Napoleonic Wars OnLine

Placed Alongside The Enemy

Rule Book

Last modified May 30, 2008

This document provides a basic overview to the rules of Placed Alongside the Enemy (PATE), the naval combat module of the Napoleonic Wars OnLine (NWOL). A player who has read and understood these rules should be able to command ships in PATE. New players should start with the rules summary before going through this document. Some details of the rules that are not required for low-level command of ships can be obtained by clicking on the [More Details] links within this document.

The rules are divided into ten sections:

1. Map	6. Movement
2. Ships, Transports, and Frigate Groups	7. Combat
3. Turn Sequence	8. Storms
4. Submitting Orders	9. Transporting Units and Supplies
5. Detection	10. Port Garrisons

1. Map

1.1. PATE takes place on two maps, one showing European waters (the Baltic, Mediterranean, North, and Black Seas, and the eastern Atlantic ocean) and one showing American waters (the Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic ocean).
1.2. Each map is divided into two types of smaller area, ports and sea areas. A port contains the harbor of a port city and the coastal waters surrounding it (waters that are near land and closer to this port than any other). A port is divided into two tactical areas, the harbor and the coastal waters. A sea area contains open ocean not near any port city. A sea area contains a number of smaller tactical areas which do not correspond to any particular part of the map. Any ship at sea is located in either a port or a sea area, and in a smaller tactical area; either the harbor or coastal waters if the ship is in a port, or one particular tactical area if the ship is in a sea area.
1.3. Each port is connected to exactly one sea area, in a specific direction. For example, London is connected to the North Sea sea area, exiting to the east; Brest is connected to the English Channel sea area, exiting to the west; Venetzia (Venice) is connected to the Adriatic Sea sea area, exiting to the east. With three exceptions (see rule 6.3 below), when sailing out of a port, a ship must sail to the connected sea area, and in order to sail into a port, the ship must be located in the connected sea area. Example: Port au Prince is connected to the Western Caribbean sea area. A ship sailing out of Port au Prince cannot sail directly into the Bahamas sea area or the Straits of Florida sea area; it must first sail to the Western Caribbean sea area, then to another sea area. The three exceptions are: sailing between Gibraltar and SOA is possible, sailing between Kobenhavn and SKA is possible, and sailing between Boulogne and NOS is possible.
1.4. Each sea area has a name and a three-letter code; when referring to sea areas in orders, use the three letter code. For each sea area there are chances for the winds to blow in various directions, and a list of sea areas to the north, south, east, and west of the given sea area. On each turn, winds are blowing in a particular direction in each sea area and are either light, moderate, or heavy. There may also be storms in each sea area during the turn; the chance of storms is higher the heavier the winds are. List of sea areas. Each port has a name; when referring to ports in orders, use the name (check spelling carefully). Each port is belongs to one of the thirteen NWOL nations and is controlled by one NWOL state. Each port also has an exit direction and a defensive rating. The strength of shore batteries defending the port, if any, is proportional to the defensive rating of the port. The winds in each port are the same as the winds in the sea area to which the port is connected. List of ports. Information about ports can also be obtained by clicking on the port in a PATE map.
1.5. There are two types of ports: on-GITM-map and off-GITM-map. On-GITM-map ports are also cities on the GITM land warfare map of Europe. Units and supplies may be moved by water in PATE, then placed back into GITM at an on-GITM-map port. Off-GITM-map ports are not on the GITM land warfare map. Units and supplies in off-GITM-map ports are part of the garrisons of those ports, and operate under the rules for amphibious operations below, but do not take part in GITM. All Caribbean ports are off-GITM-map; all European ports are on-GITM-map except for Malta and Corfu, which are off-GITM-map.
1.6. The European waters map and the American waters map are not connected directly. Ships leaving the European map sailing west, or the American map sailing east, enter the Atlantic Ocean, and remain there for several turns before arriving on the other map. While in the Atlantic Ocean ships do not report, nor can they receive new orders, until they arrive at their destination.

