A history of rulings I’ve had to make in games, so that they’re written down and can be referred to later. ## Shoals and movement Rules as written: > »Shoals: If at any point of a ship’s move a part of the ship’s base moves over an area of Shoal Terrain, the ship must check to see if it has struck bottom. Complete the move, then roll a number of dice equal to its printed Fortitude value. If any [skull] results are rolled, the ship has struck the bottom and takes an Aground token. There are cards such as the French *Swift Vessels* that allow movement outside of the Movement phase. The question was: if you move off a shoal in the Initiative phase, do you still have to check for the shoal? **Ruling: yes.** Shoals don’t check just during the Movement phase, they check “all movement during a turn, once per shoal per turn”. (Yes, this means if you pass over of through three shoals in a turn, you have to make three separate rolls!) ## Cards and actions when entangled Rules as written: > ENTANGLED: A ship that is Entangled is stuck to another ship and will not move during the Movement Phase as long as it remains Entangled. **Entangled ships may only take the Cut Free Action.** Opposing ships Entangled together may still make Attacks. (Emphasis mine.) > A Note on Special Rules: When specific rules on cards contradict general rules expressed in this rulebook, follow the rule on the card. So when an initiative card grants an extra use for an action, can you do that when entangled? In the case of the French *Elan*, clearly yes: > During the Movement Phase, ships in this Squadron may spend an Action to make a Partial Fire Attack, or if Entangled, a Close Combat Attack. Roll 1 more dice during these Attacks. In the case of the Spanish *Heavy Musket Volley*: > Each ship in this Squadron may spend an Action to make a Partial Fire Attack during the Movement Phase. This attack cannot cause damage or critical hits to the target ship. Or *Rolling Broadsides*: > Each ship in this Squadron may spend an Action to make an Attack during the Movement Phase. Can they spend an action for the card’s effect? **Ruling: no.** While in general if a card contradicts the base rules, the card wins, in these two cases the contradiction is implicit, while for *Elan* it is explicit. The fact that one card is explicit and the other two are not implies that the other two _could_ be explicit if that was the intent, and their silence is dispositive. ## Moving off the table Rules as written: > MOVING OFF THE TABLE1: If a ship ends its move with part of its base off the table, it has drifted too far from the engagement and is removed from the game. Does a ship that moves off the table count as Out of Action or otherwise generate strike points? **Ruling: no.** A ship that moves off the table reduces the size of that player’s squadron, and if it was rendered crippled, that strike point remains, but it does not otherwise count as Out of Action. ## Targeting rigging or crew Rules as written: > To target a ship’s rigging, reduce the number of dice rolled during the Attack by half (round down, to a minimum of 1). and > To target a ship’s crew, reduce the number of dice rolled during the Attack by half (round down, to a minimum of 1). “Reduce by” and “round down” is a maximally confusing way to phrase things, I think. Are you rounding the reduction or the remaining total dice? So, if you have a base broadside of 7, do you roll 3 dice or 4? And more critically, if you have a base broadside of 1, do you roll 1 die or zero dice? In the general case, rolling half (round up, because the _reduction_ is rounded down) is more advantageous. But because of the “minimum of 1” clause, in the specific case of a base broadside of 1, that would mean the minimum reduction is 1, and that you’d be rolling zero, and that’s *less* advantageous. It is also _weirder_, which leads me to conclude that the intent of the phrasing is that you roll “half, round down” of your base broadside value. **Ruling: roll half, round down, minimum one.** If you’re rolling 7 dice base, roll 3. If you’re rolling 1 die base, roll 1. ### Addendum: *Target Rigging* initiative card What about the French initiative card *Target Rigging*? > Every ship in this Squadron must roll 1 more dice during Attacks made against rigging. The normal rule is that division of dice values happens last, but that might mean that this initiative card has _no effect_! If, say, you are rolling a base broadside attack of 6, and play this, then both 6 and 7 would turn into 3 for an attack targeting rigging. So, exceptionally, this card applies *after* the division. A base broadside of 6 or 7 is divided to get 3, and then *Target Rigging* adds one, allowing 4 dice to for the attack. ### Addendum: Targeting crew and High Freeboard or Very High Freeboard While targeting rigging can never do Fatigue or Damage to a target ship, targeting crew can do Fatigue (though it, likewise, cannot do Damage). If the target ship has High Freeboard or Very High Freeboard, this means that the attack must do 2 or 3 hits to even cause one Fatigue, as normal. However, an attack targeting crew only hits on [sword] results, _and_ interprets them as though they were a critical confirmation. Therefore, if you target a ship with High Freeboard or Very High Freeboard: 1. One [sword] results in 1 Fatigue, because a critical would, even with those ship special rules. 2. Two or three [sword] results, as appropriate, would cause 1 Fatigue for a successful hit, plus 1 for being interpreted as a critical, for a total of 2 Fatigue. It will also trigger the rules for hitting the helm and any captain or admiral present. 3. If the attack is a rake, it will cause a bonus point of Fatigue even if only 1 [sword] result is rolled. If it is a stern rake, then it will, as normal, ignore High Freeboard or Very High Freeboard. ### Addendum: Skill and targeting crew or rigging You can use skill to reroll dice in an attack targeting crew or rigging; while it is _interpreted_ as a critical, it is still an actual attack roll.