*Amiral* Belrose, in his flagship *Le Tonnant* of sixty guns, accompanied by *Le Cète* (40) and *La Sirène* (22), and two other petites frégates, found what appeared to be an armed Spanish merchant contingent: a galleon and fluyt pressing hard to pass the island at the mouth of George Bay. It hardly seemed like it would be a fair fight; *Le Tonnant* was a proper ship of the line, albeit small and old-fashioned, and was heavily supported. > Well, they’ll be the enemy for the purposes of this story. Of course we are allies with Spain in this Summer of Plunder. ![[jun_19 - 1.png]] But as he approached, the wind picking up and his ships’ rigging singing, a lookout cried out: “A third sail, sir! A sloop joining them!” and then, a moment later, “Two sails to lee, sir! Flying Spanish colours—and one is the *Cazador*.” The lieutenant at the admiral’s side coughed. “I know her, sir. I was a prisoner on her after Caye Roques. She’s a second rate, eighty or more guns. But not weatherly, and we have the weather gauge of her.” Belrose considered for a moment. “Signal to the smaller frégates to screen us. They are to avoid her guns, and harass her where they may, and break off if she stands a chance of closing on them.” Then, to the lieutenant: “I don’t want to lose them, but I trust that they can keep her distant until we are done our work here.” ![[jun_19 - 2.png]] ![[jun_19 - 6.png]] The work would soon turn hot and bloody. The *Tonnant* approached the galleon, which did not flinch. Belrose saw at the last minute that the rail was lined with men with fine muskets, and swords of fine Spanish steel—*corsarios* looking for a boarding action. He swerved, but the galleon was clearly crewed by men who knew their business, and it swerved too, cutting across his bows and firing one last broadside as the Spaniards threw grapples and prepared to board. The moment before the storm was suddenly rent with an explosion of splinters running the length of the galleon. One of his frégates had seen the situation and ignored the orders, and landed a withering rake along the bows of the galleon. He cursed to himself—the captain must be reprimanded, but had clearly done the right thing. Belrose drew his cutlass and shouted as the Spaniards poured over—*Montjoie et Saint Denis!* ![[jun_19 - 3.png]] What followed was a blur. The fighting surged back and forth, but the French pressed forward and counter-boarded, until the Spanish galleon struck their colours, and left to sink as the French returned to their ship. The rogue frégate began to engage the Spanish fluyt, but ran aground on the shoals. The *Cète* turned out to support the flagship, while the *Sirène* began to race downwind to support the lone frégate in its dance with the Spanish second-rate. And then came a moment when the French were truly blessed: the wind shifted. It had been coming from the east, and it moved around to the south. This put the Spanish second-rate dead into the wind, locked in irons as her sailors attempted to bring her around and get way on her once more. Admittedly, some of the French ships were likewise caught, but not so badly, and they were more weatherly to begin with. They held the weather gauge still. ![[jun_19 - 4.png]] The sudden increase in wind drove the Spanish sloop and fluyt in towards the *Tonnant*, which had cut free from the galleon. Supported by broadsides from the *Cète* and the rogue frégate, Belrose tried to bring his guns to bear once more, but the sloop was slammed by the fluyt and caught in a mess of rigging and spars. Every old officer has something of the pirate in him, somewhere in his soul. Admiral Belrose was no different. He grinned at the opportunity, and shouted “All guns, fire on that sloop as you bear! Boarders, ready grapples!” The sloop was rent to pieces, the crew showered with splinters of wood, a foot long or more, flying through the air at deadly speeds. The ships grappled, and the French sailors, still hot from their victory over the galleon, poured over the rail. The sailors aboard the fluyt, entangled in this mess, were ready to give up hope when their ship was hit by a broadside from the *Cète* raking its bows. Three Spanish ships were sinking, their flagship was caught in irons, and while the dutiful frégate was limping and badly injured, her crew were still able and flying their colours high and proud. Belrose had carried the day. ![[jun_19 - 5.png]] > The scenario was Cut Off, which often acts more like “defender gets surprise reinforcements just where they need them”. In the spirit of sportsmanship, we agreed that those reinforcements had to be outside of musket shot of any enemy ship when they popped on to the board. > As soon as the second-rate showed up, I started playing keep-away. I kept my frégate near it but outside of its broadside arc, trying to tempt it into movements that wouldn’t help. But what really saved me was the change in wind. I figured it was worth almost any cost to stick his ship dead in irons, and I ended up being right. > In this game, I tried something a bit new. I usually make a French list as *either* a gunnery list or a boarding list, and try to keep to that strategy. This time, I made a gunnery list, and decided I would not be shy about boarding, too. The French bonus is equivalent to a free Boarding Party on every ship, so why not act like it? So I aimed to shoot, but tried not to get cagey about getting entangled, and it paid off. Support from other ships shooting into melee was also critical.