The HMS Majestic bobbed under half sail and a light wind as the sun set on the days news. The crew had picked up a man floating on a crude raft earlier in the day and he had several surprises in store.
Turns out he was a member of Capt. John "Sugar" Caine's pirate gang that has been raiding these parts of the world for months -- and Caine is the very menace you've been hunting. The crewman, an older fellow by the name of Jasper, said that Caine had taken the seldom-used and isolated island fort of St. Lopez, capturing it's small garrison of what were mostly invalids in the process. He offloaded a good portion of his crew AND his booty because his second ship, a small sloop, was badly damaged in a gale. Not wanting to sacrifice any of his goods, he left a large part of his crew to guard the fort while he took the rest of his crew with his two ships to find the materials needed to make the repairs and hopefully net a few merchantmen along the way.
Capt. Lewis of the Majestic has decided to send the 24 royal marines on a daring night raid in an attempt to take the fort back from Caine's men. He's asked each of his officers to each present a plan to take back the fort. Here's the intelligence that Jasper has provided:
1) The fort consists of a small harbor and beach on the north side. The other sides are protected by seawall and because of currents, are difficult to land a ship's boat next to, but it can be done if caution is used. The harbor is easiest to enter, with the beach being the next easiest place to land.
2) The fort has a watch tower and two main levels. The only entrance is through a pair of old doors on the ground level. Jasper says the doors are in really bad shape and could easily be broken down.
3) The cannons are many and mostly operable, so using the ship in any role is out of the question. However, once a force is on the island, the cannons cannot depress far enough to be of use against a ground force. They were designed to sink ships and a land attack was never considered.
4) The pirate gang heavily outnumbers your marines, but the brigands are lax on security and usually heavily drunk by nightfall.
5) The fort has four levels: The lower interior, the main gun deck, the upper gun deck and a watch tower. You can only get to the main gun deck from the interior (ground level), and the upper gun deck and watch tower can only be accessed through the stairs in the watchtower itself. The only other way would be to use ladders between levels.
The forces and equipment you have at your disposal are:
24 marines and one officer (22 privates, 2 sergeants (Smith and Jones), + yourself, a lieutenant)
The ship's carpenter has managed to build two assault ladders to use to get your men over the wall or between levels if you need them.
There are three small boats available. One is large enough to take your entire contigent (capacity 25) and both the ladders, while the other two can only carry 8 men each, with a maximum of one ladder.
As part of your plan, the Captain needs to know:
1) How many men you will put in each boat and whether the boat will carry a ladder.
2) What the instructions are for the men in each boat once landed.
3) Whether any or all groups will land in the harbor, on the beach or on the East, West or South sides of the fort (the currents on those sides mean any boats potentially missing the island).
4) If the door will be assaulted or if ladders will be used instead -- or in conjunction with any assault on the doors.
5) Any other relevant details you deem appropriate.
(To give you a better idea of the fort, here's a link with a picture -- just scroll all the way down to see the final product:
http://smallworldproductions.blogspot.com/2008/03/coastal-fort-part-iii.html
To submit your plan for consideration, please e-mail it to sworldproductions@gmail.com. The winning plan will be used in a miniatures battle to see who ultimately wins control of the fort.
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