sail - multi-user wooden ships and iron men
sail [ -s [ -l ] ] [ -x ] [ -b ] [ num ]
Sail is a computer version of Avalon Hill's game of fighting
sail originally developed by S. Craig Taylor.
Players of Sail take command of an old fashioned Man of
War and fight other players or the computer. They may reenact
one of the many historical sea battles recorded in
the game, or they can choose a fictional battle.
As a sea captain in the Sail Navy, the player has complete
control over the workings of his ship. He must order
every maneuver, change the set of his sails, and judge the
right moment to let loose the terrible destruction of his
broadsides. In addition to fighting the enemy, he must
harness the powers of the wind and sea to make them work
for him. The outcome of many battles during the age of
sail was decided by the ability of one captain to hold the
`weather gage.'
The flags are:
-s Print the names and ships of the top ten sailors.
-l Show the login name. Only effective with -s.
-x Play the first available ship instead of prompting
for a choice.
-b No bells.
Sail is really two programs in one. Each player starts up
a process which runs his own ship. In addition, a driver
process is forked (by the first player) to run the computer
ships and take care of global bookkeeping.
Because the driver must calculate moves for each ship it
controls, the more ships the computer is playing, the
slower the game will appear.
If a player joins a game in progress, he will synchronize
with the other players (a rather slow process for everyone),
and then he may play along with the rest.
To implement a multi-user game in Version 7 UNIX, which
was the operating system Sail was first written under, the
communicating processes must use a common temporary file
as a place to read and write messages. In addition, a
locking mechanism must be provided to ensure exclusive
access to the shared file. For example, Sail uses a temporary
file named /tmp/#sailsink.21 for scenario 21, and
corresponding file names for the other scenarios. To provide
exclusive access to the temporary file, Sail uses a
technique stolen from an old game called "pubcaves" by
Jeff Cohen. Processes do a busy wait in the loop
for (n = 0; link(sync_file, sync_lock) 0 n 30; n++)
sleep(2);
until they are able to create a link to a file named
"/tmp/#saillock.??". The "??" correspond to the scenario
number of the game. Since UNIX guarantees that a link
will point to only one file, the process that succeeds in
linking will have exclusive access to the temporary file.
Whether or not this really works is open to speculation.
When ucbmiro was rebooted after a crash, the file system
check program found 3 links between the Sail temporary
file and its link file.
CONSEQUENCES OF SEPARATE PLAYER AND DRIVER PROCESSES [Toc] [Back] When players do something of global interest, such as moving
or firing, the driver must coordinate the action with
the other ships in the game. For example, if a player
wants to move in a certain direction, he writes a message
into the temporary file requesting the driver to move his
ship. Each ``turn,'' the driver reads all the messages
sent from the players and decides what happened. It then
writes back into the temporary file new values of variables,
etc.
The most noticeable effect this communication has on the
game is the delay in moving. Suppose a player types a
move for his ship and hits return. What happens then?
The player process saves up messages to be written to the
temporary file in a buffer. Every 7 seconds or so, the
player process gets exclusive access to the temporary file
and writes out its buffer to the file. The driver, running
asynchronously, must read in the movement command,
process it, and write out the results. This takes two
exclusive accesses to the temporary file. Finally, when
the player process gets around to doing another 7 second
update, the results of the move are displayed on the
screen. Hence, every movement requires four exclusive
accesses to the temporary file (anywhere from 7 to 21 seconds
depending upon asynchrony) before the player sees the
results of his moves.
In practice, the delays are not as annoying as they would
appear. There is room for "pipelining" in the movement.
After the player writes out a first movement message, a
second movement command can then be issued. The first
message will be in the temporary file waiting for the
driver, and the second will be in the file buffer waiting
to be written to the file. Thus, by always typing moves a
turn ahead of the time, the player can sail around quite
quickly.
If the player types several movement commands between two
7 second updates, only the last movement command typed
will be seen by the driver. Movement commands within the
same update "overwrite" each other, in a sense.
