INWarD 2020 Today!

INWARD 2020 Scenario - Last Attack of the Arkansas

In a last minute change of plans, I've decided that my game for INWARD 2020 will be a semi-historical Dahlgren and Columbiad ACW riverine action between the CSS Arkansas and the USS Essex, which almost occurred on the 6th August 1862 (which seemed like too much of a coincidence to ignore): 

Lieutenant Stevens (was ordered) to take Arkansas down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she would support an attack on the Union position there by a Confederate army force led by General Breckenridge. Stevens, under the orders of two superior officers, had to rush the ship down the river. 

The engines broke down several times between Vicksburg and Baton Rouge. Each time, the engineer was able to get them running again, but it was clear that they were unreliable. Nevertheless, the ship was able to get all the way to Baton Rouge, where she prepared for battle with a small Federal flotilla that included the USS Essex. 

On the morning of 6 August, Essex came in sight, and Arkansas moved into the stream to meet her. Just at this time, crank pins on both engines failed almost simultaneously, and Arkansas drifted helplessly to the shore.

Stevens prepared to abandon ship. He ordered the engines to be broken up, the guns to be loaded and excess shells spread around, and then the ship set afire. The crew then left. About this time, the ship broke free and began to drift down the river, and Stevens, the last man to leave, had to swim ashore. 

The burning vessel drifted down among the attacking Federal fleet, which watched from a respectful distance. At about noon, Arkansas blew up.

In my alternative scenario, the CSS Arkansas does manage to engage the USS Essex but must exit from the opposite end of the table in order to escape and win the game, preferably sinking the enemy ironclad in the process. The USS Essex must prevent the escape of the Arkansas by battering her into submission or by forcing her to ground in the shallows, where she can later be finished off at leisure by Union artillery onshore. 

CSS Arkansas

To reflect the poor mechanical state of the Arkansas, the Confederate player must roll a D6 in the Command Phase, with a score of 6 indicating that the crank pins have sheared and the ironclad is adrift. From this point onward, she will drift downstream at 2'' per turn and cannot steer. To even things up, the Union player must also roll a D6 at the same time each turn, with a 6 indicating a mechanical failure. 

Refer to Table 9 in the By Sea and River supplement with the following amendments:

Roll 2D6. 1-6 no problem / 7-8 = Gun problem / 9-10 = Boiler Trouble / 11-12 = Rudder Jammed.

The shallows on either side of the river channel are navigable but if entered a roll of 4, 5 or 6 will result in the vessel running aground on the sandy river bed, with a roll of 6 on a D6 in the Command Phase required to re-float. If the CSS Arkansas runs aground when her engines are out of action, she will be unable to re-float but may still engage in gunnery during the Action Phases of each turn.

USS Essex

The USS Essex will win a major victory if she manages to sink or force aground the CSS Arkansas. This will be reduced to a minor victory if she suffers Heavy or Severe Damage in the process. If the CSS Arkansas destroys the USS Essex or inflicts Serious Damage on her and then manages to escape, she will win a major victory. If she suffers Heavy or Severe Damage in the process but still manages to escape, this will be reduced to a minor victory. Any other result will be a draw.

Dahlgren and Columbiad Duels

CSS Alabama vs USS Kearsage

I've singled out two follow on scenarios for Dahlgren and Columbiad, after my initial try out game the other day, both featuring duels between Confederate and Union warships to keep it simple while I learn the rules. The first scenario is the classic Battle of Cherbourg of June 19th 1864 between the USS Kearsage and CSS Alabama, which should be interesting as neither ship is armoured and both have pintle mounted armament as well as broadside batteries. This will be an action on the open sea and a duel to the death, or at least until one ship or the other is forced to withdraw.

CSS Arkansas vs USS Carondelet (but you get the idea)

The second scenario is a riverine action with a 'What If?' twist, featuring the ironclad ram CSS Arkansas and the river ironclad USS Essex, which almost happened on 6th August 1862 at Baton Rouge. In the actual event, the Arkansas broke down and was scuttled before going into action but I'm going to give her a chance and send her into battle, albeit with the chance of a crank pin snapping at a critical moment. It will interesting to try out the rules for mechanical failure, drifting and grounding, assuming the Arkansas does actually conk out.

As before, I'll be using the print and play card counters that I prepared before I left for France, so there are no actual miniatures involved, for the moment at least. It's a great way to play around with a set of rules to learn the 'ins and outs' without actually having to assemble and paint the relevant models, but it does leave something to be desired from a visual point of view. I'm definitely going to follow up this rules learning exercise with some resin and lead, however, probably in 1/600th scale with my big box of ACW ironclads.

