Let's Play Choice of Broadsides, Chapter Seven
Previous chapter (five, part one) is here.
The game is HERE. A great review of it is over at Jayisgames, and my "review" is here. If you think this game sounds fun, play it before reading, because there will be massive spoilers after the cut.
And now, without further ado...
We're in the home stretch, guys! Let's go for the gold! (Yes, my metaphor's getting a bit mixed.)
H.M.S. Defender continues his cruise. On a bright and clear day, you come into sight of a Gaulish merchant convoy, with no apparent warships to defend it. There are a dozen Gaulish merchant ships in all.
How do you plan your attack?
Okay, well we can (A) Use the wind to get us over and pick them off separately, (B) Sail to the middle to try to gun them down, or (C) Have the wind push them towards us. Let's go with (C), though I don't think it matter that much.
You snap off orders, closing with the Gaulish convoy and running up the ensign of the Royal Navy. The Gaulish ships begin to scatter, hoping that you will have to chase one or two and allow the rest to escape.
Defender's crew responds to your orders well. The women are not the most disciplined crew that you have ever served with, but they are adequate to the task at hand. You maneuver the ship well, overtaking one Gaulish ship after another, and a barrage of cannon fire at the Gaulish sails cripples your prey. Inevitably, most of the merchant ships escape, but you capture five of the enemy. You have deprived Gaul of much-needed supplies and earned yourself a sizable payment of prize money.
End of chapter? That was short. We can definitely keep going.
As reward for our efforts, the Admiralty gives us a shiny new ship, the H.M.S. Dauntless, and lets us choose our first lieutenant. So who do we want? The four choices are: (A) Stuart, (B) Mason, (C) Benton, or (D) The current first lieutenant, whoever she is. We'll go with (A), I guess.
Madam Stuart is available, and the Admiralty orders her to report to H.M.S. Dauntless. She is young for the post, but enthusiastic and shaping up to be a fine officer.
Off to Queensport we go. We are told that this port is tropical, well suited for raiding Gaulish shipping and protecting Albion's merchant ships, and very nice in general.
Shortly after your ship makes port, while you are overseeing the process of taking on new supplies, the signal midshipwoman runs up to you. She touches her hat in salute and says, "Signal from the flag: Admiral's compliments, Captains of Dauntless, Vigilant, and Intrepid please come to the flagship at your convenience."
"Acknowledge the signal and inform the officer of the watch to have my boat prepared for immediate departure," you reply. When an admiral asks you to report to the flagship, it is "convenient" for you to drop whatever you are doing and to head over immediately.
Within a minute, your boat is lowered over the frigate's side. Upon your arrival, smartly dressed sailors and a marine honor guard pipe you aboard H.M.S. Indomitable, the admiral's flag ship. The flag lieutenant touches her hat to each of the arriving captains. "Ma'am, if you will please accompany me? The Admiral is waiting in her stateroom."
We meet the Admiral, who informs us that recently, our shipping has been disrupted by a Gaulish commerce raider, who has taken a number of our merchantships.
"The Gaulish frigate has recently made port on Blue Island. Blue Island is a possession of Jutland and thus still neutral, so we can't take the frigate there. But we do have our spies keeping their eyes out, and so we got a report of the frigate. He's a 44-gun frigate, called Lynx, under the command of a Captain Villeneuve."
It is at this point where our desire to preserve our dignity is the only thing keeping us from spitting all of the port the Admiral served us across the table, because OMGWTFBBQ VILLENEUVE. I think Smythe settles for choking and trying discreetly to cough the misdirected liquid up.
You startle slightly at the name of Lynx's captain, and the Admiral raises an eyebrow. "You know of Villeneuve, Captain Smythe?"
"Our paths have crossed a few times, ma'am," you reply guardedly.
"All the better. I'm assigning each of you the mission to hunt down Lynx. You are to make all efforts to capture or destroy him. I know, I know. . . you would rather be hunting rich Gaulish merchantships. I would rather you were hunting merchantships as well." The Admiral smiles--after all, she receives fully one-quarter of the value of any prizes her ships capture. "But we have our duty to think of. Because of the rules of neutrality, none of you can take stations within sight of Blue Island. I want Vigilant to patrol to the east of the island, Intrepid to sail to the west, and Dauntless to patrol to the north. One of you should be able to force Lynx to action as he sails out.
