Blunderbuss.........................3 points

Blunderbusses range in size from 18 to 30 inches and have a bore of 2 inches, firing bits of lead, lead balls, rusty nails, scraps of iron, or anything else the firer decides to stuff down the bore.

The purpose of the Blunderbuss is to deliver a large amount of fire over a large area in an instant. The Blunderbuss has a short stock , but it is not meant to be fired from the shoulder. The stock is instead braced against the hip in order to help steady the enormous kick of the gun. At close range the weapon can be quite deadly, and the spread of fire can be several feet as little as 10 to 20 feet from the muzzle. The Blunderbuss is also usually fitted with a folding long knifeblade for use in hand to hand combat. The Blunderbuss excels in clearing decks and repelling boarders, and is a favoured weapon among the pirates and privateers alike.

Rules:

1. Establish fire zone 12" in front of the unit extending across the unit's frontage.

2. Roll to hit each model within the fire zone. It is convenient to deal with each target unit at a time, rolling the appropriate number of dice to establish hits, then resolving wounds and saves as normal. Finally remove the appropriate number of casualties.

3. Proceed until all potential hits have been resolved.

4. Troops with Blunderbusses may not move and fire in the same turn.

5. The strength of the hit is 3 for one full rank, increasing to 4 for two full ranks and a maximum of 5 for three full ranks. Ranks which are not full do not count, and save modifiers are adjusted accoding to strength as per normal.

6. It is possible to concentrate fire against a single target if it is the only target in the fire zone or if it is the closest target. Resolve damage as you would for normal shooting, rolling once to hit with each Blunderbuss in the front rank.

7. Individual characters firing Blunderbusses use the long tear-shaped flame template to resolve hits. Any figures completely under the template are hit automatically, and any that are partially under the template will be hit on a 4+ on a D6.

Volley Gun.................4 points

These are pistols with several long barrels that all fire at one time, hence the name volley gun. The volley gun will fire a hail of shots but can only be fired every other turn as it is very slow loading.

The weapon fires 1D6 shots when fired. These can be at a character or a unit, and you must declare what you are shooting at before you fire.

Grape Shot

Gunners may choose to fire Grape Shot instead of solid cannon balls. Grapeshot is a large thin-walled canister filled with iron balls approximately 1 inch in diameter. The powder will burn away the canister, releasing the balls in a widespread pattern extending from the muzzle of the cannon. Use two of the long teardrop flame templates placed side by side. If you do not have two then you can lay one down and then flip it over to cover an area of two templates side by side. All troops under these two templates will take an automatic S6 hit with a -3 save modifier. All troops patially under the templates will be hit on a 4+ on a D6 roll.

Heated Shot.......................+10 points

Any pirate or privateer gun crew can fire heated shot instead of a normal shot. Heated Shot has exactly the same stats as a normal round ball with the following additions: Heated Shot will set flamable materials on fire on a dice roll of 5+ on a D6. Flamable materials will include anything made of wood, cloth, thatch, straw, trees, and bushes. Once a target has caught fire, test for the effect at the start of its own turn. On a 1-5 the structure or war machine or terrain will continue to burn, taking 1D3 damage points. On a 6 the fire will be contained. On the next roll, if anything but 1 or 2 is rolled, the fire will go out. At least five figures or the crew of the war machine must do nothing but fight the fire for any "Fire goes out" result. If there is no one fighting the fire the structure, war machine, terrain, etc. will automatically take the fire damage each turn without any dice roll being necessary. On any Misfire result the cannon will explode, killing the complete crew when firing Heated Shot, and possibly starting a fire as above. The effects of Heated Shot are only on the initial point of impact and the first half of bounce through. After that, the shot will have cooled too much to start fires.

Swivel Guns.....................25 points + crew

Swivel guns are light, small bore cannons that are mounted on a swivel mount with a 360 degree arc of fire. They do not have the power or the range of full-sized cannons. Swivel Guns are served by a crew of two. Swivel Guns are fired using the Ballistic Skill of the gunner assigned to it.

Canister rounds use a 1 1/2" template and all models completely under the template are hit automatically. Those that are partially under will be hit on a 4+ on a D6 roll.

Solid Shot fired by a Swivel Gun will only bounce through Artillery dice divided by 2 inches. If you roll a Misfire on the Artillery die, then the ball does not bounce.

The Swivel Gun may be moved by its crew their full movement, but if it does move it cannot fire in the same round that it moves.

Boarding Axe.................2 points

The boarding axe is a short one-handed axe with a very heavy axehead that has a spike that extends forward of the axeblade in line with the handle and a spike opposite the blade. These spikes are designed in such a way that the axe can be used both in a swinging and a thrusting motion in the tight confines of a boarding action. The axe gives a +1 to the Strength of the wielder.

Marlinspike.......................1 point

The Marlinspike is a tool used for splicing lines and various other jobs on shipboard. It is a heavy metal spike approximately 16 to 18 inches long with a ring at the large end for carrying it suspended from a belt on a line. Its weight and its sharp point make it a deadly weapon, especially against armoured foes. It can be used to thrust and pierce armour and flesh and its weight can cause a crushing blow. The Marlinspike will add +1 to the user's Strength and its save modified will be based on the modified Strength. Due to the Marlinspike's shortness and the difficulty of maintaining a grip on it, the user's Initiative and Weapon Skill are each reduced by 1 when fighting with it in hand to hand combat.