Editing Black Seas (section)

==Ship Mechanics==
[[image:BSNST.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|Yes, you're looking at ''four'' fucking gundecks. By the time the Spaniards got done hollowing out more of the ship and installing [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Orks(8E)|more guns]] in 1802, the ''Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad'', also known simply as ''La Real'', had [[dakka|140 guns on her ranging from 8 to 36 pounds in shot weight, making her the most heavily armed ship in the Age of Sail ever put to sea.]]]]
Ships are condensed into five main subgroups. In ascending order of size:
# Tiny: sloops, cutters, gun yawls, things that you can sink by driving your car or moped into it at relatively low speeds. 
# Small: Brigs, schooners, small galleys, xebecs, basically the boats you wouldn't want to be on if anything heavier than a watermelon gets thrown your way. 
# Medium: Frigates, smaller merchant ships, and built-up ships like oversized galleys. These are the backbone of most fleets, as they're capable of both dishing and taking respectable punishment while also maintaining maneuverability. 
# Large: 3rd Rates, US Navy "super frigates" from the late 18th century, and other things that compensate for lacking manhood. 
# Extra Large: The only examples of these are the real thing. First Rate ships like the ''HMS Victory'', ''L'Orient'', or even ''Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad'' fit in this category. As is befitting their obscene excess, these ships are prohibitively expensive and bringing even *one* can eat anywhere from a quarter to half of your budget, depending on the agreed point ceiling.

===[[dakka|Guns]]===
Where would we be without guns for which to shoot each other? ''Black Seas'' condenses all the various types of naval artillery into four main categories: Heavy cannon, Light cannon, Carronades, and Mortars (which technically also apply to rockets, so fuck them and their individuality). 

Heavy cannon are your traditional long-range middle fingers. They shoot the farthest, and deal good damage, but are expensive. Light cannons are the same thing but smaller, with the bonus of being cheaper. Mortars are guns which allow you to fire at an enemy you cannot exactly see or draw a clear shot to, however they are wildly inaccurate and unpredictable, leaving potential for scattering your shot elsewhere. 

====A side bar on what in the fuck is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carronade carronade]====
Expand this if you don't know what a carronade is. Otherwise, carry on. 
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Back in 1759, an enterprising Scotsman with a hankerin' for innovating new ways of blowing [[the French|people]] up noticed an [[Capitalism|unmet need in the market]] for a polite way of telling people trying to <S>[[Blood Ravens|requisition]]</s> steal the shit in your boat to fuck off.[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Melvill| Robert Melvill]] met with his associates at the Carron Company, located in Falkirk, Scotland, to find a solution. 
[[image:carronade.jpeg|carronade.jpeg|350px|right|thumb|I guarantee you, your hearing will be gone if this thing goes off and you are anywhere within ten feet of it.]]
Y'see, the crew of merchant vessels weren't exactly familiar hands with naval artillery. This left ships carrying shipping in a precarious position of unpreparedness in the event of piracy. To be fair, piracy as we would think it didn't really exist by this point as most European nations had engaged in a Letter of Marque scheme, but that's not the point. 

Melvill and Co. reasoned that most encounters that might require a merchant crew to fire a gun in self-defense would involve a ship of similar speed to the merchant ship itself, having been built to travel from port-to-port as swiftly as possible. Thus, most engagements were at close range. Their solution was simple, [[Mork|brutal]], and [[Gork|innovative]]. Enter the carronade. 

