*Oak & Iron* with Michael P. The scenario was “Escort”, with the English attacking the French. We used the weekly Summer of Plunder effect “Masters of the Seas” which triggered weather events every turn, and it was _wild_. ![[july_25-1.jpeg]] --- Mon intendant, My lord the Count de Bellamarre is safe, and we have won a great victory over the English. Let me recount the day. We were escorting my lord the count from Aruba. We sighted the English bearing down on us, and prepared to ensure his safety. The weather was most uncertain—old foremast hands insisted that they had never seen anything like it, and my steward remarked under his breath that it must be the alchemical work for which the count is famed. The wind was strong in the east, and yet a thick fog lay over the sea ahead of us, near an unnamed island. Three English ships quickly began to bear down on our line, and no sooner had they than the wind quartered, coming out of the north—at their backs and almost in our faces. We had maintained a course north-east, and were lucky to have done so. The oft-remarked Lt. Lebeau, to whom I had entrusted the count, plunged *La Railleuse* into the fog, and then veered sharply to the north-west, opening a broadside on the leading English ship (HMS *Piccadilly*), and making for the cover of the island. ![[july_25-2.jpeg]] I followed into the fog, but did not follow the turn: I took *La Sirène* into open waters and hoped to demand an engagement with these ships. The English admiral obliged, after firing back upon *La Railleuse* and making room for his consort (the *petite frégate* HMS *St. Crispin*—truly a low blow to name a ship such) to follow. During this time, the wind wavered from the north to the west—and intermittently would drop to a whisper. It seemed the English commander knew this weather, almost like a medieval *tempestarius*, and he was ready for it. I was only not caught in the teeth of the gale by the grace of God. ![[july_25-3.jpeg]] But it was not long before I brought *La Sirène* up alongside the *Piccadilly*, and my brave sailors threw grapples and boarded them. The action was intense, but was decided when the *St. Crispin* fired on us, raking us stern to stem. I say this with no concern that it will stain my honour—my subsequent actions must exonerate me—but I managed to make it off of the bloody decks and, with a select few hands, haul away to my corvette *La Panthère* which was approaching in the fog. ![[july_25-4.jpeg]] Once aboard, we came up alongside the *Sirène*, as her colours came down, and boarded across her decks, pushing the English all the way back onto the *Piccadilly*. The three ships were grappled together in one mass, with the rigging of both flagships torn to tatters and the scuppers running red. The *St. Crispin* attempted her same trick, and raked the *Panthère*, but by then, most of the crew was aboard the *Piccadilly*, securing its captain’s gracious surrender, and besides, the fog made the broadside largely ineffective. However, despite the English flagship having struck her colours, the captain of their fluyt the HMS *Charger* took it upon himself to continue the fight. ![[july_25-5.jpeg]] By now the wind had settled into the west, but could no longer decide whether to blow a mild zephyr or a fierce gale. The *Railleuse* had turned to keep in the fight, and though firing at a distance and through fog, her gun crews acquitted themselves well. I stayed aboard the *Panthère*, and directed a small crew to get *Sirène* to safety. I saw that the captain of the *Charger* wanted to take the corvette as a prize, and so I kept a distance and hammered them where I could. After some further fire, he conceded the matter, and, in company with the *St. Crispin*, fled to the south. I have given admiral Irvine of the *Piccadilly* his sword back and accepted his parole. We dine tonight, and I hope to show him the true extent of French hospitality. He seems an amiable man, and I very much hope that I may introduce you when we reach Québec. Votre serviteur, Lt. de Vaisseau Macquer ![[july_25-6.jpeg]] *Game notes: This game was wild. The Wacky Weather special rules were great, and in preparation for them, I kept to tacks 45° off from the board edges, so that I would avoid being caught in the wind’s eye. For the first few turns, every weather roll was a change in wind direction, and every time, Michael won the roll to choose the new direction. Eventually he got such that he wished it would stop, as he had it where he wanted it! Then, it did in fact stop, and vacillated between Calms and Wind Increases.* *But what was truly wild was the action: we boarded, lost, raked—and while he was stern-raking my flagship, I bow-raked his petit frégate the same turn—counter-boarded, recaptured, and broke free. Almost every bit of weird edge-case boarding rules came up in this game. And no ship was crippled, at any point!* *This is one for the proverbial books.*