Sample Sea Area map - Northern Caribbean

Winds are moderate from the west
French frigates at sea

Bahamas

Western Caribbean




					NOC

Southwest Atlantic

Southern Caribbean

2. Ships and Transport Groups

2.1. There are four kind of naval vessels in PATE; flagships (first-rates and second rates, that is, three-deckers), ships of the line (third-rates and fourth-rates, that is, two-deckers), frigates (fifth rates and sixth-rates), and transports. Flagships, ships of the line, and frigates are represented as individual ships; transports are combined into transport groups, and do not appear on the map as individual ships. Throughout the rules, the term "ships" refers only to flagships, ships of the line, and frigates, not to transports.
2.2. Each ship has a state, a type, and a number. FL indicates flagships, SL indicates ships of the line, and FR indicates frigates; thus, BR1FL is the first British flagship and FR23SL is the twenty-third French ship of the line. Ships also have names, which are chosen from a list of historic names. Each ship is rated for number of crew and Marines, quality, morale, experience, naval stores aboard, and damage to hull and rigging. Quality represents the innate abilities of the officers and men of the ship. Experience represents their sailing experience and exposure to combat over the course of previous campaigns. Ships gain one point of experience each turn spent in a sea area or coastal waters of a port, and also gain experience in battle. Morale represents their elan and willingness to fight. (Note: Morale is not currently used by PATE, but may be used in future expansions.) Hull and rigging damage vary from 0 (undamaged) to 5 (maximum damage). Ships sink if hull damage reaches 5.
2.3. Each ship has a commander and a deputy commander, both of whom receive reports from the unit and can send orders for it. Commanders and deputy commanders are assigned by the Naval Minister of the ship's state. Each player has a password that identifies him or her as the commander or deputy commander of his or her ships.

Sample Ship Report - Revolutionnaire (FR3FL)

Commander: Pierre Villaneuve		Deputy: Honore Ganteaume
Location: Off Martinique		Base: Brest
Quality: Very Good	Experience: 11	Morale: 2	Stores: 11
Crew: 800	Marines: 200	Hull Damage: 0	Rigging Damage: 2
Attached Ships FR6SL, FR9SL, FR10SL, FR11SL
Ships Visible Allied ships: FR1FL, FR6SL, FR9SL, FR10SL, FR11SL at sea Enemy ships: BR2FL, BR3FL, BR4FL, BR10SL, BR11SL, BR12SL, BR13SL, BR14SL, BR15SL, BR16SL, BR17SL, BR18SL, BR19SL, BR20SL, BR21SL, BR22SL, BR23SL, BR24SL, BR25SL, BR26SL, BR27SL, BR28SL, BR29SL, BR30SL, BR31SL at sea
Land Units Visible FR2IN

2.4. Transports groups have states, numbers, and the type TR; thus, NE4TR is the fourth Neapolitan transport group. Transport groups are rated for the same items as ships are, excluding Marines, and are also rated for capacity. Capacity indicates the amount of troops and GITM supplies the transport group can carry (see the rules on transporting units and supplies for details). Transport groups also have commanders and deputy commanders, and in general operate in the same way that ships do.

Sample Transport Group Report - SP3TR

Commander: Don Federico Gravina		Deputy: Jose de Palafox y Melzi
Location: Atlantic Ocean (sailing to West Atlantic)		Base: Ferrol
Quality: Fair	Experience: 3	Morale: 2	Stores: 11
Crew: 500	Capacity: 5000	Hull Damage: 0	Rigging Damage: 0
Carrrying: SP16IN, 15 supplies
Ships Visible SP2FL

