When Lions Sailed by E.R. Bickford Production: C.J. Doherty © 2011 Decision Games Bakersfield, CA. Note: Photo 9 appears out of numeric order in the text below, but that’s intentional by the author. This game covers the 17th century naval struggle across the globe. In the match described in this article there are four players (this is a two to four player game), with one each representing England, France, Spain and the Netherlands. Every turn represents one year. Turn One — 1654 Photo 1

Initiative Determination Phase Since no one is in control of the Treasure Fleet Ports at the start of the game, the dice must determine who has the initiative. It’s determined England has it. The rest follow clockwise around the table (Netherlands, Spain, France). Here’s the initial situation for the four players: England: 10 Treasury Points, six Campaign Markers Netherlands: 20 Treasury Points, four Campaign Markers Spain: 15 Treasury Points, two Campaign Markers France: 30 Treasury Points, three Campaign Markers

two TP. France wins a Line Ahead battle chit for two TP. The Netherlands wins a Marines battle chit for one TP. France wins the Rally marker for two TP. Spain adds the Nell Gwyn chit for two TP. France pays four TP for a Raking Attack battle chit. The British have the special ability to pick a campaign chit for free at the end of the phase. The battle chit Line Ahead is selected randomly. That leaves the four treasuries looking like this: England: 10 TP Netherlands: 15 TP Spain: 13 TP France: 19 TP Negotiations Phase

Exchange Phase Per rule 9.3, eight campaign markers (“chits”) are selected randomly by England, the initiative player. Then all the players bid for them. Each player can keep up to nine chits at one time. Both France and England expend a Spy chit and are therefore allowed to view the markers up for bid. France wins the first chit (Raking Attack) for three Treasury Points. (TP) That leaves the French with 27 TP. The Netherlands pays two TP and obtains the Samuel Pepys chit. That leaves him with 18 TP. The Netherlands also wins the Company Charter chit for



The British and Dutch make an agreement to allow their ships to pass unmolested through the English Channel. There are no other agreements negotiated by any of the combatants. NOTE: Such negotiations aren’t necessarily binding by the game rules.

player doesn’t build. The French player receives a free 4th Rate Ship squadron at Antilles, due to France’s special ability. England: 10 TP Netherlands: 13 TP Spain: 13 TP France: 19 TP Next the Treasure Fleets are placed in their respective ports. Then the English player forms a fleet in London. Both Adm. Blake and Adm. Monck are on hand in London. Likewise, the Dutch player forms two fleets in Amsterdam. A third is formed in Java, with no commander. The Netherlands player has three leaders in play: Adms. Tromp, de Withe and Opdam. The French ships in Rochefort form a fleet led by Adm. Tourville and Capt. d’Estres. In Spain, Adm. Toledo commands the First Fleet while the Second is commanded by Adm. Albuquer in Manila. (see Photo 1) Operations Phase

Outfitting Phase England doesn’t build or make any new expenditures. The Dutch expend two TP to expand their fortifications in South America (Recife). That leaves The Netherlands with 13 TP. The Spanish

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England makes an aggressive opening move. Expending one TP, the fleet in London activates. Adm. Blake is named its commander. The English fleet sails to Amsterdam and attempts to attack the Dutch there. Apparently the

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When Lions Sailed

Photo 2

English player sees The Netherlands as his greatest threat. The English player expends the Treachery action chit. That allows him to randomly select two Campaign chits from The Netherlands player. The English player hopes to relieve the Dutch of any battle chits, but he gets the Master Navigator and Diplomacy chits. Then the English player names Adm. Blake as the commander attacking the Dutch First Fleet, while the Dutch player names Adm. Tromp as his chief. The Dutch also have the Second Fleet at Amsterdam, but the English player can only engage one of the enemy fleets per operation. Tromp obtains the wind gauge advantage and fires first. He employs the Gunners chit. That will improve his hit numbers. All The English 1st Rate ships are sunk. Additionally, one of the 2nd Rate ships is sunk, also representing about 12 ships.