I wrote the first version of Sail on a PDP 11/70 in the
fall of 1980. Needless to say, the code was horrendous,
not portable in any sense of the word, and didn't work.
The program was not very modular and had fseeks() and
fwrites() every few lines. After a tremendous rewrite
from the top down, I got the first working version up by
1981. There were several annoying bugs concerning firing
broadsides and finding angles. Sail uses no floating
point, by the way, so the direction routines are rather
tricky. Ed Wang rewrote my angle() routine in 1981 to be
more correct (although it still doesn't work perfectly),
and he added code to let a player select which ship he
wanted at the start of the game (instead of the first one
available).
Captain Happy (Craig Leres) is responsible for making Sail
portable for the first time. This was no easy task, by
the way. Constants like 2 and 10 were very frequent in
the code. I also became famous for using "Riggle Memorial
Structures" in Sail. Many of my structure references are
so long that they run off the line printer page. Here is
an example, if you promise not to laugh.
specs[scene[flog.fgamenum].ship[flog.fshipnum].shipnum].pts
Sail received its fourth and most thorough rewrite in the
summer and fall of 1983. Ed Wang rewrote and modularized
the code (a monumental feat) almost from scratch.
Although he introduced many new bugs, the final result was
very much cleaner and (?) faster. He added window movement
commands and find ship commands.
Old Square Riggers were very maneuverable ships capable of
intricate sailing. Their only disadvantage was an inability
to sail very close to the wind. The design of a
wooden ship allowed only for the guns to bear to the left
and right sides. A few guns of small aspect (usually 6 or
9 pounders) could point forward, but their effect was
small compared to a 68 gun broadside of 24 or 32 pounders.
The guns bear approximately like so:
\
b----------------
---0
\
\
\ up to a range of ten (for round shot)
\
\
\
An interesting phenomenon occurred when a broadside was
fired down the length of an enemy ship. The shot tended
to bounce along the deck and did several times more damage.
This phenomenon was called a rake. Because the bows
of a ship are very strong and present a smaller target
than the stern, a stern rake (firing from the stern to the
bow) causes more damage than a bow rake.
b
00 ---- Stern rake!
a
Most ships were equipped with carronades, which were very
large, close range cannons. American ships from the revolution
until the War of 1812 were almost entirely armed
with carronades.
The period of history covered in Sail is approximately
from the 1770's until the end of Napoleonic France in
1815. There are many excellent books about the age of
sail. My favorite author is Captain Frederick Marryat.
More contemporary authors include C.S. Forester and
Alexander Kent.
Fighting ships came in several sizes classed by armament.
The mainstays of any fleet were its "Ships of the Line",
or "Line of Battle Ships". They were so named because
these ships fought together in great lines. They were
close enough for mutual support, yet every ship could fire
both its broadsides. We get the modern words "ocean
liner," or "liner," and "battleship" from "ship of the
line." The most common size was the 74 gun two decked
ship of the line. The two gun decks usually mounted 18
and 24 pounder guns.
The pride of the fleet were the first rates. These were
huge three decked ships of the line mounting 80 to 136
guns. The guns in the three tiers were usually 18, 24,
and 32 pounders in that order from top to bottom.
Various other ships came next. They were almost all
"razees," or ships of the line with one deck sawed off.
They mounted 40-64 guns and were a poor cross between a
frigate and a line of battle ship. They neither had the
speed of the former nor the firepower of the latter.
Next came the "eyes of the fleet." Frigates came in many
sizes mounting anywhere from 32 to 44 guns. They were
very handy vessels. They could outsail anything bigger
and outshoot anything smaller. Frigates didn't fight in
lines of battle as the much bigger 74's did. Instead,
they harassed the enemy's rear or captured crippled ships.
They were much more useful in missions away from the
fleet, such as cutting out expeditions or boat actions.
They could hit hard and get away fast.
Lastly, there were the corvettes, sloops, and brigs.
