Fascist Game 8
Rules Section 5: Battle

Rules may be followed by a proposal number in parentheses indicating that the given rule was created, amended, or applied at that proposal. THS makes no guarantee that the listed values represent the most recent time a rule came into play. Rules that are considered part of the original ruleset are marked with (*). Rules that by their nature are constantly used are marked (now).

The Rules of Section 5: Battle

1. All orders for battle (or fleeing) will be sent to the Historian of Battles, who works out the results according to current law and sends back a report to THS.
2. Whenever two player's ships are in the same harbor, either player may choose to attack the other. Furthermore, whenever two players are sailing in opposite directions, there is a 2 in 5 chance that they shall encounter one another upon the high seas, whereupon either may decide to engage the other in battle. ("Sailing in opposite directions" means that one player is sailing from point A to point B, while the other is sailing from point B to point A.) All rules regarding flight from battle shall apply for conflicts that occur due to this proposal.

   If a ship is attacked, the owner MUST submit his intentions to fight or flee within 20 Proposals of notification. If he/she fails to do this, he/she has to fight with a -2 penalty to his die roll while the crew argue what to do. Also, when players attack other ships, the initial engagement is considered to end 3 Proposals after the attack was first declared for purposes of further movement and sailing orders. Fleeing (if applicable) occurs immediately, however. No one who is not in a Squadron with the players involved can interfere in a naval fight.

   Finally, it is well known that Bravery is helpful in Battles; for every level of Bravery above Bold possessed by a player, they gain a bonus of +1 to their combat dierolls.(171)

3. Upon the engagement of a naval combat, HoB will roll a 6-sided die for each combatant, and add the strength ratings of each to their roll. The lower total is sunk. In the case of a tie, both ships are considered damaged, and must return to a port for repairs. Repairs will take 10 proposals.
4. Prior to each battle each ship's Captain may declare whether they are attempting to Close or not. If both ships attempt to Close, the Closing attempt is automatically Successful. Otherwise, the die is rolled as described below. A Successful attempt at Closing will cause the Battle between the Ships to be resolved as if it were a Land Combat rather than a Naval Combat. If a Captain chooses to Attempt to Close with another Ship and Board that Ship, one 6-sided die is rolled for each Captain. To each Captain's die roll is added that Captain's Rank (0 for Fifth Mate or Galley Slave, 1 for Fourth mate or Cabin Boy, and so on up to 7 for Commodore or Notorious Pirate and 8 for Admiral or Dread Pirate), plus 1 for each 5 Marines or Buccaneers carried. If the Captain attempting to Close has a higher Total than the other Captain, the attempt is Successful.
5. Pirates gain a +2 bonus to their die roll for the purposes of Closing attempts. Also, if a ship is equipped with Grappling Hooks, which are available for the small price of 300 Po8 in either Atlantis or Pirate Cove, all Closing attempts for that ship shall be at an additional +2 Bonus.
6. Casualties in a battle onboard ship after closing are halved (Fighting onboard a rocking ship makes everyone fight worse.) During the battle, either side may surrender to become prisoners of war for the other side. The winning side may then take control of the ship and return it to their home base (Atlantis or the piratical base). To take control of the ship and Sail it home, at least ten Marines (or Buccaneers) must be put aboard the Prize Ship as a Prize Crew in order to Sail it, until it reaches the home base, at which time a new Crew may be put aboard.
7. If a land battle takes place, the player and the enemy each have one six-sided die rolled for them by HoB. As Marines/Buccaneers are highly trained, the players get a +1 to their die roll for each five of these troops. (So ten Marines would get +2, 17 Buccaneers would get +3, etc.) The winner kills 2 dice worth of the other side's troops. In case of a tie, each side loses one die worth of troops. This is repeated every 2 published proposals until either one side withdraws or one side is completely wiped out.