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(see Photo 2) The English player fires. Blake expends both his Line Ahead and Gunners battle chits. (Since his command rating is two, he can use up to two battle chits.) Returning fire, the English sink the Dutch 1st Rate ships. Tromp was forced to abandon his vessel. One of the 3rd Rate ships was also sunk. Many are also damaged. Tromp gains the wind gauge advantage again, but decides to break off. The English win the battle by one point, which allows him to keep his battle chits. The Dutch commander loses his Gunners chit to the pool. The Dutch fleet moves to Danzig. That could prove costly to the Dutch, as the Gunners chit is valuable. England 9 TP. The Netherlands. The Dutch player expends his Coffee House Chatter marker to the pool and thereby gets to

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select two new chits. Press Gang and Raking Attack are selected. Then the 3rd Fleet in Java activates (two TP). It sails toward India and attacks the English fortress in Madras. The Dutch fleet gains Tactical Advantage and issues bombardment fire on the forts. That has no effect. The second round opens with a tie for tactical advantage; so the combat ends. Netherlands 11 TP. Spain. Albuquer activates his fleet in Manila along with the treasure fleet (three TP). It moves to the map edge. Using Spain’s special ability, the Spanish player takes a free operation for the Treasure Fleet. The fleet has seven MP. Since the fleet is attempting circumnavigation, it rolls on the Nautical Incidents Table. One result is an outbreak of scurvy (two ship counters receive damage markers). Also, Pirates are encountered. Koxinga and some low-

When Lions Sailed

Photo 3

end ships appear in the Northern Pacific. The French player is randomly selected to control them. An attack is launched against the Spanish ships. The Pirates have the wind gauge advantage and start their attack. The Spanish 3rd Rate ships are sunk, but Albuquer manages to eliminate all the pirates. All the pirate ships were 6th Rate and, technically, the pirates win the battle. No prize money is awarded Albuquer. The Spanish fleet is successful in reaching the New World from the Pacific. Spain 10 TP. (see Photo 3) France. Tourville activates the French Fleet (one TP). His fleet sets sail for Antilles, where it arrives safely. The French player expends the Grand Design chit and takes a second operation for free. Tourville attempts to take the treasure fleet back to France. The



fleet returns and successfully unloads its merchandise. France 18 TP. England. The English player activates his fleet at Amsterdam (two TP). He launches an attack against the Dutch 2nd Fleet. Blake is named Admiral-in-Chief for the English, and Admiral de Withe is in command of the Dutch fleet. De Withe uses the Raking Attack battle chit. That gives the Dutch a bump for wind gauge determination. The Dutch gain the wind gauge and attack, even though it they’re outnumbered. De Withe manages two hits against the English, which began the action with two hits. The British admiral plays the Line Ahead and Gunners battle chits. Some of the Dutch 5th Rate ships are sunk. Then the 4th Rate ships are sunk, including de Withe’s flagship. Blake gains the wind gauge during the next round and decides to engage

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the Dutch ships further. More 5th Rate ships are sunk. The rest of de Withe’s fleet is sunk during the second round. The English player wins the battle and collects nine TP in prizes. The Dutch player forfeits his Raking Attack chit. The English player retains his battle chits. During the land combat segment the Dutch forces gain tactical superiority. They decide to end the operation. England 17 TP (see Photo 4) The Netherlands. The Press Gang chit is played and a four-strength fort is built in Danzig. The Netherlands player expends two TP to activate Tromp’s fleet in Danzig. Tromp’s ships sail to London and open fire on the English forts there. The Dutch player gains Tactical Superiority, and his ships again fire at the English positions. The

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When Lions Sailed

Photo 4

English forts are destroyed. So much for negotiations. Netherlands Nine TP Spain. Albuquer activates his fleet in the Pacific (five TP). The Treasure fleet arrives safely in Acapulco. Spain Five TP France. Tourville activates his fleet in France (one TP). It sails to Cape Verde, where it ports. France 17 TP England. Blake decides to move his fleet at Amsterdam (two TP). It sails to London, where it encounters the Dutch fleet. Blake commands the English fleet, and Tromp commands the Dutch. Tromp obtains the wind gauge and decides to break off. He’s out-gunned by the English fleet. The Dutch sail to Scotland during break off. England 15 TP

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The Netherlands. Tromp wants to get his fleet away safely; so he sets sail for Amazonia. Tromp’s ships sail into port without incident. Netherlands Seven TP Spain. The Spanish player expends the Nell Gwyn chit and receives six TP. Then Adm. Toledo activates. He sails to Lisbon and drops off some of his ships. Then he continues southward into the Mediterranean and lands in Tangiers. Spain 10 TP France. Tourville sails from Cape Verde to the Gold Coast. France 15 TP England. The English fleet sails to Amsterdam. Blake decides to attack the fortresses there. He obtains tactical superiority and his ships begin to fire on the Dutch position.