These were smaller ships mounting typically fewer than 20
guns. A corvette was only slightly smaller than a
frigate, so one might have up to 30 guns. Sloops were
used for carrying dispatches or passengers. Brigs were
something you built for land-locked lakes.
Ships in Sail are represented by two characters. One
character represents the bow of the ship, and the other
represents the stern. Ships have nationalities and numbers.
The first ship of a nationality is number 0, the
second number 1, etc. Therefore, the first British ship
in a game would be printed as "b0". The second Brit would
be "b1", and the fifth Don would be "s4".
Ships can set normal sails, called Battle Sails, or bend
on extra canvas called Full Sails. A ship under full sail
is a beautiful sight indeed, and it can move much faster
than a ship under Battle Sails. The only trouble is, with
full sails set, there is so much tension on sail and rigging
that a well aimed round shot can burst a sail into
ribbons where it would only cause a little hole in a loose
sail. For this reason, rigging damage is doubled on a
ship with full sails set. Don't let that discourage you
from using full sails. I like to keep them up right into
the heat of battle. A ship with full sails set has a capital
letter for its nationality. E.g., a Frog, "f0", with
full sails set would be printed as "F0".
When a ship is battered into a listing hulk, the last man
aboard "strikes the colors." This ceremony is the ship's
formal surrender. The nationality character of a surrendered
ship is printed as "!". E.g., the Frog of our last
example would soon be "!0".
A ship has a random chance of catching fire or sinking
when it reaches the stage of listing hulk. A sinking ship
has a "~" printed for its nationality, and a ship on fire
and about to explode has a "#" printed.
Captured ships become the nationality of the prize crew.
Therefore, if an American ship captures a British ship,
the British ship will have an "a" printed for its nationality.
In addition, the ship number is changed to "","'",
"(", ,")", "*", or "+" depending upon the original number,
be it 0,1,2,3,4, or 5. E.g., the "b0" captured by an
American becomes the "a". The "s4" captured by a Frog
becomes the "f*".
The ultimate example is, of course, an exploding Brit captured
by an American: "#".
Movement is the most confusing part of Sail to many.
Ships can head in 8 directions:
0 0 0
b b b0 b b b 0b b
0 0 0
The stern of a ship moves when it turns. The bow remains
stationary. Ships can always turn, regardless of the wind
(unless they are becalmed). All ships drift when they
lose headway. If a ship doesn't move forward at all for
two turns, it will begin to drift. If a ship has begun to
drift, then it must move forward before it turns, if it
plans to do more than make a right or left turn, which is
always possible.
Movement commands to Sail are a string of forward moves
and turns. An example is "l3". It will turn a ship left
and then move it ahead 3 spaces. In the drawing above,
the "b0" made 7 successive left turns. When Sail prompts
you for a move, it prints three characters of import.
E.g.,
move (7, 4):
The first number is the maximum number of moves you can
make, including turns. The second number is the maximum
number of turns you can make. Between the numbers is
sometimes printed a quote "'". If the quote is present,
it means that your ship has been drifting, and you must
move ahead to regain headway before you turn (see note
above). Some of the possible moves for the example above
are as follows:
move (7, 4): 7
move (7, 4): 1
move (7, 4): d /* drift, or do nothing */
move (7, 4): 6r
move (7, 4): 5r1
move (7, 4): 4r1r
move (7, 4): l1r1r2
move (7, 4): 1r1r1r1
Because square riggers performed so poorly sailing into
the wind, if at any point in a movement command you turn
into the wind, the movement stops there. E.g.,
move (7, 4): l1l4
Movement Error;
Helm: l1l
Moreover, whenever you make a turn, your movement
allowance drops to min(what's left, what you would have at
the new attitude). In short, if you turn closer to the
wind, you most likely won't be able to sail the full
allowance printed in the "move" prompt.
Old sailing captains had to keep an eye constantly on the
wind. Captains in Sail are no different. A ship's ability
to move depends on its attitude to the wind. The best
angle possible is to have the wind off your quarter, that
is, just off the stern. The direction rose on the side of
the screen gives the possible movements for your ship at
all positions to the wind. Battle sail speeds are given
first, and full sail speeds are given in parenthesis.