2.5. Transport groups controlled by the same state can be combined if they finish a turn in contact with one another; they can also be divided into two smaller groups. Transport groups so combined or divided may not have capacities greater than 20,000 or less than 2,000. To divide a transport group or combine two or more, contact the GA and request the action (later there will be a web page to submit orders to combine or divide transport groups).
2.6. Ships may be active or inactive. Transport groups cannot be inactivated. When inactive, ships do not appear on the map, do not use stores or supplies, and do not give intelligence reports. Ships can only be inactivated in ports of their home nation, under control of their home state, not in off-map ports. They cannot inactivate in the presence of hostile ships. Reactivating an inactive ship takes four campaign turns. If an inactive ship is in a port which is captured, or if enemy ships are in the harbor and no friendly ships or shore guns are present, then the capturing/entering nation can choose to capture or destory the inactive ships.
2.7. Crew can be transferred between FLs,SLs, and FRs. To do so the ships must be in the same location. If in a sea area they must be able to see one another - if in a port, they must both be in harbor, or both in the coastal waters. There must be no enemy ships present in that location. Crew cannot be transferred from frigates or transport groups. Ships may not be left with less than 70 crew (40 for frigates) as a result of a transfer, unless the ship is immediately scuttled. FLs are limited to 800 crew and 200 Marines, SLs to 600 crew and 150 Marines, and FRs to 225 crew and 25 Marines. TRs have 1 crew per 10 capacity. They can carry crew above this amount; each crewman above 1 per 10 capacity takes up 1 space of capacity.
2.8. During campaign turns, each ship is at the location specified in its ship report, and its base port has no effect on any of its operations. During peace turns, however, ships automatically rotate between their location (that is, their duty station) and their base port, if those are not the same, to replenish their stores. When a campaign begins, ships will automatically be placed randomly at either their duty station or at their base. The closer their base is to their station, the more likely they are to be placed on station. [More Details] Ships that start a campaign at their base will have full stores loaded; those that start on station will have less than full stores loaded. If a ship starts in a different location than the ship to which it is attached, it will be attached to a different ship starting in the same location that was attached to to the same ship before being relocated.

3. Turn Sequence

3.1. PATE is played as a sequence of turns. A campaign consists of 15 turns unless the campaign ends earlier through negotiation. PATE turns run at the same time as the GITM turns of the campaign.
3.2. Each turn is divided into a series of phases; the repair phase, supply phase, initial amphibious phase, combat phase, movement phase, final amphibious phase, and intelligence phase.
3.3. In the repair phase ships conduct repairs. Ships in same-side or actively allied ports that do not have orders to sail out will repair one point of hull damage and all rigging damage in the repair phase of each turn. A port cannot repair more ships than its yard capacity, minus the number of ships it is building. Transport builds do not count against this limit (but transport repairs do). Other ships will repair one point of rigging damage per turn, but will not repair hull damage.
3.4. In the supply phase, ships and transport groups consume stores, and ships and transport groups in port may load stores aboard. Ships and TRs at sea or in the coastal waters of ports use 1 unit of onboard stores per turn. Ships and TRs in harbor will use stores from the port city if available, and will consume onboard stores if not. Ships in same-side or actively allied harbors may load up to 24 stores (the maximum they can carry) if the port city has stores available to load. A transport can carry additional stores; each additional store uses 20 spaces of capacity. A port cannot reprovision more ships than 2 times its yard capacity. If a ship that is in port has more stores than the amount it requested to carry in orders, it will unload the rest back to the port from which it is drawing stores. Ships that run out of stores suffer crew loss, and stop responding to orders. They will automatically sail to the nearest same-side or actively allied harbor to replenish. (Note: this is not yet implemented.) There is no way to transfer stores from one ship to another. (Note: the term "supplies" is not used in PATE and refers exclusively to supplies for land units in GITM.)

3.5. The Naval Minister can order stores moved from one port to another if the ports are within 10 strategic squares of one another and in contact with one another. Two ports are in contact with one another if two units in those cities would be in contact (see GITM rule 10.2). Stores may also be moved from one port to another if both ports are connected to the same sea area or adjacent sea areas, and there are no hostile ships in either port or in the connected sea area(s). Stores may be moved only from the port in which they began the turn (ie, stores cannot make two consecutive moves on one turn) and no port may originate movement of more than 60 units of stores per turn.