"I am also well aware of the fact that a 44-gun frigate is significantly more powerful than any of your ships. However, I have no heavier frigates to send, and a ship of the line would be unable to force Lynx to fight. I trust that the superior sailing and gunnery of the Royal Navy will be more than sufficient for you to prevail. And, as their Lordships say in the orders giving you command of a ship, 'fail in these duties at your peril,' eh? Unless there are any questions? Best be about it, then."
You quickly return to your ship. As soon as you have the most essential supplies on board, you make sail to fight Captain Villeneuve.
Villeneuve. Now there's a name we hoped we wouldn't hear until this war was over. Just play it cool, Smythe, it's gonna be all right, play it cool.
How can you fight her after all you have been through?
Trust the game to ask, right out, what we've been stressing over. We can answer (I'm being a bit creative, now) (A) It's no different from any other duty, (B) Words cannot describe how much I don't want to do this, but I must, out of duty, or (C) I've got to get myself out of this mess! Knowing Smythe, it seems (B) is the only way to go.
Sad yet true.
You sail H.M.S. Dauntless into position--north of the main port of Blue Island, but out of sight of the port. Staying on a specific station requires a certain amount of tacking and sailing back and forth, but that provides you with an opportunity to drill your crew into a high state of readiness. On the third day after you arrive in position, a sailor in the crow's nest calls down, "Two sails--one to port, one to starboard!"
You pull out your spyglass and look at each ship. The ship to port looks like a fully-loaded large Gaulish merchant ship. It would be easy prey for a 38-gun frigate like Dauntless and would fetch you a substantial payment in prize money.
But the ship to starboard is a warship. You can't be certain at this range, but that ship is probably Lynx, the Gaulish 44 that you have been sent to defeat.
What do you do?
(A) Battle with the warship, for glory's sake, (B) Do your duty and go after the warship, (C) The Admiral will have our hides if she knew we let the Lynx go, (D) It might not be the Lynx, so let's just go after the prize ship, or (E) We can totally avoid fighting Villeneuve by going after the merchant ship.
There is only one path for us, and it is (B). Let's do this thing.
So we (calmly, according to the game) give the orders to go after the starboard ship. Next is our plan of action. The wind is strong enough that we can use it to our advantage, the Lynx is the stronger ship, but we have the better crew. What to do?
Options include: (A) Charge and try to board as soon as possible, (B) Gunnery duel, or (C) Try to make them fall into a trap. I think (C) is the safest course of action.
Based on your long history with Captain Villeneuve, you know that she cannot resist a gamble. If you present her with a situation where she has a bold and risky option, she will surely take it.
Aye, we know her too well. Unfortunately, she probably knows Smythe quite well, too. This will be a hard battle, and our feelings make it all the more challenging. But we've come too far to back out now.
You fake an accident on the ship, making it seem that one of the lines in your ship's rigging has broken, disabling the ship. As your ship lurches around, Captain Villeneuve sees the opportunity to rake your ship's bow. As she brings Lynx into position, however, you quickly give the orders to tighten down the lines you deliberately let go slack and execute a sharp turn. Before Villeneuve can react, you bring Dauntless behind Lynx. Instead of Lynx raking your bow, you rake the enemy's stern.
We've managed to land the first hit. Good for us.
The battle is going well, but you certainly have not won yet. Captain Villeneuve is trying to close with Dauntless to force a boarding action, hoping to take advantage of her larger crew to make up the deficit.
It will be hard to maintain the battle as a gunnery action--you'll have to either carry the enemy by boarding or try to damage their rigging enough to sail away.
Which will it be?
We can now choose to: (A) Break off the battle honourably, (B) Consider the danger and flee, (C) Believe in our abilities, or (D) Decide we're not stopping until Lynx surrenders or goes down. Our choice... (C). Game, we think we just might be able to do this.
