[Création] Nouvelle flotte - Flotte Tiléenne, le retour

[XAW]

J'aime beaucoup cette création, surtout que la figurine peut avoir beaucoup de gueule (un cuirassé nain avec des ma^ts en virant une partie des superstructures?). De plus, c'est très puissant mais assez fragile au niveau de l'équipage et de la magie.

[Dreadaxe]

Il y a 3 heures, XAW a dit :

J'aime beaucoup cette création, surtout que la figurine peut avoir beaucoup de gueule (un cuirassé nain avec des ma^ts en virant une partie des superstructures?). De plus, c'est très puissant mais assez fragile au niveau de l'équipage et de la magie.

 

La vision de Victor est un peut différente avec une base de galère Pirate Mighty Empires. J'ai hacké la photo pour toi ^^ regarde le message d'origine .

[nopeace]

Je trouve aussi cette création très convaincante, ça donne envie de se faire une fig. Celle du créateur initial est tout à fait chouette ! 

À tester ! 

[Dreadaxe]

Mon opinion

Les +

• Respect du background, on part bien d'un navire humain sur lequel on rajoute des bonus de nains
• Le fait que j'ai de quoi faire la figurine facilement
• La figurine, conversion plus ou moins facile avec ajout de la roue à aube, coupé les rames, allonger avec la tête de proue style figure naine.
• Bateau Merco à la manière des Renégats de Schmitz
• J'aime beaucoup les honneurs particuliers pour la capture de trésor dans la même veine que les Renégats de Schmitz

 

Les -

• Bâtiment ou Indépendant. Si c'est un indépendant voir un amiral et possibiliét d'antiaérien et le rappel comme quoi pas de Rune et d'Invention me fait bizarre.
• Antiaérien en option alors que ce n'est pas un bâtiment ?! Pour moi il faut le mettre "gratis" dessus ça peut d'ailleurs représenter quand Malakai et sa faucheuse de Gobelin l'accompagne.
• Long Drong avec des règles d’amiral ça me fait bizarre. Est-ce que ça veut dire qu'il donne 6 HB en cas de capture/tué ?

Modifié le 7 avril 2018 par Dreadaxe

[Dreadaxe]

Le 05/04/2018 à 14:11, Dreadaxe a dit :

Le 28/08/2017 à 23:55, Sebwalker a dit :

Citation

La Belle Fregar n'est pas un Monitor, c'est un navire humain customisé par les Nains de Long Drong.

http://whfb-fr.lexicanum.com/wiki/Pirates_Tueurs_de_Long_Drong_Silver

 

Sur le lien il est noté : Son premier acte de piraterie fut de raser la forteresse du redoutable pirate capitano Sisico et de s'emparer de son trésor ainsi que de son navire. Avec le magot, Long Drong engagea des ouvriers pour rebâtir le frêle navire en quelque chose dont un nain pourrait être fier et pour cela le métal ne fut pas épargné!

 

On peut donc imaginer que long drong a recouvert le bois de plaque de métal ( ce qu'on fait les sudistes pendant la guerre de sécession ), ajouter un chaufferie etc, transformant la galère en une sorte de monitor. Après il n'ont peut être pas ajouter la tourelle.

 

Ensuite ajouter un galère en indépendant à la flotte ne lui apportera rien je pense, donc même si d'un point de vue Background c'est pas tout a fait juste. D'un point de vue jeu cela me semble plus interessant.

 

De l'eau au moulin. Voilà ce que Victor sur TheSeaofClaw propose

 

Citation

Long Drong Slayer's Ship

The Fair Fregar

 

Long Drong, who as his name suggested was a rather tall Dwarf and claimed a dubious line of descent from Drong the Hard, legendary Dwarf ancestor know from many sagas, began his career as a Dwarf seafarer in Barak Varr. He worked his way up from cabin Dwarf to captain of the Dwarf trading ship The Barrel of Ale which brought fine Dwarf brews by sea to far away colonies. That was until one terrible voyage around the coast of Sartosa. A storm blew up, the worst for a hundred years, and the ship foundered on the treacherous rocks. Although the crew was washed up on the shore, the entire cargo of rare Dwarf ales was lost.

