and medium range should follow a 75/25 mix. A ship from a fleet whose national doctrine is to fire at an enemy's hull should consider three-quarters of the dice rolled as counting toward the Hull Target column and one-quarter toward the Rigging Target column, with a general bias toward the dominant type. Fleets whose doctrine was firing at an enemy's rigging should consider three-quarters of their gun dice as being for Rigging Targeted fire and one-quarter for Hull Targeted fire. Hence, a French ship firing only two gun dice of a certain size at medium or long range will likely fire both of them as rigging targeted, but if rolling three dice will fire two at the rigging and one at the hull.

An interesting option for medium and long range fire is to mix the two dice colors into a can and blindly draw the desired number for each firing. Adjusting the ratios of dice inside the can could randomly show national differences while allowing unpredictable fluctuations in targeting. This would completely randomize hull/rigging targeting, and allows an interesting variety of options.

For close range firing players can choose among several possibilities, but in general the amount of heavy gun dice assigned to hull targets should be much higher. Medium and light guns may be more selective about where they aim. Below are outlined several possible methods of deciding close range dice mix. Players should decide in advance which method will be used throughout a game, or roll to randomly decide which method to use before the game starts.

Close Range Options:
Battery Targeting (recommended) – Heavy cannon are always hull targeted, medium and light cannon may fire any combination of their guns as hull or rigging targeted.
Basic Targeting – All but one of the gun dice for each type are hull targeted.
Advanced Basic Targeting – When firing five dice or less, all may be hulled targeted. When firing six dice or more, one must be rigging targeted.

« 4.2 Modifiers
All gun dice and cannon fire table modifiers are cumulative. Use standard rounding (half rounds up).

Dice Quantity Modifiers
Stern Rake – Double the number of dice if the center-point of the firing ship lies within the stern zone of the target vessel. Note that all gun hits which are caused by a bow or stern rake must be evenly split between the two sides of a ship.
Bow Rake – Add one-half (50%) to the number of dice if the center-point of the firing ship lies within the bow zone of the target vessel.
Anchored – Double the number of dice if the firing vessel is anchored.
Medium Range – Halve the number of dice if the target lies within the medium range bracket.
Long Range – Quarter the number of dice if the target lies within the long range bracket.
Wind Speed 4 – Halve the number of dice if current wind speed has a "4" rating.
Wind Speed 5 – Quarter the number of dice if the current wind speed has a "5" rating.

Line Modifiers
Weak Hull – Go up one line on the fire table for hull-targeted gun dice fired against a vessel with a weak hull.
Stout Hull – Drop one line down on the fire table for hull-targeted gun dice fired against a vessel with a stout hull.
Heavy Firing – Go up one line on the fire table if the gun dice being rolled are for heavy guns.
Light Firing – Drop one line down on the fire table if the gun dice being rolled are for light guns.
Rigging Target vs Normal – Go up one line on the fire table for rigging-targeted gun dice fired against a vessel using normal (full) sail setting.

« 4.3 Damage Hits
During the course of the game a ship can suffer damage that slowly reduces it ability to fight. In order to keep the game moving, we have chosen not to concern ourselves with damage and hits that do not dramatically affect the operation of the ship. Our main concerns are basic: Are the guns still firing, can the ship still move and signal, will it sink soon? Those primitive concerns and others like them are the concerns of the moment for Admiralty.

There are two basic types of damage in the game: static and active. Static damage happens once and doesn't need to be bothered with any further. Active damage is something that can somehow trigger additional damage, maybe immediately, maybe later in the game. The most common types of damage are suffered from the Hit Table. Less common types of damage are inflicted through the Critical Hits table. All types of damage inflicted should be recorded on the ship log under the name of the ship which has suffered the damage. A few damage types can be repaired, a function which is discussed more in Section 6 - Repairs.

Below is a master list of each damage type and its respective effects.