Victorian Ironclad Naval Fleet Review

I've brought my box of 1/2400th scale Victorian ironclads with me on holiday and realised that I've never actually laid them all out in one go before, so here they are in a naval review. I have four different navies on display including the French, British and United States, together with a small squadron of Danish warships, all from the period 1860-1875 or so. Anyway, without further ado, here they are with the whole collection steaming past at the end. They're all Tumbling Dice models with one or two scratch builds and several cut and shut conversions, but there's still room for some more and I'm about to expand into the 1875-1885 era as well.

USS Monitor vs CSS Virginia Dahlgren and Columbiad Game

I finally got round to playing my first game of Dahlgren and Columbiad this afternoon, with a simplified version of the Battle of Hampton Roads, featuring the print and play counters that I prepared before going on holiday. I set up the table with the Monitor at right angles to the Virginia, which I located at the centre line 18'' away. This meant that the two ironclads started just out of range but could fairly quickly move into effective range once the first turn was underway.

In the first turn, the Monitor turned onto a reciprocal course and advanced to challenge the Virginia, which also ordered full steam ahead to close the range. An initial exchange of fire from the forward battery of Virginia and the turret of the Monitor, left a steam line damaged on the Confederate ironclad reducing her speed by 1'' to a feeble 2'' per phase.

In the second turn the Monitor fired first inflicting light damage on the Virginia's hull, reducing her Defence Factor by one. This left the Virginia free to retaliate but with only harassing fire as the end result. The two ironclads began to circle each other, the Virginia in order to bring both her broadside and end on guns to bear, while the Monitor attempted to remain inside only one arc by manoeuvring using her superior speed.

In the third turn, the action began to intensify, with the Virginia managing to fire both her port broadside and aft guns at the monitor, inflicting a Critical Hit which damaged her hull and a hit on her steam lines which reduced her speed by 1'', both of due to the Monitor rolling an inconvenient 6 at just the wrong time. Not to be outdone, the Monitor brought her turret into action and inflicted another hit on the Virginia's steam lines, further reducing her speed by 1''. A final aft arc chasing shot from the Virginia had no effect.

In the fourth turn, both ironclads continued to circle each other but failed to cause any further damage, apart from harassing fire. The gun crews must have been exhausted by the heat and were struggling to maintain their rate of fire under the constant bombardment from the enemy. It was actually very much like the real battle, with neither side being able to inflict a knock out blow. I decided that the last turn would be Turn 5, as both ironclads were damaged and the crews were rapidly tiring, so it was all or nothing for the Union and the Confederacy.

In a twist of fate, the card deck dealt three red cards in a row, giving the Virginia the advantage in the first half of the turn. She closed in and fired her port battery at the Monitor inflicting a punishing critical hit  which resulted in damage to the engines, reducing the Monitor to a speed of 1'' per phase. A second blast from her aft battery was ineffective but certainly added to the crew's faltering morale, as it caused harassing fire if not any actual damage. The Monitor did manage a desultory retaliatory salvo from her turret guns but this completely missed, leaving no option other than a tactical retreat by both sides.

In the end, I really enjoyed this 'play test' game and thought that it accurately modelled the real engagement, in which neither side could better the other until a lucky hit blinded the pilot of the Monitor leading to her withdraw. On balance, I'd hand this one to the Virginia, which outmanoeuvred the Monitor and at one point, managed to bring three separate arcs to bear in a single turn by some clever manoeuvring and due to the Monitor fluffing her steering.

I'll definitely be playing some more scenarios soon but with some less well matched opponents. I have plenty more counters to cut out and use, so the next game will be something less historical and more imaginative. I think these are a cracking set of rules with lots of things I really like including card based phases, straightforward systems for movement and gunnery, together with a realistic end result. What's not to like? 

Small Scale Ironclad Solo Campaigns

I've been thinking of running a solo campaign using 1/2400th scale models for a while, so the new models from Tumbling Dice for the War of the Pacific have given me a boost in the right direction. I'd considered using the War of the Pacific supplement for Dahlgren and Columbiad to run a solo campaign but the various models required weren't all available, so I pushed it to one side. Now, however, it's a bit more feasible so may well get another look. I have a lot of the models required already and the new gunboats will be a very useful addition.