This disaster was something no Dwarf could bear, and no self-respecting Dwarf captain would wish to survive. Long Drong knew his career as a Dwarf trader was over. He resolved to become a Slayer on the seven seas and to seek a heroic end worthy of a saga. His crew, who were just as shamed by the loss of the cargo as their captain, followed his example and swore upon their ancestors to lead a life of roving Sea Slayers until a worthy death ended their shame and redeemed them in legend.

Having thus sworn, Long Drong, now known as Long Drong Slayer, trekked inland to his destiny, which was to become the most notorious pirate ever to lurk on Sartosa. His first act was to storm the stronghold of the dreaded pirate Capitano Sisicco and capture his ship and treasure stash. With the latter, Long Drong hired Dwarf craftsmen to rebuild the flimsy vessel into something a Dwarf could proud of, not sparing the iron! He also hired Dwarf smiths to forge cannons for the vessel, which Long Drong named the Fair Fregar after a famous Dwarf maiden of Barak Varr, rumoured to be very beautiful. The crew carved a figurehead representing her. Unfortunately, neither Long Drong nor any of his crew had ever seen a real life Dwarf maiden, so they had to rely on their imagination and hearsay. The result, parts of which were shod in brass, made an awesome ram on the prow of the ship!

The prisoners, now chained in Long Drong's dungeons, freed in return for telling him all they knew about buried treasure and handing over any maps they had. Long Drong learned that the key to success was often the possession of a pay chest full of gold with which to hire a mercenary army and hold chest it together under your command. Many such pay chests had been lost in battles and there were mercenary generals willing to pay handsomely for their return, even double the value of any thing in the chest, or a great fortune for the empty chest alone. This is because recovery of a lost pay chest is a matter of pride among mercenary generals, who regard such chests in the same way as other races do their army standards!

So Long Drong let it be known that, being a seafaring Dwarf, he could seek out and rescue a lost pay chest wherever it may be in the known world and return it to its rightful owner. All he asked as to keep any treasure that he might find in it, plus a reword in gold equal to as much as the chest would hold! By the standards of mercenary generals tis was but a small price to pay for the restoration of honour and respect, and soon offers to hire his services came flowing in by swift messengers.

 

Thus the Fair Fregar voyaged to many distant lands; Araby, Lustria, Albion, and many uncharted islands and brought back various pay chests, which may or may not have been genuine. In doing so Long Drong raided the treasure hoards of many notorious pirates and corsairs and made countless enemies determined to get their revenge on him. A price was on his head; everyone sought to accomplish his doom. What more could a seafaring Slayer ask for! His only friends turned out to be those mercenary generals for whom he had restored honour, and these soon began to hire Long Drong and his pirates crew to fight as a regiment in their armies. Their task, needless to say, was to seek out and capture the enemy pay chest on the battlefield. Only reckless Dwarf Sea Slayers, seeking a heroic end would take on or succeed in such a task. As yet Long Drong has still not met his doom!

 

Motto: Lost Pay Chest recovery our specialty.

Battle-cry: Fifteen Dwarfs and a dead Dwarf's chest, yo ho ho and a flagon of ale...

 

 

Fluff text © by Games Workshop, from Regiments of Renown.

Rules By Victor García.

 

 

https://groups.io/g/TheSeaofClaws/photo/7267/1?p=Name,,,100,1,0,0

 

 

RULES

Class: The Fair Fregar is an Independent ship.

Magic: If the Fair Fregar is targeted by an enemy spell, the player may use the dwarf resistance to magic instead of normal dispelling. (6+ to dispel).

Movement: As part of the modifications, the oar deck was removed, a steam engine installed, as well as a second mast. The Fair Fregar can move under steam power or sail. Steam power uses the normal dwarf movement (6" forward, 3" backwards, 90 degree turning on the spot uses up half the move). Sail uses normal MOW rules (6" normally, 8" with wind behind).

Ramming: The Fair Fregar figurehead is an awesome ram. Must move at least 3" forward under steam in straight line. If contact is made, must make one random low area save (normal damage if failed) and one bellow the waterline save.