3.6. In the initial amphibious phase, transports begin loading or unloading units and supplies into or from GITM (see rules section 9 below).
3.7. In the combat phase, battles take place. Ships in ports may move into the harbor, or out to the coastal waters, to join a battle. Ships in sea areas may not move to join battles, but may only fight ships with which they are already in contact.
3.8. In the movement phase, ships and transports move one sea area. After this movement, winds may change and storms may appear (see rule 8.1 below). Ships and transports may then, winds permitting, move a second sea area.
3.9. In the final amphibious phase, transports complete loading and unloading begun in the initial amphibious phase, and combat in off-GITM-map ports occurs.
3.10. In the intelligence phase, naval intelligence is generated.
3.11. At the end of each turn, every player will receive two reports. The first one contains a list of all events that happened during the turn that were observed by the player's ships, transports, and frigates. The second one contains maps and status reports showing the positions of the player's ships and transports at the start of the following turn. At the beginning of each campaign players will receive the position report showing the positions of their ships and transports at the start of the campaign.

Click here for the full NWOL campaign turn sequence

4. Submitting Orders

4.1. Players send orders for each ship and transport group, for each turn, at the PATE Ship Order Desk. The orders sent govern the actions of the ship/transport during the turn. If multiple orders are sent, the last one sent by the commander is accepted, and the last one sent by the deputy commander is accepted if the commander sent none.
4.2. If a ship or transport group is attached to another ship or transport group (see rule 4.4) then the orders for the attached ship are automatically copied to the attaching ship. Example: If BR5SL and BR8SL are attached to BR2SL, then orders sent for BR2SL are copied to BR5SL and BR8SL. No orders need be sent for BR5SL and BR8SL unless the players desire to detach them from BR2SL. If orders are sent for BR5SL and BR8SL, and those orders do not detach the ships from BR2SL or attach them to a different ship, then those orders will not be carried out, because they will be replaced by the orders copied over from BR2SL. Exception: Amphibious orders sent for transport groups are not copied to other ships attached to the transport group, and amphibious orders sent for a transport group will not be replaced with orders from the ship to which the transport group is attached. [More Details] Attachment has no other effect on ships; in particular, it does not affect whether two ships move together or not in the movement phase (they generally will do so because their orders will be identical, but ships which are not attached but have been sent identical orders are equally likely to move together). Ships which are attached to other ships will remain attached on subsequent turns until they are explicitly detached, or until they finish a turn out of contact.
4.3. The order form is divided into seven sections. In the first section, players type the ID of the ship or transport group for which they wish to send orders, and their password to identify themselves as commander or deputy commander. Ships are always referred to by ID, never by name, in orders.
4.4. In the second section, players indicate whether they want to attach or detach their ship to/from another ship, and if they wish to attach, what ship they wish to attach to. To attach, you must click the Attach box and enter a valid ship ID. Ships and transport groups may attach to any other ship or transport group in the same location, but you may not attach a ship to a second ship which is itself attached to a third ship. That is, if SP2SL is attached to SP3SL, then SP1SL may not attach itself to SP2SL. A ship or transport group may attach to ships and transport groups of other states. To detach a ship from another ship and attach it to a third, simply check the Attach order and enter the name of the new ship; do not click the Detach order in this case.
4.5. In the third section, players indicate desired movement for their ships/transports. They can indicate one or two sea areas to which the ship/transport should move, and a port to which the ship/transport should move. They can also specify movement to any port with an enemy ship instead of naming a specific port. They can specify whether the ship/transport should enter the port's harbor or remain in its coastal waters. Last, they specify whether they want to sail together with other ships with the same movement orders with which they are in contact, or sail alone.
4.6. In the fourth section, players indicate desired contact orders. Ships can choose to pursue enemy ships encountered, evade them, or accept contact. Pursuit means the ship will follow after enemy ships you encounter if they sail away (abandoning existing movement orders to do so), and will give battle if they do not. Accept means the ship will accept contact if enemy ships remain, but will not follow if they leave. Evade means you will avoid contact with enemy ships if sighted, and escape contact when possible if you cannot avoid it. Ships giving pursue or evade orders may specify both a minimum number and a maximum number of enemy ships to pursue or evade. If a ship specifies neither of them, then it will pursue or evade any number of enemy ships it encounters. If its specifies only a minimum number, then itwill pursue or evade if it encounters that number or more, otherwise it will accept contact. If ir specifies only a maximum number, then it will pursue or evade if it encounters that number or fewer, otherwise it will accept contact. If it specifies both, then if the minimum is less than the maximum, it will pursue or evade only if it encounters a number in that range (inclusive), otherwise it will accept. If the minimum is less than the maximum, then it will pursue if it encounters the minimum or more, or the maximum or less. Example: If a ship specifies a mininum of 2 and a maximum of 10, it will pursue 2 ships or 3 ships, or 9 ships or 10 ships, but not 1 ship or 11 ships. If it specifies a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 2, then it will pursue 1 ship or 2 ships, or 10 ships or 11 ships, but not 3 ships or 9 ships. Ships can also choose whether to join allied ships they encounter and sail together, or to sail separately. Last, they choose whether to manuever for windward gauge or leeward gauge upon meeting enemy ships. The ship's choice of contact orders may be limited by its intended commerce orders, or whether it is maintaining a blockade. [ More Details ] Ships with Evade checked may not Join Allies, as they never approach the allied fleet to join it.
4.7. In the fifth section, players indicate desired combat orders. Ships can choose to manuever for leeward or windward gauge, to engage in line ahead or to break the enemy's line, and to aim at enemy rigging or enemy hulls.
4.8. In the sixth section, players indicate desired orders for encountering commercial shipping. Ships can choose to raid enemy commerce, convoy their own commerce, or ignore commercial shipping entirely.
4.9. In the seventh section, ships/transports indicate how many naval stores to load, and if transports, indicate orders to load or unload units or supplies from/to GITM.
4.10. In general, players may submit orders in all sections in any combinations they desire.
4.11. If a ship/transport fails to send orders, and does not receive orders from an attached ship, then default orders will be carried out. The ship/transport will not move, will not change its attachment if any, will not load or unload, will accept contact with other ships, will join allies, will accept combat, will manuever for leeward gauge, will engage line ahead, will not break enemy lines, and will fire at enemy rigging.