0 1(2)
\|/
-^-3(6)
/|\
| 4(7)
3(6)
Pretend the bow of your ship (the "^") is pointing upward
and the wind is blowing from the bottom to the top of the
page. The numbers at the bottom "3(6)" will be your speed
under battle or full sails in such a situation. If the
wind is off your quarter, then you can move "4(7)". If
the wind is off your beam, "3(6)". If the wind is off
your bow, then you can only move "1(2)". Facing into the
wind, you can't move at all. Ships facing into the wind
were said to be "in irons".
WINDSPEED AND DIRECTION [Toc] [Back] The windspeed and direction is displayed as a little
weather vane on the side of the screen. The number in the
middle of the vane indicates the wind speed, and the + to
- indicates the wind direction. The wind blows from the +
sign (high pressure) to the - sign (low pressure). E.g.,
|
3
+
The wind speeds are 0 = becalmed, 1 = light breeze, 2 =
moderate breeze, 3 = fresh breeze, 4 = strong breeze, 5 =
gale, 6 = full gale, 7 = hurricane. If a hurricane shows
up, all ships are destroyed.
GRAPPLING AND FOULING [Toc] [Back] If two ships collide, they run the risk of becoming tangled
together. This is called "fouling." Fouled ships
are stuck together, and neither can move. They can unfoul
each other if they want to. Boarding parties can only be
sent across to ships when the antagonists are either
fouled or grappled.
Ships can grapple each other by throwing grapnels into the
rigging of the other.
The number of fouls and grapples you have are displayed on
the upper right of the screen.
Boarding was a very costly venture in terms of human life.
Boarding parties may be formed in Sail to either board an
enemy ship or to defend your own ship against attack. Men
organized as Defensive Boarding Parties fight twice as
hard to save their ship as men left unorganized.
The boarding strength of a crew depends upon its quality
and upon the number of men sent.
The British seaman was world renowned for his sailing
abilities. American sailors, however, were actually the
best seamen in the world. Because the American Navy
offered twice the wages of the Royal Navy, British seamen
who liked the sea defected to America by the thousands.
In Sail, crew quality is quantized into 5 energy levels.
"Elite" crews can outshoot and outfight all other sailors.
"Crack" crews are next. "Mundane" crews are average, and
"Green" and "Mutinous" crews are below average. A good
rule of thumb is that "Crack" or "Elite" crews get one
extra hit per broadside compared to "Mundane" crews.
Don't expect too much from "Green" crews.
Your two broadsides may be loaded with four kinds of shot:
grape, chain, round, and double. You have guns and carronades
in both the port and starboard batteries. Carronades
only have a range of two, so you have to get in
close to be able to fire them. You have the choice of
firing at the hull or rigging of another ship. If the
range of the ship is greater than 6, then you may only
shoot at the rigging.
The types of shot and their advantages are:
Range of 10. Good for hull or rigging hits.
Range of 1. Extra good for hull or rigging hits. Double
takes two turns to load.
Range of 3. Excellent for tearing down rigging. Cannot
damage hull or guns, though.
Range of 1. Sometimes devastating against enemy crews.
On the side of the screen is displayed some vital information
about your ship:
Load D! R!
Hull 9
Crew 4 4 2
Guns 4 4
Carr 2 2
Rigg 5 5 5 5
"Load" shows what your port (left) and starboard (right)
broadsides are loaded with. A "!" after the type of shot
indicates that it is an initial broadside. Initial broadside
were loaded with care before battle and before the
decks ran red with blood. As a consequence, initial
broadsides are a little more effective than broadsides
loaded later. A "*" after the type of shot indicates that
the gun crews are still loading it, and you cannot fire
yet. "Hull" shows how much hull you have left. "Crew"
shows your three sections of crew. As your crew dies off,
your ability to fire decreases. "Guns" and "Carr" show
your port and starboard guns. As you lose guns, your
ability to fire decreases. "Rigg" shows how much rigging
you have on your 3 or 4 masts. As rigging is shot away,
you lose mobility.