If the bellow the waterline save fails, roll a dice.

1-2 1 point of below the waterline damage.

3-4 2 points of below the waterline damage.

5-6 3 points of below the waterline damage.

Weapons: 1 cannon firing ahead, 2 cannon broadside.

Crew: Long Drong Slayer (+1 in combat as an admiral) and 2 Sea Slayer counters (+1 for each crew and +1D3 for being slayers).

Engineers: The old Barrel of Ale had Engineers on board when it floundered, and they too followed their captain. Use normal Dwarf Engineers rules. (5+ to repair one location during End Phase.)

For Hire: Any fleet, except Pirates, Chaos, Chaos Dwarfs, Skaven, Elves and Orcs; may hire the Fair Fregar. If several players wish to field the Fair Fregar, roll a die to see who will keep her.

Cost: 150 points, 4 Battle Honours.

Equipment: an Anti Flyer Gatling Cannon may be bought for the Fair Fregar (25 points). No MOW cards, no Master Engineers, no Runes cards, no armor counters (the ship is already customised).

Battles and Scenarios: Whenever Long Drong's Slayer crew take a treasure chest counter, only 1 Battle Honour is awarded for it to the player, as Long Drong takes his share!

If a Pirate fleet fights a battle against a fleet including Long Drong Slayer's ship, the Pirate player earns double Battle Honours for sinking or capturing the Fair Fregar.

 

 

La carte refaite avec GSlide… Plus qu'à traduire

 

[pOp]

J'ai relu le doc, si tu me donnes l'accès, je te le corrige en ligne.

 

Sinon je peux t'envoyer un doc corrigé par mail.

 

Et j'ai une proposition de création à soumettre pour l'Albatork également. :-)

[Dreadaxe]

Il y a 5 heures, pOp a dit :

J'ai relu le doc, si tu me donnes l'accès, je te le corrige en ligne. 

Sinon je peux t'envoyer un doc corrigé par mail. 

 

@Sebwalker ?

Citation

J’espère que ça vous plaira, si vous remarquer des fautes d’orthographes ( et il y en a plein, ou de avis ou modification a apporté me contacter en MP sur http://www.warhammer-forum.com

 

Il y a 5 heures, pOp a dit :

Et j'ai une proposition de création à soumettre pour l'Albatork également. :-) 

 

L'Arkadia d'Albatork le Korssair de la Waaagh

 

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_(vaisseau)#Le_nom_français

Citation

 

Le nom français

Dans Albator, le corsaire de l'espace et Albator 84, les premières séries animées, le vaisseau porte le nom d’Atlantis. Dans des versions plus récentes, il porte le nom d’Arcadia. Deux noms faisant référence à la mythologie : l'Atlantide et l'Arcadie.

 

 

Modifié le 19 mars 2019 par Dreadaxe

[Sebwalker]

@pOp donne moi ton mail par mp, je t envoie ça.

Modifié le 1 avril 2019 par Sebwalker

[Dreadaxe]

Un peu de fluff

 

Citation

The Tilean Fleet
Tileans are renowned as some of the greatest sailors in the Old World. A great fleet of merchant ships ply the trade routes between Tilea and the Old World’s great ports, such as Marienburg, Erengrad and L’Anguille. In addition, Tilean ships frequently trade with Barak Varr, Copher and even Lothern. The Tileans’ reputation as explorers extends beyond overland routes, like the Silk Road to Ind and Cathay; Tilean captains have also opened up sea routes to Lustria and founded the town of Nuevo Luccini, on the Cactus Coast. Nuevo Luccini is a thriving Tilean trading port, complete with a temple of Luccan. Many merchants and taverns have set up shop here, making a living from those who wish to explore and exploit the jungle. Alongside Tilean merchants are the galleys maintained by the city states, these patrol the coastal waters off Tilea and are often crewed by criminals sentenced to the oars for their crimes.