Fig. 4 – Recording Damage on Ship Log On the ship log shown above, the 1/2400 scale Gateau has suffered a total of ten gun hits, but because of their distribution, only one gun die has been lost as shown by the crossed out medium gun die on the starboard side. Also note that the block of five gun hits that caused the loss of that gun die were crossed out to prevent accidental reuse. The ship already has three more gun hits to starboard (and two to port) and so two more gun hits on that side will cause the loss of another gun die. All gun die loss weights (light, medium or heavy) are rolled for randomly, players may not choose which gun dice to lose. The ship also has blocked guns due to a rigging related B Hit. This blocks one each of the starboard size gun dice, effectively reducing the ship to a 123 rating on that side until cleared. The same ship previously had a fire burning on board (F hit in the CR Hits box) which was later extinguished. It also has an anchor (A) hit and a waterline (W) hit. The ship's Sail Speed (SS) Ratio is a 9, which means that for every nine Sail Hits, it loses a half-inch of Battle Sail speed. So far it has suffered the nine-point tally twice and lost one-inch of speed (two events of a half-inch reduction each). There are also two more active hits tallied that count toward a third possible sail speed reduction. Also note that the ship's current sail setting is Battle, which has not changed since the start of the battle. If the ship's Battle move falls to 3", any further level reductions below that will also start to drag down the Normal move bonus. Example: If the battle move falls to 2", the Normal bonus will also have fallen to +2".

« 4.4 Critical Hits
The Critical Hits box on the combat chart controls the ongoing side-effects caused by damage hits. Some critical hit results will be recorded in the ship log, and others will be immediately acted upon in the form of additional hits and die rolls. Each critical hit line contains a line of blank spaces and damage hits which correspond to the die roll lines above them. Rolling one six sided die and cross indexing the result with the corresponding hit type will give the result. Each result matches a damage code which is outlined on the combat chart and defined in detail in section 4.3 above.

« 5.0 Boarding
In order to conduct a boarding action, a ship must be stationary and within a half-inch of a stationary enemy ship. The vessels may be locked together, but they do not have to be in order for a boarding attempt to be made. They may be in any attitude to each other, and may have any sail setting. Boarding actions do not take place automatically. They must be declared by a player who controls the ship initiating the boarding attempt, who is then referred to as the attacker for the duration of that boarding try. The player whose ship is being boarded is considered the defender. All boarding attempts are considered simultaneous, and are resolved during the Boarding phase of the game.

« 5.1 Conducting a Boarding Action
Players begin the boarding phase by declaring all qualified ships which will attempt a boarding action. If two opposing ships are declared against each other, only one may be an attacker. In such a case, each player rolls one six-sided die. The player who rolled the highest value (re-roll tied die rolls) becomes the attacker. Once all boarding attempts are declared and all attackers and defenders defined, players resolve each action separately.

Boarding Attempts – Once all boarding attempts are declared, players accumulate dice according to the Boarding Attempt table and roll once for each attempt. This establishes which attempts turn into boarding actions and which do not. It does not matter which player rolls the boarding attempt dice. The meaning of the Boarding Attempt lines are as follows:

Starting Dice – Every boarding action test begins with two default dice (shown as "x2 Starting Dice" on the Boarding Table).
Ships Fouled – Add one die if any of the combatant vessels are fouled (locked) with each other.
Size Difference – Subtract one die if any of the combatant vessels are different sizes.

Once the boarding attempt dice for an action is decided, they are rolled. Any one die roll result of 6 means that a boarding action has begun. Once a boarding action begins, no further attempt rolls are required for that action. It will go on until one side wins, withdraws or surrenders, even if that takes several turns. If no 6 is rolled, no boarding action developed for that attempt and players must wait until the next turn's boarding phase to roll again. Note that boarding attempts will always use between one and three dice, and that one roll is done for each attempt. The result will be some boarding attempts turning immediately into boarding actions, and others sputtering along as the crews just don't manage to get across to the enemy ships.

Boarding Actions – For each new boarding action, players refer to the Boarding Dice table to establish how many dice they can use for the action. Once both sides have gathered the proper number of boarding dice, they simultaneously roll them, which is called one round of die rolling. A maximum of two rounds of dice may be rolled per boarding action per turn. For each round of die rolls, each side compares or "opposes" their three highest values against the three highest values rolled by the enemy ship, with the high value for each opposed pair being the winner. The losing dice are removed, and any dice involved in ties remain. A player facing someone with fewer dice than the three dice allowed may add the points from his unopposed die (or dice) to those dice which are still being compared against enemy dice.

Example: Player A has a size 2 ship that is attacking player B with a size 3 ship. Each side has mobilized an extra boarding die by reducing five gun dice for the pending action. Player A will start with three dice: two for the ship's size, and one for the mobilized gun dice. Player B will start with five dice: three for the ship's size, one for being defender and one for the mobilized gun dice. For the first round or fighting, Player A rolls 5, 5, 1 and Player B rolls 5,4,4,3,3. So the top value for each (5 vs 5) are ties. The second highest values for each (5 vs 4) cause Player B to lose one die. The third highest values (1 vs 4) cause Player A to lose one die. So each side lost one die in the first round.

