"Raid On Ripploi"
A Flintloque Scenario by Ed Proctor
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The United Secessionist Navy send a small force of marines to destroy a grounded warship to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Barfry Corsairs.
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During the war with the Barfry states, the United Secessionist warship, the USS Orkdelphia grounded on a beach near the Barfry city of Rippoli, and its crew was captured and enslaved. The United Secessionist did not have the forces and the time to take and keep the beach long enough to make repairs and re-float the USS Orkdelphia.
The USS Orkdelphia is a modem Amerkan vessel, which if repaired by the Barfry Corsairs could become a major danger to the United Secessionist Navy, so something has to be done. If the ship could not be recovered, then it has to be destroyed.
United Secessionist Navy decided that a small force would be sent to destroy the USS Orkdelphia under the command of Lieutenant Hethen Dechur.
When the Amerkan ships were sighted off the Barfry coast, a force of Corsairs was sent to investigate. Will the Amerkan mission will be successful or can the Corsairs retain the USS Orkdelphia as their own?
Table Set Up
The whole table is a beach with the north edge of the table being the seawards side. Place a model of the grounded ship in the middle of the table and then place a number of piles of rocks and pools of water on the beach. The rocks are classed as Light Cover to any figures using them as cover and the pools of water are classed as Difficult Terrain for anyone who moves across them. The Amerkan player places two longboats anywhere along the seawards edge of the table and the Amerkan forces next to them. The Barfry Corsairs player places the Corsair forces along the south edge of the table.
Scenario Special Rules
Mr Gillette of the United Secessionist Navy is in charge of blowing up the USS Orkdelphia. Mr Gillette and his three chosen sailors at the start of the game are each carrying a roll of fuse wire and a keg of gunpowder which slows their movement down so they cannot move at Double March.
To destroy the ship a keg of gunpowder must be placed and primed at the base of the ship and then the fuse wire put down before lighting the fuse. A single Gunner figure takes one action to prime a keg of gunpowder and one action to lay down 12cm of fuse wire (you only need one length of fuse wire leading to a pile of kegs that are placed together). Any figure can perform an action to light the fuse wire and it burns at a rate of 12cm per turn at the end of the Tactical Manoeuvre Phase. When the fuse wire burn reaches a keg of gunpowder it will explode in the Artillery Phase. There is a basic 25% chance per keg of destroying the ship, but exploding more kegs at the same time will increase the percentage chance by adding the chance scores together (i.e. if three kegs are exploded together then this gives a 75% chance of destroying the ship). Any figures caught in the explosion (20cm area around the ship) must take a Steady Check at an Impact Value as follows; if the figure is within 10cm of the ship then the Impact Value is 20, but if within 10-20cm then use an Impact Value is 14.
Victory Conditions
The Amerkans gain a victory if they successfully destroy the ship and a major victory if they also escape back to the long boats with over 50% of the Amerkan forces.
The Barfry Corsairs gain a victory by stopping the Amerkans destroying the ship and a major victory if they also kill or capture over 50% of the Amerkans.
Scenario Forces
United Secessionist Forces
The Amerkan forces are made up of 12 figures as follows;
Lieutenant Dechur (Veteran Orc Marine) is the commander of the mission and is armed with a sword and standard musket. He has a Special ability that as section leader he adds a +2 modifier to Morale instead of the usual +1 modifier to all figures who are within 15cm of him.
Sergeant MacSwag (Experienced Highland Rat Marine) is armed with a sword and a standard musket. He is a skilled melee fighter who ignores the first -2 penalty for being outnumbered.
6 other Marines (3 Average Orcs, 1 Average Elf and 2 Raw Orc Marines) all armed with a sword and a standard musket.
All the Marines (including Dechur and MacSwag) who are Average experience rating and above have been trained to reload quickly. They may perform a “Reload and Fire” action in the Tactical Manoeuvre Phase at a -20% penalty to accuracy.
Mr Gillette (Experienced Orc Gunner) is the explosive expert for the mission and is in command of three sailors (2 Average and 1 Raw, Orc Gunners) who are all armed with a sword and a standard pistol.
Barfry Corsairs Forces
The Corsairs forces are formed of 26 Othari figures as follows;
Caption Visor (Veteran Irregular Othari) is the commander of the Corsairs and is armed with a sword, elf duelling pistol and has a magical breastplate which adds +1 modifier to all his Steady Checks. Visor is also a skilled swordsman and can re-roll Melee action dice twice per game.
Master Atpar (Experienced Irregular Othari) is General Visor’s 2nd in command is armed with an axe and is a skilled melee fighter who ignores the first -2 penalty for being outnumbered in melee.
24 other Corsairs (2 Experienced, 12 Average and 10 Raw Irregular Othari), each armed with either a; standard musket, bow, spear or a sword (Othari figures having a shield add +1 modifier to their Melee action’s Steady Checks).
Suggested Miniatures
For the Barfry Corsairs use the Othari Household Warriors miniatures. Alternative Armies have made enough so you can have a different miniature for each of the 26 figures required for the scenario.
For the Amerkan sailors, use the Albion landing party miniatures from the Trafalgore range, and for the Amerkans Marines you will need to search through the Flintloque range of miniatures for suitable miniatures, but generally the uniforms of the Marines are the same as most other races from the period.
The Marines uniform is a similar style to the infantry, with a stovepipe shako (officers have a bicorn or a round hat) with a brass plate, red plume and yellow cords, a blue waistcoat with red facings, yellow loops and buttons, white breeches and black gaiters.
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Webmaster's Notes
An Orcs in the Webbe Original! "Raid on Ripoli" was written exclusively for Orcs in the Webbe and published on Thursday 10th December 2009 as part of the 2009 Advent Calendar.
The above scenario is based on a true event from the First Barbary War. You can find out more about it on wikipedia here.
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