 

Citation

[…] Wine and olive oil are pro-duced in such quantities that a number of merchant families in the port cities of Remas and Luccini have entire fleets dedicat-ed to exporting them. […]

 

Citation

Era of the Araby Wars (Circa 1240 to 1492 IC)
The 13th century saw the beginning of hostilities between the Old World and Araby. After the Arabyan Corsairs had aided the Tileans in regaining Sartosa, they had decided to take control of the island for themselves. The Corsairs were taken by surprise, however, when the city-states presented a united front against their aggression. The mainland was defended by an alliance of city-states, but because Tilea lacked any real sea power, the island of Sartosa remained in the hands of the Corsairs.

The city-states realised that Tilea needed to be represented by a strong naval force, so each city encouraged its merchants to raise money for the building of ships. The new Tilean fleets would be used both for profiteering and defence.[…]

 

Citation

Luccini is the largest port in the south of Tilea, making it a major trading hub with plenty of exports. Luccini’s merchants have access to the crops of the south, olive oil from the plains, wood from the Sussurrio forest and fine goods from the other southern cities. Additionally, Luccini dominates the trade of exotic goods from far Lustria and the Thousand Islas thanks to its sizeable fleet of galleys and willingness to hire privateers. Luccini imports an enormous amount of food for the hordes of pilgrims that frequently swell its population to bursting point.

 

Citation

2. Dock Ward

The Dock Ward of Luccini is packed with warehouses, of-fices and shops covering fourteen acres around the mouth of the River Trevere as it makes its way into the Sea of Tilea. The buildings are clustered around a series of great piazzas where Luccini’s guildsmen trade their goods with merchants and re-cruit men to crew their ships. Interspersed with the other build-ings are many watermills that drive Luccini’s industry, power-ing machines that produce textiles, paper and metal goods.

Many foreigners dwell within the Dock Ward, including mer-chants looking for trade opportunities and mercenaries seeking employment. Exclusive inns such as the famous “Black Pearl of the Two Seas” and the “Sorcerer’s Head” line the market piazzas. These dockside inns cater almost exclusively to the rich foreign merchants who come to buy and sell wares. The docks are also home to Luccini’s fine fleet of Wargalleys, which is the envy of other Tilean ports. Luccini has a long tradition of seafaring, and officers and crew of the Luccini Navy are commonly seen around the district.

The current rumour around the dockside piazzas is that Prince Lorenzo Lupo’s youngest son Giordano Paolo Lupo has run away to join a band of cutthroats and mercenaries.

 

Citation

 

Ventimiglia

The forbidding basalt walls of the Bastion of Ventimiglia overshadow the town and harbour that nestle in the cliffs below. Situated on the southern coast, this fortress was built as one of many bulwarks against roving fleets sailing across the Pirate’s Current from Sartosa.

Although the cannons and ballista of the fortress make a forbidding sight, the town has historically created more pirates than it’s prevented. The most notable Ventimiglian pirate was the ‘Black Corsair’, a notorious gentleman-pirate who sav-aged Tilean shipping for many years before eventually being revealed as the Conte of Ventimiglia himself.

Even today, the twisting cobbled alleyways of Ventimiglia harbour many smugglers and pirates, earning the town a reputa-tion as a hive of villainy and scum. The current Count Ignacio Finetti, although not predisposed to piracy himself, does little to impose law on the populace. As long as exotic goods continue flowing through his port, he takes little interest in how and where they were acquired.

 

 

Citation

The Great Bridge

The bay of Remas is too shallow for even the nimble Elven catamarans to dock near the city proper. To compensate, a huge circular harbour was excavated in the bay so the great trading ships could dock. The harbour itself is in a poor state of repair because the ancient Elven stonework has resisted Tilean mortar. Colossal slabs of masonry lie scattered in the bay of Remas posing a navigation hazard to shipping. The mighty galleys of Remas’ fleet use these obstacles to tactical advantage, training in defence techniques that would force hostile ships onto the submersed masonry.

Connecting the harbour to the city itself is the Great Bridge, an ancient and titanic Elven construction so wide that the citizens of Remas have lined it with soaring towers, fine houses and palaces. Integrating human structures with the existing Elven stonework posed the challenge of ensuring that building foundations were stable. Many of the residences lining the Great Bridge are four or five stories high and lean at precarious angles.

