En Garde! at Sea (2)

So gamers see stuff and we get ideas some times those ideas are great and other times they needs some work.  My friends and I love En Garde! and Swashbuckling movies make us think "pirates" so naturally we want to take the game to sea.  We did this once before  and it was a lot of fun so went bigger taking ship to ship combat form On the Seven Seas and grafting it on to En Garde! With out further adiue here is last nights game (Don't worry I'll tell you what sort of an idea this was latter).

My Galley was manned for the first time and wow it looked cool and crowded!

 I had Will with me and Mike and Dave were.  Dave and Mike (the English) had to break through out blockade to bring vital supplies to a port (off board).  I told will to go after Dave (his Dad) since I knew that was what he would do any way.  My Job was to stop Mike and his scurvy crew of English pirates.

 Mike tries a ranging shot that flies wide.  I hold my fire the first turn waiting for the ships to close.

 Turn 2 I try a shot so I can reload with grape for close action!

 Dave and Will are closing and sniping at each other with muskets and bows (Will has a Native American crew

 Dave maneuvers to the middle, Will pull along side and then throws grappling hooks. Dave takes a shot at my Galley but the shot flies high as my surgeon priest, gives thanks to god for our deliverance.

 Mike tries to cut the grapples on Dave's ships with a musket shot but misses (we improvised some rules for this Hollywood move).

 Will has gotten one boarder across...

 then a second and hand to hand fighting commences

 Dave managed to overwhelm the initial boarders and then cut the grapples

 I successfully ram/grappl

e Mike lets go with a blunder buss but cover and armor prevent him doing much damage.

  My men open up with a volley of fire and a hot of gape.  I only killed one man but Grievously wounded several others. My retaliates with grenades that stun several of my men but armor save me from grater damage.

 Then Alatriste and the pike men move down the ram/boarding ramp.  My responds with a furry of pistol and Musket shots. Alatriste falls into the sea having been the target of 5 or more shooters! Meanwhile Dave and will have broken off into a separate game as Dave breaks the grapples and maneuvers for the table edge

 My Pike men surge forward!... as Dave makes his escape after Will's last cannon shot fails to sink him.

With more troops moving in to board Mike decides to strike his colors.   We had fun but the number of figures was too tedious.  Also En Garde!'s each man move a figure in priority sequence got awkward with ships, I think we need a simpler method  we can use until the ships grapple or get very close. Back to the drawing board regarding the rules.