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Since I got myself going on the topic of Age of Sail games, it seemed that this would be the right time to dig out one unconventional take on ship combat.

The Battle of Lepanto cannot be considered an “Age of Sail” engagement. In fact, it is sometimes called the last major naval engagement of antiquity. It was certainly the last battle where hundreds of ships per side would face off in a single battle. In contrast to the most noted battles that mark the Age of Sail, this was a style of fighting better characterized as land combat, but standing on the decks of ships. This is very different than the ship-to-ship tactics in which we’ve been so interested.

Thinking about it this way makes the choice to mod Pike and Shot into a naval-battle system less shocking as it was, at least for me, at first glance. In fact, the novelty of commanding galleys aside, this scenario is really a simplification when compared to the typical Pike and Shot scenario. There are fewer unit types and no variation in terrain, while the fundamentals of ranged and melee combat remain the same.

The Turks close, firing as they come. Note my shift to the right.

Sometimes I go to a wargame to help me understand a battle that I’ve read about elsewhere. I know what the major facets of the situation are and I want to see how they are modeled and whether I can explore concepts that might “change history.” In other cases, I break out a scenario knowing nothing about the battle. That’s the situation here. I look to this user-made scenario to be my source of scholarship, as it were, in this period and for the Battle of Lepanto.

I only read about this war in the vaguest of terms, relating to the overall era (i.e. the clash between the Christian West and the Ottoman Empire). I also know very little about galley warfare in general and much of that comes from fiddling with the one game I have on that topic. I guess I’m saying that I’m the wrong person to pass any kind of judgement on this scenario… but I’ll do it anyway.

Overall, my own play reproduced the historical outcome and that is nice to know. What was not so accurate in the result was the proportion of ships that were captured rather than sunk. Wikipedia shows the ratio of nearly 3, comparing Ottoman ships captured versus destroyed. I doubt Pike and Shot would have any way to represent this; Men can’t “break” the way they would on land – either their ship flees the battle or the panicked soldiers suffer the fate of their ship.

As for the sinking of ships, the cannon fire seems awfully potent, even just comparing with Renaissance artillery from the basic game. Playing Pike and Shot, I’m often frustrated with how impotent my cannon seem, but I think that accurately reflects the new technology. While big guns were decisive in some circumstances (siege warfare?), I can’t imagine they were all that accurate firing from the deck of a galley in a pitching sea. The built in abstractions of the game may mean it all works out in the end but it seems strange to be knocking off enemy ships from halfway across the “board.”

I also wonder what is missing in a ship game without any explicit ship modelling. Without sails, without fighting the wind and weather, there is a lot that can be set aside. Even so, there is still the question of momentum. Ancient ship combat has something in common with dogfighting during the World Wars. Both you and your opponent are moving. You need to fight him, not where he is now, but where he will be after you both execute your current maneuvers. You may not know what he’s planning, but you do know he (like you) must obey the laws of physics. Mare Nostvm does not generally use wind or weather, but the momentum of rowed vessels is a major factor. Were rams a factor at Lepanto? Was one side attempting to close while the other attempted to maintain distance? I don’t know these things. This scenario uses the cavalry charge mechanics to model things like the use of rams, but I don’t know if that helps get towards a historical treatment.

Whatever questions or criticisms I might come up with, though, this was a great project. The concept of using Pike and Shot to model naval combat seems a bit crazy, but it really does work. Whatever it gets right or wrong, it was a fun scenario to play.