EFFECTIVENESS OF FIRE [Toc] [Back] It is very dramatic when a ship fires its thunderous
broadsides, but the mere opportunity to fire them does not
guarantee any hits. Many factors influence the destructive
force of a broadside. First of all, and the chief
factor, is distance. It is harder to hit a ship at range
ten than it is to hit one sloshing alongside. Next is
raking. Raking fire, as mentioned before, can sometimes
dismast a ship at range ten. Next, crew size and quality
affects the damage done by a broadside. The number of
guns firing also bears on the point, so to speak. Lastly,
weather affects the accuracy of a broadside. If the seas
are high (5 or 6), then the lower gunports of ships of the
line can't even be opened to run out the guns. This gives
frigates and other flush decked vessels an advantage in a
storm. The scenario Pellew vs. The Droits de L'Homme
takes advantage of this peculiar circumstance.
Repairs may be made to your Hull, Guns, and Rigging at the
slow rate of two points per three turns. The message
"Repairs Completed" will be printed if no more repairs can
be made.
PECULIARITIES OF COMPUTER SHIPS [Toc] [Back] Computer ships in Sail follow all the rules above with a
few exceptions. Computer ships never repair damage. If
they did, the players could never beat them. They play
well enough as it is. As a consolation, the computer
ships can fire double shot every turn. That fluke is a
good reason to keep your distance. The Driver figures out
the moves of the computer ships. It computes them with a
typical A.I. distance function and a depth first search to
find the maximum "score." It seems to work fairly well,
although I'll be the first to admit it isn't perfect.
Commands are given to Sail by typing a single character.
You will then be prompted for further input. A brief summary
of the commands follows.
'f' Fire broadsides if they bear
'l' Reload
'L' Unload broadsides (to change ammo)
'm' Move
'i' Print the closest ship
'I' Print all ships
'F' Find a particular ship or ships (e.g. "a?" for all Americans)
's' Send a message around the fleet
'b' Attempt to board an enemy ship
'B' Recall boarding parties
'c' Change set of sail
'r' Repair
'u' Attempt to unfoul
'g' Grapple/ungrapple
'v' Print version number of game
'^L' Redraw screen
'Q' Quit
'C' Center your ship in the window
'U' Move window up
'D','N' Move window down
'H' Move window left
'J' Move window right
'S' Toggle window to follow your ship or stay where it is
Here is a summary of the scenarios in Sail:
Ranger vs. Drake:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Ranger 19 gun Sloop (crack crew) (7 pts)
(b) Drake 17 gun Sloop (crack crew) (6 pts)
The Battle of Flamborough Head:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
This is John Paul Jones' first famous battle. Aboard the
Bonhomme Richard, he was able to overcome the Serapis's
greater firepower by quickly boarding her.
(a) Bonhomme Rich 42 gun Corvette (crack crew) (11 pts)
(b) Serapis 44 gun Frigate (crack crew) (12 pts)
Arbuthnot and Des Touches:
Wind from the N, blowing a gale.
(b) America 64 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (20 pts)
(b) Befford 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(b) Adamant 50 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) London 98 gun 3 Decker SOL (crack crew) (28 pts)
(b) Royal Oak 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(f) Neptune 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Duc de Bourgogne 80 gun 3 Decker SOL (average crew) (27 pts)
(f) Conquerant 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Provence 64 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (18 pts)
(f) Romulus 44 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (10 pts)
Suffren and Hughes:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Monmouth 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(b) Hero 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(b) Isis 50 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) Superb 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (27 pts)
(b) Burford 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Flamband 50 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (14 pts)
(f) Annibal 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Severe 64 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (18 pts)
(f) Brilliant 80 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (31 pts)
(f) Sphinx 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
Nymphe vs. Cleopatre:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Nymphe 36 gun Frigate (crack crew) (11 pts)
(f) Cleopatre 36 gun Frigate (average crew) (10 pts)
Mars vs. Hercule:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Mars 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(f) Hercule 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (23 pts)
Ambuscade vs. Baionnaise:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Ambuscade 32 gun Frigate (average crew) (9 pts)
(f) Baionnaise 24 gun Corvette (average crew) (9 pts)
Constellation vs. Insurgent:
Wind from the S, blowing a gale.
