Longneck wrote:
I would go with #3. A literal reading of the rule "may never fire chainshot" would apply to ships captured by the British as well. If a British ship is captured, I would think they wouldn't have any on board if they can't fire it, so that would prevent any prize crew from using it also. Thanks.
Fair point, (3) is clearly more faithful to the stated rule. Although (2) is not outrageously far off, it just replaces/interprets 'The British' by 'British ships'. While (1) reads British as 'British crew'. and (3) as 'British ships or crew'.
Neither the rules nor the designer's notes explain the rule. However, I believe the Reddit quote is correct, i.e. that the British (occasionally?) both carried and used chain shot, albeit in too small amounts to be represented in WS&IM. I have not been able to find any sources on the web to confirm this, and nothing conclusive off-line. But Lavery's Nelson's Navy mentions in § Types of Charges and Shots (pp. 176-177) that The captain had a choice of several types of shot, listing chain shot and "double-headed shot" (bar shot?) for use against the rigging. Then cites admiral Parker's fleet orders of 1797 as instructing ships to enter action with the third division on the lower deck was to have "round and double-headed shot pointed at the gunwale".
(Most strikingly, there is no mention of the Royal Navy NOT carrying or using chain shot, which would have been relevant information in that section.)
Brian Lavery, Nelson's Navy, Conway Maritime Press, 1989.
(It has a foreword written by Patric O'Brian, so I am afraid its veracity can not be questioned  )
Of course, the scarcity of chain shot abord British ships might not be the only motivation for the rule. It might be to discourage the British player from firing at the rigging, for instance. But if a British prize crew found themselves on a ship with lots of chain and bar lying around, I do not know if anything would prevent them from using it against nearby enemy ships to get away, say. And allowing it would not change the game mechanics that much.
Sorry for the long post. I'll shut up now.
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