5. Detection

5.1. A ship or transport group will detect an enemy ship or transport group if it is contact with it. Two ships are in contact if they are in the same port (even if one is in the harbor and the other is in the coastal waters) or if they are in the same tactical location of the same sea area. Ships and transport groups in the same sea area but different tactical locations are not in contact. A ship will list the identities of all ships with which it is in contact in its position report (see sample report in rule 2.3). Ships will report whether enemy ships are to windward or to leeward; if in port, they will also report whether the enemy ships are in harbor or in the coastal waters. A player's position report maps will show ship icons in all places where his or her ships/transports (those on which he is commander or deputy commander) are in contact with other ships/transports.
5.2. Frigates can also detect enemy ships or transport groups in the same sea area but not in contact with the frigate. Frigates detecting enemy ships in this way do not report the exact number and identity of the enemy ships/transports they detect at sea, but approximate information will be available by clicking on the appropriate icon on the sea area map in the position report. If a frigate is at sea, then it may detect all enemy ships in that sea area and may also detect enemy ships in ports connected to that sea area. Frigates are more likely to detect enemy ships if they have orders for patrolling or raiding than if they have orders for convoying or refitting. [More Details]
5.3. Ships located in an on-GITM-map port (either harbor or coastal waters) will automatically report the identities of GITM units in that port's tactical square, and have a chance to report the identities of GITM units in the port's strategic square but not in its tactical square. Units in the strategic square (whether in the city tactical square or not) will receive reports of the ships in the port. Garrisons of off-GITM-map ports will report the presence of ships and frigates in those ports to the Naval Minister with a one-turn delay.
5.4. During the intelligence phase, players will receive reports of the presence of ships that started the turn in the same sea area or port as their ships ended the turn. The ships so reported may have sailed to new locations during the turn. These reports may not be accurate, and the number of ships reported may not be accurate.

6. Movement

Rules 6.1 through 6.11 apply to campaign turns; rule 6.12 applies to peace and truce turns.

