Kris Hall: Phil Fry and 1805: Sea of Glory

The Age of Fighting Sail continues to fascinate many gamers, and the latest histories of the period only re-emphasize the importance of the contribution of British navy in the defeat of Napoleon (Read The War for all the Oceans by Roy and Lesley Adkins if you doubt this last point).  Whether gamers first approached the period through the novels of C.S. Forester or Patrick O’Brian, or simply discovered games like Wooden Ships & Iron Men, they were probably seduced by the romance of the sea, the beauty of a frigate under full sail, and the drama of close-quarter combat.

But in spite of countless games about the period on the tactical level, I was unaware of any operational or strategic naval game on the Napoleonic naval war.  Until now.  Game designer Phil Fry is putting the finishing touches on 1805: Sea of Glory, a game that should eventually be published by GMT Games.  Mr. Fry recently agreed to answer my questions about the game. 

Kris: Can you give us a general overview of 1805: Sea of Glory?

Phil: 1805: Sea of Glory is an operational age of sail game set during the Napoleonic wars.  France is attempting a cross-Channel invasion of Great Britain.  They can only do so by putting together a Grand Fleet, combining their own ships with those of their Spanish ally.  England has to defend against that invasion, as well as protect her far-flung interests in the Mediterranean and West Indies.  1805 utilizes blocks to create the “fog of war” aspect of the campaign.  Blocks represent fleets, squadrons, frigates, or dummy forces.  Traditional counters are used to represent individually named ships from 64 guns to the massive Santissima Trinidad.  There are over 180 different ships represented.  Combat is somewhat abstract, but still accounts for the major factors that determine victory in any age of sail battle: firepower, morale, an admiral’s skill, communication, and the weather gauge.  The map covers the eastern end of the North Atlantic from the English Channel to the coast of North Africa, the entire Mediterranean, and an insert map of the West Indies.  The game places you in the shoes of the French or British Admiralty Boards.  Both players get to walk the quarterdeck during the tactical portion of the game.

Kris: What are the goals of the two sides in the game?  The British seem to want to keep French and Spanish fleets bottled up in port, and the French and Spanish fleets want to escape.  But escape to do what?  How does each side earn victory points?

Phil: The ultimate French goal is to invade Great Britain.  Since the British outnumber and outclass the French and Spanish navies, this is a very tough task.  The French can also win by raiding (or invading) areas important to England: mainly Ireland, Malta, Naples, Alexandria, and British interests in the West Indies.  The British player wins by keeping the French and Spanish at bay or by inflicting severe damage on them when they weigh anchor.  The French player must always attempt to disguise his intentions (only he knows how valuable an invasion of Egypt is to Napoleon) while still threatening the knock-out blow in the English Channel.

Kris: The Napoleonic sea war began long before 1805.  Why confine the game to that particular year?

Phil: All of the age of sail games currently on the market concentrate on tactical combat. I wanted to design a game that focused on the operational nature of early 19th century naval warfare.  I chose an operational scope, as strategic naval games (ie War & Sea, Victory In the Pacific, etc.) tend to abstract the aspects of naval combat that interested me the most.  At the operational level, spotting, communication over vast distances, the importance of frigates, long term wear and tear on ships at sea, bold raids by outnumbered forces, etc. come into play.

My interest with the specific year 1805 began with the build up to the two hundredth anniversary of Trafalgar.  In 2004 I read Alan Schom’s “Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle” and was intrigued by the nature of the campaign.  Most books I had previously read on Trafalgar concentrated on the battle itself.  Schom’s book showed the strategic thinking behind the campaign. I found the subject fascinating.

The battlefield stretched from the coast of Britain, to the Mediterranean, to the West Indies.  The year 1805 was Napoleon’s best chance at winning the ultimate prize: the conquest of England.  Expanding the game beyond the year 1805 would have created a much longer simulation.  Modeling the campaign in a playable format was a challenge.

Kris: What are the strengths and weaknesses of each side?  The Royal Navy has such a reputation for naval superiority in the Napoleonic era, that some gamers may wonder if the French have any chance to win.