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The fortress defenses are reduced to rubble; however, none of the infantry regiments are affected. The Dutch gain tactical advantage in the second round and choose to end the operation. England 14 TP The Netherlands. Tromp sails from Amazonia to Recife, where he can collect a Treasure Fleet. Getting it back to a home port will be the trick. Netherlands Five TP Spain passes. Spain 10 TP France uses the Rally marker and deploys ships and a leader, Adm. Bart, in the Gold Coast. Tourville adds the Treasure fleet from the Gold Coast and activates. The French Navy finally arrives in home waters with the treasure. France 12 TP

When Lions Sailed England. The English player activates his ships at Amsterdam. Blake attempts an attack on the Dutch forces there, but the Dutch player gains the tactical advantage and chooses to end the activation without combat. England 12 TP The Netherlands. Tromp sails back toward home with a Treasure fleet from Recife. He arrives in the Azores. The Dutch don’t have enough funds to get the treasure fleet home. Netherlands two TP

the Nautical Incidents Table again and runs into a storm. Two British 5th Rate ships sink. A 3rd Rate also sinks. Blake and his squadron become separated from the rest of the fleet, as does a 6th rate group of ships. This leaves Adm. Monck in command of the English fleet. He decides not to attack the Dutch, but instead returns to London. Blake and the other stray ships port in the Azores. England Eight TP The Netherlands passes. Netherlands two TP

Sudden Death Phase No sudden death victory is achieved by any of the players. End of Turn Turn Two — 1655 Initiative Phase Spain has the Initiative this turn. France is second; England is third and The Netherlands is last. Exchange Phase

Spain passes. Spain 10 TP

Spain passes. Spain 10 TP

France. Adm. Bart activates in the Gold Coast. Unfortunately, he experiences a run in with pirates. Reis and three squadrons of ships appear in Gold Coast waters. Despite using a Raking Attack, the pirates gain the wind gauge. Reis’s ships miss entirely, but Bart manages to sink two of the pirates. The next round gives Bart the wind gauge and he sinks the remaining pirates. The French player is rewarded with six TP. France 16 TP

France passes. France 20 TP

England. Blake activates his fleet at Amsterdam. The Nautical Incident Table is consulted and the English collect two Campaign chits. Gunners and Rally are randomly selected. Since that puts the English player over the maximum in campaign chits, he must discard one. Diplomacy is returned to the pool. Blake sets sail to the Azores, where he encounters the Dutch fleet. Blake is named the commander of the English force while Tromp commands the Dutch ships. The Dutch gain the wind gauge and elect to break off. England 10 TP The Netherlands passes. Netherlands two TP Spain passes. Spain 10 TP France. The French player activates Adm. Bart. Bart decides to plunder the Gold Coast. The French collect six TP. France 20 TP England. Blake wants to attack Tromp’s vulnerable fleet, which is in the open sea. Unfortunately, Blake has to consult



England passes. England Eight TP. Revenue Phase England:

10 TP Inland Revenue 36 TP Controlled Ports 0 TP Treasure Fleets 8 TP Reserves Total 54 TP

Dutch:

12 TP Inland Revenue 61 TP Controlled Ports 0 TP Treasure Fleets 2 TP Reserve Total 75 TP

The Spanish player selects the eight Campaign chits for bidding. The Dutch player expends a Spy chit in order to examine all those chits. France collects both the Grand Design and Salt Pork & Biscuits chit for five TP (82 TP). The Dutch player gains a Gunners chit for three TP (72 TP). Spain obtains a Letters of Marque chit for two TP (79 TP). The Dutch purchase the Line Ahead battle chit for seven TP (65 TP). The Spanish obtain Command Dispute for two TP (77 TP). The Spanish also wins another Letter of Marque chit for one TP (76 TP). Spain wins a Raking Attack chit for three TP (73 TP). England selects a free Campaign chit (special ability): Treachery. Negotiations Phase Nobody makes any deals. Outfitting Phase