6.1. A ship or transport group can submit three orders for movement, two for sea areas and one for ports. The port movement order can specify whether to move into the harbor or to the coastal waters. A ship or transport group can shift position within a port by sending an order to move to the port it is currently in, to whichever portion it wishes to move.
6.2. Ships and transports in sea areas may move only to a sea area which is adjacent to their current sea area, or to a port connected to their current sea area. Example: A ship in the Southern Caribbean may move to the Northern Caribbean, Surinam Coast, or Panama Coast. It may not move to the Western Caribbean or Southwest Atlantic, nor to the Bahamas, unless it moves to an adjacent sea area first. It may move to Martinique, which is connected to the Southern Caribbeam, but not to Dominica, which is connected to the Northern Caribbean.
6.3. Three ports are located on a strait on the borders between two sea areas. Gibraltar is on the border between SOA and WMD, Bolougne is on the border between ECH and NOS, and Kobenhavn is on the border between SKA and BAS. This affects movement in two ways. First, ships in either of the sea areas adjoining the port may sail directly to the port, not just ships in the sea area to which the port is connected, and ships in the port may sail to either sea area. Example: ships in Gibraltar may sail to either SOA or WMD, and ships in either SOA or WMD may sail to Gibraltar. (Note that Gibraltar is not connected to SOA; it remains connected to WMD only for purposes of weather, sighting, etc.) Second, ships moving from one of those sea areas to the other must pass through coastal waters of the port, where they may be detected and/or pursued; e.g., ships moving between SOA and WMD must pass through Gibraltar. It is not necessary to specify the port in the ship's movement orders; when a ship in SOA is ordered to move to WMD, it will automatically be moved through Gibraltar coastal waters.
6.4. Ships in port may only be ordered to move to the sea are connected to that port. Ships in harbor in a port may not leave the port when hostile groups of ships are off the coast, except at the start of the combat phase (see rule 7.1); this requires them to fight to exit the harbor if the hostile ships wish to give battle. Ships off the coastal waters of a port may sail to the attached sea area, but may not sail to the harbor in the presence of hostile enemy ships, except at the start of the combat phase; this prevents entering the harbor without offering battle to the hostile ship off the coast.
6.5. Movement is carried out in the following sequence. During combat, ships and transport groups can move within a port to join a battle in progress in that port; either from the harbor to the coastal waters, or vice-versa. (See rule 7.1 for details.) First, ships and transports in ports can shift position within the port (if they have not already done so during combat). Second, ships and transports in sea areas with orders to move to ports connected to their current sea area may do so. Ships cannot sail directly from one port to another. To sail from one port to another port on the same sea area, first sail to the sea area, then sail to the new port. Third, ships and transports sail to their first sea area. Fourth, winds shift and storms may occur (see rule 8.1 below). Fifth, ships and transports which moved enter ports connected to their new sea areas. Sixth, ships and transports sail to their second sea area. Seventh, ships completing an Atlantic transit arrive on the map. Last, ships and transports which moved to a second sea area in the sixth step may enter ports connected to their new sea areas.
6.6. Ships and transports may not be able to sail as ordered, depending on the wind and any damage they have suffered. Ships that move in the first movement phase have a chance of ending their movement and being unable to move again in the second phase. [More Details] In port movement, ships may not enter or exit a port if they must sail upwind into heavy winds, or if enemy ships are present and they must sail upwind into winds of any strength. They also may not move from harbor to coastal waters within a port, or vice versa, if enemy ships are present, except in the movement before combat.
6.7. Actively allied ships and transports groups in the same location will move together, and will have a single roll for their ability to sail due to wind and damage. Either all will move or all will not. Exception: if some are damaged, the damaged ones may not move. (This will probably be revised in the future.) They will move together regardless of whether they are attached for the purpose of sharing orders, or not; attachment does not affect movement of ships in any way.
6.8. Ships and transport groups which move to a new port will be placed in the coastal waters of the port, unless they have orders to enter the harbor and enemy ships are not present. Ships and transport groups which move to a new sea area will be placed in a randomly selected tactical area in that sea area. If other ships or transport groups are in the same tactical area, the moving ships will encounter them, otherwise they will not.
6.9. Ships and transport groups which encounter other ships or transport groups while moving may join the ships they encounter or not. If the ships encountered are allied, then the moving ships will join them if the Join Allies box on the order form is checked, otherwise not. If the ships encountered are hostile, then the moving ships will avoid them if their Contact order is Evade, otherwise not. [More Details] When two allied groups of ships join, they will sail together. When two hostile groups join, one will be to windward and one to leeward. If the moving ships arrive from windward or leeward, they will take that position; if they arrive from across the wind, then they will maneuver for position. If one group has requested windward and the other group leeward, they will take their desired positions; if not, the position of each group is random. If two groups are already present and a third group joins, it will approach from windward or leeward as above, then join an allied group if the first group in the direction from which they approach (windward or leeward) is allied.
6.10. If a ship or transport group with a contact order of Pursuit sees an enemy ship or transport group in the same tactical location sail, it will abandon its own sailing orders (if any) and pursue the departing enemy ship. All pursuing ships will move together; their move will succeed if the move of the pursued ships succeeds, and will fail if the movement of the pursued ships fails. If the pursued ships enter a harbor, the pursuing ships will not do so, but will remain in the coastal waters of the port. Pursuing ships can also select not to pursue into the coastal waters of ports, but abandon the pursuit remain in the open sea.
6.11. Ships and transport groups can cross the Atlantic, but do not send orders to move into it. Instead, they send orders to move to any sea area on the appropriate edge of one map, then any sea area on the appropriate edge of the other map. Example: A ship in Lisbon can cross the Atlantic by ordering a movement to the Iberian Coast, then to the Southwest Atlantic. (The ship may not make its second move under rule 6.5; if not, you need to resubmit the order to move to the Southwest Atlantic on the following turn.) The crossing will take 3-4 turns, including the turn on which the ship enters the Atlantic. Ships do not know how long it will take to cross until they arrive. Frigate groups simply send orders for a sea area on the other side of the Atlantic (not necessarily on the edge of the map). Frigates require 2-3 turns to cross the Atlantic. Groups of ships that enter the Atlantic together will remain together during the crossing, but will not encounter enemy ships while crossing. Ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean cannot receive new orders until they reach the other map; during the crossing they will refuse to accept new orders.
6.12. During peace and truce turns, a ship can move to any sea area or port it desires - there is no restriction on distance. However, ships must periodically return to base to replenish supplies. On peace and truce turns, a ship is ordered to a sea area or port, but at the end of the turn it may be placed at either the location to which it was ordered, or to its base port. [More Details]

7. Combat

7.1. Whenever two groups of ships are in contact at the start of a combat phase, they may engage in battle. [ More Details ] Frigates in coastal waters or sea areas never engage in combat against ships of the line or flagships. Frigates fight in the same battle as ships of the line or flagships only when the battle takes place in a harbor. If the ships are in a port, and some are in the harbor and some in the coastal waters, then they may move to join each other (if the wind permits them to move in or out of the port: see rule 6.6). If the ships in the harbor wish to come out, they do so; if not, then the ships in the coastal waters may enter the harbor if they wish to do so. If the battle takes places in the harbor, then the shore batteries defending the harbor will take part if any ship in the battle is allied to the side controlling the port.
7.2. Ships in battle may choose to engage in line ahead or may choose to break the enemy's line. Breaking the enemy's line leads to a more decisive battle and increases the odds that the victor will capture the loser's ships as prizes.
7.3. Ships in battle may choose to fire at enemy rigging or at enemy hulls. Firing at enemy rigging will cause a higher proportion of damage to the enemy rigging increases the chance of taking prizes but reduces total fire effect; firing at enemy hulls increases the chance of sinking enemy ships.
7.4. At the start of battle, unless the battle takes place in a harbor, each ship or transport group may attempt to evade the battle, and will do so if its combat orders are Evade.

