derekticus wrote:
In a number of the new scenarios, some of the Frigates appear to be miss-labelled. My understanding of WS&IM is that MOST frigates in the game are considered 1st Frigates. 1st Frigates move at Full Sail Speed 6 in attitude A, and have larger hull and more guns. 2nd Frigates move at Full Sail Speed 7 in attitude A, have small hulls and fewer guns. At least that is how it should be - small but manueverable vs larger and less so. A couple of the scenarios in question are the "Surprise" scenario and "Shrewsbury Rocks". I have not looked at all the scenarios. For ex, in "Britannia at Gibraltar," the tiny frigate Amphion should be a 2nd Frigate, while all others should be 1st Frigates.
See front cover and page 2 of the Rule Book; ships are classified from biggest hulls and guns to smallest - #1s are the monster SOLs, #2s are SOLs, #3s are frigates (1st frigates) w/ Full Sail Speed 6, only #4s and #5s (Corvettes and Sloops/Brigs/Schooners - alternatively 2nd Frigates) get Full Sail Speed 7.
It is true that in general, a lower class number (e.g. 1) means a larger ship.
However, look at page 31 of the RuleBook:
all American ships are rated as F 4 (Frigates, 4th class, so "2nd frigate") but they can carry between 32 and 44 guns, so they are as powerful as British/French/Spanish frigates which are all rated as F 3 (1st Frigate).
So, as American frigates are "2nd Frigates" (Class 4th) they are faster than other frigates while carrying the same firepower/crew/hull/riggings.
I'm not an historian, but as for the Master&Commander scenario, this arrangement fits well with the movie.
In the movie, Acheron is French ship built in America and it is described as being stronger, faster and more powerful than the British frigate.
Thus for the Master&Commander scenario it is correct that Acheron, the stronger frigate, is a 2nd frigate while the British Surprise is a 1st frigate.