The Dutch player also expends the Samuel Pepys chit. Two Spy and one Bankers chits are randomly selected. Spain:

5 TP Inland Revenue 52 TP Controlled Ports 14 TP Manila Treasure 10 TP Reserves Total 81 TP

France:

8 TP Inland Revenue 29 TP Controlled Ports 9 TP Gold Coast Treasure 21 TP Antilles Treasure 20 TP Reserves Total 87 TP

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The Spanish player repairs one fleet in Acapulco. A 1st Rate ship is built in Cadiz. A 3rd Rate ship is built in Cadiz. Two fire ships are brought into play and two transport ships. Four regiments are deployed in Corunna. Spain 43 TP The French Player builds a 1st Rate ship, a 2nd Rate ship, two 3rd Rate ships, a 4th rate ship (free due to special ability) in the Gold Coast. A 6th Rate ship, two fire ships and two transports, are deployed in Calais. Eight infantry regiments are raised in France. France 28 TP England is the poorest country at this time. Most of the year was

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When Lions Sailed

Photo 5

spent attacking the Dutch rather than collecting wealth. Blake’s ships repair damage at the Azores. Monck’s fleet in London repairs damages as well. Two 1st Rate ships are built in London. Four forts are constructed in London. Three fire ships are deployed in London. Three more forts are constructed, one each, in Massachusetts Bay, Jamestown and Bermuda. England 16 TP

constructed in Amsterdam. Adm. de Withe is given another commission. The Company Charter chit is played and two fortress points and a 4th Rate ship are placed in New Amsterdam. Netherlands 12 TP

The Netherlands player forgot to use his special ability during the revenue phase; so that’s graciously caught up now. He adds five TP to his treasury. Netherlands 70 TP

Operations Phase Spain: 43 TP French: 28 TP England: 16 TP Netherlands: 12 TP Spain. Fleet One is activated with Toledo in command. He sails from Tangiers to St. Augustine in the West Indies. There are no incidents. Spain 42 TP

Admiral Tromp’s fleet is in the open seas, so it is unable to repair damage. New ships are commissioned in Amsterdam. Two 1st Rate ships, two 2nd Rate ships, two 3rd Rate ship, and four forts are

France. Tourville is to be sent to the Antilles to gather the treasure fleet there, but a Nautical Incidents strike. A mutiny takes place and the French ships are becalmed. The mutiny ends

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without further trouble, but Tourville’s fleet remains in France. The French player uses his Grand Design chit and takes a free activation. Tourville attempts to get moving again. The French fleet sails from coastal France to the Antilles in the West Indies. France 27 TP England. Blake and his ships are in port at the Azores. He decides to sail back to England. The ships arrive safely in London. England 14 TP The Netherlands. Fleet One is still in the open sea of the North Atlantic. Adm. Tromp activates with it and the fleet sails to Surinam, where it enters the port. Netherlands Eight TP Spain. Toledo and the Fleet One activate from St Augustine. The Spaniards

When Lions Sailed have a problem with scurvy after consulting the Nautical Incidents Table. Two of the units in his fleet take one hit of damage each. The ships arrive in Vera Cruz. Spain 40 TP France. Tourville attaches the treasure fleet in Antilles and sails back to France with the valuable cargo. France 24 TP England. Monck renews operations against the Dutch. The English First Fleet sails to Amsterdam and attempts to engage the Dutch fleet there. The Dutch player names de Withe the commander in this battle. The English gain the wind gauge and prepare to attack. Monck employs both the Gunners and Line Ahead chits. A Dutch 1st Rate and 2nd Rate are eliminated. Two other units take some damage. De Withe employs his Gunners chit. An English 1st Rate unit sustains damage while a 2nd Rate unit is sunk. (see Photo 5) (see Photo 6) Monck obtains the wind gauge in the second round and goes for the kill. The rest of the Dutch fleet is sunk. England wins the battle and collects 30 TP in prizes. The Dutch player loses his Gunner chit. The English fleet engages with the ground force in Amsterdam. The English gain the tactical advantage and issue bombardment against the Amsterdam fortresses. Three of the Dutch fortresses are destroyed while none of the English ship are affected. The second round ends with a tie in tactical advantage. England 43 TP The Netherlands. In Surinam the Dutch fleet under Tromp sets sail for Recife. Those ships arrive in Recife, where they take on its treasure fleet. Netherlands Six TP Spain. Adm. Toledo sets sail from Vera Cruz with a treasure fleet and lands in the Azores. Spain 37 TP NOTE. The Azores and Canary Islands are an important waypoint for treasure fleets returning to Europe. It’s probably a good strategy to have



