Grappling and boarding

Boarding starts with a grapple. Like gunnery, the game works out a percentage chance, but the ingredients are completely different: it is all about speed, size and, against players, heading.

The sum

chance = 100 - defender's total + attacker's total

The defender’s side

• Her ship’s grappling defense, plus anything from skills and fittings.
• Her speed. This is the big one:

Defender’s speed	Added to her defense
Stopped	+20
5 knots	+34
10 knots	+48
15 knots	+62
20 knots	+76
25 knots or more	+90

A ship at full speed is close to impossible to grapple. A ship that has lost her masts is a sitting duck.

The attacker’s side

• Your ship’s grappling bonus, plus skills and fittings.
• Difference in speed: -15 for every knot of difference between your speed and hers. Match her speed and direction before you throw.
• Difference in size: no penalty until the target weighs five times what you do. From there it grows from -20 to -60 at ten times your weight. A sloop will struggle to grapple a ship of the line.

Against computer-controlled ships

The result is rounded off to make boarding less of a gamble:

• Below 25%, the grapple simply fails.
• Above 75%, it always succeeds.
• In between, it is a straight roll.

Against players

There is no rounding off against players; every point counts. And one more factor is added: heading. Your chance is multiplied by how closely the two ships are pointing the same way (or exactly opposite ways):

Angle between the two ships	Multiplier
Parallel (0 degrees)	x 1.00
15 degrees	x 0.96
30 degrees	x 0.88
45 degrees	x 0.77
60 degrees	x 0.62
90 degrees (T-bone)	x 0.22

So against a player you need to come alongside: same heading, same speed, close aboard. Ramming in at right angles almost never works.

How to set up a boarding

1. Take her sails down first with bar or chain shot. Every knot she loses is worth nearly 3 points to you. See How damage works.
2. Thin her crew with grape or canister so the fight on deck goes your way.
3. Come alongside on the same heading and match her speed. Drop to battle sails if you are overtaking.
4. Throw the grapples only when the numbers are on your side.

How to avoid being boarded

• Keep moving. Speed is the best defense there is.
• Protect your masts. If your sails are going, turn away early while you still have speed.
• Against players, turn across their heading as they come alongside. Every degree you open up cuts their chance.

Capturing the ship after you win is covered in Capturing ships.