A Glorious Chance

Mechanic description: A Glorious Chance comprises eight turns representing the period from June to September 1813, and can be played in around four hours. Each turn, the human player assigns ships or friendly stacks to patrol, escort convoys, support landings or intercept in one of six lake zones. Card and token draws determine which enemy ships can be deployed on the lake or remain in the shipyard to acquire more powerful armaments. The player draws a row of Target Cards, face down. The back of each card shows an area of the lake where the enemy may be active this turn. If the card area corresponds to a friendly mission, an encounter is possible.

An encounter flips the Target Card to reveal the type of enemy mission and a level of effort, which help determine the number of enemy ships that appear. Combat on the lake is resolved on a probability table, modified by drawn/selected tactical tokens, and can result in victory points for enemy ships destroyed or captured.

Ships with a land support mission increase their side's chances of success in a land attack, which also earns victory points. An administrative phase at the end of each turn determines how many victory points a side earns for controlling areas of the lake, whether a side's home port is blocked, and how arriving, delayed or captured supply convoys affect the progress of each side's supply track. A side that achieves certain supply levels can launch certain ships from a shipyard, or have troops ready to attempt more ambitious land operations. A final victory level is established at the end of the eighth turn; depending on the level of victory points, the result of the game may be a draw, or either side may win a marginal victory, a victory, or a decisive victory.

Map scale: Movement by zone
Unit size: 1 ship
Time scale: 2 weeks