   Normally, 3 dice worth of native troops are to be found in a land. However, The Piratical pirates have a total of 36 Buccaneers defending their base. (158)

8. If two players are in the same land location as each other, one may challenge the other to a Personal Duel. A player is normally considered to be on his ship when docked at a location, unless s/he states otherwise. The challenged player may decline the Duel at a cost of one step of Bravery. If the Duel is accepted, Historian of Battles will roll 2 six-sided dice for each contestant modified as follows: +1 bonus for every level of bravery above Bold, plus the piratical modifiers for replacement body parts. As Dueling is by wrestling, no weapons may be involved, but other modifiers might be enacted in later rules. If the loser is a pirate, the winner may decide to award him a Replacement Body Part(heh-heh) of his choice; in any case the winner may take up to 100 Po8 or up to 120 Po8 worth of cargo from the loser. (170)
9. To Plunder an Imperial Land, a Pirate must defeat 1/3 of its forts, rounded up, and defeat the remaining Marines not in any Fort in ordinary land Battle. Success accords the Pirate one step of Bravery, one ton of Treasure, anything else specifically in that Land including one ton of a commodity produced there, and as many Imperial Settler hostages as s/he can carry. Successful Plunder also leaves the Land in a state of Anarchy. When a Pirate notifies the Historian of Battles that s/he wishes to Plunder a given land, the fort to be faced is selected at random if there is more than one.
10. All non-money valuables (lumber, silk, etc, but excluding Pieces of Eight and Treasure) shall be known as wares. A pirate who plunders wares shall be known as a ware pirate. If a ware pirate has not plundered for 20 proposals, he will have gone soft. Soft ware pirates will not be tolerated!
11. Pirates may have zero, one, or two of the following prostheses: Peg Leg, Hook, and Eyepatch. Having one and only one of a certain prosthesis adds an extra fierceness to Pirates, but having two replacement parts severely hinders the poor Pirates. Any time a Pirate engages in battle with non-Pirates and non-pirates, the dice rolls are modified one point in his favor for every prosthesis he has one of and one point against him for every prosthesis he has two of. (for example: Mauvebeard the Pirate has one Peg Leg, one Hook, and two Eyepatches as he leads his Buccaneers over land. When they encounter and fight Natives, the actual die roll for Mauvebeard is a three. He gets his +1 for the Buccaneers, but he also gets +1 for one Peg Leg, +1 for his Hook, and -1 for his two Eyepatches.) If a Pirate is successful in his battles, s/he may choose to receive an extra replacement body part. If the Pirate is unsuccessful fighting players or foes controlled by players (like the Mayor's Children's Bodyguards), then the victorious opponent may decide to award a body part of his choice to the Pirate. The victor should notify THS of his desires in this regard.
12. [Eliminated via rule 1.17. Formerly allowed Squadrons to attack.]
13. The direction of the wind shows divine favor. Northerly winds favor the Orange Fleet, southerly winds favor the Purple Fleet, and westerly winds favor the Green Fleet. A wind blowing between two directions (northwest, for example) shows that two fleets are favored. Winds blowing to the east benefit nobody. When a player finds that the winds are favoring him, he may add as many pips to each Naval Combat die roll as the winds are strong. Granted, adding 6 to a six-sided die roll may seem overkill, but when the winds are almost at hurricane strength, it means they're really cheering you on.
14. Any time the wind blows northeast, east or southeast, all Pirates get the Wind Bonus as per the normal Wind Strength; also, the Ill Wind makes ships' timbers Dry, increasing the effect of Casks of Greek Fire by increasing their bonus to +6. [Note: the "east" clause is rendered ineffective by the previous rule, but "northeast" and "southeast" still apply.]
15. Any time a Player takes damage in a sea battle, the Historian of Battles rolls a 6-sided die. Should a 1 be rolled, the seamen aboard the Player's ship will mutiny. If the Player has a life raft, he will be set adrift in it. Otherwise, the Player will be Marooned on the Island of Marooned Sailors. and remain there until such time as provisions are made to find Marooned Players.
16. If a battle at land is lost because Player(s) lose all their troops there is a 50% chance that they will be captured by the victorious troops and will be held captive by them. The player has however every 10 proposals chance of 1 in 6 to escape the captivity and return to his ship (if he still has one), to be kept track of by the Historian of Battles. Also they will be released if the capturers troops are reduced to 0 by a neutral or friendly force. If the capturers are destroyed by enemy troop (enemy to the captured players), they will become captives of the enemy force at a roll of 3 or higher with a six sided dice, otherwise they escapes in the chaos of place at that time.
17. Players are able to pursue fleeing ships. The fleeing ship gets a head start equal to the strength that it has less than the attacker. (All of these distances are in ship lengths.) After that, both roll a six-sided die for each proposal decided upon. The roll of the pursuer is subtracted from the distance between them and that of the pursued is added to the distance. If the distance between them ever becomes 0 or less, there will be a fight between the pursuer and the pursued. If at any time the distance is greater than 20, the pursuer has lost the pursued, and must set sail back where it came from. If the fleeing ship reaches its destination, the pursuer gets one last roll (but the pursued does not roll); if the distance thus becomes 0 or less, a fight occurs at the destination harbor. For squadrons, each ship rolls a die, and the lowest count (a chain is only as strong as its weakest part) is used.
18. Any Pirate who defeats an Imperial Galleon collects one Ton of Treasure (if s/he can carry it) as booty. A Citizen who sinks a pirate ship receives a 700 Po8 bounty; a Citizen who captures and returns a Pirate Captain (player) receives a 1000 Po8 bounty. The (non-player) pirates and Imperial Galleons are armed with 4 cannon each, and manned by 10-20 Buccaneers or Marines.
19. Some pirates have gained some notoriety on the high seas, such as Captain Mauvebeard, Captain Hook, and Captain Gump; they will be known as notorious pirates. (As distinct from Notorious Pirates.) Any pirate ship encountered by any player has a 1 in 2 chance of being commanded by a notorious pirate (selected at random from those alive and at large; if none available, none may be present). Such a pirate ship shall automatically have a Catapult aboard it in addition to all standard pirate armaments; and, if the pirates have any CGF left, a CGF shall be deducted from the pirates' inventory and shall be used by the notorious pirate in the event of Naval Combat. When a Citizen turns over a notorious pirate to the guards (cf. Rule 3.19), s/he will receive a Reward to be determined by TIE at that time.
20. Any time any ship sets sail for any destination, there is a 1/10 chance of encountering a non-player pirate ship (if the sailing ship is a Citizen's) or a non-player Imperial Galleon (if a Pirate's). (now)
21. When a Ship of the Fleet (SF) sets sail to The Near Azores and arrives there, it has a chance of one in three to meet a pirate-ship. THS will use a fair six-sided die to decide whether this happens. If this ship should remain in The Near Azores it will have this chance every fifteen proposals. This timer resets any time that player engages in either Land or Naval Combat with a Pirate or pirates. Any time a player meets a pirate-ship, s/he must either Flee from it (by retreating to the last location s/he set sail from), or fight it. If the player fights, and the pirate ship is not destroyed, then the SF is destroyed. This means that the player can only continue the game on a new ship (which is provided immediately if the 21-ship limit of Rule 50 has not yet been reached) and with the rank of Fifth Mate.

