Below is an after action report of Under The Southern Cross using the Duel Map and cards from a playtest done by designer Steven Paul and Chris Valk. This playtest was also posted on ConsimWorld forum and can be found here. Enjoy!

For those who are not familiar with the Duel Map and cards, they look like this and provide an alternate way of enjoying Flying Colors. The basic rules for sailing, maneuvering, and fire combat are still in effect, but initiative, random events, and even gun load-outs are determined by a hand of cards dealt to each player each turn.

The Duel Map allows players to explore small one-on-one (and maybe two-on-one) mat-ups in a quick playing version of FC. Another nice feature of the Dual Map is the space to mark damage and broadsides for each ship without having to clutter up the playing area with stacks of markers or resorting to a logsheet.

Below you can see the setup for the duel Chris and I are starting, between the heroic Argentine privateer Dorrego (light blue) and the dastardly Brazilian ships Caboclo and Bertioga in green.

This is a “chase” scenario, so my little commerce raider can win either by outright defeating the stronger Brazilian ships (not likely at all) or by separating far enough that it is considered to have escaped.

Dorrego Duel Start

Here’s a close up of the starting situation with the cards Chris and I played to bid for initiative on turn 1:

Dorrego Card Draw

Because my card’s value was lowest, I won the initiative, but must the card played to activate my ship. Chris, on the other hand, can return his card to his hand and play a different one on each of his ships. Because this is a chase scenario, and I’m the one running, I’m OK with going first.

My card has a maneuver arrow that limits my move to straight ahead unless I roll successfully to change that. The “-2” is a DRM to that roll. But I’m happy to sail ahead on a broad reach. The breezy conditions and the +1 speed note will help as well…

Dorrego Duel Turn 1

We continue with the chase/duel between the Brazilians and the Argentine privateer Dorrego:

Both Chris and I have taken some calculated risks. I played a relatively high numbered card for initiative on turn 2 (the low card wins initiative) ceding the first move to Chris, gambling that I can then win initiative on turn 3 and in effect get back-to-back moves and really open up the chase.

For his part, Chris played card “20” which requires either ahead or a maneuver of some sort to larboard. Because the initiative winner must activate a ship with his initiative bid card, Chris had an important choice to make: sail ahead and try to stay with the fleeing privateer, or wear to port and go for a shot. Chris seized the chance to cross Dorrego’s Stern and go for a raking broadside. A rake isn’t automatic in FC in that the player must successfully roll a 4 or less on a d10 to succeed. Though the rake didn’t go his way, it wasn’t a totally wasted shot for the Brazilians, as they scored 2 rigging hits on their quarry. Every three rigging hits slows the victim by 1MP.

Dorrego Duel Turn 2

With my activation on turn 2, I gave the pursuers a quick shot with the stern chase guns, scoring a lucky R hit of my own, and continued to speed away with the help of some local gusts provided by a fortunate event card.

Winning the initiative on turn three, another timely event, Expert Topmen, allowed me to set full sails at the start of my move, instead of the normal requirement to set them at the conclusion of an activation, and sit through the opponents turn of trying to shoot down the extra sails.

Dorrego is starting to pull away, and as she reaches the map edge, the pursuing Brazilians have to be shifted further away to keep the action on the map. If I am able to keep opening the distance, and the Brazilians are shifted off the map, Dorrego escapes, and the game will be over…

Dorrego Opens the Distance

Chris has managed to close up the range a little on the rapidly fleeing Dorrego, thanks to a back-to-back initiative win of his own. I think I’ll play a port maneuver card and give the stern chase cannons another go. The breezy conditions and a speed bonus provided by the card should prevent him from gaining too much on me. And by moving into another hex row, he’ll have to match my turns to use his own bow chasers, or hope to catch a break and work his way close enough to fire another broadside.

Dorrego Turn 4

We’ve had something of a lull in our demo game of the USC Duel between the Buenos Aires corsair Gobernador Dorrego and the pursuing Brazilians Bertioga and Caboclo.

Real life sometimes doesn’t allow much time for games, but I can share some of the game’s progress with you all:

In the chase scenarios, such as this one, timing of initiative is crucial. If one side or the other can move second on one turn, then first on the next turn, they can really open up or rapidly close the distance.

Here, Chris has played a relatively low value card, Critical hit to gain a “back to back” activation and get close to my ship.

Critical Hit and Expert Topmen Event Cards

He then threw down an Expert Topmen event, which allows him to drop full sails so that he can fire without the negative effects of the ship’s heeling due to all of that canvas aloft. chris very cleverly realized that he can raise full sails again at the conclusion of his move and not lose too much distance on the fleeing Dorrego.

This is a crucial point in the game: if he can inflict just one more Rigging hit, he will slow my ship by a precious 1MP and slowly start reeling in the Argentine privateer…

Dorrego Turn 8

Chris’s shot at Dorrego was particularly effective, scoring 3(!) rigging hots and slowing my beleaguered heroes and getting close to the damage threshold (6 R hits) that will make full sails impossible for me to use. Will the Gobernador Dorrego escape? Or will history repeat itself and the infamous privateer be catured? Stay tuned…

Author: Steven Paul