Photo 6

ships deployed there to prevent enemy treasure fleets from using the port.

only ties the Dutch in the tactical advantage die rolls. England 39 TP

France passes. France 24 TP

The Netherlands player passes.

England. Monck activates his fleet, as he wants to resume his barrage of the forts in Amsterdam. The Dutch win tactical advantage and choose to end the operation instead. England 41 TP The Netherlands. The 3rd Fleet activates in Madras attempting to attack the English forts there. The British win tactical advantage and end the activation. Netherlands Four TP Spain. Toledo lands in Corunna. The treasure fleet from Vera Cruz is unloaded in Spain. Spain 34 TP France passes. France 24 TP NOTE. France’s sudden death victory conditions are mainly based on accumulating more wealth than the other players. England. Mock activates with the English fleet. He wants to barrage the Amsterdam fortress, but he

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Spain. Adm. Albuquer is in Acapulco with the Spanish fleet. He activates and the Spanish ships sail into the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Spain 32 TP France passes. France 24 TP England. Monck’s fleet activates again but fails to gain tactical advantage in engaging the Dutch forts and the operation ends. England 37 TP The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP Spain. The Spanish fleet attempts to circumnavigate. The Articles of War chit was used to re-roll on the Nautical Incidents Table, which yielded a becalmed result. Albuquer’s ships run into severe storms. Some of the ships are damaged while others sink. Then an outbreak of scurvy strikes. That causes one point of damage. The ships reappear on the right map edge. Spain 28 TP

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When Lions Sailed Spain. The Spanish player activates Albuquer’s fleet with the Indian treasure. He lands safely at Loanda. Spain 16 TP France passes France 24 TP England. Monck is in the Azores. He activates his fleet and sails to Prince Rupert’s Land. England 27 TP The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP

Photo 7

France passes. France 24 TP England. Monck activates his fleet. Unfortunately, the English run into storms in the North Sea. Monck’s ship is damaged and his fire ship sinks. Then Monck turns his attention to the Dutch forts. They are destroyed. Remaining in Amsterdam are several infantry regiments, which feel a hail of cannon fire from the English fleet. During round two the rest of the Dutch troops are forced to surrender. England 35 TP

Netherlands Four TP Spain. Albuquer sails to Goa. There he hopes to attach the treasure fleet. Spain 22 TP France passes. France 24 TP England. Monck continues his attempt to bombard the Dutch forts in Danzig. The English obtain tactical advantage and manage to destroy all the Dutch fortresses there. England 31 TP

Spain. The fleet in Loanda sets sail for Spain, but there’s a Nautical Incident: Albuquer runs into pirates. Two 6th Rate pirate units appear. Albuquer employs his Raking Attack chit and gains the wind gauge. The Spanish defeat the pirates, sinking all their ships. The Spanish player earns four TP in prizes and the treasure fleet is safe. Spain 18 TP France passes. France 24 TP England. Monck heads back to England with the treasure from Prince Rupert’s Land. The English fleet sails into London with the treasure. England 24 TP The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP

The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP

The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP

Spain. Albuquer continues his journey and finally lands in Ceylon. Spain 24 TP

Spain. Albuquer’s fleet attaches the treasure fleet from India; then he sails to Delagoa Bay. Spain 19 TP

Spain. Albuquer encounters a second Nautical Incident. Running into storms, some of the Spanish ships are in danger. The 5th Rate ships are all lost to damage. Nonetheless, Albuquer’s flagship and the rest of its class are safe along with the treasure. The fleet sails lands in Cape Verde. Spain 15 TP

France passes. France 24 TP

France passes. France 24 TP

England. Monck sails from Danzig to the Azores. England 29 TP

England. Monck sets sail again. The English 1st Fleet arrives in New Amsterdam to deal with the Dutch fortresses there. Finding a small group of Dutch ships in the harbor, Monck attempts to engage. The English gain the wind gauge and fire on the Dutch. Monck employs both the Line Ahead

France passes. France 24 TP England. Monck’s fleet activates and sails to Danzig. There the English player decides to bombard the Dutch fortresses. Neither side gains the tactical advantage and the battle never commences. England 33 TP

The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP

The Netherlands passes.

