Ships:

Mighty battles between pirate ships are more difficult to play out than hand-to-hand duels. The most important stat for any ship is its resistance. Resistance is, on average, equal to the square inches of floor space on a ship, divided by 15, but this may vary some.

When a ship is hit by a catapult, cannon, or any other attack capable of causing siege damage, roll the weapon's damage against the ship's resistance. If the ship wins, the missile does no appreciable damage. If the missile wins, water begins pouring into the ship at a rate equal to the number of points that the ship lost its roll by. Each unit of water is called a glug.

Once water starts pouring in, it's time to start pitching and bailing. A unit standing next to the breach can bail water and patch gaps so as to stop 2 glugs per round. As long as the number of glugs being bailed out per round is equal to or greater than the number of glugs pouring in every round from damage, the ship is safe. However, if there are more glugs coming in than going out, there is a chance that the ship will begin to sink.

Roll 2D. If the result is equal to or less than the number of glugs per round not being bailed, an entire section of the ship gives way, water pours in at an uncontrollable rate, and the unfortunate ship begins to sink. See the sinking rules. Once the glug equilibrium has been balanced out, no more rolls need be made (but if it's started to sink, it's still doomed). A ship can also begin to sink if it has simply suffered an enormous amount of damage. If the amount of glugs coming in is greater than the resistance, the ship has a chance to sink on 2D equal to the difference between the amount of glugs coming in and the resistance of the ship.

Once a ship begins to sink, 3" of the ship (starting at the back) go under, representing the fact that ships usually sink rear-first, starting at the bottom level. For every level up on multi-level ships, 3" fewer sink per round.

Units and untethered cargo that are exposed to water while on the top level slide into the sea. Cargo sinks immediately (unless it's empty, then it floats), while units begin to swim at the point the water meets the deck (unless they're in heavy armor, in which case they sink). Belowdecks, cargo simply slides to the bottom (back) of the ship, or floats at the farthest forward point of the water (where it touches the deck) if it is empty. Units float if they are unarmored, or slide to the bottom (back) of the ship they are heavily armored. Once a ship is completely underwater, any units belowdecks who are in armor are taken with it and drown instantly and must be drudged from the bottom to be rescued. We're sure you can come up with your own clever ideas on how to retrieve sunken armor. Unarmored units who are belowdecks and not within their allotted movement rate of a way out drown and bob to the surface one round later (quite dead).

Certain tall features, like crow's nests, may take a while longer to sink. To find when these features finally go under, add half the height of them to the distance they are from the rear of the ship.

Since a sinking ship is tilted, it makes movement difficult. Units can only move at half speed toward the boat's front, but can slide at double speed to the back (where the water is).

If an impact strikes a ship anywhere, everyone within 1" of any high area that doesn't have a railing must roll 1D; if a 1 is rolled, it moves to the lower area (this usually means plunking into the sea). A strike to the side of the ship causes damage within a 3" radius only to people on that deck. A strike to the exposed deck surface causes damage to both people on that level and people on the level directly below it. It also opens up a nice 3"-radius hole in the deck that exposes the level below. If there is no level below, the ship begins taking on water (making normal rolls, and there might be trouble bailing since the edge of the ship is so far away).

Ships move pretty slowly. The base movement rate is 12. Subtract the ship's resistance score. Add 1"/round for every man rowing that round. Obviously, only ships with sails can move under their own power.

A ship can turn a number of degrees in a round equal to its movement times 5. The frigate would turn (7x5) 35° in a round. Obviously, this information should be worked out before the game begins, and a protractor comes in extremely handy. To turn and move a ship a unit must be at the wheel, else the ship goes nowhere. The helmsman can turn and move a ship to the maximum amount in the same round. A ship must move at least two inches for every turn it makes.

Players are free to liberally remove chunks of the ship's planking and hull when it is damaged, to add drama to the battles. Siege attacks don't do any damage unless they hit a solid object; if a cannonball hits the water it just makes a big splash in the normal radius, affecting no one.

Units often want to get from one ship to the other. A more maneuverable but less well-armed craft can keep away from another ship's guns and board them before the artillerists can attack. Ropes can be thrown across the gaps between 2 ships. If the ship has a suitably high mast that the rope can reach, a unit can roll 4+ on 1D to wrap the rope around it. The next round it can swing heroically across, and on the round after that it can move normally. The unit can also do a drop-kick on the same round it swings, stunning anyone if it hits them for 1 round but losing the next round of action if it misses. Once the unit lets go, the rope ends up directly below the area that it was tied. If a unit wishes to throw the rope back, a roll of 4+ on 1D will allow another unit to grab it, else it swings back and can be pushed again the next round.

Optionally, a unit can throw a rope to a lower area. It must spend 1 round doing so, and must roll 4+ on 1D. The next round, it can tie it on its end, and then other units can climb across. No more than 3 on the rope at one time, else it snaps, and every 2 points of armor is treated as one person. Movement along the rope is normal movement rate divided by 2.

A unit can roll anything but a 1 on 1D to cut a rope if it has a bladed weapon. If 2 ships connected by ropes try to move, find the current movement rate of the larger ship and subtract the other ship's hull points divided by 5. Every round this occurs roll 1D for each rope. A roll of 3 or less results in it breaking. Of course, if ropes are too much of a hassle, if the ships are within 3" units can just jump the gap.

Ships appropriately fitted can ram. Ramming causes damage to the target equal to the rammer's resistance score. Everyone within a 2" radius of the attacking ship on the struck deck (and all those below) suffer normal damage. After that attackers can freely jump to the other ship and engage in melee. A ram can be destroyed by siege shots. In such a case it is considered to have twice the resistance of the ship it is attached to, and a failed roll means that the ram is splintered and useless.

If a cannonball strikes a ship's sails, reduce speed by 1"/hit, but don't penalize it so that speed is below the base rowing speed (damaging a sail won't hurt the rowers).

Optional wind rule: If you want a bit more detail in your ship battles, you may add in the effects of wind. Every round, roll 2D and compare it to the chart below: