Additional Rules

Collisions If a ship makes contact with another ship or a Terrain piece that rises above the sea (such as rocks or islands) as part of a movement, this causes a collision. When a collision occurs, the ship being moved ends its movement immediately when its base touches the object with which it is colliding. The effect of the collision depends on what the ship is colliding with:

• If colliding with Islands, Rocks, or Landmasses, the ship receives a point of damage, an Aground token, and has its Sail Setting reduced to Anchored.

• If colliding with another ship, the ship that caused the collision rolls a number of dice equal to its current speed rating. If one or more result is rolled, the ship that caused the collision takes a point of damage. If at least one is rolled, the rigging has become fouled with the ship (or ships) it is colliding with. They are now Entangled and should be moved as if the colliding ship preformed a “Grapple” Crew Action. Any other result has no effect. If the ships did not become Entangled, the ship that was struck is then moved Yard Arm distance Directly Away from the ship that hit it. If the struck ship is Aground or Entangled, the moving ship is moved Yard Arm distance Directly Away instead.

Example

Lily’s movement causes her ship to come into contact with Nate’s ship. She will stop her movement at the point of contact and roll a number of dice equal to her current speed (4). Her results are {skull}, {cannon}, {pistol}, and {sword} . Lily’s ship will take one damage because she rolled one {skull}. Because Lily did not roll any sails, their ships are not entangled. Nate’s ship is moved one yard arm length directly away from Lily’s ship. Lily may now use a crew action, but may not move any more this activation.

Moving off the Table1 If a ship ends its move with part of its base off the table, it has drifted too far from the engagement and is removed from the game.

Fortune Points At the start of any game, each player will receive 3 fortune points. Fortune Points can be used to re-roll any Skill Test or Attack roll made throughout the game. When re-rolling dice with a Fortune Point, all dice must be re-rolled (including any dice that produced the desired results). Only a single fortune point may be spent on each. Re-rolls given by crew skill or other special rules may be used again after spending a Fortune Point.

Events If both players play an Initiative Card with the same printed Initiative value, immediately draw a card from the Event Card deck. Follow the instructions on the Event Card before continuing with the turn. Leave the event card face up for the duration of the listed effect. Once the effect of the card has run its course, it is discarded and not returned to the deck of event cards.

Formation Sailing in “line ahead” formation was the decisive tactic of the day. Squadrons in Oak & Iron receive a bonus for sailing in Formation. To qualify as being in Formation ships must meet the following:

• There must be two or more ships in formation and must include the Squadron’s Flagship.

• Must be within Musket Shot of at least one other ship in this squadron and must be able to draw an unobstructed perpendicular line from anywhere on its Bow or Stern edge that enters the opposite edge of the ship immediately ahead or behind it. That ship must also be able to draw an unobstructed perpendicular line back.

Each ship can only connect 1 other ship to the Formation. Every ship that is in Formation may add one dice to Broadside and Partial Fire Attacks.

Raking Shots If a ship making a Broadside Attack at Musket Shot or less can draw a perpendicular line from the center point of its firing edge that passes through both the Bow and Stern edge of the target ship, the target ship is being raked. A ship making a Raking Shot gains the following bonuses:

• If the Attack causes any Fatigue, the target ship takes an additional point of Fatigue.

• Both and results are counted towards Critical Hits.

• If the Raking Shot is entering the target ship through the Stern, treat the target ship’s Fortitude as 1 for this Attack. A Raking Shot ignores the “High Freeboard” and “Very High Freeboard” special rules.

Targeting Rigging Instead of aiming at a ship’s hull, a ship’s rigging may be targeted by a Broadside or Partial Fire Attack. Targeting the rigging will damage the masts, sails, and lines of the ship which can reduce its speed. To target a ship’s rigging, reduce the number of dice rolled during the Attack by half (round down, to a minimum of 1). Treat the Attack as a critical damage test, but ignore and results. An Attack made against the rigging can never Fatigue or Damage a ship. Raking shots are ignored when targeting a ship’s rigging.

Targeting Crew Similarly, the ship’s crew may be targeted by a Broadside or Partial Fire Attack with a maximum range of Pistol Shot. Targeting crew can cause significant injury and suppression to the ship’s crew, causing it to be less effective. To target a ship’s crew, reduce the number of dice rolled during the Attack by half (round down, to a minimum of 1). Treat the Attack as a critical damage test, but ignore and results. An Attack made against the crew can never Damage the ship. When targeting crew during a raking shot, the target ship takes the additional point of Fatigue, but no other effects apply.

Terrain and Weather Adding Terrain to your game table can present some interesting tactical challenges and opportunities.

• Shoals If at any point of a ship’s move a part of the ship’s base moves over an area of shoal Terrain, the ship must check to see if it has struck bottom. Complete the move, then roll a number of dice equal to its printed Fortitude value. If any results are rolled, the ship has struck the bottom and takes an Aground token.

• Fog Bank Ships shooting into or through a fog bank treat the distance to their target as one range farther (e.g., two ships at Pistol Shot from each other are treated as if they were at Musket Shot instead). If this would cause the distance to be greater than Cannon Shot, the distance is still treated as Cannon Shot, but only results count as successful hits.

• Rocks A ship may not move through this type of Terrain. If a ship makes contact with Rocks, it is treated as a Collision (pg. 24).

• Islands and Land Masses A ship may not move through this type of Terrain. Areas of land are treated the same as Rocks except that they block Line of Sight and a ship may take a Landing Party Crew Action to go ashore on them.

Designer’s Notes

Scrolling Sea: Alternatively, players with limited space may choose to play with an endless sea and “scroll” everything on the table to make more virtual room. If a ship’s move would cause it to move off of the table, return the ship to its starting position and move all ships and Terrain elements on the table an equal distance away from the board edge the ship would have sailed off of. A distance of at least Musket Shot should be used for this. If any Terrain would be moved off the table as a result, the player who wasn’t moving the ship that caused the table to be scrolled places the Terrain anywhere within Musket Shot of the opposite table edge it was forced off of. Although a popular concept in games in fiction, ships of this era did not typically ram each other. The bow and stern ends of these ships would have been their weakest points, with their sides being their strongest points. So attempting to slam your delicate bow into the strong side of a ship is generally a bad idea!