If all ships on both sides attempt to evade the battle, then no ship moves and the battle is over.
If all ships on one side, but not all ships on the other, attempt to evade the battle, then the side that is entirely fleeing has a chance to escape. Either all ships will escape or none will. If the ships are to windward, then escape is very unlikely; if the ships are to leeward then escape is very likely unless the battle is in coastal waters of a port and the winds are onshore, in which case escape is unlikely. Individual ships evading battle on the side that is not entirely evading battle will always succeed in evading in this case.
If at least one ship is attempting to evade the battle, but at least one ship on each side is not, then the evading ships will succeed as long as the number of warships on their side that are not evading is at least half the number of enemy warships that are not evading. Otherwise each ship makes a separate attempt to escape using the same chances that apply when the whole side is attempting to escape. The ships that are not evading will engage in battle, along with any ships which fail to escape.
If the battle is fought in a harbor, then evading the battle is impossible.
Transports that do not evade battle will not be damaged if their side has at least double the number of warships in the battle that the opposing side has.

7.5. Next, ships attempt to close quarters. If all ships on both sides have chosen to fight at close quarters, then they do so. If some ships on both sides but not all on both sides have chosen to close, and the side with fewer ships closing has at least half the number of the side with more ships closing, then all ships that have chosen to do so fight at close quarters, and those ships that have not chosen to do so fight at range. If some or all ships on one side have chosen to close, and fewer than half the one side's number of closing ships have chosen to close on the other side , then those ships that have chosen to close have a chance to succeed in closing on the entire enemy fleet. If they succeed, the ships that attempted to close, and all ships on the other side, fight at close quarters, and ships on the closing side which did not choose to close, fight at range. If no ships on either side have chosen to close, then all ships fight at range. Ships that move to close quarters lose 10% of their effective strength (because they must initially engage bows-on to the enemy), are more likely to damage enemy ships but are more likely to be damaged themselves, and are slightly more likely to take a prize or be taken than ships which engage in line ahead. In a battle where one side has only shore batteries, the other side fights at range. Quality and experience modifiers are doubled when battles are fought at close quarters.
7.6. If ships have successfully closed quarters, then the ships at close quarters must decide whether to engage in line ahead, or to attempt to break the enemy's line. If both sides maintain line ahead, or both sides break line, then they succeed it doing so. If one side attempts to maintain line ahead while the other side attempts to break that line, then there are three possible outcomes. The breaking fleet may lose coordination during its approach and fight the enemy with itssquadron divided. If so, the ships suffer a -25% strength penalty. The chance of losing coordination is 30%, minus 10% for every point of quality advantage the breaking fleet has over the enemy fleet. If the breaking fleet maintains coordination, then it attempts to break through. If its succeed, it gets a strength bonus of +33%. The chance of breaking through is 60%, plus12.5% for each point of quality difference. If the breaking fleet maintains coordination but fails to break through the enemy line, then there is no penalty or bonus, and both fleets engage in line ahead at close range.
7.7. The combat strength of a ship is 100 for ships of the line and 135 for flagships, and is modified as follows. Ships with less than 70% crew lose 2.5% of combat strength for each 1% of crew below 70%, falling to 0 at 30%. Ships at close quarters gain 1 point of strength for each 20 Marines aboard. Ships to windward gain +10%. Strength is also modified for quality and experience (later for morale also) and for pre-existing damage. If the battle takes place in a harbor, and the shore batteries are allied with one side in the battle, then each undamaged shore battery has strength equal to 100 times the defense rating of the harbor, and each damaged shore battery has strength equal to 50 times the defense rating of the harbor. All ships engaged in battle gain 1 to 5 points of experience, depending on the odds in the battle (more even odds give more points).
7.8. At the end of combat, all unsunk ships on the losing side attempt to escape the battle. Those that do not escape are taken as prizes by the winning side. One ship on the winning side is randomly selected as captor; the commander and deputy of the captor become the commander and deputy of the prize, the prize receives a new ship ID based on her new state (the lowest number available will be used) and acquires the same attachment and orders as the captor (thus if the captor sails away, the prize will sail with it). Escaping ships will move to a different tactical location if the battle was fought at sea; they will move to sea if the battle was fought in a port area. If a ship fleeing from a port battle flees to the adjoining sea area, then if it had phase 1 orders to move to that sea area, the move order will be cancelled since it has already been carried out via fleeing.