We'll see about that, won't we?
Finally, the battle comes down to a boarding action. As the ships come alongside each other, the crews charge forward, screaming and waving their cutlasses. The fighting is bloody and vicious.
As you rush onto the enemy quarterdeck, sword in hand, you come face to face with Villeneuve. She hesitates, surprised and upset to encounter you, and her sword drifts out of her guard position.
Oh, Villeneuve, why did it have to come to this? Fighting you is the very last thing we wanted to do, but... there is no choice, is there?
Is there? There's always a choice. We can decide the direction we want to take our duel. We are given the following responses:
(A) "I take advantage of her hesitation. This is war, after all."
(B) "I let her recover her poise, but then duty demands that we fight."
(C) "Perhaps I can disarm her or otherwise avoid killing her."
(D) "I cannot fight her. I lower my sword."
And as we attempt to find the balance between our obligations and our feelings, we realize that the best course can be found in (C), winning the battle but sparing her life.
The fight is intense. You quickly gain the advantage, but she answers with a vicious blow to your left arm, hurting you badly. You fear that the decision to try to disarm her was a poor one, but finally you you wound her on her sword hand. A quick twist of your wrist sends her blade skittering along the deck.
Villeneuve gives you a small bow as she surrenders. "If I must lose my ship, at least you will benefit from it, Smythe."
This... I'm going to need a moment.
Honourable as always, aren't you, Villeneuve? And, as always, you are far too good to us.
...All right. This should do. Let us proceed.
H.M.S. Dauntless is lightly damaged, when all is said and done, and you have captured Lynx. You sail back to Queensport with the prize. The Admiral is most pleased, and promotes Madam Stuart to commander as a sign of her regard.
You are then assigned commerce raiding duties--by the time you receive orders to return to Albion, you have made a small fortune in prize money.
Finally, you arrive back in Albion. You are hailed as a hero upon your arrival--the whole nation rejoiced over the report of your victory.
The Queen herself requests your presence at court. The Queen calls you forward and commands you to kneel. She strikes you on each shoulder with a sword and confers the title of Knight of the Most Honorable Order of the Vigil upon you. Congratulations, Dame Anne.
We've done rather well for ourselves. We should be proud.
With that, your adventure comes to an end for now, Dame Anne.
As one of the heroes of the Royal Navy, you are always in demand. Whenever a choice assignment is available, your name comes up. And if you choose to, you could easily win election to Parliament or gain entree into the highest echelons of Albion's society.
As the years go by, you steadily climb up the naval list. As your seniority increases, you receive promotion in turn to rear admiral, vice admiral, and finally admiral. With each promotion, you receive larger and more important commands, as well as the opportunity for more prize money. In fact, you ultimately reach the degree of importance where you could be appointed one of the Peers of the Admiralty. Depending on how your commands go, you may win yourself a peerage.
You have barely enough money to buy an estate and to live as a country gentlewoman on the relatively rare occasions when you are on half-pay. Your success and heroism has not been matched with commensurate financial rewards. Still, with commands easy for you to secure, you live a comfortable life.
As a national hero with a very successful naval career, you are an extremely eligible unmarried knight. You can easily make an excellent marriage if you wish, whether pursuing an old flame or courting anew.
P-pursuing an old flame?! Are you serious? Because the only old flame we've seen is a certain Gaulish lady and--I think it's time we took a trip. Overseas.
And now, our final stats:
Name: Dame Anne Smythe
Rank: Admiral
Made Post-Captain: 25 years old
Sailing: 85
Gunnery: 77
Leadership: 65
Fighting: 70
Patronage: 40
Tact: 42
Likeability: 55
Honor: 82 (+)
Courage: 70 (-)
Bloodthirst: 35 (-)
Intelligence: 48 (-)
Wealth: 64 (+++)
Nice. It's certainly not the best that we could have done, but I'm pretty happy with it.
And with that, our adventure is over. Thank you so much, Choiceofgames, for making this, and thank you, Jayisgames, for recommending it.
