I had a very enjoyable evening at the club yesterday, running two games of Broadside and Ram to introduce the rules to some of the naval wargaming enthusiasts. After some initial scepticism, the overall impression was very positive, which means more games will definitely be appearing in the not too distant future. I ran the Hunt the Rochambeau! scenario first to warm things up. This ended in a fairly decisive French victory, the Rochambeau having rammed HMS Warrior amidships and the Couronne narrowly escaping from HMS Captain.
In the second game, the Battle of La Baie d'Audierne, the Royal Navy managed to shatter two of the French ironclads and cripple or silence several more, but allowed six of the eight to slip through the net past La Torche and away to Lorient for urgent repairs. The blockade was still very much in evidence, however, so it was probably a victory for the Senior Service, with little damage inflicted on the blockading squadron and La Royale still bottled up. I took a divisional command in this scenario, with the four freshly painted Prince Consort class ironclads actually doing quite well!
In the game, we tangled with the knotty issue of ramming once again. In principle, my ramming mechanism worked well, except for the aftermath when it all ended up in a bit of a stalemate. It also highlighted the need for a caveat to cover neither side winning the 'ram off'. So, I have amended my tweak with the post-ramming manoeuvre being available to either ship (move up to 2'' to break free, counts as a turn in the turn phase costing 1AP, ramming ship reverses, rammed ship moves forward or backward). If neither side wins the ramming roll, then both ships are damaged but may continue normal movement next turn, as they have 'glanced off' rather than locked together.
Great photos! Your ships look really nice. And that first shot has both a broadside and a ram in it!
ReplyDeleteNice photos. All those shell splashes really make the scene come alive.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos mate, nice looking game
ReplyDeleteCheers
Matt
Looks great, and I don't even like naval games.
ReplyDeleteThanks chaps,
ReplyDeleteIt all went very well, so another game or two are in the pipeline!
Great looking game Jim. Ramming rules are hard to get right, I still haven't worked out anything for D&C that I'm happy with yet. Very tricky to get a good balance between simplicity and plausible effects.
ReplyDeleteCheers Matt. I think the ramming rules for B+R work okay but I need to try them out a bit more. The overall result is that both ships are at least damaged, which seems to be realistic.
ReplyDelete