Post by The Smith on Jul 16, 2009 13:29:11 GMT -5
Aegon Targaryen had remained at the Red Keep for three days. The lack of news or orders from the Queen had chafed his patience and he had arisen on the third day with an overwhelming urge to see his ships. On arriving at King’s Landing harbor. He had met his nephew the commander Lord Velaryon and also the captain of his fleet Tyrio Qureini. He was pleased to see that both had not been idle. The entire rigging of the fleet had now been replaced, as had the threadbare mainsails, the replacement drawn from the extensive stores of the main fleet. Even now men were diving beneath the galleys removing barnacles and limpets from the hulls. Once cleaned the galleys would be a half knot faster at her top stroke.
The three men now sat in the cabin sharing a bottle of Lyseni red wine and discussing possible tactics to use on the water against enemy fleets. Of the three, Prince Aegon’s knowledge of naval tactics in battle was the least, although he brought the benefit of his years of battlefield command, as did Aurane to a slightly lesser extent. Their discussion was vigorous. Even when Aegon and Aurane agreed on a point, the vastly more experienced naval commander Tyrio would counter their solution, finding a chink in their logic that would set the other two talking again. They had discussed every possible approach and how any enemy fleets whether from Braavos, Pentos or from further south might respond to any move. Between the three of them, they had seen many of the Narrow Sea’s fleets in action and in most cases, particularly that of the Braavosi, they had little doubt of the calibre and resolve of their potential foes. Every possible scenario finished with the same imbalance: inexperience.
Any new Westerosi fleet would be crewed by inexperienced men, civilian sailors and soldiers who were used to fighting on land. Inexperienced sailors meant that ramming would be a near impossible tactic, the maneuvering skills taking months to perfect, the combination of angle and speed needing to be precise. This was particularly pertinent if they built ships that were of a lighter design and would be unsure if the ramming angle was off by more than ten degrees. Over ten degrees it was likely that the ram would deflect of the heavier hulls of any of the ships. The call for ramming speed would also need to be exact. Too late and the ship would lack the necessary momentum; too soon and the rowers would be spent after the first couple of encounters; it was likely that any large scale confrontation would last for hours.
The ability to manoeuvre alongside for boarding took considerably less skill: the angle less important, the speed only needing to be sufficient to overtake the opponent. The three men had all agreed that traders, and even fishermen, could be taught enough to master the simple manoeuvre within a week at most. The problem of inexperience now shifted to the soldiers. To train them as marines would take several months, the ability to board successfully and in sufficient numbers vital in the first minutes of any attack. Once on board they would be without their large shields and their years of training as land based fighting units would count for nought, armed as they would be with a much smaller shield and a much shorter sword.
“My lord Velaryon, Captain Tyrio”, Aegon interrupted, trying to bring the discussion back the centre, needing to forge ahead., “we’re all agreed that the sailing crews can be taught how to manoeuvre for boarding, but not for ramming much more quickly.”
“Yes,” both of the other men agreed.
“And we’re also agreed that out soldiers cannot be taught to board and fight in the traditional methods in a relatively short amount of time.”
“Yes’, both men replied again, this time Aurane sighing as the discussion circled around the obstacle.
“Right. We need to concentrate on solving one of these problems only. I think the solution to the sailing problem will be harder to find, so I suggest we concentrate on the boarding issue. We need to find a way of getting our troops onto any enemy decks in sufficient numbers and with their larger shields at least. The close quarters on the deck won’t allow effective use of their longer swords…so we’ll have to stick with the short swords, which of course requires a different style of fighting. Once there though they’ll be unstoppable.”
“Once there…..” Aurane said dubiously.
The cabin became silent again as all three men applied themselves to the problem. At length Aegon stretched his legs and stood up. “You keep thinking about it Tyrio. This little meeting has been most enlightening. Aurane, you need to come with me. It’s time we went to see the Queen.”
Prince Aegon Targaryen improves to Noteworthy in Naval Battle
Lord Aurane Velaryon improves to Expert in Naval Battle
Preparations and improvements are made to Prince Aegon’s small fleet.
The three men now sat in the cabin sharing a bottle of Lyseni red wine and discussing possible tactics to use on the water against enemy fleets. Of the three, Prince Aegon’s knowledge of naval tactics in battle was the least, although he brought the benefit of his years of battlefield command, as did Aurane to a slightly lesser extent. Their discussion was vigorous. Even when Aegon and Aurane agreed on a point, the vastly more experienced naval commander Tyrio would counter their solution, finding a chink in their logic that would set the other two talking again. They had discussed every possible approach and how any enemy fleets whether from Braavos, Pentos or from further south might respond to any move. Between the three of them, they had seen many of the Narrow Sea’s fleets in action and in most cases, particularly that of the Braavosi, they had little doubt of the calibre and resolve of their potential foes. Every possible scenario finished with the same imbalance: inexperience.
Any new Westerosi fleet would be crewed by inexperienced men, civilian sailors and soldiers who were used to fighting on land. Inexperienced sailors meant that ramming would be a near impossible tactic, the maneuvering skills taking months to perfect, the combination of angle and speed needing to be precise. This was particularly pertinent if they built ships that were of a lighter design and would be unsure if the ramming angle was off by more than ten degrees. Over ten degrees it was likely that the ram would deflect of the heavier hulls of any of the ships. The call for ramming speed would also need to be exact. Too late and the ship would lack the necessary momentum; too soon and the rowers would be spent after the first couple of encounters; it was likely that any large scale confrontation would last for hours.
The ability to manoeuvre alongside for boarding took considerably less skill: the angle less important, the speed only needing to be sufficient to overtake the opponent. The three men had all agreed that traders, and even fishermen, could be taught enough to master the simple manoeuvre within a week at most. The problem of inexperience now shifted to the soldiers. To train them as marines would take several months, the ability to board successfully and in sufficient numbers vital in the first minutes of any attack. Once on board they would be without their large shields and their years of training as land based fighting units would count for nought, armed as they would be with a much smaller shield and a much shorter sword.
“My lord Velaryon, Captain Tyrio”, Aegon interrupted, trying to bring the discussion back the centre, needing to forge ahead., “we’re all agreed that the sailing crews can be taught how to manoeuvre for boarding, but not for ramming much more quickly.”
“Yes,” both of the other men agreed.
“And we’re also agreed that out soldiers cannot be taught to board and fight in the traditional methods in a relatively short amount of time.”
“Yes’, both men replied again, this time Aurane sighing as the discussion circled around the obstacle.
“Right. We need to concentrate on solving one of these problems only. I think the solution to the sailing problem will be harder to find, so I suggest we concentrate on the boarding issue. We need to find a way of getting our troops onto any enemy decks in sufficient numbers and with their larger shields at least. The close quarters on the deck won’t allow effective use of their longer swords…so we’ll have to stick with the short swords, which of course requires a different style of fighting. Once there though they’ll be unstoppable.”
“Once there…..” Aurane said dubiously.
The cabin became silent again as all three men applied themselves to the problem. At length Aegon stretched his legs and stood up. “You keep thinking about it Tyrio. This little meeting has been most enlightening. Aurane, you need to come with me. It’s time we went to see the Queen.”
Prince Aegon Targaryen improves to Noteworthy in Naval Battle
Lord Aurane Velaryon improves to Expert in Naval Battle
Preparations and improvements are made to Prince Aegon’s small fleet.