Thanks for reading. I had a lot of fun.
FIN
The game is HERE. A great review of it is over at Jayisgames, and my "review" is here. If you think this game sounds fun, play it before reading, because there will be massive spoilers after the cut.
And now, without further ado...
We're in the home stretch, guys! Let's go for the gold! (Yes, my metaphor's getting a bit mixed.)
H.M.S. Defender continues his cruise. On a bright and clear day, you come into sight of a Gaulish merchant convoy, with no apparent warships to defend it. There are a dozen Gaulish merchant ships in all.
How do you plan your attack?
Okay, well we can (A) Use the wind to get us over and pick them off separately, (B) Sail to the middle to try to gun them down, or (C) Have the wind push them towards us. Let's go with (C), though I don't think it matter that much.
You snap off orders, closing with the Gaulish convoy and running up the ensign of the Royal Navy. The Gaulish ships begin to scatter, hoping that you will have to chase one or two and allow the rest to escape.
Defender's crew responds to your orders well. The women are not the most disciplined crew that you have ever served with, but they are adequate to the task at hand. You maneuver the ship well, overtaking one Gaulish ship after another, and a barrage of cannon fire at the Gaulish sails cripples your prey. Inevitably, most of the merchant ships escape, but you capture five of the enemy. You have deprived Gaul of much-needed supplies and earned yourself a sizable payment of prize money.
End of chapter? That was short. We can definitely keep going.
As reward for our efforts, the Admiralty gives us a shiny new ship, the H.M.S. Dauntless, and lets us choose our first lieutenant. So who do we want? The four choices are: (A) Stuart, (B) Mason, (C) Benton, or (D) The current first lieutenant, whoever she is. We'll go with (A), I guess.
Madam Stuart is available, and the Admiralty orders her to report to H.M.S. Dauntless. She is young for the post, but enthusiastic and shaping up to be a fine officer.
Off to Queensport we go. We are told that this port is tropical, well suited for raiding Gaulish shipping and protecting Albion's merchant ships, and very nice in general.
Shortly after your ship makes port, while you are overseeing the process of taking on new supplies, the signal midshipwoman runs up to you. She touches her hat in salute and says, "Signal from the flag: Admiral's compliments, Captains of Dauntless, Vigilant, and Intrepid please come to the flagship at your convenience."
"Acknowledge the signal and inform the officer of the watch to have my boat prepared for immediate departure," you reply. When an admiral asks you to report to the flagship, it is "convenient" for you to drop whatever you are doing and to head over immediately.
Within a minute, your boat is lowered over the frigate's side. Upon your arrival, smartly dressed sailors and a marine honor guard pipe you aboard H.M.S. Indomitable, the admiral's flag ship. The flag lieutenant touches her hat to each of the arriving captains. "Ma'am, if you will please accompany me? The Admiral is waiting in her stateroom."
We meet the Admiral, who informs us that recently, our shipping has been disrupted by a Gaulish commerce raider, who has taken a number of our merchantships.
"The Gaulish frigate has recently made port on Blue Island. Blue Island is a possession of Jutland and thus still neutral, so we can't take the frigate there. But we do have our spies keeping their eyes out, and so we got a report of the frigate. He's a 44-gun frigate, called Lynx, under the command of a Captain Villeneuve."
It is at this point where our desire to preserve our dignity is the only thing keeping us from spitting all of the port the Admiral served us across the table, because OMGWTFBBQ VILLENEUVE. I think Smythe settles for choking and trying discreetly to cough the misdirected liquid up.
You startle slightly at the name of Lynx's captain, and the Admiral raises an eyebrow. "You know of Villeneuve, Captain Smythe?"
"Our paths have crossed a few times, ma'am," you reply guardedly.
"All the better. I'm assigning each of you the mission to hunt down Lynx. You are to make all efforts to capture or destroy him. I know, I know. . . you would rather be hunting rich Gaulish merchantships. I would rather you were hunting merchantships as well." The Admiral smiles--after all, she receives fully one-quarter of the value of any prizes her ships capture. "But we have our duty to think of. Because of the rules of neutrality, none of you can take stations within sight of Blue Island. I want Vigilant to patrol to the east of the island, Intrepid to sail to the west, and Dauntless to patrol to the north. One of you should be able to force Lynx to action as he sails out.