The Great Bridge is one of the liveliest parts of Remas. The lower stories of its buildings are often taken up with shops or cafés serving fine wine or exotic Arabyan coffee. Market stalls and wandering peddlers take up every inch of available roadside space. Several private clubs are home to consortiums of likeminded individuals such as rich students, merchants and members of minor or forbidden cults.

 

Citation

Urbino
Urbino is a prosperous fishing town and waypoint for caravans heading towards Bretonnia and the Empire. Urbino is also a free city, administered by the town’s guilds with no obligations to Remas. As a result, the town has become a fierce political battleground between the Reman and Miragliano city-states, each of which has infiltrated the town council in an attempt to control local trade and anchorage rights. Most councillors in Urbino are involved in the bickering and any measures put before the council are usually used to increase the influence of one city state or the other.

At the moment Urbino is home to the Miragliano naval fleet which managed to escape the destruction of its city relatively intact. Around a thousand refugees from Miragliano are currently sheltered in temporary quarters outside the city under the guidance of Signor Alonzo Allbergo – a prominent member of the city’s Signori.

 

Citation

The Forests

Tilea’s forests are drier and sunnier than those of the northern Old World and, without an Elven population or many monsters, they are considerably less fearsome or mysterious. . The earthiness of the forest-dwellers means that their vendettas are overt and bloody. In the backwoods many revenges that would be kept private in the city (burying one’s foe alive, for instance), are very public affairs. A significant number of Strigany clans also inhabit the forests and this occasionally leads to conflict with native Tileans who object to what they see as foreigners’ encroachment onto their ancestral lands.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the forests are slowly disappearing. Tilea’s seafaring culture supports a thriv-ing shipbuilding industry, which happily caters to princes’ desire to one-up their peers or awe their rivals by amassing the largest fleet or commissioning the most impressive vessels. Naval rivalry, in particular, has intensified recently, and galleys are frequently replaced. As a result, over time, hundreds of square miles of woodland have been cleared and the forests of Tilea have shrunk to the extent that they have become a valuable re-source, prized by every city-state with pretensions to greatness.

 

Sources : WFRP2 Spear of the Maiden. Supplément non-officiel pour le jdr.

Modifié le 28 août 2019 par Dreadaxe

[Dreadaxe]

Sujet sur le navire de renom, l'Arkadia de Albatork

 

[Dreadaxe]

Fluff and propositions for the various city states by the original author  Schnatter Gaenschen

 

Citation

 

Galleys of the citystates

While the merchant fleets of Tilea usually are made up of sailing ships the warships are still powered by oars.

Even before the invention of cannons tilean galleys have successfully fought on the seas of the old world to protect the coasts of their homecountry and in the service of various states of the Empire.

The days of such (lucrative) military aid are now over though as the Empire soon started to copy the Tilean design to build up it’s own fleet.

They only replaced the small tilean cannons with less but bigger ones, a development which inevitably led towards the construction of the Hellhammer and the great number of crude jokes about imperial sailors and the size of their “cannons” which can be heard in every tilean tavern.

 

To this day Galleys control the Tilean Sea but over the years the design has changed and the various city states have developed their own style, depending on the way they fight their wars.

 

Remas once has suffered severely by the hands of a Dark Elf fleet and as a reaction their own fleet has been rebuilt to prevent such devestation to happen again.

They reduced their efforts to retake Sartosa from the arabian corsairs to a minimum and sold their huge transport galleys to Luccini which was in need of such ships as it now had to stem the tide of pirates alone. (Allthough a few ships of Tobaro took part in some battles too) Instead they increased the number of small wargalleys.

They can maneuver easily in the habour entrance and will turn it into a deathtrap for all enemies daring to sack their city again.

Of course, they are also capable to pay Miragliano or Luccini a visit should it become necessary but usually these are kept busy by their other enemies.

To continue their trading they also had to find new means to get across the seas.

Remas was the first citystate to exclusively use sailing ships for trade and exploration and chose the breton design for it’s ability to ride stormy seas but combined it with the lighter build and rigging of the arabian corsairs which had troubled them so successful in the past.

