Nap Campaign: The Battle of Cape Youngsport

This campaign is primarily for land battles. However, I wanted to include a naval element to add a little more flavour and I have always had a soft spot for the wars at sea. I did not want huge fleet on fleet actions as it would be too much of a distraction from the land campaign. Therefore the naval lists for all nations are rather modest in size, designed primarily for squadron v squadron or ship v ship actions, but the occasional fleet v fleet action may still occur. 

All nations with a port of some sort are allocated an initial fleet. They are then able to order more ship builds depending on the capacity of their shipyards and ports. Gradually, as the campaign progresses, these ships become available as they are commissioned into the fleet.

Before I provide an AAR of the battle I provide a brief overview of the rules used and the amendments I have made. The rules are 'Trafalgar' by Warhammer Historical:

'Trafalgar' is a fleet action set of rules and I therefore had to consider changes more suitable to smaller actions, otherwise a couple of frigates in an action would be pretty boring. This was reasonably easy to do by adding more detail on the ship roster. I also added an additional calibre of cannon. The main rules breaks down cannon into Light (18lbs or less), Heavy (24lbs or over) and carronades. I added to that 'Light - Small calibre' representing 12lbs or less, or a 'Carronade - Small calibre' of 18lbs or less. I have also been experimenting with boarding actions to add a little more excitement (N/A for fleet actions as it would be too laborious). 

Any damage sustained by ships take time to repair. Firstly any rudimentary repairs are carried out at sea. When it reaches a friendly port with the ability to repair it, an appropriate amount of time is allocated until the ship is fully repaired. It is out of action until then.

A little more detail of the ship's records and the changes I made. Here is an example of a standard British 3rd Rate Ship of the Line in the rulebook:

I have reworked this by expanding it to make it more interesting when fewer ships are involved. I also wanted each record to be more representative of the actual ship it represents. I broke it down to 3 levels of play as follows:

Large Fleet level actions (as per the rulebook) - 1 square = 50 crew, broadside rating of 1 for 10 cannon.
Squadron level actions - 1 square = 25 crew, broadside rating 1:5
For ship on ship actions (or where a few small ships involved) - 1 square = 10 crew, broadside 1:2.
This then translates to the Broadside rating and the number of crew boxes.

The rules were designed for 1/1200 scale ships but I will be using 1/2400 so all distances are halved. For High Locations and Below Waterline locations I have simply doubled up for squadron level or quadrupled for ship on ship. For Low Locations I have added more detail that I feel more accurately reflects the graduated reduced firepower of a ship as it takes damage.

An example of one of my ship records. This is a ship currently in the British fleet in the campaign. HMS Resolution was a 74 gun Elizabeth class ship of the line built in 1766 and was scrapped in 1813. It was equipped with the following cannon:
28 x 32pdr, 28 x 18pdr and 18 x 9pdr. For squadron level this translates to 6 x large, 6 x light and 3 light - small calibre cannon. It had a crew of approximately 600 = 24 boxes. This translates to the following:

So the Broadside rating is 9 for light of which 3 are small calibre / 6 large / no carronades. Pretty much everything else was as per the rules. So onto the battle:

THE BATTLE OF CAPE YOUNGSPORT (NAVAL)

French v Portuguese

French: 2 x ships of the line; 2 x frigates; 1 x brig

CinC Admiral Villeneuve

Portuguese: 2 x frigates; 1 x sloop

CinC Post Captain Tomas

Model scale = 1/2400

6th March 1808

ORDER OF BATTLE

French

Portuguese

Villeneuve, on the flagship Figuires, was given orders to capture or destroy the Portuguese fleet before any of its allies could intervene. It was imperative for the French navy that it built it's strength before it challenged the might of the Royal Navy and so the emphasis was on capturing rather than sinking enemy ships. Villeneuve had a small fleet of ships under his command. Dryade and Megere were scouting ahead and to the landward of his main fleet as they approached the headland before they were due to turn north to approach the Portuguese capital of Youngsport. The masthead lookout called down to Villeneuve that he had sighted Dryade sailing towards them signalling ships sighted and following. 

Villeneuve manoeuvred his ships to port taking them past the Dryade and Megere on their starboard side. As soon as his lookout sighted the masts of the ships following his scouts, Villeneuve turned and with a following wind bore down on what was soon to be identified as Portuguese ships. He signalled Dryade and Megere instructing them to join him. As his fleet reunified the battle of Cape Youngsport began.

The French fleet l to r Figuires (80) Flagship, Cassard (74), Dryade (40), 

Bellone (40), Megere (18). View towards Portuguese fleet.

Portuguese fleet l to r Real Fonza (16), Serpente (22), Venus (36) Flagship.

Wind blowing from bottom right to top left of photo

Captain Tomas saw an early opportunity as the French fleet started to split. The two ships of the line were pulling away from the smaller vessels. For him to have any chance whatsoever he had to avoid the main batteries of the French ships of the line. Although he was still outgunned by the smaller French vessels, at least they were more evenly matched. There might, just might be a possibility of glory for the Portuguese navy.

Tomas' plan was high risk which was to lure the ships of the line further away from the rest of their fleet before turning on them. He ordered his helmsman to turn to starboard bringing the ships close to the wind. The French ships of the line were determined to keep upwind of the Portuguese and therefore had to turn even further away from the rest of their fleet. Villeneuve was concerned that the Portuguese could easily escape if he was not careful, hence his frigates were downwind of the Portuguese should they decide to make a run for it.

As the French Ships of the Line became dangerously close, Tomas saw his chance and turned hard to port. They were now running with the wind and bearing down on the French frigates. Villeneuve tried to close the gap but his slower large ships gradually fell behind.

Dryade and Bellone fired full broadsides at the Venus with the latter replying with it's bow chaser as the Portuguese attempted to cross the 'T'. It all went wrong for Tomas from the start. His bow chaser had virtually no effect and the Venus was sustaining heavy damage. The Venus and Serpente finally closed on the French frigates bringing their own broadsides to bear. His crews were definitely having an off day as only minimal damage was being inflicted. Worse was to come as the two French ships of the line closed on the melee.

The Figuires opened fire with her main heavy battery quickly followed by its lighter guns to devastating effect. Venus received the full force of the salvoes and was quickly dismasted and a fire started. The Serpente in the meantime was suffering a similar fate. Her small calibre guns were no match for the larger French frigates and she too was dismasted. 

The Figuires now prepared to board the Venus. This was risky at the best of times but with the Venus on fire it was particularly dangerous. The fire though was contained within the hull so only minimal chance of it spreading to the Figuires. Instructions were given to the boarding party to make it quick and get the fire under control. The French navy could make good use of a frigate such as this. 

As the boarding party landed on the decks of the Venus, an explosion ripped through the deck killing many of the crew on both sides including Capt Tomas. This was enough for the Portuguese crew who surrendered to the surviving members of the boarding party. The Venus was miraculously still afloat but also still on fire. As the crew of both ships frantically fought the fire, the badly damaged Serpente struck its colours and was boarded by the Dryade. Gradually the fire was brought under control and both ships taken under tow. As Villeneuve surveyed the prizes he reflected on the fact that it would be some considerable time before they were added to the fleet. The Venus in particular was a floating wreck.

In the distance he could just make out the tops of masts sailing into the distance. The Real Fonza had escaped without a scratch and was on it's way to deliver the news!

The final toll taken of the Portuguese ships after rudimentary repairs had been made at sea (red boxes reflect damage):

The French suffered minor damage which was repaired at sea.

I kept only minimal records and took few photos of the naval engagements (only 2 to date). I intend to provide a more comprehensive AAR of future actions.

Next: Map Moves