(a) Constellation 38 gun Corvette (elite crew) (17 pts)
(f) Insurgent 36 gun Corvette (average crew) (11 pts)
Constellation vs. Vengeance:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Constellation 38 gun Corvette (elite crew) (17 pts)
(f) Vengeance 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
The Battle of Lissa:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Amphion 32 gun Frigate (elite crew) (13 pts)
(b) Active 38 gun Frigate (elite crew) (18 pts)
(b) Volage 22 gun Frigate (elite crew) (11 pts)
(b) Cerberus 32 gun Frigate (elite crew) (13 pts)
(f) Favorite 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(f) Flore 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(f) Danae 40 gun Frigate (crack crew) (17 pts)
(f) Bellona 32 gun Frigate (green crew) (9 pts)
(f) Corona 40 gun Frigate (green crew) (12 pts)
(f) Carolina 32 gun Frigate (green crew) (7 pts)
Constitution vs. Guerriere:
Wind from the SW, blowing a gale.
(a) Constitution 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Guerriere 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (15 pts)
United States vs. Macedonian:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) United States 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Macedonian 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (16 pts)
Constitution vs. Java:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Constitution 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Java 38 gun Corvette (crack crew) (19 pts)
Chesapeake vs. Shannon:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Chesapeake 38 gun Frigate (average crew) (14 pts)
(b) Shannon 38 gun Frigate (elite crew) (17 pts)
The Battle of Lake Erie:
Wind from the S, blowing a light breeze.
(a) Lawrence 20 gun Sloop (crack crew) (9 pts)
(a) Niagara 20 gun Sloop (elite crew) (12 pts)
(b) Lady Prevost 13 gun Brig (crack crew) (5 pts)
(b) Detroit 19 gun Sloop (crack crew) (7 pts)
(b) Q. Charlotte 17 gun Sloop (crack crew) (6 pts)
Wasp vs. Reindeer:
Wind from the S, blowing a light breeze.
(a) Wasp 20 gun Sloop (elite crew) (12 pts)
(b) Reindeer 18 gun Sloop (elite crew) (9 pts)
Constitution vs. Cyane and Levant:
Wind from the S, blowing a moderate breeze.
(a) Constitution 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24
pts) (b) Cyane 24 gun Sloop (crack crew) (11
pts) (b) Levant 20 gun Sloop (crack crew) (10
pts)
Pellew vs. Droits de L'Homme:
Wind from the N, blowing a gale.
(b) Indefatigable 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (14 pts)
(b) Amazon 36 gun Frigate (crack crew) (14 pts)
(f) Droits L'Hom 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
Algeciras:
Wind from the SW, blowing a moderate breeze.
(b) Caesar 80 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (31 pts)
(b) Pompee 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (27 pts)
(b) Spencer 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(b) Hannibal 98 gun 3 Decker SOL (crack crew) (28 pts)
(s) Real-Carlos 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(s) San Fernando 96 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (24 pts)
(s) Argonauta 80 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (23 pts)
(s) San Augustine 74 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (20 pts)
(f) Indomptable 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
(f) Desaix 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
Lake Champlain:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Saratoga 26 gun Sloop (crack crew) (12 pts)
(a) Eagle 20 gun Sloop (crack crew) (11 pts)
(a) Ticonderoga 17 gun Sloop (crack crew) (9 pts)
(a) Preble 7 gun Brig (crack crew) (4 pts)
(b) Confiance 37 gun Frigate (crack crew) (14 pts)
(b) Linnet 16 gun Sloop (elite crew) (10 pts)
(b) Chubb 11 gun Brig (crack crew) (5 pts)
Last Voyage of the USS President:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) President 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Endymion 40 gun Frigate (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) Pomone 44 gun Frigate (crack crew) (20 pts)
(b) Tenedos 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (15 pts)
Hornblower and the Natividad:
Wind from the E, blowing a gale.