Now Player A has two dice and Player B has four dice and they roll again. Player A rolls 5,2. Player B rolls 4,4,2,1. So the two highest are 5 vs 4, but because Player A now has only two dice to oppose the three "frontline" dice for Player B, Player B may use his third highest die value to apply to his highest value, turning his 4 roll into a 6. Since the second highest for each is a 2 vs 4, Player A loses both remaining dice and the boarding attempt has failed. Not only has Player A lost the boarding attempt, but the loss of all dice means that the previous temporary loss of five gun dice becomes permanent.

For boarding actions left over from the previous turn, players will use the same number of dice as before, the only modification allowed being the addition of one die which can be added through the mobilization of gun dice. This may only be done to replace losses from the previous turn's boarding action, and is limited to the addition of one die per turn using this method.

In order to win a boarding action, an attacker must fight until the defender runs out of boarding dice, and which time he is considered to have captured the enemy ship. A defender wins a boarding action if the attacker cancels his boarding attempt or runs out of boarding dice. A defender does not capture the attacker's ship if the attacker runs out of dice, and must declare a new boarding attempt if he wants to board the former attacker's ship.

An attacking player may call off a boarding action at any time. Even a boarding attempt which has gone several rounds during which the attacker has made vital gains may be called off. To do so, the attacker declares that the attempt to board has stopped and no further die rolls are made.

Boarding Dice – Each player begins a boarding action without any dice. Dice are only added and subtracted according to the Boarding Dice list. If a boarding dice list entry does not apply to a particular action, it is ignored. All boarding dice entries are cumulative. For example: If a ship is both defender and has an A grade crew, it will receive one die for each. Dice are totalled until both sides have all the dice they are able to gather for the action. Below are the definitions of each boarding die qualifier and its application:

Starting Die – Each side starts with one boarding die.
Each size point – Add one die for each size point of each ship involved. A size three ship (a three decker) will gain three dice, and size two ship will gain two dice, etc.
Defender – Add one die for the boarding action defender.
Mobilized 4 GD – Add one boarding die if a ship has mobilized four gun dice for this purpose during this turn's earlier command phase. Players may mobilize a maximum of one boarding die per turn in this manner: Once to start a new boarding action; and later to replace lost any boarding dice (not restricted to replacing boarding dice raised from gun dice, which are last to be lost in any case). A player which has not lost any boarding dice may not mobilize extra gun dice if one has already been mobilized.
Each crew grade higher – If one ship's crew is of a higher crew grade than the other, the better crew gains one die for each grade level higher they are over the inferior grade crew.
Officer hit(s) – Subtract one die if that ship has one or more Officer Hits.
Each 6 G Lost – Subtract one die for every six gun dice that have been lost by the ship. If there are multiple attacking ships, use the hit status of the least damaged vessel.

« 6.0 Repairs
During the Repair Phase of the game, players may attempt to fix some damaged portions of their ships by rolling 1D6 on the Repairs table. Only one repair attempt may be made per hit type, per turn. All repairs are conducted using the Repair box located on the combat chart. Adjoining each repair type is listed the die roll value needed to achieve that repair. Below is an outline of each possible repair type and its limitations:

Unblock B Hit – Players may roll for one B hit currently active on either side of a ship. As each hit is repaired, it is permanently crossed off.
Repair Pump – On a die roll of 6, one P hit may be crossed out.
Repair W hit –On a die roll of 6, one W hit may be crossed out. W hits cannot be repaired at wind speed 5.
Repair L hit – On a die roll of 6, one L hit may be crossed out. The ship that it is locked to may not be an enemy ship that has not surrendered or given up combat due to on-board flooding or fire emergencies (e.g., you may not unlocked yourself from a still-hostile enemy vessel). A ship must repair its own L hits before lending aid to other ships. A ship with no L hits may roll to attempt repair of any one L hit suffered by a friendly or surrendered enemy ship with which it is locked.
Emergency L hit repair – A ship may automatically repair one L hit by taking 30 S hits, recording them on the Sail Hits box and immediately applying the sail speed effects. A ship conducting this action is essentially cutting away anything which may be interfering with the two vessels. The only good reason to do this will usually be if a ship is locked to another vessel which has caught on fire or burst into an inferno.