Another idea that I've had of late has been to run the Messing About on the River solo campaign from the By River and Sea supplement for Dahlgren and Columbiad, originally published in the Blue Steel, Grey Thunder supplement for Iron and Fire. I'd thought about using 1/600th scale models for this but it would need a full sized table to allow for decent room for manoeuvre, as well as a whole set of bespoke terrain. This isn't a massive problem but I think it would be a lot easier, not to mention cheaper and faster, to set it up in 1/2400th scale.

Confederate Ironclads

Gunboats and Tinclads

At the start of the year, I painted up a whole flotilla of Tumbling Dice 1/2400th scale American Civil War ships as a commission job, including several of the river gunboats, ironclads and monitors. These are nice models and despite being a little wonky when it comes to accuracy, they paint up really well. I have dome some number crunching and I reckon you could get everything required for the solo campaign for about twenty five quid, give or take, especially if you also did a bit of scratch building for the single Union monitor, the Tumbling Dice Cairo class ones being a bit dodgy.

I'll have a closer look at this, even if I would still need to make the river terrain and scratch build the shore line features, as it would be a lot easier at a quarter of the size of the 1/600th scale equivalent. The Brigade Models small scale terrain sets could also be used for buildings and settlements, making it even easier to get set up for minimal effort. I could even make the river sections as modular tiles, which is something I've always fancied doing as a bit of a scratch building challenge, to make the whole thing storage friendly and transportable for potential use at the club.

The Great Wargaming Survey

This is out now and I've filled in my response, which I suspect isn't reflective of the majority of wargamers out there, given my preference for naval and air wargaming in some of the less popular scales and periods. Having said that, it will be interesting to see if the likes of Cruel Seas, Dark Seas and Blood Red Skies have swung the balance at least a little bit away from 28mm WW2 skirmish games?

Jasmund 1864 - A scenario for Broadside and Ram

I've been working on a scenario for INWARD 2020 for the Battle of Jasmund / Rugen in March 1864, which I've been wanting to wargame for years. This scenario is for Broadside and Ram but would work equally well with Dahlgren and Columbiad or any other ironclad era rules. The background to the battle can be found here, along with suggestions for ships in the Tumbling Dice 1/2400th scale range:

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-battle-of-jasmund-iron-and-fire.html

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2019/07/tumbling-dice-ships-for-jasmund-rugen.html

The statistics for the Prussian and Danish ships and gunboats are available in the Broadside and Ram supplement for the Second Schleswig War but I've also worked them out for Dahlgren and Columbiad:

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2018/08/1864-prussian-ships-for-dahlgren-and.html

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2018/08/1864-danish-ships-for-dahlgren-and.html

The scenario itself is based on the action fought on the 17th March 1864 off the island of Rugen between the Prussian squadron under Kapitan zur See Von Jachmann and the Danish blockading squadron under Rear Admiral Von Dockum. The scenario has a time limit of nine turns, beginning at 13.00 hours and finishing with the last turn at 17.00 hours, allowing for a timeframe of 30 minutes per turn. The game should ideally be played on a 3' x 4' rectangular table rather than the usual 4' x 4' square area.

Kapitan zur See Von Jachmann

The Prussian Squadron

At the start of the scenario, the Prussian squadron is divided into two separate columns, the first consisting of the screw corvette Arcona (flag), the screw corvette Nymphe and the paddler Loreley, with the second consisting of the 1st class gunboat Comet and five 2nd class gunboats - the Hay, Hyane, Pfeil, Skorpion and Wespe. The gunboat squadron commander, Kapitan zur See Kuhn, had already been ordered by Von Jachmann to join up with the Arcona and Nymphe, so at the start of the game the Loreley is last in line in the northern column rather than being at the head of the gunboat squadron. 

Kapitan zur See Kuhn

The Prussians enter from the centre of the Eastern short edge of the table in two parallel lines in Turn 1.

The Prussian commander, Von Jachmann, has a command rating of -1 due to his failure to communicate his orders by signal or follow his own plan of action during the battle, which led to the effective tactical defeat of the Prussian squadron. As a counterfactual 'what if?' the Loreley may be detached from the Arcona and Nymphe from Turn 1 to re-formate with the 1st gunboat division, giving Kuhn sub-command of the gunboat squadron. Kuhn is rated as +0 for command purposes and will assume overall command if Von Jachmann is killed or the Arcona is shattered and sunk.