Coming in at half, if not less than the size of a traditional long gun, the carronade combined the firepower of heavy artillery with [[Lasgun|simplicity any civilian could use in a life-or-death situation]]. Furthermore, its compact shape meant it used less precious cargo space which was needed for the shipping of goods. In practice, the weapon traded range and velocity for firepower and powder efficiency; less need for range meant less of a charge. This was a non-issue for the weapon's intended purpose, and it soon caught on with the British merchant marine, and subsequently, the British Navy. The weapon fired shot well above most other traditional guns, typically in either 32 or 68 pounds, compared to what was regarded as heavy cannon firing 32 pound shot. Seeing the value of using a lightweight gun that needed minimal crewing as a sledgehammer for when opponents came too close, the Brits made it a point to equip numerous rated Ships-of-the-Line with carronades. Hell, they liked it so much they equipped the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glatton_(1795) HMS Glatton]]'' with 56 of them exclusively; 28x32lbers and 28x68lbers. Some accounts of the Battle of Trafalgar (where both the ''HMS Victory'' and the ''HMS Glatton'' were present) claimed that [[anal circumference|a single broadside from the ''Glatton'' exceeded the destructive potential of one from the ''Victory''.]]

In sum, the carronade was the practical child of when necessity meets innovation. It was a civilian weapon noticed by the Royal Navy who then scaled it to their own need as a point-blank knock-out punch. Getting close to a ship armed with carronades is generally considered bad for your health. 
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===Ammunition=== 
There's about half a dozen different projectiles you can throw at your target. 
'''Solid Shot:''' 90% of what you blast at your enemy will be this. Your bog-standard chunk of rounded iron intended to pulverize whatever is in front of it.

'''Chain Shot:''' A frenchman's best friend. Lets you roll twice on the Aiming High critical table and pick which one you want (assuming you proc a crit roll). Also only makes it a -1 to aim high, unless you're French (see below).
* As you might have guessed, this is used for destroying sails and masts.  

'''Double Shot:''' Lowers the range of all guns loaded with this to 8" but holy shit, will it put a smile on your face. Despite imparting a further -1 to hit, all successful shots do ''double'' damage but can't proc crits. If point black, this becomes ''tripled''. If raking the stern and point blank, it gets ''fucking quadrupled''. 
* Load this on a First Rate with Overgunned (see the Spain section) when the enemy gets close and watch as they call the First Mate for their brown pants. 

'''Heated Shot:''' For some reason when you shoot this, your carronades cease to function. However, if ''any'' critical damage is inflicted then the target is on fire ''and'' gets whatever effect you've rolled on the crit table for. Hilariously, if you roll a 10 to hit when shooting this, your gunner spontaneously develops butterfingers and drops it, setting YOU on fire. 

'''Grape Shot:''' All guns with this in the barrel have at most a 3" range, however you don't get point blank. But, it does 4 damage flat as it blows up the crew. Add a further +2 to the to hit of the ship's ''first'' boarding action of that turn.

===Ship Profiles===
While ship size and the guns they sport are crucial to determining the imprint of a ship upon a battle, there are 10 different pieces of information given in more than a dozen ship profiles, from First Rates to Fireships; 
* Ship Type: You've seen this before
* Size: Also, seen before
* Broadsides: Details how many and what type of gun are available in the broadside firing arc. First Rates obviously have the most, featuring 4H-3L-3C. 
* Stern: How many guns you have poking out of your ass. First Rates have a 1H looking at anyone behind it. 
* Bow: Your chasers. Useful for poking and sniping masts on tricksy frigates and brigs. First Rates get 2H. 
* Ship Points: Hit Points. For context, a First Rate has 104 while a Frigate (5th Rate) has 36. 
* Turn Angle: As noted earlier, determines red or blue angle on a gauge provided in the starter box. 
* Rate of Knots: Speed in inches per movement. 
* Break Value: If your vessel's ship points reach this number, you must start taking skill checks to see if it will surrender. You *can* repair your way out of it, but you're going to take a skill check every turn until you do. 
* Points: Ship point cost per your list budget.

===Upgrades===
Ships can be fitted with tons of different upgrades to enhance performance in certain areas, from gun accuracy to potency in boarding actions. For a price. I'll probably get around to discussing them here eventually, but I'm really not exaggerating when I say there's an upgrade for basically everything.