 

Luccini has found it’s arch enemies in the inhabitants of Sartosa. The will to wipe out the whole place has grown more and more and the galleyfleet has developed accordingly.

The princedom can send forth a great number of soldiers with their big galleys.

In the days when Remas decided to let Luccini stand alone against the corsairs of Arabia and in this way forced them to buy their old ships at a horrendous price (an act which has not been forgotten by the people of Luccini) the biggest ships were trieres which were manned with more than 200 fighters of which 170 were rowers.

Now Luccini’s fleet hardly contains anything smaller and the common ship is the quinquereme with 5 rows of oars on each side, with the biggest one beeing the “Pride of Luccini”, a gigantic catamaran, with more than 4000 rowers.

With these ships Luccini owns a dangerous invasion force and who knows what the city’s prince will do with it once Sartosa is conquered again.

Luckily the fortifications built by Luccini, in the short period after the arabians had been driven off and the pirates were not yet a serious threat, are strong and inhabited by vicious fighters, so that until now all attempts to take the island have failed.

At the moment Luccini suffers from a lack of soldiers anyway with the main problem being that those soldiers also have to be trained rowers.

Those big galleys cannot be manned by untrained crews or even slaves as those many oars have to be wielded with precision or will end in splinters.

 

Additionally, regarding the difference in numbers between rowers and other crewmembers, it makes no sense to waste so much space on civilian rowers.

Now all Mercenaries who want to be employed have to train rowing, but as this is the national sport anyway it won’t take all too long before the fleet of Luccini leaves the harbour again.

 

Sartosa has been home to various kinds of people and most of the time these have been seafaring villains.

After Settra and the Darkelves had destroyed the tilean settlement came the Norse, followed by the arabian Corsairs and, after the short period of Luccini’s rule, the Pirate Princes and their lot.

All of these groups had the problem that they needed food. While there is plenty of drinkingwater found on the island, vegetation is scarce and these people were no farmers anyway.

So usually, when they were not successful enough in their trade, they had to plunder the natural recources available. They had to start fishing.

Even the early Highelf inhabitants knew about the rich fishgrounds which could be found in the area now called the Pirate’s Current. As a result fishing has a great tradition on the island and while noone would admit it, most of Sartosa’s pirates are also skilled fishermen.

Sadly, over the centuries things have changed as more and more large seamonsters had moved ito this region and the number of fish had dwindled. But the people of Sartosa allways had been creative and most importantly quite fearless and so they started to hunt the large beasts and became quite good at it; so good that they now even have to leave the coastal waters to find decent sized ones.

Allthough the pirates use quite a lot of different shiptypes they tend to rebuild them to suit their needs. Additional rigging is added to the masts so that they can either be used as cranes to pull out heavey nets or to grapple ships. These constructs are commonly called tentacoli and ships thus equipped Seppia with, depending on the origin, Impero, Bretonnia or Remas added.

The downside is the loss of speed but usually the pirates ambush their victims anyway so that this is no real problem.

This customizing also results in one of the most unusual shiptypes of the tilean coast : The Calmar and it’s braccia.

Calmars are huge ships, based on the imperial Greatship or the bretonnian Galleon, which now are used to hunt down the big Seamonsters living in the Tilean Sea.

The calmar transports the braccia close to their prey and these small rowingboats then attack it with their harpoonguns and bring it down with their great number.

In the end, the dead beast is dragged back to the big ship where it will be pulled onboard . There the crew allready waits with blades and hooks to tear it apart and store it in the ship’s belly.

The braccia crews are ruthless hunters on short range and allthough they are specialists in bringing down beasts they will not hesitate to attack ships if they have the opportunity.

These occour when the enemy ships have to be slowed down. Then they will fire their harpoons towards them and let themselves beeing dragged along while rowing hard to stay out of the ship’s firearcs

 

Miragliano lives in a constant state of alert, in constant fear of the pest which is called “the Skaven”. The times when those mutant ratmen were only rumoured to exist, stories to frighten children, have long gone.

Over the years Miragliano suffered several attacks of those creatures, no great battles, but an everincreasing number of small skirmishes between Gutterrunners and the cities specialist guards, the Ratcatchers.

