Off the Coast of Florida

An Independence Day Battle

Once again I offer an American Revolution battle to celebrate Independence Day.

This is part of a series of fictional battles set in East Florida.

Introduction

Stymied in his efforts to invade East Florida by land, Colonel Endicott takes to the sea.

He outfits a small flotilla and hopes to sneak by the British navy. Alas, his force is spotted by a squadron of British frigates.

Top (red) - The British squadron consisting of the Ajax, Bucephalus, and Cato.

Bottom (blue) - First squadron (top 2) - Adams and Franklin. Second squadron - Washington and Jefferson

The Battle

The combatants loose their initial broadsides.

The Continentals take the brunt of the damage. The Washington is nearly crippled.

In desperation, two of the damaged Continental ships rush in to board their opponents.

The Bucephalus strikes! But Continental hopes fade when the Adams also strikes.

The remaining Continental frigates swarm the damaged Ajax, which is locked with the Adams.

Heavy gunfire forces the Ajax to strike.

Despite being undamaged and facing heavily damaged enemies, the Cato looks at the numerical odds and flees the battle. Its captain will have a lot of explaining to do!

Meanwhile, Endicott finds the sea lane to St. Augustine open!

Battle Notes

From 2018 to 2020, I played a Revolutionary battle to celebrate Independence Day. I demurred for 2021 because the scenarios were beginning to feel same-ish. That's why I decided to do something different for 2022 - a naval battle!

My East Florida campaign is now tied up at 2 battles apiece. Next year will be the clincher as Endicott will try to take St Augustine, and with it the entire colony of East Florida.

I don't have formal rules yet for naval battles. I just kind of made things up as a went along, using MicroBattle as the framework. 

I also don't have a gridded naval battlemat that is large enough for Age of Sail battles. I used a plain blue felt mat and a ruler.

The ships are 2D counters I scratch built back in 2018.