    If the Pirates or pirates attack a ship which has no player aboard, then any player in the same Fief as the Ship may immediately board the Ship, with any Personnel available, and prepare for Naval Combat. If no player can or will do this, the Ship is automatically sunk.

    This entire rule applies similarly for Pirates sailing to Atlantis, meeting Imperial Galleons.

22. If TIE or TPK is on the Isle of the Dead, Players of that ruler's faction docking at the Isle of the Dead have the same chance of meeting non-player hostile ships as if they docked at Near Azores/Atlantis.
23. For every 5 proposals that pass without the piratical pirates being attacked at the Near Azores, one Buccaneer per Pirate docked at the Near Azores (including TPK) will turn up to reinforce their defences, until they reach their maximum of 36.
24. Any Pirate who manages to get Atlantean Settlers or Royal Marines onto his ship may bring them back to the Near Azores, where they become Hostages. Any Pirate may at any time set sail for the Near Azores.
25. If a player's ship is sunk by enemies, there is a 2/3 chance that the victorious foe shall recover all Pieces of Eight and cargo on the ship. If the victor used Casks of Greek Fire in the battle, however, this is reduced to a 1/3 chance. If the Po8 and cargo are not recovered in this fashion, they sink to the bottom, never to be seen again.

    In order to protect his or her fortune from capture by marauder, a player may choose to store Pieces of Eight onshore. Citizens may deposit their fortunes in a bank at any inhabited, friendly fief. Should the fief be captured or plundered, any Po8 left at the bank there are taken by the invaders.

    Pirates, naturally, disdain banks, preferring to bury their treasure. Pirates may choose to bury treasure in any uninhabited Fief. Should a colony ever be formed on this fief, any Po8 there are found by the colonists.