The Galleon vs a Canoe assault

 Don Diego de La Vegas has found a remote Caribbean island with a good anchorage.  He intends to claim it.  The current owners, a Carib tribe intend to see him off

First of a series of three games.

I've been gaming with the Galleon I scratch built last year, the "Infanta Margoles," having added three more ships to my fleet over the summer, two sloops and the mighty Flyut.

I've also added a drop in deck section that i can use to alter the Brig into a frigate. 

Galleon, Frigate and one of my Sloops.  

That Galleon is a big beast.  

The Weather Gauge" 

The first of my three scenarios (modified for solo play), representing the Carib chief the "Caique," trapping the Don's massive ship as it navigates a narrow, shallow reef trying to get him ashore.

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The Map Setup (3x3 Foot Table)

• The Galleon's Starting Position: Rhe Galleon exactly is in the top third of the table, facing parallel to the board edge (broadside facing the attacker). Crucially, the Galleon starts at Speed 0 (Anchored). Don Diego's crew was caught completely off guard while he was below deck gambling!
• The Carib Fleet's Starting Position: the Caique’s fleet (1 Piragua, 3 Canoas) deploys on the opposite edge, exactly 18 inches away from the Galleon.
• The Islands (Terrain):  2 or 3 small island pieces or shoals around the edges of the map to represent a tight channel. Because the Galleon is so huge on a 3x3 mat, it cannot safely move forward without risking running aground on these shoals, forcing the Don to stay anchored and fight.

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Scenario Special Rules for Solo Testing

To make this a balanced, but highly unpredictable solo test, im using these three custom scenario parameters:

1. "Caught Napping" (Turn 1 Restriction): Because the Caribs launched a perfect ambush, all Spanish units begin unloaded. This represents the panic of running to their battle stations.
2. The Master Gunner's drunken lock in:  On Turn 1, when activating the Spanish gun decks, the Master gunner is found to be completely drunk and has locked himself in the powder room.  The guns can't be used until a 6-10 is rolled..
3. Shallow Waters: The Caribs' Canoas and Piragua ignore all shoal terrain. If the Galleon is forced to move, any forward movement requires a Skill Test. On a failure, the Galleon hits a reef, taking 1 point of Hull Damage.

The Galleon Infanta Margoles

The optimised 200pt "Floating Castle" List Layout

This uses the "no-gun musket fortress" strategy against the Carib Warchief, limited to 200 points:

• Poop Deck: 4 Kapers (21 pts) + Don Diego. (Elevated snipers).
• Quarterdeck: 6 Marineros (24 pts) + Boatswain. (Your counter-boarding defense squad).
• The Waist (Main Deck): A massive block of 10 Marineros (40 pts) to absorb damage and hold the center.
• Forecastle: 5 Milicianos (Spanish Militia) with Muskets (20 pts).
• The 3 Fighting Tops (Rigging): Three separate units of Hostes (Spanish Musketeers) . Each platform gets 4 guys safely sniping from the skies.
• The Ship: 1 Galleon with Zero Guns (25 pts).

This gives 34 models pumping out an inescapable wall of lead every single turn from every conceivable angle.  Hopefully

The "Floating Fort" Strategy 

1. The Height Advantage & Save Penalties: In Blood & Plunder, units firing down from a position 2 or more inches higher than their target inflict a +1 penalty to the target's Ranged Save. Because the Galleon's Quarterdeck, Poop Deck, and 3 Fighting Tops are physically massive, my musketeers will constantly strip away the cover saves of low-profile targets (like the Carib Canoas). 
2. Impenetrable Defenses: If an enemy tries to shoot back at the massed infantry, my troops are protected by the Galleon's High Bulwarks (+1 to enemy Shoot tests) or the Fighting Tops' Hard Cover status.
3. Action Economy Freedom: Cannons are a massive "action sink"—they require constant Dedicated actions or standard actions just to reload and fire. Without them, 100% of activation card actions are spent shooting muskets, throwing grenades, or using Rally actions to keep units fresh and fatigue-free.

That's the plan 

The Carib plan 

The Caique needs to close the 18-inch gap instantly. On Turn 1, use the Canoas' paddles to Row twice.  The goal is to get into base-to-base contact with the Galleon’s hull by the end of Turn 2 or the start of Turn 2 to launch a massive boarding action. Once inside the Galleon's perimeter, Poisoned Arrows and melee stats will bypass the ship's heavy armor.

The Spanish Objective

Don Diego needs to clear the Turn 1 ambush Fatigue immediately using his Command Points. The Kapers in the rigging platforms have a clear line of sight down into the open Canoas. They must shoot immediately to stack Fatigue on the incoming Caribs to slow their paddling speed. 

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The scratch built Carib fleet

Don Diego watches the Caribs approach

The Marineros can actually hide behind my Musketeers 

Can't help myself!

Furious paddling.  My Canoe assault expert gives a 1" paddlling bonus that allows me to keep up with the Piragua.

Fire and duck down behind the bulwarks where they are invisible.  They can stand up again as part of the next fire action

The Shaman loses half his unit at once.

And the arrows, poisoned of course, aim for the fighting tops.

The Spanish suffer losses.

I'm using the dead bodies in the ocean just for the look.

The Caribs suffer casualties and fatigue.

Finally alongside in turn 2

But still vulnerable.

The Don risks nothing.  Ducking down.

And a Carib unit is eliminated from the Piragua.

Fire the musket go prone, Reload.  The Spaniards are into the rhythm of it.

I have some little ladders to represent boarding.  The Caique leads a dedicated climbing action.  Even simply getting aboard a Galleon is hard work.

Divn't one of my sub chiefs loses it with a rout.  He was ducked down inside the canoe!  Still got shot.

The Shaman lobs a stinkpot up, fails on a natural 1 roll.  It drops back into the canoe.  The additional sound of thunder roll also means two additional fatigue points.  And a big stink.

The Shaman and his unit rout.

Strike text.  The Caribs have lost three units and 19 men.  The Caique is shot and wounded by the men up the masts.  His game is done.

To make matters worse Don Diego rolls a seven and the Master Gunnner emerges from the powder room.  The galleons gunports finally open.

Next

The Spanish get ashore but face a jungle Ambush.