"I am also well aware of the fact that a 44-gun frigate is significantly more powerful than any of your ships. However, I have no heavier frigates to send, and a ship of the line would be unable to force Lynx to fight. I trust that the superior sailing and gunnery of the Royal Navy will be more than sufficient for you to prevail. And, as their Lordships say in the orders giving you command of a ship, 'fail in these duties at your peril,' eh? Unless there are any questions? Best be about it, then."
You quickly return to your ship. As soon as you have the most essential supplies on board, you make sail to fight Captain Villeneuve.
Villeneuve. Now there's a name we hoped we wouldn't hear until this war was over. Just play it cool, Smythe, it's gonna be all right, play it cool.
How can you fight her after all you have been through?
Trust the game to ask, right out, what we've been stressing over. We can answer (I'm being a bit creative, now) (A) It's no different from any other duty, (B) Words cannot describe how much I don't want to do this, but I must, out of duty, or (C) I've got to get myself out of this mess! Knowing Smythe, it seems (B) is the only way to go.
Sad yet true.
You sail H.M.S. Dauntless into position--north of the main port of Blue Island, but out of sight of the port. Staying on a specific station requires a certain amount of tacking and sailing back and forth, but that provides you with an opportunity to drill your crew into a high state of readiness. On the third day after you arrive in position, a sailor in the crow's nest calls down, "Two sails--one to port, one to starboard!"
You pull out your spyglass and look at each ship. The ship to port looks like a fully-loaded large Gaulish merchant ship. It would be easy prey for a 38-gun frigate like Dauntless and would fetch you a substantial payment in prize money.
But the ship to starboard is a warship. You can't be certain at this range, but that ship is probably Lynx, the Gaulish 44 that you have been sent to defeat.
What do you do?
(A) Battle with the warship, for glory's sake, (B) Do your duty and go after the warship, (C) The Admiral will have our hides if she knew we let the Lynx go, (D) It might not be the Lynx, so let's just go after the prize ship, or (E) We can totally avoid fighting Villeneuve by going after the merchant ship.
There is only one path for us, and it is (B). Let's do this thing.
So we (calmly, according to the game) give the orders to go after the starboard ship. Next is our plan of action. The wind is strong enough that we can use it to our advantage, the Lynx is the stronger ship, but we have the better crew. What to do?
Options include: (A) Charge and try to board as soon as possible, (B) Gunnery duel, or (C) Try to make them fall into a trap. I think (C) is the safest course of action.
Based on your long history with Captain Villeneuve, you know that she cannot resist a gamble. If you present her with a situation where she has a bold and risky option, she will surely take it.
Aye, we know her too well. Unfortunately, she probably knows Smythe quite well, too. This will be a hard battle, and our feelings make it all the more challenging. But we've come too far to back out now.
You fake an accident on the ship, making it seem that one of the lines in your ship's rigging has broken, disabling the ship. As your ship lurches around, Captain Villeneuve sees the opportunity to rake your ship's bow. As she brings Lynx into position, however, you quickly give the orders to tighten down the lines you deliberately let go slack and execute a sharp turn. Before Villeneuve can react, you bring Dauntless behind Lynx. Instead of Lynx raking your bow, you rake the enemy's stern.
We've managed to land the first hit. Good for us.
The battle is going well, but you certainly have not won yet. Captain Villeneuve is trying to close with Dauntless to force a boarding action, hoping to take advantage of her larger crew to make up the deficit.
It will be hard to maintain the battle as a gunnery action--you'll have to either carry the enemy by boarding or try to damage their rigging enough to sail away.
Which will it be?
We can now choose to: (A) Break off the battle honourably, (B) Consider the danger and flee, (C) Believe in our abilities, or (D) Decide we're not stopping until Lynx surrenders or goes down. Our choice... (C). Game, we think we just might be able to do this.