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When Lions Sailed and Gunners chits. All the Dutch 3rd Rate ships are sunk. The English player wins the battle and collects six TP in prize money. Next, Monck tries to engage the land units. The Dutch forts are eliminated and English ships control New Amsterdam. England 22 TP The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP. Spain. Albuquer sails from Cape Verde to the Mediterranean and lands in Spain with the treasure from India. Spain 12 TP France passes. France 24 TP England activates Adm. Blake, who sails to Amsterdam. England 21 TP Photo 8

The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP Spain. The Spanish 3rd Fleet sails to the Azores. Spain 11 TP France passes. France 24 TP England passes. England 22 TP The Netherlands passes. Netherlands Four TP Spain passes. Spain 11 TP

England Inland Revenue: 10 TP Prince Rupert’s Treasure: 12 TP Port Control: 37 TP Cache : 21 TP Total: 80 TP The Netherlands Inland Revenue: 12 TP Treasure: 0 TP Port Control: 14 TP Bankers Chit: Four TP Cache : Four TP Total: 34 TP There is no sudden death victory.

Revenue Phase

(see Photo 7)

Spain Inland Revenue: Five TP Goa Treasure: 29 TP Vera Cruz Treasure: 16 TP Port Control: 49 TP Cache: 11 TP Total: 110 TP

(see Photo 8)

France Inland Revenue: 8 TP Gold Coast Treasure: 16 TP Antilles Treasure: 20 TP Port Control: 29 TP Cache: 24 TP Total: 97 TP



Assessment. England has been aggressive, attempting to put the Dutch out of action. Despite that, England is still in the running with the other two powers in treasury points. An advantage has been the battle tactics chits, which are retained by the winner of combat. That’s allowed the English player to rule supreme thus far. There are other battle chits in the pool though, which could eventually turn things around.

and have concentrated on building their navies and collecting TP. If Spain can last until the game’s end, holding European territory, he wins a default victory. France needs to have 100 TP more than the other players to achieve a sudden death victory and that’s unlikely. Turn Three — 1656 I’m going to reduce the level of detail in the turn summaries, as the prior two turns should provide sufficient feel for the system. Spain wins the initiative for the next turn. The order is a repeat of last turn’s order. The Dutch player uses a Spy chit to examine the Campaign markers up for bid. The rest of the combatants remain in the dark. Here is what results: Spain: Diplomacy (2) Marines (2) Coffee House (2) France: Salt Pork & Biscuits (3) Company Charter (3) Sovereign Seas (2) England: Diplomacy (1) (special ability selection: Raking Attack) Netherlands: Samuel Pepys (3) Spain: 104 TP France: 89 TP England: 79 TP Netherlands: 31 TP

Both Spain and France have minded their own business for the most part

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When Lions Sailed Spain: 91 TP French: 86 TP England: 39 TP Netherlands: 24 TP Operations Phase Spain. Adm. Toledo commands the Spanish 1st Fleet and sails from Spain to Hispaniola. The Spanish player uses the Coffee House marker and obtains a Marines battle chit from England. Toledo continues to sail to Vera Cruz. Then he sets sail back to Spain with the Vera Cruz treasure fleet. The Spanish fleet lands in Corunna without incident. Toledo sails with the first fleet toward Africa. He remains in open seas. The Spanish player decides to send Toledo to the Indian Ocean and to allow the French to have the Gold Coast treasure. Arriving at Cape Colony, the Spanish ships decide to fire on the Dutch forts there. The forts are destroyed and the Dutch surrender Cape Colony to the Spanish. Toledo continues from Cape Colony to Zanzibar. Continuing, he sails to Goa and finds Dutch ships there. Toledo engages them and the Dutch ships are sunk. Toledo wins three TP in prizes. Toledo adds the treasure fleets in Goa to his force and sails back to Delagoa Bay. Toledo’s fleet then lands at Cape Colony.

