“HMS Anne” 3rd Rate Ship: Ultimate Guide for the Oak & Iron Ship

HMS Anne Ship Overview

The English 3rd Rate model is the first single-ship expansion to the game of Oak & Iron. It comes with a single miniature, the standard set of ship tokens, and two stat cards. The first stat card is the standard stats for a 3rd Rate as contained in the Ships of the Line boxed set. The second card is based on the historical ship the HMS Anne. This article is a review of the HMS Anne’s stats and some suggestions for using the ship in the game.

English 3rd Rate Model Review

There are several changes in the modeling quality and setup with the new SiOCAST minis. You can check out our thoughts and see some detailed pics of the mini in our English 3rd Rate Ship of the Line product review.

Historical Background

The following is the ship’s history as printed on the back of the stat card:

“HMS Anne was a 70-gun 3rd rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy. She was one of 20 third rates built under the 1677 Construction Programme at Chatham Dockyard during 1677/78. Originally sent out as the flagship of a squadron sent to the Mediterranean to enforce peace treaties with the Barbary State. She fought in the War of the League of Augsburg 1688 to 1697. She played a pivotal role in the Battle of Beachy Head where she was badly damaged and ran aground, where she was burnt by her crew to avoid capture by the French.”

English 3rd Rate Model Image Gallery

HMS ANNE – English 3rd Rate – Oak & Iron Stat Card

HMS Anne Ship Analysis

HMS Anne Ship Overview & Tactics

The HMS Anne introduces a new special ability to the game: Tough. Ability rules: “When this ship becomes Crippled, roll a Skill Test. If the test is passed, the ship remains at 6 points of damage and takes an additional point of Fatigue instead.” Unlike the Skilled Carpenter upgrade, Tough is an ability that can be used multiple times in a game. Each time you have a chance to become Crippled you can roll to transfer that damage to Fatigue. However, this ability is only useful late in the game when you’re ship is shot up. so it can help you limp along and stay in the fight.

The 3rd largest ship in the game, it is armed to the teeth. It is the smallest ship that adds the Weight of Fire. That ability reduces the opponent ship’s Fortitude by one when within Musket Range. This ability is powerful against other Ships of the Line but against ships with a base Fortitude of 2, it is absolutely devastating. Dropping a ship to a Fortitude 1 means every one of the 9+ die used in the attack will do damage. If you have a line of 2-3 3rd Rates shooting any smaller ship, it’s unlikely to survive more than a single round.

The 3rd Rate is also the first ship to field Very High Freeboard. That ability is the best there is in the game at keeping your Fatigue high as your opponent has to score 3 hits to inflict a single point of Fatigue. It takes a solid wave of concentrated firepower from smaller ships to overcome it.

Force building

In a 100 or even 200-point game, this ship is an EXCELLENT choice for your flagship. It is more maneuverable than the 1st or 2nd rate, yet still has excellent durability. Historically that is a very fitting narrative as it led a squadron of 20 other 3rd Rates and other support ships.

At 38 points it’s worth 1 pt less than 3x 6th Rates. Three 6th Rates can shell out 15 dice broadside compared to the 9 dice of the 3rd rate, which seems to give them a stronger offense. However, they are no match against the durability of the 3rd Rates Fortitude 3 and Very High Freeboard attribute. And when you consider the Wieght of Fire special ability, it will consistently punch holes in the smaller ships making for a more than fair fight.

True to historical naval tactics, the 3rd Rate rarely travels alone. Big ships always have escort ships for supplies, scouting, and screening protection. Your strength is in your gunnery, not boarding. Taking a smaller escort ship or two will allow you to get the +1 Attack Dice bonus for being in Formation. It also allows you to engage incoming boarding ships and keep them away from your heavily gunned 3rd Rate.

Ship Upgrades

Unfortunately, like many of the other Unique ships, the HMS Anne has zero built-in options for upgrades that are available on generic ships. The only upgrade available is a Skill 1 or Skill 2. I personally like to take at least a Skill 1 when taking any Ship of the Line. That single re-roll statistically feels better on larger ships because you have more options to get critical hits or the single extra hit you need to overcome an enemy’s Fortitude or High Freeboard.