We'll see about that, won't we?
Finally, the battle comes down to a boarding action. As the ships come alongside each other, the crews charge forward, screaming and waving their cutlasses. The fighting is bloody and vicious.
As you rush onto the enemy quarterdeck, sword in hand, you come face to face with Villeneuve. She hesitates, surprised and upset to encounter you, and her sword drifts out of her guard position.
Oh, Villeneuve, why did it have to come to this? Fighting you is the very last thing we wanted to do, but... there is no choice, is there?
Is there? There's always a choice. We can decide the direction we want to take our duel. We are given the following responses:
(A) "I take advantage of her hesitation. This is war, after all."
(B) "I let her recover her poise, but then duty demands that we fight."
(C) "Perhaps I can disarm her or otherwise avoid killing her."
(D) "I cannot fight her. I lower my sword."
And as we attempt to find the balance between our obligations and our feelings, we realize that the best course can be found in (C), winning the battle but sparing her life.
The fight is intense. You quickly gain the advantage, but she answers with a vicious blow to your left arm, hurting you badly. You fear that the decision to try to disarm her was a poor one, but finally you you wound her on her sword hand. A quick twist of your wrist sends her blade skittering along the deck.
Villeneuve gives you a small bow as she surrenders. "If I must lose my ship, at least you will benefit from it, Smythe."
This... I'm going to need a moment.
Honourable as always, aren't you, Villeneuve? And, as always, you are far too good to us.
...All right. This should do. Let us proceed.
H.M.S. Dauntless is lightly damaged, when all is said and done, and you have captured Lynx. You sail back to Queensport with the prize. The Admiral is most pleased, and promotes Madam Stuart to commander as a sign of her regard.
You are then assigned commerce raiding duties--by the time you receive orders to return to Albion, you have made a small fortune in prize money.
Finally, you arrive back in Albion. You are hailed as a hero upon your arrival--the whole nation rejoiced over the report of your victory.
The Queen herself requests your presence at court. The Queen calls you forward and commands you to kneel. She strikes you on each shoulder with a sword and confers the title of Knight of the Most Honorable Order of the Vigil upon you. Congratulations, Dame Anne.
We've done rather well for ourselves. We should be proud.
With that, your adventure comes to an end for now, Dame Anne.
As one of the heroes of the Royal Navy, you are always in demand. Whenever a choice assignment is available, your name comes up. And if you choose to, you could easily win election to Parliament or gain entree into the highest echelons of Albion's society.
As the years go by, you steadily climb up the naval list. As your seniority increases, you receive promotion in turn to rear admiral, vice admiral, and finally admiral. With each promotion, you receive larger and more important commands, as well as the opportunity for more prize money. In fact, you ultimately reach the degree of importance where you could be appointed one of the Peers of the Admiralty. Depending on how your commands go, you may win yourself a peerage.
You have barely enough money to buy an estate and to live as a country gentlewoman on the relatively rare occasions when you are on half-pay. Your success and heroism has not been matched with commensurate financial rewards. Still, with commands easy for you to secure, you live a comfortable life.
As a national hero with a very successful naval career, you are an extremely eligible unmarried knight. You can easily make an excellent marriage if you wish, whether pursuing an old flame or courting anew.
P-pursuing an old flame?! Are you serious? Because the only old flame we've seen is a certain Gaulish lady and--I think it's time we took a trip. Overseas.
And now, our final stats:
Name: Dame Anne Smythe
Rank: Admiral
Made Post-Captain: 25 years old
Sailing: 85
Gunnery: 77
Leadership: 65
Fighting: 70
Patronage: 40
Tact: 42
Likeability: 55
Honor: 82 (+)
Courage: 70 (-)
Bloodthirst: 35 (-)
Intelligence: 48 (-)
Wealth: 64 (+++)
Nice. It's certainly not the best that we could have done, but I'm pretty happy with it.
And with that, our adventure is over. Thank you so much, Choiceofgames, for making this, and thank you, Jayisgames, for recommending it.
Thanks for reading. I had a lot of fun.
FIN