 

Once they have only been just this, the catchers of rats, which infest the city and it’s canals in uncountable numbers. Over the years they have evolved into one of the hardest mercenary troops of miragliano, coldblooded tunnelfighters knowing every dark corner of the city, but nowerdays they have even been seen to patrol the city in bright daylight.

Allthough it is not possible to deny the threat completely, the princes of Miragliano have done everything to make their citizens forget it as much as possible, by financing pompous events like operas, fireworks and other diversions.

But the leaders of the city know that the number of people, who have been found dead in the canals, has increased significantly and the heads of the various assassin’s guilds have proven to be innocent in this matter as they were amongst them without exception.

An other predator stalks the city and, allthough Miragliano’s defenses are strong, it’s claws are allready active within it’s walls. It’s ugly head, an increasing number of enemyships, had been sighted close to the harbour, as it prepares to go for the city’s throat.

But a true Prince of Miragliano will not sit idle and wait for his death. He will try to kill his opponents first, (preferably from behind, when he is unarmed and from a distance, but you can’t have everything) that is the way he got his job anyway.

A lot of tacticians were convinced that the attack would come from below, from the sewers and canals, with only limited support from their fleet.

It was unbelievable that those vermin should have a fleet big enough to conquer a city. Even a classical assault of an army, coming from the marshes, would be more likely.

But the last sightings and the venomous glances from the prince have convinced them that there is truly a huge fleet amassing in the murky coastal waters of the marshes.

This was an unfortunate situation as Miragliano’s fleet was in a bad state.

Explorers were well liked by the people for all the news and riches they bring but the common sailors had been branded as uncivilized ruffians and bringers of strange deseases, a remnant of the severe plagues which had struck the city in the past.

Of course, ships are important for trade, which is the foundation of the city’s wealth, but the merchants finance their sailing ships on their own and hire mercenaries for their protection, so there was no need to maintain a fleet. Additionally there had been quite a long period of peace with only some raids which had all come from the Empire or Bretonnia, across the mountains.

Thus noone really cared when the warfleet literally fell apart due to lack of funds. Now Miragliano is in dire need of one.

For this reason the shipyards have been producing a new fleet, hopefully without the Skavenagents taking notice.

Of course, a fleet cannot be hidden but no one would see a threat in the ever growing number of goldclad, heavily decorated ships which make up the evening parade through the city’s canals, filled with orchestras and people in costumes.

Those ships are called Buccaros and they come in two sizes. They are galleys of an unusual design with a two storey building ,four storeys in case of Buccaro Principesco, taking up most of the upperdeck while the prow is equipped with a huge leaning tower. They are powered exclusively by oars and look as if they are completely unarmed.

As stated above, they are heavily decorated, even with velvet curtains, and covered with sheets of brass. Some people like to say, it makes them look like floating brothels, allthough “palace” is the official term.

Despite the decadent looks they have been built for a deadly purpose.

The skavenfleets usually leave their secret harbours in the Blighted Marshes when the Gulf of Pearls is covered by fog and it is most likely that the attack will take place in such a condition. The city does everything to maintain a system of lookouts, disguised as harmless fishermen or smugglers, too insignificant to kill, as this would raise suspicions about a threat from the gulf.

 

Once the message of an incoming fleet reaches the city, the Buccaros will be manned by an army of ratcatchers, armed with boardingpikes and crossbows. Stucko will be ripped from the rails to reveal hidden gunports as the broadsides of tilean cannons get loaded.

The plan is to send the fleet into the thick mist where they will hopefully end up amidst the skavenships.

Once a Buccaro makes contact it will light the signalfire at the top of it’s tower showing it’s location to it’s own side and illuminating the enemy, so that the cannons and crossbows can do their deadly work. Especially the crossbowmen are trained to kill the enemy crews and without hindering sails they have an all around firing arc, so that a Skaven ship will loose most of it’s crewmembers before being able to board.

A skaven boarding party would be efficently skewered by the pikemen of course.

In effect the ships become small, gleaming fortresses with the brass reflecting the lights. (An effect which has become the main attraction of the evening parade.)