• A single-use Efficient Loader card is a MUST HAVE for any Ship of the Line. You want to keep those beasts firing as fast as possible, so the free reload is nice. Timed with a Rolling Broadsides or Fire as She Bears initiative card will give you the option of firing 2 Broadsides in a single round.
• Maintaining Fatigue is important on this ship so a Skilled Surgeon is a solid option to remove 1 Fatigue.
• A Skilled Carpenter, can keep you in the fight longer.
• If you don’t put your Admiral on this ship, a Bold Captain gives you the ability to gamble on your Fatigue to go for Critical Hits. Or if you took Skill 2, you could push for a Skill 3 with a Brilliant Captain and play it safer as that will give you 3 re-rolls without the risk of taking Fatigue..

Initiative Card Suggestions

• If you are playing with multiple Ships of the Line, Fast Loader is a no-brainer. At a key point in the game, you can use this to get a free Reload for EVERY SHIP in your squadron. Which then lets you use your Crew Action to Repair or Rally.
• Taking at least one of Rolling Broadsides or Fire as She Bears and pairing it with an Efficient Loader upgrade is a deadly combo. These cards let you fire in the movement phase, inflicting Fatigue and Damage out of the standard order of events. A well-timed reload from Efficient Loader can allow you to shoot an enemy twice before they can hit you back.
• Lee Gauge Fire, this one requires you to pick wisely in the pre-game deployment phase. If you can keep your opponent upwind, you can inflict some heavy hits by essentially moving from Cannon to Musket range during the attack phase. Play this one early when you are at the edge of Cannon range and if you keep your distance, you may be able to recycle it in your deck and use it 2-3 times before your enemy closes on you.
• If you are playing as the English and have 3 or more ships in your squadron consider Long Range Gunnery. This offers a 12.5% chance of rolling extra damage from EVERY ship in your squadron. The more ships you have, the more powerful this card becomes.

Fighting Against the HMS Anne

This ship, like all Ships of the Line, is a tough nut to crack. From a ranged combat perspective, unless you also have Ships of the Line, you want to take extra care to avoid her broadside paths. Especially when you get into Musket Range with this ship due to its Weight of Fire ability.

While easy to say, but more difficult to pull off, make every attempt at getting a rake, particularly from the rear. Rakes will let you inflict Fatigue more quickly. And rear rake will allow you to overcome the High Fortitude and Fortitude. Your best bet for getting a rake is to use multiple ships and attack from opposite sides forcing the big ship to pick one target or the other.

Ships with 3 cannon Broadside are all but useless in a ranged combat fight as all 3 dice have to score hits to do even a single-point of damage. You’ll want to take something at the Petite Fregate size or larger if you want to get into a cannon duel with this ship. A Light Galleon is the smallest ship with a Fortitude 3 which can help resist the incoming fire, but it will still be a struggle. Your best bet is to try NOT to get hit at all. This is more easily accomplished by focusing on ships with Yare.

Boarding

If you are bold, your best option is to try to board the ship and fight hand-to-hand taking away the ship’s high Fortitude and Very High Freeboard benefits. Check out this article for tips on Advanced Strategy Guide: “How to Board Ships of the Line”.

Fire Ships

Another great equalizer against larger ships is the use of a Fire Ship. These can be high-risk, high-reward units, but with a little luck, a critical hit on the collision can instantly Cripple a healthy 3rd Rate. Even if you don’t succeed at hitting the target, it serves as a distraction and draws the fire from the bigger ship for a round or two while the rest of your ships close in. For tips on using check out our article: Fire Ships: Ultimate Guide & Top Strategies for Oak & Iron.

HMS Anne Analysis Summary

Product Referral Links

The new English 3rd Rate Ship of the Line (HMS Anne) is available directly from Firelock Games for $18 per model. Get yours now!

p.s. If you order through these links we get a small commission which helps encourage the creation of more great content.

“The Warship Anne: An Illustrated History”

Ship’s historian and draughtsman Richard Endsor has written a book dedicated to the history of this amazing ship. The book brings the ship fully back to life using his beautiful and accurate drawings and paintings. This book and several other great books by Richard Endsor on ships of the 17th century are available for sale on Amazon.