The Mechanics of Combat in PATE
In PATE, players represent squadron and fleet commanders (admirals)
rather than the captains of individuals ships. Therefore, they make
decisions about the tactics of the fleet, but do not control
individual ship movements. (This is necessary to allow the battles
to resolve in one turn). During a PATE battle, players must make six
decisions; whether to initiate, accept, or evade battle, whether to
fight at range or at close quarters, whether to aim at enemy rigging
or hulls, whether to maintain line ahead or attempt to break the
enemy's line, and whether to break off battle and, if they are in
coastal waters, whether to run to harbor or to open sea. Based on
those decisions, combat occurs, the loser must flee, and ships are
damaged or sunk, This document explains the mechanics of PATE combat
and how the orders players send affect what happens in a naval
battle.
Joining battle
At the start of the battle, ships have the chance to initiate
battle, accept battle, or evade it. No battle occurs unless at least
one ship selects "Engage" or "Run Past" for its combat order to
bring on battle. In harbors and coastal waters with onshore wins,
any ship can engage any other ship. In sea areas and in coastal
waters not with onshore winds, a frigate cannot engage an enemy ship
of the line, nor an enemy transport group if there is a ship of the
line allied to the transport group present. If any ship does engage
another, then PATE determines which ships, if any, fight in the
battle. There are three special situations for evasion:
- In a battle between frigates, if only one side has SOLs
present, the frigates of that side can take shelter among their
SOLs, neither fighting nor leaving the area.
- In a battle between frigates with transports present, if one
side has more than twice as many frigates as the other, the
transports on the smaller side cannot evade at all.
- In a battle in a harbor, evasion is not possible.
If none of the special cases apply, then evasion is determined as
follows. Ship with "Evade" selected for its combat option attempt to
evade; ships with "Accept","Engage", or "Run Past" selected do not.
- If one side entirely wants to evade and the other side has at
least one ship that wishes to fight, then tthe evading ships
attempt to evade as a group; either all will evade, or none
will. The chance depends on whether the evaders are to windward
or to leeward. The chance of evasion is much higher if they are
to leeward, unless the battle is coastal waters of a port and
winds are onshore, in which case the chance is low. It also
depends on ship quality and on winds (evasion is more likely in
light winds).
- If at least one ship on both sides is fighting, then there are
individual rolls for each ship trying to flee. If the number of
ships fighting on the side of an evading ship is at least half
the number fighting on the other side, then evasion is
automatic. Otherwise, the chance of evasion is determined as
above.
Determining battle positions
Once the ships that will fight are decided, PATE then determines the
range at which the battle will occur,which side will be to windward,
and whether ships will fight in lines, or lines will be broken.
Battles in harbors are always at close quarters. Otherwise, if all
ships want to fight at range or at close quarters, then it is done.
If all ships on one side want to fight at range and some or all on
the other side want to fight at close quarters, then those wishing
to close may try. The chance is high if the closing ships have
windward gauge and low if they have leeward gauge, and also depends
on ship quality. If both sides have at least one ship trying to
close, then if a side has at least half as many ships closing as the
opponents, then its ships fighting at range do so automatically,
otherwise the opponents have the above chance to close with the
ships fighting at range in addition to those fighting at close
quarters.
In most battles, the ships are in two groups, one to windward and
one to leeward, in which case the group to windward fights from
windward. In some cases, groups of ships are in a variety of
positions from windward to leeward. For example, if two groups of
French ships and two groups of British ships all arrive at a port,
it may be that a British group is furthest to windward, a French
group next furthest, the second British group next, and the second
French group furthest to leeward. In such a case, whichever side has
the group furthest to leeward is the one that fights from leeward,
and the other side fights from windward.
Once range and wind position are established, ships at close
quarters which want to break the enemy line may do so as long as
each side has at least three ships at close quarters. If all ships
on both sides are trying to break the line, then the battle becomes
a general melee and no adjustments occur. If not, then each side
that has at least three ships trying to break the line gets a chance
to do so. If they succeed, the combat power of the ships breaking
the enemy line is increased 50%; if they fail, their combat power is
decreased 50%.
Battle outcomes
Once the tactical situation is established, we calculate total
strength on both sides. Ship strength is determined by:
135 for FL, 100 for SL, 25 for FR, 0 for TR
If crew is below 70%, reduce strength by 2.5% for each 1% below,
falling to 0 at 30% crew
If at close quarters, add 5 for each 100 Marines
Quality modifier: -30% for Very Poor to +30% for Excellent, doubled
at close quarters
Experience modifier: Bonus is square root(experience)/10 + 0.9 at
range, doubled at close quarters (that is, square root(experience)/5
+ 0.8). Examples: 0 = -10%, 1 = 0%, 4=+10%, 9=+20%, 16=+30%,
25=+40%, 36=+50%, and doubled at close quarters
+10% for aiming hull, +10% for windward, -10% for closing
Pre-existing hull damage: -10% for 1 point, -20% for 2 points, -40%
for 3 points, -60% for 4 points
Pre-existing rigging damage: -5% for 1 point, -10% for 2 points,
-20% for 3 points, -40% for 4 points, -60% for 5 points
+33% if breaking the line has succeeded, -25% if it has failed
Run Past orders: -66.7%
Shore batteries are worth 100 times the port's defense rating if
intact, half that amount if damaged, with no further modifications.
Shore batteries direct half of their fire at hulls, and half of it
at rigging. The side with the greater total strength is more likely
to win, but is not guaranteed to win.
The amount of damage and crew loss depends on the total strength of
both sides and the fraction of ships at close quarters (more damage
likely in close quarters battles). The chance of a ship being
captured depends on how much damage it has taken, with rigging
damage counting more than hull damage, the amount of rigging damage
the opposing fleet has taken, whether it has Run Past orders, and on
whether the battle was fought at close quarters.
Page maintained by Stephen Schmidt. Last updated 12/25/18.