Phil: Actually, my favorite side to play is the French. The French player has the initiative and actually controls the tempo of the game. It is a lot of fun to watch Nelson scurry east across the Mediterranean chasing after a “fog of war” block, while the real French fleet is headed for the Straights of Gibraltar.  The French player has to carefully plan his breakout from numerous ports, trying to achieve “critical mass” by putting together a Grand Fleet.  In tactical combat, the French player is going to be looking for the right combination of tactics and sail settings that will allow him to escape.  On the other hand, turning to fight an overly aggressive British player at just the right moment may catch the Royal Navy off guard, dealing him an unexpected defeat.  Weather is always the French and Spanish ally.  The British player will dread North Atlantic storms, while the French player will look forward to them; as long as he is safely in port.  The French player needs to have Zen-like patience to succeed.

The British player must concentrate on the flow of information. He needs to keep track of the status of all French and Spanish ports, and be poised with frigates ready to spot any enemy forces that set sail.  And there never seem to be enough frigates.  The game also has a set of random Admiralty Orders, which will give the British player something to do other than just guard enemy ports.  Admiralty Orders can be equally fun or frustrating for the British player.  In combat, the strength of Royal Navy ships of the line and the superiority of her admirals really shines.  As the British player can safely engage an enemy force one-third greater than his own, there is little to fear.  But bringing the enemy to battle is the real challenge.  Harsh weather will be a constant hindrance to English plans, playing havoc with his ships on station.  The British player must constantly manage the flow of fresh ships to the French and Spanish coasts.  A good player will have a healthy respect for the weather system.

Kris: Just how complex is the game compared to other wargames?  How many hours will a game take to play?

Phil: 1805 is moderate in complexity. The Trafalgar scenario is about three to four hours, with the total campaign game weighing in at six to eight hours.  The French can achieve an early victorious end to the campaign game by successfully launching a cross-Channel invasion.  The Trafalgar scenario does not use all of the rules found in the campaign game, so makes a great introduction to the system.

Kris: A major part of the game seems to be the cat-and-mouse pursuit-and-evasion aspect of the war at sea.  How do you model this in the game without undue complexity?

Phil: Blocks hide the true identity of forces at sea.  Each fleet or squadron has a holding box off map that contains the ship counters present in that force.  The French player will also have dummy blocks known as “fog of war”.  The British player will have frigate blocks.  Frigates are great for tracking down enemy fleets, and forcing the removal of those pesky “fog of war” blocks.  Frigates can also be used to confuse the French player, as he’ll not know if the block chasing him down is a British fleet or just a frigate.

Spotting is key to the game.  Just being in the same hex (each represents 50 nautical miles) does not guarantee interception.  While watching an enemy port, the British player is allowed to place his forces on loose blockade, or form an inshore squadron.  Inshore squadrons hamper the enemy’s ability to slip away unnoticed.  But sometimes the British player will want to be on loose blockade, tempting his opponent to set sail.

The system also has restrictions that keep players from reacting in an unhistorical manner to what they see happening on the game map.  Fleets on blockade duty may only pursue forces that sortie from the port they are guarding.  Blockaders may not chase down enemy forces several hexes away, that in reality they would have no knowledge of.  When French and Spanish fleets leave port they must select a destination.  The British are allowed to patrol (especially with frigates), but French and Spanish fleets are “mission oriented”, sailing from point A to point B as quickly as possible.  The end result is a playable system that forces players to use fleets like arrows, not guided missiles.  There are no radios in the age of sail.  As much as possible, we’ve tried to limit “communication” in the game to its real world equivalent: the speed of the fastest frigate.

Kris: What happens when opposing forces make contact?  How do you model battles at sea?

Phil: When enemy forces meet, one of three things can happen: no contact, spotted, or interception.  Only intercepting an enemy force will lead to battle.  The first step in battle is determining the weather gauge (ie which force is upwind).  In naval combat under sail, the fleet with the weather gauge dictated the tempo of the battle.