A scenario for you Horny fans. Remember, he sank the
Natividad against heavy odds and winds. Hint: don't try
to board the Natividad, her crew is much bigger, albeit
green.
(b) Lydia 36 gun Frigate (elite crew) (13 pts)
(s) Natividad 50 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (14 pts)
Curse of the Flying Dutchman:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
Just for fun, take the Piece of cake.
(s) Piece of Cake 24 gun Corvette (average crew) (9 pts)
(f) Flying Dutchy 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
The South Pacific:
Wind from the S, blowing a strong breeze.
(a) USS Scurvy 136 gun 3 Decker SOL (mutinous crew) (27 pts)
(b) HMS Tahiti 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(s) Australian 32 gun Frigate (average crew) (9 pts)
(f) Bikini Atoll 7 gun Brig (crack crew) (4 pts)
Hornblower and the battle of Rosas bay:
Wind from the E, blowing a fresh breeze.
The only battle Hornblower ever lost. He was able to dismast one
ship and stern rake the others though. See if you can do as well.
(b) Sutherland 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(f) Turenne 80 gun 3 Decker SOL (average crew) (27 pts)
(f) Nightmare 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Paris 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(f) Napoleon 74 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (20 pts)
Cape Horn:
Wind from the NE, blowing a strong breeze.
(a) Concord 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
(a) Berkeley 98 gun 3 Decker SOL (crack crew) (28 pts)
(b) Thames 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(s) Madrid 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(f) Musket 80 gun 3 Decker SOL (average crew) (27 pts)
New Orleans:
Wind from the SE, blowing a fresh breeze.
Watch that little Cypress go!
(a) Alligator 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(b) Firefly 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (27 pts)
(b) Cypress 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (14 pts)
Botany Bay:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Shark 64 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (18 pts)
(f) Coral Snake 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24 pts)
(f) Sea Lion 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (24 pts)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea:
Wind from the NW, blowing a fresh breeze.
This one is dedicated to Richard Basehart and David Hedison.
(a) Seaview 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(a) Flying Sub 40 gun Frigate (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) Mermaid 136 gun 3 Decker SOL (mutinous crew) (27 pts)
(s) Giant Squid 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
Frigate Action:
Wind from the E, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Killdeer 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(b) Sandpiper 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(s) Curlew 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (16 pts)
The Battle of Midway:
Wind from the E, blowing a moderate breeze.
(a) Enterprise 80 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (31 pts)
(a) Yorktown 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
(a) Hornet 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(j) Akagi 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(j) Kaga 96 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (24 pts)
(j) Soryu 80 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (23 pts)
Star Trek:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Enterprise 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(a) Yorktown 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(a) Reliant 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(a) Galileo 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(k) Kobayashi Maru 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(k) Klingon II 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(o) Red Orion 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(o) Blue Orion 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
Sail has been a group effort.
Dave Riggle
Ed Wang
Craig Leres
Chris Guthrie
Captain Happy
Horatio Nelson
and many valiant others...
Wooden Ships Iron Men, by Avalon Hill
Captain Horatio Hornblower Novels, (13 of them) by C.S. Forester
Captain Richard Bolitho Novels, (12 of them) by Alexander Kent
The Complete Works of Captain Frederick Marryat, (about 20) especially
Mr. Midshipman Easy
Peter Simple
Jacob Faithful
Japhet in Search of a Father
Snarleyyow, or The Dog Fiend
Frank Mildmay, or The Naval Officer
Probably a few, and please report them to "rig[email protected]" and "[email protected]"
June 1, 1994 SAIL(6)
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