In battle, the gleam is meant to dazzle the skaven gunner’s eyes and thus spoil their aim, while giving the tileans some means of orientation. The metal also protects ship and crew from projectiles and fires, as do the curtains which will be soaked with water.

These will even give some protection from the fiendish poisonous fumes which some ratmen use as weapons.

No one knows if these tactics will work and all that is known about the Buccaros is, that they maneuver well enough, with the narrow canals beeing a good training ground.

Surprise is one of the main aspects of the plan and secrecy is crucial.

So, no mock battles have been fought, no cannons fired and no ship has ever left the harbour. A risky business, but tileans are traders, allways willing to take a risk if the profit seems right. And if it is true, that the incoming fleet carries the major part of the Skaven forces (otherwise the city would be doomed anyway), it’s destruction would save Miragliano from further Skaven attacks for years to come, which will secure traderoutes and thus income.

High enough profits for those who have to make the decisions and so, if everything goes well, the Skaven will be received in a way they will not forget.

 

Tobaro lies a little bit outside the common trading routes and is quite difficult to reach, due to the great number of islands and shallows which are spread along the coast.

The ships of Tobaro are built accordingly so that only the foreign ships need the expensive pilots to reach the harbour savely.

Usually this is the case when traders on their way to Estalia and other parts of the old world get caught in the Tilean Sea by a storm.

Such storms are quite common and start with a wind which blows strongly north so that the ships have to sail against the wind. Most captains will notice soon enough that they will not even make it past Gorgon’s Ola and that their ship will become just another wreck on the beach of one of the many isles.

Some try to reach Remas or Luccini across the Tilean Sea which is quite a risk, especially for galleys as with the wind come very high waves which shatter oars like matchsticks.

A save alternative is Miragliano but this city is much further away than Tobaro. Unwilling to loose even more time by sailing there, the captains will grudgingly pay the required amount.

Not to pay is seen as a sure death sentence as the shallows are vicious and due to the various currents they could change their positions within weeks, so that former visits would be of no help. On the other hand, once in the city’s harbour, a captain will find enough traders and skilled shipwrights to put his ship back in full order and to replenish his stock, and as long as the captain still has an other option(i.e he could reach an other habour), for reasonable prices. This natural defense should keep hostile fleets at bay but there have allways been ruthless admirals willing to sacrifice some ships just to find the safe route.

 

This tactic was aplied successfully by Sultan Jaffar in 1448 when he sent his fleet against Tobaro as revenge for it’s support of Estalia.

In his rage he drove his ships mercylessly through the shallow waters towards the harbour. One ship in ten had sunk in this madness.

Still there were enough ships left to become a dire threat to the city but it’s formidable defenses held.

Tobaro’s fleet did not see much action as they were greatly outgunned and outnumbered. They had to confine themselves to some small raids on stragglers when they could be sure to have enough headstart to reach their hideouts amongst the isles.

In the beginning they had some successes when they could lure those few ships which could pursue them past the Isles of Sirens where Jaffar’s arabs quickly succumbed to their deadly spell. Since then it is tradition for Tobaro’s sailors to carry a pair of earplugs made from wax on a string around their necks.

In the end the arabs had learned their lesson and simply let their enemies run, only to lure them in ambushes a few hours later.

The only good aspect was, that the city’s fleet was not destroyed and able to prevent the raids of pirates which usually show up to take advantage of the weakened state of the city’s defenses.

Since then the fleet of Tobaro has not changed significantly, as their ships are too well adapted to these difficult waters. A few shoreforts have been built though, do defend the harbour entrance.

Still the fleet is made up by a mixture of small galleys with the biggest ones having two rows of oars but still not reaching the length of an average imperial ship.

Those shiptypes are called the Razza Agile, a quarter galley cappable of enormous sailing feats, the Razza Coraggioso a half galley, cappable to ram and damage much bigger ships, but risking it’s own destruction in the attempt and the Razza Robusto , a full size galley but, allthough it is a bireme, smaller than it’s counterparts from other countries and of very light build.

Tobaro’s ships are only effective in great numbers and usually only close to the coast where they can outmaneuver their enemies amongst reefs and sandbanks.