On the 26/5/1572, Francis Drake assaults Nombre Dios at 3am with the rising moon, in search of the Spanish gold and silver there waiting for the Treasure Fleet. In the end, he captures the town, but his demoralised men leave without the plunder.
Drake's team would suit one or two players. Historically Drake split his attacking force into two pieces, using the smaller force to fall on the rear of the Spanish defenders and routing them. Alternately a single player may chose not to split his force. He left 12 men guarding the beached pinnaces. Drake knows the Spanish are expecting reinforcements from Panama after a serious assault by cimaroons 6 weeks prior. Drake assaults the town with 4 pinnaces without cannon, landing on the beach in front of the town.
Francis Drake's Force
John Drake's Force
Pinnace Force
The morale for the named men is high. The general crew have a high morale, but are very brittle and fear Spanish reinforcements at any moment, which is supposedly why they fled the captured town before looting it. As long as Francis Drake lives and is not heavily wounded the brittleness will not show in the assault troops. The crew at the pinnaces are a panicky lot. Prior to the assault the crew were muttering about how tough and big the town was. Drake believes there is one gun platform overlooking the town, with a fort on a nearby hill. These will need to be secured.
Six weeks prior to this battle, the cimaroons had run a surprise attack on Nombre Dios and almost carried the town. The number of soldiers is low, and morale is shaky. They are expecting reinforcements from Panama any day.
The Nombre Dios Spanish consist of:
The Spanish player also has soldiers stationed in outer areas who may enter the fray after battle is joined. After the first shots are fired, upto a dozen Spanish soldiers will appear on the west extremities of the beach and run along it looking to see what's going on. Being isolated and in singles or pairs, these troops have poor and brittle morale. If they join up with the Spanish regulars their morale will be normal. Historically the Spanish had a ruse to make it appear as though there were a line of musketeers in the market square during the night. Due to the moonlight, Drake was able to see through this.
I have a rather vague near contemporary (1541) map of Nombre Dios, so this is my best guess of what it shows.
The town is quite large, said to be as large as Plymouth at the time. It nestles on the south side of a large bay between two heads, each of which has rocky shoals at its base. Between the headlands and the town is heavy jungle, though a sandy beach runs the full length of the bay from the east head along the full length of the south side. The western portion runs from jungle/mangrove into the surf. To the south of the east head is a strong stream, with a creek several hundred yards south again. To the west of the town and adjoining it is a small creek, with another creek several hundred yards further west. West of the west creek is jungle. Between the two creeks is also jungle with a wide sandy beach. Just to the east of the town along the shoreline is cultivation on a hill, behind a rocky outcrop into the surf. From the cultivation to the headland is jungle, though the head is cleared with low scrub only.
The town is protected by one gun platform of 6 cannon overlooking the town proper. Due to it being 3am, there is only one gunner on duty. On the hill to the east is a fort under construction. Consider the site unoccupied though heavy cover. No cannon have yet been installed and no men are here. Drake thinks there is.
The town consists of many peasant huts. Other structures of note are the King's Treasure House on the south side, the Governor's mansion lies on the west side of town. In the centre of the town is the marketplace, on which fronts a church with steeple. Place a few shops around the marketplace with a well, and a few well to do merchant houses. Otherwise leave things as small low class huts.