St Vincent refight at SELWG by Tonbridge Wargames Club

The game's organiser, Simon, fields questions from visitors.

Tonbridge Wargames Club staged a refight of the Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) at the SELWG show yesterday. The battle was fought between British and Spanish fleets during the French Revolutionary Wars.

The models belong to the game's organiser, Simon, and are all 1/1200 Langton Minatures. The rules used were Rod Langton's Signal Close Action rules 3rd edition (there is a 4th edition). Ability dice determine each fleet's actions each turn with additional dice for more specific things such as signal receipt, boarding and collisions!  There are a lot more extras in the rules but for a big fleet action keeping it simple is best.

The fleets clash. The British have the wind-gauge and
are coming from the right.

Simon writes: "Aggression and close action is the watchword for the RN whilst bringing guns to bear as soon as possible on rigging is the best hope the Spanish have of stopping the charge. Once the British heavies are amongst the Spanish and raking them at close quarters it is too late. A point blank stern rake from the Victory is going to make anyone think twice of continuing the fight!"

Unfortunately for the Spanish, commanded by Dave, some unlucky initial dice throws meant that they could not respond very well, and, broadly speaking, the game came to resemble the historical result.

A close-up of the action. Raked and surrounded, two
Spanish ships have just struck.

Simon's next plan is Camperdown and the Dutch, an altogether different prospect – evenly matched crews, smaller ships and the threat of running aground

More pictures can be found on the Tonbridge Wargames Club website.