The Lone Wolf

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A very long story as to how the Lone Wolf came about will eventually be here...

CLASSIFICATION

Lone Wolfs are made from Imperial Wolfships that have been captured and have been converted by the pirates. The Lone Wolf, unlike a Wolfship is considered a Man O' War and follows all the normal rules that apply to MOW's in general. Lone Wolf's are unique in that each one has been modified differently to suit the personality of it's captain.

MAN O' WAR CARDS

Each Lone Wolf receives a FREE MOW card to represent the uniqueness of it's Captain, and this card is placed on the Lone Wolf's template. This free card is drawn from from the MOW deck in one of two ways. Decide which method to use before picking the card. The first is to pick the card normally. If you don't like the first card you may set it aside and pick again. You MUST keep the second card however.

The second method is to divide the MOW card deck into it's 4 categories (Gun, Hull, Crew, Special) and then you pick ONE card from whatever category you want and you must keep it. Both methods allow the Captain some control over what type of ship he ends up with, just be sure you decide on a method before picking any cards.

Additional MOW cards may be purchased normally. Ignore the free MOW card when figuring the limits on each type of card. For example, normally you may only have "Hull" card. If the free card was a "Hull Card, you can still have another from a random purchase. Only one such duplication is allowed. All other rules for MOW cards apply to the Lone Wolf. When used in a campaign, the free card must be kept from game to game, but any others may be traded back and a new card(s) drawn. ALL purchased cards must be returned as a group however and you'd get an equal number back. This prevents a player from keeping the best cards and building a "super" ship.

FLEET RESTRICTIONS

You may have one Wargalley Squadron for each Lone Wolf in your fleet. You may field up to three Lone Wolfs before you are required to have any Wargalleys. After you then buy a Wargalley squadron, you may have another Lone Wolf and so on, alternating between them after the initial 3 Lone Wolfs. The maximum number of Lone Wolfs you may have in a given fleet is 6, as that is how many have been captured from the Empire up to this time. Of course, you may write your own scenario where others are captured on a daring midnight raid or something.

ADMIRALS AND CAPTAINS

There are no Admirals in a Pirate fleet, as they are very independent individuals for the most part. Because of this you may not add one to your boarding roll for an Admiral (you don't have one!). However, Lone Wolf Captains can affect how well their respective crew perform in boarding actions as well. Captains represent individual characters in the game, and Pirate players need to roll on the following chart at the beginning of the game to see how strong their Captain or Captains are. Captains can take up to 4 wounds during a game. The Captain counter itself is worth one wound and you may get up to three more from the roll on the table below. These wounds are not the same as wounds to beasts or sea monsters. They represent small flesh wounds from swordplay in a boarding action, not from cannon fire or other attacks.

At the beginning of the game, roll once on the chart below for each Captain you have. The result will be the number of additional "flesh wound" counters to place on each Captain's counter.

Captain's Strength Chart
Roll Result
1 Captain gets no additional Flesh Wound counters.
2-3 Add 1 Flesh Wound counter to the Captain's Counter for a total of 2 Flesh Wounds.
4-5 Add 2 Flesh Wound counters to the Captain's Counter for a total of 3 Flesh Wounds.
6 Add 3 Flesh Wound counters to the Captain's Counter for a total of 4 Flesh Wounds.

Remember these are added to the Captain's counter itself (which is also worth 1 Flesh wound). There is a Captain's counter showing the various extra wounds he gets for each of the results above. The Captain's Counter is ALWAYS worth a single wound regardless of the number of wounds it shows it should have on top of it. This number is only meant as a reminder.

The Captain is treated just like a Wizard or Admiral when the ship is captured or sunk. Place the Captain's counter in the wreckage or aboard the capturing ship. The Captain may cling to wreckage and debris like the other characters can. If kept as prisoner aboard an enemy vessel, he his worth double Battle Honors (4) - if retained for the rest of the game. He may be set free from subsequent boarding actions and once the enemy decides to keep him prisoner, they may not kill him later in the game to prevent him being freed.

As long as he is alive, the Captain can contribute greatly to the success of a boarding action. To represent his influence on his crew's morale and bravery, roll once per round (every time you are supposed to make a boarding roll) on the following table whenever his ship is involved in a boarding action.

Captain's Boarding Action Chart
Roll Result
1 DISASTER! The Captain has been wounded! The men are demoralized. Add 1 to your opponents boarding roll and remove one wound from the Captain.
2 The fighting is too intense for the Captain to make a difference.
3 The Captain taunts the enemy crew and insults their Captain. Your men's spirits are lifted. Add 1 to your boarding action die roll.
4 The Captain is in the fray! Add 2 to your boarding action die roll..
5 The Captain grabs a rope, swings across to the enemy ship and knocks their captain into the sea! Your men cheer wildy and you may add 3 to your boarding action die roll.
6 The enemy Captain is wounded by your Captain's sword. You may add 3 to you die roll. You may also either force the enemy to re-roll their boarding action die roll OR re-roll yours (still at +3).

Remove one Flesh Wound counter every time a 1 is rolled on the chart above. If you have none left, the Captain has been killed. Remove his counter from the Lone Wolf template.

BATTLE HONORS

A Captain is worth 2 Battle Honors and like an Admiral, is not counted as a crew counter in boarding actions. When the Lone Wolf is captured in a boarding action, the enemy player may want to keep the Captain prisoner as he is worth DOUBLE Battle Honors for a total of 4. Once this decision is made, it may not be changed. As a prisoner, the Captain may not later be "killed" to prevent his fellow Pirates from freeing him.

MOVEMENT

The Lone Wolf has the same movement rates as the Imperial Wolfship. They are as follows: It may move up to 4" if moving by Oars or up to 6" if no turns are made. If moving by sail, the Lone Wolf may move 6" if the abeam, or up to 9" if the wind is astern. It may also reverse up to 2", turn in place 90 degrees for 1/2 it's move, or turn up to 180 degrees for it's full move.

Movement Summary
OARS: 4"(6" - No Turns) SAILS: 6"(9" - Wind Astern)
2" ReverseN/A
Turning in place: 90 degrees - 1/2 moveN/A
180 degrees - Full MoveN/A

COMBAT

All combat is resolved the same as it is for a Wolfship with the exception that a Lone WOlf has a 2 die Broadside attack. Resolve ram attacks normally but remember to roll on the Captain's Boarding Action Chart each round of boarding (before ALL boarding rolls).

POINT COST

A Lone Wolf costs 150 points and is worth 4 Battle Honors. The Captain's counter is free and is worth 2 Battle Honors if killed or goes down with the ship, 4 Battle Honors if captured in a boarding action.

DESIGNER NOTES

In the rush to get these online, you'll have to wait until I can update this page...