Aquanautica Imperialis- Battle for the Shallows- Operation: Hemlock

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Monday in the States, so it is time for a new Blog post....

The Shallows had been his home as long as he could remember. He had scrapped by on his father's boat collecting scrap and hauling in to be sold at auction on Grig's Island. Eventually, his father had passed, and the boat had been handed over to him. The loyal crew, and at least some of them; stayed on too. From that day on, he had become Captain Jacq.

Since then, he had been lucky, brutal,and cunning enough to survive in the Shallows. His crew had earned enough scrap to upgrade to a bigger boat and a bigger crew. However, there had been a cost. Debts that needed to be repaid, and in addition to hauling scrap Captain jack had taken on a bit of piracy and smuggling as a side job. It wasn't long before he had become embroiled with Hanzo and the Syndicate. That was a dirty business and one Jacq did not relish.

However, Operation: Hemlock gave him a chance to earn enough scrap to get a big enough stash to head out to sea for real and leave the Deff islands and the Syndicate behind. All he had to do was survive, and that is something that Captain Jacq had been doing for a long time.

“Captain, the scout is signalling!” the man..... boy really.... in the crow's nest shouted down to him. The blue sky was clear, and Captain Jacq was pretty sure the look-out could see half across the shallows from his perch.

Captain Jacq cupped his hands, “What is it lad?”

“Bad news. Smoke sign from the coast. The Orks comin' out! To cross the Shallows!” the boy started hopping in excitement and nerves.

Captain Jacq cursed and made the sign of the aquilla. The Syndicate had given him a few boats and Hanzo himself told him to keep the Orks from making it to Baron's Island. He expected a milk run while the Navy boys did all the dying. He hadn't expected the greenskins to go across the shallows in force.

A fellow officer looked nervously to Captain Jacq, “Captain, what do we do?”

The grizzled pirate shrugged, “Today, we pay our duty tot he Emperor. Make ready to sail!”

*   *    *
Today's battle will be a game of Aquanautica Imperialis between the Pirate Syndicate of Da Deff Islands and the Ork Kill Fleets. This represents an Ork force trying to force the Shallows between the Green Zone and the battle zone on Baron's Island. I will be using paper templates again to play this round of the campaign.


Since the battle will take place in the Shallows, the Ork forces will face a high risk of grounding, unless they stick to the deeper channels. Therefore, I am going to give them a 20% points bump to the pirate fleet, who are largely immune to grounding thanks to their shallow draft craft.

Forces:

Syndicate Pirate Force
Jacq's Queen- Pillager- 100 Points- LD 8
Saint's High- Pillager- 100 Points- LD 8
Sea Nymph- Raider- 75 Points- LD 6
Lazy Rider- Raider- 75 Points- LD 7
Low Jack- Monitor- 75 Points- LD 7
Hammer Fall- 75 Points- LD 8
Hwan's Run- Blockade Runner x2- 60 Points- LD 6
Forlorn Hope- Skiff - 50 Points- LD 8
Desperate Times- Skiff- 50 Points- Ld7

660 points

Ork Kill Fleet
Mek RenchEad- 2 Boiler Boatz- 150 Points
Nagstrakz Pointy Bitz- 4 Drilla Killaz- 200 Points
Boss Ardnoze'z Tubz- 5 Tubz- 150 Points
Klobgutz Runtiez- 5 Kuttaz- 100 Points
Angerz On- 3 Mob Boatz

760 points

Mission:
The Orks are trying to break through the Pirate fleet and make landfall on the other side of the Shallows. They can do this by either landing on the opposite sides shore or moving off the board. If they get more crew points ashore than they lose in damage points after 6 turns the Orks win.

Set-up:
This battle is being played on a 4x4 foot table. The entire board is considered shallow water, except for the dark blue areas. This is regular depth and Ork ships in these zones will not be at risk of grounding. The Shallows is the area between Da Deff Islands, and is not deeper enough for large ocean vessels. However, some navigation channels have been dredged to allow for easier transport of adaconite and other goods.



Orks deploy to cross the shallows in force....



The Pirate Syndicate is ready to show them off...



You can see the end result here:
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2019/09/battle-report-aquanautica-inmperialis.html