When combat is joined, each player will form a line of battle.  Players secretly choose from a selection of tactic chits and sail settings.  The windward force has different choices than the leeward (downwind) force.  After tactics are revealed, combat may be broken off or broadsides will be exchanged. Certain combinations of tactics will give one side or the other a bonus in combat.

Each ship is rated for its broadside factor and defense factor. Each player totals the broadside factors for his fleet and rolls from two to five dice.  Bonus dice are given for certain circumstances or tactic chit combinations.  The result yields the number of damage factors inflicted upon the enemy fleet.  These factors are used to flip ship counters to their damaged side, or to wreck previously damaged ships.  After each round of combat a dice roll is made to determine if another round occurs.  A player’s choice of tactics has an effect on how long the battle will last.  At the end of each battle, the fate of admirals and damaged (or wrecked) ships is determined.  Ships may founder or be taken as prizes.

Kris: Speaking of admirals: what other impact do these leaders have on the game?  What attributes of them are modeled?

Phil: Admirals have ratings for seniority, seamanship, and command. Some admirals also have a unique ability.  Seniority is pretty straight forward, with the senior admiral commanding the fleet.  Seamanship is used to determine which side gains the weather gauge prior to the start of each battle.  Command is used to determine if an admiral can react to the evolving situation around him (ie reveal a new tactic).  If an admiral fails his command roll, his fleet will use the same tactics from the previous round of combat, sometimes with disastrous effects.

Some admirals also have a unique attribute.  Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, for example, may opt to use “The Nelson Touch”.  If he does, his opponent must play his tactic and sail setting chits face up.  However, there is a negative modifier for Nelson surviving any battle where he used “The Touch”.  French Admiral Pierre Villeneuve is “Fatalistic”.  His counter is flipped when facing Nelson, revealing much worse seamanship and command ratings.  When not going head-to-head with Nelson, Villeneuve is one of the best admirals in the game.  Edouard Missiessy, commander of the French squadron at Rochefort, is “Elusive”.  Although he can only command a squadron of ten or less ships, if intercepted, he may force the British to reroll the spotting attempt.

Kris: Are there random or political events in the game?

Phil: There are a variety of random events in the game. Some events will give players information about enemy intentions (ie Royalist or French spies) by revealing victory point objectives or fleet destinations.  Other events will reflect things happening outside the players’ control, but having a profound impact on their mission (ie Napoleon or Pitt meddling with objectives or General St. Cyr marching on Naples).  As previously stated, the British player also has a selection of Admiralty Orders.  These are drawn at random and give the Royal Navy opportunities to score or lose victory points. Admiralty Orders can be a blessing or a curse.

Kris: What aspect of the game are you most proud of?

Phil: I love the combat system.  Most games at this level have you line up the ships and roll salvo after salvo. I wanted battles to resolve quickly, yet give the players a feeling that they were somewhat in control of the outcome.  The tactics chits have a rock-scissors-paper feel to them, but with the added puzzle of trying to find the right combination that allows, or doesn’t allow, one force to escape unscathed.

I’m also quite pleased with the rules that restrict a player from reacting to enemy movements, that in reality, the Admiralty would not be aware of. Players must carefully plan their own actions, and accurately predict the intentions of their opponent.

Kris: When do you expect the game to be published?

Phil: Tony Curtis is probably the best person to answer that question.  We are number ten right now in the GMT “bloodstream”.  If I had to take a guess, I’d say you’ll see 1805: Sea of Glory either late this year or in early 2009.

Kris: What future projects would you like to work on?

Phil: All my designs will probably focus on the age of sail.  1805 just cries out for a 1798 Nile Campaign scenario that would easily fit into the pages of GMT’s magazine C3i.  I’m also kicking around some ideas for frigate versus frigate card game.  I’d also like to design a card driven game on US involvement with the Barbary pirates.  It would also be interesting to see if I could port the 1805 system to the Spanish Armada period, or perhaps the Anglo-Dutch wars.

Kris: Thank you for the interview.

© 2008 Kris Hall

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