“1710 Annapolis Royal Relief Convoy” Scenario

This historical scenario for Oak & Iron recreates the tense days following the British capture of Port Royal, Acadia in 1710, when the newly renamed Annapolis Royal stood on the brink of collapse. The garrison was starving, short on powder, and isolated along a hostile coastline patrolled by French privateers. As a small relief convoy pushes north from Boston carrying the supplies needed to keep the fort alive, French raiders move in through the fog and shoals to cut it off before it reaches safety.

Historical Background

In 1710, during the height of Queen Anne’s War, British forces captured the French stronghold of Port Royal in Acadia and renamed it Annapolis Royal. The victory was significant, but holding the settlement proved far more difficult than taking it. The garrison left behind was small, undersupplied, and surrounded by a population largely loyal to France. Within weeks, the British position began to deteriorate as food stores dwindled and ammunition ran low.

French privateers operating from Cape Breton and the Gulf of St. Lawrence quickly recognized the vulnerability of the new British outpost. They moved to disrupt the coastal supply routes, hoping to starve out the garrison and force the British to abandon their foothold in Acadia. This created a tense period in late 1710 and early 1711 in which every British supply run became a contested operation.

To keep the fort alive, New England authorities organized relief convoys from Boston and other colonial ports. These convoys were escorted by small to mid‑sized warships capable of navigating the fog‑shrouded, shoal‑ridden waters of Nova Scotia while still offering enough firepower to deter privateers.

Strategic Conditions

• Annapolis Royal was isolated and dependent on sea‑borne supply.
• French privateers aimed to sever this lifeline before the British could consolidate control.
• The coastline offered natural advantages to raiders: heavy fog, strong tides, narrow approaches, and numerous hiding places behind headlands and islands

Playing the “1710 Annapolis Royal Relief Convoy” as an Oak & Iron Scenario

There is no single, famous, named naval battle called “The 1710 Annapolis Royal Relief Convoy”. Instead, there were multiple small engagements, ambush attempts, and chases involving British supply ships and French privateers. These were real, but they weren’t formal battles with official names. There are records of shipments from Boston/New England to Annapolis Royal in colonial dispatches and in the journals of Governor Samuel Vetch. There are also documents of French privateers from Île Royale (Cape Breton) and Acadian allies targeting British shipping along the Nova Scotia coast.

This scenario is meant to recreate the concepts of those actions in a historically based Oak & Iron scenario designed for use in the 2026 Summer of Plunder campaign during Week 8, but is playable at any time.

GAME SETUP:

Do not use the normal game cards to set up the game. Instead, use the following guidelines:

• Use a standard 3’x3’ board
• Players may select their Initiative Cards as per the normal rules or use the cards suggested below
• The East and West sides of the board are impassable riverbank terrain, and any ship colliding with the edge of the map will automatically run aground.  
• Add the following to the Terrain Pool and place them on the board using the standard Terrain Deployment rules (pg. 28): 1 Island + 3 Shoals.
• The English Force MUST include two ships that take the Supply Ship upgrade card. Mark them both with an Objective Token.

SPECIAL RULES:

Cold Atlantic air rolling over the Nova Scotia coast often produces sudden, drifting fog banks that swallow entire ships without warning. Contemporary logs from New England, Acadian, and Royal Navy vessels frequently describe the region’s conditions with phrases such as “thick fog,” “visibility lost,” “unable to sight the coast,” and “fog banks rolling in from the sea.” This conflict takes place in the early morning hours, as dense coastal mists have settled across the water.

Fog Setup

After all Terrain is placed and adjusted, place the Fog Banks from Landmass and 2 Islands on the board. Players alternate placing one Fog Bank at a time, starting with the ATTACKER (French).

A Fog Bank may be placed anywhere on the board as long as it is fully on the table and at least Musket Shot from any other Fog Bank.

Fog Drift

In the End Phase of each round, after all other steps are resolved, each Fog Bank drifts Pistol Shot in a diagonal line from the left corner of the wind’s origin side toward the right corner opposite the wind’s origin.

Fog Reset

If a Fog Bank drifts fully off the table, it is immediately reset. This represents new fog rolling in from the coastline or rising from the water.

The player who lost Initiative in the round gets to place the Fog Bank back on the board. It may be placed anywhere on the board as long as it is fully on the table and at least Musket Shot from any other Fog Bank

Optional Rules

Before the game begins, players may agree to select one of the following bonuses for their nation:

The French player may select one of the following bonuses:

• Overloaded Transports: All English supply ships suffer +1 damage from Critical Hits. In addition, due to their crowded cargo holds, all Repair actions require a Skill Test that succeeds only on Skulls.
• Local Knowledge: The French players gain the Local Pilot advantage card.

The English player may select one of the following bonuses:

• Close Escort Doctrine: If an English ship begins its Activation within Pistol Shot of a friendly supply ship, any enemy attempting a Boarding action against a supply ship has a -1 Die to a minimum of 1.
• For King and Colony!: The first time any ship in this force is Out of Action, all other ships may immediately take a Skill Test and remove 1 Fatigue if they succeed.

DEPLOYMENT:

• The French (Attackers) deploy with the Weather Gauge card, and the English (Defenders) deploy with the Lee Guage card.

GAME LENGTH:

10 Turns

SUGGESTED FORCES:

This scenario works best with a 50 or 100 pt force. If playing at 200pts, expand the board to 4’x4′ or larger

OBJECTIVES AND VICTORY CONDITIONS:

• Each Supply Ship that is Captured or Out of Action earns the Defenders 1 Strike Point.
• At the end of Turn 10, each Supply Ship that is not Captured or Out of Action earns the Attacker 1 Strike Point.
• Any Supply ship that escapes off the Attacker’s edge of the board does not count as Out of Action for Strike Points, and earns the Attacker 1 Strike Point.

Conclusion

The fate of the relief convoy now rests on the choices made in these fog‑shrouded waters. Whether the English succeed in breaking through to Annapolis Royal or the French manage to scatter, capture or sink the supply ships, the outcome will shape the balance of power in Nova Scotia. Will you save the lives of the British who depend on the garrison’s survival or help return the region to French control? Either way, we’d love to hear the results of your games, so be sure to tag us if you share your battle report with the community.

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Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Port_Royal_(1710)
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Nova_Scotia
3. Vetch, Samuel. “Journal to Annapolis Royal, 1710–1711.” In Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, vol. 1, 1–40. Halifax: Nova Scotia Historical Society, 1878.
4. Great Britain. Colonial Office. CO 5/751–754, Correspondence: Nova Scotia and Massachusetts, 1710–1713. The National Archives (UK), Kew.
5. Massachusetts Bay Colony. Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay.
6. Reid, John G., Maurice Basque, Elizabeth Mancke, Barry Moody, Geoffrey Plank, and William C. Wicken. The “Conquest” of Acadia, 1710: Imperial, Colonial, and Aboriginal Constructions. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.
7. Grenier, John. The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710–1760