Photo 10

(see Photo 10)

Photo 11

Negotiations France and Spain make a deal not to attack each other in the Mediterranean or continental Europe. There are no other deals. Outfitting Phase Spain repairs all the damage to both fleets. Then Spain builds a 5th Rate, 6th Rate and one fire ship. France

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constructs a fort in Quebec along with an infantry regiment. England repairs the ships in the 1st Fleet. England constructs a 1st Rate and two 2nd Rate units in London. Adm. Rupert is also commissioned. The Netherlands repairs the damage to the 1st Fleet. One 6th Rate ship is added to the 2nd Fleet.

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France. Tourville sails from France to the Antilles. The treasure fleet is brought to France guided by Tourville’s fleet. Then France sends Tourville on another mission looking for treasure. He decides to go to Africa. The French Navy has a mutiny and Tourville is lost. Nonetheless, the French fleet sails to Cape Verde. The 2nd Fleet continues from Cape Verde to the Gold Coast. Collecting the treasure fleet, the French 2nd Fleet sets sail from the Gold Coast with the loot, returning to Cape Verde. Next the French fleet sails from Cape Verde to Tangiers, and from Tangiers to mainland France, where it finally lands with the treasure fleets from Africa. Then Second Fleet sets sail from France to the Antilles. England. The Rally chit is used to bring out a 3rd Rate ship in Ireland with Adm. Penn. Then Adm. Rupert sails from England to Prince Rupert’s Land. Rupert’s fleet runs into storms on the return to England. One of the ships

When Lions Sailed receives a damage point. Nonetheless, the fleet returns to England with the treasure. Penn sets sail from England to Prince Rupert’s Land. The English fleet arrives safely and disembarks. In the New World, Monck runs into pirates. Several 5th Rate ships appear and Monck employs Raking Attack and Line Ahead chits. The pirates are eliminated and Monck earns two TP. His fleet in New Amsterdam sails to St. Augustine, where it attempts to engage the Spanish fortress. The fort is eliminated and the English gain control of St Augustine. Monck’s fleet sails to Hispaniola, where it attempts to engage the Spanish fortress. Eventually the English defeat the Spanish land force and gain control of Hispaniola. Monck sails to the Antilles, where he engages the French fleet. There is no battle as neither side gets the wind gauge. (see Photo 11)

Photo 9

The Netherlands. The 3rd Fleet attacks the English fort in India. The Dutch win tactical advantage and the ships bombard the fort, leaving a pile of rubble. The English surrender

England and France. The Netherlands is also quietly working on achieving its sudden death conditions, that is, controlling five treasure ports plus the home port in Amsterdam. The English are preventing that by keeping a fleet in Amsterdam to prevent the Dutch player from controlling it.

(see Photo 9) The Dutch 3rd Fleet sails to Goa and drops off some ships while the rest continue to Oman. The 3rd Fleet in Oman sets sail to Malacca. The 3rd Fleet continues from Malacca to Macao, which is a treasure port. The Netherlands player then passes. Spain: 77 TP French: 73 TP England: 27 TP Netherlands: 16 TP Assessment. England has continued to be aggressive and has focused on taking the Netherlands out of the running. Meanwhile Spain and France have been minding their own business and cooperating as they work toward their respective sudden death victory conditions. France needs to be 100 TP higher than her next-closest rival. She is nowhere near that, though, as Spain is also collecting treasure from its colonies around the globe. Spain needs to hold out until the last turn, maintaining its European areas. That’s drawn the attention of both

As the rest of the game played out, the French and Spanish need to cooperate to take down the English fleet, but because the game is set to end after Game Turn 4, the Spanish player fails to cooperate with the French player in a timely way. England would like to attack the French for the rest of the turn, as Admiral Tourville is in France being investigated for the mutiny. The French fleet is therefore vulnerable, but Spain is the real threat now. England focuses on attacking the Spaniards to get them out of Europe. Though that’s not accomplished on Game Turn 3, it is on turn four. The game comes to an end, and the Dutch actually win due to VP. They have control of several Treasure Ports that yield 10 VP each. Spain comes in second, and France and England are nearly tied for third, but France is ahead.

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