Naval Sequence of Play

The Naval Sequence of Play describes the order in which actions are performed during a naval fight. The movement and adjustment of ships occurs in normal game rounds, allowing events at sea to be measured by the same time scale used for combat. To keep track of orders, movement, missiles, boarding, collisions and damage, a fixed "Sequence of Play" has been included in the system. Each phase of the sequence must be resolved in the order indicated below. This prevents ships from turning, firing, accelerating, drifting or striking one another out of order, while giving the DM a consistent frame for judging what has already occurred and what remains possible in the present round. Descriptions for each phase are linked for further reading.

The Sequence accounts for the delay between an officer giving an order and the vessel answering that order. A ship is a large, moving body, dependent upon crew labour, wind, steering, sail and momentum. The helmsman may begin to answer the tiller at once, but sailors must still haul lines, brace yards, gather or loose sail, shift weight, clear obstructions and respond to commands passed across a noisy deck. For this reason, changes in speed or direction are not treated as instantaneous.

This delay also gives value to command and anticipation. Officers must judge the enemy's course before the moment of contact, decide whether to close, sheer away, hold position, prepare to board or bring weapons to bear, and then trust the crew to carry out the order in time. A poor order may leave the ship badly placed several rounds later; a good order may put the vessel into position before the enemy can answer.

Where no personal combat is taking place, the DM may manage ship movement over longer intervals. A suitable approach is to combine movement into minute periods of five rounds each, or even two minutes at a time, when vessels are closing from a distance, searching for position, adjusting to wind, shadowing one another, or manoeuvring without immediate fire or boarding. This keeps the encounter from becoming burdened by unnecessary round-by-round handling before the ships are close enough for each moment to matter.

Once vessels come within range of missiles, siege engines, ramming, grappling, boarding or other immediate action, play should return to the normal round-by-round sequence. At that point, small differences in timing, facing, speed and distance become important enough to require the full order of play.

Sequence of Play

Wind Phase

The direction of the wind is called by its location on the compass, called "windward." In naval terms, downwind, the direction the wind is going, is called leeward. These terms are used throughout the naval combat rules to describe a ship’s position and movement in relation to the wind. For game purposes, the compass has sixteen points, representing a 360 degree circle of horizon. Every five rounds, or once per minute, a die is rolled to determine whether the wind has shifted one point clockwise or counterclockwise. This roll should be made before the next phase in the sequence.

Unfouling Phase

All ships wishing to do so may attempt to unfoul themselves during this phase. To begin the attempt, orders must be given to the crew, after which the entire ship's crew must spend five rounds attempting to free the vessel's rigging from that of another ship. During this time, the crew is occupied with cutting, hauling, clearing spars, loosening lines and separating the vessels enough for normal handling to resume. The attempt is resolved during this phase.