Admiral Von Dockum

The Danish Squadron

The experienced Danish commander, Van Dockum, proved to be a more effective and tactically astute in action than Von Jachmann, so is rated as a +0. The Danish squadron consists of the screw frigate Sjaelland (flag), the screw ship of the line Skjold and the two screw corvettes, Thor and Hejmdal. 

The Danish enter from the North Western corner of the table in line astern on Turn 1.

On Turn 5 the screw frigate Tordenskjold will enter from the centre of the Northern side of the table, initially as an independent command but under orders to join the rest of the Danish squadron as soon as possible. 

The Prussian Objectives

The Prussian strategic objective is to test the resilience and strength of the Danish naval blockading force, by executing a 'tip and run' armed reconnaissance, ideally without losing any ships in the process. To satisfy the honour of the Prussian Navy, it is imperative that some damage is inflicted on the Danish squadron before any tactical withdrawal.

The objective of the Prussian commander is, therefore, to inflict a Damaged result on at least two enemy ships, then to escape with minimal loss to the Prussian squadron. To escape, the Prussian ships must move off the Eastern edge of the table by the end of the scenario. The gunboats and the Loreley may also exit via the 8'' square South Western Exit Zone, as an alternative escape route but this is not available for the other larger Prussian warships. 

If two Danish ships are damaged and all Prussian ships escape, the Prussians win a major victory. If two Danish ships are damaged but Prussian ships are also Damaged by the end of the game, the Prussians win a minor victory. However, if any of the Prussian ships are Silenced, Crippled or Shattered at the end of the game the Prussians suffer a minor defeat. Finally, if the Prussians fail to inflict at least two Damaged results on the Danish squadron they will suffer a major defeat, even if they all escape to fight another day. 

The Prussian first and second class gunboats do not count as ships for the purposes of the victory objectives and may be effectively regarded as expendable.

The Danish Squadron in pursuit of the Prussians

The Danish Objectives

The Danes, by contrast, have a very simple objective, which is to Cripple or Shatter the Arcona, and Nymphe by the end of the game. 

If the Arcona or Nymphe are Crippled or Shattered, the Danes win a minor victory. If the Arcona and Nymphe are both Crippled or Shattered the Danes win a major victory. The Prussian gunboats and the Loreley do not count for the purposes of the Danish victory objectives and may be effectively ignored by the Danes, until and unless they open fire on Danish warships. 

However, if the Arcona and/or Nymphe escape with no more than Damage, the Danes will suffer a minor defeat. If they both escape undamaged and one or more of the Danish ships are Damaged, the Danes will suffer a major defeat, even if they in turn manage to Damage, Silence, Cripple or Shatter some of the gunboats or the Loreley.

Both sides may be able to claim a victory but the side with the better claim wins. If the result isn't clear cut, then the mechanism in the rules can be used to determine the winner.

1/600th Scale Modular Riverbank and Lakeside Terrain

I'm going to need some new scratchbuilt terrain for my 1/600th scale Steamer Wars project, so I thought I might as well 'kill two birds with one stone' and design it to be used for 1/600th ACW ironclad games as well. I've made my own coastal terrain modules before, so will use the same method again but change the scenery to something like the shores of Lake Tanganyika or the Yazoo River, which are not that dissimilar in terms of ground finish and vegetation, even if the water is a completely different colour.

I have in mind a series of modular terrain sections that could be used as shoreline or river banks, very much like the ones that I saw used at Colours a few years ago for Russian Civil War riverine actions. I think this was a Naval Wargames Society Steamer Wars demonstration game and very good it was too, so if I can do something similar I will be chuffed. I really liked the clever design of the river shore sections, which were used with two foot square river boards, arranged to create a realistic series of bends and meanders. What a clever idea!

USS Monitor vs CSS Virginia DAC Playtest

I'm now on holiday in Brittany, which may or may not last a few weeks depending on which side of the fag packet Boris and Dom have been scribbling on, so I've got everything ready for a playtest game of Dahlgren and Columbiad, using the print and play counters that I prepared before I left home. I thought the easiest way to learn the rules would be to try them out over the holidays with the laminated paper counters, so that I am up to speed when I return and can use proper metal models, in 1/600th for riverine and coastal ACW actions but also in other smaller scales. The first game I'm going to play will be a very loosely historical scenario based on the ironclad clash in Hampton Roads between the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor, which seemed like an obvious choice. I'm going to play it out tomorrow, once I've read through the rules one more time to brush up on the various mechanisms, with more scenarios to follow if it all goes according to plan. Full steam ahead!